Family: I have three little sisters — Sienna, Soleil and Summer. My mom, Lourdes Crawford, is the learning director at Hughson High School and my father, Lane Crawford, is a chiropractor in Turlock, he runs his own business, Crawford Chiropractic. I recently got married so there is an addition to our family: my husband Rene. He works independently coding and creating websites for businesses.

School: Denair Middle School

Subject taught: I teach sixth- and seventh-grade English along with the yearbook class.

Experience and education: I started off my education at Modesto Junior College. There I received my associate degrees in sociology and Spanish. I continued my education through CSU Stanislaus and received my bachelors in Spanish. I also have passed the CSET in English and am currently interning through the credential program at Stanislaus. Along with this, I will be receiving the BCLAD when graduating from the credential program.

What attracted you to Denair? Denair’s community is one of the best. Everyone is so close and caring. They really treat you like family here.

What most inspires you about teaching? I’ve known all throughout high school that I wanted to be a teacher because I like helping others. The idea of being able to help my students makes me happy and that’s why I chose teaching as my career.

What is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? A challenge I look forward to tackling this year is handling everything that comes with teaching. It is my first year as a teacher so everything is new for me. However, I am confident that this year will be great and I’m very excited to start the school year!

What is your favorite teaching tool or activity? My favorite activities as a teacher are escape rooms. It’s fun seeing students be so hands-on with assignments and working together as a group. It gives them a better understanding of the novel in a fun way and brings everyone closer!

What do you want your students to remember? I want my students to remember that their middle school experience was filled with good memories and happy thoughts. I hope they remember that their teachers cared about them and always had their support.

How can parents support what you do? Parents can support me by coming to me with any questions or concerns. No matter how little it may seem, I want parents to know that they can communicate with me and I am someone that they can reach out to.

What would surprise people about your job? Something that surprises people about my job is how beneficial it has been to be bilingual. Not many people know I am bilingual, but this really helps with communication with parents and students. Speaking both English and Spanish has made it easier for me to feel closer to the community. 

What do you do for fun?  For fun I love to spend time with my family. As of right now, my little sister loves playing Mario Kart with me. My family and I will all play against each other in races and it’s always fun!

This is one in a series of Q&A’s with employees new to Denair Unified in 2024-25.

Family: My parents, Mary Theresa and Marco Antonio; and my brothers, Scott and Anthony

School: Denair High School

Subject taught: Math 1(H) and Math 2(H)

Experience and education: I graduated from Orestimba High School in Newman and have a B.S. in computer science from CSU Stanislaus. I have been teaching for four years, though this is my first full year certificated.

What attracted you to Denair? I’ve always gravitated towards smaller areas and communities, so the jump from Newman to Denair was very mild. Also, I love the Turlock area.

What most inspires you about teaching? Seeing success in my students, both small and grand. It is forever gratifying to see something in them click or for something to finally make sense. Also, getting to know my students and see their challenges and helping them in whatever little ways I can. Getting to be a little piece of their life is just as rewarding.

What is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? Adversity in math has always been a problem, and I think that comes a lot from mindset. People think they aren’t good at something, so then they aren’t. I want to break that mindset and show my students that they really can get good and be good at something if they stick with it and keep pushing.

What is your favorite teaching tool or activity? You will never hear me say a bad thing about Desmos. Visuals are fantastic and Desmos is all visuals.

What do you want your students to remember? Learning doesn’t start and end with school, we just give you good structure and guidance here. You learn throughout your whole life, so the best thing you can do for yourself is learn HOW to learn best while you’re here.

How can parents support what you do? Just keep them on task and make sure they’re keeping up with their notes, their homework, and any tests or quizzes coming up. Also encourage them to reach out and ask for help themselves, or to try new things.

What would surprise people about your job? How easy it is to have patience for your students. So many people have said, “I could never, I have no patience.” But when you like your job and your students, that’s way easier to do than it seems.

What do you do for fun? Video games and music. I recently beat the Shadows of the Erdtree DLC for Elden Ring, and just finished replaying Dark Souls III. I’ll probably go back to Minecraft soon since 1.21 just came out.

Denair High students potentially interested in medically related careers will be able to learn more about them beginning this school year thanks to a $200,000 grant the school received from the state.

The money will allow the high school to create its sixth career technical education (CTE) pathway, this one focused on providing “foundational information and skills needed to pursue a career in the medical field,” according to Principal Breanne Aguiar.

Already, almost 60 students have signed up for the first yearlong course – Emergency Medical Training (EMT) 1 – which will begin when school resumes in August. The class will be taught by Melissa Treadwell, a longtime employee in the district whose background includes certification to teach this subject. 

The $200,000 from the Golden State Pathways Program will pay for the materials needed to give students a real-life sense of various medical careers – items such as a gurney, a hospital bed, stethoscopes, training mannequins, a defibrillator and touchscreen smartboards. Aguiar said students will learn about basic human anatomy as well as medical terminology and related concepts. In addition, students will have the opportunity to earn their BLS (Basic Life Support) certification.

The class could be the starting point for students who may want to pursue a career as an EMT, a nurse, an X-ray technician, or various other medically related roles. Even for those who don’t attend college, the class could position graduates for entry-level positions at a local hospital or medical facility, Aguiar said.

As with Denair’s other CTE courses, Aguiar said the EMT 1 class “creates post-secondary opportunities for students and help them identify their interests for what they may like to do as a career.”

The EMT 1 class will be followed by an EMT 2 course in the 2025-26 school year.

About half of Denair High’s 300 students take one or more of the campus’ CTE classes. The other career pathways include agriscience; ag mechanics; arts, media, and entertainment; criminal science investigation; and floral design.

“We want to help students develop interests early on to set them up for post-secondary success,” Aguiar said.

The Golden State Pathways Program is an arm of the California Department of Education. Its purpose is to provide local school districts with the resources to promote pathways in high-wage, high-skill, high-growth areas, including technology, health care, education, and climate-related fields that, among other things, allow students to advance seamlessly from high school to college and career and provide the workforce needed for economic growth.

Aguiar invited students or parents Interested in learning more about the EMT class or Denair’s other CTE pathways to call the high school office at (209) 632-9911. 

No one associated with the Denair FFA will forget the oppressive heat they endured at the 2024 Stanislaus County Fair. The high temperature soared past 100 degrees each day during the fair’s 10-day run, which wrapped up Sunday. 

“It was a crazy, hot week,” summed up Denair High ag instructor Roger Christianson.

But for some of Denair’s 21 students who entered animals or projects at the fair, their memories will include more than just the hot weather.

Freshman Makenzie Miguel – competing in her first fair — finished with two first-place market sheep in their classes. She also had Grand and Reserve Grand Champion Breeding Ram. She also was a finalist for outstanding exhibitor for sheep.

“She really hit the road running this year,” Christianson said.

Miguel also was a state finalist in the Agriscience Fair and is waiting to hear back about qualifying for nationals. 

In horticulture, Jaydah Rodriguez had an amazing fair. She entered 10 plants and was rewarded with eight firsts, one second and one third. Zac Christianson also won two firsts in floral for his Lego projects.

In poultry, Salvador Virgen received second place in Novice Showmanship and earned first, second and third as well as best of breed with his bantam Serama chickens.

For swine, 2023 Denair High graduate Dakota Rutherford returned for her final fair to earn first place in her market class and eighth place for showmanship. Rutherford – about to be a sophomore at Modesto Junior College – will put on her FFA jacket for the final time in October when she receives her American Degree. Christianson said Rutherford is the 21st person in the Denair FFA chapter’s 96-year history to earn the award, which is the organization’s highest honor.

In ag mechanics, Denair had two students win first-place ribbons – Landon Rock with a 350-block coffee table and Brenna Cole with a removable sheep stand.

In goats, Ryan Rohn won first in his market class and third in the heavyweight division.

Ethan Ibarra placed third in FFA Advanced Showmanship and earned first- and second-place ribbons for his geese as well as a second and third for his blue laced Wyandotte chickens.

For the more than 200 Denair elementary, high school, and special education students involved in summer school in the past month, vacation season finally can begin. That’s true as well for the dozens of teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, food service workers, and other staff members who devoted four weeks to those same students.

Everyone deserves a well-earned break. That’s because it won’t be long until regular classes resume in mid-August.

For roughly 130 elementary students, summer school was a chance to continue building their ability in core academic subjects like math and English in a fun, grade-free environment. Classroom lessons were augmented by sessions in art or music … or something like Water Day that was held on June 14 as a way to beat the heat.

“I thought that was a highlight of our program this summer,” said elementary Principal Robert Moore.

Students were able to access obstacle courses, slip ‘n’ slides, sprinklers, shark bowling with a beach ball, and an obstacle course. There also was a bean bag toss game, a shaving cream activity table, and a bubble station. 

“This was a great event and staff, students, and families all pitched in to make it a success,” Moore said.

For the first time during summer school, 12 girls in fifth and sixth grades also were able to take part in the ROX (Ruling Our eXperiences) program led by counselor Kara Binkley. ROX is intended to empower girls by teaching them how to handle conflict, create and manage better relationships, and think positively and differently about their futures. Binkley covered 20 key lessons in just 21 days.

Next door at Denair Charter Academy, the day-to-day mood was a little more serious for the 80 or so high school students who were involved in credit recovery. They needed to retake and pass classes they didn’t do well in during the regular school year. Earning those all-important credits was the way to get back on track toward graduation.

“If it gets to a point where they have too many courses to recover, that leads to a hard conversation between the (high school) counselor and the student and their families,” explained Principal Anajanzy Montoya.

An important component of this year’s summer program in Denair was the inclusion of special education students – 25 of whom took part in the district’s Extended School Year program. The students worked with the same teachers they had during the regular school year and also took part in community-based instruction opportunities and educational field trips throughout the summer program. 

Moore singled out the special education teachers and paraprofessionals for their hard work. The special education students began their days on the high school campus and then transitioned to the elementary campus in the afternoon.

“These staff members did such a great job making sure that all of our students had access to the fun activities we had available for them in the afternoon and were always flexible to help in any way that we needed,” he said. “The special education staff along with the rest of our summer school staff really went above and beyond this summer to provide a fun and safe place for students to extend their learning and continue their growth.”

Students at all grades during summer school once again benefitted from the dedicated food service team, which provided a daily average of 128 breakfasts, 178 lunches, and 65 snacks during summer school – all for free.

Beginning July 8 and lasting through July 19, free breakfast, lunch, and supper will be offered to community members. Breakfast is served at Denair Middle School from 7:30 to 9 a.m., lunch is at DMS from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and supper is served at Denair High School from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.