Verdugo Hills Update

www.verdugohs.org (818) 951-5400

August 8, 2012

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

--President Barack Obama

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Summer is a wonderful time of year when we have a chance to spend time with our families and friends and re- energize to get ready for the year ahead.

This has been an amazing summer for our Verdugo Hills family. I was a little hesitant putting out an Update at the beginning of the year, but decided to go ahead when there was just so much good news to report! So in this edition, you will get a summary of what has been going on in the Dons’ House and get a glimpse for what the year holds for us and what a year it will be! We are under a new central governance structure in LAUSD with 5 Educational Service Centers replacing 8 local districts and many new to us in leadership roles. We will be celebrating our 75th Anniversary October 12-13 (you must have seen our banners) and we will be visited by an accreditation team on February 24-27, 2013. Please keep track of all that’s going on at our website, www.verdugohs.org, or Facebook Page and Twitter, (both linked on the website). I hope to see you at Back-to- School Night (Sept. 20, tent.), our Opening Home Football Game, or at one of our other Verdugo events!

Verdugo Stars Shine in National Competion Congratulations to Kyle Vergara (2012) and Chelsie van Noordt (2012) who competed in the National Musical Theatre Awards on June 4, 2012, at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood. The Los Angeles leg of the competition was named the “Jimmy Awards” for Jimmy Nederlander, founder of the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The national contest was titled the Jerry Awards, for Jerry Herman, composer of “Hello Dolly”. At the close of the competition, all of the performers sang a rendition of “Hello Dolly” on stage which was recorded for Mr. Herman.

Committee for Armenian Students in Public Schools Recognition Verdugo Hills HS students honored-in the Committee for Armenian Students in Public Schools (CASPS) 6th Annual Reception at Grant High School on June 6, 2012. Minely Ziraki & Herbert Torosyan-scholarship winners. Ardashes Kassakhian, the City of Glendale, City Clerk (elected office)

VHHS Mentoring at Mt. Gleason Verdugo Drum Major Courtney Cox is found here as she works alongside and mentors music students at Mt. Gleason Middle School. The partnership brings Ms. Lopez, Verdugo Hills HS Director of Music and Verdugo students down to Mt. Gleason on a regular basis to work with future Dons musicians!

Sports Teams Celebrate 2011-12 Verdugo Hills had a banner for athletics. Baseball and Boys Volleyball are shown here celebrating their amazing seasons. Congratulations to all of the teams and the great work they did in 2011-12. We are looking forward to another exciting year of sports at Verdugo in 2012-13!

Busy Summer on Campus After Graduation and the last day of school, the summer activity at Verdugo went in to high gear. There were teams practicing, filming projects being shot, Jr. Cheer Camp, Jr. Football Camp, Jr. Glee Camp, and construction, construction, construction! The new Smaller Learning Community Outdoor Common Areas are scheduled to be completed August 14 and at press time are nearly complete. The next edition of the Update will have a full photo spread!

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Verdugo Hills High School Shows Their Pride! Congratulations to all of the Verdugo Hills High School students who participated in this years’ 4th of July Parade. Dr. Trimis was the Grand Marshall and he rode in a float with Grace Piddington (2012-13 Student Body President) and our 2012-13 Senior Class President. Also participating, performing or riding on floats were the dons Battalion Army JROTC Color Guard, the Dons Marching Band and Color Guard, the Verdugo Voices Glee Club, the Student of the Month representatives, and the Cheerleading Team with reps from the Football Team. What a turn-out!

Coach Reinhart, Live From London on NBC Verdugo Hills boys' and girls' volleyball coach Will Reinhart, along with his wife Robyn -- a teacher at Van Gogh Street Elementary School in Granada Hills -- and their two children are in London taking in the 30th Olympiad, and were profiled on the NBC-Channel 4 local news after attending the opening ceremonies and the first day of competition. Catch the video on the Verdugo website, Verdugo Facebook, or the LAUSD Facebook Page!

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Getting Ready For Camp One of the wonderful things about the summer camps at Verdugo (Cheer, Football, Glee) was the preparation and letting the community know about the programs. Representatives from Cheer, Football and Glee Club performed and gave presentations at many of our schools including Apperson Elementary School, Pinewood Elementary School, Sunland Elementary School, and Our Lady of Lourdes School and in the community.

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Dons JROTC Lead the Way Danielle Carlin & Illeana Callejas were named to the All City JROTC Squad at the All City ROTC Luncheon on July 26, 2012. They were officially the #2 & 3 cadets in all of LAUSD! They were actually ranked #1 and #2, but because the #1 must be a senior, Danielle and Illeana were moved down to the 2nd and 3rd slot (they are both juniors this year). This may be the first time in the history of the competition that one school took two of the top slots! Way to go!

Verdugo Students Go To College For 6 weeks this summer, 10 Verdugo Hills students hit the books in the upward Bound program at California State University, Northridge. The students had master classes, homework, and studied on campus. They also stayed in the dorms and ate in the cafeteria! The students were honored and presented their work to parents and friends at CSUN on July 20.

Verdugo Hills Leadership Team Dr. Edward Trimis, Principal

Hector Ornelas Assistant Principal

Arturo Barcenas Assistant Principal

Cheryl Minke Head Counselor, Admin. Des.

Kevin Marie Frost Assistant Principal

Christina Trevino-Swanson Magnet Coordinator

Debbie Trojhan SPED Coordinator

Susan Turner Testing Coordinator

Lisette Duran Title One Coordinator

LAUSD Central Leadership Team

Dr. John Deasy, Superintendent Michelle King, Deputy Supt. Jaime Aquino, Deputy Supt.

Linda del Cueto, Superintendent ESC-N Dr. Margaret Kim, Director/Principal Leader

Jr. Cheer Camp and Jr. Football Camp Congratulations to our Cheer Team and Football Team who hosted Jr. Cheer Camp and Jr. Football Camp this summer July 9- 13. The Cheer Camp has been a long- standing tradition at Verdugo with some of our current cheerleaders actually starting their careers at Verdugo in the camp! Designed for Kindergarten through 8th

Graders, the mission of the camps is to build community in the Sunland- Tujunga/Verdugo Hills High School neighborhood while building skills of students in our feeder area. The camps are produced in partnership with the Verdugo Hills Boosters.

The Verdugo Hills High School (VHHS) mission is to provide students access to the tools necessary to be active, inquisitive, and successful participants in a rapidly changing world.

Please send any questions or comments about the Verdugo Hills Update to Edward Trimis, Principal at etrimis@lausd.net

Glee Camp Comes to Verdugo The Verdugo Voices Glee Club and VHHS Boosters sponsored Jr. Glee Camp for neighborhood Kindergarten-8th Graders on July 23-27. The campers had a great time singing, dancing, and completing arts and crafts projects. The culminating performance on Friday included 11 songs from Top 40 to show tunes to music made popular on Glee.

Thank You to Our Many Partners We appreciate all you do with us and for us

Bolton Hall Museum

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Verdugo Scholar-Athletes Lead LA The California Interscholastic Sports Association (CIF) City Section honors schools who have participating teams with the highest Grade Point Average (GPA) in the Section for each sports season (Fall, Winter, Spring) which includes all LAUSD High Schools and Charter/Private Schools in CIF-Los Angeles. Barbara Fiege, CIF City Section Commissioner recognized the schools with a plaque at the Opening Athletic Directors meeting on August 8, 2012. It is uncommon for multiple awards to go to one school. Verdugo Hills High School surprised everyone when FIVE of their Spring Sports Teams won the coveted highest GPA Award out of a total 11 awards. Congratulations, Dons! Athletic ability AND academic excellence! The winning teams are Boys Volleyball (3.48), Boys Track (3.35), Girls Track (3.41), Boys Swimming (3.62), and Baseball (3.4).

Verdugo Celebrates 75 Years! On October 12-13, 2012, we will celebrate 75 years of excellence at Verdugo over our Homecoming Weekend. The event will include speeches from VIPs, a Time Capsule event, a Luncheon/Dance, and a Golf Tournament. While guests and speakers are still finalizing their calendars and confirming their attendance, invited guests include Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilman Richard Alarcon, Superintendent John Deasy, and alumni including A. Martinez, Jaye P. Morgan, Dick and Tom Smothers, Michael Baldwin, Chris Burns, Molly Murphy MacGregor, and John Ingle. You can find more information at www.verdugohs.org.

Verdugo Hills High School 10625 Plainview Ave. Tujunga, CA 91042 www.verdugohs.org