The end of the year is quickly approaching. At Senior Awards night on June 4 th we will be recognizing approximately 200 seniors for their efforts at Esperanza over the last four years. The class of 2012 has been awarded over 3.7 mil- lion dollars in scholarships from both private and university scholar- ships. The class of 2012 have the following stats: 57 CSU, 42 UC, 80 Private or out of state, 42% 4yr school, 50% 2yr school, 4% trade school, 96% total college, 1% mili- tary. With approximately 500 seniors graduating on Tuesday, June 12th at Shapell Stadium they have a lot to look forward to in the weeks to come. Senior week activities start on Friday, June 8 th with the seniors go- ing to Disneyland and Monday, June 11 th is the senior breakfast and cap and gown distribution. We are so proud of this senior class and we wish them the best of luck in the fu- ture. There are many other things taking place at Esperanza. Newsweek Mag- azine just ranked the “Best High Schools” in the United States and Esperanza was #407. This is a great accomplishment for the students and staff. We just had our Distin- guished Scholar luncheon on April 18th for all the in 9 th - 12 th grades who are on track to graduate with this recognition. We also have a Red Cross blood drive coming to Esperanza on June 1 st , community members and parents are welcome to come donate. We are also ending our spring sports season. We had many teams make it to CIF playoffs, Baseball, Softball, Men’s Tennis, Track, and Swim- ming. Our women’s swim team took home the championship in Division 2 CIF. Finally we have a 2012-2013 school calendar, this can be accessed on the Placentia –Yorba Linda Unified School District website at http://www.pylusd.org/home.asp. Have a great summer and see you in the 2012-1013 school year. GRADUATION EDITION 2012 Esperanza High School 1830 N. Kellogg Dr. Anaheim, CA 92807 (714) 986-7540 EsperanzaHS.com PIC President: Sandee Van Oyen Editor: Laura Deutsch “Where Excellence is a Tradition” Principal’s Message All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. — Walt Disney Dr. Ken Fox
Transcript
The end of the year is quickly approaching. At Senior Awards night on June 4thwe will be recognizing approximately 200 seniors for their efforts at Esperanza over the last four years. The class of 2012 has been awarded over 3.7 mil-lion dollars in scholarships from both private and university scholar-ships. The class of 2012 have the following stats: 57 CSU, 42 UC, 80
Private or out of state, 42% 4yr
school, 50% 2yr school, 4% trade
school, 96% total college, 1% mili-
tary. With approximately 500 seniors graduating on Tuesday, June 12th at Shapell Stadium they have a lot to look forward to in the weeks to come. Senior week activities start on Friday, June 8th with the seniors go-ing to Disneyland and Monday, June 11th is the senior breakfast and cap and gown distribution. We are so proud of this senior class and we wish them the best of luck in the fu-ture.
There are many other things taking place at Esperanza. Newsweek Mag-azine just ranked the “Best High Schools” in the United States and Esperanza was #407. This is a great accomplishment for the students and staff. We just had our Distin-guished Scholar luncheon on April 18th for all the in 9th- 12th grades who are on track to graduate with
this recognition. We also have a Red Cross blood drive coming to Esperanza on June 1st, community members and parents are welcome to come donate. We are also ending our spring sports season. We had many teams make it to CIF playoffs, Baseball, Softball, Men’s Tennis, Track, and Swim-ming. Our women’s swim team took home the championship in Division 2 CIF. Finally we have a 2012-2013 school calendar, this can be accessed on the Placentia –Yorba Linda Unified School District website at http://www.pylusd.org/home.asp.
Have a great summer and see you in the 2012-1013 school year.
G R A D U A T I O N E D I T I O N 2 0 1 2
Esperanza
High School
1830 N. Kellogg Dr.
Anaheim, CA 92807
(714) 986-7540
EsperanzaHS.com
PIC
President:
Sandee Van Oyen
Editor: Laura Deutsch
“Where Excellence is a Tradition”
Principal’s Message
All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. —
PTSA President’s Message As the 2011-2012 school year draws to a close, I’d like to once again thank all of our Esperanza students, parents, teachers, administration and our Aztec community for their continued support of our PTSA programs, services, activities and special events. We are able to offer so much to our students with the help of all of you! I am especially proud of all that our student members have accomplished this year. When we began to envision a new structure for our PTSA last year, our student leaders were eager to contribute in a cooperative and collaborative manner, and I am very pleased to announce that the California State PTA awarded the Esperanza PTSA with a Spotlight Award for Leadership Development on May 11th at the California State PTA Conven-tion. Our student advisors, Cheryl Heller and Connie Francis, were present along with student VPs Allison Heller and Christie Nguyen, who were invited to receive the award on behalf of our PTSA. All of the EHS PTSA board who were in attendance felt a great deal of pride in this accomplishment, as there is a single recognition for Leadership Develop-ment awarded on an annual basis. Programs like our annual Taste of Esperanza, and our Mix-It-Up Luncheon, chaired by Ariane Ang Lee and Sadaf Lakhia, would not be possible without countless hours of dedication and hard work by our student leaders! Along with the student chairs that have been acknowledged in past editions of the Epic, many thanks to our student chairs Tiffany Le (Bonding), Ryan Heller (Bonding), Miranda Koster (Community Service), Bijal Patel (Communication Assistant), Andrew Chang (Student Leadership),
Mariam Giurgius (Aztec U), Eddy Kim (Fundraising Assistant), Mojan Deriss (Media Tech) and our student officers Eric Arellano (2nd VP), Christie Nguyen (4th VP), Allison Heller (5th VP), Samuel Chang (6th VP), and Tiffany Lee (Deputy Recording Secretary) whose obligations ran throughout the year. Finding time for your service is much appreciated! I’m looking forward to what our students and their advisors will plan for our PTSA next year—they can accomplish so much if they are given the opportunity to do so! We have a few more activities and programs to round up the year, so I’d like to begin by thanking Cindee Toy, Adam Toy, Nadine Elwood, and Lynn Jordan for their careful planning and execution of our Distinguished Aztec Academic Recognition (DAAR) evening which honors Esperanza scholars with 4.0 or higher GPAs. This very special evening is made possible by the generosity of our Esperanza families, so I would like take this opportunity to thank you for your support of this program. We were also able to offer hospitality following the ceremony to our guests this year, so I’d like to express special thanks to Hospitality chairs Sharise Norrbom and Diane Van, who also treated our teachers and staff to a wonderful Staff Appreciation Luncheon with the help of student chairs Kevin Beck and Kathleen Dinh. Other student members volunteered to help make this a very special event for all! In early June, our Scholarship chair, Cindee Toy, will be very pleased to present many of our hard-working and enthusiastic Senior PTSA members with scholarships at the upcoming Senior Awards Night. I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the diligent work of some of our parent chairs who I haven’t had the opportunity to recognize in past editions of the EPIC. Our Fiscal Resources chair Jacque Brown came up with several creative ideas for fundraising, and her involvement and attention made our “Drive One 4 UR School” event a very successful one. Caroline Wahlstrom helped coordi-nate our volunteers for the CAHSEE exams and to provide coverage for our office staff when necessary, Debra Dement helped with our
Cheryl Heller, Christie Nguyen, Sandee Van Oyen,
Allison Heller and Connie Francis accepting the Califor-
nia State Spotlight Award presented to the EHS PTSA!
PTSA Student Leader’s Reflections
PTSA student members participate in
the 8th Grade Student/Parent Night
President’s Message Continued... Special Education Advocacy, and Chrystie Adams kept us informed of the news from the SCAC and any news from Sacramento. Our PTSA webpage, http://www.esperanzahs.com/ was carefully set-up, maintained, and edited by Laura Deutsch, who also graciously offered to resume her responsibilities as the editor of our EPIC newsletter back in December, to the appreciation of us all. Much gratitude is also extended to our parents who served on our executive board this year: Lynn Jordan (1st VP), Susanne Hidalgo (Recording Secretary), Caroline Wahlstrom (Treasurer), Maria Kline (Auditor), Laura Rossman (Historian), Luis Garcia (Parliamentarian) and Cheryl Heller (Student Advisor) all worked tirelessly to ensure that our PTSA continued to operate in the manner that our Aztec community is accustomed to. It has been a pleasure to serve with them and I would also like to extend heart-felt thanks to our principal, Dr. Ken Fox, for his continued support of all of our programs and events. As we move on to the next school year, I would like to say that I look for-ward to serving as the 1st VP for our Esperanza PTSA, for I am so support-ive of the programs that our members have developed over the years, and I would like to do everything I can to see that high standard of excellence and commitment continue in the years to come. I believe I speak for every one of us when I say that as your Esperanza PTSA, we will always be very proud of Esperanza’s tradition of excellence in academics, athletics, and artistic achievement. It has been a pleasure to serve as your PTSA President, and I wish the very best to all of our Aztec community. Have a wonderful sum-mer and see you in the fall! Sandee Van Oyen, Esperanza PTSA President
EHS delegation to the
CA State PTA Convention.
Leading up to the hectic weeks of AP testing and Final exams, PTSA students have been up and about,
putting on our PTSA events. Leadership 101 at Bernardo Middle School was a great success and our
PTSA kids taught some great leadership skills to our future leaders at Esperanza. In addition, both our
Honorary Service Awards and Creative Arts Awards went very well. The latter had over 250 entries and
some beautiful art pieces! Esperanza PTSA students recently awarded our academic achievers at
Distinguished Aztecs Awards Recognition Night. DAAR was a pleasant evening of honoring academic
excellence and we had a remarkable guest speaker that graduated from Esperanza several years ago. Last
but not least, Esperanza's staff treat day was a great hit with the teachers. Our teachers enjoyed delicious
lasagna and desserts during lunch, and all teachers had great things to say about this event in addition to
the great food. Finally, interviews and applications were conduct-
ed for the student leadership of 2012-2013. Our student PTSA E
-board is very excited for the upcoming year with the group of
impressive leaders chosen for next year. Currently, the student
PTSA is excited for summer along with the rest of Esperanza in
addition to planning and preparation for Taste of Esperanza and
the rest of PTSA events for 2012-2013.
-Bijal Patel
Aztec Calendar 2012 (partial listing and subject to change)
June 4 Mon. Senior Awards 6:30-8:30pm 5 Tues. Mr. Aztec 6:30-8:00pm 12 Tues Graduation 6:00-8:00 pm 13-15 Finals Schedule 15 Friday Last day of School
Save the date … Taste of Esperanza October 6, 2012
Another activity-filled year gone by… Thanks to our PTSA Hospitality Chairs, Diane Van & Sharise Norrbom, and student Aztec U Chair, Mariam Giurgius, Aztec U had a busy and successful year.
We kicked off the year with our annual Town Hall Meeting, followed by our Fall Mock SAT/ACT/PRA Testing & Results Nights, Financial Aid Night & Community College Night. Then, we began 2012 with our PSAT Interpretation & FAFSA Nights in January, our Spring Mock SAT/ACT/PRA Testing & Results Nights, and wrapping it up with our College Admissions Night in April. We were blessed to be able to partner with our amaz-ing Esperanza Counselors & Princeton Review to offer these very informative and benefi-cial opportunities to our families.
As summer nears and many families are searching for the most convenient & valuable SAT preparatory course for your students, we are fortunate to be able to offer a set of SAT clas-ses on our Esperanza campus this summer. The course will run July 10-August 9 on Tues-days and Thursdays. They have proven very helpful to those students that have been en-rolled in the past. More detailed information is available on the attached flyer, our PTSA link under Aztec U, and flyers are available in the school office as well.
We wish our Esperanza families and our class of 2012 a fun, safe & relaxing summer. We look forward to seeing our new and returning families next year at our Town Hall Meeting.
Virginia Park
Aztec U Chair
Antista, Noah/Mr. Bowman
Ashbaugh, Andie/Ms. Lukach
Beresford, Brinley/Ms. Nguyen
Beu, Ryan/Ms. Kieffer
Bracy, Jacky/Ms. De Friese
Brown, Amanda/Ms. Vanderhook
Chocek, Chrissy/Ms. Platz
Crespo, Cynthia/Ms. Hernandez
Cruz, Esperanza/Mr. Peck
Dembek, Andrew/Ms. Crask
Dembowski, Makayla/Mr. Lovein
Diaz, Alexis/Ms. Hernandez
Diaz, Jessica/Mr. Perez
Fernandez, Gloria/Ms. Leonard
Gomez, Jasmine/Ms. Koutzoukis
Hazlett, Curtis/Mr. Slevcove
Ledesma, Melissa/Ms. Vasiliki
Lewis, Patrick/Mr. Nordwick
McCue, Andrew/Ms. Walters
Morrissey, Jessica/Ms. Gehringer
Nasser, Sammy/Ms. Elwood
Rojas, Andrea/Ms. Platz
Russo, Jason Patrick/Mr. Lehr
Saddler, Steven/Ms. Krie
Schatz, Amanda/Ms. Vanderhook
Searcy, Kayla/Ms. Brunenkant
Siegall, Maxwell/Mr. Hill
Stewart, Taylor/Ms. Linsley
Thai, Angelica/ Mr. Hale
Tigui, Kara/Ms. Koutzoukis
Tracy, Jenna/Mr. Goettsche
Vuong, Anthony/Mr. Pendleton
Widjaja, Bryan/Ms. Nguyen
Yun, Grace/Mr. Shellman
Zertuche, Anthony/Ms. Murphy
Esperanza Student of the Month The PTSA would like to thank all of the teachers & staff for their continued support and
commitment this year for the Student-of-the-Month program. Thanks to your hard work our
parents are becoming more engaged within the Esperanza community and more so in their
child’s education. They are VERY proud to place an EHS STUDENT-OF-THE-MONTH bumper sticker on their vehicles. Lets continue to set an example of an outstanding education arena
here at EHS. Each student listed has received a letter of recognition, certificate, & bumper
sticker from the principal & PTSA. We look forward to adding more to these lists next year.
Esperanza Student of the Month Congratulations to those that have been selected as an
Esperanza Student of the Month! Faculty members have taken note of these students for their exceptional efforts and who
have a positive effect on our entire community. We urge you to continue your efforts to
“make a difference” in our world. On behalf of the staff and PTSA of Esperanza High School, we salute you and sincerely appreciate your adding to our rich “Tradition of Excellence.”
The Distinguished Aztecs Academic Recognition is a program that was established by the PTSA of Esperanza to recognize the top scholars of the year. Each spring, the
administration submits names of honorees to the PTSA. The criteria used for selection is based on a 4.0 or better grade point average or weighted 4.0 grade
point average for those involved in honors or AP (Advanced Placement) classes.
Congratulations to the 2012 Distinguished Aztecs Academic
Recognition Scholars:
Kellie Amano
Bhakti Amin
Kevin Beck
Samuel Chang
John Christensen
Taylor Christoffers
Jared Cruz
Kirsten Dahlberg
Lauren Davidson
Gilles De Prevoisin
Nicholas Dean
Kathleen Dinh
Jessica Duong
Ryan Flynn
Hannah Guild
Allison Heller
Daniel Hennagin
Katherine Higashida
Patrick Kim
Sehyun Kim
Sadaf Lakhia
Jonathan Liebesman
Sarah Martin
Olivia Martinez
Claire Miller
Cyrus Modarres
Amanda Nguyen
Christie Nguyen
Irene Park
Courtney Rinden
Maggie Shepard
Andrew Simecka
Stephanie Tu
Mark Tumlinson
Kinnari Valand
Jessica Van Oyen
Marissa Yeandle
Jay Yostanto
Jessica Adams
Philip Ahn
Harrison Ahne
Andreas Apitz
Rachel Banks
Janet Bauer
Gino Calavitta
Wesley Chin
Brandon Cotta
Katherine Edgerley
Brett Fuller
Kaitlyn Heck
Amanda Hidalgo
Raj Jetalpuria
Lindsay Kallman
Edward Kim
Woo Suk Kim
Miranda Koster
Andrew Lancaster
Brian Le
Anderson Lee
Victoria Lim
Ryan Llamas
Lauren Melendres
Jillian Parker
Bijal Patel
Ryan Peterman
Jenilee Pinson
Kyle Raftogianis
Peter Reim
Sandra Rhee
Colette Riggs
Mariana Robelo
Shane Sato
Austin Wagenknecht
Cameron Watkins
Class of 2013 Class of 2012
Let’s congratulate these fine scholars for their outstanding academic achievements. They were honored at the
Distinguished Aztecs Academic Recognition ceremony May 21, 2012
On April 2nd, the Esperanza High School library was transformed
into an art gallery for the 5th Annual PTSA Creative Arts and
Reflections Award Ceremony. Esperanza’s Creative Arts
Awards Chairperson, Susan Hashimoto, was pleased to host this
cultural event of music, art, poetry and prose. This program was
developed to recognize and honor the artistic talents of Esperanza
students.
The parents, students, teachers and members of the community in attendance enjoyed an exhibit of over 250
Visual and Language Arts pieces. The Esperanza High School Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of
Kay Crask, performed a selection of pieces as the guests arrived. Special guests included PYLUSD School
Board members Carrie Buck, Judi Carmona, Karin Freeman, and Eric Padget.
A reading of the “First Place” and “Best of Division” entries in the Language Arts division and a power-point
presentation featuring all the winning Visual Arts pieces were included in the awards ceremony. 1st, 2nd, and
3rd place students were awarded ribbons and cash prizes and all entrants received certificates of participation.
Projects that placed in the PTSA Reflections program were also showcased, with entries from the Visual
Arts, Photography, Literature, and Film Production categories on display for all to enjoy.
The Visual Arts “Best of Division” award went to Matt Sommer, for his piece entitled “My Beautiful
Savior”. The Language Arts “Best of Division” award went to Sara Cornett for her poem entitled “This I
Believe”. Both students received engraved medallions to commemorate their achievement.
Following the ceremony, guests enjoyed a light reception and admired the artistic creations of the talented
EHS students.
All Creative Arts Awards and Reflections entries were on display in the library for two days, so the
Esperanza teaching staff could visit with their classes and present the student body with the opportunity to
enjoy and appreciate the work of their friends and peers.
EHS has partnered with The Princeton Review to offer SAT preparation
courses. Our students receive:
Convenient, on-campus location
Online access to test scores, practice questions, drills, and online lectures
Instructors certified in The Princeton Review Method, and the most rigorous training
in the test preparation industry.
The Esperanza HS student discount! Our 18 hour Classroom Course is regularly priced
at $599, EHS students always receive this course for $449! Our 30 hour Ultimate Course is regularly priced at $999, EHS students receive this course for $849
(Questions about which course is right for you? Call us at 800.2Review)
Test names are the trademarks of their respective owners, who are not affiliated with The Princeton Review. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with
Princeton University. The Princeton Review, 111 Speen Street, Suite 550 Framingham, MA 01701
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified Names New Superintendent
Appointment is effective July 1, 2012
Longtime educator and community member Doug Domene has been named the next Superintendent in
the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. Mr. Domene will succeed Dr. Dennis Smith, who is
retiring at the end of the school year.
Mr. Domene began his teaching career at Whittier Christian School before joining the Esperanza High
School staff in 1986. During his 19-year tenure at both Esperanza and El Dorado High Schools, Domene
taught English, coached baseball, worked as Dean of Attendance, and served as an Assistant Principal
and Summer School Principal. In 2007, Domene was promoted to Director of Executive Services and played a pivotal role supporting the Superintendent’s Office. Since 2009, Mr. Domene has successfully
managed the fiscal and operational aspects of the 26,000 student district as the Assistant
Superintendent of Business Services.
The Board of Education began working with a search firm in January to determine the qualifications it should consider for the district’s next superintendent. After gathering input from stakeholder groups
across the district and conducting interviews, the Board was confident Mr. Domene was the perfect
match. Board President Karin Freeman noted, “Our district has a long history of high caliber
superintendents. We are fortunate that a person who has already begun to build his legacy in our
community has been selected as the successor to Dr. Smith. Mr. Domene is a man of great integrity, a strong educational leader, and has a passion and a vision to lead our district as we continue moving
forward.”
For 26 years, Domene has called PYLUSD home. “It’s a dream come true to be working alongside such a
deeply committed school board, amazing teachers and support staff, a highly-involved parent community, and partners in law enforcement and city government.” Domene added, “I am humbled and
honored to be selected as the new superintendent.”
Mr. Domene will assume the position of superintendent on July 1st.
