The Association of Cali-fornia School Adminis-trators has announced

that four Victor Valley Union

High School District ad-ministrators have been cho-sen as ACSA Region 12 Administrators of the Year, and

they will be recognized at the organization’s April event.

Dr. Melda Gaskins of Cobalt Institute of Math and Science

CONNECTIONSFEBRUARY 11, 2016

Victor Valley Union High School District

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

STRATEGIC PLANNING

Opening Doors 2020More community members needed for next phase of project

A group of Victor Valley Union High School District stakeholders donated their

time over the weekend of Jan. 29-30 to discuss the district’s beliefs

and objectives for the next five years, starting a process that will require more community input in the coming months.

Known as Opening Doors 2020, the district’s strategic planning process got underway with a

From left to right, VVUHSD Superintendent Dr. Ron Williams, University Prep senior James Guth, UP senior Clar-isse Soriano, Victor Valley High and Silverado parent Twonya Hill and VVUHSD Board Vice President Tim Norton pose after the two-day strategic planning session at Adelanto High School on Jan. 29-30.

See PLANNING on Page 5

Rachel's ChallengePage 2

LLA's Frias honoredPage 3

UP student at Carnegie HallPage 4

AHS student earns 3rd in Cadet Corps awards

Page 4

From the office of Superintendent Ron Williams, Ed.D

See ADMINS on Page 5

ACSA

AHS recycling eventPage 3

Board of Trustees: Penny Edmiston, Timothy Norton, Barbara J. Dew, Lisa Crosby, Timothy Hauk

VVHS to get shared-use building; Hook to receive gymnasium

The Victor Valley Union High School District’s two oldest campuses will receive much needed upgrades with

construction projects set to kick off this year.

The VVUHSD Board of Trustees ap-proved a funding plan last week for a new multi-use facility at Victor Valley High School and a gymnasium at Hook Junior High School. There is not a firm timeline for the projects yet, but district officials

Construction funding approvedCAMPUS UPGRADES

Four VVUHSD admins to be recognized

See FACILITIES on Page 4

Victor Valley Union High School District

Connections •Page 2

HOOK JUNIOR HIGH

• The Daily Press visits University Prep as Kaiser Permanente doctors speak to students at the kickoff of the Hippocrates Circle mentorship pro-gram: Read the full story here

• The Daily Press selects Silverado's Roman Alva as its High School Student of the Month: Read the full story here

• The Daily Press covers Rachel's Challenge at Hook: Read the full story here

• The Daily Press covers the Adelanto boys basketball team's victory over Victor Valley to clinch the top spot in the DSL: Read the full story here

VVUHSD IN THE NEWS

WHO WE ARE

Layout, design, photos and stories (unless otherwise noted): Kris Reilly

Copy editing: Dianah Edington, Heather Pauling, Jackie Rocha, Dr. Ratmony Yee

Send comments or story ideas to kreilly@vvuhsd.org

Accepting the challengeWhile displaying a photo of Rachel Scott, Nate Rees asks students to raise their hands if they'll participate in Rachel's Challenge. The school climate program was created in memory of a Columbine shooting victim.

Hundreds of Hook Junior High School students and community members

took part Tuesday in an anti-bul-lying program inspired by the Columbine tragedy.

Rachel’s Challenge is a nation-wide school culture program cre-ated in memory of Rachel Scott, the first victim of the Columbine High School shooting. Rachel’s journals and writings — partic-ularly the “Code of Ethics” she composed about a month before her death at age 17 — are used as the basis of Rachel’s Challenge.

The nonprofit group, started by Rachel’s father Darrell Scott and his wife Sandy, sends presenters to schools across the country to speak against teen bullying, vio-lence and prejudice.

Following a pair of assemblies

for Hook students Tuesday morn-ing (Feb. 2), the school invited the whole community to another presentation at the Hook Junior High School multipurpose room Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Presenter Nate Rees, who traveled from Denver, showed videos about the deadly shooting that took the lives of 15 people (including the two gunmen) at the Colorado school on April 20, 1999. According to media reports, the killers were at least partly motivated by bullying they had suffered at school. They were also reportedly motivated by racial hatred, carrying out the killings on the birthday of Adolf Hitler and yelling racial slurs at one of their victims.

See CHALLENGE on Page 4

Victor Valley Union High School District

Connections •Page 3

LLA Office Assistant Jenny Frias, second from right, accepts her certificate of recognition at last week's meeting from VVUHSD Supertintendent Dr. Ron Williams and board members (left to right) Lisa Crosby, Timothy Norton, Penny Edmiston and Barbara Dew.

LLA office assistant has most called, most answered phone extension in entire district

Lakeview Leadership Acade-my Office Assistant Jenny Frias was recognized for

outstanding customer service at the most recent Victor Val-ley Union High School District Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 3.

During a recent evaluation of the district’s phone system, Frias’ extension was found to be the most frequently called — and most frequently answered — phone line in the entire district, prompting Superintendent Dr. Ron Williams and the board to recognize Frias for her work.

“(Answering the phone) helps me get to know a lot of the parents and the students,” said

Frias, a two-year employee of the district who has lived in the High Desert for about 15 years.

“Even though Lakeview Lead-ership Academy is a school, I consider it a business and we have an obligation to keep the customer happy,” LLA Principal Lonnie Keeter said. “Jenny Frias is the beginning piece of that obligation when she answers the phone as a live body rather than a machine. … She follows through with all phone calls and makes sure the customer, usual-ly a parent, is taken care of.”

Frias, 26, also coordinates Lakeview's web page as well as its monthly newsletter.

“I’ve always liked to stay busy and do different things and be challenged,” Frias said. “I’ve always taken on more than what was required.”

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Frias recognized

COMING UP

AHS to host electronic waste event

Adelanto High School is teaming up with All Green Electronics Recycling to

host an E-waste recycling collec-tion from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22 at Adelanto High School, 15620 Joshua St. in Adelanto.

The event is free and open to the public. E-waste may include unused computers, TVs, stereos or just about anything with a plug and circuit board. No furniture, household hazardous waste or kitchen appliances will be accept-ed.

Visit www.allgreenrecycling.com for more information or to learn how to schedule an E-waste pickup at a place of business.

Like VVUHSD's Facebook page!

Like our district Facebook page for district news updates. Click this link or search for "Victor Val-ley Union High School District" on Facebook.

OLD WEST DAY AT HOOK, FEB. 24

NEXT BOARD MEETING FEB. 17

At district office board room; open session at 6:15 p.m.

ALL SITES CLOSED THROUGH FEB. 15

Victor Valley Union High School District

Connections •Page 4

CADET CORPS

expect initial work to start sometime this summer.

The VVHS two-story facility will serve as the new face of VVUHSD’s oldest school, situated on the southeast corner of the campus near the corner of Mojave Drive and Sixth Street. About a fourth of the building will house administrative offices, and another quarter of the space will be used for classrooms.

There are plans in the works to make the other half of the building a perform-ing arts center. Victor Valley High, known for its outstanding drama program, does not currently have a performing arts center of its own and has used the newer Silverado High School campus to stage productions.

Hook Junior High, the district’s sec-ond-oldest school, has needed a gymna-sium for decades and is currently unable to host indoor sporting events on its campus.

VVUHSD Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Brian Hawkins said the projects are important to help ensure “facilities equity” between this district’s eight campuses.

Hawkins’ funding plan was approved by all four board members who were present at the Feb. 3 meeting — Penny Edmiston, Timothy Norton, Barbara Dew and Lisa Crosby — with board member Timothy Hauk absent.

FACILITIES from Page 1

Ironically, their first victim had preached compassion and kind-ness to her peers. In the “Code of Ethics” she wrote as a school essay before her death, Rachel wrote: “I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion then it will start a chain reaction of the same.”

Rees issued five challenges to Hook students based on Rachel’s writings: 1. Look for the best in others; 2. Dream big; 3. Choose positive influences; 4. Speak with kindness; 5. Start your own chain reaction.

Students were given a banner to sign during lunch, stating that they accept Rachel’s challenge, and they were given opportuni-ties to participate in additional Rachel’s Challenge sessions later in the day.

“Our principal (Maura Bal-

maceda) had asked me to look into an anti-bullying or charac-ter-building type of assembly,” said Hook Junior High School Counselor Kristina Madrigal, who organized the event. “I told her there’s this one that I’ve heard about in all my years of educa-tion, and I told her about Rachel’s Challenge … she said, ‘let’s go with it.’ ”

“I think it was amazing, just seeing the reaction of the kids,” Madrigal added. “Just getting 400 junior high kids to stay quiet in a presentation; that in itself is good thing! … I think it was great to get everyone together and say that they have the power to make a difference. It may not feel like that because they’re young, or the problems seem so big. But in reality, one small act of kind-ness can start a chain reaction that eventually can change lives, change a campus and change a neighborhood.”

CHALLENGE from Page 2

Cadet First Class Jose DeLaCruz of Adelanto High won third place in the Senior Division Best First Year Cadet category in the annual 18th Brigade Individual Major Awards Competition. (Submitted by AHS staff)

UP STUDENT PERFORMS AT CARNEGIE HALL

University Prep senior Jessica Archuleta performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Feb. 7 as part of the High School Honors Performance Series honor concert choir. (Submitted by UP staff)

Victor Valley Union High School District

Connections •Page 5

two-day session on Friday and Saturday at Adelanto High School. The group of about 25 people included a sampling of district personnel, from classified staff to administrators to teachers, along with two parents, two students and one board member.

Strategic planning is a process by which an organization determines its core beliefs, leading to the for-mulation of a mission statement, objectives and strategies. Follow-ing are the beliefs, mission, objec-tives and strategies decided upon by the group:

We believe that…Students are unique learners.Positive relationships foster

success.Individual differences make us

stronger.There are many paths to student

success.Everyone achieves more when

they are valued.Everyone’s commitment is fun-

damental to student achievement.

A safe and clean environment is essential to teaching and learning.

Mission StatementAs the unifying agent of our

community, steeped in more than a century of commitment to stu-dent achievement, the Victor Val-ley Union High School District will provide students a high-quality education in a safe environment, cultivating skills necessary for success through the promotion of integrity, creativity and collabora-tion, inspiring them to reach their full potential and become produc-tive global citizens.

ObjectivesAll students will graduate pre-

pared for the demands of college or career.

All students will be educated in a safe, clean, highly engaging envi-ronment.

Strategies: We will...Consistently implement policies

and procedures system-wide.Expand professional devel-

opment offerings for all staff to enhance student achievement.

Expand pathways for college and career readiness.

The next step is forming several

action teams to discuss how to move forward with the objectives and strategies. After the action teams complete their work, the group will reconvene March 18-19.

The final strategic plan will be presented to the VVUHSD Board of Trustees in June. The strategic planning process is being co-facili-tated by Doris Wilson, a professor and associate dean at the CSU San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus and former superintendent of the Desert Sands Unified School District, along with Laurren Fran-coisse, VVUHSD’s director of Com-mon Core implementation, LCAP, innovations and special projects.

If you would like to be a part of an action team, contact Laurren Francoisse at lfrancoisse@vvuhsd.org or at 760-955-3201 extension 10375.

PLANNING from Page 1

was named the region’s Principal of the Year for secondary schools; Goodwill Education Center Princi-

pal Kevan Loyd was named Con-

tinuation/Ed Options Administra-tor of the Year; Silverado Assistant Principal Carlos Cerna was named Co-Administrator of the Year in the secondary school category; and the district’s CTE/ROP Coor-

dinator Scot Williams was named Career/Tech Administrator of the Year.

VVUHSD’s winners were an-nounced at the district’s Feb. 3 board meeting. The recipients will be featured at the ACSA Region 12 Spring Celebration Dinner on Monday, April 18, at the Double-Tree by Hilton hotel in San Ber-nardino. Coverage of the ceremony will be featured on the district

website and in our bi-weekly news-letter.

“These are four talented and knowledgeable individuals who are deeply committed to our students and to our community,” VVUHSD Superintendent Dr. Ron Williams said. “They exemplify the kind of dedication that continues to move our district in a positive direction, and I sincerely thank them for all that they do.”

ADMINS from Page 1