The Gilroy High School Grad Nite volunteers are looking for
parents to help decorate the gym today and Thursday, in preparation
for the 2007 Safe and Sober Grad Nite Celebration.
Volunteers, Snacks Needed for GHS Grad Nite 2007
Gilroy – The Gilroy High School Grad Nite volunteers are looking for parents to help decorate the gym today and Thursday, in preparation for the 2007 Safe and Sober Grad Nite Celebration.
Come any time between 3 and 10pm. Decorations are prepared; they just need to put it all together. Parents also are needed for the Friday night/Saturday morning event. In addition, brownies, cookies and other treats are needed. Please deliver to the gym before 9pm Friday.
Details: 710-9995 or 710-3371.
Hundreds of Students Graduating
Gilroy – More than 1,000 students will graduate from high school or be promoted from eighth grade this week. Ceremonies will be held across the city and region to celebrate their accomplishments.
– The private Pacific West Christian Academy will promote about 25 eighth-grade students to high school Wednesday. A ceremony will be held at 6pm at the South Valley Community Church, which operates the school, at 8095 Kelton Dr.
– The private Mount Madonna School will be graduating 14 students at a 9:30am ceremony on Thursday at its upper campus, 491 Summit Road. The students will be attending colleges across the country, including one in the Southwest, one in Washington, D.C. and 10 on the West Coast.
– The three local middle schools will be promoting about 600 students to high school Thursday. Solorsano Middle School students will start the ceremonies at 3pm, Brownell Middle School’s graduation will begin at 5pm and South Valley Middle School students will walk last at 7pm. All graduations will be held at Christmas Hill Park at 7100 Miller Ave., near its intersection with Uvas Park Drive.
n Anchorpoint Christian School will graduate about 16 students at a ceremony Friday. The event, where students will receive their diplomas and administrators will speak about the class, will be held at 4pm in the New Hope Church, 8886 Muraoka Dr.
– Students at Gilroy High School will receive their diplomas and bid goodbye at a graduation ceremony at 6pm Friday. About 500 young men and women will walk across the stage to mark their last day as high school students. The event will be held at the school’s football field, 750 E. 10th St.
– About 40 students will bid farewell to the El Portal Leadership Academy, a district charter high school, Friday. A ceremony where the students receive their diplomas will be held at 7pm in the Morgan Hill Community Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey St. in Morgan Hill. The students make up the school’s second graduating class since its founding in 2002.
Council Candidate Orientation Slated
Gilroy – City officials will be conducting an orientation for prospective City Council candidates from 6 to 7:30pm Wednesday, in the City Hall Council Chambers, 7351 Rosanna St. The agenda items will include topics such as the technical mechanics of running for office, campaigning for office, an overview of the City Charter, council and city administrator relations, city budget, council norms, the Brown Act, city council work plan, time commitment, personal perceptions and extra duties.
Mayor Al Pinheiro, City Administrator Jay Baksa, City Clerk Rhonda Pellin and incoming City Clerk Shawna Serna will present.
Project Features Short Story Author
Gilroy – The Gilroy Writing Project program features Pushcart Prize nominee, poet and short story author, Martha Engber, who will talk about her new book, “Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up.”
Engber will lead a discussion on what makes characters great and how writers can lift their characters to that level, whether for novels and short stories or for nonfiction projects such as memoirs and biographies. She’ll also be happy to troubleshoot problems participants may be having in developing their own characters. This Gilroy Writing Project program will take place at 2pm Saturday, at Gilroy Library, 7387 Rosanna St.
Details: 842-8207, ext. 3413.
Win a Car, Help Pay for New Lab
Gilroy – The private Pacific West Christian Academy is raffling off a 2007 Toyota Prius Thursday to raise money for a new computer lab. The drawing will take place at 8:15am in the elementary campus, 1575-A Mantelli Dr. Tickets are available at $20 each or six for $100.
Details: 847-7922
Student Honored at MVC Graduation
Gilroy – Resident Megan Anders received two special honors as 172 seniors at Monte Vista Christian School in Watsonville received their diplomas Friday in front of more than 1,000 friends and family members.
As her first honor, Anders was named Salutatorian for the Class of 2007 based on her high grade point average. She served as Senior Class Vice President this year, and has won numerous academic and athletic awards, including an All League Sportsmanship Award for volleyball.
In her speech, Anders encouraged her classmates to make a great contribution to the world.
“We are all capable of achieving amazing things with our lives,” she said.
As her second honor, Anders learned during the ceremony that she had been selected as the recipient of the Leigh-Anne Fairhurst Memorial Scholarship for 2007. The scholarship is given annually in memory of Leigh-Anne Fairhurst, a 1999 graduate of Monte Vista. After graduation, Fairhurst enrolled at UC San Diego, where she was involved in several Christian ministries, working to serve others despite her own illness. She was less than a year from graduating when she died Feb. 6, 2002. As a student who possesses the qualities reflected in the life of Leigh-Anne Fairhurst, Anders will receive a scholarship which she will use as she studies medicine or psychology at Westmont College in Santa Barbara.
Local Students Take on Music Challenge
Gilroy – Thirty-eight local piano pupils from the music studio of Diana Fennell of Gilroy auditioned at the Yamaha Peninsula Music Center in San Jose May 30, 31 and June 4 as candidates for membership in the National Fraternity of Student Musicians, sponsored by the National Guild of Piano Teachers, Teacher Division of the American College of Musicians.
Each entrant is given a certificate, a gold, silver or bronze embossed pin, a report card and a year’s membership in the National Fraternity of Student Musicians.
The names of the entrants are: Gilroy residents Marga Garcia, Natalie Garcia, Katrina Pasao, Jasmin Booker, Gavin Mummert, Abbey Lynch, Nathan Lynch, Emily Collins, Jordyn Kafka, Olivia Vanni, Matthew Moon, David Moon, Bryant Jew, Joel Bonsell, Nathan Bonsell, Erin Bonsell, Amy Anderson, Gabriella Goubaud, Kaela Nguyen, Natalia Vanni, Megan Im, Matthew Im, Danielle McKenna, Aaron Whitehouse and Jackie Kim; San Martin residents Anthony Silva, Joseph Silva, Bryan Cox and George Cox; Morgan Hill residents Hannah Osborn, Johnathan Osborn, Jonathan Sakoi, Amanda Sakoi, Natalie Khoury, Rawan Khoury, Brendan Jew, Kerry Huang and Emilie Allaert.
Details: http://pianoguild.com
SV Music Makers Begins Fourth Year
Gilroy – Now beginning a fourth year of musical celebration and friendship, South Valley Music Makers will hold its next bimonthly meeting from 1 to 4pm, Saturday, June 23, at the studios of The Music Academy, Fourth and Church streets, in downtown Gilroy. The community is invited to attend, to listen and enjoy, or perhaps to bring an instrument or some music and share.
South Valley Music Makers was established to provide a venue for those wishing to share their favorite tunes and meet others who enjoy playing and listening to music of all varieties. Cornet, banjo, button box accordion and orchestral string instruments have been represented, and singers have performed in styles from folk music to sultry jazz tunes.
Attendees share their knowledge of the music in an open, interactive setting where audience members often contribute historical information, too. Both experienced and novice players share their repertoire in a nurturing environment. New “members” are always welcomed with a warm and accepting attitude.
Details: 848-1064.
Local Perchlorate Group Meets
San Martin – The next two Pechlorate Community Advisory Group meets from 2 to 5pm Friday, June 29 at the San Martin Lions Club Hall, 12415 Murphy Ave. San Martin.
Details: www.smnneigbor.org or www.valleywater.org.
Give Blood and Help Save Lives
Gilroy – The next blood drives will be held from 1:30 to 6:30pm Monday, June 14, at Community Church Hall, 8455 Wren Ave., and from 10am to 3pm Saturday, June 23 at South Valley Church Hall, 8095 Kelton Dr.
Details: 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or go to www.BeADonor.com (Code: GILROY).
Send news items to City Editor Robert Airoldi. FAX to 842-2206, mail to Gilroy Dispatch, 6400 Monterey Road, Gilroy, CA 95020, or e-mail ed****@****ic.com.
