Mark highlights april 2017 issue 2

MARK Highlights

Manteca Unified School Board

the

Making a positive difference to each and every student daily.

New Haven Track Team see page 8

April 2017, issue 2

Contents At Our Schools

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MUSD School Board

Best of the Best District Art Show

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President Stephen J. Schluer, Area 6

The Competition

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Vice President Bob Wallace, Area 7

Region 2 Site Visit

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Board Clerk Evelyn Moore, Area 5

SHS Students Use Electron Microscope

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Manteca High School Safe Driving Campaign

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Community Outreach

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Eric Duncan, Area 1 Kathy Howe, Area 2 Michael Seelye, Area 3 Nancy Teicheira, Area 4

MUSD Superintendents

STEAM Day at LHS

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“Lathrop High, this is your Every 15 Minutes”

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2017 Cougar Classic Soccer Tournament

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be.tech has the Skills for Regional and State

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Dr. Clark Burke

Acorn League Track Season

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Roger Goatcher

Educators of the Year

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Employees of the Year

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MUSD School Board Hosts District Celebration

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Community Corner French Camp Ornithologists

Local News

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Vick ended up steering Manteca football

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Deerink signs with Notre Dame de Namur

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Thiara on track for Cal Poly-SLO

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MUSD rolling out Delta classes at high schools

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Lathrop students create magical birthday

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Shipman & Schluer

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Superintendent Jason Messer Deputy Superintendents

Vision Manteca Unified School District will ensure every school day is relevant, rigorous, and leads students to become productive and engaged members of a global society while residing in the central valley.

Mission Manteca Unified School District is committed to providing a safe environment where all students will thrive with the tools, resources and support needed to achieve their academic and personal potentials.

Superintendent’s Office:

Community Outreach Manteca Unified School District

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Julia Telles Wins Best in Show

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Best of the Best District Art Show

by Devon York District Arts Coordinator

The doors were open once again for the Best of the Best 2017 District Art Show and Sale.

High School student work from throughout the district were on display.

Ribbons hung on all first, second and third place pieces in each category. Family and friends enjoyed cookies and juice, provided by be.tech, while they wandered the gallery.

The atmosphere was very lively.

Teachers enjoyed mingling with students and parents to discuss artwork.

Discussions ranged from the excellent quality of student work to all the effort put forth to create such a great show.

Sierra student Louisa Hunter sat at the greeting table until 6 pm taking votes for

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The People Choice awards.

As visitors entered the side door, they were welcomed with buttons, flyers and voting slips.

At the conclusion of the show, Best of Show and The People Choice Award was announced. Two students from East Union won the awards.

The Best of Show belongs to Julia Telles for her conceptual drawing and the People Choice Award belongs to Emma Rice for her grid reproduction.

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Their teacher Jeff Moring has done an excellent job as a member.

MUSD art show award recipients are given the opportunity to go on the annual MUSD Art Show Field trip.

This year, students are scheduled to tour Precita Eyes Mural Tour in San Francisco along with a pastel mural workshop.

Until next year, happy art making.

Two students from East Union won the awards.

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The Competition challenged students to a Lincoln Staff staff/student basketball game, just before Spring break.

Although the teachers held strong, the students made the winning shot of the game with a one point margin.

All participants and observers felt the exhilaration of students and teachers bonding over a friendly competitive ball game.

Lincoln teachers admitted it was worth the few body aches and pains.

The Lincoln Girls Soccer team participated in the First Annual Weston Ranch Jr. High Soccer Tournament. The girls took home the winning trophy, snagging first place! Congratulations Raiders, and coach Burnett!

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New Haven’s 7th Graders combined both fun and education dissecting frogs in science class.

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New Haven’s Track Team performed well in two track meets, and hope to qualify for finals.

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Region 2 Site Visit

Region 2 Administrators were joined by the Superintendent Jason Messer, Senior Director Dr. Cheryl Meeker, and Board Trustee Kathy Howe on a site visit to Manteca Day School.

Administrators learned how PBIS is implemented at the school, behavioral programs and strategies used by the staff, and incentives and recognition

given to the students. As they walked the halls, they were captivated by the beautiful student work on display and encouraged to know that students are building the capacity to be successful in behavior, attendance, and academics.

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SHS Students Use a Hitache Scanning Electron Microscope

by Dr. Larry Grimes Sierra High School

Overall students conducted 16 different investigations over the course of the week.

The Hitachi Corporation (Education Division) delivered a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to the Sierra science department for student use for the week of April 17th.

Students in Dr. Larry Grimes’ Physiology and AP Biology classes conducted numerous scientific investigations, using the microscope (which is able to magnify objects up to 30,000 times) to gather data on a wide range of biological questions.

Overall students conducted 16 different investigations over the course of the week.

As their teacher, I was again reminded of how amazing my students are! They blew me away with the quality of their questions and their conclusions as they gathered and evaluated their data.

Some examples of

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student generated investigations and microscopic data follow:

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What causes Zits?

Students imaged an infected skin pore and found that bacteria cluster around the sweat and oil glands of the skin, feeding off the secretions, resulting in an infection.

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2. Do bugs (insects)

and spiders view the world differently?

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Turns out that insects have compound eyes, each of the thousands of facets serving as a single pixel in creating a kaleidoscopic image that the insect brain sorts out, while spider eyes imagine the world much as do human eyes with a lens and light sensitive retina.

3. How can butterfly

wings, which are so thin and frail, support a butterfly in turbulent flight?

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Turns out that the wing is strengthened by protein cross-bracing, with each

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protein molecule being around 50 nanometers thick. Images showed long structural protein girders with protein crossbridges.

4. Why does the hair

of some swim-team members turn lighter during the competitive swimming season?

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It appears that pool chlorine damages the outer cuticle layer of the hair shaft leaving the cortical layer with longitudinal fishers exposing the inner melanin cell layers to bleaching. Comparison of two sisters, one on the swim team showed extensive damage to the hair shaft cuticle. The first image is of normal hair (4a) with overlapping cuticle scales that protect the cortex hair shaft.

The second is of a swimmer’s hair (4b) showing longitudinal striations and the cuticle is totally missing.

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but which can also cause a number of infectious diseases if communicated between students.

6. Do Monocot and Dicot

plants differ in the structure and distribution of their stoma?

The stoma is the small opening on the undersides of leaves that allow carbon dioxide, oxygen and water vapor both in and out of the leaf.

The big surprise is not just yes but dramatically yes. Two images show that the monocot leaves had very tightly packed stoma (6a), which the dicot leaves had more widely, disorganized spaced stoma (6b). The third picture’s the architecture of the opened stomata of a dicot leaf (6c).

Thank you for taking this scientific journey with us into the depths of the microscopic.

5. How contaminated is

the tablet keyboard that we use every day?

Swabbing and incubation showed a large population of Bacillus bacteria. These are common and mostly harmless bacteria

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6a

6b

6c

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Manteca High School Safe Driving Campaign 2017

by Nina Norton College Prep Club Advisor

The Manteca High School Safe Driving Committee put together a busy and well thought-out campaign to discourage distracted driving.

The committee is a part of the MHS College Prep Club.

spoke before the board, explaining their goals, what they hoped to achieve, and some of their planned activities. They received a Board Resolution recognizing the month as Distracted Drivers Awareness month.

Two weeks before the campaign the leadership team met, led by Runvir Chouhan, Andrea Ledesma Franco, and Surayya Sakhi, to organize their campaign. The campaign slogan for this year was “Stay Alive: Don’t Text and Drive.”

Students included information in the announcements and on the marquee.

On March 14, the students celebrated Snap Chat Day. Students and staff held up signs and posted pictures with the Safety Center. Both at lunch and class to class, students took the posters and asked students to pose with them.

Over 100 pictures were sent!

The Safe Driving Campaign started with a visit to the District School Board Meeting.

The students proudly wore awarded Honor the Code T-Shirts to the March 7 meeting. Josh Vega represented the group, and

They also took posters to the community to help spread the word about the dangers of distracted driving.

The Manteca Allstate office, and Phil Waterford’s Manteca Ford office both posted signs on Main Street.

March 15 was Drowsy Driver Awareness Day. It was the perfect activity for the day before finals. One of our bilingual aids joined in and translated the poster into Spanish,

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so posters in both English and Spanish were available.

Principal Gonzales sent out a call to all the parents reminding them about finals encouraging a good night’s sleep for both tests and safety.

On March 16, Sequoia students were all given bookmarks reminding them to buckle up. Other students held up signs near the crosswalks reminding parents to slow down and watch for children.

Posters were taken to the community to help spread the word about the dangers of distracted driving.

March 17th, before students left for Spring Break, they were offered Smarties candies to the students with a Message about distracted driving.

After Spring Break, the students tried a re-tweet activity. They sent out their slogan and hoped to get 1000 retweets. Even adding an extra day, they still fell far short of their goal. It was their biggest disappointment.

With daily announcements, on March 29, the students put “love notes” into students’ lockers after school to welcome students the next day.

March 30th was Pledge Day where students had a poster made for the event for students to sign a pledge not to text and drive.

April 3, they encouraged students to “White-out Distracted Driving, using posters with statistical information about the dangers of distracted driving. They sponsored a “white out” men’s volleyball game, and asked student to wear white t-shirts and join them in the whiteout sections.

Men’s volleyball is a new sport in the district, and this game had the largest attendance.

Throughout the school day on April 4, the students and staff at Manteca High sent out two tweets: #They Say I _____, but really I ______ and Stay Alive: Don’t Text and Drive - Manteca HS#Allstate #Teen Safe Driving. Staff members allowed their students to tweet the messages in support of the ‘Say Hey’ activity for the Safe Driving Campaign.

On April 4th, the district nurses received information about the

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students’ campaign and connected them with Ken Mintz from AT&T who came came to the school from San Ramon, and spent the morning with Mr. Inderbitzen’s drivers’ education classes. He showed video, led discussions, and provided the students with two virtual reality experiences.

During the lunch period, he set up in the quad, and provided more students with the virtual reality opportunities.

The City Council called the students up and read their proclamation declaring April Distracted Driving Awareness month and openly supported the students campaign.

Andrea Ledesma Franco gave a brief explanation about the campaign.

On April 5, the students hosted a sidewalk chalk writing called: “What do you have to lose?” Since distracted driving accidents often end in fatalities, the committee members asked the students to write

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what they were thankful for on the sidewalk. The sidewalk quickly filled up with their chalked gratitude.

The campaign finished with created flyers put on students’ cars reminding of the dangers of texting and driving.

The video production class joined with the leadership team and added a segment to their morning show that

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depicted what happens when police cite you for texting and driving. Many thanks to Officer Downs and Officer Machado of the Manteca Police Department.

After all these many campaign efforts, the students reflected on their process so that they can improve next year.

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STEAM Day at LHS

Science Technology Engineering Art Math

By: Geraldaughn Soriano Community Outreach Intern

On April 18th, third and fourth grade students from Woodward and Joseph Widmer Elementary schools took a field trip to Lathrop High School for STEAM Day.

There were 3 different classrooms and all the students rotated to each classroom. In the first classroom, students raced derby cars and made bracelets from a 3D printer.

STEAM day is a way for students to become more exposed to science, technology, engineering, art, and math.

In the second classroom, students made homemade snow and fluffy slime. They also learned the science behind it and how adding a particular ingredient will change the outcome.

Lathrop High School teacher Jennifer Myers stated, “This was amazing because we have been talking about this day and planning it out. But you never know until the kids are here whether they will be engaged in the activities that we have planned for them.”

“It was so fun to work with all of the kids and teach them more about STEAM. They really had a great chance to use their imagination and they had a ton of fun,” stated Madisyn Kaskewsky, an LHS Careers with Children student.

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In the third classroom, students played a game called “Cube� in the computer lab. Cube is a much more complex version of Minecraft.

By playing this game, students had to make a map by using different materials. This gave students a taste of what it would be like to be an engineer or a game designer.

STEAM day was a great way for kids to experience science, technology, engineering, art, and math.

Students participated in fun activities that helped them become more involved in these subject areas.

Many students had a ton of fun doing hands on activities and learning about STEAM.

Cube is a much more complex version of Minecraft.

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“Lathrop High, this is your Every 15 Minutes�

Submitted by Chase Hayes Community Outreach Intern

The screams and cries of Mia Anderson filled the stadium as sounds of sirens were approaching in the near distance.

On April 12th and 13th Lathrop High hosted the bi-annual Every 15 Minutes program; coordinated

by Lathrop High staff, California Highway Patrol, and Lathrop Fire/Police Services.

The program was spread over a two-day period consisting of the day-one, crash scene and daytwo, mock funeral. Both juniors and seniors were the targeted audience, while parents and staff also witnessed the events unfold.

The purpose of the event

was to spread awareness about the traumatic effects of drinking

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Parents and students were given the chance to express their “final words” in front of their families and peers.

personnel was on scene; covering the dead-on arrival, and calling in a helicopter transport for Shaianne Brito, the critically injured. Little did the audience know, Shaianne was not going to make it.

and driving, showing the serious consequences that can happen to anyone.

Anderson filled the stadium as sounds of sirens were approaching in the near distance.

BANG! It was a full two days of tears and serious conversations as students, parents and staff viewed the body of Chase Hayes on the hood of the car collision. The screams and cries of Mia

“WHY?” Frankie Edu questioned the drunk driver, John Abapo. “Helpless” was the one word all students in the car collision felt at the time of the crash. Within minutes, emergency

Those who participated in Every 15 Minutes did not attend school for both days and had zero contact with the outside world; including parents, friends, and cell phones. The students and their parents were asked to attend mock court trials, identifying the body of the deceased at the morgue, attended hospitals for those in critical condition, and the booking at the San Joaquín County jail for the guilty.

Throughout Day 1, tombstones

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and sketched out bodies were placed throughout the campus to commemorate the dead. Officers and the Grim Reaper visited multiple classes, reading the obituaries of the students who participated in the program. Pictures and flowers were left on those students’ desk for both days and remained untouched.

On Day 2, the students and parents attended the mock funeral hosted in front of all juniors and seniors.

Many tears were shed as speakers from various regions put together a ceremony to wrap up the awareness program.

Judges, lawyers, and even victims of drinking and driving incidents spoke at the mock funeral. Parents and students were given the chance to express their “final words” in front of their families and peers.

The gruesome scenes and emotional distress of the program hopefully influenced the minds of many students in a positive way, convincing them not to drink and drive, especially two days before Lathrop High’s Prom.

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2017 Cougar Classic S o c c e r To u r n a m e n t

Submitted by: Joe Contreras Community Outreach Intern

The possible future of the Weston Ranch High School soccer programs were on display during the 2017 Cougar Classic Tournament.

Boys Soccer’s head coach Francisco Cisneros started the annual Cougar Classic Tournament to include junior high soccer teams from Manteca Unified School District Schools.

Schools involved in the tournament included Lincoln Elementary, Great Valley Elementary, George Komure Elementary, and French Camp

Elementary. All schools represented had a boys and girls soccer team to compete in the tournament.

For girls soccer, the championship game was between Great Valley and Lincoln. Lincoln jumped to a quick 3-0 lead in the first half. Great Valley then scored late to make the score 3-1.

Finally Great Valley scored a goal to trail by one but Lincoln responded quickly with a goal of their own and won the championship game 4-2.

The Lincoln girls were coached by

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Derrick Burnett.

Burnett exclaimed, “many kids from Lincoln prefer soccer to other sports, so it was great to see them be successful in their element and have the opportunity to play!”

Burnett’s team sacrificed their lunch period to practice for three weeks because that was the only time all players were able to practice.

He explained how soccer is not offered in our District Acorn league.

He said, “It was great to offer something to the students that they truly wanted to participate in, but usually do not have the chance. “ Lincoln’s secret to success was having key positions with players who have extensive soccer experience. Burnett called them hard working, intelligent, and great teammates.

For the boys soccer side of the tournament, the first round opened up with Great Valley against George Komure and Lincoln against French Camp. In the second round the winners from the first round faced each other in the championship game.

The final was between Great Valley and Lincoln.

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Great Valley defeated Lincoln 2-1 to win the championship. They were coached by Rebecca Kinlaw.

Great Valley was motivated to get redemption from losing last year’s championship game. “The feeling of defeat in the championship last year fueled them in all their practices this year,” Kinlaw said.

Cesar Juarez scored a goal in the first two seconds of the game. He kicked the ball off the kick off and scored from mid field. Henry Mendoza scored the second goal later in the game.

He said, “We have really good team chemistry.”

Kinlaw said that the best part of the tournament for her as a coach was seeing her players excited for each other’s individual success either on offense or defense.

She accredited her success to having a great assistant coach in Fernando Ambriz,the father of Fernando Ambriz the MVP of the tournament and Great Valley’s goalie. She described him as dedicated.

Favor Pitts said, “We had a lot of ball movement and we were talking a lot on the field.”

“The feeling of defeat in the championship last year fueled them in all their practices this year,” Kinlaw said.

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The team stressed discipline on both sides of the ball, communication at all times, and commitment to protecting the goal area with defense.

Kinlaw said, “The students benefited tremendously from the tournament because they were able to experience what it means to truly represent something bigger than themselves.”

She wants to thank Francisco Cisneros for putting on another great tournament this year. She looks

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forward to the tournament every year.

They received a huge crowd with all of the students from the area.

Goalie Fernando Ambriz said, “ We didn’t win the championship for the name on the back of our shirt. We win for the name on the front of our jersey.

We won it for Great Valley.”

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be.tech has the Skills for Regional and State By: Geraldaughn Soriano Community Outreach Intern

On the weekend of April 22, be.tech’s culinary and industrial students headed down to San Diego for the Skills USA State Competition.

commercial baking, exclaimed, “It was such a great experience because I got to meet other people who share the same passion as I do.”

These students competed at the Regional Skills USA competition back in February and they qualified for the state competition.

There were a total of six students who competed, three from culinary and three from industrial. Gianni Chavez competed in Culinary Arts and came in 10th place. Rosalinda Valdivia and Angela Delgado competed in commercial baking, Angela won 2nd place and Rosalinda won 14th place.

Arthuro Banuelos competed in MIG welding and got 10th place. Randall Hinson and Donavin Arellano took part in TIG welding, Randall placed 11th and Donavin came in 3rd place.

The event was held at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center in San Diego California. But the actual competition was at the El Cajon Valley High School.

They were all so calm and collected and were out there trying their best,” stated Veroncia DeAnda, be.tech staff.

Skills USA is a competition in which students compete against other people in California on different skills such as baking, culinary, carpentry, and welding. Be.tech’s culinary students competed in culinary and commercial baking. The Industrial students competed in TIG welding and MIG welding.

Angela Delgado, who won 2nd place in

“The thing I enjoyed the most about the competition was being able to watch all the students compete. They were all so calm and collected and were out there trying their best,” stated Veroncia DeAnda, be.tech staff.

These students work hard and their dedication definitely paid off. By competing in this competition it has taught students self-confidence and perseverance.

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Acorn League Track Season

The Acorn League held track trials for 4th-8th grade students this past week. The top nine athletes qualified to participate in the finals in all the events except for the following: the 4th-6th grade 800 meter and the 7th-8th grade 1600 meter (mile); wherein 20 students qualified.

Please join us for the finals on May 3rd at 4:30pm located at Sierra High School stadium. Each elementary school is represented by either individual runners or relay teams.

Several elementary schools have athletes participating in field events, long jump or shot put.

The top three finishers in each event will receive a medal in three distinguished categories: Gold, Silver, and Bronze. A plaque will be awarded to the top scoring team in four groups: 4th-6th grade boys, 4th-6th grade girls, 7th-8th grade boys, and 7th-8th grade girls.

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Employees of the Year

by Ruth Baker Director of Classified Personnel It is my pleasure to present our 2017 Classified School Employee of the Year Awards.

The selection criteria for nominees includes 5 years of service in the nomination category, excellent work performance, school community involvement, leadership and commitment, and a willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty. It is quite an honor to be selected and we have two outstanding recipients for this award this year.

Our recipient in the Maintenance, Operations, and Facilities Category is Jimmie Jacobs. Jim is the Head Custodian II at Neil Hafley School and has been with MUSD for 32 years. Nominated by his supervisor, Mrs. Lori Guzman-Alvarez states “Mr. Jacobs established a commitment to keeping Neil Hafley School impeccably clean and being the “go-to guy” for anything that the administration, staff, students or parents needed.”

Jim won in his category at the county level and will be moving on to the state level to represent Manteca Unified as well as San Joaquin County.

Educators of the Year

by Bonnie Bennett Director of Certificated Personnel

It is my great honor to present the 2017 Manteca Unified School District Awards for Educator of the Year to five outstanding teachers. This year’s

recipients are: Melissa King, Jeanette Pacheco-Seward, Kevin Niendorf, Allison Birakos and Heidi Azevedo.

Each of these individuals have been nominated by their peers, an administrator, a parent, a student, or a community member.

Melissa King is a 2nd grade teacher

Our recipient in the Office and Technical Category is Robin Miller.

Robin is the Office Manager II at August Knodt School and has been with MUSD for 20 years. Nominated by her supervisor, Mrs. Sherryl Price states, “Robin has outstanding organization skills that is combined with high work ethics. As a dedicated and meticulous individual, Robin has the ability to manage all kinds of secretarial and clerical tasks efficiently.”

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at Great Valley School, and she has been nominated as the Certificated Outstanding Primary Educator of the Year by her principal, Mrs. Patricia Boutte. Melissa has been teaching for 12 years. Mrs. Boutte says that “Melissa is an excellent teacher and is often the one others choose to observe when honing their own skills or taking other’s to observe a teacher.”

Jeanette Pacheco-Seward is a 4th grade teacher at Great Valley School, and she has been nominated as the Certificated Outstanding Intermediate Educator of

Manteca Unified is very lucky to have outstanding educators as leaders and role models in our district. the Year by her principal, Mrs. Patricia Boutte. Her Vice Principal, Mrs. Lisa Goodwin, indicates that “Jeanie is passionate about education, her students and the Great Valley staff and community. Jeannie spends countless hours ensuring our students get cutting edge educational opportunities inside and outside the classroom.”

Kevin Niendorf is currently an 8th grade Math and Social Studies teacher at Great Valley Annex, and he has been nominated as the Certificated Outstanding Junior High School Educator of the Year by his principal, Mrs. Patricia Boutte. Senior Director, Mrs. Clara Schmiedt, indicates “Mr. Niendorf is an exceptional teacher, who truly cares about his middle school students. He enjoys working with middle school students and they enjoy his class. He has the respect and admiration of administration, his peers, parents, and students.”

Allison Birakos is currently the Student

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Activities Director and Business teacher at Lathrop High School, and she has been nominated as the Certificated Outstanding Secondary Educator of the Year by her principal, Dr. Michael Horwood.

Lathrop High School Vice Principal, Mr. Greg Leland indicates “Allison does an outstanding job of leading Lathrop High School, and she is a primary reason that we have such a fabulous culture and climate on our campus. She is a positive example of everything that is good about teachers today.”

Heidi Azevedo is currently a Program Coordinator at August Knodt School and has been nominated as the Certificated Outstanding Support Services Educator of the Year by her principal, Mrs. Sherryl Price. Her Vice Principal, Mrs. Randi Souza indicates that “Mrs. Azevedo is dedicated to the staff, students and community of August Knodt. She encompasses all the positive qualities that our District stands for. Our school is successful because of Mrs. Azevedo’s positive impact. She makes our school and District proud every day.”

Manteca Unified is very lucky to have outstanding educators as leaders and role models in our district.

Thank you all again for your commitment to our youth!

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MUSD School Board Hosts District Celebration

by Peter Gale Community Outreach

MUSD School Board Hosts District Celebration MUSD Board President Stephen J. Schluer presided at a special Manteca Unified School District Board Celebration April 25th at 6:00 PM. The event was held outside in front of the Manteca Unified School District Office.

Sofia shows daily resilience in her efforts to be successful despite her health struggles.

County Superintendent James Mousalimas was present to congratulate the awards recipients and briefly share his joy at seeing Manteca Unified value its employees and students.

Student Board Member Joe Contreras conducted the meeting, with assistance from Student Board Member Alternate Shubnaz Kaur Jagpal. They begin the recognitions by celebrating employees of the year Jimmie Jacobs, Head Custodian from Neil Hafley school and Robin Miller, Office Manager from August Knodt.

MUSD honors educators of the year in multiple categories. This year,

award recipients includes Great Valley educators Melissa King for K-3 Primary, Jeanette Pacheco for 4-6 Intermediate, and Kevin Niendorf for 7-8 Junior High. Also being honored are Lathrop High’s Allison Birakos for 9-12 Secondary and August Knodt’s Heidi Azevedo for her role as a Support Staff educator.

MUSD recognized honored Brock Elliot 8th grader Sofia Fiallos, who was selected by the Association of CA School Administrators of the San Joaquin Charter for the Every Student Succeeding Award. Sofia shows daily resilience in her efforts to be successful despite her health struggles.

The District also chose to honor New Haven School with the District Service to Others Certificate for the school’s efforts to raise $12,000 on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Eighth grade students Hunter Campbell and Nicole Sebastian were on hand to accept the award on behalf of New Haven.

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District Spelling Bee Winners were also recognized for their achievement, including 4th grader Marlon Montano from Neil Hafley, 5th graders Nolan Marley from Walter Woodward and Christina Nguyen from Joshua Cowell, 7th grader Trinity Hillyard from George Komure and 8th graders Melanie Nguyen from Brock Elliott and Jillian Urbano from Nile Garden.

For their excellence in the arts, MUSD honored Sierra High School’s senior Louisa Hunter, and Weston Ranch’s senior Kimberly Juarez. On this celebratory night, the district art show was also happening inside the district office.

Celebrated from Sierra High School, were junior Haris Hanif and senior Savannah Rohloff-Flores, whose student films were featured in the Grand Foundation student film festival.

Lathrop High School honored seniors Farhat Khairzadah and Ian Steffes with their LHS Gold Shield Award for academics and character.

Also receiving certificates for their being chosen as Boys and Girl’s Club Youth of the Year for 2016 were sophomore Eric Nascimento and junior Kiana Watson from East Union High. Lathrop Elementary’s Kevin Paz, grade 8, was also honored.

Next, Sierra High School honored

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sophomore Belen Ramos-Hurtado, junior Maleena Salehi, and seniors Kyndra Kiser and Devin Ontai for their attending the annual Focus on Freshman Conference in Los Angeles.

Recognizing students for their success in partner organizations is also important to MUSD. Manteca High Senior Guadalupe Piceno was honored for taking 3rd place in accounting at the DECA Northern California Career Development Conference.

Sierra High School was recognized for achieving the Superior Chapter Award from FCCLA. As members of that chapter, juniors Ashley Rodriguez and Deja Tuggle both won 1st place for their FCCLA service projects. Also recognized were Amy Lee, Valerie Flores, and Liz Aschenbrenner for their achievement of FCCLA silver medal as outstanding advisors.

Honored for the prestigious achievement of earning their FFA State Degrees were senior Dominic Romero and junior Elizabeth Townsend from East Union, senior Victoria Cabello from Lathrop High School and seniors Destinée Perales, Krystal Luis, and Bridgette Walraven from Sierra High.

From Weston Ranch High School, senior Teresa Novoa was honored for winning a top 5 HOSA reflection scrapbook and senior Rajdeep Singh for taking the HOSA Healthcase Issues Exam.

Sierra High School was recognized for achieving the Superior Chapter Award from FCCLA.

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Also this year, be.tech freshman Angela Delgado and Sophomore Rosalinda Valdivia won gold and silver medals respectively in the Skills USA commercial baking competition.

Also honored were Freshman Gianni Chavez for his gold medal in culinary arts and senior Donavin Arellano for his gold medal in welding, both at the Skills USA competition. Angela Delgado and Donavin Arellano also won medals at the state level, silver and bronze respectively.

Manteca High’s faculty member Dough Obrigawitch was next recognized for his achievement of being the UC Davis C-STEM Teacher of the Year.

Great Valley’s Principal Patricia Boutte was honored by the University of Pacific chapter of Phi Delta Kappa for Distinguished Service in School Administration. Health Service’s Homeless Liaison Lynda Donelson was honored for the San Joaquin County Children’s Services Coordinating Commission for winning the 2017 Child Abuse Prevention and Intervention Award.

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East Union, Emma Rice, has been accepted to USC. From Lathrop High, Navneet Garcha has been accepted to UCLA. From Manteca High School, Lejla Pepic has been accepted to Stanford University. From Sierra High, Komalpreet Badial has been accepted to UC Davis, and from Weston Ranch High School, Charlie Zhang has been accepted to UCLA.

her contributions to the girl’s tennis team. Then, Loretta Kakala of the Manteca High Girl’s Basketball Team was recognized for being named a McDonald’s All-American and for her achieving a Full Athletic Scholarship to the University of Louisville, KY.

Also showing his unique academic achievements, East Union’s Jordan Barajas was honored for receiving the Quest Bridge Full Scholarship to Stanford University.

For their athletic achievements, East Union High School’s senior Jack Weaver was honored for being named a CIF San Joaquin Scholar Athlete, recipient of the National Federation Award, and being named to the Valley Oak League (VOL) 1st Team All Area.

Next, winners of the Pappas Foundation Scholarship were recognized. Seniors Arshjot Kaur from Manteca High, and seniors Emily Kehl and Brianna Wollaston from Sierra High were recognized. This local scholarship is awarded to students who wish to attend Modesto Junior College.

Academic and Scholarship Recognitions

Also recognized for their scholarships were some gifted musicians from Sierra High. Seniors Zachary Zumstein and Diana Ayala both received University of the Pacific (UOP) music scholarships. Xachary Wagner was honored for receiving the UOP Brubeck Jazz Institute full music scholarship.

Continuing the celebration, the valedictorians of MUSD’s five high schools were next recognized. From

Manteca High senior Gladis Sandoval was next recognized as the recipient of the VOL Dale Lackey Scholarship for

Athletic Recognitions

Branden Rullan, Sierra High senior, was then recognized for being a CIF State Qualifier in Wrestling.

Sierra High’s Manuel Pires was then recognized for his being awarded the Sac-Joaquin Section Model Coach award.

From the Lathrop High Boy’s Golf team, junior Christian Guzman was honored for his being named the Stockton Record Athlete of the Week.

Also from Lathrop High, freshman Kassandra Ceja was recognized for being named to the Stockton Record All-Area Team for her contributions to Girl’s Soccer.

Next, East Union’s Natalie Cowan

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and Kendra Cambell, both juniors, were recognized for being named to the VOL All Team and All League for Girl’s Golf.

For his achievements on East Union’s Boy’s and Girl’s Basketball teams, seniors Gysbertus Hulseboch and Ruby Daube were then honored for being named to the VOL 1st Team All League. Also being given this honor from East Union were Boy’s Soccer players Enrique Garcia, Arturo Galvan, Cameron Chapman and Victor Hurtado—all seniors— and Daniel Gomez and Jesus Jurtado who are juniors on the varsity team. For Girl’s Soccer, junior Chelsey Medeiros and senior Ilena Rivera were also honored for achieving this recognition for being

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named VOL 1st Team All League.

Likewise, the CIF Div. III Section Champion Girl’s Tennis Team and the CIF Div. IV Section Champion Football Team, both from Manteca High, were also honored. The football team could not be present, but the MHS Girl’s Tennis Team came up in style with matching team shirts and their coaches.

Manteca Unified School District remains committed to making a positive difference to each and every student daily. The MUSD School Board welcomes all students, staff, families, and friends to join us in celebrating these students and staff members. They truly make us proud to be MUSD.

Continuing the celebration, the valedictorians of MUSD’s five high schools were next recognized.

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French Camp Ornithologists With the help of California Academy of Sciences, Give Every Child a Chance participants from French Camp Elementary, became Ornithologists, also known as bird experts!

Their title was earned by participating in experiments through interactive games. Each day students were given new ‘mission’, a mission to identify different birds around campus using their trusty binoculars.

During the Pollution Control segment of the lesson, students learned how water birds are affected by oil spills. This was accomplished by dipping feathers into different cups that contained oil, soapy water and plain water.

“Bird watching has been the best part!

Looking for different birds around school is so much fun!”

Jennifer, 5th grade

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Vick ended up steering Manteca football Jason Campbell jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com 209-249-3544 April 17, 2017

Walker Vick didn’t know quite what to expect when he came to Manteca in 1959 for his first teaching job at Manteca High School.

The Oroville native – who finished his schooling at Chico State in 1958 – was young, inexperienced, and wet-behind-the-ears when it came to the history and the dynamics of a small town that wasn’t all that different than the one he knew intimately in Northern California.

“And it worked out great because that’s the way it was.”

And while he’s remembered for being a legendary coach at the city’s namesake high school – spending more than four decades as a member of the faculty, and immortalized forever in name on the side of the football stadium’s field house – his first year on campus didn’t involve the thing that he would most be remembered for during his career.

He taught driver’s education.

“There weren’t a whole lot of jobs in physical education at the time, and my first year I spent five hours doing behind-the-wheel drivers training with one class inside of the Bell Tower,” Vick said with a laugh. “I had taken all of the classes in driver’s education and training, and while I was around the football team a little bit I wasn’t involved with them at all.”

But that would be short-lived.

The next year Vick became a member of the Manteca High School football family. He would spend the first eight years helping to establish continuity between multiple levels – starting out as a freshman assistant before moving on to join Ed Williams as an assistant at the sophomore level. Vick would

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eventually become the varsity baseball coach in 1964, five years before he took over the Manteca High School football program and began the daunting task of maintaining competitiveness in a Valley Oak League that included Oakdale, Sonora, St. Mary’s, Lincoln and Tracy.

His earliest successes weren’t actually on the gridiron, but the diamond.

And the way that things were done then – with only a single diamond on campus for the multiple teams to utilize – was starkly different than the way they are done today.

“We had four league championships during that time that I coached the baseball program, and we had some really good kids that were dedicated to the sport,” Vick said. “We only had one baseball diamond, for when Tracy would come and play they would bring all of their players on one bus and would drop off the varsity at our place, and then the lower levels – both teams – would ride the same bus out to Lathrop where they would play.

“And it worked out great because that’s the way it was.”

Lots of other things were starkly different during Vick’s tenure as well.

While the school didn’t have a formal booster’s club to help fund athletic endeavors, being the school’s only high school, Vick said, meant that individuals and businesses often stepped up to foot the bill for anything that the school may have needed at the time that exceeded the operating budget.

In a time when games were filmed in

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actual film – either on 8 mm or Super 8 mm cameras – Manteca High would end up with two complete rolls of 16 mm film that would be taken to a special processor after the game was over so that Vick could begin breaking down the team’s performance early the following morning.

Analyzing game footage, and even going so far as to grade each position on every play, is now standard in high school football. But at the time, the idea of putting that sort of detailed work into determining performance was a new concept.

“We always knew that when we exchanged film we were never going to get back what we gave to our opponents as they weren’t doing the same kinds of things that were at the time,” Vick said. “And when we got that back, early the next morning, I would be there going over every single play with the coaches to see how well we performed and where we could

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improve.

“Not very many people were doing that at the time so it was a way to have an edge in a competitive league.”

Even the way that athletic teams were broken down was different from the system that most people remember from today. When Vick first began coaching, teams weren’t broken up by grade level, but through the “exponent system” which used a player’s age, weight and height to determine their placement. A short and skinny senior might have only qualified under those rules to play on the C or D team, while a big sophomore – who was at least 15 years of age – could easily be a varsity player.

Girl’s sports didn’t exist in any capacity either, and the playoff system that has become such a revenue generator for the California Interscholastic Federation didn’t exist when he arrived at Manteca High School. Even during

his playing days at Oroville – where he would travel to Susanville to play league games – once the five games on the schedule had passed, it was on to either basketball or wrestling.

The changes that would come on the horizon for high school athletics, however, gave Vick a chance to be innovative not only in his coaching style, but in the role that he would eventually step into as an on-site administrator and then a staff member at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Office where he spent more than a decade helping to model and manage the emerging sports landscape.

“When I started coaching the Section office was only a small room ran by one person and a secretary, and that has changed significantly to what we have today,” he said. “It was great to play a part in helping to see the way things have changed in athletics, and while I don’t do very much of that today anymore, it was a great experience.”

And there’s a sense of pride, Vick said, in seeing the school that he spent his entire career working for succeeding in athletics even after he had long walked away from the campus. That feeling, he said, extended to other high schools in the area as well that have enjoyed recent success.

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But things weren’t always that way.

One of the things that Vick remembers vividly was the fracture of the community when East Union High School opened its doors, and how it split loyalties, and in some respects, families, based on which side of town the family happened to live in.

It also drastically shrank the boundaries of Manteca High School – sending students from Lathrop, French Camp and New Haven to East Union when they had historically always been Buffaloes.

“There are only so many windows downtown that you can paint for homecoming,” Vick said. “I think that loyalty is a natural thing, and those loyalties were tested at that point and there were definitely some hard feelings on both sides.

“I don’t think it’s that way today, which is good, but there was definitely a period there where that wasn’t the case.”

A coaching legacy that lives on If you talk to the men who coached with Vick during his tenure at Manteca High School – people like Art Mathis or Mick Founts – you’ll hear nothing but the utmost in respect and reverence.

And you’ll also hear them talk about the connections between local high school coaches today, and how they all trace back to Vick and his time at Manteca High School.

Current Manteca High head coach Eric Reis a product of that system. Sierra head coach Jeff Harbison went there as well, as did longtime East Union assistant Dan Triglia and more recently Lathrop Head Coach Joey Pirillo and Weston Ranch head coach Seth Davis.

The generations may be different, but the legacy is something that’s very much still intact.

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And maintaining a connection to those roots is something that Reis has gone to great lengths to achieve – bringing back coaches of yesteryear during the season to motivate players and remind them that they’re part of something larger than themselves, a legacy that goes back generations.

“Manteca has always had outstanding coaches and that’s something that continues to this day,” Vick said. “You look at somebody like Jack Miller who started his career in 1981 and has coached every single year that he has been on campus – including this season.

“That sort of dedication keeps that legacy alive and it it’s a way to make sure that those traditions stay alive. I just missed Jack Miller by one year, but that continuity is still there today.”

A different kind of coach The year that Vick stepped away from coaching football, he didn’t let the void in his life go unfilled for very long.

While most of his teaching colleagues were enjoying their summers back in Manteca and taking occasional trips, Vick headed up to Yosemite National Park in the summer of 1981 to begin another tradition that spanned three decades of working for the concessionaire that outfitted packers heading up to high country and worked as an assistant manager of Tuolumne Meadows.

Every year until he retired from education he would have to come back earlier that he wanted to – finding himself at home among some of the picturesque views in the world. All of that would change when we hung up his whistle and his long-running position as Manteca High School’s athletic director until he retired from that job in 2014 to focus on spending time with his children and his grandchildren.

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While he still spends time outdoors, and he still travels to watch baseball and football games – coming to Manteca from Escalon to watch his son Todd coach at Sierra High School – he rarely makes the long treks to places like Sacramento and Folsom that he did in the decade-plus working for the section office.

While he might not lay his head in Manteca anymore, it’ll always be a place that’s close to his heart.

“Manteca is a city with quality people – it’s a good place with people who care about the kids and support them,” Vick said. “I had some chances to go elsewhere during my career, especially early on, and I always turned them down because the interest wasn’t there for me.

“I was happy in Manteca.”

Photo Caption this photo from the 1970s Manteca High head football coach Walker Vick, foreground, is surrounded by assistant coaches, from left, Butch Linn, Art Mathis, Mick Founts, and Randy Gaines.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544. http://www.mantecabulletin.com/ section/38/article/143021/

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Deerink signs with Notre Dame de Namur Jonamar Jacinto jjacinto@mantecabulletin.com 209-249-3538 April 24, 2017

When you see someone like her it just makes you smile.

Manteca softball standout Tawny Deerinck signed with Notre Dame de Namur on Monday. She was joined by parents Dina and Tim Deerinck, travel ball coaches Rob Brandi and Scott Hansen, and MHS coaches Josh Farris and Ken Menasco.

Tawny Deerinck is a big part of Manteca High’s resurgence in softball, and she aims to help head coach Ashley Carter turn things around at Notre Dame de Namur.

The hard-swinging shortstop signed with the Argonauts on Monday in front of family, friends, teammates and coaches at Winter Gymnasium.

Deerinck gained interest from colleges while competing in showcase tournaments in Southern California for the Manteca-based Easton Preps 18 Gold team coached by Rob Brandi.

Carter was among those to take notice.

Baldwin (Ripon) and Delaney Pamplin (East Union) have also committed to the Argonauts.

Current Manteca teammate Haighley Kissee has signed with Holy Names, a Pac West Conference rival of Notre Dame de Namur’s. The Argonauts are currently 9-34 in Carter’s first season.

“It’s going to be really fun,” Deerinck said. “It will make things easier already knowing two people on the team really well.”

“I really love her coaching style,” Deerinck said. “She can be firm but laid back, too. She really wants to build the program up and she’s bringing in a lot of great talent.”

Deerinck leads the Buffaloes with six homers and 29 RBIs while hitting for a .413 average. Manteca (8-2 Valley Oak League, 17-5 overall) is enjoying its best season in more than two decades.

The program owns just two league titles (1989, 91) and has made few postseason appearances since.

Deerinck is already familiar with some of that talent joining her at the Belmont campus. She noted that Easton Preps teammates Jennica

First-year head coach Josh Farris attributes much of the team’s success to his three seniors — Sierra Martinez, Kissee and Deerinck.

“She’s one of those rare people to be around,” Farris said of Deerinck, who has taken his government econ class.

“When you see someone like her it just makes you smile. She makes my life easier as a coach but in the classroom as well. She’s the first one to raise her hand and the first one to help out another student — she’s that kind of person. Just a pleasure to be around.

“On the softball team she does everything about us, but she’s not about the stats. She knows we’re on this special run and she just wants to keep it going.”

A 4.0 student, Deerinck plans on studying biology. Her older sisters Ashley (softball) and Chelsea (cross country) both played sports collegiately for Stanislaus State. http://www.mantecabulletin.com/ section/34/article/143222/

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Thiara on track for Cal Poly-SLO

Sierra senior will run track for Mustangs

Vince Rembulat vrembulat@mantecabulletin.com 209-249-3537 April 18, 2017

He not only medaled but ran a personal-best time of 37.82 seconds.

Going to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo was always a dream for Bikram Thiara.

That dream became a reality Tuesday as the Sierra High senior signed his National Letter of Intent to run track for the Mustangs.

He shared the special occasion at the school library surrounded by his parents, Harjinder Singh (father) and Harpinder Kaur (mother), brother Gary, teammates, administrators and coaches.

“I had offers from other schools, but most of those were from out of state,” said Thiara, who took sixth last year in the CIF state track and field meet in

the 300 meter hurdles.

No surprise that Thiara would like nothing better than to improve on those numbers as the track and field season unwinds for the Timberwolves.

“Bikram has always had the speed and endurance for the 300 hurdles. He runs a smart race – he knows how to read the field,” said Sierra head track coach Ezequiel Ruiz.

Thiara is a two-sport athlete at Sierra.

He ran varsity track for the past three years and played varsity basketball for the Timberwolves under coach Scott Thomason for the last two years.

“Playing basketball helped in my

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jumping,” he said.

In track, he ran the 400 and 110 high hurdles. The 300 hurdles turned out to be a good fit.

“I’ve ran the 300 hurdles since my freshman year but only began focusing on it last year,” Thiara said.

His rise in the event propelled him to the state meet, where he not only medaled but ran a personal-best time of 37.82 seconds.

Ruiz entered Thiara in several big track and field meets this year, including the one in Arcadia – he took third place in both heats of the 110 high hurdles and 300 hurdles, according to the coach – and the upcoming Meet of Champions.

As for Cal Poly, Thiara, who was born in Berkeley and has lived in Manteca since he was a second grader, recalled his visit to the school.

It was a comfortable feeling.

“It was like home,” he said. “It has both agriculture (Manteca) and a city vibe (Berkeley).”

Thiara, in particular, is looking forward to competing in the 400 hurdles for the Division I Mustangs of the Big West Conference.

He’s planning to major in Computer Engineering.

To contact reporter Vince Rembulat, e-mail vrembulat@mantecabulletin. com. http://www.mantecabulletin.com/ section/34/article/143053/

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MUSD rolling out Delta classes at high schools Dennis Wyatt dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com 209-249-3519 April 17, 2017 Manteca Unified high school students starting next fall will be able to take Delta College classes after school at Weston Ranch High and Sierra High.

It is part of an effort to expand collaboration with Delta College to not only step up education offerings at district high schools but to allow students to get a head start on community college credits.

The initial courses will include American Sign Language at Sierra High and Nutrition at Weston Ranch High. The classes will be open to all high school students throughout Manteca Unified.

“We decided the sign language would be a good fit for Sierra High as there is a number of hearing impaired students at the campus,” noted Clara Schmiedt, Senior Director of Secondary Education.

Schmiedt added that a number of students have expressed a desire to learn sign language so they can better communicate with their fellow peers that have hearing issues.

Manteca Unified students taking the

Delta College classes would not be charged. Community colleges currently cost $46 a unit making a typical semester class cost $132.

Schmiedt noted Delta College faculty will instruct the classes.

Manteca Unified currently has 12 high school classes articulated with Delta College, two articulated with Modesto Junior College, and two articulated with the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. The 16 classes are part of the high school offerings at Manteca Unified campuses. Students can apply for college credit by meeting the minimum requirements of a “B” or better in the high school course.

The Modesto JC and Delta courses are advanced placement courses.

Delta College’s nursing program is involved extensively with the be.vital effort at Weston Ranch High as well as career and technical education health career classes conducted at Manteca High and Lathrop High. The effort allows students to develop basic

nursing skills to be ready community classroom experiences with local hospitals and healthcare providers.

Schmiedt said the district intends to articulate additional career and technical education classes as complementary class become available from Delta College and other postsecondary institutions.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com http://www.mantecabulletin.com/ section/38/article/143022/

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Lathrop students create magical birthday

Vince Rembulat vrembulat@mantecabulletin.com 209-249-3537 April 14, 2017

Avery Lee was a princess for the day.

The local 4-year-old girl, who suffers from Dravet syndrome – this rare, devastating disease is the cause for her epilepsy and frequent or prolonged seizures – was treated to a surprise Disney Magical Tour for her birthday last week compliments of the Lathrop High School Theater Arts Department.

Family and friends who accompanied young Avery Lee on this special day (April 3) sported “Avery’s Army” shirts at the event that featured an entourage of Disney princess in full costume, hair and makeup: Cinderella, Snow White, Tiana, Mulan, Olaf, Minnie Mouse, Pocahontas, Elsa, Anna, and the cards from Alice in Wonderland.

According to drama teacher Hali Rosen, Lee’s favorite was Merida from the Disney Pixar film, Brave.

“With the generosity of Target, each princess was able to give Avery a

doll (bearing) the likeness of their character,” she said.

Other businesses such as Costco, Save Mart and Raley’s chipped in for the refreshments.

Rosen noted that she was contacted

by Lee’s grandmother Debra Lopez to create “something magical” to mark the occasion.

Avery Lee is physically restricted from going to Disneyland because of her condition.

Rosen had her Advanced and Intermediate Theater Arts students in the role of the princesses.

LHS advanced choir under the direction of Elizabeth Van Eerde performed for Avery Lee’s special day as well as Desiree Bugarin’s school band. Together, they played “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” along with “Let it Go” from Frozen, with

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theater class students singling along and dancing flash mob-style to the latter. All told, over 115 students took part in this special event.

The birthday girl, in addition, was treated to a tea party and joined by all of the princesses while accompanied by a bubble machine.

“Avery was first brought into the classroom, where Olaf – another on of favorite characters – and the princesses were waiting for her,” said Rosen, who described the girl as initially being very shy. “Olaf then escorted her to the hallway that led into the band room.”

It was there that two lines of students

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in costume waved and greeted the youngster with a happy birthday reception. Avery Lee also enjoyed a three-tiered cake featuring Elsa, Merida, and Minnie, who are among her favorite Disney characters.

“Even though Avery could not talk, her emotions were well expressed through her body language and eyes,” said Rosen, who hadn’t heard of Dravet syndrome until quite recently.

This is a rare disease that may not be apparent in the first year of life for an infant.

Some of the signs include two or more prolonged seizures by age 1 or one

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prolonged seizure and any hemi-clonic (sustained, rhythmic jerking on side of the body) in that child’s first year.

“Reflecting back on all that happened that day, I wish Avery and her family the best in any challenges they face in the future,” Rosen said. “She is a strong, beautiful girl – I wish nothing but the best for her.”

To contact reporter Vince Rembulat, e-mail vrembulat@mantecabulletin. com http://www.mantecabulletin.com/ section/1/article/142962/

Shipman & Schluer They put ‘service’ in civil service.

April 25, 2017 Thomas Shipman and Stephen Schluer have been recognized as exemplary examples of the best that Manteca municipal employees have to offer the community.

Shipman was selected as Employee

of the Year while Schluer received Humanitarian of the Year Award during Saturday’s 2016 City of Manteca Employee Recognition and Awards Banquet conducted at the Manteca Senior Center.

Shipman works in the Public Works

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Thomas Shipman, right, was introduced by Public Works Director Mark Houghton left, as the City of Manteca Employee of the Year.

HIME ROMERO/The Bulletin

Department handling building maintenance.

In nominating Shipman, supervisors noted Shipman “is one of the many unsung heroes who work tirelessly behind the scenes, and many times after hours, to ensure that all city employees are comfortable, safe and have all the amenities needed to effectively do their jobs. . . .”

“We all know who he is because, at one time or another, each department has experienced issues that create havoc, inconveniences and delays in our daily work lives. Whether it’s a broken faucet, a faulty light bulb, air conditioning that isn’t working, or worse, rats in the roof (this actually happened and Thomas has the photos to prove it), Thomas is quick on the

scene to respond and remedy the situation so that we can all continue doing our jobs efficiently and effectively.”

Supervisors noted Thomas routinely solves unique maintenance issues that typically would require a costly call to service technician. Not only does he save taxpayers money but he makes it possible for other city employees to do their jobs.

“A classic example (Shipman going above and beyond expectations) occurred the day before the first State of the City event. Thomas spent most of his day at the Transit Center to ensure everything was working flawlessly and looked pristine and presentable.

This extra effort was demonstrated

when, recognizing the significance of this event, he took it upon himself to inspect the facility and take care of anything he came across that needed to be repaired or cleaned, such as applying touch-up paint to areas of the building, removing graffiti, sweeping the parking lot and a variety of other tasks.

He did this not just because it was his job, but because he takes pride in what he does and is very humble about his quality workmanship and attention to detail. He thinks outside of the box and develops new methods for addressing issues at the Transit Center.”

Schluer — along with his wife Thaera and children Lela and Collins — were lauded for always volunteering and donating “to help out the Manteca

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Community and for wanting to make a difference and make Manteca the best place” possible.

Schluer is a sergeant in the Manteca Police Department. His community endeavors include: Boys and Girls Club board member for over 10 years (he is currently the board vice president), chairs the Every 15 Minutes Crab Feed Dinner to help support the Every 15 Minutes program in local high schools, Manteca Parks and Recreation Foundation member, Sunrise Kiwanis member, Police Chief Foundation member, serves on the Doctors Hospital Board of Directors, Manteca Police Officers Association president, Manteca Unified School District Board of Trustees President, contributes and supports the for Kid’s Sake Project and the Angel Tree Project to help youth, families and seniors in the Manteca Community during the holidays, umpire chief for the Northgate Little League, increased participation with the Manteca Youth Softball Organization and chaired the Board for several years, volunteers to help feed the homeless and families in need during Thanksgiving in the Manteca community, helps run the Manteca Police Officers Association fireworks booth, and has volunteered coaching Manteca softball and Northgate Little League baseball City employees receiving acknowledgment for years of service were: ADMINISTRATION/ INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY — 5 years: Will Webb; 25 years :Tim Dyke COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT — 10 years: Mark Meissner; 25 years Glen Emerick, Dave Livingston FINANCE — 10 years: Tracie Madison; 15 years: Suzanne Mallory; 35 years: Melody WilsonFIRE

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— 5 years: Aimee Rubio; 10 years: Armando Blanco, Wesley Chamberlain, Travis Gooch, Brian Swift, Robert White; 15 years: Traig Smith, Anthony Taberna; 20 years: David Marques, Franco Torrice HUMAN RESOURCES/RISK MANAGEMENT — 20 Years: Jeannine Dae PARKS & RECREATION — 10 years: Carl Campo, Lana McBroom; 15 years, Kathryn Reed; 25 years, Ron DeCosta POLICE — 5 years: Lance Casqueiro, Byron Elness; 10 years: Mike Kelly10 Years Jason May, Ian Osborn; 15 years Jason Bonetti, Jason Massey, Wayne Miller, Aaron Montoya, John Moody, Barbara Morgan, Richard Smigelski, April Smith; 20 years Steven Beermann, Shawn Cavin, Jodie Estarziau, Stephen Schluer, Michael Sexson; 25 years Armen Avakian, Nicolas Obligacion, Nina O’Brien, Anthony Souza PUBLIC WORKS — 10 years Andrew Barrious, Tim Carroll, Darold Gainous, Derek LaMont, Jacelyn Renwick, Steven Schickert, Glenn Vandewater; 15 years: Derek Case, Rexie LeStrange, Amber Norby; 20 years Kevin Austin, Thomas Galloway, Paul Hafer, William Jenkins; 25 years: Todd Compton, Steven McClary; 30 years: William Kuhlenz, Jeff Santos Retires in 2016 were Jeffery Barr, Fire; David Breitenbucher, Fire; Stephen Burrows, Fire; Frederic Clark, Community Development; Robert Davis, Fire; Richard Engle, Water; Karen McLaughlin, Administration; Eric Medeiros, Water; Chris Mraz, Police; John Orcutt, Police; Kelly Orlandi, Police; Sue Ornelas, Administration; Joann Tilton, Administration; Kirk Waters, Fire, and Deborah Williams, Fire http://www.mantecabulletin.com/ section/1/article/143220/

Schluer is a sergeant in the Manteca Police Department.

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MUSD School Board Hosts see page 27 District Celebration