Sports Update (10/4/13)

Submitted by Miriam Rotman


Football – GUNN 21, PROSPECT 14
The 21-14 win over Prospect-Saratoga on Friday night felt really good. It was the first win of the year for the Titans (1-3) and it came in front of an very enthusiastic homecoming crowd.

The Titans had 220 yards rushing on 26 carries from Sean Lydster, who had been bottled up the first three games of the year as opposing defenses stacked the line of scrimmage. Lydster scored on a 60-yard run. Forrest (Bubba) Larson added 113 yards rushing on 19 carries for the Titans, scoring on runs of 12 yards and 1 yard and capped off the night with a game-winning run in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter after 3 turnovers by the Panthers. "The offensive line improved," Hirano said. "That's what we needed. They got better."
"We're the underdog," Hirano said. "Kind of like we were last year when we played them."

"It was a great crowd," Gunn coach Shinichi Hirano said. "We had a great crowd for our first (home) game, too. I'm glad the students are supporting the team. It's more about the kids than anything. All their hard work paid off." The day begun badly as the team found out that RB Marcus Moreno would be out for the season, but the game itself was all good.

Mark Radin led the Titans in tackles with nine, while Dietrich Sweat had 1.5 sacks, sharing a sack with Mason Gong. Guy Kasznik had an interception and a fumble recovery both coming in the crucial 4th quarter and preventing any offense by Pioneer. "Our defense has played well all year," Hirano said.

The Titans start the SCVAL schedule on Friday at Cupertino at 7:30 p.m. The Pioneers are 4-0, including a 40-20 win over Prospect.

Four New Coaches
Gunn Sports is happy to introduce four new coaches who are all dedicated to maintaining and improving athletic achievement at Gunn. 

• Girls Volleyball - Coach Craig Bankowski is the Palo Alto Elite Volleyball Club, Inc. Director and has been coaching volleyball for 12 years with 20 years of competitive playing experience.  He coaches all forms of volleyball -- sand, grass and indoor volleyball and all age groups -- from elementary school kids to adults competing in schools, clubs, and the pro beach circuit as well as Olympic qualifiers. Coach Bankowski is certified through the Gold Medal Squared Olympic Volleyball Coaches Association. Coach Bankowski: “I love learning through my players and sharing my outrageous passion for the game. I am thrilled to lead our Gunn Varsity Girls Volleyball to share unforgettable memories in our brand new gym!” 

• Football - Shinichi Hirano, Head Varsity Coach of the football team, grew up in the Bay area attending Mountain View High School and San Jose State University. Coach Hirano initially begun his high school coaching career at his alma mater Mountain View High School in 1994, transferring to Santa Clara in 2003 and becoming their head coach in 2006, and Mountain View High School head coach in 2010. This is Coach Hirano's first year at Gunn and we welcome him to the campus.

• Cheer - Michaela Guillory has over 20 years of experience in gymnastics and was a J.O. national qualifier in 2005. She has been coaching since she was 17 years old and then found a new love for cheer in 2007. Joining a co-ed level five all-star team, she was able to be a part of a national winning team which also qualified for the world championships in 2008. She has over five years of experience in cheer and was part of the college cheer team at San Jose State University. She has a strong compassion for coaching along with the importance of sport and its ability to contribute to the growth of character and responsibility within each child. Finishing up her movement science degree, she is expected to graduate with her BS in May of 2014.

• Cheer - Danielle Hypolite came to Gunn with over 20 years of cheerleading experience ranging from Pop Warner, high school, and all stars. She has 3 national titles, 3 grand champion titles, and a best choreography award. Her hobbies include culinary arts, but dedicates most of her time to coaching her Marauder cheer team. She brings to the table a team expectation to help accomplish both team and individual goals for the season. To Danielle it is more than teaching the skill itself, but developing a strong work ethic and conquering life’s lessons.

Parent Education: Food and Your Brain

Sumitted by Karen Mueller

Food and Your Brain

The food you eat impacts your energy, your ability to think, and your emotions.  This is true for everyone, but especially for children with learning differences, ADHD, and ASD.   Kandice Stellmon, who works at Whole Child Wellness, will talk about how food affects brain function.  This talk will cover foods to eat, foods to avoid, and natural supplements.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Hospitality 8:45am

Meeting – 9 to 11 am

Covington Elementary School Multi

205 Covington Road, Los Altos  94024

This parent education event is sponsored by the SELPA 1 CAC (www.selpa1cac.org) an all-volunteer group of parents of children with special needs.  Our service area includes all public school districts in Los Altos, Mountain View, and Palo Alto.  All of our events are free and open to anyone who feels they might benefit.  No registration is necessary.  

Sports Update (9/27/13)

Submitted by Miriam Rotman

It was rivalry week against cross town Paly for both water polo teams who played at Paly, and the girl’s golf team and all teams came up trumps!

Water polo – The girls’ team swamped Paly with a 13-1 drubbing, with Natasha Batista scoring 4 goals and Caroline Anderson and Lauren Johnson 3 goals each. Coach Mark Hernandez was very pleased with the performance “It meant a lot to our program to play as well as we did in their house. We shared the ball well and played intelligent defense”. For the boys there was more at stake as twin brothers and head coaches Matt & Brandon Johnson (both Gunn Alums 2006!) faced each other as opposing coaches. Matt, Gunn’s new head coach, and the Gunn team beat up on Paly 14-7, and yes, beating your brother always makes a victory sweeter… Gunn (1-0, 2-3) got five goals from sophomore Christian Znidarsic and four from senior Coby Wayne. Ari Wayne added three goals for the Titans. "We played great defense," Matt said. "We can score. That's not a problem."

Golf - The SCVAL season in girls' golf is nearly half over and one thing is for sure at this point: Gunn is the team to beat.  The defending champion remained perfect on the season with a pair of victories at Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course.   The Titans (6-0, 7-0) this week topped Saratoga, 200-249, and Monta Vista, 200-270, following a 195-197 victory over Paly last week.  Senior Jayshree Sarathy and junior Anna Zhou led Gunn on Monday as each shot a 1-over par 35. Lianna McFarlane-Connelly and Tiffany Yang each shot 41 with Sandra Herchen rounding out the scoring.

Volleyball- Girl’s volleyball team jumps to 2-0, starting off the season defeating a very good Mountain View team and Monta Vista two nights in a row.  In the season opener in our brand new gym, Gunn faced Mountain View. Nicole Brigham lead the Titans with 45 setting assists spreading the ball out very well.  Both Erica Johnston & Meghan Mahoney lead the team with 12 kills each.  Erica sealed the victory with 11 points in a row in game 4 and earned 10 aces in the entire match.  This was a great way to begin the season!  Against Monta Vista, Gunn started strong with a 24-8 lead in the first game with another strong serving performance with Senior Erica Johnston and Junior Cindy Yang.  Setter, Nicole Brigham had another solid match with 37 assists.  Erica Johnston smashed 13 kills, Meghan Mahoney 9 kills, and Miranda Crothers hit 500 as a Middle Blocker.  Libero, Tahra Knudsen was all over on defense with 17 digs tonight and a total of 52 digs in just 2 matches. 

Come cheer the girl’s and see the new gym, as we are hosting a tough match next Tuesday against Los Altos. JV @ 3:30, Varsity @ 6:45.

Football - This is homecoming week, so we expect everyone to come to the game and cheer on our Titans and see the cheer team at their finest!! JV @ 5:00 and Varsity @ 7:30.

Athletes of the week – Sarah Robinson (senior, Cross country)  won the first SCVAL cross-country meet of the season with the fastest time out of 154 runners, and won the Lowell Invitational title (fastest time of the day) while helping the Titans win a team title, and was chosen athlete of the week (Palo Alto Weekly). Joining her were golfers Anna Zhou and Jayshree Sarathy who both earned honorable mentions. Go Lady Titans!!

Spring Fever or Loss of Motivation

Submitted by Roni Gillenson

Spring Fever or Loss of Motivation:  How to Help Your Underachieving Teen

By Jennifer Jones, LCSW, Site Director, Palo Alto High School

                  It’s that time of year; the long winter is over, trees are blossoming, the temperature is warming, and we all want to go to the beach instead of to work.  That’s why Spring Break was invented.  But what if a week of vacation doesn’t revive and re-inspire?  What if that loss of interest in work isn’t temporary? As the Supervisor in a counseling center on a high school campus, I have been hearing a lot lately from parents and teens about a general loss of motivation and interest in doing well in school.  If it didn’t just start prior to spring break and isn’t “Senioritis;” if it’s been ongoing, what can parents do to increase a teen’s motivation to succeed?

                  As human beings we develop the motivation to please our parents as we receive nurturance, love, food and other basic needs from them.  As we grow from babies to toddlers and throughout childhood, we receive both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards for behaving appropriately and doing what we are told.  By the time we become independent adults, we have learned what happens when we “don’t behave,” when we procrastinate, don’t complete our tasks, act irresponsibly, or make poor choices. How we spend our time is our choice now and we deal with the consequences. Teenagers need to test; they need to find out “what will happen if…?” on their journey to adulthood.  Making poor choices or mistakes is part of the process. 

As parents, we have the most influence over our children’s lives, until they hit adolescence.  At this time, their focus turns to the outside world.  They begin to learn more from their friends, other adults, and the surrounding culture. They start behaving differently and want to spend less time with family, all normal developmental processes.  Their interests may broaden and motivators may change.  But when a parent notices a significant and alarming shift in their teen’s school performance it can be a cause for action. Two factors that tend to lead to a loss of motivation in teens, and which parents can still greatly influence, are:

1) Loss of self-confidence/self-esteem, and

2) Lack of control/choices in their life. 

Sometimes a very authoritarian-style of parenting, which includes lecturing, criticizing, having unrealistic expectations, and engaging in frequent power struggles with children can erode a child’s self-esteem.  If there are too many conditions for love and acceptance, the child may just give up entirely or chose to rebel by doing poorly. 

Sometimes we parents don’t realize we continue to parent our teens as if they are still younger children.  We haven’t shifted our parenting role to match their changing developmental needs.  We may continue to tell our teens what to do, when and how to do it, and how they should feel about it.  This can create dependence, low self-esteem and/or resentment.

Parents can help re-motivate their teens by empowering them to act responsibly.  Teens need to be given choices. Consequences of each choice can be explained while allowing the teen to make their own decision, and ultimately learn from their own mistakes. Parents can create a more respectful, cooperative environment by allowing teens to participate in creating the house rules.  Parents can be firm but kind, “I love you and I don’t like this behavior.”  Natural consequences are generally more effective than punishments.  Parents can involve teens in problem solving.  Parents can ask their teen what they think they should do in a given situation, leading the teen to finding a solution rather than telling them what the solution should be.  Parents can also help re-inspire their teens by doing the following:

1     1.   Provide unconditional support and acceptance

2      2.   Encourage teens to explore their passions, validate those passions and provide the tools necessary for exploration

3      3.   Help teens discover their unique strengths and abilities

4     4.    Set small, realistic goals, especially for the procrastinator

5     5.   Provide positive feedback and constructive criticism

6     6.   Provide incentives (money, electronics, more freedom, etc.)

7      7.   Encourage teens to do volunteer work in their community

When something more serious is suspected, there is help out there for parents and teens.  Parents can go to their student’s Guidance Counselor, School Psychologist, Student Support Services or ACS Counselor to meet, discuss and figure out what is going on and where to access the best support, help and resources that is needed.

Teens respond to the same motivators as adults.  As parents we should remind ourselves about what motivates us, what it’s like to feel inspired, and how it feels to be successful - then consistently model that for our children.

Adolescent Counseling Services is a community non-profit, which provides vital counseling services on eight secondary campuses at no charge to students and their families. To learn more about our services please visit the ACS website at www.acs-teens.org or call

Sabrina Geshay, LMFT, Site Director at Gunn (650) 849-7919.  ACS relies on the generosity of community members to continue offering individual, family, and group counseling to over 1,500 individuals annually.  ACS provides critical interventions and mental health services, building a better future for tomorrow. If you are interested in helping to support our efforts, do not hesitate to call

to make a donation.  It goes a long way in helping teenagers find their way!

Site Council Agenda May 6

Submitted by Rene Hart

GUNN HIGH SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL

AGENDA

May 6, 2013  3:55pm Staff Lounge

CALL TO ORDER                                                                                      Geoff Butner

OPEN FORUM:  Members of the public may address the Council on non-agenda

                            Items.  (LIMIT of FIVE MINUTES per person.)

OLD  BUSINESS

Approval of April 8, 2013 Meeting Minutes (five minutes)

NEW  BUSINESS

Elana Zizmor information on proposal #2

Data from Titan 101 Surveys/Overview Titan 101                                  Daisy Renazco

Safe Schools Plan Approval                                                                    James Lubbe

Final Discussion and Decision of New Proposals

Evaluation Presentations

       #11 Judy Adams/Cindy Peters     

Agenda Lightning Round - List of Critical Topics not on the Agenda

    (To add to end of agenda or for future agendas or follow up)

Constituency Representatives’ Reports

§  Principal’s Report                                                                       Katya Villalobos

     Call for Principal’s Cup Committee

     Update on School Activities/Student, Faculty Achievements

                  Update on GAC and Gunn One Year Action Plan

                  Facilities Update/Site Council Tour before end of May

                   Summer School Update

             Board of Education                                                                     Katya Villalobos

§  PTSA                                                          Becky Thomas

§  Parent Report                                                       Linda Lingg

§  SEC                                                                                               Kathleen DeCoste

§  Site Council                                                                                  Rene' Hart

   Preliminary Allocation

   Fall Call for Proposals    Due date will be 9/3/13 to submit.

       We will review in September and vote in October.

   Call for 4 Faculty Members for 2013-15 (need to spread word among faculty).

      Chris Bell and Tina Nesberg are eligible for re-election.  Josh Paley is eligible for 2  more terms since he is completing Faith Hilal’s term..Gabriella Garger has served 2 terms and is ineligible to run again. 

   Goodbye and thank you to Gabriella, Linda, Monica, Wonhee and Somina.

   Next Meeting on September 9, 2013 at 3:55 in Staff Lounge.                        

              Round Robin - questions or concerns

Light Refreshments provided by Judy Adams and Meg Omainsky

Running with the Bulls 5k race on Sunday May 12

Submitted by Ruta Puranik

RUNNING WITH THE BULLS: 5K Race on Sunday, May 12th at 9am- Please volunteer.

 

This year's Running of the Bulls 5k Race is on Sunday, May 12th in Palo Alto celebrates its 11th anniversary (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001ZnWsUdg_0ImtmJ4uGHmKVDIm1jvQRa6h0Z8gfYpn2JnfCbAjChmWz8riFoQG_L1bVnSdm7oG_6BUo2Kz56ct1kfXZUIZsZvbE-PL_9xKfQQ=).   Don't miss this special event.  Not a runner?  Please consider being one of the many volunteers needed to make this long treasured event a success.  If you are unfamiliar with our race; costumed cows and bulls chase you through our 5k course. Some of them are Olympic Athletes, others just like dressing up. 100% of event proceeds go to our beneficiary organizations: A Foundation Building Strength, GunnHS and the Bay Area Track Club.

Race Registration begins at 8:10am  on day of the event or mail in your registration. It is a fun family event on mother's day. The starting point is 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA.

Volunteers Needed during the race- Please sign up: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Al7nWjVX1yJHdENsT3JXRkVmWFVjTnFqVEJ2Z3U4Z2c&usp=drive_web#gid=0

Thank you for participating...a portion of the proceeds from the event will be applied to scholarships for students in the Gunn Class of 2013 who would otherwise be unable to attend Grad Night festivities.

 

P4P Thank you Article

Submitted by Kathryn Latour

On Monday, April 22, 2013, the weather was so gorgeous and the sky so blue, it was as if the Earth knew that Gunn would be holding a Rally for the Planet to celebrate Palo Alto-wide Earth Day. The day began with the distribution of tickets for all students who elected NOT to come to school by car (carpoolers excepted). Adult volunteers Don Nielson, Kim Harisay, Nina Bell, Loren and Linda Baker, Steve Shi, and Sonya Bradski assisted Penny Ellson and Kathryn Latour (P4P) and members of the Gunn Green team in handing out over 1000 raffle tickets to bussers, walkers, skate boarders, and -- our favorite -- cyclists, who made up over 585 of those eco-friendly commuters.

At the lunch time rally, Gunn students were honored by the presence of PAUSD School Board President Dana Tom, and City of Palo Alto Mayor Greg Scharff who drew the winners of the Earth Day Raffle. Congratulations go to these winners who won the following gift cards: freshman Sherry Z. (iTunes), senior Paymahn M. (Sprinkles), junior Lauren S (Cinemark), and junior Stephanie C (Van's). Also at the rally, the Green Team and Traffic Safety manned displays underscoring the importance of recycling, biking safely, and using VTA as a commuting option. VTA gave away bike reflectors and provided information on bus service, including their new Summer Blast Pass for students up to age 17.

The following afternoon, the Earth Day celebration continued with the Palo Alto Police Department, represented by Officer Michael Kan, offering bike licensing to Gunn students. He was helped by Explorers Austin K. (freshman) and Dillon T. (sophomore), adult volunteers Marilyn Keller, Lynne Russell, and Nancy Smith, Kathryn Latour and Penny Ellson and Green Team members Eliana R. (junior), Chrissy K. (junior), Mario K. (junior), President Wendy P. (senior), Yannie Y. (senior), and Kevin L. (sophomore). All totaled, these volunteers licensed 51 bikes! Students who were not able to take advantage of this on-site licensing can go to any Palo Alto Fire Station to have it done. (Call for times.) There is a nominal fee but licensing one's bike is a surer way to get it returned if it is stolen.

Many thanks to the Gunn community for helping its student body value our planet!

P4P Team