Schools

Gilroy High School Principal Marco Sanchez summarized the Class of 2016 Commencement Ceremony with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."‘If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, keep moving forward,’"Sanchez quoted. “Well, Class of 2016, today you’re moving forward and on to the next step of your life.” The theme of progress carried on throughout the June 8 ceremony was in Centennial Circle at the center of the GHS campus. Music Director Jonathan Souza led the Gilroy High School Band in playing “Pomp and Circumstance” as graduates proceeded to take their seats. The graduates teemed with excitement, their blue and white gowns gliding around with each movement.Class President Ileana Garcia Jimenez, a California Scholarship Federation member, led the audience in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Jimenez is headed off to UC Santa Barbara in the fall. According to Sanchez, the Class of 2016 earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships and grants. Over 95 percent of the graduating class is heading off to college in the fall. Sanchez individually recognized the groups heading off to colleges, vocational/trade schools, and the military in his welcome speech. “You’re here today because you made each day count,” Sanchez said. “Except for that Senior Ditch Day in May.” Jimenez returned to the stage to welcome the audience and graduates. The ceremony marked the end of one chapter and the beginning of another, she said. “No matter what obstacles we’re faced with, I know we will not cower,” Jimenez said. “We will succeed. I wish you all the best and encourage you all to be as persevering as we have been through high school.” Moises Alvarado Partida led the Spanish welcome after Jimenez. Partida is headed to Gavilan College this fall.Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education President Fred Tovar echoed the speech he gave the day before at Christopher High School, except he quoted an African proverb instead of Muhammad Ali."‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,’ Tovar said. “Remember these words as you venture out into the world, where you’re always stronger together.”Among other accomplishments, this class did over 20,000 hours of community service, said Athletic Director and Community Service Coordinator Julie Berggren.She asked 29 students, who completed over 160 hours each, to stand. “These students alone have completed over 6,361 hours!” she said. CSF Advisor and physics teacher Matt Hungerford recognized the 15 CSF members in the Class of 2016. Hungerford noted that students had to have outstanding grades in order to receive CSF honors. GHS Biomedical Science Academy Coordinator Jennifer Spinetti recognized “a very special group of graduates who chose to focus their high school studies in the science arena.” They are the second graduating class of the academy. “Most people say that it is intellect that makes a great scientist,” Spinetti said. “Well, it’s character. These BSA graduates have great character and we would like to honor them today.” There were two Salutatorians at the graduation: CSF members Nicole Holder and Elaine Sausen. The title marks the second highest ranking student in a graduating class, after the valedictorian. Holder, a singer and athlete, is headed to UC Berkeley in the fall to study biology. She graduated with a 4.2 GPA. Sausen, ASB Media Relations Commissioner and field hockey team captain, is headed to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to study English. She graduated with a 4.32 GPA.Holder and Sausen spoke separately. Holder compared high school to running the mile in track and field, with each lap representing a different year. She said that the Class of 2016 had made it to the finish line: graduation. “If there’s one thing this school has taught us, it’s to persevere and push yourself,” she said. Success doesn’t come without hard work.” Sausen spoke of her upcoming journey to Johns Hopkins University with hopes of becoming a writer. “Looking back on our high school career, it roughly follows the pattern of a book,” she said. “We’re all characters in this book, transitioning from awkward teenagers into young adults. Here’s the SparkNotes version: life is full of challenges. Sometimes you’re dealt cards that are not in your favor, but you can always find a reason to keep going. Never tell yourself something is impossible. If you do, you’ve quit before you’ve even begun.” Valedictorian and CSF member Andy Garcia is headed to UC Berkeley in the fall to study political economy. He graduated as Rotary Club President with a 4.6 GPA. Principal Sanchez noted that Garcia is just one of a couple students in the school district to receive the National Hispanic Scholar recognition. “I came to high school feeling incomplete, lacking much purpose, and definitely not thinking I’d end up here tonight,” Garcia said. Garcia spoke of how high school changed him and his fellow graduates. “Now that high school’s over, let’s exercise passion, curiosity, and love in what we do. This is the best way we can open doors for ourselves. And if we can open doors for ourselves, we can open doors for others.” Keynote Speaker and English teacher Zachary Powell spoke after Garcia. Powell was chosen to speak by the graduating class. He told a story about how he witnessed two men help a complete stranger push his broken down car out of the road to a gas station. “No one asked them to do it, they knew they had to,” Powell said. “They saw a stranded driver and they took action. And that is what you should be doing. Sometimes humanity occurs right in front of your eyes.” Powell ended his speech with some advice. “Don’t be afraid to be perceived as overly sensitive, because the only people we should try to impress are ourselves,” he said. Music Director Souza led the Chamber Singers in a rendition of the song “Go the Distance” from Disney’s animated film Hercules. Class officers from the future graduating classes of 2017, 2018, and 2019 acted as ceremonial diploma bearers. They handed out diplomas as graduates proceeded along the stage to shake hands with Principal Sanchez and the school board. Superintendent Dr. Deborah Flores officially graduated the Class of 2016 at the end of the ceremony. Graduates tossed their caps in the air as fireworks went off behind them. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” played as the audience exited the campus, a pleasant reminder to keep moving forward.

Gilroy High School's Class of 2008 is not only the largest

Gilroy Dispatch: Briefly describe your background and experience. Why are you qualified for this position?

Top civil rights and sexual harassment attorney Gloria Allred sued Gilroy’s school district Thursday for negligence and failing to safeguard a 15-year-old high school girl from a teacher’s lurid sexual taunts even after her mother complained.The lawsuit presents publicly for the first time the explicit nature of some of the text messages Gilroy High School chemistry teacher Doug Le is alleged to have sent to the girl in October 2014.It was filed in Santa Clara County Superior court on behalf of the girl and her mother, Celest Benn of Gilroy.San Jose Police arrested Le, 25, on April 26 on suspicion of enticing minor boys by dressing as a woman and asking them for nude photos, according to the lawsuit and police.Le resigned from his teaching position April 29, some 18 months after Benn first alerted school officials to his behavior and the danger to her daughter and others.Le also coached track and was a student mentor and advisor at GHS, according to the suit.At a Thursday press conference in front of the Gilroy Unified School District offices on Arroyo Circle, Allred would not speak aloud all of the words in the texts, using a single letter at one point instead of the word for the male genitalia.They were, however, listed in the lawsuit as follows, with some editing: “You suck d . . . Yeah your whore mouth can fit whole apples in there . . . You’ll die alone . . .” and another about defecating on the teenager.The suit alleges the district and high school’s failure to prevent and stop Le’s behavior more than a year ago harmed the girl and that stopping and reporting him then might saved as many as 500 minor boys from Le’s advances.It calls Le’s and the district’s behavior “outrageous and extreme” and alleges also that the district knew that “Le had engaged in dangerous and inappropriate conduct, both before his employment [by GUSD] and during that employment.”Allred also claims that the district violated state law by not reporting what they knew to the proper authorities.Benn at the press conference read a prepared statement in English and Spanish that said, in part, “I am disgusted that the district did not do enough to protect my daughter. She had to leave her friends, her classes at Gilroy High School that we had moved cross country for her to attend.” Her daughter transferred from Gilroy High School to Christopher High School, but Allred said Le’s harassment of the girl continued even after Benn reported his behavior to school officials.Benn has said she tried to meet with GHS principal Marco Sanchez and district superintendent Debbie Flores the day after learning of the texts, but they refused to see her. It was only after she threatened to go to the media that the district looked into the matter, she said.Le was “slapped on the wrist,” Allred said, and was allowed to continue teaching and his sexual harassment of minor students.The suit was filed “to hold the school district accountable for the harm they have caused her and our family,” Benn said.Vicki Barone, a GHS English Learners teacher, said she helped train Le to work with English Learner students in his advanced placement, biomedical courses.At the press conference, she told Allred that Le was classified as a temporary, or non-permanent, employee, and later said those employees can be let go at any time.“Yet this guy ends up back, that is weird,” she said.Barone accused the district and high school of being more interested in its wrestling program and advanced placement classes than in doing the right thing.“Kids are being harmed,” she said, adding that when she emailed colleagues at GHS about the Thursday press conference she received hostile responses.When two women spoke at Wednesday’s school board meeting in defense of principal Sanchez, who is widely respected in the community, some in the audience applauded them.The district, in a statement read at both the Wednesday board meeting and Thursday press conference, claims it took all the action it could against Le and that while unacceptable and unprofessional, his behavior was not criminal and did not rise to the level of dismissal.The lawsuit alleges Benn’s daughter “has suffered and continues to suffer great pain of mind and body, shock, emotional distress, physical manifestations of emotional distress, embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, disgrace, humiliation and loss of enjoyment of life.”The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages, including punitive damages.

The four Live Oak High School who were kicked out of school for

Navigator Schools will forge ahead with its goal of opening a brand new charter campus in Morgan Hill, despite a recommendation from Santa Clara County Office of Education staff to deny the organization’s second petition on appeal.

GILROY—A rosy picture of caring Gilroy school officials eager to assist handicapped kids just ain’t so, say two mothers who have spent years and thousands of dollars in legal fees to secure help they say is required by law but is like pulling teeth to get.