Advocate Online - May 2010

Top Teen Chef Earns Trip, Scholarship
Savanna High School Chef to Compete in National Contest
Emmanuel Osornio, a senior in Chef Bob Moonswami's Advanced Culinary class at Savanna High School, came in first place in a field of ten at the regional Teen Chef competition at the Arts Institute in Santa Ana on Saturday, April 17.

In addition to a $5,000 scholarship to the prestigious host school's culinary program, he won an all-expense paid trip to Houston to compete in the National Teen Chef competition, where a total of $200,000 in scholarship money will be awarded.  In addition to ROP Culinary Arts classes at Savanna High School, Emmanuel has completed several classes at the ROP Culinary Arts Institute, including Safety and Sanitation, Frozen Desserts, and Pasta, Pasta, Pasta.

Top Teen Chef Emmanuel Osornio with
instructor Chef Bob Moonswami.

ROP/Loara Auto Students Break National Record

Team of 3 Girls, 2 Boys Tear Down,
Build Back Small Block Engine in 36:18

North Orange County ROP Automotive Technician students at Loara High School in Anaheim won the Hotrodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge—a timed engine tear-down and build contest— April 25 at Edelbrock headquarters in Torrance. Students Damiana Marquez, Julia Chou, Wendy Cano, Isaac Sawyer, and Jose Arias, with alternate Aileen Melendez, all of Anaheim, were guided by crew chief Josue Paniagua. All are students in Russ Bacarella’s ROP Auto Technician class at Loara.

Russ Bacarella’s ROP/Loara team races against the clock to dismantle and build back
a small engine at the Edelbrock contest in Torrance on Sunday April 25.
The team was coached by former instructional aide Josue Paniagua.

Russ took a second team of ROP students for Loara High School, who finished just two minutes behind the winners at 38:20. Both teams completed the small engine teardown and build back over an hour ahead of their competition.

The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge is an educational program for high school auto technology students that pits school teams against each other in a head-to-head engine build competition. The North Orange County ROP team won the challenge with a cumulative fastest time of 36 minutes, 13 seconds, earning them a spot to compete in the national challenge at the 2010 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 2-5.

Loara High School Brings Out the Band for “Top Technicians” Ben Hicks and Jonathan Greenhalgh

It isn’t every day that two of the students at Loara High School bring back national honors. When Principal Pam Krey (who has attended every OCADA competition for the last several years) heard that they took first place in the national automotive technician competition, she decided to honor Jonathan Greenhalgh and Ben Hicks in a time-honored tradition—the school rally!



The band played a triumphant march as the honorees, legislative representatives and school district dignitaries were escorted into the gym on April 14, 2010 by ROTC members in uniform. Applause and foot stomping thundered for the two students and their teacher, Russ Bacarella.

Toyota Technician Development Supervisor Russ Casella handed the students a giant key as a symbol of the Toyota Camry the school will receive as part of the treasures won by Hicks and Greenhalgh. He also handed each of them two weekend pit tickets to the Grand Prix in Long Beach. Legislators’ representatives from Senator Lou Correa’s office and Representative Loretta Sanchez’s office handed the students certificates. Officials from the Anaheim Union High School District and OCADA spoke, as did ROP Superintendent Michael Worley, Ed.D.

The students allowed that “practice and hard work,” were the reasons they won. And did they ever win. A list of the scholarships and prizes follow:

Scholarships:

Automotive Training Center Full Tuition Scholarship

Lincoln Technical Institute Full Tuition Scholarship

Universal Technical Institute Full Core Program Tuition Scholarship

University of Northwestern Ohio Full Tuition Scholarship (not to exceed $25,000)

Ohio Technical College and the PowerSport Institute $20,000 Scholarship

New England Institute of Technology $2,000 Scholarship

Gifts:

Snap-on Gift Certificate for $10,000 of Snap-on Tools compliments of General Motors Corporation, Snap-on Top & Bottom Tool Box, Snap-on Tool Bag, and Snap-on Ratcheting Screwdriver

Official Competition Racing Shirt & Hat from GNYADA

New York International Auto Show Bag from GNYADA

Safety Glasses from CCAR SP2

Gifts from Permatex, including the cost for one admission ticket to any one of the NHRA Races where Jay Blake and the Permatex/Follow-A-Dream Race Team plan on Racing in 2010

Gifts from Monroe Shocks and Struts, Ingersoll Rand – Industrial Technologies, Ringers Gloves, Ford, Lexus, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota, NATEF, Lincoln Technical Institute, and Universal Technical Institute

GNYADA National Competition First Place Gold Medallion

For the Instructor:

Hunter Engineering Company “Top of the Class” Training Award

Snap-on Ratcheting Screwdriver

Official Competition Racing Shirt & Hat from GNYADA

New York International Auto Show Bag from GNYADA

Gifts from Permute, Monroe Shocks and Struts, Ingersoll Rand – Industrial Technologies, Ringers Gloves, Ford, Lexus, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota, NATEF, Lincoln Technical Institute, Universal Technical Institute

GNYADA National Competition First Place Gold Medallion

For the School:

Toyota Donation Vehicle for their Automotive Department compliments of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.

Lee Hunter Memorial Award compliments of Hunter Engineering company

Megatech Corporation’s NEWEST Electricity, Magnetism, and Materials Solution Trainer compliments of Megatech Corporation

From Cengage Learning – Chilton & Delmar – free ASE Prep and Chilton On-Line valued at $1,000.

Fullerton Union High School/ROP Student Wins
Special Category - Best Animation
at 44th Annual California Student Media Festival

Corey Grbavach’s video project, entitled The Legendary Battle Between Ice Cream and Dogs has been selected as the special category winner Best Animation in the 44^th Annual California Student Media Festival. Corey is a student in Robert Villegas’ Multimedia Design and Production class at Fullerton Union High School.

The California Student Media Festival will include the work in its May 22^nd celebration. Hundreds of entries were received from all over the state and competition was said to be “fierce.”

A plaque with the name and year of the award will be presented to Corey to acknowledge his excellent work integrating media and education. Corey will be an honored guest at the Festival held May 22, at the Huntington Beach Library and Cultural Center, 7111 Talbert Avenue, in Huntington Beach, from 9:00 am-12 noon. Clips of winning projects will be shown. Also, for the first time, there will be California Student Media Festival t-shirts available for purchase. Check www.mediafestival.org for for more information.

Since Corey already received a categorical award, he is automatically being considered for the Grand Prize Award. Grand Prize Award-winning schools will receive $1,000.

ROP Board of Trustees Honors
Many Contest Winners

Wow! Every issue of the Advocate since January has shown that ROP students have been busy winning contests. The North Orange County ROP Board of Trustees likes to honor those students at its meetings, and the April 21 meeting was filled with happy students.

The national winners of the “Top Technicians in the USA” award, Ben Hicks and Jonathan Greenhalgh were first to be honored. Their teacher, Russell Bacarella, spoke, as did OCADA Member Services director, Sean Taylor.

State winners of the Health Occupations of America competitions were next, distinguished by their blue uniforms. Valerie Easton introduced her students from Esperanza High School who won medals, and Elizabeth McPeak, Vocational Nursing director, introduced her students. The students spoke about the medals they won, and all congratulated Gurdev Anand, a junior in Valerie Easton’s Medical Careers class at Esperanza, for attaining a state office in HOSA.

The Board honored first and third place winners at the Design Build contest. The team captains from Anaheim High School came to the podium with their third place certificate and a picture of the whole team. Clad in their bright yellow shirts, the entire Magnolia High School team posed with their instructor, David Webb, and the Board of Trustees.

Below, Anaheim's team captains pose with the Board.

Tracy Sawyer is North OC ROP’s
Classified Staff Member of the Year
Technology Support Specialist
Honored at April Board Meeting.

Tracy Sawyer, Technology Support Specialist, was honored as the Classified Employee of the Year with an engraved glass frame and certificate at the North Orange County ROP Board of Trustees meeting on April 21. Tracy has been employed with North Orange County ROP since 1999, working part time for Technology Services and part time as an instructional aide for Tony Garza until 2002, when Technology Services hired her full time.

Classified Employee of the Year Tracy Sawyer, center, is pictured with North Orange County ROP Board President Marilyn Buchi and Superintendent Michael Worley, Ed.D.

Tracy is often on the spot first when teachers or staff are frustrated with their technology. Because she constantly pursues training in Mac and PC troubleshooting skills, and because her customer service is impeccable, Tracy can be counted on to find solutions quickly. According to Joel Grospe, her supervisor, “she researches and understands the nature and scope of her assignments and comes up with creative, focused and flexible solutions to meet the technology needs of teachers and staff.   She provides teachers customized on-the-spot training on preventive maintenance including tips and shortcuts. Additionally she has cross-trained in Reprographics, so she is wonderful backup.”

Tracy is a natural teacher, and she loves to share her knowledge. She provides free assistance in computer repair and training to seniors and low-income residents in a Santa Ana mobile home park. Tracy also is one of the first to organize and sign up for staff activities. Her generosity and kindness to all make Tracy Sawyer, not only a perfect “Employee of the Year,” but also an important member of the ROP family.

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