Empowerment of girls continues to be a priority in the Denair Unified School District, which offers multiple programs geared to inspire those from elementary age through high school to believe in themselves, dream big and avoid the perils of social media.

One of the programs is ROX – Ruling Our eXperiences. Since it began in Denair in 2019, hundreds of girls from the high school, middle school, independent study and even elementary campuses have participated in a 20-week series of meetings with trained mentors on the Denair staff.

The curriculum addresses the unique pressures and expectations that teen-age and pre-teen girls often face — confidence and self-esteem, finding their authentic voice, girl bullying, unhealthy dating relationships and sexual violence, and lack of strong friendships and support systems.

In September, participants in the ROX program were treated to two special activities.

The first involved a presentation from Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Detective Dianna Barron and two other members from the Special Victims Unit.

The second fun event was a field trip to Riverbank as part of “Empowering Girls in Entrepreneurship: A Day of Inspiration + Career Exploration.” Students were able to visit nine booths where they had one-on-one interactions female entrepreneurs in fields such as politics, law, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), healthcare and education.

“These students not only met weekly for an entire year but also had the opportunity to focus intensely on exploring career paths through doing research, creating posters, and talking to other professional adults,” said Lina Mateus, one of Denair’s mental health clinicians. “Girls now know that focusing on their talents, skills, desires, and values can go far without being limited by gender.”

In late October, 20 girls from the high school and middle school received certificates after completing the ROX program. Fittingly, their celebration included a cake from Dulce Mia Cakes bakery created and decorated by Abigail Melendez, a ROX participant at Denair Charter Academy last year.

Last year, the ROX program was expanded to include fifth-graders for the first time. There were 22 girls in Denair Elementary Charter Academy who participated in meetings led by Kara Binkley, a counselor at Denair Charter Academy who has been one of the district’s ROX facilitators from the beginning. Over the summer, another 12 fifth- and sixth-graders completed the ROX lessons.

“It was a huge success,” said Binkley of the first-ever summer ROX session.

Many of the girls who have participated in ROX continue to meet monthly with Mateus to discuss key issues and support each other.

A new ROX group will begin this month. High school and middle school girls interested in joining should contact Mateus at lmateus@dusd.k12.ca.us to register or obtain more information. Binkley also is leading two fifth-grade ROX groups at DECA and another for high school girls at DCA.

Denair’s second program targeting girls is part of the nonprofit She Became network, which believes that education, mentorship and community are interconnected. More than 40 girls in Denair benefitted from the program in the last school year. Earlier this fall, She Became founder Joanna Esparza came to Denair to headline a rally attended by 35 girls that featured guest speakers, breakfast, live music, games, prizes, giveaways and lessons on empowerment. 

The next She Became workshop is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 14 at 10 a.m. Its theme is “Unleashing Creativity & Confidence in Every Girl.”

“What is unique about this program is that it continues motivating all female students to participate with other women who are part of their support system, such as their grandmothers, aunts, cousins, sisters, or guardians,” Mateus said. “All Denair students’ families are welcome to join.”

Denair Superintendent Terry Metzger is proud of the district’s commitment to girls as evidenced by the ROX and She Became programs as well as women who lead them.

“The wonderful programs that support girls in Denair Unified would not be possible without the incredible mentorship of our facilitators, counselors and even administrators,” she said. “We have so many strong female leaders in the district and, without exception, each of them believes that part of their job is lifting up our young women to be strong, independent, happy, empowered leaders of tomorrow.”

Denair cross country runner Sal Virgen accomplished something this season that no other Coyote had ever done – he qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Section Meet. Virgen, a junior, finished 24th out of 76 runners with a time of 19 minutes, 16 seconds on the three-mile course at Willow Hills Reservoir in Folsom.

Denair Coach Matthew Groom was not surprised Virgen broke new ground for the program.

“It is fitting that it would be Sal. He was the first runner I had to break 20 minutes for a 5K, and he did it his freshman year. For the past three years, he has been the standard both on and off the course,” Groom said.

Virgen was the top runner all season for the Coyotes, who captured their first Southern League cross country title. It was a major milestone for a program that has made enormous strides recently.

“Two years ago, we had two runners who competed as individuals,” Groom said. “This year was the first year we had enough runners to score as a team since 2018, and we won our league, and we did it without one senior on the team.  … This team grew a lot in a short period of time.”

Groom expects Virgen to lead a strong group of runners next year.

“While we grew a lot, we have a lot left to do,” he said. “I am expecting the majority of the team to return and I am also expecting us to have enough runners to at least have a few individuals on the JV team.  I would like us to qualify for the Section Meet as a team next year.”

Making the playoffs. Winning a playoff game. Anthony Armas believes those are important indicators of how far the Denair football program has come the past few seasons and provide a solid foundation to build on going forward.

From that perspective, the Coyotes’ 35-15 loss to Stone Ridge Christian on Friday in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 7 playoffs – while disappointing – should still be viewed as measurable progress for a program that hadn’t been in the playoffs since 2019.

“We really feel that Denair is the kind of place where we can compete in the playoffs every year,” Armas said. “With everything that has gone on in the past few years, I think some people may have forgotten that. This group reminded people that’s possible and I believe they just cleared the path for the teams coming up the next few years.”

The Coyotes (6-6) finished tied for third place in the Southern League this season. Denair will lose 10 graduating seniors, but expects to add a strong junior class next year that finished 8-1-1 and tied for the SL junior varsity championship.

“We had 37 players on the varsity roster for playoffs, which includes underclassmen that we asked to come up for playoffs. Right now, it’s looking like 27 of those players will be coming back. It’s very encouraging for the upcoming season,” said Armas, who has had rosters with far less than 20 players in the past few seasons.

“We have very high expectations for our varsity team next year,” he said. “We should have a very good team. It will still be tough, though. I think the league was pretty young. It should make for a heck of an exciting league next year.”

While optimistic about Denair’s football future, Armas is quick to credit this year’s team – especially the seniors – for re-establishing the sport on campus.

“This is a group that has been through a lot,” he said. “We didn’t have enough players for a JV team when they were freshmen because of COVID, so they had to play varsity as freshmen. The way they have battled through so many obstacles, stuck with the program through some tough years, and managed to make it to the playoffs their senior year and win a playoff game is a testament to their resiliency.”

For all those reasons, the 2024 team will be one of Armas’ favorites.

“I’ll remember them as a group that made football fun again,” he said. “We definitely had some tough spots during the year, but this group always seemed to make things fun while still working hard towards getting better. I do think they helped re-establish the program. Only time will tell.”

If Denair competes for SL titles in seasons to come, Stone Ridge Christian (9-2) is likely to be one the schools standing in the way. The Knights tied Delhi for the league championship this season and had two victories over Denair – 28-8 on Sept 20 and 35-15 on Friday night.

Armas thought a key moment came early in the second half when Denair was threatening to cut into Stone Ridge’s lead.

“We received the ball to start the second half, down 21-8,” he said. “We had a great return on a reverse from Noah Chavez that started us with good field position. We drove down to the 9-yard line, but we couldn’t punch it in. I thought that was a huge turning point. We had a chance to close the score to 21-14 at the very least, if not 21-16.  Stone Ridge sacked us on the 20. They proceeded to go on an 80-yard drive to make it 28-8.”

Despite the disappointing finish, Denair will have some key pieces returning next season, including quarterback Derek Potter, top running back Degan Butler, and defensive backs Austin Silva and Angel Rosas.

“Potter does a great job taking care of the ball and taking what the defense gives us,” Armas said. “We’re really looking forward to him leading our team the next couple of years. Silva and Rosas did quite well for us at cornerback, not just this game, but all year.”

The coach also had high praise for one of his seniors, Jesse Ruelas, who scored one of the Coyotes’ two touchdowns against Stone Ridge. 

“Jesse battled like he always battles,” Armas said. “He is one of the more tenacious players we have had come through our program. He plays a lot bigger than his size.”

Denair cross country runner Sal Virgen will compete one more week thanks to his finish in the Sac-Joaquin Sub-Section Meet, but the rest of his teammates just missed out on the final qualifying spot.

Virgen, a junior, covered the three-mile Frogtown course at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds in 18 minutes, 57.2 seconds on Saturday, placing him 22 nd overall out of 162 runners.

The top 10 schools plus the top runners not on those teams qualified for the Section Meet this Saturday at Willow Hills Reservoir in Folsom. Denair’s team missed by just one spot, finishing 11 th overall.

The other Coyotes who ran last weekend were Jose Ponce (45 th overall, 20:11.7), Simbalenko (53 rd , 20:23.7), Angel Rodriguez (113 th , 23:24.8) and Adrian Monzon (139 th , 24:48.7). Denair was missing its No 3 runner, Isaac Maldonado, who was sick.

“I am proud of my team for the way they ran,” said Coach Matthew Groom. “We were one spot short of qualifying as a team, despite missing one of our top runners. … Sal did really well. He pushed himself to get one of the medals for the event. This will be Sal’s first trip to Folsom and I expect him to compete well.”

For Virgen to make it to the State Meet on Nov. 29 in Fresno, he would have to finish in the top 12 in Folsom.

One of the goals for all schools in the Denair Unified School District is to create a welcoming

environment where every student feels valued and empowered to reach their full potential.

There are many ways to accomplish that. At Denair Middle School, one of the strategies involves athletics and a program known as the Purple Squad.

At Thursday night’s meeting of the district’s Board of Trustees, two DMS coaches and Principal Gabriela Sarmiento explained how increased participation in sports helps to reduce barriers and make students feel more included.

The Purple Squad is a way for students who are not selected for the competitive teams in girls volleyball and boys and girls basketball to have an opportunity to play recreationally in an organized environment led by coaches Mary Ann Urrutia (volleyball), Elvia Brizuela (volleyball and girls basketball) and Sarah Rush (boys and girls basketball) and Athletic Director Gavin Souza.

“The opportunity for students to engage helps them develop their skills and confidence,” Sarmiento explained. “They don’t have to be the best athlete. They just need to learn how to be part of a team.”

Of the 40 or so girls who played volleyball earlier this fall or are playing basketball now, about 90% have participated in both. A couple of dozen boys are expected to be part of the Purple Squad basketball squads starting in January. The teams are mostly comprised of sixth-graders, but there are seventh- and eighth-graders as well.

All the students benefit from the coaching – which focuses on each sport’s fundamentals – and gain valuable experience. At an age where youngster’s bodies are maturing at different rates, it’s not unusual for Purple Squad participants to improve to the point where they make the competitive teams at DMS or the high school next door in future years.

“If I hear of a young lady who didn’t make the seventh- or eighth-grade team, I encourage her,” Urrutia said. “Maybe all she needs is the coaching and a chance to build her skills.”

Purple Squad alumni who are members of the high school teams have come back to help coach, Urrutiasaid, providing real-life examples of how young athletes can improve with time and experience.“There’s a reason we have freshmen, JV and varsity teams (at the high school). It’s because you guys have created a pipeline,” Trustee Ray Prock Jr. said. “It’s also cool to see older students come back and help coach.”

Added Trustee Crystal Souza: “I love how the seventh- and eighth-graders who don’t make the competitive teams have a chance. Sometimes, all they need is an opportunity to develop that skill before they reach high school and can try out again.”

Reaction from players in the Purple Squad program is universally positive.

“I’ve enjoyed spending time with my friends and also being able to play with people I didn’t know,” said sixth-grader Naomi S., whose goal is to make the competitive volleyball team next year.

Emma M. said she has “enjoyed making new friends and learning to serve overhand (in volleyball).”

“I learned how to serve, pass and just play volleyball,” said sixth-grader Zoe C., who like Naomi hopes to be on the competitive team next season.

Brooke Pedro, who played volleyball for Urrutia in 2023, wrote her a thank you note for challenging her and teaching her new skills. “I hope I will make you proud.”

Rush, who has coached in the program for nine years, recalled a special moment last season on her boys basketball team that was about more than just skill development.

“Last year was my first year to have a student with disabilities on the team and to watch my players helping him and cheering him on was a special moment for me as a coach and as a para in the special education department,” she said. “I would really love to see more students with disabilities come out for sports and be fully included in our sports programs.”

Denair Superintendent Terry Metzger thanked the coaches for their work in the Purple Squad program, which has seen a steady growth in participation. She also linked the program to improved academic achievement at DMS and credited it with helping to build a positive campus culture.

“It’s a beautiful example of how it all works together,” she said.

In other action Thursday, trustees:

Voted unanimously to approve two out-of-town trips for Denair High students and chaperones next spring. The first is for up to 16 FFA students and advisors to attend the California State FFA Leadership Convention scheduled April 3-6 in Sacramento. The conference will include convention general sessions and workshops, a career show and an FFA national shop. The second trip is the annual Grad Night visit to Disneyland by graduating seniors on May 18-19.