Category Archives: News

DECA Principal Lauds Fifth-Grader, Serenity Bailey

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Sara Michelena and Serenity Bailey

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

Serenity Bailey’s world has been anything but serene over the past year.

First was the news her mother had cancer – a traumatic event for any loved one, but especially a young girl. Then came the freak storm on November 15, when a category 1 tornado ripped through Denair and sent a massive eucalyptus tree crashing into the Bailey family’s 100-year-old Victorian home on Zeering Road. Fortunately no one was hurt, but the house was destroyed and the family displaced. Then, a week after the tornado, Serenity and the entire Denair school community was stunned by the tragic news of Mark Selee’s death. He was Serenity’s fourth-grade teacher last year.

It was more bad news than most fifth-graders ever have to absorb in such a short time. According to Sara Michelena, Serenity’s principal at Denair Elementary Charter Academy, the young girl has shown uncommon determination, resiliency and courage.

“She has continued to bounce back when others might not have done so,” Michelena wrote in nominating Serenity for a countywide award.

The Every Student Succeeding program honors students in grades kindergarten through 12 who have overcome serious challenges, succeeded beyond expectations or just won the hearts of their school staff. It is coordinated by the Stanislaus County Office of Education and the local Association of California School Administrators.

Michelena credits her staff, the Turlock Chaplain’s Association and the experts from Jessica’s House, a group that specializes in working with grieving children, for their efforts to help all of DECA’s students through a difficult time.

“The outpouring of support and kindness of the people of Denair and surrounding communities has restored our faith in the human spirit. Serenity and her family continue to rebuild and recover, and we continue to be in awe of her strength and courage,” Michelena wrote, adding that Serenity “is one of those bright lights in dark times.”

Denair High School Student Videos Honored

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DUSD Logo

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

Is the next George Lucas or Steven Spielberg attending Denair High right now? Could be, given how well the campus’ leadership class is doing in a video competition sponsored by a local newspaper.

Denair’s videos have been chosen as the best in the first two weeks of the competition, which matches five schools in the Turlock Journal circulation area (Denair, Turlock, Pitman, Hilmar and Delhi). The videos about life on campus are due each Friday. The newspaper staff ranks them and then posts them on its website the following Monday on a show its calls “The Pulse,” which it touts as being “made by high school kids for high school kids.”

Each video is about a minute long. Denair’s first shows a combination of students and teachers celebrating various themed days on campus. There was College Day featuring CSU Stanislaus, Fresno State, the University of Oregon and others. A clip showed other students on Book Character Day dressed up as “Where’s Waldo?” and “Peter Pan.” There also were glimpses of Outdoorsman Day and Coyote Spirit Day. The whole thing was set to upbeat music with narration.

The second video was cleverly produced around the benefits of life at a small school. The first segment shows “how good news travels fast” and has students sharing a secret one-by-one in the courtyard. Then there’s a funny bit entitled “it’s a hike to get to class” that spoofs the amount of time it takes to get from one room to another (in Denair’s case, not very long compared to larger campuses). And the last part of the video highlights the closeness of everyone on campus, with a student saying, “Even though we’re a small school, we’re such a big family.”

So far, the Journal staff has been impressed, saying after Episode 2 of The Pulse: “Denair has once again snagged the top spot! … Now the question is, ‘Who can dethrone the Coyotes next week???’ ”

Want to see how creative Denair’s students are? Check out these video links:

Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Qu47AVEOU

Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsp6PiiPwPo

Episode 3 (winter sports and the cheerleading team): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM95ml1332Q

National FFA Week Starts With Students Riding Tractors to School

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FFA Tractors.jpg

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

Some students ride the bus to school. Others walk or are dropped off by their parents. Denair High senior Tristan Haile and sophomore Bryson Prock did something completely different Monday – they came by tractor.

It was a fun way to kick off and draw attention to National FFA Week, which is being celebrated across the country by Future Farmers of America clubs like the one at Denair.

Bryson said he and his father borrowed the tractor idea from FFA organizations in the Midwest. They pitched it to school officials, who enthusiastically gave their blessing.

So Monday morning, Bryson climbed aboard his family’s Kubota M8560 and navigated his way to Tristan’s home, where she and her New Holland joined the two-tractor caravan to school. They parked the tractors near the ag shop on the high school campus.

“My dad and I had seen pictures of people doing this and thought it would be cool to do it here,” Bryson explained.

There were other fun parts to Monday’s first day of FFA Week. Most of the 120 Denair FFA members – and many of their classmates and teachers – wore camo clothing. At lunch time, there was “target practice” in which students tried to knock over plastic water bottles by throwing tennis balls.

The planned activities for the rest of the week look like this:

  • Tuesday: A hay-bucking contest. Everyone is encouraged to wear an “ag” hat.
  • Wednesday: A milk-drinking contest. The attire is blue and gold — the FFA colors.
  • Thursday: A wood-stacking event. Plaid is the outfit of choice to honor lumberjacks.
  • Friday: Kiss a pig day. Most of Denair High’s teachers will have a jar in their classrooms. Students will deposit loose change. Whichever teacher collects the most has to kiss a pig.

“It’s a fun way to advocate for ag and get the whole campus involved,” said first-year teacher Madison Weigel.

DCA Impresses Accreditation Officials with Quality of its ‘Personalized Education’ Programs

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DCA Logo

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

Dawn Allen is one proud principal these days. She and her staff at Denair Charter Academy recently received glowing reviews from a statewide accreditation agency for their unique approach to reaching and educating non-traditional students.

DCA prides itself on providing “personalized education opportunities” for its 326 students. It is an independent learning program for students at all grade levels that do not wish or are not able to attend a typical classroom setting. It combines academic rigor and high-quality instruction with the flexibility necessary to meet each student’s unique educational needs.

Recently, two members of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges visited the DCA campus. WASC reviews schools and, if they meet state standards, grants accreditation every six years. This month’s meeting with Allen and her staff was part of a planned, mid-cycle review.

The officials liked what they saw and heard, a fact that Allen was delighted to share with Denair Unified trustees.

“The teachers at DCA work very hard with their mind, but they also have a strong heart for their students and I could not have been more proud sitting in that meeting and hearing the questions that were being asked of the staff,” Allen told board members.

The principal said on the day the WASC officials arrived, there were 15 new students in the office waiting to be enrolled. It wasn’t something planned, she said, but was a powerful example of the reputation DCA has earned in the local education community.

“WASC is here to see what you got and sometimes they are a little challenging, but they wrote statement after statement on the relationship the teachers have with their students and their commitment to the school and our district,” Allen said. Continue reading “DCA Impresses Accreditation Officials with Quality of its ‘Personalized Education’ Programs” »