Emmale Americano, a recent graduate of Hemet High School, attributes her desire to be a teacher to HHS Ag teacher Cassidy Steenbock, who taught agricultural mechanics and animal science.  “I strive to be half the ag teacher Ms. Steenbock is.  I hope to be an influential ag teacher because they not only teach agricultural skills, but they also serve as mentors, guiding students in their personal growth and development,” Americano says.  She plans to attend Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, majoring in education with a minor in biology.  

Nuview Bridge Early College High School graduate Andrea Bonilla says, “becoming a teacher has been a dream of mine for many years because of the impact teachers can have on their students and the importance of education.”  Bonilla feels that she was very fortunate to have had teachers who had a positive impact on her life and says that “without them I simply would not be where I am today.  These educators allowed me to realize my potential and gave me the confidence to reach my goals.”  Bonilla plans to attend UC Riverside, major in studio art and become an art teacher.   

Miriam Gonzalez’s goal is to become an elementary school teacher and work with “little kids that are just like me, coming to a whole different country and learning English as their second language.”  A recent graduate of Alessandro High School, Miriam says that she “really likes helping little kids with things they don’t understand.”  She will attend Mt. San Jacinto College in the fall then eventually transfer to a university and complete her teaching credential.

Eugene Hernandez says, “my unwavering determination serves as a driving force in my pursuit of knowledge and personal development.”  A graduate of The Academy of Innovation in Hemet, Hernandez has a “deep-seated passion for education and a genuine desire to inspire and empower others.”  Hernandez plans to pursue a degree in English with a focus on literacy.  He will attend Mt. San Jacinto College in the fall and earn his associate’s degree, then transfer to a university and earn his bachelor’s degree and a secondary teaching credential.

Western Center Academy graduate Hannah Jindra says, I want to be a high school English and theater teacher and have wanted to be such for as long as I can remember.”  She says that she has been influenced by both her parents and teachers to pursue a teaching career and that both have shown her how to be an encouraging leader.  She hopes that her years in leadership roles will help her to appreciate different perspectives and extend the same encouragement she received as a student to others in her own future classroom.  Jindra plans to attend Brigham Young University, Idaho in the fall.

Kamryn Jorgensen, a recent graduate of West Valley High School, plans to attend Point Loma Nazarene University in the fall with a major in English literature.  Her goal is to become a middle or high school English teacher.  Jorgensen says, “My sophomore year of high school I had the privilege of being taught by an incredible English teacher.  Instead of the usual feedback I would get, he demanded more from me.  He saw me in a way that no teacher ever had before.  The end of that year, I decided that I wanted to be an English teacher.” 

Abigail Meza says that throughout her educational career, “I sought out mentors who believed in my potential and never lost sight of my dreams.”  A graduate of San Jacinto High School, Meza has overcome many challenges and emotional times but through it all has learned “the power of resilience and the human spirit.”  She says that “every setback became an opportunity for growth” and says that the wants to “be there for the kids who are going through what I had to go through.”  Meza plans to attend Riverside City College in the fall, purse an English major, and eventually become a middle or high school English teacher.

San Jacinto High School graduate Valeria Perez Carrera loves art. “My only passion, one that I consider dedicating my whole life to, is art.”  Perez Carrera plans to attend Mt. San Jacinto College in the fall and follow the art pathway to become an art teacher.  Eventually, she will transfer to a university to complete her bachelor’s degree and earn her secondary teaching credential. Perez Carrera says, “I want to make my parents proud.  Being the first child in my family to attend college, I am aware of their hopes and the sacrifices they have made.”

Tahquitz High School tri-sport athlete Avery Ros says she always wanted to be a teacher but didn’t know what kind.  She says her years in ASB, however, “taught me that in the future I want to be an activities director.”  Combining her love of athletics with her goal of becoming a teacher, Ros will attend Cal State Fullerton and pursue a degree in kinesiology to become a high school P.E. teacher and ASB director.  “I will use my degree to help people and better the next generation.”

CalRTA Division 33 offers 11 $1000 scholarships each year to qualifying seniors in Hemet and San Jacinto school districts.  Students must have plans to become a K-12 public school teacher, have a 3.0+ GPA for their junior and senior years, have good citizenship at school and in the community, and be involved in extra-curricular activities at school and in the community.  For more information about the California Retired Teachers Association, go to calrta.org or div33.calrta.org.

The post Nine Local Graduates Receive $1000 CalRTA Scholarships appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Soboba Foundation, West Valley High School in Hemet has been able to provide fine arts classes for its special education students. Art is offered every other week and music has become a weekly class. Overseen by the Exceeding Everyone’s Expectations campus club, the program of Count on Art began about five years ago.

The Soboba Foundation, a nonprofit arm of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians, continues to fund the program each year and those involved couldn’t be happier. Artist Laura Ryan and musician Billy Tsounis love what they teach and love learning from the students.

“I adore the kids; to see them succeed in a project is so rewarding,” said Ryan, who has been a member of the Hemet Valley Art Association for about 15 years. “They are very creative and often their ideas are brilliant. I give careful thought to what I bring to them. I want them to be a little challenged by the work but to also have a good opportunity to be successful in the project.”

Tsounis has been teaching music at the school for about five years. He studied guitar, piano, music theory and counterpoint throughout high school in South Africa, then attended and graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston where he lived and played music for about 11 years in the northeast before moving to Southern California.

“What I like best about teaching these classes is the enthusiasm of the students and their random and uninhibited approach to creativity and performing, which is actually the root of it all in most forms of music/art,” he said. “I find it personally rewarding in the way that I have the opportunity to witness everybody’s unique personality and the possibility to uplift their mood through music.”

Lead teacher Vanessa Hagaman said the Count on Art program provides specialized arts instruction to students in her functional skills classroom that is not funded by the school district. Along with the voluntary art and music classes, students can also take cooking classes.

“Music helps the students connect with one another and motivates them to learn new skills,” she said. “Art challenges them to stretch their creativity and think innovatively. Cooking teaches them math, science and great life skills.”

Prior to the Soboba Foundation’s sponsorship, Hagaman said the special education department relied on recycling, donations from local service clubs and small-scale campus fundraising. Being able to offer the students a full-fledged consistent program has made a huge difference.

“We wouldn’t be able to do all this without Soboba’s help,” said Hagaman, who is teaching for her fifth year at West Valley. “I enjoy the fact the students can give and take during these lessons and I love watching them accomplish something new.”

Instructional aides Jody Cusworth and Louise Wood have noticed an increase in the confidence level of the students as a result of the art, music and cooking classes being added.

“The teacher is excellent, and the aides are treasures; I couldn’t be successful without their help,” said Ryan, of Hemet.

(Soboba Foundation Counts)

Students are currently working on an interpretation of one of Vincent van Gogh’s sunflowers paintings. Ryan is using the project as a way to convey her love of colors and layers as each budding artist works on their art piece one step at a time. It gives them a chance to absorb each layer and color they are adding to build texture, and lets them put their individual signature on their work.

“The students mixed their own paint using really good brushes and quality paint,” Ryan said. “We’ve done watercolor, fabric sculpture, ink sketching, landscapes with cherry trees and domino jewelry. I try to introduce new mediums and techniques whenever I can.”

Tsounis said he loves presenting all genres of music to the students and knows they are particularly fond of the karaoke machine he brings to class. His wish list of items for the class includes a drum kit, some electronic keyboards and a bass guitar so the students can form bands and get even more creative.

“I usually start teaching the class with some basic rhythm fundamentals as that is innate in us all regardless of interpretation, like clapping out rhythms, recognizing notation. Then I mix it up with having them write randomly placed notes on the musical staff and I then play/loop it back for them on a keyboard or on my garageband app so that they can all hear their creation and the possibilities to make music and have fun with it,” said Tsounis, of Hemet. “I also use the other half of the lesson where we do karaoke and the students get to sing and dance to their favorite songs. Whatever it takes for them to be happy and have fun with music.”

Ryan always tells the students that there are no mistakes in art – only opportunities to create something different.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

Search: Soboba Foundation Counts

The post SOBOBA FOUNDATION COUNTS ON ART appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Student Body Section Was “Lit” As The Mustangs Dominated The Rams

It was a long night for Desert Mirage’s defense trying to keep up with West Valley’s skill players. Most of West Valley’s starters didn’t even see the field in the second half and were cheering on their teammates from the sidelines. West Valley scored two touchdowns in the very beginning of the game, one after receiving the ball at kick-off and the other after forcing a turnover (via fumble) and making Desert Mirage pay for the mistake by turning Tyrone Jackson Jr. (#3) loose for a 60 yard run, the game was quickly getting out of hand for the Rams and the Mustangs rushing game looked dominate.

Tyrone Jackson Jr wasn’t the only player who got to see the end zone last Friday night. Alfred Jones scored two times, once through the air and once on the ground. Tyrone Jackson Jr banked in two rushing touchdowns total and over 100 yards. Their performances made it hard to choose one of them for player of the week, so The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle decided that they both would share player of the week honors for this game. However, the Mustangs offense was feeling generous and four other players were able to get into the end zone. 

The student body section was screaming, dancing, and cheering their team on all game long. Many of the students came down and congratulated the team on their blowout victory, many of them looked like they were on the field with the team for the last two hours. That’s how hard they were cheering on their fellow Mustangs. The final score of the game was 55-0. The Mustangs put on a dominant showing in all phases of the game and looked like they might be ready to move up to a more competitive division like they were in the past. 

Coach Perez had this to say to the team after the game, “You guys enjoy this win, it was a big win and this is the first time West Valley has been 2-0 since 2014, however, get it all out of your system tonight because we are back here at 9:00 in the morning for film and Temecula Valley isn’t going to let us run all around the field on them like we did tonight, so we have to start preparing immediately. You understand? Celebrate until 9:00 tomorrow morning, and I want you guys in the film room ready to start preparing for next week.”

Coach Perez want them to enjoy their victory, but wanted them to understand that they need to start looking at next week’s matchup, Temecula Valley has an excellent program and is coming off a victory against Elsinore High. A matchup against them will help West Valley see what they need to tighten up before league games against Beaumont, Hemet, San Jacinto, and Citrus Hills. As of right now, the league play looks like it’s going to be tight. 

In other Mountain Pass League Games; Tahquitz edged out Indo 14-13, Hemet recorded their first win of the year against Vista Del Lago 35-21, San Jacinto fell to Woodrow High School 27-13, Beaumont was impressive in their week two victory over pacific 56-14, and Citrus Hill won their first game of the season 27-19 against Palm Springs. Pictures of the game will be available on my personal Facebook page @AuthorKyleRaeHeadlee

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

Search: West Valley Defends Their Field

The post West Valley Defends Their Field appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

While Joe was at Oregon State, he became the first player to have over 1,000 points, 700
rebounds, and 300 assists. He left quite a legacy up there, even getting the chance to meet President Obama and the First Lady when they came to a game. Joseph Burton is easily one of the most successful athletes that have come out of the valley, and his legend continues to grow.

Even though he went undrafted when his college career was over, he did not let that stop him from living his dreams. He took his talents overseas as an opportunity to keep playing the game he has grown up loving and travel the world while he was doing it. As a professional overseas he has played on teams in various countries including Denmark, Holland, France, and Japan.

Joe has won League MVP honors and helped his teams win championships. Now he is waiting for a new contract and is excited to go out to play basketball again.
Joe loves the game; it has always been there for him when he felt alone. Lucky for him, he also found an amazing woman to keep him company, and he eventually asked her to be his wife. Right now, they have a son and a daughter expected to join their roster at the end of this month.

As well as playing basketball, Joe started his own clothing company called Hunwut Clothing, which means “Grizzly Bear” in his language. It is a Native American based clothing company with Native American themes and designs. Joe hopes to create a non-profit organization when he is done playing basketball by using his clothing company and basketball contacts. For non-profit, his goal is to help Native American youth achieve their dreams.

Joe attributes a lot of his success to his mother and grandfather. His grandfather Charles “B-Bop” Silvas passed away last year, and his family and the Native American Community misses him.
Joe is thankful to his fellow Native Americans for all their love and support, looking to make them feel proud. He keeps grinding and working hard in hopes that one day he can live up to his grandfather’s legend.

The post From Backyard courts to sell out arenas appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.