Caleb Wilson dreams of being an Air Force pilot, even though he’s only flown in a plane once in his life and that was so long ago he barely remembers it. He realizes that pursuing a college education will be part of making that ambition come true. With that in mind, the 17-year-old senior at Denair Charter Academy already is enrolled in a pre-calculus and trigonometry class at Modesto Junior College.

His goal after graduation from DCA this spring is to earn his diploma from MJC in two more years and then either get an appointment to the Air Force Academy in Boulder, Colo., or continue college at Purdie University in Indiana as part of an ROTC program that will lead to eventual Air Force enlistment. He wants to pursue a double major in mechanical engineering and aeronautical engineering.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to loom over the delivery of education all across the country. It is no different in the Denair Unified School District, where half the campuses will remain on 100% distance learning for at least another week because of health concerns.

Superintendent Terry Metzger delivered an update on the district’s situation Thursday night to trustees and the public. In her report, she pointed to dismal statistics from Stanislaus County and the San Joaquin Valley that continue to show rising coronavirus cases and a scary lack of hospital space.

““We seem stuck,” Metzger said. “Conditions in our county and our region don’t seem to be getting better.”

Beginning Monday of this week, Denair reverted to 100% distance learning because of concerns over potential COVID exposures among a handful of staff members. When classes resume Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, a handful of students will return to Denair High School and Denair Charter Academy, but Denair Elementary Charter Academy and Denair Middle School will stay with distance learning only.

Former Denair Unified School Board Trustee John Plett is being remembered as a big man with an even bigger heart who had a deep love for his family and strong affection for the Denair community, especially its schools. Mr. Plett died Sunday. He was 70.

Mr. Plett was elected to the school board in 2011 after a career in law enforcement. He was re-elected in 2015 and served until August 2019, when health concerns forced him to resign.

Mr. Plett was a tall, strong man with an affable nature and a quick smile. He and his wife, Kathy, lived in Denair for nearly 40 years. He was known for the pride he felt for the greater community as well as the students and staff on Denair’s four campuses.

Superintendent Terry Metzger said Mr. Plett’s loyalty and dedication to the community were evident right from the start.

“When I met him, I immediately recognized him as a champion for the district,” she said. “John attended events at every school throughout each year. It gave him great joy. Our conversations were always about how to make the district better for kids and the community. He had incredible respect for teachers and staff.”

The state’s recent state-at-home order caused by surging COVID cases and dwindling intensive care space in regional hospitals will have no immediate effect on the Denair Unified’s ability to teach a limited number of students on campus, district trustees learned Thursday night.

“Schools are considered an essential sector, so we remain open,” Superintendent Terry Metzger told the board during a Zoom meeting.

Small groups of students began returning to Denair’s four campuses in early November in what are called “learning pods.” All told, only about a quarter of the district’s 1,300 students come to campus for one or more days of in-person instruction.

In most cases, those students are either in special education, are English learners, are enrolled in Denair Elementary Charter Academy’s dual language immersion program or are in danger of failing one or more classes at the Denair High School or Denair Middle School. At Denair Charter Academy, some independent study students have resumed in-person weekly appointments with their teachers.

The rest of Denair’s students still receive their lessons at home via distance learning as they have since the pandemic first closed campuses across California in March.

A public appeal by the Denair schools’ musical director for donated instruments struck just the right chord with many members of the community, who have generously responded with nearly two dozen new and gently used instruments.

One Turlock businessman, Mitch Logsdon, spent nearly $8,000 to buy eight brand new instruments. Logsdon owns United Equipment Co. in Turlock – the building off Lander Avenue just west of 99 freeway that looks like a tractor. Logsdon is a 1974 Turlock High graduate with no connection to Denair schools, but he was moved to help after reading about Fred Steiner’s request in the Turlock Journal on Nov. 20.

“For some reason, the article really got to me,” explained Logsdon, who said he played clarinet for two years in junior high school but otherwise is not musically inclined. “I think Denair is a nice little community and I got the feeling the music department doesn’t get a lot of attention, so I called Fred and talked to him about it.”