Denair students will have access to free eye screening on Monday thanks to a partnership between a local nonprofit organization and a national health company.

The program is known as Glasses 2 Classes. It offers free eye screening and same-day glasses for up to 200 students of all ages per district. The Optical Academy of New Jersey runs it and Turlock-based Legacy Health Endowment is underwriting the cost of the clinics next week in Denair and four other school districts in Stanislaus and Merced counties.

At each clinic, Optical Academy’s mobile vision team will bring its state-of-the-art equipment to a school site to provide students with free eye screening and examinations. If students need glasses, they are made onsite that day and provided at no cost. 

The Denair clinic will begin at 9 a.m. in the Denair Middle School library. All 200 slots are spoken for; there is no room for additional sign-ups at this point.

The district partners with the Denair Lions Club annually to conduct vision screenings in the required grade levels and the Lions connect students who need glasses with local optometrists. But not all students are screened every year.

“The Optical Academy is a great opportunity for parents and teachers to refer children who appear to be having vision issues to be evaluated by a team of professionals so that correction can happen quickly,” said Denair Unified Superintendent Terry Metzger. “This is another great service to our students and families made possible by our generous partner, Legacy Health Endowment.”

Jeffrey Lewis, President and CEO of Legacy Health Endowment, said Glasses 2 Classes has the potential to positively impact hundreds of lives.

“Being able to see correctly is critical to any student’s success in or out of the classroom,” he said. “We are happy to be able to bring a proven program such as Glasses 2 Classes to this area.”

Abby Ayoub, founder of Optical Academy, praised LHE for providing the money to put on the clinics.

“Without partners with passion like the Legacy Health Endowment, we can’t deliver these crucial onsite mobile vision services,” Ayoub said. “We are extremely excited to serve students in the comfort of their school and engage them in making their glasses.”

Denair senior Ethan Gonsalves won’t be going far to attend college. Thursday, the Coyotes’ standout golfer signed a letter of intent to play at Cal State, Stanislaus, the Division II school located just a few miles west of Denair.

“Since I’ve always lived so close to Stanislaus, going there was always on my mind,” Gonsalves explained. “I get to stay close with my family, I’m able to get a higher level of education, and all while getting to continue to play high-level collegiate golf.”

In the past two years, Gonsalves has blossomed into arguably Denair’s top golfer ever.

As a sophomore, he finished fourth in the Sac-Joaquin Section Small-Schools tournament, earning him a spot at the Masters tournament. Last season, he improved on those results – winning the Small Schools tournament with a 1-over-par 73 at The Ridge Golf Course in Auburn against roughly 110 other players. He again qualified for the Masters tournament, where he tied for seventh by shooting an even-par 72 at The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton, narrowly missing a chance to play in the NorCal tournament.

Gonsalves’ average score last year was 3 over par, making him the player to beat in the Southern League. Already this season, he won the Oakdale tournament against some of the best players in Northern California.

“One thing that sets Ethan apart from most of the golfers in this area is that he is an athlete,” said Denair Coach Greg Gaudio. “There are some great youth golfers in the high schools in the Central Valley. Excellent youth who really play well. However, when all of the top golfers are climbing up and down hills carrying their clubs on their back, I think Ethan has a slight advantage over some of these top players because he is a natural athlete.”

At Stanislaus, Gonsalves will join one of the nation’s top Division II programs. The Warriors compete in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, where they have a long tradition of success. 

“The coach at Stan State is Brandon Christianson,” Gonsalves said. “I’ve been reaching out to him since my junior year and we had talked about maybe being part of the team in the future. During the beginning of this year, he gave me a full tour of the campus, and now we’ve solidified a deal to be part of the team.”

Want to put on a barbecue for a few hundred Denair students? Candida Baldwin can handle it.

Need to come up with an emergency plan to feed students in a nearby school district? Ask Baldwin.

Want an employee who represents the best qualities of so many on the Denair food services staff? Baldwin is the one.

In fact, in her 12-plus years preparing literally tens of thousands of meals in the Denair Middle School kitchen, Baldwin has proven she can deftly rise to any challenge at any time, always with a smile on her face.

A couple of her favorite sayings are, “I love happy tummies,” and, “Not all superheroes wear capes. Some of us wear aprons.” Both can be heard in this video about Denair’s food program.

Baldwin’s contagious enthusiasm combined with her loyalty to her co-workers and dedication to nutrition needs of Denair’s students earned her the district’s nomination for the Every Employee Making a Difference competition. Not only was Baldwin recognized at an awards ceremony hosted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education, she was chosen to represent the county in the state competition in the Food and Nutrition Services category later this spring in Sacramento.

Baldwin’s supervisor – Food Services Manager Kim Fuentez – can’t sing her praises enough.

“Every day she arrives at work, she brings her knowledge of cooking and happy spirit to the kitchen,” Fuentez said. “Her tasks are daunting, as she must ensure the coordination of the lunch meals for

Denair Middle School, Denair Elementary Charter Academy, and Reyn Franca School. 

“She takes her job seriously and makes sure everything in the central kitchen is flowing smoothly. When preparing meals for our middle school, she adds her special touch to make every meal inviting, tasty and nutritious.”

Baldwin takes special pride in making meals from scratch, which is one of department’s goals. Whether it’s beef fajitas, tri-tip sandwiches, baked drumsticks, minestrone soup, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches or Portuguese beans, Baldwin’s goal is to please students.

“I love to cook. I really do,” she said. “I like coming in here and cooking from raw, like fresh, home-made food. I like showing the kids new things they don’t normally taste or making something and they say, ‘It tastes just like my abuela’s.’ ”

Baldwin, like the rest of the food services staff, played a big role during the COVID lockdown, preparing and then distributing much-needed meals from the parking lot. Many of Denair’s 1,200 students rely on the district to provide breakfast, lunch and even an after-school snack. That was amplified during the pandemic.

“We weren’t just feeding our kids, we were feeding families from Turlock and Modesto,” she said. “I wish we could have done more, but we did the best we could.”

A couple of years ago, Baldwin’s big heart was again on display when the nearby Hickman School District needed help. Its food vendor gave it a two-day notice that it couldn’t provide any food for a few weeks. When Fuentez found out, she and Baldwin sprang into action to save the day.

“Honestly, Dida and I went into their kitchen and did what we normally do, figuring out a way to feed kids,” Fuentez said. “It was nothing out of the ordinary, except our concept about feeding kids was expanded to include kids from another district.”

Recalled Baldwin: “There was no way we were going to let an entire district not have food. What else were the kids going to do? We had to help.”

That response was much appreciated by Hickman Superintendent Trish Anderson, who thanked Fuentez and Baldwin in a letter to Denair Superintendent Terry Metzger.

“During our collaboration with your team,” Anderson wrote, “it was never once about adults, and how much work it was going to be to add us to Denair’s schedule.  Their conversation was strictly about kids and the nutritional needs of students.”

Baldwin never imagined such selfless acts would be recognized with the Every Employee Making a Difference award.

“I was speechless, to be honest,” she said about finding out she had been nominated. “I’m a very shy person. Going to the county, I was very nervous. I told Kim, I just like to hide in my kitchen and feed my kids.”

Denair Charter Academy was built to serve students such as Jennifer Negrete-Garcia – teens who for various reasons were not finding the success they wanted in a traditional high school setting.

In Negrete-Garcia’s case, she was dealing with multiple trying situations involving family and friends while she attended Hughson High School. In the middle of her junior year, she decided to enroll in DCA, which features an academically rigorous independent study program catered to the needs and schedules of students such as Negrete-Garcia.

Since making the move, Negrete-Garcia has flourished. She’s on pace to graduate this spring and looks forward to pursuing a career in the medical field.

In recognition of her progress, the Denair Unified School District nominated Negrete-Garcia for the Every Student Succeeding program run by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA). She and a couple of dozen other nominees will be honored Tuesday morning at a breakfast hosted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education. DCA teacher Monica Gonzalez, counselor Sally Baker and Denair Unified Superintendent Terry Metzger will accompany Negrete-Garcia to the event.

The Every Student Succeeding program, now in its 20^th year, recognizes students in grades K – 12 who have overcome serious challenges, succeeded beyond expectations or just won the hearts of their school staff. That certainly describes Negrete-Garcia in the past year.

“She has endured her trials with grace and has managed to maintain good school attendance, good grades, a positive attitude, and she has kept a beautiful smile on her face,” said Baker.

Students and staff at Denair Elementary Charter Academy demonstrated their excitement for books and reading by again participating in Read Across America last week.

Read Across America is a nationwide event coordinated by the National Education Association. It includes suggested books appropriate for students at various grade levels as well as ideas for other activities to promote reading.

At DECA, in addition to a focus on reading, last week’s activities included dress up themes each day.

• On Mixed Up Monday, students rocked their clothes inside out, backward or mismatched.
• Thing 1 and Thing 2 Tuesday was all about twinning. Some buddies even coordinated their outfits to look like Thing 1 and Thing 2.
• Oh, the Places You’ll Go Wednesday had students showing off their college shirts or sporting tees from places they’ve visited.
• I Can Read with My Eyes Shut Thursday was all about wearing shirts with readable text to flaunt their love for literacy.
• Reading is Better with a Buddy Friday wrapped up the week with cozy pajamas and stuffed buddies for some quality reading time together.

Principal Laura Cardenas said some teachers and other staff members also embraced wearing different clothes, including some who visited classrooms while dressed as characters from the Dr. Suess books “Cat in the Hat” and “The Grinch.” 

Older students also paired up with younger ones as “reading buddies” for different activities throughout the week.

“It was so nice to see everyone coming together over books and sharing the joy of reading,” Cardenas said.