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vol . I , no. 23 : february 9-15 , 2022 : losgatan.com
crayon initiative P12 : marketplace for giving p13 : calendar p14 : ny times crossword puzzle p17 Drew Penner/Los Gatan
FIREFIGHTERS LOOK FORWARD TO A LIFE OF SERVICE Graduates to serve Los Gatos and beyond
Report shows enrollment at Los Gatos, Saratoga schools on downward trend
Drew Penner, Reporter
On Feb. 4, around the corner from weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s Sunnyvale campus, as contractors put the finishing touches on a blocky beige dual-hotel complex nearby, and directly across from Chinese search engine Baidu’s Silicon Valley HQ, a group of 13 firefighters were about to be minted. In one of their final moments at the academy—now prepared to protect South Bay residents in their darkest hours—they gazed at a black-and-white photo of firefighters in days gone by and joked that one of their instructors looked like the man in the framed print leaning against an ancient firefighting contraption. It was a moment of levity to savor, ahead of a well-deserved, but serious, graduation ceremony—as the future lifeblood of the Santa Clara County Fire Department, Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety and Gilroy Fire Department were dispatched into the wider world. It was the second such event that day Phan Ngo, Sunnyvale DPS’s chief, attended, since two ➝ Firefighters, 6
FEWER STUDENTS COULD LEAD TO CHANGES AT HIGH SCHOOLS
Judy Peterson, Reporter
A new report says declining enrollments at local elementary and middle schools may mean changes are coming to Los Gatos and Saratoga high schools. The 2021-22 Demographics & Enrollment Projections Report by the consulting firm SchoolWorks was discussed by the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District Board of Trustees on Jan. 11. “Where the declines are really seen is when you look at all the feeder districts and the number of students that ➝ School, 8
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READY TO WORK Firefighter Ryan Bockholt is headed to the Shannon Fire Station in Los Gatos. He joined other fire academy graduates during a ceremony in Sunnyvale on Feb. 4.
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