The staff and students at Denair High School use words like “family,” “fun,” “supportive,” “collaborative” and “superb” to describe the culture and vibe on the campus. And like many small schools, there is a closeness that develops when there are just 278 students, many of whom are in the same classes as well as participate on the same sports teams or belong to the same clubs. They form bonds and relationships that don’t always exist at larger schools.

All those traits and more were in the spotlight at Thursday night’s meeting of the Denair Unified School District Board of Trustees, who listened as the high school’s principal and student leaders shared what day-to-day life is like on campus.

A short video set to music was played that reflected the learning occurring in DHS classrooms as well as many of the fun activities involving students and staff. Principal Breanne Aguiar and six students — Skylynn High (student body president), Emanuel Renteria (rally coordinator), Alyssa Hernandez and Lilianna Marquez (publicity coordinators), Eddie Verdugo (spirit coordinator) and Natalie Rodriguez (leadership team) – took turns talking about various programs and successes.

The bottom line: There is a lot going on at Denair High.

Among the highlights:

• The addition of a fifth career technical education (CTE) pathway this year. Arts, media and entertainment joins criminal justice, ag mechanics, agriscience and floral arrangement as a series of coordinate classes that help prepare students for careers that don’t necessarily require them to attend college.
• A robust menu of academic choices for students who are on the college-going track, including the ability to earn college credits from Modesto Junior College while still in high school.
• An exciting range of electives that includes classes in kinesiology, digital photography, art, agriculture, communication and debate, leadership, band, marketing and even being a teacher’s assistant at the elementary school.
• An array of social and emotional support systems to help students encountering issues inside and outside the classroom.
• A full complement of extracurricular activities, including sports teams for boys and girls, nine different campus clubs and opportunities in music and drama.

Aguiar said everything happening at the high school is intended to prepare students to succeed after graduation, no matter which path they may choose.

“Whether they’re interested in attending college, trade school or going into the workforce, Denair High School believes in providing students with opportunities to broaden their perspectives and interests,” she said.

Over the past few years, one of the key efforts at DHS has centered around building a strong culture of inclusivity and connectedness, Aguiar and the students said. That is reflected in how special ed students are integrated into campus activities as well as the ways high school students are serving as mentors to young children.

For instance, Aguiar said that in November many of her students will complete training to become certified in the Friday Night Live mentorship curriculum, which is provided through the Stanislaus County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services. Completion of this training will allow students the chance to mentor students at Denair Middle School as well as Denair Elementary Charter Academy. 

All of the classes, relationships with teachers and staff, and extracurricular activities help to shape a positive and impactful culture on campus, one that positively shapes students for life.

“Once a Coyote, always a Coyote,” said Renteria.

In other action Thursday, trustees:

• Voted 5-0 to ratify an agreement with the California School Employees’ Association and its Denair Chapter #113 that provides 8% salary increase retroactive to July 1 for the 2023-24 school year. CSEA represents most of the staff who are not administrators or teachers. All of Denair’s other employees have already received the same salary increase.
• Heard an update on attendance at Denair Elementary Charter Academy since minimum days were flipped from Fridays to Wednesdays this year. Superintendent Terry Metzger said absences are down from an average of 42 on Fridays in 2022-23 to 34 in 2023-24. Absences on Wednesday are down from an average of 29 last school year to 27 this school year. 
• Unanimously approved the Grad Night trip to Disneyland for the Class of 2024 and school staff next spring. Denair High students and chaperones will leave via bus on May 19 and return the next evening.
• Voted to accept a $210,000 CalSHAPE Ventilation program grant. The money will pay for 270 filters and assessment and maintenance for 99 air conditioning and heating units at Denair High School and Denair Middle School.

Two runners from this year’s Denair High School cross country team earned all-league honors after finishing in the top seven at the Southern League meet this week.

Salvador Virgen was fourth in the boys varsity race, completing the 3.1-mile course at Diablo Grande west of Patterson in 18 minutes, 58 seconds. Yvette Rodriguez was fifth in the 3.1-mile girls race in 24:13.

Both runners qualified for next week’s Sac-Joaquin Sub-Section meet in Division V at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angels Camp, but only Rodriguez will compete. Virgen will miss the race because he had a previous commitment, said Denair Coach Matthew Groom.

At Sub-Sections, the top 10 teams and the top 10 individuals not on those teams in each division qualify for the Section meet in Folsom on Nov. 11.

This year’s Coyote team included only the two varsity runners, plus JV runners Valente Rosales and P.J. Rheinschild (who both also will compete next week). Despite that, Groom said all four runners have “grown exponentially.” None has improved more than Rodriguez, according to her coach.

“She went from struggling to run two miles in the beginning of the season to winning all-league in a 5K race,” Groom said. “She earned a medal at the Frogtown Invitational in the JV race and came very close to medaling three other times, including being only two spots off a medal the first race I put her on varsity.”

Even as this football season ended in disappointing fashion with just two victories in nine games, Denair High football coach Anthony Armas already had one eye on the future. 

After four consecutive years of meager turnout at the varsity level, Armas finally can see light at the end of the tunnel. He could have as many as 16 returning players from this year’s 19-man varsity roster, fortified by a group of ascending sophomores who are used to winning.

And while more players aren’t a guarantee of more success on the field, it certainly would be a step forward for the Coyotes, who had as few as 12 varsity players healthy during parts of the just-completed season.

“I think our future is bright,” Armas said. “We were a young team. We only had three seniors. The numbers were rough and then we got bitten by injury bug. … It seems like we always have low numbers, but his year and 2016 really stand out. We made playoffs that year, mainly because we managed to dodge the injury bug.”

It takes 11 players at a time to play football. There were many instances this season when Armas and his assistant coaches far outnumbered the Coyotes’ extra players on the sideline. Because of their small roster, players moved from offense to defense and back again, with rarely a break to catch their breath. Having to play both ways not only put them at a major disadvantage against their opponents, it also increased the likelihood of injury or sustaining more of the bumps and bruises all football players endure.

Hopefully, that won’t be the case next season. Armas’ optimistic vision of the future is buoyed by the performance of this year’s junior varsity, which compiled an 8-1-1 record.

“And we had three sophomores on the varsity, so the JVs could have been even better,” said Armas, who expects to have as many as 30 varsity players next year.

“We’ll have a little bit of everything – some size, some speed,” Armas said. “We might actually get to platoon a little bit and have enough bodies to rest people. The numbers looking good for next few years, as far looking at the classes we have right now and the classes coming up.”

Other than a shortage of players, what else the 2023 season be remembered for? Maybe the first game against Big Valley Christian on Aug. 19 at Jack Lytton Stadium, which was called at halftime because of lightning strikes in the area with Big Valley ahead 14-6.

“I still can’t believe that’s what happened,” Armas said.

The next week, the varsity didn’t get to play because the scheduled opponent, Bret Harte, cancelled its season at the last minute. A win over Riverbank followed, but the Coyotes were undermanned during the entire Southern League schedule, managing only one victory against winless Mariposa.

Just like that, a season that started in the summer heat was over ever before Halloween.

“My coaches and I talked about that,” Armas joked. “We always complain that the season’s over now before we get to wear our cold weather gear.”

Next year, the league will look markedly different. Powerhouses Ripon Christian and Orestimba have been moved out, replaced by Stone Ridge Christian of Merced. The realignment – coupled with a larger roster – gives Armas and his players added hope.

“Lot of kids are eager to get rolling again,” Armas said. “We’re going to give them a little break, then hit the weight room.”

Some students in the Denair Unified School District spend so much time playing video games or engaging with social media that it reduces the time they have for school-related homework, doing chores and interacting with family and friends. Still others report they don’t get enough sleep at night because they’re too busy texting, making video calls or returning to their favorite social media sites, according to Lina Villegas, a mental health clinician for the Denair district.

Some parents have told Villegas that they have noticed mood changes in their children such as irritability and physical aggression such as breaking a TV or video game console, punching a wall or yelling and screaming if they lose at a video game. Parents have said their children sometimes isolate themselves in their rooms while others report being victims of cyberbullying.

All these situations and more is why Villegas hosted a meeting for parents recently at Denair Middle School to talk about the risks to children who spend too much time online. A representative from Legacy Health Endowment in Turlock led a discussion centered around two parental guides – one on video games, the other on social media – that the organization created with the specific purpose of educating parents about the dangers. The guides are available in English and Spanish on the LHE website. 

The potential for harm to children from too much time spent online is real. Earlier this year, the U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, issued a health advisory about social media aimed at protecting American children. Despite the warning signs, many parents still do not fully appreciate the potential threats their children face from cyberbullying and online predators. 

LHE’s guides are one attempt to address the knowledge gap too many parents don’t recognize even exists. The guides are full of easy-to-understand information about the most popular social media sites and gaming portals, and include practical tips, a glossary of key terms and other advice about how parents can better safeguard their children.  

The meeting was attended by 15 parents and three students. 

“The group was very appreciative to have the information and many acknowledged learning new info, especially around gaming,” said Amy Wolfe, a Legacy official who led the discussion. “There was a shared frustration about not fully understanding the complexity of and how fast social media and gaming changes.”

Villegas said there are many potential risks children face when they spend too much time unsupervised online:

• Children often share their personal information, such as their location in real-time, their name, their date of birth, where they go to school and if they are alone at home, making them an easy target for online predators.  
• When kids play video games, they often play with individuals from other states, never having actual physical interaction with them, and it is difficult to know if they are children or not.
• Some gaming sites contain online gambling, creating risky opportunities to develop new addictions. 
• Pre-teens and teens are usually curious about the dating world, and they often start engaging in multiple online dating sites on which they create false profiles, exposing themselves to inappropriate mature content.  

Villegas recommended that parents talk to their children about what they’re doing and seeing online, know their passwords so they can routinely monitor what they’ve been exposed to and set a good example of appropriate online behavior or “netiquette.” 

“It is essential that parents set limits on the amount of time their kids spend online and the types of applications they are allowed to use or download on their phones,” Villegas said. “Children must learn that it is okay to unplug each night as part of their nighttime routine and to stop using their electronics for at least one or two hours before bed.”

One of the Denair mothers who attended the meeting told Villegas that she and other parents have a lot of homework to do to read the guides and help protect their children. The mother admitted that she sometimes falls asleep while her son is playing games online. Her goal is to become more attentive to what he’s doing.

“If parents create a habit of having an open and constant conversation with their children about what to post, what not to post, what to do if someone makes an inappropriate request, and that not everything that the children watch on social media is real, it will create a positive relationship between guardians, children and social media,” Villegas advised. “Additionally, parents must be creative and offer their kids other offline opportunities to help them disconnect from their devices, such as having meals without devices, family nights, outdoor activities or gatherings with friends in real life.”

Villegas also encouraged parents to become familiar with how to use the privacy and other safety settings on their children’s phones and devices. The guides go into detail about how to do that with social media sites like Facebook or Instagram, the newer ones such as TikTok and Snapchat, or popular gaming sites like Twitch or Discord.

Villegas offered these resources for parents who would like more information:

• Social Media & Gaming Guides 
• Parental tips: DOWNLOAD C.R.A.M. & ACE INTERNET SAFETY 
• Are video games and screens another addiction?
• Is Your Teen Addicted to Tech? How to Stop Panicking and Create Healthy Solutions
• YouTube Video: Keeping Kids Safe from Online Predators

Denair will host another online-themed parental meeting on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. in Room E4 on the middle school campus. Casey Cooper, a detective with the Special Victims Unit of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, will talk about “Internet Safety and Human Trafficking.”

It is a fun event timed to the Halloween season and this year’s fourth annual Trunk or Treat gathering on at Denair High School was the best one yet.

More than a hundred children – from pre-schoolers to high school age – plus dozens of adults came together Thursday night in the Denair High student parking lot for a spooky celebration organized by the school’s 119-member FFA chapter.

At Trunk or Treat, FFA students, their parents and other community members are encouraged to drive their decorated cars and trucks to the school. Almost everyone also dresses up in Halloween costumes. Prizes are awarded for favorite vehicle as well as best costume.

And of course, since it’s a Halloween event, there is plenty of candy to be handed out.

Denair ag advisor Christian Obando said it was difficult to narrow down the most creatively decorated car or truck. There were 32 vehicles entered.

“We had vehicles with smoke and lights, some with games, inflatables, balloons, and we even had a vehicle with a hay bale background and pumpkins,” he said.

The winner received a Halloween gift basket put together by Denair’s FFA officers.

A group wearing “Cat in the Hat” and “Thing 1 through 5” outfits were voted to have the best costumes, earning them king-sized candy bars as a reward.

During the hourlong event, children went from car to car to Trunk or Treat, filling up their bags or baskets with their favorite sweet treats. The Denair FFA folks even stayed a little longer so some of the Denair Youth Football players practicing on a nearby field could participate.

“The event was amazing,” said Denair High Principal Breanne Aguiar. “I loved seeing so many schools and the community come together.”

This year for the first time, other FFA groups in the Tri-Rivers Section (which includes Denair and eight other high schools) participated. They were from Pitman, Turlock, Patterson, Orestimba and Ceres.

The extra schools added more energy and fun to the event, Obando said.

“They brought their vehicles to decorate, passed out candy and brought their young ones to enjoy a night full of candy and fun,” he said, promising that next year’s event will be “even bigger and better.”