Award winners represent many
The luncheon honoring several members of the Los Alamitos Police Department was a very nice event.
LAHS”s AP named OC Admin of Year
Los Alamitos Unified School District celebrated Los Alamitos High School Assistant Principal Melissa Miller being named the Orange County Co-Administrator of the Year at the Feb. 25 Board of Education meeting.
Katella Avenue construction starts March 27
Construction is scheduled to begin on the Katella Avenue Improvement Project on Thursday, March 27, between Bloomfield Avenue and Cherry Avenue in the City of Los Alamitos.
Los Alamitos Police officers recognized for exceptional work
Officers and employees with the Los Alamitos Police Department were honored for their efforts on March 12, at the 32nd Annual City of Los Alamitos Police Appreciation Luncheon at the Eagle’s Nest Clubhouse.
Actress Joanna Daniels Loves Lucy Live at Segerstrom Center
“I Love Lucy, Live on Stage” is coming home to Southern California with a stop at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, March 18 – 23. The show premiered in Los Angeles at the Greenway Court Theatre, playing to packed houses from October of 2011 to February 2012 before moving on to Chicago and eventually (April 2013) touring theaters across the county to rave reviews.
Local teams battle at the Loara Tournament
Practically every local prep baseball teams plays at the Loara Tournament, which has been hosted at Loara High in Anaheim for several decades. This tourney, which always consists of the strongest programs from division-I on down, provides bragging rights as schools collide that would normally not face each other.
Centurions edge Saxons, 4-3
The Loara High baseball program has become known for hosting a popular tourney, one that showcases the best teams from the area. It also earned a reputation last year as a competitive program, capturing the Golden West League title.
Los Al High girl is Miss SB
A new Miss Seal Beach was crowned on Sunday, March 9 in the pageant held in the Performing Arts Center on the campus of Los Alamitos High School.
Cypress student gets a high-five from Obama
There aren’t too many folks who are lucky enough to get an invite to the White House and have an opportunity to meet the President of the United States. Well, Cypress High School student Kayla Briet recently had that opportunity.
To Briet, it was a chance of a lifetime to meet and high-five President Barack Obama. Briet, a senior at Cypress, stamped her plane ticket to the nation’s capital when she was selected as a finalist in the first ever White House Student Film Festival contest.
STEM teachers honored by OC Engineering Council
Five teachers were recently recognized by the Orange County Engineering Council with Outstanding STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Service and Program Awards.
The awards were bestowed at the annual banquet sponsored by the council, whose mission is to enhance the public image of engineers and scientists, and promote the interaction of professional societies, engineering/scientific corporations, and universities in Orange County.
Keynote speaker at the event was Dr. Leon Alkalai of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, whose topic was “The Present and the Future of Robotic Space Exploration.”
The AUHSD honorees were as follows:
Jamie Clapper—Mrs. Clapper has been instrumental in bringing STEM courses to South Junior High School. She is one of four teachers who worked to create four new STEM courses: forensics, marine biology, environmental science, and food science. This year, Mrs. Clapper taught an environmental science course for the first time on a junior high campus in the Anaheim Union High School District.
As a school with a brand new set of STEM courses, South’s challenge has been creating deeper learning with limited funds and resources. Mrs. Clapper quickly responded to the challenge by researching resources.
The environmental science course is amazing, filled with hands-on activities, project-based learning, and opportunities for students to build 21st Century skills and become better prepared for college and careers.
Jerry Cates—Mr. Cates is the Building Industry Technology Academy (BITA) teacher at Western High School, and serves on the board of the Bacchus Doc-in-a-Box Foundation. Through a partnership with the Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club, the BITA students have been involved in creating engineering-based humanitarian projects that impact lives in Orange County and around the world.
In the Doc-in-a-Box project, BITA students converted a 20-ft shipping container into a sustainable, remote medical clinic. This clinic, called the Holistic Health Center, is now located in Nkandla, South Africa, and provides health screening, HIV counseling and testing, dental services, vision screening, and pregnancy services to the community.
Additionally, the BITA students designed and built a trailer that serves as a mobile dental clinic for communities in Southern California and Baja Mexico. In 2014, the dental clinic will provide over $1 million of free services to underserved children. It is estimated that almost one-quarter of children in California have never visited the dentist.
Current projects being worked on by Mr. Cates and his BITA students include a “vision box” that will provide mobile vision screening and services to underserved communities in Southern California and Mexico, and a project to create ambulance trailers for Africa that will be less than one-tenth the cost of a traditional ambulance, and will not require the extensive maintenance costs of a motorized vehicle. Jerry Cates is an example of the transformative effect a dedicated teacher can have on both his students and community.
Ron Ponce—This award recognizes the role Ron Ponce has played in strengthening STEM education in north Orange County. Over the past 14 years, Mr. Ponce, a teacher in the North Orange County Regional Occupational Program, has provided engineering education to students at Western and Anaheim high schools. Students learn 3D CAD design and manual and digital fabrication techniques.
Mr. Ponce and his students are also involved in a number of science and engineering competitions held in Orange County. At the UCI Energy Invitational, his Anaheim High School team built an electric racecar designed to complete as many laps as possible within one hour, using only $1 worth of energy.
Students in Mr. Ponce’s class are also active participants each year in the OC Youth Expo STEM Showcase where they compete in robotics contests and engineering showcases. This year, the students will also be taking part in the OC Maker Challenge where they create products of their own design using 3D printers. Mr. Ponce is dedicated to the belief that engineering and manufacturing education is critical to the future of Orange County.
Beth Harper—Ms. Harper is a wonderful mathematics teacher and one of our finest instructors at Loara High School—in 2012, she was named campus Teacher of the Year. Her students learn to love mathematics, the school’s honors and advanced placement mathematics courses continue to grow and develop, and increasing numbers of Loara graduates confidently enroll in mathematics coursework at the college level.
Ms. Harper’s efforts on behalf of Loara High School have extended far beyond her own classroom. She has consistently sought ways to improve the efficacy of the school, including designing and delivering critical staff development; working on curriculum development; serving as the accreditation coordinator; participating as a member of the instructional leadership team; spearheading the Open Library Tutorial Program; leading the development of campus Professional Learning Communities; and providing support for teachers’ ongoing analysis and use of data to inform instruction.
Michael Manning—The Hour of Code at Cypress High School, during which 2,000 students participated in writing computer code during Computer Science Week, was an extraordinary success, based on the vision of Michael Manning and his fellow teachers. They were collectively committed to providing all students with the opportunity to broaden their experiences and create interest in future STEM careers.
The Hour of Code was a first-ever international effort to have students around the globe write computer-programming codes for one hour in an effort to spark interest in the rapidly growing field. Five million students worldwide participated in the event, including nearly the entire student body at Cypress High School, thanks to the encouragement and selfless planning of Mr. Manning.
Contributing Source: Anaheim Union High School District
Los Alamitos High teams fall in playoffs
It’s all over. The winter season came to an end at Los Alamitos High without a CIF champ – at least in regards to team sports – this year.
The Los Alamitos High boys’ basketball squad advanced to the second round of the CIF Division-IAA playoffs, where they fell to Inglewood in a 46-44 heartbreaker on Feb. 25. They previously defeated Jordan (Long Beach) in the first round.
Top scorer Khalid Washington did most of the offensive damage against Inglewood. He tallied 17 points. He did the deed with five field goals and went 7-for-10 from the free-throw line.
Additionally, senior Chris Powelson shot 67 percent from behind the arc, draining a pair of 3-pointers to end with 8 points. Junior Jack Kaub notched 9 points, Bryan Igboke earned 5 points and Ryan Kusch contributed 3 points.
Inglewood essentially took sophomore EyassuWorku, who has averaged 13.7 points per game, out of the game. It held him to just 2 points.
The Griffins ended with a 24-5 overall record and their ninth Sunset League title in 10 years.
Inglewood qualified for the semifinals. It will battle Long Beach Poly in that round.
The Los Alamitos High girls’ basketball team fell to Vista Murrieta, and in the second round of the CIF Division-IAA as well. The final score of this contest didn’t accurately convey the closeness of this battle, which unfolded on Feb. 26 at Los Al High’s gymnasium.
The Griffins ended the first quarter locked in a 4-4 tie and kept the deficit to one possession at the end of the first half, which ended with them behind 19-16. However, Vista Murrieta took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring Los Al by the score of 18-10.
They topped Crescenta Valley in a road matchup in the first round with a 45-41 victory and finished the season with a 17-12 overall record.
In boys’ soccer action, Los Alamitos lost to Aliso Niguel, which posted a 2-1 victory in the first round on Feb. 20. The opposition’s Charlie Wehan notched two goals. He put the Griffins in a 1-1 hole at the end of the half and pushed them ahead with his second score in the second.
John Herron notched the only goal for the Griffins.
The Los Alamitos High girls’ soccer team fell to San Clemente by the score of 2-0 in the second round of the playoffs. It had previously knocked off Brea Olinda by being on the opposite end of the same score.
Los Alamitos, which trailed 1-0 at the halftime break, ended with a 9-7-6 overall record.
The Los Alamitos High girls’ water polo team did the best. It went all the way to the semifinal round, eliminating some big schools before Laguna Beach ended the team’s season with a 12-5 win on Feb. 26.
The Griffins trailed 2-0 after the first quarter and 7-2 at the half. They then refused to go quietly in the third, matching the opposition’s two goals, but got outscored 3-1 in the fourth.
BeccaCorb led the Griffins with a pair of scores. Also, Karley Kraft, Sarah Siepker and Ella Weber all ended with one goal each.
The Griffins year concluded with a 22-9 overall record.
Cypress College legends come home
Cypress alum and NBA great Mark Eaton calls the state of Utah home. After spending so many years playing for the Utah Jazz as one of the league’s most dominant centers, it is no surprise that Eaton has a certain fondness for the state that supported him during his playing heyday. But his real home is in Orange County. Cypress College is part of his homegrown roots.
He came back home last weekend to take part in several activities honoring him and fellow Cypress College alum Swen Nater. The two big men and their towering presence on the basketball court were at the center of attention Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, when the duo both had their jerseys retired at Cypress College and were celebrated at the Cypress College Foundation’s 39thAnnual Americana Awards, which was held at the Disneyland Hotel’s Grand Ballroom, respectively.
Both Eaton and Nater were both feted as the 2014 39thAnnual Americana Awards “Man of the Year.” The ceremony at Cypress College on Feb. 21 was a little bit louder and raucous than it was at the elegant pageantry of the Americana Awards as both Eaton and Nater joined their mentor and coach Don Johnson in being honored during halftime of the Cypress women’s basketball game.
The mood was celebratory and fun to watch as Eaton, Nater and Johnson received thunderous congratulatory applause and a standing ovation from the student body and Cypress College officials. There is plenty to celebrate about both Eaton and Nater. Nater didn’t play a lick of team basketball at the high school he attended. Eaton had thoughts about being an automobile mechanic.
Both men found grace and a door opening to the world of what they can do on the basketball world thanks to the discovery of Tom Lubin and the guidance of Johnson.
Eaton has made a big splash recently, going back to his high school alma mater at Westminster High to see his jersey retired. Cypress College, however, is the defacto place where Eaton took up his basketball roots. Now a motivational speaker, Eaton and Nater came under the tutelage of the legendary Johnson. It was Johnson who took both big men under his wing and crafted their skills to become great basketball players.
More importantly, Johnson helped shaped the two men’s character-not only as a coach-but also as a mentor and educator. Nater starred for the Chargers, leading Cypress to a state title before enjoying stardom at UCLA and professionally, where he played 12 years, including stints in the NBA and ABA (American Basketball Association).
Nater led the NBA and the now defunct ABA in rebounding. According to statistics, he is the only player to hold that distinction. He still holds the franchise (Milwaukee Bucks) mark for rebounds in a single game and can still boast of still having the all-time mark at the California community college level for hauling down most boards in a contest (39).
That’s some pretty impressive stuff. But what Eaton has managed to do might rival his Cypress College contemporary. All Eaton did was become the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year on two occasions and earn a spot on the league’s All-Defense Team seven times.
Spiratos named LAUSD Principal of Year
Rossmoor Elementary School Principal Kiva Spiratos has been selected as 2014 Principal of the Year for Los Alamitos Unified School District.
