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.

For both Christian Vrioni and Evan Coronel, this wrestling season was a time of unexpected success and impressive growth. The two Denair High athletes each showed flashes of the kind of potential that has their coach excited about their futures.

Vrioni, a junior competing at 157 pounds, and Coronel, a sophomore wrestling at 190, each made it to the second day of the Sac-Joaquin Sub-Section Meet last weekend in Sacramento before being eliminated. Those results came a week after the two Coyotes had fought their way to Southern League championships.

Denair Coach Bryan Herrington said Vrioni and Coronel each made big strides toward establishing themselves as among the top wrestlers at their weights heading into next season.

“If you add up his total wrestling experience, it’s less than six months,” Herrington said of Vrioni, who wrestled briefly as a freshman and not at all as a sophomore before rejoining the team this season.

As for Coronel, “The first time he sent foot on a wrestling mat was Oct. 26,” Herrington marveled. 

At the Sub-Section Meet – which features the top wrestlers from all the small schools in the region – Vrioni and Coronel enjoyed first-round byes Friday because they were league champions.

Vrioni won his first match 7-4 over Hunter Schneider of Amador, then was pinned by Owen Keslinger of Amador, who went on to win the 157-pound title. That dropped Vrioni into the consolation bracket on Saturday. He pinned Ivan Chirskiy of Future to make the consolation quarterfinals. Needing one more win to make the top six and have a chance to qualify for this week’s Masters Meet, Vrioni was pinned by Gage Masters of Highlands in second period.

“I have zero complaints,” Herrington said. “He wrestled tough. He didn’t wrestle scared. … He’s going to keep wrestling in the offseason. I don’t see any reason he’s not competing at the Masters Tournament next year. I think that’s very impressive.”

Coronel also won his first match Friday, pinning Isaac Anderson of Wheatland in the first period. Like Vrioni, Coronel was beaten in the next match 9-6 by Lincoln Garel of Union Mine. His season ended Saturday morning when he was pinned by Saifubra Ghaws of Highlands in the first round.

“He went from knowing nothing to competing at the varsity level and being successful,” Herrington said of Coronel. “I cannot have any complaints.”

A third Denair wrestler, freshman Josiah Ruelas at 106 pounds, got into the Sub-Section Meet as an alternate and lost both his matches. “It was good experience for him,” Herrington said.

Vrioni, Coronel and Ruelas are expected to participate in the Denair youth wrestling program known as the Den run by Herrington. That season starts in mid-March and runs into first week of June. The weekly tournaments provide exactly the kind of competition that Denair’s young athletes need to improve.

“The goal every year is to get somebody in Masters, but I feel like next year, maybe we’ll get two or three,” Herrington said. “I’m very optimistic moving forward. I should have 10 to 15 returners on our team next year.”

Goliath Padilla scored twice in the first half – once on a penalty kick and the second time on a booming shot after eluding three defenders – to lead the top-seeded Denair boys soccer team to a 2-1 home victory over Woodland Christian on Friday night in the first round of in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI playoffs.

Denair (20-6-2) advances to play No. 5 Millennium (7-7-2) of Tracy, which defeated Waterford 5-0. The match is Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Jack Lytton Stadium.

The Coyotes are shooting for their third Section title in a row. Despite dominating the ball Friday, they couldn’t quite shake eighth-seeded Woodland Christian (6-8).  

“Our defense was really good,” praised Denair Coach Antonio Padilla. “They only had two shots the whole game and one went in.”

Manny Renteria, Nico Zavala and Octavio Balle keyed the Coyotes’ stingy defense, which was too much for Woodland’s offense. Balle left briefly late in first half with sore knee, but came back to finish the second half.

“He told me, ‘Coach, I’ll do whatever I need for the team,’ ” Padilla said.

Goliath Padilla – the son of the coach – and Denair’s offense controlled the ball for much of the game, keeping Woodland’s defense on its heels.

Padilla’s first goal came on a penalty kick in the first half after he was pushed from behind near the box. Woodland managed to tie the score at 1-1 at halftime, but Padilla came through again early in the second half with the winning goal. He dribbled through three Woodland defenders, then launched a missile past the goalie. It was his 35^th goal of the season.

“He had a tough angle,” his father said. “It was a beautiful goal — very powerful past the goalkeeper.”

Denair threatened to expand its lead with multiple shots after that, but couldn’t find the net.

“We tried,” Antonio Padilla said. “Their keeper was good. It was just one of those days.”

Denair hopes to have another one of its top players, Diego Padilla, back for the match against Millennium. He has been out with a sore right quad.

The other Division VI semifinal has No. 2 Esparto (14-6-1) hosting No. 3 (11-9-1) on Tuesday. The championship match is Saturday at 2 p.m. at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento.