Denair Farm & Family Festival Scheduled for September 10

Denair Farm & Family Flyer

Submitted by Denair Farm & Family Festival

Come join us for lots of family friendly fun! 5k Fun Run for our High School Scholarship Fund! Live entertainment, Tricked Out Truck Show, vendors, food and more!

Vendors: For Vendor information, an application can be downloaded from our website at www.DenairFestival.com and any questions can be directed to Sherrie Van Gaalen at (209) 417-2834 http://www.denairfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Booth-Packet.pdf

Sponsors: We need you! Please contact Michelle Dunn at (209) 277-2767 if you would be willing to donate to our wonderful festival!  http://www.denairfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Sponsorship-Packet.pdf

CONTACT INFORMATION:
James Shehan – Event Chairman – (209) 480-1533
Jan Hooker – Treasurer – (209) 668-9144
Melissa Cherry – Secretary/5K Run – (209) 678-0381
Russell Steeley – Truck Show – (209) 922-8832
Sherrie Van Gaalen – Booths & Sponsorship – (209) 417-2834
Mel Desouza – Marketing & PR – (209) 872-1220
Mark Turpin – Volunteers – (209) 216-7901
Michelle Dunn – Sponsorship – (209) 277-2767

New Ag, Drama, Math and English Courses Unveiled for DHS Students

DUSD Logo

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

Denair High School School students interested in ag or drama will have new electives from which to choose in the upcoming school year, Denair Unified School District trustees decided Thursday night. Adjustments also were made to math and English curriculum, and a second piece put in place for a criminal justice pathway for students interested in law enforcement as a career.

Board members heard an overview of the new courses from Cherie Gresham, the counselor at the high school. Among the highlights:

  • A beefed up menu of ag electives, all intended to quality for college-level credit for students who want to attend Modesto Junior College after graduation. A new welding class will follow two courses in ag mechanics, with hopes of adding an advanced welding class in the near future. A floral design II class to introduce higher-level concepts, Gresham said. An introduction to animal science course. And, finally, an elective on agricultural leadership and skills, which excited Trustee Ray Prock Jr. “I could see it developing into a marketing or ag communications class. I don’t think there’s any other high school around here that offers that,” he said.
  • An elective in drama. “We had a ton of interest in it,” Gresham explained. “We had a bunch of kids already in the Drama Club.”
  • In mathematics, accommodations were made for students who have struggled with algebra. Gresham said for incoming freshmen identified as needing additional attention, algebra will be split into integrated math 1A and integrated math 1B – each a yearlong course that allows them to learn “at a slow pace.” Because the combined classes will count only as one year toward the three years of math needed to graduate, these students also will have to take math classes through their senior years. In addition, a course called integrated math II will replace geometry. It includes elements of geometry, probability and proportional reasoning, quadratic functions and solving equations.
  • In English, a pre-AP course was added specifically for sophomores to better prepare them for the Advanced Placement class they can take as juniors or seniors. “With the pre-AP, we’re giving them a taste of what’s expected and they’ll know whether they’re ready to jump into it,” Gresham explained. “We found this year that some of our students weren’t as prepared as they needed to be for the rigorous coursework.”
  • Trustees were excited to learn about plans to expand the criminal justice choices to as many as four classes, creating what is known as a “pathway.” An introductory course was unveiled in 2015-16 for sophomores, juniors and seniors to consider as an elective. This year, a class in patrol procedures will be added for students at all grade levels. Two additional classes – intro to criminal justice and administration of justice – are envisioned in future years.

Continue reading “New Ag, Drama, Math and English Courses Unveiled for DHS Students” »

Denair High FFA Students Excel at Stanislaus County Fair

Denair FFA Sign

Submitted by Denair High School

The 28 Denair High FFA students had an exceptional 10 days at the recently completed Stanislaus County Fair, collecting award after award and successfully competing against much larger schools.

“I believe our students represented the quality of school, community and FFA programs we have at Denair. Across the board, our students have thrived and I am committed to continue to build the FFA program at Denair for all students,” said Matthew Marshall, one of the high school’s two ag teachers.

Here is a complete list of Denair’s awards from the fair, which ran from July 8-17.

Dairy

  • Denair FFA: 1st place Clean Barn Award, 3rd place Grade Dairy Chapter Group Award, 5th place Registered Dairy Chapter Group Award
  • Carson Haringa: 4th place Advanced Dairy Showmanship
  • Ryan Haringa: 1st place intermediate Dairy Showmanship
  • Chase Pritt: 1st Place novice Dairy Showmanship
  • Bryson Prock: 6th place intermediate Dairy Showmanship
  • Alyce Silva: 8th place intermediate Dairy Showmanship

Meat Goats

  • Denair FFA: 2nd place Chapter Group Award
  • Kelsey Park: 3rd place Novice Goat Showmanship
  • Markus Rocha: Champion Drive Market Goat, Reserve Junior Buck,  2nd place Advanced Breeding Meat Goat Showmanship, 7th place Master Showmanship (7th best showman, out of 1,400+ exhibitors)
  • Cierra Rodriguez: 8th place Novice Goat Showmanship

Dairy Goats

  • Heidi Johnson: 5th place Advanced dairy goat showmanship

Continue reading “Denair High FFA Students Excel at Stanislaus County Fair” »

LaFountain to Lead Denair Charter Academy

Brian LaFountain

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

Brian LaFountain might have been an FBI agent. Or a lawyer. Or a whiz-bang minor-league baseball marketing executive. Instead, he became a teacher nine years ago, fulfilling a passion to work with and make a difference in the lives of children.

That circuitous career path has delivered him now to Denair Charter Academy, where he took over earlier this month as the principal. It’s a role he seems uniquely suited for.

DCA offers home-school curriculum for K-8 students as well as an independent study alternative for high school students who haven’t found the right fit in a traditional setting, have work or other family responsibilities, or have been expelled. The campus serves about 300 students, most of them high school age.

For the past seven years, LaFountain has worked in the Patterson Unified School District. Last year, he was the coordinator of the Open Valley Independent Study program.

“It is an alternative school of choice. It’s very similar to DCA,” LaFountain said. “The biggest difference is DCA is charter school and has the flexibility that brings.”

Patterson is LaFountain’s hometown. He grew up there, graduated from Patterson High School and once aspired to become an attorney, with an eye toward finding a job with the FBI or Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

“My degree is in criminal justice from CSU Stanislaus. I wanted to be an FBI agent. I had a full ride to UC Davis law school,” LaFountain said. “Then I met with 11 lawyers in 11 fields of law and decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer.”

He ended up working in banking for a short time, then got a sales job at Big 5 Sporting Goods (where he worked with the husband of Denair Middle School Principal Kelly Beard). He moved on to an unpaid internship with Modesto A’s baseball team and did so well they created a full-time position for him.

Eventually, he followed his passion – working with children. He became a substitute teacher while going back to college to earn his teaching credential. He began his education career as a middle school teacher in Stockton before moving to Patterson seven years ago. Continue reading “LaFountain to Lead Denair Charter Academy” »

Denair Cheerleaders Excel at Camp, Win Top Award

Denair High School 2016-17 Cheerleading Team

Submitted by Denair High School

Robyn Hilton could not be more proud of her Denair High School cheerleading squad. In late June, the 22-member team attended a prestigious camp at UC Davis and came away with the top award, beating out 14 other schools from all over Northern California.

The Leadership Award is presented on the final day of the three-day camp. It is voted on by all the camp goers and represents the team they would most like to join because of its spirit, its willingness to learn new stunts and dance steps, and its work ethic.

It was quite a kickoff for the 2016-17 group, which features incoming eight freshmen as well as two sophomores, six juniors and six seniors.

“We definitely showed school pride and spirit. I am extremely proud of our team,” said Hilton, adding that winning the Leadership Award has been a goal for at least the past four years.

“It’s an award that reflects character. That’s even more important than the cheerleading skills,” she said. “We all went through those three days together. They pushed themselves to be in the front, to start games, to meet people, to get out the box and to really have fun.”

The camp is run by the United Cheerleading Association. There is a full schedule each day starting at 8:30 a.m. and going until about 8 p.m. Each team is taught the same set of stunts, but develops its own routine to feature them.

“It’s nice to have so many who are experienced. The seniors really help to support the underclassmen. We had practiced every week leading up to camp, but camp is a lot of hard work,” Hilton said. “There were lots of bumps and bruises and tumbles.”

Denair’s team features five flyers (the members at the top of the pyramids who are caught by others), 10 bases, five back spotters and two front spotters. Continue reading “Denair Cheerleaders Excel at Camp, Win Top Award” »