the entire newsletter

ROP Sports Med. Class
Treats Athletes to a Win
From Left:
Dylan Wilson,
Alec Vigil,
Tessa Cummings, Mykaela
Lewis, Kristen
Bowers and
Nick Holden
Students in Ray Albiento’s ROP Sports
Medicine class at Campolindo High
attended the Division 3 NCS Semi -Final
game. Students performed stretching,
taping, and treatment before, during
and after the game for the athletes. The
team was down 21 points but came back
to win and play in the NCS Final at the
Oakland Coliseum where they became
champions and played for the state title
in Los Angeles.
ROP Arch. Design
Teacher Recognized
Alhambra High School Architectural
Design/CAD teacher
Jeffrey Smith had his
research paper, titled
“Screen-Capture Instructional Technology:
A Cognitive Tool for
Blended Multimedia Learning,” selected
as the best research paper for the Association for STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics) Teacher
Education research symposium.
Winning Poster Designer
Jazmin Zepeda,
a student in
Michael
Taylor’s Web
Design class at
Hercules High,
loves anything to
do with art and
animation! It
was only natural
then for Mr. Taylor to ask her to design a
poster outlining the graduation requirements for Hercules High. Within a day,
Jazmin had the first of several iterations
of the poster completed. In addition to
creating the winning poster, she is testing
a pen input tablet in class and creating
what she hopes will be the best Adobeflash animation.
Instructors Named
Online Curriculum
Writers
ROP instructors Laura Hallberg (Ygnacio Valley High) and Ned Purdom
(Albany High) were chosen to attend the
CTE Model Online Institute and the
UC Development Institute, respectively.
Laura will help write model lessons for
CTE online and Ned will helps schools
understand the development process
for building UC-approved courses that
merge CTE education with core classes.
Baking Sweet Success
Twenty-one students from Debbie
Allen’s Commercial Baking class at Mt.
Diablo High School participated in the
Spring Competitive Cognition Events
Leadership meeting. Mariana Moreno,
Sarah Phan, Nancy Orozco, amd Savannah Mullen were among the first-place
winners in Patisserie, Advanced Cakes,
Art Display, and Menu Planning and
Table Display.
Student’s Bio-Rad
Experiment Yields Results
From L to R: Diego
Figueroa, Navjot
Sekhon and
Jamack
Thompson.
James Hybarger’s ROP Biotechnology
students at Antioch High participated in
a lab that looked at enzyme activity as it
applies to the use of cellulases naturally
produced by fungi and bacteria in ruminants, termites, plants or plant products.
Students completed six activities to
determine the reaction rate in the presence or absence of an enzyme, the effect of
temperature pH, and enzyme concentration on reaction rate, the concentration
of substrate on the reaction rate, and the
ability of mushroom extracts to increase
the reaction rate. The enzymes are being
investigated for use in breaking down
non-food/feed plant products, such as
corn stover, switch grass and waste food
products, for production of ethanol to
replace fossil fuels.
Student Navigates Auto
Class by Touch
Antioch High School
junior Eric Navarro
is a student in Bobby
Sturgeon’s ROP Automotive Technology
class. He finds himself
dismantling a car engine relying solely on
his hands. Eric was born blind but says,
“I like to discover.” Inspired by his older
brother who took the auto class, Eric
and his parents realized this could help
his dexterity. It’s also teaching him to visualize information in three dimensions.
“Although Eric can’t see, after touching
an object he can form it in his mind.
The mind is amazing,” said his brother.
Sturgeon asserts “with Eric’s strong work
ethic, patience and persistence, there are
jobs in this field for him.”
Chevron Hires Former
Students into Training
Program
Four former students of Nathaniel
“Butter” Simms’ ROP Process Plant
Operator (PPO) class at Alvarado Adult
Education campus - Oliver Cayton, Matthew Thomasson, Chris Schaefer and
Frank Cooks - were selected from 3,000
applicants to serve as full time Chevron
Richmond Refinery employees in the
Operator Training Program that began
in December.
Auto Club Takes to the
Street for Homecoming
John Dorr’s ROP Automotive Technology class at Liberty High School
participated in the homecoming parade
to familiarize the community with the
automotive club and advertise their
upcoming project, which is to create a
flex ramp to illustrate and test off road
suspension for their rockcrawling buggy.
Student Programs
ROP
Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
ROP Forensic Science
Class Visits San Quentin
Students in Julie Hubbard’s ROP Analytical Forensic Science class at Liberty High
School received a unique invitation and
special permission to visit San Quentin
Prison to learn about the use of forensic evidence in our prison system. The students
spoke to two inmates and learned about
their lives and incarcerations. Students
visited the gas chamber, exercise yard,
cafeterias, prisoner gift shop, individual
inmate cells, the chapels and the mosque.
The guides at the prison were correctional
officers who had been at the prison for
many years and included a parent of one of
the Forensic Science students.
Former Student Opens
French-Inspired
Restaurant
Twenty-five years ago, Rick Delamain was
an ROP culinary student at Serendipity
Restaurant at Mt. Diablo High School. He
became an apprentice at Le Virage, Walnut
Creek’s most revered French restaurant,
which closed in 2003. Recently, Delamain
opened Cypress Restaurant in Walnut
Creek, bringing with him a former skipper
from Le Virage and chef Dindo Burja.
Delamain’s classic creations are French inspired but with a contemporary flare.The
Caesar salad is tossed tableside and the
New York steak is served raw as tartare or
rich in a bordelais sauce. Garlicky roasted
mushroom caps are filled with buttery
escargot and sauteed beets are bolstered
by fresh rosemary and thyme. The roasted
duck breast with farro risotto and laced
with confit is a house favorite. Delamain’s
culinary expertise revived the spirit of Le
Virage to make what was old new again.
Instructors Visit Local
Renewable Product
Company, Amyris
ROP biotechnology instructors and three
other local high school teachers visited
Amyris, an innovative renewable products company, located in Emeryville, to
participate in Teacher Development Day.
The program provided teachers with an
overview of Amyris’ scientific process,
including a presentation by four scientists
discussing their pathway to developing
renewable fuel made from such ingredients as yeast and sugar, and a tour of their
research and development and pilot-plant
facilities. Lexi Brayton, Amyris’ manager
of internal communications and cultural
initiatives said,“Today, we wanted to
provide the visiting teachers with information, resources, and enthusiasm they
could use to prepare their students for
these interactions, or simply to enhance
their curriculum.” ROP continues to
develop strong partnerships with local
businesses to provide instructors and
students relevant curriculum.
Robotics Award
Winners Compete in Nor
Cal Championships
Back row: Robert Pardi, Michael Kintscher,
Zack Crosley, Jacob Olsen, Mike Crosley
(mentor), and Joseph Cliscagne.
The Heritage High Patriots Robotics
class, coached by teacher Rob Pardi,
won the Inspire Award for “Best Overall
Team” at Lincoln High School’s FIRST
Tech Challenge robotics qualifier. They
will now compete in the Northern California FIRST Tech Challenge Championships in Newark.
Newsletter - Spring 2012
Director’s Message
Janet Haun
Looking through this issue of the ROP
newsletter, we are all reminded of the
significant impact that ROP teachers
and courses have on students’ lives.
The students and teachers featured
on these pages know the importance
of learning, growing, and making a
difference in their classrooms, schools
and communities. They make us
proud and remind us of the importance of the work we do.
Please join me in congratulating the
38 students (out of more than 11,000
served by the Contra Costa County
ROP) who won ROP Students of
Excellence awards this year.
A huge thank you to our business
partners, Chevron, John Muir Health
and Walnut Creek Honda, who are
once again this year sponsoring
our student scholarships. Chevron
sponsored the majority of the awards,
John Muir Health sponsored the
health awards, and Walnut Creek
Honda sponsored the auto awards.
Their support of our programs and our
students is invaluable.
Mission
To enable all learners to achieve their
highest personal, academic, and
career potential though state-of-the-art
educational programs and services.
Contra Costa County
Superintendent of Schools
Joseph A. Ovick, Ed.D.
Associate Superintendent
Educational Services
Pamela Comfort, Ed.D.
Contra Costa County
Board of Education
Richard P. Asadoorian
Ellen M. Elster
Daniel A. Gomes
Pamela M. Mirabella
Cynthia T. Ruehlig
www.cocoschools.org/rop
ROP Honors Students of Excellence
Aizelle Adap
ROP Creative Writing
Hercules High School
Instructor Jamey Genna
Matt Brewer
ROP Biotechnology
Acalanes High School
Instructor Karen Kelly
Hope Curran
ROP Advanced Photography
College Park High School
Instructor Jen Kennedy
Ellen Davis
ROP Sports Medicine
Piedmont High School
Instructor Stan Nakahara
Gerald Ashcraft
ROP Computer Applications
Concord High School
Instructor Laurie Harris
Frank Chung
ROP Robotics Engineering Techology
Pittsburg High School
Instructor Andy Kaiser
Nick Cutright-Ross
ROP Advanced Digital Photography
Berkeley High School
Instructor Gabriel Berent
Kameron DuQuette
ROP Cabinetmaking
Alhambra High School
Instructor Jay Heeb
ROP Honors Students of Excellence
Kaitlynn Bailey
ROP Cosmetology
Paris Beauty College
Instructor Anna Solberg
Micaelyn Richmeier
ROP Careers in Teaching
Dougherty Valley High School
Instructor Jeff Silverman
Alexis Sangalang
ROP Biotechnology
Ygnacio Valley High School
Instructor Maria Fletcher
Alexandra Silva
ROP Advanced Sports Medicine
Dougherty Valley High School
Instructor Juli Westcott
Amber Slovick
ROP Game Art Design
Antioch High School
Instructor Erin Susoev
Garrison Sexson
ROP Law Enforcement Careers
Pinole Valley High School
Instructor Patricia Blades
Eduardo Cisneros
ROP Accounting
Concord High School
Instructor Laurie Harris
Devon David
ROP Advanced Architectural Design
Heritage High School
Instructor Barbara Worden
Estefania Espinoza
ROP Web Design
Kennedy High School
Instructor Krys Simon
Manilette Uy
ROP Marketing
Deer Valley High School
Instructor Steve Kish
Special thanks to all of the
Contra Costa County ROP
teachers who submitted
Students of Excellence
nominations. The teachers
and the students make such
a difference in their
classrooms, schools and
communities.
David Tran
ROP Art and Animation and
Computer Graphics
Richmond High School
Instructor Mario Ferrari
Hana Wasserman
ROP Biotechnology
Piedmont High School
Instructor Tom Huffaker
ROP Honors Students of Excellence
Kaitlyn Faria
ROP Computer Graphic Arts
Monte Vista High School
Instructor Diana Govnik
Fifer Garbesi
ROP Advanced Video Productions
Berkeley High School
Instructor Dharini Rasiah
Gustavo Jimenez
ROP Automotive Technology
Liberty High School
Instructor Jon Dorr
Timothy Farley
ROP Engineering Design & Development
California High School
Instructor John Reed
James Glover
ROP Automotive Technology
Las Lomas High School
Instructor Steve Boone
Christa Leach
ROP Careers with Children
Freedom High School
Instructor Elizabeth Rodriguez
Caitlyn Rose Freeman
ROP Law Enforcement Careers
Heritage High School
Instructor Matt Carr
Samuel Grace
ROP TV Broadcasting
Heritage High School
Instructor Gus Guardado
Tod Loebel
ROP Advaned Architectural Design
Alhambra High School
Instructor Jeffrey Smith
ROP Honors Students of Excellence
Dana Lund
ROP Biotechnology
Concord High School
Instructor Ernie Liu
Christopher McEvoy
ROP Desktop Publishing
Liberty High School
Instructor Sharon Johnson
Natalie Oberhauser-Lim
ROP Medical Interventions
California High School
Instructor Andrew White
Nir Maoz
ROP Video Prod./Journalism Publications
Albany High School
Instructors Jeff Castle/Ned Purdom
Jacqueline Miller
ROP Sports Medicine
Campolindo High School
Instructor Ray Albiento
Morgan Perry
ROP Sports Medicine
Dozier-Libbey High School
Instructor Kim O’Leary
Patrice Mardo
ROP Journalism Publications
California High School
Instructor Brian Barr
Philip Nelson
ROP AP Computer Science
Monte Vista High School
Instructor Bhupinder Anwar
Ben Peirce
ROP Fire Science
Heritage High School
Instructor Ben Whitener
ROP Honors Students of Excellence
Aizelle Adap
ROP Creative Writing
Hercules High School
Instructor Jamey Genna
Matt Brewer
ROP Biotechnology
Acalanes High School
Instructor Karen Kelly
Hope Curran
ROP Advanced Photography
College Park High School
Instructor Jen Kennedy
Ellen Davis
ROP Sports Medicine
Piedmont High School
Instructor Stan Nakahara
Gerald Ashcraft
ROP Computer Applications
Concord High School
Instructor Laurie Harris
Frank Chung
ROP Robotics Engineering Techology
Pittsburg High School
Instructor Andy Kaiser
Nick Cutright-Ross
ROP Advanced Digital Photography
Berkeley High School
Instructor Gabriel Berent
Kameron DuQuette
ROP Cabinetmaking
Alhambra High School
Instructor Jay Heeb
ROP Honors Students of Excellence
Kaitlynn Bailey
ROP Cosmetology
Paris Beauty College
Instructor Anna Solberg
Micaelyn Richmeier
ROP Careers in Teaching
Dougherty Valley High School
Instructor Jeff Silverman
Alexis Sangalang
ROP Biotechnology
Ygnacio Valley High School
Instructor Maria Fletcher
Alexandra Silva
ROP Advanced Sports Medicine
Dougherty Valley High School
Instructor Juli Westcott
Amber Slovick
ROP Game Art Design
Antioch High School
Instructor Erin Susoev
Garrison Sexson
ROP Law Enforcement Careers
Pinole Valley High School
Instructor Patricia Blades
Eduardo Cisneros
ROP Accounting
Concord High School
Instructor Laurie Harris
Devon David
ROP Advanced Architectural Design
Heritage High School
Instructor Barbara Worden
Estefania Espinoza
ROP Web Design
Kennedy High School
Instructor Krys Simon
Manilette Uy
ROP Marketing
Deer Valley High School
Instructor Steve Kish
Special thanks to all of the
Contra Costa County ROP
teachers who submitted
Students of Excellence
nominations. The teachers
and the students make such
a difference in their
classrooms, schools and
communities.
David Tran
ROP Art and Animation and
Computer Graphics
Richmond High School
Instructor Mario Ferrari
Hana Wasserman
ROP Biotechnology
Piedmont High School
Instructor Tom Huffaker
ROP Sports Med. Class
Treats Athletes to a Win
From Left:
Dylan Wilson,
Alec Vigil,
Tessa Cummings, Mykaela
Lewis, Kristen
Bowers and
Nick Holden
Students in Ray Albiento’s ROP Sports
Medicine class at Campolindo High
attended the Division 3 NCS Semi -Final
game. Students performed stretching,
taping, and treatment before, during
and after the game for the athletes. The
team was down 21 points but came back
to win and play in the NCS Final at the
Oakland Coliseum where they became
champions and played for the state title
in Los Angeles.
ROP Arch. Design
Teacher Recognized
Alhambra High School Architectural
Design/CAD teacher
Jeffrey Smith had his
research paper, titled
“Screen-Capture Instructional Technology:
A Cognitive Tool for
Blended Multimedia Learning,” selected
as the best research paper for the Association for STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics) Teacher
Education research symposium.
Winning Poster Designer
Jazmin Zepeda,
a student in
Michael
Taylor’s Web
Design class at
Hercules High,
loves anything to
do with art and
animation! It
was only natural
then for Mr. Taylor to ask her to design a
poster outlining the graduation requirements for Hercules High. Within a day,
Jazmin had the first of several iterations
of the poster completed. In addition to
creating the winning poster, she is testing
a pen input tablet in class and creating
what she hopes will be the best Adobeflash animation.
Instructors Named
Online Curriculum
Writers
ROP instructors Laura Hallberg (Ygnacio Valley High) and Ned Purdom
(Albany High) were chosen to attend the
CTE Model Online Institute and the
UC Development Institute, respectively.
Laura will help write model lessons for
CTE online and Ned will helps schools
understand the development process
for building UC-approved courses that
merge CTE education with core classes.
Baking Sweet Success
Twenty-one students from Debbie
Allen’s Commercial Baking class at Mt.
Diablo High School participated in the
Spring Competitive Cognition Events
Leadership meeting. Mariana Moreno,
Sarah Phan, Nancy Orozco, amd Savannah Mullen were among the first-place
winners in Patisserie, Advanced Cakes,
Art Display, and Menu Planning and
Table Display.
Student’s Bio-Rad
Experiment Yields Results
From L to R: Diego
Figueroa, Navjot
Sekhon and
Jamack
Thompson.
James Hybarger’s ROP Biotechnology
students at Antioch High participated in
a lab that looked at enzyme activity as it
applies to the use of cellulases naturally
produced by fungi and bacteria in ruminants, termites, plants or plant products.
Students completed six activities to
determine the reaction rate in the presence or absence of an enzyme, the effect of
temperature pH, and enzyme concentration on reaction rate, the concentration
of substrate on the reaction rate, and the
ability of mushroom extracts to increase
the reaction rate. The enzymes are being
investigated for use in breaking down
non-food/feed plant products, such as
corn stover, switch grass and waste food
products, for production of ethanol to
replace fossil fuels.
Student Navigates Auto
Class by Touch
Antioch High School
junior Eric Navarro
is a student in Bobby
Sturgeon’s ROP Automotive Technology
class. He finds himself
dismantling a car engine relying solely on
his hands. Eric was born blind but says,
“I like to discover.” Inspired by his older
brother who took the auto class, Eric
and his parents realized this could help
his dexterity. It’s also teaching him to visualize information in three dimensions.
“Although Eric can’t see, after touching
an object he can form it in his mind.
The mind is amazing,” said his brother.
Sturgeon asserts “with Eric’s strong work
ethic, patience and persistence, there are
jobs in this field for him.”
Chevron Hires Former
Students into Training
Program
Four former students of Nathaniel
“Butter” Simms’ ROP Process Plant
Operator (PPO) class at Alvarado Adult
Education campus - Oliver Cayton, Matthew Thomasson, Chris Schaefer and
Frank Cooks - were selected from 3,000
applicants to serve as full time Chevron
Richmond Refinery employees in the
Operator Training Program that began
in December.
Auto Club Takes to the
Street for Homecoming
John Dorr’s ROP Automotive Technology class at Liberty High School
participated in the homecoming parade
to familiarize the community with the
automotive club and advertise their
upcoming project, which is to create a
flex ramp to illustrate and test off road
suspension for their rockcrawling buggy.
Student Programs
ROP
Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
ROP Forensic Science
Class Visits San Quentin
Students in Julie Hubbard’s ROP Analytical Forensic Science class at Liberty High
School received a unique invitation and
special permission to visit San Quentin
Prison to learn about the use of forensic evidence in our prison system. The students
spoke to two inmates and learned about
their lives and incarcerations. Students
visited the gas chamber, exercise yard,
cafeterias, prisoner gift shop, individual
inmate cells, the chapels and the mosque.
The guides at the prison were correctional
officers who had been at the prison for
many years and included a parent of one of
the Forensic Science students.
Former Student Opens
French-Inspired
Restaurant
Twenty-five years ago, Rick Delamain was
an ROP culinary student at Serendipity
Restaurant at Mt. Diablo High School. He
became an apprentice at Le Virage, Walnut
Creek’s most revered French restaurant,
which closed in 2003. Recently, Delamain
opened Cypress Restaurant in Walnut
Creek, bringing with him a former skipper
from Le Virage and chef Dindo Burja.
Delamain’s classic creations are French inspired but with a contemporary flare.The
Caesar salad is tossed tableside and the
New York steak is served raw as tartare or
rich in a bordelais sauce. Garlicky roasted
mushroom caps are filled with buttery
escargot and sauteed beets are bolstered
by fresh rosemary and thyme. The roasted
duck breast with farro risotto and laced
with confit is a house favorite. Delamain’s
culinary expertise revived the spirit of Le
Virage to make what was old new again.
Instructors Visit Local
Renewable Product
Company, Amyris
ROP biotechnology instructors and three
other local high school teachers visited
Amyris, an innovative renewable products company, located in Emeryville, to
participate in Teacher Development Day.
The program provided teachers with an
overview of Amyris’ scientific process,
including a presentation by four scientists
discussing their pathway to developing
renewable fuel made from such ingredients as yeast and sugar, and a tour of their
research and development and pilot-plant
facilities. Lexi Brayton, Amyris’ manager
of internal communications and cultural
initiatives said,“Today, we wanted to
provide the visiting teachers with information, resources, and enthusiasm they
could use to prepare their students for
these interactions, or simply to enhance
their curriculum.” ROP continues to
develop strong partnerships with local
businesses to provide instructors and
students relevant curriculum.
Robotics Award
Winners Compete in Nor
Cal Championships
Back row: Robert Pardi, Michael Kintscher,
Zack Crosley, Jacob Olsen, Mike Crosley
(mentor), and Joseph Cliscagne.
The Heritage High Patriots Robotics
class, coached by teacher Rob Pardi,
won the Inspire Award for “Best Overall
Team” at Lincoln High School’s FIRST
Tech Challenge robotics qualifier. They
will now compete in the Northern California FIRST Tech Challenge Championships in Newark.
Newsletter - Spring 2012
Director’s Message
Janet Haun
Looking through this issue of the ROP
newsletter, we are all reminded of the
significant impact that ROP teachers
and courses have on students’ lives.
The students and teachers featured
on these pages know the importance
of learning, growing, and making a
difference in their classrooms, schools
and communities. They make us
proud and remind us of the importance of the work we do.
Please join me in congratulating the
38 students (out of more than 11,000
served by the Contra Costa County
ROP) who won ROP Students of
Excellence awards this year.
A huge thank you to our business
partners, Chevron, John Muir Health
and Walnut Creek Honda, who are
once again this year sponsoring
our student scholarships. Chevron
sponsored the majority of the awards,
John Muir Health sponsored the
health awards, and Walnut Creek
Honda sponsored the auto awards.
Their support of our programs and our
students is invaluable.
Mission
To enable all learners to achieve their
highest personal, academic, and
career potential though state-of-the-art
educational programs and services.
Contra Costa County
Superintendent of Schools
Joseph A. Ovick, Ed.D.
Associate Superintendent
Educational Services
Pamela Comfort, Ed.D.
Contra Costa County
Board of Education
Richard P. Asadoorian
Ellen M. Elster
Daniel A. Gomes
Pamela M. Mirabella
Cynthia T. Ruehlig
www.cocoschools.org/rop