On most high school campuses, there might be only a few classes in which students can literally talk about and debate important issues ripped straight from today’s headlines.

Topics like Russia invading Ukraine. Human and animal cloning. The value of vaccines. Should the U.S. keep the penny? Is there bias in Oscar nominations and awards? Should tests determine academic futures? Why does the post office exist? Should tolerance be taught in school? Digital privacy and cyber-bullying.

These and other subjects – some weighty, some just fun – are the focus of a new class this year at Denair High School taught by instructor Jorge Ruelas. It’s called Communication and Debate, and it is open to a select group of 10 hand-picked sophomores.

The class is intended to be an incubator for the school district’s efforts to promote what Superintendent Terry Metzger calls “authentic literacy.” 

“We define literate as being able to read, write and speak (and reason) proficiently in all of their classes,” Metzger explained. “That involves the four Cs: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication. Students get to practice all of that in this course.”

The course was the brainchild of Metzger and Denair High Principal Kara Backman, who wanted to offer an intriguing class for young adults focusing on authentic literacy that was wrapped in rigor and high executive functioning skills. 

This class of students will remain together in the Communication and Debate class until they graduate in 2024. Backman said the data collected about them will be analyzed to gauge the effectiveness of how raw authentic literacy guides the impact of presentation, language articulation and a growth mindset.  The hope is that the skills developed by the students in the class can be taught on a larger scale to more Denair High students.

“Denair High School prides itself on providing a high school experience for all of our students,” Backman said. “That requires staff to provide opportunities for students to problem solve, create opinions supported by facts and present those creations in a professional, articulate manner.  A growth mindset is the foundation of all literacy and implementation and must be taught at a high level. Mr. Ruelas does an amazing job with this implementation.”

Unlike most other classes, the Communications and Debate students have enormous influence on what topics will be researched and discussed.

“Every month, the goal is for students to put together a presentation that is well-researched,” Ruelas said. “Most months, it is a debate topic that students bring together from articles we have read as class. Daily, we scour the news to find topics of interest and debate the merit of the argument(s).”

Ruelas said there wasn’t a specific model from a similar class at another school he could follow. Instead, he and his students have continued to push themselves to experiment with different strategies month to month. If it works, they keep it. If it doesn’t, they try something else.

“The greatest goal was for students to be able to engage with topics that related to their specific interests and dive deeply into researching rigorous articles and research that would ultimately come together into a presentation in the form of a PowerPoint, video, debate or Podcasts,” Ruelas explained.

One of the primary purposes of the class is to open the students’ minds to topics and possibilities that they otherwise might not have been exposed to. Requiring them to deeply research those subjects and then report back to the class about what they learned is an important way to sharpen their critical thinking skills.

And despite the course name of Communications and Debate, this is not a forum to develop a competitive high school debate team. The “debating” that is done occurs only within the four walls of the classroom. Presentations can be verbal, use video or PowerPoint – whatever is the most effective way for students to share their message and influence their classmates to agree with their position.

“Ah! The art of persuasion, the delicate dance that we all partake in,” Ruelas said. “I encourage the students to test the boundaries of it in class with the subject matter we have now, so when they use it in the real world, they are fluent in its steps.”

Based on their enthusiasm, the students are thoroughly enjoying the class.

“One of my favorite things about this class is that when we look at the news together, we can have good argumentative discussions about what’s going on,” said student Lynea McIntire. “In this class, I have learned how to better give evidence, rebuttals, and claims that have helped me when discussing with my peers in other classes.

Ruelas said he talks with his colleagues about what’s happening in the class. Many of them are intrigued and have contributed potential ideas for Ruelas’ students to research and debate. 

Metzger said this small group of sophomores were chosen to be academic test lab so their progress could be tracked for three years at Denair High. If things continue to go as well as they have so far, it’s possible that the teaching concepts and methods used by Ruelas could be expanded into other classrooms and other instructors.

“This is a pilot for this year,” Metzger said. “We’re excited because we see a lot of great things going on in this class. It could change how literate these students are in other content areas. The effects of what’s happening in this class are notable.”

The Denair Unified School District has been honored as the best in California for the way it recycles its cafeteria and cardboard waste.

An official from Foodservice Sustainability Solutions presented awards to three Denair employees at Thursday night’s Board of Trustees meeting. Recognized were Facilities and Maintenance Director Mark Hodges, Food Services Coordinator Kim Fuentez and recycling coordinator Leslie Black.

Denair’s program has three key elements:

• Dehydrated food scraps are sent to the Denair High farm as feed for its two hogs, Floppy and Piggy, and to be added to the compost pile
• Styrofoam serving trays are melted after use and recycled
• Cardboard containers, boxes and packaging from throughout the district are baled and recycled 

“It’s a testament to the conscientious efforts of everyone on the Denair USD team to create a culture of stewardship that supports such success here,” said FSS Senior Vice President Kim Eger, who presented the Best in Class K-12 Schools Award to Denair officials.

Denair Unified began its recycling program in 2018 and continued even during the pandemic. The district provided pick-up breakfasts and lunches for families when students were not at school, so food waste still was being generated.

Here’s how the program works:

Food waste, vegetables and other organic material from the district’s three kitchens is collected and loaded into a compost accelerator. Fuentez estimated that the daily volume is 50 or 60 pounds. Over seven to eight hours, the accelerator reduces the waste to what looks like shredded coffee grounds that will fit into a 5-gallon bucket. That material becomes feed for the hogs or is added to the compost pile.

Fuentez said about 1,600 disposable Styrofoam serving trays are used each day by Denair’s students. The trays are fed into a machine called a StyroGenie, which melts them down into a dense brick that can be turned into oil for small engines.

Denair Unified School District Superintendent Terry Metzger recommended to trustees Thursday night that school begin 30 minutes later starting in August to comply with a new state law. Board members took no action Thursday, but are expected to make a final decision at their April meeting.

It is a move that would affect each of the district’s 1,200 kindergarten through 12^th-grade students.

Currently, school begins at 8 a.m. at Denair’s four campuses. A law passed by the California Legislature and signed by the governor in 2019 says districts cannot start before 8 a.m. for middle school students or 8:30 a.m. for high school students. It was based on research regarding sleep deprivation in adolescents and the benefits for them of a later start time.

Metzger told trustees that having different start times on its campuses was not practical for a small district like Denair, primarily for the impact it would have on transportation. Denair has two bus routes. Students at all grades levels ride together. Having any campus start school before 8:30 a.m. would mean high school students would have to arrive early – undermining the intent of the new law.

Equally important, Metzger said, was the impact on parents and others who have children attending multiple campuses and drive their kids to school. 

“They told us they were not doing multiple drop-offs,” Metzger said. 

In conjunction with the revised schedule, the district is in the process of expanding its before- and after-school academic options. Metzger stressed that the Extended Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) is not a replacement for child-care services currently available. Rather, she explained, it is an effort to mitigate the ongoing academic issues for students associated with the two-year COVID-19 pandemic. The district expects to receive about $845,000 annually in federal funding for the program.

Possible ELOP services could include tutoring, homework help, reading practice, opportunities for middle and high school students to talk one-on-one with teachers or to work on group projects in the library.

“This is the perfect opportunity to rethink what we’re doing,” Metzger said. “It allows us to get in compliance with the law at 8:30 and offer before- and after-school instruction to assist working parents. We’re being strategic in the kinds of programs we’ll be able to engage students in.”

Parents will have to register their children for ELOP. Metzger said more information will be sent home in the next week explaining the program and asking parents if they are likely to be interested. She expects as many as 500 students could participate. The federal money will cover the full cost of the program, including staffing, she said.

“This is not child care,” Metzger stressed. “It is intended to be instructional.”

In other action Thursday night, trustees:

• Listened as Metzger provided an update on the new COVID masking rules laid out by state health officials that take effect Monday. Beginning that day, masks will be optional for students and staff. Metzger said her primary concern is that students don’t feel any extra pressure whether they wear masks or not. “We don’t want them to feel bullied or pressured,” she said. “Whether you wear a mask or not is a non-issue.”
• Voted to remove the “interim” label from the title of Denair Middle School Principal Gabriela Sarmiento. Sarmiento, a former DMS teacher, took over in October when former Principal Amanda Silva become the district’s interim director of special education.
• Voted to accept the Second Interim Budget report. It shows that revenues have declined slightly this year due because of lower attendance (likely related to COVID) and lower enrollment. Still, money received from state and federal sources is expected to grow in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 budget cycles.
• Approved a new contract for various services provided in the 2022-23 school year by the Stanislaus County Office of Education. The total cost is $171,820.920, an increase of about $11,800 from this year.
• Approved the formation of a softball club at Denair Middle School, intended to better prepare girls to play at the high school level.

In basketball, size matters. Taller players – especially athletic ones – often have a natural advantage over their shorter opponents. That immutable fact underscores what happened Thursday night when a relatively small Denair team squared off against a much bigger Priory squad in the second round of the NorCal Division V Tournament.

Needing to shoot efficiently from distance on offense and fight hard to avoid giving up second-chance points on defense, Denair did neither. Instead, the Coyotes were dominated 70-49 by Panthers in Portola Valley.

Priory leaned on 6-foot-5 senior Oliver Conn (15 points, six rebounds) and 6-9 sophomore Steve (eight points, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots) to dominate inside against Denair, whose tallest player is 6-3. The Panthers also got a strong game from guard Tayo Sobomehin, who led all scorers with 21 points, including four three-pointers.

Priory (18-11) led 20-10 after one quarter, 37-21 at halftime and 53-30 after three quarters. Denair (27-5) never got closer than 14 points in the second half.

“We just didn’t make shots,” said Denair coach R.J. Henderson, whose players were a frigid 4-for-24 from the three-point line. “We just didn’t have it and they arguably had the three best players on the court. We ran up against a better team.”

The loss, though disappointing, does nothing to diminish the amazing success of not only this year’s Denair team, but the program built by Henderson that has achieved in ways matched by few others in school history.

The Coyotes have won or shared the past three Southern League championship, something no other Denair team has done. During that span, they are 32-2 in league play and 64-10 overall. This year’s team won the school’s first Sac-Joaquin Section title since 2002 and made it to the second round of the NorCal Tournament for only the third time ever.

“There wasn’t a dry eye in the locker room after the game,” said Henderson, who will step down as coach after 10 seasons. “The finality of it hits and it’s over. You get a feeling of what it’s like in March Madness when a team is eliminated.”

Henderson admitted to having a special bond with the team’s four seniors – Mario Plasencia, Connor Leonard, Cooper Feldman and Jack Henderson (the coach’s nephew).

“That group leaves a really, really valuable legacy for Denair basketball,” said Henderson. “They have a lot to be proud of. Those kids are like my second family, I’ve been around them so long. It was special to coach that group.”

The “core four,” as Henderson often refers to them, were at the heart of Denair’s recent success. They committed to playing basketball not only during the school season, but also in travel ball in the summer and fall that saw Denair going up against bigger schools in places like Roseville and Reno.

Henderson also had kind words for school officials and parents, without whose support the Coyotes couldn’t have accomplished so much.

“It took a lot of support from administrators and parents to trust in this program because it wasn’t on the map when a lot of these kids decided to play for me in the seventh grade,” he said. “We kept the home-grown kids and added some kids from other schools. The stars aligned. You’ve got to play nine or 10 months of the year to make this happen at a small school like Denair.”

Henderson, who teaches physical education at Denair Middle School and independent study at Denair Charter Academy, is only 47 years old. He would like to coach again, if he can find the right situation. In the meantime, he is proud of his time at Denair High. 

“Most of what I take out of last 10 years is the relationships,” he said. “With the kids, watching them grow and hopefully setting an example of the life skills you build through the program. And secondly, the relationship with the parents. I’m very grateful for their support.”

It wasn’t a normal first half at all for Denair on Thursday night. Playing at home before a partisan crowd, the Coyotes uncharacteristically struggled to score near the basket and didn’t do any better from distance against Orland. The result? A narrow 22-17 lead for Denair – the lowest-scoring first half for the Coyotes all season.

It didn’t take long for things to change after the halftime break. Connor Leonard scored eight quick points to open the third quarter and Jack Henderson and Cooper Feldman heated up from the three-point line.

The Coyotes grew their lead to 15 points by the end of the third quarter, then pulled away for a convincing 64-38 victory in the first round of the NorCal Division V Tournament.

“In the first half, we missed a ton of stuff at the rim. We just couldn’t finish,” said Denair coach R.J. Henderson. “I told them at halftime that we still have to put pressure on the defense and on the officials to make calls by going inside.”

The victory vaulted fifth-seeded Denair (27-4) into the NorCal quarterfinals, where they will face No. 4 Priory (17-11) of Portola Valley on the road Thursday at 8 p.m. Priory eliminated Mariposa 48-35 on Tuesday night.

The second-half surge against Orland (19-11) looked more like the Denair team that earned a share of its third straight Southern League title this season and won its first Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship since 2002.

Jack Henderson (19 points) made four of his five three-pointers in the final two quarters while Feldman (17 points) netted both of his three-pointers. Leonard (15 points) and Mario Plasencia (10 points, 11 rebounds) did most of their damage inside.

“Orland was physical,” said R.J. Henderson. “Their leading scorer rolled his ankle in the previous game and he was out. That was unfortunate, but it was an opportunity and we took advantage of it.”

Reaching the NorCal quarterfinals matches the success of the 1990 Denair team and is one round further than the 2002 and 2020 teams advanced.

Awaiting Thursday night will be Priory, which features something that Denair hasn’t seen much of this year – size. The Panthers are led by 6-foot-9 sophomore Steve Emeneke (11.6 points per game), 6-4 junior Rostand Olama Abanda (9.2 ppg) and 6-5 senior Oliver Conn (7.7 ppg). Junior guard Tayo Sobemehin (10.8 ppg) directs the offense.

Leonard is Denair’s tallest player at 6-3. Plasencia, Feldman and Henderson all are about 6-1.

“Priory is very good – very dynamic and very big,” said R.J. Henderson, adding that the Coyotes will have to “fly all around” on defense to overcome their size disadvantage.

“We can’t allow their bigs to just camp out around the rim,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough task. … If we can keep them off the offensive glass and hold them to one shot, we’ll have a chance.”

The other thing Denair will have to do is shoot well from the outside, like it did in the second half against Orland.

“We’re going to have to shoot efficiently and get to the line,” Henderson predicted. “Survive and advance. That’s the mode we’re in. We don’t want it to end.”