After months of unpredictable weather, rain, wind, hail, and storm clouds departed allowing the California sun to return – just in time for Dublin High School’s Class of 2011 Commencement Ceremony. Parents, grandparents, siblings, friends and educators gathered at the Alameda County Fairgrounds Amphitheater Thursday June 9, 2011 to cheer on the Dublin High School Class of 2011 (the 41st event in Dublin High’s distinguished history). OneDublin.org had the honor and privilege to attend the event, capturing highlights on video including a time-lapse movie of the diploma presentations (compressing 45 minutes down to 2 minutes).
The event included speeches and presentations by Dublin High School Valedictorian Michelle Lee (who is attending Harvard University this Fall), DHS Alumni Association President Eric Swalwell Jr., DHS Principal Carol Shimizu and Assistant Principal Theresa Young, City of Dublin Mayor Tim Sbranti and Senior Class Vice President Kaitlyn Matta. The Dublin High Color Guard and Band, bagpiper Jeff Campbell and members of the Air Force Color Guard brought fanfare to the ceremony.
Rachel Cooperstein with (l-r) DHS Cheerleading Coach Kristine Cousins, her mother and father
This year’s theme was “Celebrate the Journey” – and the Class of 2011 has a lot to celebrate. Over 98% of Dublin High’s Class of 2011 will be attending college this Fall, including Harvard, Stanford, West Point, every UC campus and many more. Dublin High made national news (for a good reason) with the unforgettable story of Class of 2011 graduate Rachel Cooperstein. Dublin High’s students continued to drive academic excellence forward – achieving the highest ranking (10 out of 10) by the California Department of Education, while increasing the school’s API to 868. Dublin High’s visual and performing arts, and athletic programs brought home awards and recognition.
For those who couldn’t attend (and for those that want to relive some of the highlights) here is more from the memorable event:
There are numerous books, seminars and training courses to help adults develop leadership skills. What if developing those skills could happen much earlier, in a structured but fun way? Rob Bedi, Director of The FLOCCAL Foundation (Future Leaders of College, Career and Life), believed it is possible to teach children leadership skills and with colleagues developed a unique after school enrichment program.
The idea behind FLOCCAL was formed about five years ago when Dublin parent Rob Bedi and several friends were attending a conference in Orlando. They spoke about their young children, the enormous multi-year investment all parents make in raising their children, and the stress parents feel worrying about whether or not their children will find happiness and success.
The FLOCCAL Program, in partnership with schools and parents, will be at 11 school sites this Fall (including Dublin) and focuses on “The Essential Eight” leadership skills: Self-Confidence, Self-Motivation, Prioritized Action, Perseverance, Collaboration, Contribution, Adaptability, Leadership as well as communication skills and public speaking.
Knowing that they are competing with many other after school activities (including video games), FLOCCAL seeks first to entertain so that students engage in the material and are ready to be educated. FLOCCAL classes are held once a week for 75 minutes with a maximum 12:1 student to coach ratio. Coaches are predominantly chosen from within the school’s existing faculty with a focus on selecting enthusiastic individuals who have a strong desire to help develop young leaders. Both of Rob’s children are currently enrolled in the FLOCCAL Program in Dublin.
OneDublin.org recently met with Rob Bedi to learn more about FLOCCAL:
by Caroline Rubio – Dublin High School Counseling
In my role as a Dublin High School counselor, I work with high school students on the college admission process, starting as early as a student’s freshman year. College admission planning and counseling is my passion and I recently had the opportunity to apply skills I use every day with my oldest child, a senior at Dublin High. Here is our story (I’ve left out the name of specific colleges our daughter considered and was accepted into because it’s the process that’s important, not the colleges that were part of our decision).
We started talking about college when she was very young, taking her to many different schools as part of family trips (along with her siblings). Seeing a variety of schools of different types definitely helped give her a feel for the type of college environment she would enjoy. She was looking for a residential school, on the smaller side with a liberal arts focus that could provide a teaching credential. Ideally the school would have a strong athletic program (especially football and basketball). She also wanted a school where she could have some flexibility in changing majors (which can be difficult at some schools like the Cal Polys). Bottom line, she wanted a “community” of learners, not a commuter campus.
With all of this in mind we had her do a project at the end of her junior year where she researched 20 colleges of her choice that she would later narrow down to 10 colleges in her senior year. She had taken the proper classes, stretched herself in areas where she has talent and interest, and completed community service, leadership and sports. She is a well-rounded kid who works hard. I had her do all of the testing I ask my students to do, and we discovered that the ACT was by far the better test for her. For some areas, like Geometry where she needed a refresher, we got her some help to prepare. Her test scores kept going up and up, and in the process I discovered how very important test scores are for financial aid at private schools. Colleges to consider had to make sense given her ACT scores, pattern of coursework, GPA and extracurricular activities.
Realtor Donates 5% of Earnings to Local Schools
Dublin resident and Tri-Valley realtor Sheri Platter (with Keller Williams Tri-Valley Realty) made the first of what she hopes will be many donations to local schools on Friday during Dublin High School’s last rally of the year. Sheri presented a check for $533 to Dublin High School’s award-winning Cheerleading Team. The donation will be used to purchase equipment needed to expand the popular program. Inspired by a colleague she met recently at a real estate conference, Sheri announced a program to donate 5% of her earnings to schools chosen by her clients. Sheri has two daughters – a junior at Dublin High School and a Dublin High Class of 2009 graduate who is currently attending college.
Dublin High Valedictorian Michelle Lee (attending Harvard University)
Dublin High School’s annual Senior Awards Night filled Dublin’s Shannon Center with students, parents, educators and members of the Dublin High community. Nearly $1,800,000 in scholarships and awards were presented to over 100 students for their achievements at Dublin High. OneDublin.org prepared the second annual “I am Dublin High” video (see below) featuring over 50 Dublin High School Class of 2011 seniors sharing their post-high school plans (in just under 4 minutes). The full list of colleges that offered admission to Dublin High Class of 2011 seniors, which included Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Julliard, West Point, Yale, Purdue, every UC campus and more is available here.
Dublin Patch coverage of the event is available here.
Dublin High Senior Awards Night 2011 Results:
Dublin High Gourmet Gaels Student
The latest phase of the Dublin High School renewal project completed in January with the opening of new state-of-the-art humanities, art, library, counseling, career center and administration buildings. To avoid the rain, the formal ribbon-cutting ceremony was delayed several months until yesterday when Mother Nature, wearing an ironic grin, produced rain and unsettled cool weather that forced the celebration inside. Fortunately, inside meant using the new library which ended up being a wonderful venue for the ribbon-cutting ceremony (video below) as well as for Evening of the Arts events including Drama Club and Improv Team performances, a Digital Media Arts demonstration, Dublin High School Jazz Band performances and the Iron Chef Dessert Judging and awards. The Evening of the Arts events continued across the campus including presentations and demonstrations from the Visual Arts department, Interior Design, Culinary Arts, Animation, Viscom, Game Design and the Robotics Club. Attendees also had an opportunity to tour the new buildings. The second annual Evening of the Arts was an unqualified success which bodes well for a return of the popular community event in 2012 (information on last year’s event is available here…).
Hannah Sievers as Dublin High's Drum Major
Apparently when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is interested in a college student for a research internship they call you. At least, that was the experience of Dublin High School Class of 2008 graduate and Westmont College junior Hannah Sievers. Late last year Ms. Sievers received an email from the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security inviting her to apply for a summer internship working as a researcher at a national laboratory. Ms. Sievers is currently studying Chemistry at Westmont College with the intent of pursuing a career in crime scene forensics.
The 10-week Homeland Security research internship will focus on explosive and narcotics detection. Ms. Sievers singled out her Dublin High AP Chemistry class, taught by Kim Baumann, as a key factor driving her decision to pursue a degree in chemistry. During her time at Dublin High, Ms. Sievers was very involved in Dublin High’s music program, serving as Drum Major for two years and assistant Drum Major for one year. Ms. Sievers grew up in Dublin, attending Nielsen Elementary, Dublin Elementary, Wells Middle and Dublin High School – and credits the cumulative experience in Dublin schools as preparing her for the rigor of college.
OneDublin.org took a few minutes to talk with Ms. Sievers about her time at Dublin High, the transition to college and landing an internship at the Department of Homeland Security.
A special week of celebration kicks off Monday May 23 at Dublin High School including award ceremonies recognizing academic and artistic accomplishments, the formal ribbon cutting for the latest phase of the Dublin High renewal project and a week-ending annual Dublin High rally and athletic tradition. Below is a summary of events taking place this week:
- Mon May 23
- Dublin High Music Awards and Concert: 7-9pm
(Dublin High Little Theatre)
- Dublin High Drama Awards and Performance: 7-9pm
(Dublin High Little Theatre)
- Dublin High Ribbon Cutting and Open House (details below): 6pm
- Dublin High Evening of the Arts: 6:30pm – 8:00pm
- Dublin High Class of 2011 Senior Awards Night: 6:30-8pm (Shannon Center). More on last year’s event is available here…
- Dublin High Rally and annual Powder Puff game
The second annual Jazzin’ for a Cure event, organized by Dublin High School Music Director Paul Everts, raised over $2,000 for cancer research. Jazz bands from Dublin High School, Dougherty Valley High School, Foothill High School and Wells Middle School set aside rivalries to entertain a full house at the Shannon Center Friday night. The evening was dedicated to the lives of those impacted by cancer including Dianna Moran, a ten-year veteran of Wells Middle School who recently succumbed to a long battle with cancer (read more…).
Below are video highlights for each jazz band’s performances (Dublin High, Dougherty Valley High, Foothill High and Wells Middle School). Video from last year’s event is available here.
Dublin High School’s Engineering Academy, which was recently awarded a California Partnership Academies grant and is set to expand for the 2011-12 school year, recently won first place at Gunn High School in a Project Lead the Way robotics regional contest. Three Dublin High freshmen, graduates of both Fallon and Wells Middle Schools, teamed up to design and build a robot for the challenge. All three are currently enrolled in Dublin High’s Principles of Engineering course. The competition required the students to design and build a programmable robot to complete a defined challenge in the shortest amount of time possible (Dublin High’s robot successfully completed the task 2 minutes faster than the nearest competitor). A month of hard work paid off for the students – each was awarded a $300 Amazon.com gift card for the win.
Dublin High’s winning robot was also showcased at a recent Xilinx Inc. (a leading company in the semiconductor industry) conference, where the Dublin High students presented their robot to attendees from around the world. The Dublin High students had the unique opportunity to have their design decisions challenged by experienced engineers. Dublin High’s entry at the Xilinx conference was voted the favorite project by attending engineers, winning $1,000 towards Dublin High’s Engineering Academy.
Dublin High’s Engineering Academy is being built around Project Lead the Way’s curriculum. Project Lead the Way’s Gateway to Technology curriculum is also being rolled out at the middle school level.
OneDublin.org 