Graduation Epic 2012 - Esperanza High School

PIC
GRADUATION EDITION 2012
“Where Excellence is a Tradition”
Principal’s Message
Esperanza
High School
1830 N. Kellogg Dr.
Anaheim, CA 92807
(714) 986-7540
EsperanzaHS.com
President:
Sandee Van Oyen
The end of the year is quickly
approaching. At Senior Awards
night on June 4thwe will be
recognizing approximately 200
seniors for their efforts at Esperanza
over the last four years. The class of
2012 has been awarded over 3.7 million dollars in scholarships from
both private and university scholarships. The class of 2012 have the
following stats: 57 CSU, 42 UC, 80
Private or out of state, 42% 4yr
school, 50% 2yr school, 4% trade
school, 96% total college, 1% military. With approximately 500 seniors
graduating on Tuesday, June 12th at
Shapell Stadium they have a lot to
look forward to in the weeks to
come. Senior week activities start on
Friday, June 8th with the seniors going to Disneyland and Monday, June
11th is the senior breakfast and cap
and gown distribution. We are so
proud of this senior class and we
wish them the best of luck in the future.
this recognition. We
also have a Red Cross
blood drive coming to Dr. Ken Fox
Esperanza on June 1st,
community members and parents
are welcome to come donate. We are
also ending our spring sports
season. We had many teams make it
to CIF playoffs, Baseball, Softball,
Men’s Tennis, Track, and Swimming. Our women’s swim team took
home the championship in Division
2 CIF. Finally we have a 2012-2013
school calendar, this can be accessed
on the Placentia –Yorba Linda
Unified School District website at
http://www.pylusd.org/home.asp.
Have a great summer and see you in
the 2012-1013 school year.
There are many other things taking
place at Esperanza. Newsweek Magazine just ranked the “Best High
Schools” in the United States and
Esperanza was #407. This is a great
accomplishment for the students
and staff. We just had our Distinguished Scholar luncheon on April
18th for all the in 9th- 12th grades
who are on track to graduate with
Editor: Laura Deutsch
All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. —
Walt Disney
PTSA President’s Message
As the 2011-2012 school year draws to a close, I’d
like to once again thank all of our Esperanza
students, parents, teachers, administration and our
Aztec community for their continued support of our
PTSA programs, services, activities and special
events. We are able to offer so much to our students
with the help of all of you! I am especially proud of
all that our student members have accomplished this
year. When we began to envision a new structure for
our PTSA last year, our student leaders were eager to
contribute in a cooperative and collaborative
manner, and I am very pleased to announce that the
California State PTA awarded the Esperanza PTSA
with a Spotlight Award for Leadership Development
on May 11th at the California State PTA Convention. Our student advisors, Cheryl Heller and
Connie Francis, were present along with student
VPs Allison Heller and Christie Nguyen, who were
invited to receive the award on behalf of our PTSA.
All of the EHS PTSA board who were in attendance
felt a great deal of pride in this accomplishment, as
there is a single recognition for Leadership Development awarded on an annual basis. Programs like our
annual Taste of Esperanza, and our Mix-It-Up
Luncheon, chaired by Ariane Ang Lee and Sadaf
Lakhia, would not be possible without countless
hours of dedication and hard work by our student
leaders! Along with the student chairs that have been
acknowledged in past editions of the Epic, many
thanks to our student chairs Tiffany Le (Bonding),
Ryan Heller (Bonding), Miranda Koster (Community
Service), Bijal Patel (Communication Assistant),
Andrew Chang (Student Leadership),
Cheryl Heller, Christie Nguyen, Sandee Van Oyen,
Allison Heller and Connie Francis accepting the California State Spotlight Award presented to the EHS PTSA!
PA
Mariam Giurgius (Aztec U), Eddy
Kim (Fundraising Assistant), Mojan
Deriss (Media Tech) and our
student officers Eric Arellano (2nd
VP), Christie Nguyen (4th VP),
Allison Heller (5th VP), Samuel
Chang (6th VP), and Tiffany Lee
(Deputy Recording Secretary) whose
obligations ran throughout the year. Finding time for
your service is much appreciated! I’m looking
forward to what our students and their advisors will
plan for our PTSA next year—they can accomplish
so much if they are given the opportunity to do so!
We have a few more activities and programs to
round up the year, so I’d like to begin by thanking
Cindee Toy, Adam Toy, Nadine Elwood, and Lynn
Jordan for their careful planning and execution of
our Distinguished Aztec Academic Recognition
(DAAR) evening which honors Esperanza scholars
with 4.0 or higher GPAs. This very special evening is
made possible by the generosity of our Esperanza
families, so I would like take this opportunity to
thank you for your support of this program. We
were also able to offer hospitality following the
ceremony to our guests this year, so I’d like to
express special thanks to Hospitality chairs Sharise
Norrbom and Diane Van, who also treated our
teachers and staff to a wonderful Staff Appreciation
Luncheon with the help of student chairs Kevin
Beck and Kathleen Dinh. Other student members
volunteered to help make this a very special event
for all! In early June, our Scholarship chair, Cindee
Toy, will be very pleased to present many of our
hard-working and enthusiastic Senior PTSA
members with scholarships at the upcoming Senior
Awards Night.
I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge
the diligent work of some of our parent chairs who I
haven’t had the opportunity to recognize in past
editions of the EPIC. Our Fiscal Resources chair
Jacque Brown came up with several creative ideas
for fundraising, and her involvement and attention
made our “Drive One 4 UR School” event a very
successful one. Caroline Wahlstrom helped coordinate our volunteers for the CAHSEE exams and to
provide coverage for our office staff when
necessary, Debra Dement helped with our
President’s Message Continued...
Special Education Advocacy, and Chrystie Adams kept us informed of the news from the SCAC and any
news from Sacramento. Our PTSA webpage, http://www.esperanzahs.com/ was carefully set-up,
maintained, and edited by Laura Deutsch, who also graciously offered to resume her responsibilities as
the editor of our EPIC newsletter back in December, to the appreciation of us all. Much gratitude is also
extended to our parents who served on our executive board this year: Lynn Jordan (1st VP), Susanne
Hidalgo (Recording Secretary), Caroline Wahlstrom (Treasurer), Maria Kline (Auditor), Laura Rossman
(Historian), Luis Garcia (Parliamentarian) and Cheryl Heller (Student Advisor) all worked tirelessly to
ensure that our PTSA continued to operate in the manner that our Aztec community is accustomed to. It
has been a pleasure to serve with them and I would also like to extend heart-felt thanks to our principal,
Dr. Ken Fox, for his continued support of all of our programs and events.
As we move on to the next school year, I would like to say that I look forward to serving as the 1st VP for our Esperanza PTSA, for I am so supportive of the programs that our members have developed over the years, and I
would like to do everything I can to see that high standard of excellence and
commitment continue in the years to come. I believe I speak for every one of
us when I say that as your Esperanza PTSA, we will always be very proud of
Esperanza’s tradition of excellence in academics, athletics, and artistic
achievement. It has been a pleasure to serve as your PTSA President, and I
wish the very best to all of our Aztec community. Have a wonderful summer and see you in the fall!
EHS delegation to the
CA State PTA Convention.
Sandee Van Oyen, Esperanza PTSA President
PTSA Student Leader’s Reflections
Leading up to the hectic weeks of AP testing and Final exams, PTSA students have been up and about,
putting on our PTSA events. Leadership 101 at Bernardo Middle School was a great success and our
PTSA kids taught some great leadership skills to our future leaders at Esperanza. In addition, both our
Honorary Service Awards and Creative Arts Awards went very well. The latter had over 250 entries and
some beautiful art pieces! Esperanza PTSA students recently awarded our academic achievers at
Distinguished Aztecs Awards Recognition Night. DAAR was a pleasant evening of honoring academic
excellence and we had a remarkable guest speaker that graduated from Esperanza several years ago. Last
but not least, Esperanza's staff treat day was a great hit with the teachers. Our teachers enjoyed delicious
lasagna and desserts during lunch, and all teachers had great things to say about this event in addition to
the great food. Finally, interviews and applications were conducted for the student leadership of 2012-2013. Our student PTSA E
-board is very excited for the upcoming year with the group of
impressive leaders chosen for next year. Currently, the student
PTSA is excited for summer along with the rest of Esperanza in
addition to planning and preparation for Taste of Esperanza and
the rest of PTSA events for 2012-2013.
-Bijal Patel
PTSA student members participate in
the 8th Grade Student/Parent Night
Aztec Calendar 2012
(partial listing and subject to change)
June
4 Mon.
5 Tues.
12 Tues
13-15
15 Friday
Senior Awards 6:30-8:30pm
Mr. Aztec 6:30-8:00pm
Graduation 6:00-8:00 pm
Finals Schedule
Last day of School
Save the date …
Taste of Esperanza October 6, 2012
Another activity-filled year gone by… Thanks to our PTSA Hospitality Chairs, Diane Van
& Sharise Norrbom, and student Aztec U Chair, Mariam Giurgius, Aztec U had a busy and
successful year.
We kicked off the year with our annual Town Hall Meeting, followed by our Fall Mock
SAT/ACT/PRA Testing & Results Nights, Financial Aid Night & Community College
Night. Then, we began 2012 with our PSAT Interpretation & FAFSA Nights in January,
our Spring Mock SAT/ACT/PRA Testing & Results Nights, and wrapping it up with our
College Admissions Night in April. We were blessed to be able to partner with our amazing Esperanza Counselors & Princeton Review to offer these very informative and beneficial opportunities to our families.
As summer nears and many families are searching for the most convenient & valuable SAT
preparatory course for your students, we are fortunate to be able to offer a set of SAT classes on our Esperanza campus this summer. The course will run July 10-August 9 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They have proven very helpful to those students that have been enrolled in the past. More detailed information is available on the attached flyer, our PTSA
link under Aztec U, and flyers are available in the school office as well.
We wish our Esperanza families and our class of 2012 a fun, safe & relaxing summer. We
look forward to seeing our new and returning families next year at our Town Hall Meeting.
Virginia Park
Aztec U Chair
Esperanza Student of the Month
The PTSA would like to thank all of the teachers & staff for their continued support and
commitment this year for the Student-of-the-Month program. Thanks to your hard work our
parents are becoming more engaged within the Esperanza community and more so in their
child’s education. They are VERY proud to place an EHS STUDENT-OF-THE-MONTH bumper
sticker on their vehicles. Lets continue to set an example of an outstanding education arena
here at EHS. Each student listed has received a letter of recognition, certificate, & bumper
sticker from the principal & PTSA. We look forward to adding more to these lists next year.
Have an incredible summer.
Heather Pawlak & Annette Gunnin – Student-of-the-Month Coordinators
March 2012
Diaz, Jessica/Mr. Perez
Fernandez, Gloria/Ms. Leonard
Gomez, Jasmine/Ms. Koutzoukis
Hazlett, Curtis/Mr. Slevcove
Ledesma, Melissa/Ms. Vasiliki
Lewis, Patrick/Mr. Nordwick
McCue, Andrew/Ms. Walters
Morrissey, Jessica/Ms. Gehringer
Nasser, Sammy/Ms. Elwood
Rojas, Andrea/Ms. Platz
Russo, Jason Patrick/Mr. Lehr
Saddler, Steven/Ms. Krie
Arcila, Cesar/Ms. Kieffer
Arnitz, Jacob/Mr. Hale
Barrios, Pamela/Ms. Elwood
Catron, Rebekah/Mr. Pendelton
Cox, Kyle/Ms. Linsley
Deviso, Kiera/Mr. Freeman
Djauhari, Josh/Ms. Crask
Fernandez, Gloria/Ms. Gehringer
Fry, Logan/Ms. Nguyen
Fuentes, Allyson/Mr. Shellman
Graham, Madison/Ms. Vanderhook
Gutierrez, Henry/Mr. Hill
Hashem, Sara/Ms. Vasiliki
Hassebrock, "Jess" Harold/Mr. Lehr
Hennigan, Daniel/Ms. Elwood
Johnson, Drew/Mr. Nordwich
Klemmetsen, Emily/Ms. DeFriese
Lewis, Tiffany/Mr. Slevcove
Schatz, Amanda/Ms. Vanderhook
Searcy, Kayla/Ms. Brunenkant
Siegall, Maxwell/Mr. Hill
Stewart, Taylor/Ms. Linsley
Thai, Angelica/ Mr. Hale
Tigui, Kara/Ms. Koutzoukis
Tracy, Jenna/Mr. Goettsche
Vuong, Anthony/Mr. Pendleton
Widjaja, Bryan/Ms. Nguyen
Yun, Grace/Mr. Shellman
Zertuche, Anthony/Ms. Murphy
McGonigle, Quaid/Ms. Platz
McKenzie, Amber/Ms. Hernandez
Mendoza, Kimberly/Mr. Goettsche
Perez, Anthony/Ms. Vanderhook
Porter, Zachary/Ms. Platz
Reim, Peter/Mr. Lukach
Rodgers, Natalie/Mr. Hale
Rogan, Claire/Ms. Krie
Shawki, Sarah/Ms. Hernandez
Simpson, Shawn/Ms. Castro
Sowski, Kevin/Ms. Leonard
Takenaka, Tatiyana//Mr. Bowman
Wong, Kenny/Ms. Nguyen
Wyse, Mark/Ms. Murphy
February 2012
Antista, Noah/Mr. Bowman
Ashbaugh, Andie/Ms. Lukach
Beresford, Brinley/Ms. Nguyen
Beu, Ryan/Ms. Kieffer
Bracy, Jacky/Ms. De Friese
Brown, Amanda/Ms. Vanderhook
Chocek, Chrissy/Ms. Platz
Crespo, Cynthia/Ms. Hernandez
Cruz, Esperanza/Mr. Peck
Dembek, Andrew/Ms. Crask
Dembowski, Makayla/Mr. Lovein
Diaz, Alexis/Ms. Hernandez
Esperanza Student of the Month
Congratulations to those that have been selected as an
Esperanza Student of the Month!
Faculty members have taken note of these students for their exceptional efforts and who
have a positive effect on our entire community. We urge you to continue your efforts to
“make a difference” in our world. On behalf of the staff and PTSA of Esperanza High School,
we salute you and sincerely appreciate your adding to our rich “Tradition of Excellence.”
May 2012
Bauer, Janet/Ms. Othmer
Bustamante, Benny/Ms. Murphy
Davis, Erik/Ms. Elwood
de Prevoisin, Gilles/Ms. Othmer
Djauhari, Joshua/Ms. Othmer
Gilchrist, Courtney/Ms. Platz
Grimes, Madison/Ms. Crask
Hazboun, lauren/ Ms. Othmer
Hazlett/Mr. Hale
Holst, Mackenzie/Ms. Othmer
Le, Kelly/Ms. Leonard
Lee, Joyce/Ms. Gehringer
Marquez, Tristan/Ms. Elwood
Martinez, Anissa/Ms. Vasiliki
Martinez, Olivia/Mr. Nordwick
McDonald, Kristen/Mr. Shellman
McDonough, Haley/Ms. Walters
Mosich, Jami/Ms. Vanderhook
Marlowe, Elizabeth/Mr. Nordwick
Martinez, Anissa/Ms. Nguyen
Metz, Trevor/Mr. Hill
Modarres, Cyrus/Mr. Goettsche
Morrissey, Jessica/ Ms. Vanderhook
Porter, Kayla/Ms. Gehringer
Randall, Destiny/Ms. Vasiliki
Rodgers, Natalie/Ms. Leonard
Tinger, Noah/Ms. Nguyen
Tumlinson, Mark/Ms. Elwood
Widjaja, Bryan/Mr. Shellman
Zamura, Carlos/Ms. Murphy
Mullins, Brett/Mr. Freeman
Mullins, Brett/Mr. Perez
Park, Josh/Mr. Peck
Patterson, Leanne/Mr. Hill
Rodriguez, Nate/Ms. Vanderhook
Seymour, Jill/Ms. Lukach
Shubin, Nick/Mr. Pendleton
Smith, Kallie/Ms. Platz
Song, Sarah/Ms. Linsley
Steele, Brynley/Ms. Vanderhook
Steinmetz, Michael/Ms. Othmer
Valand, Kinnari/Ms. Othmer
Vassar, Arie/Ms. Othmer
Vega-Favela, Isela/Mr. Slevcove
Wilson, Jessica/Mr. Hale
Yeandle, Marissa/Ms. Brunenkant
April 2012
Abba, Megan/Ms. Lukach
Bustamante, Benny/Ms. Castro
Freeseman, Max/Mr. Peck
Hobbs, Brian/Ms. DeFriese
Hu, Christina/Ms. Crask
Kappelle, Alex Vande/Mr. Pendleton
Ledesma Anthony "A.J"/Ms. Krie
Lopez, Veronica/Ms. Kieffer
Loya, Alexandra/Ms. Platz
Lui, Josie/Ms. Linsley
Luna, Jonathan/Ms. Platz
Macabuhay, Hayley/Ms. Elwood
Maffei, Galina/Ms. Murphy
Distinguished Aztecs Academic
Recognition Scholars 2012
The Distinguished Aztecs Academic Recognition is a program that was established
by the PTSA of Esperanza to recognize the top scholars of the year. Each spring, the
administration submits names of honorees to the PTSA. The criteria used for
selection is based on a 4.0 or better grade point average or weighted 4.0 grade
point average for those involved in honors or AP (Advanced Placement) classes.
Congratulations to the
2012 Distinguished Aztecs Academic
Recognition Scholars:
Class of 2012
Kellie Amano
Bhakti Amin
Kevin Beck
Samuel Chang
John Christensen
Taylor Christoffers
Jared Cruz
Kirsten Dahlberg
Lauren Davidson
Gilles De Prevoisin
Nicholas Dean
Kathleen Dinh
Jessica Duong
Ryan Flynn
Hannah Guild
Allison Heller
Daniel Hennagin
Katherine Higashida
Patrick Kim
Sehyun Kim
Sadaf Lakhia
Jonathan Liebesman
Sarah Martin
Olivia Martinez
Claire Miller
Cyrus Modarres
Amanda Nguyen
Christie Nguyen
Irene Park
Courtney Rinden
Maggie Shepard
Andrew Simecka
Stephanie Tu
Mark Tumlinson
Kinnari Valand
Jessica Van Oyen
Marissa Yeandle
Jay Yostanto
Class of 2013
Jessica Adams
Philip Ahn
Harrison Ahne
Andreas Apitz
Rachel Banks
Janet Bauer
Gino Calavitta
Wesley Chin
Brandon Cotta
Katherine Edgerley
Brett Fuller
Kaitlyn Heck
Amanda Hidalgo
Raj Jetalpuria
Lindsay Kallman
Edward Kim
Woo Suk Kim
Miranda Koster
Andrew Lancaster
Brian Le
Anderson Lee
Victoria Lim
Ryan Llamas
Lauren Melendres
Jillian Parker
Bijal Patel
Ryan Peterman
Jenilee Pinson
Kyle Raftogianis
Peter Reim
Sandra Rhee
Colette Riggs
Mariana Robelo
Shane Sato
Austin Wagenknecht
Cameron Watkins
Distinguished Aztecs Academic
Recognition Scholars 2012
Continued
Class of 2014
Sierra Ampudia
Ariane Ang Lee
Taylor Bianco
Carly Biddlecomb
Nicholas Casella
Esther Chan
Andrew Chang
Sara Freda
George Gatsios
Ryan Heller
Woo ll Jeong
Justina Johnson
Caroline Larson
Nicholas Magana
Tristan Marquez
Kristen Mc Donald
Catherine Newberry
Kristin Nguyen
Jonathan Selstad
Arpan Shah
Emily Sklencar
Adam Toy
Jordan Woo
Ronald Yu
Class of 2015
Emily Bautista
Brinley Beresford
Dev Bhakta
Alexis Cugini
Sheel Dalal
Hera Dewan
Sara Hashem
Amelia Hensler
Allison Hidalgo
Christina Hu
Geoffery Jackman
Shelby Kolb
Taha Kothari
Evelyn Ledesma
Noah Marestaing
Jessica Morrissey
Devang Patolia
Destiny Randell
Kelly Rivard
Carrie Sandoval
Amanda Schatz
Morgan Shapen
Sarah Song
Katelyn Sullivan
Noah Tingen
Ryan Tom
Tristan Traub
Bryan Widjaja
Paisley Willenbrecht
Let’s congratulate these fine scholars for their outstanding academic
achievements. They were honored at the
Distinguished Aztecs Academic Recognition ceremony
May 21, 2012
7:00 pm
at the
Rock Community Church in Yorba Linda
Esperanza PTSA Creative Arts Awards
On April 2nd, the Esperanza High School library was transformed
into an art gallery for the 5th Annual PTSA Creative Arts and
Reflections Award Ceremony. Esperanza’s Creative Arts
Awards Chairperson, Susan Hashimoto, was pleased to host this
cultural event of music, art, poetry and prose. This program was
developed to recognize and honor the artistic talents of Esperanza
students.
The parents, students, teachers and members of the community in attendance enjoyed an exhibit of over 250
Visual and Language Arts pieces. The Esperanza High School Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of
Kay Crask, performed a selection of pieces as the guests arrived. Special guests included PYLUSD School
Board members Carrie Buck, Judi Carmona, Karin Freeman, and Eric Padget.
A reading of the “First Place” and “Best of Division” entries in the Language Arts division and a power-point
presentation featuring all the winning Visual Arts pieces were included in the awards ceremony. 1st, 2nd, and
3rd place students were awarded ribbons and cash prizes and all entrants received certificates of participation.
Projects that placed in the PTSA Reflections program were also showcased, with entries from the Visual
Arts, Photography, Literature, and Film Production categories on display for all to enjoy.
The Visual Arts “Best of Division” award went to Matt Sommer, for his piece entitled “My Beautiful
Savior”. The Language Arts “Best of Division” award went to Sara Cornett for her poem entitled “This I
Believe”. Both students received engraved medallions to commemorate their achievement.
Following the ceremony, guests enjoyed a light reception and admired the artistic creations of the talented
EHS students.
All Creative Arts Awards and Reflections entries were on display in the library for two days, so the
Esperanza teaching staff could visit with their classes and present the student body with the opportunity to
enjoy and appreciate the work of their friends and peers.
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2012 Year in Review
2012 Esperanza Honorary Service Awards
Congratulations to our newly elected
PTSA Staff Appreciation Luncheon
2012—2013 EHS PTSA Officers
President
Luis Garcia
1st VP of Programs
Sandee Van Oyen
2nd VP of Fundraising
OPEN
3rd VP of Services
Heather Pawlak
We
4th VP of Student Leadership Ariane Ang Lee
5th VP of Student Activities
Katy Edgerley
6th VP of Communications
Bijal Patel
Corresponding Secretary:
OPEN
Recording Secretary
Jennifer Gathright
Deputy Recording Secretary
Tiffany Lee
Treasurer
Julie Nibali
Auditor
Maria Kline
Historian
Mojan Deriss
Parliamentarian
Chrystie Adams
Student Advisor
Cheryl Heller
&
4
-
our teachers!
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified Names New Superintendent
Appointment is effective July 1, 2012
Longtime educator and community member Doug Domene has been named the next Superintendent in
the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. Mr. Domene will succeed Dr. Dennis Smith, who is
retiring at the end of the school year.
Mr. Domene began his teaching career at Whittier Christian School before joining the Esperanza High
School staff in 1986. During his 19-year tenure at both Esperanza and El Dorado High Schools, Domene
taught English, coached baseball, worked as Dean of Attendance, and served as an Assistant Principal
and Summer School Principal. In 2007, Domene was promoted to Director of Executive Services and
played a pivotal role supporting the Superintendent’s Office. Since 2009, Mr. Domene has successfully
managed the fiscal and operational aspects of the 26,000 student district as the Assistant
Superintendent of Business Services.
The Board of Education began working with a search firm in January to determine the qualifications it
should consider for the district’s next superintendent. After gathering input from stakeholder groups
across the district and conducting interviews, the Board was confident Mr. Domene was the perfect
match. Board President Karin Freeman noted, “Our district has a long history of high caliber
superintendents. We are fortunate that a person who has already begun to build his legacy in our
community has been selected as the successor to Dr. Smith. Mr. Domene is a man of great integrity, a
strong educational leader, and has a passion and a vision to lead our district as we continue moving
forward.”
For 26 years, Domene has called PYLUSD home. “It’s a dream come true to be working alongside such a
deeply committed school board, amazing teachers and support staff, a highly-involved parent
community, and partners in law enforcement and city government.” Domene added, “I am humbled and
honored to be selected as the new superintendent.”
Mr. Domene will assume the position of superintendent on July 1st.