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Sixty-two thousand dollars was awarded to 18 local Gilroy Rotary Club scholarship recipients last week at Gilroy High School, Christopher High School, Valley Christian High School and Gavilan Community College. Rotary President Hamdy Abbass, assisted by Rotarian Joel Goldsmith and Syngenta Seeds' Mark Wilson, presented the awards in ceremonies May 19 and 20 at the various schools.

The Gilroy Police Department recently responded to a variety of crimes, including battery, peeping or prowling and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person.  Arrests were recorded in the GPD blotter May 21 through 28. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty.

For Gavilan College graduate Michael Treviño, an initiative to get more students to law school is personal. Treviño was the first in his family to go to college. He attended community college before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley, and eventually went to law school at the University of Washington. Treviño is now the director of undergraduate admissions for the University of California system.

Described by supporters as a “catalyst behind restoring Gilroy’s choral music program,” an educator who “instills character,” “dedicated” and “truly a hard act to follow” a Garlic Capital’s revered choir director whose melodies enchanted the lives and hearts of thousands of youth singers will have a lasting legacy.

"Just keep moving! It doesn’t matter how fast you go,” a voice yelled in a bustling fitness facility on a Monday night, music blaring and sweat pouring from the faces of participants as they performed lunges, climbed ropes and practiced their form on overhead barbell squats. This is a familiar scene at Morgan Hill’s Brethren CrossFit 5 p.m. class and the voice is that of Nicole Perry, one of the seven certified CrossFit trainers that teach classes at the gym. Opened in January 2009 and owned by Lee Pappas, Brethren CrossFit is one of two CrossFit affiliated gyms in Morgan Hill attracting locals to take up the popular fitness regimen.

Local business people, community leaders, alumni, parents and parishioners were at St. Mary School May 21 to interview 30 graduating eighth-graders as their culminating Student Learning Portfolio projects. The project was developed by SMS junior high science teacher Georgia Stern and Cecile Mantecon, a former SMS junior high teacher, with set objectives including: Encourage student accountability, promote student self-awareness and reflection of learning skills with an opportunity to construct a portfolio reflecting evidence of achievement and growth, along with an opportunity to be exposed to the formal interview process. Students were required to perform an initial self-assessment and subsequent periodic self-evaluation throughout the year. In order for students to recognize their achievement of Student Learning Expectations, they collected, organized and presented evidence of the achievement in the formal interviews. A binder was presented at the formal interview, containing their reflections, evidence, answers to questions and the final self-assessment. Photo submitted by Kelly Barabzette.