Hemet High School graduate and Agriculture teacher Katie Fernandes and six of her students were guest presenters at the recent California Retired Teachers Association Division 33 luncheon on April 9th at the Seven Hills Members Club in Hemet.  After a brief introduction by Ms. Fernandes, Hemet High Ag students Andres Moreno, Nick Leon, Natali Romero, Esmeralda Aleman, Emmale Americano, and Sam Rodriguez each took turns discussing their busy schedule with FFA events and the many pathways to choose from in the Hemet High School Agriculture program, including Ag Mechanics I and II, Animal Science and Vet Science, Ag Floriculture I and II, and a new pathway coming next year — Ag Food and Plant Science.  The six talented student leaders also shared some of the honors and awards they earned at the many events they’ve been involved with this school year, including six Career Development Events throughout California, Leadership Development Conferences, the recent California Agricultural Education State Leadership Conference in Sacramento, the Riverside County Fair and the National Date Festival in Indio.

        Fernandes encourages her students to create their own projects, including floral arrangements, ag mechanics, gardening, aquaponics, and animals, of course.  She most enjoys seeing her students get involved and find something that sparks their interest. “I find it very rewarding when students who have been working towards projects or contests see their hard work pay off and do well in competitions and realize how much they have grown in their abilities,” Fernandes says.  Students brought many of their projects to the luncheon to be purchased by CalRTA attendees, with all items selling out quickly. 

       After graduating from HHS in 2013, Fernandes attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where she graduated in 2017 then went on to earn her teaching credential.  She began teaching at HHS in 2019. “Hemet has always been a special place for me,” Fernandes says.  “I had the idea from a young age to be a teacher, and being an active member of Hemet FFA gave me a desire to continue in the education field, specifically for agriculture, and come back to Hemet to give back to the community that helped me.” 

            For more information about the California Retired Teachers Association, go to calrta.org or div33.calrta.org.

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Can They Go All The Way?

The Lady Bulldogs have been on a roll this season, and it doesn’t seem like they are ready to call it quits any time soon. The girls have earned an impressive record this season, 20 with only three losses and two ties. The girls appear to be miles ahead of their competition. The roster is made of a healthy mixture of upper and lower classmen. Which means there is a bright future for the Bulldogs on the soccer field. This team has been built with high power scoring and tenacious defense in mind. They have scored 91 goals on the year. While only allowing 17. The Bulldogs are currently on a 9-game winning streak.

The Hemet High Bulldogs didn’t just win the Mountain Pass League; they are also the number one ranked team in Division 4. No other team has scored more goals than them. However, Bloomington High School’s defense has been elite this season, only allowing eight goals on the year. Maxpreps.com has the Bulldogs listed as their favorites to win the CIF championship this year, and it looks like they could do it. Hemet has a tough game coming up against Torrance High School, they are ranked 149th in the state and have outscored their opponents 52-20 on the year. On paper, the Bulldogs should beat them; they are ranked in the top 100 (100) in the state.

The biggest threats to the bulldogs are Bloomington and Sierra Canyon. Luckily for the Bulldog’s, those two giants may have to face each other in order to make it to the championship round in the tournament. Sierra Canyon is ranked 101 in the state and has a 2-1 goal ratio on the season. Bloomington is ranked 118 in the state. The game between these two should be exciting, and the Bulldogs will have their eyes on them.

All of these girls would love to bring a CIF championship home to Hemet. Often times, sports like Soccer, Volleyball, and Softball get overlooked by Football & Basketball. Football & Basketball get all of the love and attention of the student body, boosters, and Athletic Director. These girls are on a mission to prove that they deserve the recognition.

It has been impressive what Coach Steve Strutz has been about to get done this year. Last year Hemet made it to the Semi-Finals of the CIF playoffs. It’s not often that teams are able to repeat success, but it’s arguable that this team is even better than last year. It’s scary to think that some of their best players are only freshmen. Division 4 better watch out, because these girls are here to stay and looking to make history.

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Bulldogs are victorious in their last game of the season

Hemet High hosted Redlands High last Friday night. Redlands received the ball and scored on their first drive with a rushing touchdown from Adam Valencia (Senior Running Back), after that initial touchdown, it was a defensive ball game. Both teams took turns punting the ball and going for it on fourth down — a back and forth defensive game to its core. At the end of the first half, Hemet made it down the field and within 15 yards of a touchdown. With time running down, Coach Gregovich decided to trust their Senior Kicker Asaiah Aguliar to kick a field goal and give them some points going into the half.

The Bulldogs offensive line couldn’t maintain their blocks and let Redlands through leading to Asaiah’s kick being blocked as time ran out. The score going into the half was 0-7 Hemet needed to make adjustments. Specifically, they needed their Quarterback to start making plays. It was Homecoming week for the Bulldogs; there was a cool Beauty and the Beast Display and a beautiful firework performance when they announced who the Homecoming Queen was. When the show was over, it was time to get back to football. Jeremiah Graves came out of the half, ready to play football. He started to make solid throws to his receivers and extend plays by scrambling out of the pocket. He seemed to live up to what his coaching staff knows he is capable of. 

The stands were full of Spectators that included; Faculty, Parents/Grandparents, Students, Alumni, and a few visitors from rival teams. The San Jacinto Tigers coaching staff was at the game. Since it was their bye-week, they saw it as a good opportunity to scout out the Bulldogs before the Battle of the Bell. A bunch of San Jacinto’s football players were also in the stands, and they made their presence known by chanting, “SJ” when the game was going on — definitely adding fuel to the fire for when they make the trip down to Hemet later this season. West Valley was also at the game, a few players and coaches in the stands. They didn’t travel quite as deep as SJ.

Jeremiah Graves ran for a touchdown in the 3rd quarter, this time the snap was bad and the holder wasn’t able to get it in position, Asaiah Aguilar called the kick-off and told the holder to go, he scrambled out of to the far side of the field and fought until he crossed the end zone line. The 2-point conversion was a success. In the Fourth Quarter, Jeremiah Graves ran for another touchdown, this time the kick was good. Hemet’s defense came up in a big way this game, containing the Redlands offense and even securing a Safety. The game would finish 17-7 With Hemet celebrating a Home victory on Homecoming.

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The Hemet High Bulldogs (finished last season 8-5) will take on the Chaparral (finished last season 7-4) Pumas on Friday, Aug. 23rd at Hemet High School. This is a non-league game, but will still be very competitive as these teams do know each other well enough and have a history of playing each other. Last season Chaparral beat the Bulldogs 24-7 at their house, this will be the first chance for the new regime in Hemet to show that they aren’t the same team that got beat last year. This will be our first look at the Hemet Bulldogs since longtime coach Jason Thornburg retired. The new Head Coach is Dennis Gregovich. Coach Gregovich isn’t new to coaching; he had a brief stint at Tahquitz High School in the past. 

Dennis Gregovich is an offensive coach and will look to light up the scoreboard this year. His system will be new to the league, which might give him an advantage. Chaparral returns their head coach Andrew Ramer who will look to start the season out strong. Chaparral dresses over 70 players at home games (not all will travel with the team) it is expected that Eli Bertran will be the man under center, as he leads the team in 7on7 tournaments during the offseason. Since Orlando Ornelas graduated in June. Chaparrals top four leading rushers all graduated and seven out of the eight receivers who banked in catches last year also graduated. 

Chaparral is putting in a very young team that hasn’t completely gelled together as a unit yet, brand new quarterback under center, brand new running backs, and brand new receivers. It’s going to be very interesting to see how this game plays out. As for Hemet they too have a brand new quarterback under center Jeremiah Graves who got some reps last year as a sophomore under Nicholas Thornburg. This year Jeremiah will try to earn the trust of his team and take down the sleeping giants in the division San Jacinto High School and Citrus Hill. Most of Hemet’s leading rushers graduated last year and so did their leading receivers, with Graves being a lone exception who transitioned from receiver to quarterback in the off-season.

Essentially these two teams are completely different from the last year and both will be ready to prove they have what it takes this season to compete for a playoff position. Pictures and video of the game will be on Facebook at Author Kyle Rae Headlee, if you see any pictures of your child you like feel free to grab them, all I ask is if you like the page. 

In other Mountain Pass News; San Jacinto will be taking on Great Oaks in Temecula, Tahquitz will play Vista Del Lago at Tahquitz, Beaumont vs. Palm Desert in Beaumont, Citrus Hill is playing a home game against Palm Springs, and West Valley will be facing off against Shadow Hills in Indio.

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(Alumni Highlight)

This week’s alumni is Juan Saaverda, also known as Tattoo Juan, Juan graduated from Hemet High in 2007. Juan currently spends his time working at Hidn Tattoo in San Jacinto as the shop manager. Juan loves to spend his free time with his kids and working on his classic truck. Juan is a great artist that has always loved drawing. At a young age, Juan Saaverda fell in love with graffiti type art and started practicing the style in all of his sketches. Eventually, Juan knew that he was going to draw for the rest of his life and started to learn how to draw different styles like realism, black and grey, and portraits. Juan prides himself on not only being a decent artist in one category, but rather being diverse enough to handle any kind of tattoo that comes walking through the door. 

Juan Saaverda never lost his passion for the graffiti style of art, “It’s an art form that has passion and creativity.” Juan feels like a lot of people overlook graffiti artists because their art isn’t in a form that many people in society approve of. A lot of people don’t understand the difference between Tagging and Graffiti. Tagging is the ugly stuff you see around where people are trying to mark their territory, but Graffiti art with a message is some of the most beautiful art around. 

Murals of people like Tupac and Nipsey Hussle in LA, the walls along Venice Beach, and Cesar Chavez Park in San Diego are all examples of the talent and beauty behind graffiti artists. Tattoo Juan plans on starting a nonprofit to help local kids who have a passion for graffiti. He hopes to help them channel that love for art into something positive. This nonprofit would have a piece of property where the kids can practice their graffiti freely without feeling like society is looking down on them. Juan would offer art classes to teach kids how to work with shadows, dimensions, and realistic details. For kids who have shown a commitment to the program and have grown, Juan Saaverda would like to teach them how to tattoo if that was a path they wanted to choose. 

Juan believes that if we as a society stop criminalizing these kids who have a passion for art and instead embrace them, point them in the right direction, and teach them to channel their gifts into something they can use for the rest of their lives then we can make a real difference in the community. 

Do you know someone who graduated from one of the local high schools and is doing great things in the community? Email me at VcsportsKyle.@gmail.com and tell me a little bit about them, make sure to include their contact information, a picture, and a detailed message of why they should be the next Alumni of the Week.

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