Submitted by Denair Lions Club:

Sunday, November 3rd, the Denair Community Center will open at 7:00am for the Annual Lions Pancake Breakfast. This year proceeds will be donated to the family of Ben Perez, who is battling stage-4 melanoma cancer. The Perez family have lived in and been involved in the Denair community for 51 years. Ben has recently completed chemotherapy treatment and the family continues to bear a large financial burden.

For over 40 years, the Denair Lions Club has hosted a pancake breakfast on the first Sunday in November. The breakfast has become not only a great fundraiser but also an annual social event for 400 to 600 supporters. Each year the club chooses a person or cause to receive all proceeds from the breakfast. In past years, proceeds have funded such causes as new uniforms and equipment for the Denair Lions Youth Football program, updates and repairs to Denair High School sports facilities and programs, and many local residents in need of financial aid for medical bills during or following a tragedy.

The meal includes pancakes, scrambled eggs, and ham, served with coffee, hot chocolate, orange juice, or milk. No tickets are required but donations are accepted at the doors. As always, no person is turned away who is unable to donate. A small number of raffle prizes will be offered together with the traditional Quilt Raffle, which for over 15 years has featured a beautiful handmade quilt crafted and donated by Betty Thomas, a club member’s mother. Donations are also accepted by mail to the Denair Lions Club at P.O. Box 32, Denair, CA 95316.

Next week is Red Ribbon Week at schools across the country. Red Ribbon Week began in 1980 as a way to discourage drug use among children while promoting healthy behaviors. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was one of the original proponents.

The campuses in the Denair Unified School District have a number events planned starting Monday. All are being coordinated by staff as well as student members of the PHAST (Protecting Health and Slamming Tobacco) Clubs. The theme is “Send a message. Stay drug-free.”

Last year, Denair High finished third in Stanislaus County in the contest for the best decorated campus. The previous year, the Coyotes were second in the county.

Denair High School

• Monday: Disney day. Don’t be a character on drugs Disney day.
• Tuesday: Too bright for drugs neon day. Wear bright clothing.
• Wednesday: PJ day. Wake up drug-free and wear pajamas to school.
• Thursday: Drugs are scary. Halloween dress-up day.
• Friday: Drug-free spirit day. Wear purple or red to school.

There will be activities each day, including a visit from the Fire Department on Wednesday, a stage car crash scene and plenty of games at lunchtime.

Denair Middle School

• Monday:  Team up against drugs. Wear your favorite team jersey or shirt.
• Tuesday: Catch the drug-free wave. Wear your favorite beach clothing. Flip flops are OK, but no swimsuits.
• Wednesday: Put your boots on and stomp out drugs. Wear your favorite Western clothing.
• Thursday: Boo to drugs. Students are allowed to wear Halloween costumes. No masks, face paint or weapons of any kind will be allowed. Dress code rules still apply.
• Friday: Grab a friend and pair up against drugs. Dress like twins or just wear purple to show your spirit!

There will be numerous lunchtime activities to help educate students about the dangers of tobacco and drug use. There also will be educational announcements through the daily bulletin. The campus will be decked out in red ribbons as well.

Denair Elementary Charter Academy

• Monday: Wake up drug-free day. Wear pajamas to school.
• Tuesday: Working to be drug-free. Wear career clothing.
• Wednesday: Drugs are old school. Decade dress-up day.  
• Thursday: Say “boo” to drugs! Students can wear their Halloween costumes.
• Friday: I have the power to be drug-free.  Students dress up as their favorite superhero or movie character. There also will be a door decoration parade.

Denair Charter Academy

• Monday:  Disney day. Dress up as your favorite Disney character or any Disney apparel.
• Tuesday: Sports/Jersey day. Show pride in your sports team by wearing their gear.
• Wednesday: Rainbow day. Let’s liven things up with color by wearing them all.
• Thursday: Spirit day. Keep your spirits high by wearing red, purple, and white!
• Friday: Crazy socks/hair day. Let loose and show your crazy side with your locks and socks.

Monday and Thursday, there will be activities, including trying to pick something up while wearing distorted vision goggles. There also will be a tabling event as well as PHAST information.

Denair Unified District Office

• Monday: Team up against drugs. All employees are encouraged to wear their favorite team jersey or shirt.
• Tuesday: Too bright for drugs neon day. Wear neon colors.
• Wednesday: Drugs are old school. Dress up as your favorite decade.
• Thursday: Sock it to drugs. Wear your favorite fun socks.

Friday: Our district is drug-free. Wear your favorite red shirt.

Winning never gets old and Denair – even after earning its first-ever state championship in football last year – certainly isn’t in a position to take any victory for granted.

So Friday’s methodical and workmanlike 21-8 win over Delhi was satisfying in a different way for the Coyotes, who have shown a tendency at times to play down to the level of the competition.

Delhi, which hasn’t won a game this year, presented that kind of challenge. Denair clearly was the better team. But to the Hawks’ credit, they devised a game plan intended to keep the ball away from the Coyotes as much as they could and bleed the clock on every position.

Instead of becoming frustrated, Denair dug in on defense, holding Delhi scoreless in the first half while grinding its way to a 14-0 lead behind two touchdown runs from Jorge Yanez.

Even when Delhi opened the third quarter with a long drive that resulted in its only score, Armas wasn’t worried. He still believed his players were in control of the game. He didn’t think Delhi could score again on his defense and he was confident in his offense.

That faith was validated when Dylan De Silva scored in a short run in the fourth quarter, giving Denair all the points it would need.

Continue reading “Denair Wears Down Delhi in 21-8 Victory” »

Friday’s dominant 28-13 Southern League victory over Orestimba was the game Denair football Coach Anthony Armas and his coaching staff had been waiting for this season. It was the first time when all facets of the Coyotes’ attack – offense, defense and special teams – came together in a way the coaches imagine as they draw up plays and schemes each week.

“We played well in every aspect of the game,” praised Armas. “We limited our mistakes. The kids really executed everything well.” 

Surprisingly, Armas said he and his staff were uncertain before the game how the Coyotes would come out.

“We were a little nervous because the guys were so quiet,” Armas said. “But that’s the personality of this senior group. They’ pretty quiet. They’ve been that way their whole careers.”

Any doubts were quickly erased as Denair raced to a 21-6 halftime lead behind an offensive line that consistently opened huge holes in Orestimba’s defense that Dylan De Silva, Damien Peral and Jorge Yanez turned into big chunks of yardage.

“We didn’t run a big variety of plays because they were blocking so well,” Armas said of his linemen.

In fact, quarterback Elvis Silva only attempted two passes, though one of them went for a short touchdown to Jacob Lewellen. 

As usual, De Silva led the way on the ground, punishing the Warriors for 140 yards and two more TDs, raising his season total to 14. All that despite missing some time after he tweaked his ankle.

“He’s a workhorse,” praised Armas. “When we get close to the goal line, he’s going to get the ball.”

Peral, who also was sidelined temporarily with a shoulder injury, had his best game of the season, churning out 118 yards. Not included was an 84-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that was called back because of a holding penalty.

Yanez added 55 yards and a short TD run before dinging his knee. At one point in the fourth quarter, De Silva, Peral and Yanez were all on the bench nursing injuries, forcing Denair to turn to its reserves.

Armas said he spoke to all three players over the weekend and they reported they were feeling better. He expects them to play this week against Delhi.

JV score: Orestimba 44, Denair 0. The Coyotes are 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the Southern League.
This week: Friday’s victory allowed Denair (5-2 overall, 3-1 Southern League) to keep pace with Ripon Christian (6-1, 4-0) and Mariposa (5-2, 4-0) in the league standings. Those two teams play this week in Mariposa. If the Grizzlies can knock off the Knights – who handed Denair its only league loss three weeks ago – that would set up a chance for a three-way tie for the SL title. Denair hosts Mariposa on Oct. 25. The Coyotes are 4-0 at Jack Lytton Stadium this year. … Denair goes on the road itself this week to face Delhi (0-7, 0-4), one of its two closest geographic rivals along with Waterford. “We have a tendency to play down to our competition sometimes, so we really want to focus this week on what we do well,” Armas said. “Delhi runs three different kinds of offenses, so we really need to pay attention to our assignments on defense when they’re in different formations.”

The Denair Unified School District spends nearly $400,000 a year on utilities – electricity, water and sewer service. A comprehensive project to upgrade lighting, air conditioning and heating, reduce water use and leverage technology to make everything run more efficiently was discussed at Thursday night’s board meeting.

Initial estimates indicate that the systems could reduce Denair’s utility bills by 30% a year – roughly $120,000 – offsetting the cost of the $2.5 million project over the next 15 years.

Projects would touch every campus in the district:

• A new heating and cooling system in the Denair High gymnasium
• Replacing the aged heating and cooling units at Denair Elementary Charter Academy
• Installing HVAC sensors at each school, allowing staff to better control temperatures and save money
• Installing new energy efficient LED lighting at Denair Middle School, the football stadium and outdoors across the district to cut costs by 50%
• Installing advanced irrigation control systems districtwide and sports field sprinklers at DHS

Earlier this year, the district formally partnered with Climatec on the project. Two representatives from the company outlined the district’s needs as well as proposed solutions Thursday night. The board took no action. That could come at its November meeting, when a final financing plan will be presented.

Linda Covello, Denair’s chief business official, is working on ways to pay for the estimated $2,467,197 project. She said the district expects to contribute $500,000 (paid for by DMS bond money) and use what is known as a municipal lease to finance the rest.

The first lease payment of roughly $120,000 would not be due for 12 to 18 months, Covello said. It would be paid for by the anticipated savings from lower utility costs during that time. Future annual payments over the life of the 15-year lease also would be funded by utility savings.

If the district qualifies for any rebates for installing the new systems, it will pursue them, trustees were told.

If trustees approve a contract next month, work could begin soon after. The Climatec officials said most of the work would occur on nights and weekends so as not to disrupt classes.

In other action Thursday, the board:

• Heard a report about Project Life, a program for 17 special education students at the high school that involves teaching them critical life skills in a comprehensive effort to help them land jobs. The program was initiated last year and is now led by teacher Renee Hall. It is responsible for the Coyote Coffee Cart, staffed by special education students. It also has partnered with employers to place six students in workplaces in the community.
• Listened as Superintendent Terry Metzger outlined her plans for teacher training focused on three key areas: clear, coherent curriculum; authentic literacy; and soundly structured instruction. “It’s a multi-year plan,” Metzger explained. “If we can filter everything through those areas, we can see student achievement improve and change.”
• Unanimously approved creation of the First Priority Club at the high school. It is intended to help students develop skills such as leadership, integrity, character, teamwork, time-management, event planning and public speaking through faith-based principles. Students of all beliefs will be welcomed. Weekly discussions will be based on a format called HOPE (Help, Overcome, Prepare, Engage).
• Voted 5-0 to ratify a salary range adjustment for 15 non-teaching employees. The decision fulfills a promise first made in 2007-08, but frozen when the district faced financial difficulties two years later. It will cost the district $29,000, paid for out reserves carried over from last year.
• Smiled when Covello reported that overall enrollment has grown to 1,307 students, four more than anticipated in this year’s budget.
• Listened to an update on the number of students considered to be English Learners in the district. Coordinator Maria Olivas said there are 223 — 141 at DECA, 41 at the middle school, 18 at Denair High and 23 at Denair Charter Academy. Of that total, 15 are considered to be “newcomers” (students who have attended U.S. schools for six months or less).