Over 12,000 applicants wanted to attend the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) next year and just over 1,000 were accepted (less than 10%). Successful USAFA applications have to be strong academically, demonstrate leadership skills and be athletic. Successful applicants also have to earn an appointment from a member of Congress, the Superintendent of Education or the President. The qualified few that are accepted attend the four-year program with all expenses paid (valued at over $400,000), earn a Bachelor of Science degree and are commissioned as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation.
Dublin High School Class of 2012 senior Rebecca Beasley, based on the strength of her application, an appointment from Congressman Jerry McNerney and her skills on the soccer field, learned earlier this year of her acceptance into the prestigious United States Air Force Academy. Last year, Dublin High School Class of 2011 graduate Ben Young was accepted into and is currently attending the US Military Academy (West Point).
OneDublin.org recently met with Ms. Beasley, who is in the home stretch towards graduation (and a few weeks away from boot camp), to learn more about what it takes to get accepted into an elite military academy.
OneDublin.org: How did you end up interested in the United States Air Force Academy as a post-high school option?
Valley High School Students Explore Career Options
Successfully operating a school district is not very different from running a corporation. In order to have long-term growth, organizations must define their purpose and employ strategic planning. In the past year, the DUSD Strategic Plan (2008-2012) has been transformed into Vision 20/20. Multiple committees comprised of Administration, Staff and Parents have worked throughout this entire school year to help sharpen the District’s focus as we move forward. Part of the mission statement reads “…Where all students will become lifelong learners.” What also came out of this discussion was an unofficial motto of supporting all of our students to become college and career-ready. This last statement is very important as not all students will elect to attend college. There are countless ways in which students can contribute to society and earn a living. On May 24, OneDublin.org was invited to attend a Career Day at the Northern California Laborers Apprenticeship location in San Ramon. The ACAC is the Alameda County Apprenticeship Collaboration.
For this half day event, students from Eden ROP in Castro Valley, Oakland Tech, Livermore High, Dublin High and Valley High School were treated to a worthwhile experience. The day included an orientation and multiple hands-on demonstrations inside and outside of the training facility. The presentations were led by both active and retired members of the Union of Operating Engineers, Local 3. The members were very candid about making the commitment to joining the Apprenticeship Program. The initial portion takes place in a five-week residential schooling program just outside of Sacramento. The goal is to move from Apprenticeship status to that of Journeyman Operating Engineer. That accomplishment is not achieved over a summer of training. Apprentices need to log in 8,400 training hours in order to advance. What sets this program apart from others is that the Apprentices are paid during this period while they learn at the feet of experienced Journeymen. And do not be fooled by the title – women are highly encouraged to apply.
The work is hard and is often conducted in less than ideal conditions. During the apprenticeship, it is not uncommon to work ten hours a day – sometimes six days a week. The work is physical and the machinery is often noisy. No breaks are allowed and the lunch period is one half hour. So why would one want to do this type of work? Why become a Construction Equipment Operator, Heavy Duty Repairer or Plant Operator? For many, it is the satisfaction of a solid day of hard work and also knowing that he/she has helped build the infrastructure of their community. Our invitation to this event came from Liz Buckley, Counselor at Valley High School. We reached out to Ms. Buckley to understand the impact of this program.
Dublin Unified School District Annual Concert 2012
With the increasing pressure to do well in high school, get accepted into college and ultimately find a job, it is tempting for some to set aside music education as not relevant, or a nice to have, or too much of a time commitment. This view is counterproductive – “The most important thing about music (or, more generally, Arts) education, which has been demonstrated by numerous studies, is its effect on non-Arts studies. The Arts teaches students how to think, how to analyze, how to study, how to practice, how to focus. Spending on the Arts is one of the most efficient uses of money, with the highest return per buck of just about any object of funding.” – Philip Morehead, Head of Music Staff, Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Musician Thomas Dolby, interviewed earlier this year by OneDublin.org, commented: “Music education has to be a big part of [the classroom]. One of the reasons that I left the U.S. and moved back to the U.K. was specifically that. I got so upset with the cuts that were taking place in Californian schools, the schools my kids were in, and the last straw was when our school took away the music program. In fact the last year I was there, a group of parents and I had to raise money independently just to keep one teacher on, to teach music in the schools. That was just driving me nuts. I wish music was built into our concept of how education should be going forward.”
According to a Harris Interactive poll of school principals, music programs contribute to higher attendance and graduation rates and The College Board reported in 2011 that SAT takers with coursework / experience in music performance scored 120 points higher on the verbal portion of the test (reading + writing) and 44 points higher on the math portion than students with no coursework or experience in the arts. SAT scores for those with coursework in music appreciation were 129 points higher on the verbal (reading + writing) and 43 points higher on the math portion.
Finally, the benefits of music education aren’t just for those planning to pursue music in college or as a career. In fact, 95% of the University of Minnesota’s Marching Band are not music majors.
To go beyond the stats, we reached out to current and former members of the University of Minnesota’s band program for their thoughts on how music has been a positive influence on their lives:
Ryan G, E.I.T. ., B.C.E. Structures Emphasis, University of Minnesota:
“I am a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering. I was also a four-year member of the University of Minnesota Marching Band or ‘Pride of Minnesota.’ A lot of people view music and the arts as an ancillary item in a person’s education; however, music has been an important player in my life for as long as I can remember. The examples that I draw from are based on my high school and college education.
Class of 2012 Valedictorian Andrew Song
Dublin High School’s annual Senior Awards Night filled Dublin’s Shannon Center with students, parents, educators and members of the Dublin High community. Over $1,800,000 in scholarships and awards were presented Dublin High School Class of 2012 students for their achievements at Dublin High, including 35 merit scholarships for colleges nationwide.
Included in the event was the traditional passing of the gavel ceremony where outgoing senior and student body president Tatum Wheeler (attending UC Berkeley this Fall) introduced incoming student body president Samantha Theard.
Among the many seniors winning awards, Rebecca Beasley was accepted into the highly selective U.S. Air Force Academy. Rebecca was recognized with a special presentation by a representative of the Air Force Academy. Over 12,000 applicants competed for a position in the Academy. The Dublin High School Class of 2012 Valedictorian Andrew Song, who will attend the University of Chicago to study economics, was also awarded a National Merit Scholarship. Raymond Liu, who will be attending Stanford University, was also the recipient of a National Merit Scholarship.
Class of 2012 Student Body President Tatum Wheeler
OneDublin.org prepared the third annual edition of the popular “I am Dublin High” video (see below) featuring nearly 70 Dublin High School Class of 2012 seniors sharing their post-high school plans (in under 5 minutes). The full list of colleges that offered admission to Dublin High Class of 2012 seniors, which includes Stanford, Brown, Duke, Purdue, US Airforce Academy, every University of California (UC), every CSU campus and many more is available here.
Dublin High Senior Awards Night 2012 Results:
Dublin High Engineering Academy Students
Dublin High School Engineering Academy students capped an exciting year, that included meeting MythBusters stars Adam Savage and Kari Byron, winning at RoboGames 2012 and building a duct tape suspension bridge, with an exclusive boat tour of the new east span of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. The new $6 billion bridge, scheduled to open in 2013, has been engineered to withstand a 1,500 year seismic event. Led by Bay Bridge Seismic Safety Projects Educational Outreach Program Manager Steve Padilla, Dublin High School Engineering Academy students learned about the science and engineering decisions behind the new bridge’s design, as well as the story behind a special iron troll crafted by construction workers to protect the existing bridge. The material used to create the troll was taken from a portion of the Bay Bridge that collapsed as a result of the 1989 earthquake (watch the video for a close-up view of the troll, created by construction workers after the 1989 earthquake).
“When engineers design structures to resist earthquakes, they use ‘rock motions’ to help them calculate the maximum seismic forces that the structure may experience; they then design the structure to resist these forces. Rock motions are the vibrations that travel through the bedrock caused by the slipping of an earthquake fault. Seismologists develop the rock motions based on the structures location in relation to earthquake faults and historical and geotechnical site data. The ‘new’ East Span has been designed to withstand rare seismic events. Specifically, the span has a 1,500-year return period. This is defined as the largest rock motions expected to occur at the bridge site once every 1,500 years.” – Bay Bridge Seismic Safety Projects website
The Dublin High School Engineering Academy curriculum expands in 2012-13 to include a new course, Digital Electronics, as well as a 1:1 computing pilot for students entering the academy.
Tag along with the Dublin High School Engineering Academy as they tour the new span of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge in the photo / video essay below:
New Bay Bridge HD Video Tour
Despite an increasingly competitive environment for college acceptance, Dublin High School Class of 2012 seniors have had the blessing of choosing from multiple college acceptance letters this Spring.
College acceptance letters have been arriving in mailboxes across Dublin from Stanford, Brown, Duke, Purdue, US Air Force Academy, every University of California (UC), every CSU campus and many more. The full list of colleges that accepted Dublin High School Class of 2012 seniors is summarized below. The success of this year’s graduating class builds on the achievements of the Dublin High Class of 2011 (last year’s Dublin High School college acceptance results are available here).
In addition, six seniors in Dublin High School’s Class of 2012 have chosen to serve their country by enlisting in the military, along with one student that is pursuing a mission in Europe.
Fourteen Dublin High School alumni have contributed articles to OneDublin.org’s Life in College series. This unique series of articles by former Dublin High students covers life at colleges across the country including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia / JTS, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA, UCSD, West Point, University of Arizona, Carroll College, Hamline University, Penn State, Sonoma State, and Santa Barbara City College.
Dublin High School Class of 2012 students are also taking advantage of cost-effective Community College Transfer Programs into 4-year colleges. According to Dublin High School Counseling, 98% of Dublin High School students destined for a local community college are intending to transfer into a 4-year college for their junior year. More information on Community College Transfer Programs is available here.
All told 97.9% of the Dublin High School Class of 2012 reported plans to attend college this Fall. Dublin High School was recently included in Newsweek’s 2012 list of America’s Top Public High Schools and received a statewide rank of 10 (out of 10) and a similar schools rank of 9 (out of 10) from the California Department of Education for its 2011 API of 879 (full results available here). Dublin High School’s UC admission rate for 2008-9 was 84% (read more…).
Congratulations Dublin High School Class of 2012 and good luck on your finals!
The full list of colleges that extended offers of admission to Dublin High School Class of 2012 seniors is provided below (source: Dublin High School Counseling’s Senior Exit Survey 2012):
Read more…
The April/May timeframe is traditionally a period when community contributors are recognized throughout the City of Dublin. On April 24, the Dublin Unified School District Board of Trustees honored 18 such individuals with their annual Recognition Program. Those honored included, Certificated, Classified and Administrative employees as well as parent volunteers. In following with this theme, the Rotary Club of Dublin hosted their annual Community Superstar Awards at the Dublin Ranch Golf Course on May 15. OneDublin.org was honored to receive an invitation and the opportunity to report upon this event.
A hearty and hungry crowd of well over 75 people filled the dining room. Mayor Tim Sbranti offered a keynote delivery and the program was under way. The organization of this event was under the steady hand of Janine Thalblum, a parent of two children at Green Elementary School. The Rotary Club of Dublin has established six categories for recognition: City employees in the areas of Police, Fire and Non-Emergency Services, and School District employees in Administration / Leadership, Certificated and Classified staff were recognized. The respective awardees in each category were as follows:
- Police: Officer Channing Rhodes
- Fire: Staff Battalion Brian Caminada
- Non-Emergency: Julie Carter – HR Director for the City of Dublin
- School Administration: Rinda Bartley – Principal, Valley High School
- Certificated: Kim Baumann – AP Chemistry Teacher, Dublin High School
- Classified: Guy Rose – Maintenance Crafts Worker/Locksmith
Each honoree was introduced by a speaker. Some of the speakers were colleagues and most were their direct supervisors. The verbal statements were both succinct and spoke very clearly as to why the recipient was being honored. It was very fitting that some of the families of those honored were present. Of the six honored, only one was not present. Dublin High School teacher Kim Baumann was in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Why? She was touring the campus of Blackman High School and meeting some of her soon-to-be new colleagues, where Ms. Baumann will continue her career as a classroom teacher in Tennessee. Ms. Carol Shimizu, Principal of Dublin High School simply and eloquently stated during her introduction, “Our loss at DHS is their gain.”
Kim Baumann attained a B.S in Chemical Engineering from Grove City College in Pennsylvania. Thereafter, she earned a Single Subject Teaching Credential from California State University, East Bay and then an M.A. in Education from the University of Phoenix. She has been employed by DUSD since 2004 and she currently teaches courses in Chemistry (and AP Chemistry), AVID and serves as the lead Science teacher. While she is a beloved instructor at DHS, a life-changing opportunity was proposed to her family. Her husband, John, was offered a professional opportunity to relocate to Tennessee. He is employed as a Channel Distribution Manager with Hewlett-Packard. In addition, the move would allow both Kim and John to be located much closer to family members that are scattered between the Midwest and the East Coast. It seemed right and they acted, but not without some reluctance about what they were leaving behind.
OneDublin.org: What are the primary differences that you’ve witnessed today comparative to when you started with the school district?
When one associates a sun-drenched afternoon and a BBQ, you might immediately think about family. On Friday, this was accurate description of what occurred at VHS. Valley High School is the continuation school for the Dublin Unified School District. It exists as an option for students who need an alternative to the comprehensive high school. Valley provides a complete educational program for a variety of students with a wide range of skills, interests and needs. There are approximately 90 students currently enrolled at VHS. Last year, Valley High School was recognized as a Model Continuation School by the California Department of Education (read more…).
Valley High School’s Alumni BBQ event kicked off at 12:45PM and went on into the afternoon. Current and former students were welcomed with a large assortment of lunch offerings and sweets. Former staff members are also invited to join in the festivities. The air was filled with music and an overall positive vibe. To understand how all of this came about and what it meant to the site, OneDublin.org reached out to the organizer of this event, Stephanie Sbranti.
Stephanie has been a Certificated Staff Member at Valley High for eight years. She earned her B.A. in History from the University of California, Davis and attained her Teaching Credential from St. Mary’s College. She currently teaches courses in Civics, Economics, Leadership and Culinary Arts. If the last name sounds familiar, yes, she is married to City of Dublin Mayor and Dublin High School Alumni, Tim Sbranti.
OneDublin.org: What was the genesis of the VHS Alumni BBQ and how has it been organized?
Teacher Stephanie Sbranti (center) with VHS Students
Stephanie Sbranti: “The Alumni BBQ was started three years ago when our former Secretary Karen Miller returned for a visit after moving to Idaho. BBQ’s have always been a part of the Valley High culture and I knew that many of our former students would want to see her. It was a huge success with many former students in attendance. From the beginning, this event has been planned and executed by my Leadership class with support from the entire site staff.”
OneDublin.org: Why is it important to conduct and to continue this event?
Led by Dublin High School’s Music Director Paul Everts, the third annual Jazzin’ for a Cure event raised close to $3,000. East Bay student jazz bands from Wells Middle School (Music Director Erik Bertleson), Dougherty Valley High School (Music Director Teri Musiel), Foothill High School (Music Director Josh Butterfield) and Dublin High School teamed up to entertain a full house at the Shannon Community Center on Friday night. Student volunteers served food and drink for the event, and Wells Middle School Principal Kevin Grier served as auctioneer to raise additional funds. When asked if anyone in the audience had been affected by or knew someone who had been affected by cancer, nearly every hand went up.
Participating in middle and high school music programs isn’t just fun and rewarding, it’s also an advantage down the road when applying to and succeeding in college. According to data from Purdue University, Purdue’s band and orchestra participants earned a higher collective GPA than all undergraduate students at Purdue. Purdue’s band participants also earned a higher average number of credits per semester. And SAT / ACT scores (both math and verbal) are higher for Purdue band students than the average scores for all students.
An investment in music during middle school and high school is both a life-enriching activity and a core academic pursuit.
OneDublin.org captured video and photographs from this year’s event (below). If you are inspired by these student performances, consider donating to the ALS Association or the American Cancer Society. Jazzin’ for a Cure returns next year on May 17, 2013.
Jazzin for a Cure 2010 - Four High School Jazz Bands
The popular and powerful Jazzin’ for a Cure fundraiser in support of cancer research returns for a third year on Friday May 18 at 6:30pm (doors open 6:00pm). As in past years, the casual jazz social is a collaborative effort led by Dublin High School Music Director Paul Everts. The evening will include jazz band performances by Dublin High School, Wells Middle School, Foothill High School and Dougherty Valley High School. The event, held again at the Shannon Center, is casual with round table seating. This year’s event will include a “no host” wine bar serving Concannon wines in commerative glasses ($5 per glass). Tickets are $12 at the door and donations are encouraged.
All proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society and the ALS Association. Last year’s event raised over $2,000 for cancer research.
Write-ups and video from the 2010 and 2011 Jazzin’ for a Cure events:
OneDublin.org 