Month: May 2018

For the upcoming 2018-19 school year, Valencia High School’s (VHS) Orange County Academic Decathlon (OCAD) team will have a new head coach, Dr. Samuel Myovich. Mr. Fred Jenkins, the former OCAD coach, wanted to spend more with his family so he decided to step down as head coach and passed this role onto Myovich. The transition for the OCAD team was made easy because for many years, Jenkins and Myovich coached as virtual partners. Myovich explained how Jenkins is a “true numbers guy and his analytics from the numbers perspective cannot be matched by anyone.” As a result, even though Myovich is the new head coach, he still considers his new role a partnership with Jenkins, however he will have some new responsibilities. For example, Myovich will have to communicate with the Orange County Department of Education and he will manage paperwork for student transcripts to make sure they are in the correct category for the Sacramento California Academic Decathlon. Besides the paperwork, Myovich stated that the actual coaching will not change that much.

As the new head coach, Myovich wishes to “continue the traditions of excellence” and win county, getting top 10 in states, where they have been close but never succeeded. Next year will mark Movich’s last year as a teacher at VHS and coach for OCAD, he aspires to end off on a good note. One struggle that Myovich believes he will encounter is receiving commitment from each member, because he knows that the team is only as strong as its weakest link. With that, he wants to build the relationship between every member where they all have mutual respect for one another. Myovich hopes that every student will leave OCAD with more knowledge on various topics, understanding of how each category interconnects with one other and better study skills. He loves what OCAD represents in its interdisciplinary approach to topics and how enjoyable and rewarding it can be.

On May 18, 2018 at 7:00 P.M. at the Valencia High School Auditorium, the combined jazz bands from Kramer Middle School and Valencia High School performed back-to-back with special guest artist Alex Hahn. 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of Valencia High School hosting a Jazz Guest Artist Concert. Previous years have seen artists like Wayne Bergeron, Barbara Morrison, Bijon Watson, and Francisco Torres perform alongside Valencia’s own jazz bands. This year, Valencia and Kramer invited saxophone player Alex Hahn to perform with both schools.

Alex Hahn is an award-winning saxophonist and composer based in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from University of North Texas in 2014 with a Bachelor of Music and later on graduated from the University of California with his Master of Music in Jazz Studies. Along with his accolades, Hahn is well-known for performing with other renowned artists like Herbie Hancock, John Clayton, and Michael Buble. He has traveled and performed in countries like Havana, Cuba and St. Petersburg, Russia. Hahn also leads his own group called The Alex Hahn Crossing recently releasing their new album “Emerging” to critical acclaim.

The Kramer Jazz Band under the direction of Mr. Mark Gunderson performed songs such as “The Blues Walk” by Clifford Brown, “Birdland” by Joseph Zawinul, and “I Gots The Sleepy Man Blues” composed by Hahn himself. Valencia’s Jazz II and Jazz I performed with Hahn, “There Will Be Another You,” “Second Chances,” and featured on Hahn’s album, Emerging, “Psychedelic Sun.”

After the performance, Hahn spoke about his experience working with the bands. He spoke of both bands having “a great amount of fun working with [him]”. He says that he always strive towards “pushing boundaries towards a great performance.” When Hahn rehearsed with the bands, he worked on “tweaking and improving students’ jazz improvisation” as well as tips on being a better performer. Hahn commented that it was “amazing to work with the jazz students who have a significant amount of energy.” He recognized that this performance has “great symbolic meaning to [him] considering [he] has done performances like the one at Valencia when [he] was in high school and that they performed music familiar to [him].”

Photos courtesy of Mr. Ryan Reich

Photos courtesy of Mr. Ryan Reich

Photos courtesy of Mr. Ryan Reich

Photos courtesy of Mr. Ryan Reich

In pursuit of giving back to the community, one of Valencia High School’s (VHS) ceramics classes, led by Ryan Reich, created original tiles to ornament a mural at Kraemer Park in Placentia. The project began as an integral part of the city wide movement known as “LOVE PLACENTIA” and gave ceramics the opportunity to unite an entire community, serving one another as well as the city itself.

Leading up to the event, Reich and his students confronted new and varying challenges, primarily involved with the types of artwork students would be producing. Reich disclosed the mural, “was out of my normal wheelhouse of the kinds of projects we do…” Despite the obstacles, he went on to commend the effort and creativity students invested in the unique venture they undertook.

Distinct styles of design and decoration were evident in each tile piece, some of which included messages in Disney-like fonts, simple geometric patterns, or self-portraits of students themselves. Reflecting the “people of Valencia” proved a primary motivation for many students, who anticipated longevity for this mural; future generations would be able to see and remember the faces of these students and appreciate what members of VHS were able to contribute to the city of Placentia.

Dedicated to benefit the local community and overcome artistic challenges, Reich and his ceramics class continue to perfect the Kraemer mural. Seniors Masey Park and Ignacio Carreno helped to install the tiles on Saturday, and look forward to the next couple of weeks left in completing the mural.

City officials of Placentia notably expressed happiness regarding the progression of “LOVE PLACENTIA”, and continue to support the efforts of VHS students, as well as those from independent event organizers. These contributions to the city of Placentia led by Reich are testaments to the culture of community and love that Valencia High School prides in, and the subsequent completion of the mural will add yet another milestone for the ceramics class.

On the morning of May 2, 2018 in the administration building, three Valencia High School seniors were met with great praise as they signed papers committing to participate in the sports of their choice at top universities across the nation.

Senior Ethan Frisone signed to be committed for track and cross country at Loyola Marymount University in Westchester, Los Angeles, California. Garrett Garcia signed to be committed to play soccer for York University in York, England, and Hannah Roskelly signed to play soccer at University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota.

These athletes have worked hard for the past three years to be recognized and admitted to the universities. During this event, the athletes gathered with parents, families and coaches as well as administrators. Valencia’s own principal, Mrs. Olivia Yaung, and two assistant principals, Michael Young and Chris Herzfeld, began with introductions and personal congratulations to the athletes.

Athletes began signing the papers saying they accept their admission into the universities. They were then approached by Valencia’s TigerTube staff for interviews.

Frisone attributed his accomplishments to him growing up with parents  that nurtured his skill by running with him. In addition, joining the cross country team allowed him to develop further as an athlete. Cross country and track coach, Brandon Frank, mentioned that it was a pleasure to work with Frisone and really noticed him grow as a leader with great work ethics.

Garcia’s goal in soccer was to achieve great goals in a career involving soccer and most importantly sought to improve himself as a player. Soccer coach, Barry Gardener, stated that it was a pleasure for him to join boys soccer his junior and senior year and praised his defending abilities. Gardner concluded with his well wishes for Garcia’s venture overseas.

Roskelly looked back at when she started playing soccer at age four and acknowledged her passion for the sport. She is looking forward  to playing at the college level and creating new experiences. Gardener, also the Girls Soccer coach, finished off with wishing Roskelly good luck at South Dakota and thanking her for being a great leader on the team.

Valencia wishes these athletes good luck at the next level of their athletic career

On April 8, 2018, biology teachers: Mr. William Truong, Ms. Leina Rizzo, Ms. Rebecca Bonet, and Ms. Linda Crossno assigned their first year biology students with a project geared towards improving Valencia High School’s (VHS) environment. In accordance with their lessons on human impact, specifically the negative consequences, these teachers were inspired to organize a project on sustainability this year. As explained by Truong, “sustainability is the idea of using resources/goods without depleting them in the long run.” Students in groups of two to three were given the opportunity to choose their own topic, so long as it involved this theme of campus sustainability. While the project gives students a chance to serve VHS, it also provides a window for all to help the local environment.

Before taking action, students were required to identify a problem, present data, and propose a viable solution. Many made use of social media when collecting data regarding campus opinion. Some propositions include, packaging food for longer preservation, building a thrift shop, building gardens, and constructing a paludarium. While the process challenged many, Freshman Karina Patel recognized the venture as, “a great way to engage students to help their school out.”

Truong hopes the project will encourage students around campus to take on a more intimate role in supporting the “existence and maintenance of their ecosystems.” With the anticipated success, Truong also believes students will see their positive impact on the ecosystem through feedback from peers, teachers, and administrators. Having only a few weeks left to complete this project, students are set to finish by June 11.