Submitted by Denair Municipal Advisory Council
The Denair Municipal Advisory Council has posted the MAC Agenda for their August meeting, scheduled for August 8, 2017. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm. The meeting will be held in the DUSD Board Room.
Author Archives: DenairPulse Editor
Denair High School FFA Students Have Strong Showing at Fair
Submitted by Denair High School
Denair High FFA students had a very successful showing at the recent Stanislaus County Fair in Turlock. The fair is the annual culmination of many months of work getting animals ready to show or completing projects.
Here are the results:
Chris Galhano: Reserve Champion Market Lamb and 1st place in Senior Showmanship
Hector Obando: Reserve Champion junior dairy doe, 1st place dam/daughter dairy goats
Abi Dirkse: Champion and Reserve Grade Beef Heifer
Madison Womack: 1st in class goat
Bryson Prock: 1st place welding trailer
Brielle Prock: 1st in skillet arrangements, box arrangements and lunch box arrangements
Chenoa Urchison: 2nd in class swine
Danielle Tigner: 4th in class swine
Yesenia Barrera: 4th in class goats
Cierra Rodriguez: 4th in class goat
Jesus Perez: 5th in class beef
Blain Cole: 6th in novice sheep showmanship
Alexandria Sanders: 8th in novice goat showmanship
Tristan Haile: 12th in advanced showmanship
Everyone with a market animal made weight and grade, meaning they sold at the junior livestock auction. Here are the rest of the Denair FFA students who participated in the fair:
Emilee Fanning: sheep
Heidi Johnson: goat, dairy goat
Logan Johnson: goat
Jacob Lewellen: goat
Crystal Mancilla: sheep
Christian Obando: sheep
Kelsey Park: goat
Courtney Prock: goat
Kyle Prock: replacement heifer
Angelo Retana: goat
Justin Short: goat
Adrianna Snyder: goat
New Principal Naranjo Brings Personal Experience to DCA; LaFountain Takes Over at Middle School
Submitted by Denair Unified School District
More than most school administrators, David Naranjo knows what it’s like to be a teen-ager struggling to make his way in high school. That empathy comes from personal experience. Naranjo was once a high school dropout himself. He has felt the uncertainty and the disillusionment, and sensed the lowered expectations that others have for teens in that situation.
And he’s living proof that there is a way out. That difficult family or financial circumstances or poor choices made as a teen don’t have to determine the rest of your life. There is hope.
As the new principal at Denair Charter Academy, Naranjo wants to be a role model for his independent study high school students, many of whom confront similar challenges as he once did growing up in San Diego County.
“I tell them, ‘I was a high school dropout,’ ” Naranjo said. “I had a tough family situation, but I went back and graduated from a continuation school. I started college when I was 23 and became a straight-A student.
“I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school or college. If I was going to break the cycle of not graduating, that was on me. I took it very seriously. That’s the example I want to set today for our students.”
Officially, Naranjo’s title is senior director of student support services. In addition to his duties at DCA, he will oversee various state-mandated responsibilities for all of Denair Unified’s four campuses. But much of his initial focus will be on the staff and students at DCA, which offers home-school options for parents of students up to eighth grade in addition to independent study for high schoolers.
Naranjo replaces Brian LaFountain at DCA. LaFountain moves across the street to Denair Middle School as principal.
Naranjo comes to Denair from the Tuolumne County Office of Education. His new role reunites him with Denair Superintendent Aaron Rosander. Naranjo was principal of Mariposa High School and Woodland Elementary School when Rosander was the schools superintendent in that county. Continue reading “New Principal Naranjo Brings Personal Experience to DCA; LaFountain Takes Over at Middle School” »
Get Your Fireworks and Support Denair!
Still looking for those last minute fireworks for tomorrow night? Buy your fireworks in Denair and support local youth groups.
Denair Sober Grad and Football have a booth, selling Phantom Fireworks on Main Street, in front of Denair Foods. They are open 10:00 am – 9:00 pm and are offering 10% off for DUSD employees.
Denair Youth Football has a booth selling TNT fireworks, in front of the Denair Gaslight Theater and the Denair Community Center on Main Street. They are open 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Stop by either of these fireworks booths and rest assured your dollars are supporting local Denair youth groups!
Denair High Grad Kyle Prock Honored with Top FFA Award
Submitted by Denair High School
Kyle Prock comes from a farming family, which makes the DEKALB Agricultural Accomplishment Award he recently was given even more special.
Prock’s grandfather, father and uncle all have been involved in the Future Farmers of America organization through the decades. They have devoted their lives to raising beef and dairy cattle.
“Not everyone wants to be a farmer, but if it weren’t for farmers or ag, the world would be a lot worse off,” Prock told the Turlock Journal. “The FFA is a once in a lifetime opportunity that every kid and every school should experience.”
Prock appears poised to carry on the family legacy. The DEKALB award recognizes FFA members who excel in academics, leadership and ag work experience. That pretty much sums up Prock’s life so far.
The 2017 Denair High graduate was the quarterback on the playoff-bound football team last fall, though a knee injury cost him part of the season. It also prevented him from wrestling last winter, though he worked hard to rehab the knee so he could play baseball this spring.
Prock has been very active in various FFA projects and responsibilities. He credits the organization with providing the experiences that led to a bevy of small scholarships this spring.
“At other, bigger schools, you’re either an athlete or in FFA,” Prock told the Journal. “It’s cool because at a small school like Denair, you’re able to be an ag kid and a sports kid.”
His knee healed, Prock plans to play football again this fall at Merced College. But his longer-term focus is transferring to Fresno State in two years to pursue a career in agribusiness. He’d like to become an ag real estate appraiser.
“Kyle is an amazing student athlete,” praised Denair High Principal Kara Backman. “He is self-driven, passionate about agriculture and will succeed with any goal he sets for himself. I am honored to be his past high school principal. He is a next generation leader in our community.”