After a blessing by Wayne Nelson, the kindergarten class joined him and the Intertribal Bird Singers for a couple of social songs to mark the special occasion. Acting director Donovan Post thanked kindergarten teacher Laura Aldrete and Instructional Aide Elena Vega-Castello for their hard work along with other staff and Tribal Council members for everything they do to support the school. Many of the children were completing their third year as a student at the preschool.

Aldrete said, “Today, as we pay tribute to the young ladies and gentlemen of tomorrow, we know that they have started their remarkable journey towards achieving their goals. This year we have seen them grow and develop exponentially. They have learned so much. They have remained eager and enthusiastic, and they have grown in so many ways. Our thanks and appreciation go out to all the families for the fantastic role you have played in supporting, loving and encouraging your child.”

She then addressed the children directly and said, “Boys and girls, we are very proud of you today; you all are incredibly special. You have all worked very hard every day, you have made friends and have been friendly to others. Congratulations to each and every one of you. I am extremely privileged to have been able to be your teacher. Dream big and remember, each one of you is unique and can do anything.”

The children were then asked to stand and perform their class song. In true “Swifties” fashion, they performed their own version of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” with lyrics such as “the readers gonna read, read, read, read, read, the writers gonna write, write, write, write, write and I’m gonna do my best, best, best in first grade, first grade.”

Aldrete called each student to the podium to be congratulated and to receive their diploma as she shared a little bit about them. While the majority said what they liked most about school was learning, coloring and playing with friends, their grown-up goals were very diverse. Aria Boniface, Ava’vash Briones and Avareign Lindsey want to be teachers and Marla Bigsby, Ace Covington, Gabriel Herrera III, Legend Macias and Toovit Reed want to be firefighters. Pomoyki Osuna wants to be a firefighter and a boxer while Ruben Olaez will just concentrate on his boxing career. Jose Figueroa, Linnea Lopez, Eric Marquez and Tuukut Silvas are looking toward law enforcement careers while Nova Mendoza, Clover Swan and Mikki Valenzuela want to go into the medical field. Violet Chacon aspires to be a chef and Louis Cervantes wants to work at Soboba in some capacity. Ignacio Alcala wants to be part of the company that makes Takis tortilla chips and Angelo Martinez would like to be “a factory worker who makes chocolate milk.” Nehsoon Salas wants to be “a nail person” and Menyil Tohee is eyeing a career as a mail person.

Kindergartners also received an achievement award for what made them stand out in the classroom all year long and they were: Ignacio Alcala, Accelerated Reader All Star; Aria Boniface, Social Studies Star; Marla Bigsby, Amazing Attendance; Ava’vash Briones, Queen of Kindness; Louis Cervantes, Super Friend; Violet Chacon, Magnificent Manners; Ace Covington, Math Magician; Jose Figueroa, Helping Hands; Gabriel Herrera III, King of Kindness; Avareign Lindsey, Rockin’ Reader; Linnea Lopez, Fantastic Friend; Legend Macias, Honest Abe; Eric Marquez, Exceptional Effort; Angelo Martinez, Awesome Author; Nova Mendoza, Blue Ribbon Behavior; Ruben Olaez, Most Improved; Pomoyki Osuna, Marvelous Musician; Toovit Reed, Reading Counts Rock Star; Nehsoon Salas, Spectacular Citizen; Tuukut Silvas, Computer Whiz; Clover Swan, Superb Speller; Menyil Tohee, Aspiring Artist; and Mikki Valenzuela, Hardworking Hero.

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A graduation requirement for seniors at Noli is the completion of 20 hours of community service and a few pitched in at the event to earn some of those hours. Suzette Almada and Brianna Caserez helped out by dispensing bingo cards and plastic chips, verifying winning cards and more. Caller Raymond Russell, with the help of a megaphone, was able to keep the numbers rolling along.

Science teacher Sabrina Sobel and AVID/ASB coordinator Lorin Alvarez were on hand to keep things on track as more than 60 players anxiously awaited their turn to hopefully call out “BINGO!” Math teacher Kekai Bryant-Williams was happy to participate as were other staff members from the Soboba Reservation school that serves Native American students in grades 6-12. Noli School Board members Lucille Briones, Johnna Valdez and Antonia Venegas also brought family members to enjoy the event.

Soboba Tribal Preschool teacher Lenora “Ponie” Mojado was joined by her two sons and her mother. The lucky family went home with lots of prizes, with Mac Pineda, 9, being the night’s first winner. His brother Eli, 7, won a few rounds later, as did his mom and grandma. The preschool is hosting a Bingo Night fundraiser on March 21 and Mojado said this was good practice for that one.

Prize packages contained STEM toys and games related to the books inside that had been purchased at Barnes & Noble. Each contained popular titles for all ages and the Noli students helped staff bundle them together. With Legos and Squishmallows galore, it was hard for young children to decide which plastic-wrapped package they most wanted to take home.

Guests were also treated to a delicious spaghetti dinner that included garlic bread and salad that was prepared in-house by Community Lead Cook Jacob Rivera.

Bingo numbers were called, and cards were filled until a total of five players won. Then the cards were cleared, and another five games were played, or less if there were five winners. No one could win more than once so there could be more winners throughout the evening.

“This event has been going on for years,” Post said. “We receive $35,000 to $60,000 a year through a reading grant that allows us to restock our library, provide necessary textbooks for our students, give awards and prizes for meeting reading goals and to celebrate Dr. Seuss week.”

He said under the grant, they are always looking for ways to celebrate reading and are happy they developed a way to give back to the families and community members that support the students and Noli school. The annual event started as a small venture but with the help of Noli Reading teacher Jacquelin Phillips, it has grown immensely over the years.

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It was determined that about $7,500 needed to be raised to make the trip a reality as the school planned to cover the admission price for each of its 60+ students and an adult family member to accompany them. The Bingo Night raised $7,359 and after adding that to monies raised from a few earlier and smaller fundraisers, the kids are going to Disneyland!

Soboba Tribal Preschool Office Manager Amber Lopez said the plan for the year-end trip is to offer scheduled meet-up places and times during the day where the kids can gather with their classmates and teachers for group activities. It will be purely voluntary, but preschool staff believe the families will enjoy meeting up with familiar faces throughout the day. Students are also allowed to bring along siblings and others at their own cost, so it promises to be a fun-filled family excursion for all.

Noli Indian School Principal Donovan Post said, “This is the first trip that we have taken since the COVID outbreak in 2020.” He said the preschool staff came up with the idea for this fundraiser at one of their meetings. “Everyone thought it would go over well, but we had no idea how well it would do,” he said. “It really blows all expectations out of the water. The support from the Tribe was amazing; not only on the night by showing up, but also with the donations to make the night such a success.”

Lopez, who also served as Bingo caller, said they planned for about 300 guests but welcomed at least 30 more who purchased tickets at the door on the night of the event. Helping to organize and facilitate the fundraiser, in addition to Post and Lopez, were Sierra Vivanco, Lenora “Ponie” Mojado, Amanda Vallin, Julissa Garcia, Ana Garcia and Laura Aldrete. Post said Jacob Rivera and Arturo Horta, who cooked all the food, did an amazing job for the event.

“We also had the Family Services Department helping us out with Alicia Golchuk, Desiree Salazar and Jayson Latimer,” Lopez said. She added that the biggest challenge was strategizing on how to run the games efficiently and the best layout for all the raffle items. “Tara Placencia, grandmother of (preschool students) Liam and Lelani Grant, was a great help with giving us ideas on how they run their fundraiser events.”

Guests were able to purchase additional Bingo cards as well as colorful daubers to mark off the numbers. There were also more than 30 items available to win for the price of a $1 raffle ticket. Collection bags were put in front of items such as an air fryer and a vintage record player as well as book and game collections that were popular with parents of young children in attendance. A silent auction gave one lucky bidder a one-night stay at the Soboba Casino Resort Hotel that included a $100 voucher for slot play, a $200 dining credit and a free round of golf at the Soboba Springs Golf Course.

Students were encouraged to sell tickets to family and friends in the weeks leading up to the event and the top fundraisers were rewarded for their efforts with Disney character plush toys. Joseph Bentiste was tops with more than 44 tickets sold in advance and several at the door. His family also donated four raffle items. Right behind him was Lelani Grant, who sold more than 30 tickets and extra at the door. Her family donated 20 raffle items.

“The highlight of the night was to see the fun everyone was having,” Lopez said. “It was also nice to see the community come together to support our young people. We are all truly grateful.”

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