Bleachers on both sides of the stadium at Hueneme High School erupted in cheers, whistles and shouts of the names of loved ones as more than 500 graduates walked onto the field Friday to mark the school’s 53rd graduation ceremony.

Every year, Hueneme High School (HHS) organizes a science fair to showcase individual or team scientific projects that were conducted by students throughout the entire school year and where local scientists, engineers, community leaders, and parents volunteer to judge the projects. For many of the participating science students at HHS the science fair is a capstone to their class and an experience that inspires them to go into a science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) career after college. The HHS science fair is organized every year by Kevin Callaway who is a passionate science teacher and co-department chair.

This year a total of ten science projects from Hueneme High School and one from Adolfo Camarillo High School (ACHS) were submitted to the Ventura County Science Fair on May 9-11. These eleven science fair projects were competing against over 1,000 Middle and High School Projects. Among these eleven projects, Harriet Ferrer and Brighette Ramirez from HHS placed 4th in the Earth, Space, and Environmental Sciences category for their project titled, “Bioremediation of Oil Spills”, which also earned them a special recognition from the Coast Geological Society. Also from HHS, Shawn Mares and Euel Pamintuan submitted a project called “World’s Longest Straw” and they were awarded 4th place in the physics category.

There were two exceptional science projects that were invited to compete at the State Science Fair on May 15-16 because they placed among the top two in their category. Ryan Bunk, a senior from ACHS, earned 2nd place in the chemistry category for his project called “Nanporous Niobium Oxide.” In the botany category, Guadalupe Melgarejo from HHS earned 1st place for her project called “Eucalyptol and Plant Allopathy.” Guadalupe is currently a sophomore and plans to continue her project next year.

Lunch time at many schools in coastal areas of Ventura County look like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “the Birds,” with flocks of ravenous and aggressive birds eagerly awaiting the promised waste from the leftovers students carelessly discard as they eat in outdoors areas.

At Hueneme High School, there are considerably fewer birds flying over the school’s central quad area these days, and those that do flock there are coming up empty thanks to the aggressive recycling program at the school’s campus.

The school was honored during a small ceremony this afternoon in recognition of its work as a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Ocean Guardian School $6,000 grant recipient.

Shauna Bingham, volunteer and outreach coordinator for NOAA, said the grant program allows schools in California that are located near marine sanctuaries to create conservation projects that will help protect the areas watersheds. “Hueneme High School was selected to receive an Ocean Guardian grant because they meet the criteria of being in proximity to the ocean. They created a stewardship program in the school with a research component,” Bingham said.

An update from Program Manager: Terry Zinger
The long awaited addition of state-of-the-art, competitive swimming pool complexes at Adolfo Camarillo and Hueneme High Schools is underway and scheduled for completion and turn-over in time for practice and competition for the 2014 season.

Requests for submission of qualifications by potential builders went out on November 18 and are being received not later than today, December 6. The prequalification process is being used to ensure that contractors that are allowed to propose to construct the two complexes, which will be awarded as a single project, have the resources, capabilities and substantial experience in aquatic facilities construction that will allow them to truly contribute to the success and quality of the project. When a list of prequalified firms is identified, a Request for Proposals will be issued to those firms for the construction of the two complexes. The Request for Proposals will be issued in early January, 2013 and proposals will be accepted in early February.

It is expected that a contract will be awarded to the successful firm before the end of February and that construction will begin in the field in late March or early April. Completion is projected to occur not later than the end of October, 2013. The complexes will be turned over to Operations in plenty of time to be ready for the start of swim practice for the 2014 Season.

Both facilities feature:

• 25 yard, heated, competition pools, with a total surface area of 8,556 sq ft
• 13 – 25 yard swim lanes
• Water polo courses for high school and other competitive swimming events, can be configured into 2 simultaneous practice courses
• 8 lane timing system and scoreboard
• LED Underwater lights
• 2 – 1 meter diving boards
• Multi-depth pool ranging from 3’-6” to 12′-6″, 7′ depth for water polo play
• ADA Access with two points of entry via stairs and self operable ADA lift
• Approximately 10,000 sf deck area
• 3,800 sqft – Bathhouse to include boys and girls restroom/lockers and indoor and outdoor showers, pool equipment storage room, coaches office, staff toilet, and pool mechanical room.

There is little doubt that both campuses will be proud of aquatic complexes that will be second to none in the District.

Artist renderings of the new pool complexes are attached.

Congratulations to Huandari Lopez, a senior at Hueneme High School. This multi-talented student was selected to receive a 4-year $200,000 scholarship to a college of his choice which includes a $250-350 a month stipend. Huandari Lopez is a four year member of the Hueneme High School NJROTC Program and its current Commanding Officer.

With a 4.4 GPA on a 5.0 scale and ranked number one out of 443 seniors, Huandari is also a member of the Hueneme Math Engineering Science Achievement Team (MESA), member of the California Scholarship Federation (CSF), and member of the Academic Ambassadors.

Huandari gives back to his community by volunteering numerous hours of service to the Oxnard Shoreline Care facility, The Oxnard Masonic Lodge, and many local festival and parades.

In keeping with the highest Hueneme NJROTC tradition of Honor Courage and Commitment, Huandari Lopez reflects great credit upon himself, his family, and Hueneme High School.

The 2012 version of the South Oxnard rivalry would determine whether it was Channel Islands or Hueneme Vikings that ended its season with its first and only Pacific View League win.

Channel Islands came out the winner, as running back Richard Gray returned to action after being out for about a month and rushed the ball 23 times for 158 yards to lead a 24-20 win over visiting Hueneme.

“For him to come in and just dominate the game, as far as helping us maintain the ball the whole game, was very nice,” Channel Islands head coach Gary Porter said of Gray’s effort.

The Raiders also made some big plays throughout the game, such as a 71-yard touchdown pass from Ricky Estrada to Paul Vasquez and a 58-yard touchdown run by Aoese Oto in the fourth quarter.

If Rio Mesa High was looking to build momentum for next Friday’s rivalry matchup against Camarillo, the Spartans got themselves off to a good start Friday night by defeating hos Hueneme 62-6.

“What we get out of this game is some momentum and we got some pride back,” said Rio Mesa head coach Bob Gregorchuk. “We look forward to hosting Camarillo next week.”

There wasn’t much that didn’t go Rio Mesa’s way. Kado Brown rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns and Martel Tyler ran for 87 yards and a touchdown.

After winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half, Angel Medina returned a fumble for a touchdown to open up scoring for the Spartans (3-6, 2-2 Pacific View League).

The clock had just hit 0:00 and already the Camarillo High football team was looking ahead to next week.

Camarillo had delivered a 70-19 thrashing of visiting Hueneme to improve to 3-0 in Pacific View League play and set up a showdown with Pacifica. The Tritons matched Camarillo’s 3-0 league record Friday night with a 42-28 win over Channel Islands.

“We are not going to overlook them,” Corbin Covey said. “Of course they’re undefeated (in league), so it’s going to be a great game and it’s going to be a big challenge for us.”

First, Camarillo (7-0) had to take care of struggling Hueneme (7-1, 0-3).

After several years of gradual growth, Oxnard Union High School District schools demonstrated significant gains in their Academic Index Performance (API) scores during the 2011-12 school year.

The California Department of Education revealed statewide API scores on Thursday, Oct. 11. Overall, OUHSD score is 748, a 25-point increase over the District’s 723 score in 2011. Also significant is OUHSD closing the achievement gap in all sub groups, including English Learners (+29 points), Students with Disabilities (+36 points) and Socially Economically Disadvantaged Students (+27 points).

In addition, all six of OUHSD’s comprehensive schools as well as Frontier High, its alternative school, showed double-digit gains and more than doubled their 2012 target increase:

• Adolfo Camarillo High: 869 – a 21-point increase
• Channel Islands High: 702 – with a 13-point increase
• Hueneme High: 693 – a 43-point increase
• Oxnard High: 744 – a 28-point increase
• Pacifica High: 754 – a 22-point increase
• Rio Mesa High: 753 – a 12-point increase
• Frontier High: 557 – a 47-point increase

“It shows the District is preparing our students for the new global economy with 21st Century Skills,” OUHSD Superintendent Dr. Gabe Soumakian said at a press conference held on Oct. 11 at Pacifica High School.

A number of local government and education officials attended, including State Senate candidate Hannah Beth Jackson, Ventura County Supervisor John Zaragoza, Oxnard City Councilmembers Bryan MacDonald and Carmen Ramirez, Ventura Office of Education Board member Dr. Mark Lisagor and VCOE Superintendent Stan Mantooth.

“Some of these increases are truly stunning,” Mantooth said to OUHSD teachers in attendance. “You touch every single student every single day.”

API measures a school’s academic performance and growth and is calculated from results for each school’s students on statewide test results. The state has set 800 as the API target for all schools to meet.

Dr. Soumakian said the District’s success is largely due to the efforts of a great teaching staff that provided quality standards based instruction and motivated students to demonstrate increased academic proficiency.

He also credited OUHSD’s “Blueprint for Greatness” adopted by the Board of Trustees last year and the “Strategic Schooling Model” by Dennis Parker which stressed staff development and teacher collaboration.

Dr. Soumakian also introduced the board members of the new Oxnard Union High School District Education Foundation: Dr. Cynthia Herrera, STEM director for Oxnard College; Oxnard City Councilman Bryan MacDonald; Tom Petrovich, a retired certified public accountant; Phyllis Throckmorton, retired Director of Career and Technical Education for OUHSD; and Bruce Stensile, President and CEO of the Economic Development Collaborative of Ventura County.

The Education Foundation’s goal, Dr. Soumakian said, is to develop and sustain strong business and community partnerships to prepare students for college and career pathways. The foundation also will work with private and public agencies to solicit and accept donations that will support specific programs and services in OUHSD schools.