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Learn ♦ Experience ♦ Thrive
Winter 2022-2023 | Eagles #37
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Google visited California School for the Deaf and inspired our students with Hour of Code. | |
Scroll down for more student news | |
Message from the Superintendent
Greetings from the land of ORANGE and BLACK
“Let's SOAR: Strive for Opportunities; Aim for Results!”
California School for the Deaf continues to emphasize the importance of effective instructional and residential programs, with a focus on student-centered activities that promote 'student success through action,' as documented in this newsletter.
Offering effective instructional programs is crucial to providing students with language and skills development, and the knowledge they need to succeed academically.
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Our highly-qualified teachers and staff design their academic and residential programs to cater to the diverse learning styles and language abilities of the students we serve. This ensures that our students are engaged and motivated to learn.
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Technology and project-based learning, along with collaboration are crutial to our students developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are a part of our Expected Schoolwide Learning Results (schoolwide learning objectives).
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Student-centered activities such as athletics, leadership, and organizational activities positively impact our students' development. Athletics promotes physical fitness and teaches students teamwork, discipline, and perseverance. Leadership activities help students develop their leadership skills, communication, and decision-making abilities, which are essential in all aspects of life. Organizational activities enable students to plan, organize, and host events, enhancing their creativity and organizational skills.
This year, we are strengthening our leadership and engagement program by connecting departments and divisions. We are bridging activities between our academic and residential departments.
- Our residential program promotes academic and personal growth, that contribute to students' well-being.
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Activities that our student leaders design (e.g. Clerc Classic planning; evening parties; and fieldtrips) promote a sense of belonging, encourage socialization and interpersonal skills, and help students build healthy relationships with their peers.
Families and community members: Thank you for your unwavering support.
Your love and encouragement provides strength to our staff and helps us achieve great things, as we operate our school with normalcy this year. You are an integral part of our community. We value the contributions you make every day through your children, as well as the relationships you have with our staff and administration.
Staff: Thank you for your tireless dedication to our mission.
Your hard work and commitment to excellence has not gone unnoticed. You consistently go above and beyond to ensure that our programs run smoothly, and that our students receive the best education and care possible. Your expertise and passion for your work are truly inspiring.
At CSD, we continue to create a culture of kindness, respect, and collaboration through professional development and department-level team-building activities focusing on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Multi-Tiered System of Supports. We will SOAR (Seek out Opportunities and Aim for Results) together going forward!
Clark Brooke, Ed.S.
Superintendent
California School for the Deaf, Fremont
39350 Gallaudet Drive
Fremont, CA 94538
510-344-6010 Videophone
510-823-6071 Spanish Callers
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High School Drama Club performs Tinker Bell
Ray Gier, photography
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I just can't believe how much passion, hard work, and dedication went into this production! Our students used American Sign Language to bring this show to life on stage, and it's truly a showcase of their creative and effective use of ASL. It's a reflection of how important ASL is to our community and education here at CSD.”
—Merritt Holloway, Director
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Program Design
This year's program was designed by CSD alum Juan Dillard, class of 2011, who currently works as a cottage counselor at California School for the Deaf.
The program features thoughtful reflections from the director, along with recognition of those who contributed their time and creativity to the production.
See program
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Click on image to enlarge | |
Photo: Director Merritt Holloway with Theater Assistant Alexis Bravo. | |
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Bringing out the best in our students
CSD alum Alexis Bravo volunteered his assistance with this year's production of Tinker Bell. Alexis inspired and motivated the student actors in the High School Drama Club with his insightful feedback and guidance.
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Greetings,
What a wonderful weekend!
TinkerBell, our School Play, was a hit! Our last three shows drew over 500 attendees! Our students and staff who were involved in the School Play did a BEAUTIFUL job! The collaborative effort among various departments and divisions made a significant and positive impact on our school play. The return of CSD's well-renowned school play was another wonderful way to welcome and reconnect with the community. The energy in the audience was terrific, and the celebration in the lobby following each performance was electric.
I must recognize the incredible team who dedicated their time to Tinker Bell. First and foremost is Merritt Holloway, our fabulous director, who put everything together and demanded the best from our students and crew to make this show successful. His preparation for this project began last October. His leadership was evident and provided a valuable lesson to our students! And on behalf of Student Life, I am grateful to the following individuals for their key contributions:
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Klesha Chapman, Costume Designer
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Kimberly Jennery, Light Tech Designer
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Eli Geha, Light Tech Support
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Michael Foust, Technology Specialist
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Billy Raby-Brown, Stage Designer
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Suzanne Torres, Errand Runner
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Alexis Bravo, Theater Assistant
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Annette Anderson, Interpreter Coordinator
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Joey Baer, Cast Introduction Video
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Jennifer Luke, Tickets Assistant
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Susana Flores, Admission
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Jeana Williams, Admission
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Nhi Tran, Admission
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Julie Dolezal, Admission
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Theresa Fuentes, Admission
The interpreters’ team consisted of volunteers and interns from CSUN and Ohlone College: Dreena Edillor, Margarita Guarneros, Caleb Owens, Vianny Quiroga Paez, Madison Ramirez, Shepard Rigby, Jennifer Saldana, and Monique Tyner. They did a wonderful job voice interpreting.
Saving the best for last but not least – the group of students who made up the magical TinkerBell cast: Destiny Wallace, Ben Olivas-Guerrero, Jace Tillotson, Rishav Singh, Jeslyn Yang, LillyAnna Burns, Izzie Garcia, Brianna Carrillo-Matias, Sharbel Alhaj, and Mela Diaz.
Pixie Dust to them and all of you (Merritt’s favorite line)!
Cheers,
Len Gonzales
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CSD alumna designs Google masthead | |
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See full post on Instagram
Stay tuned:
Academic Bowl Nationals
at Gallaudet University
April 20-24, 2023
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It was a fun, incredible experience being a part of the West Regional competition and representing CSD.”
—CSD Fremont Academic Bowl Team
Congratulations to our CSD Eagles on winning this year's West Regional Academic Bowl championship, and to senior Chang-May Tan who won the Most Outstanding Player award!
Our players and coaches had a wonderful time in Oregon. They really enjoyed meeting teams from other schools. And a big thank you to Gallaudet University Youth Programs and Oregon School for the Deaf for a great weekend.
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CSD Eagles vs CSD Alumni
Ray Gier, photography
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In order to prepare for competition against other Deaf schools and programs, CSD's current academic bowl team competed against a team of CSD alumni who had plenty of previous experience competing at the academic bowl nationals.
See photos from CSD Eagles vs CSD Alumni below.
Players: Chang-May Tan, Zoe Bell, Sevan Ikeda, Geneva Brock, Aidan Kulchinsky-Cassidy, Hayden Cervantes (the first four are on the team; the last two are alternates)
Alumni: Rose Crisman, Donovan Holmes, Courtney Bronson, Naomi Brock
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Click on images below to enlarge (use + for larger; and - for smaller) | |
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National Champions
Congratulations to our Cross Country Team for winning several NDIAA Fall 2022 Sports Awards:
Boys National Champions:
CSD – Fremont
Male Runner of the Year:
Sevan Ikeda, CSD – Fremont
Coach of the Year:
Kristopher Hatch, CSD – Fremont
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Historic Moment
Five Generations of Deans of Students
Ray Gier, photography
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Celebrating the newly renovated high school activity center, CSD’s Student Life division had the opportunity to have a gathering with four former deans, along with the current dean. Included in the gathering were:
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Ken Norton (retired 1990)
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Mike Finneran (retired 1999)
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Celia May Baldwin (retired 2008)
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Ethan Bernstein (retired 2022)
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Len Gonzales (current dean)
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Ethan ♦ Celia May ♦ Ken ♦ Mike ♦ Len | |
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During the gathering, current Student Life staff introduced themselves to the deans. Staff reminisced about which dean hired them, and told stories about their journey, from the time they started to their current position. Some staff remembered being former students of the deans, since many of the deans started as teachers before becoming deans. Lots of fond memories were shared, with plenty of funny stories about the early years!
Ken Norton—who was Dean of Students for five years at the Berkeley campus, and 10 years at the Fremont campus—shared his experience of the school moving from Berkeley to Fremont. Ken explained how the School for the Deaf was forced to close down its Berkeley campus because of an earthquake fault in the middle of the quad, where the school held its graduation ceremonies. So the school ended up moving to Fremont. Students in the residential program at the Berkeley campus lived in dormitories, but when it moved to Fremont, the residential program changed to cottages. Ken said the two things he missed most about being at the Berkeley campus were the view of San Francisco from the football field on the hill, and the exquisite dining hall.
Ken said that there were 550 students attending the school during his time as dean. Mike Finneran said there were 500 during his time.
Celia May Baldwin who was the first Deaf woman Dean of Students, said that there actually was a married couple who ran the residential program before her. When that couple divorced, the husband ran the boys’ dorms and the wife ran the girls’ dorms, but Celia May was the first Deaf woman to be Dean of Students for the entire Student Life program.
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During Ethan Bernstein’s time, cell phones became popular. There was plenty of discussion about how much time students started spending on their phones – especially texting their parents. Nowadays, cottage counselors actually have to collect students’ cell phones at certain times so that students get a break from using them.
The former deans remembered a time when each cottage had closed-circuit television connected to the dean’s office. They remarked that technology has come a long way now that we have videophones, computers, and cell phones. Oskar Schugg said the only building on campus that has closed-circuit television nowadays is the Klopping Theater.
When asked what the deans would do differently if they had it to do over again, Mike Finneran said that he would have valued the cottage counselors more, since cottage counselors have one of the toughest jobs on campus.
Len Gonzales proudly shared about all of the student-led activities that he had put into place, and how much students were being held accountable. He was also very proud of the new makeover of the High School Activity Center and Cottage 6.
It was a special and historic day having all of those deans get the opportunity to spend time with current Student Life staff. Special appreciation goes to Len Gonzales for arranging the gathering, and to Mike Finneran for driving all the way from San Diego to attend. Len hopes to reunite all of the deans once the new middle school activity center is completed in the next year or so.
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Click on images below to enlarge (use + for larger; and - for smaller) | |
Elementary Spelling Bee
Who will "Bee" this year's Spelling Bee Champions?
| On Thursday, March 16, Elementary held its 11th annual Spelling Bee competition, with 21 participants. We kicked off the program by recognizing previous winners, and they shared some tips and advice to our current participants about doing their best...win or lose. | |
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Front: Talia Montoya (2021), Hoa Quach (2022), Lael Eberwein Zornoza (2019), Emma Zhou (2020), Henrik Catron (2022), Oceana Matsumoto (2022).
Back: Joey Baer, Principal, Naomi Brock (2014), Lelan Gonzales (2015, 2016, 2017), Geneva Brock (2018), Gabriella Bibb (2017), Sevan Ikeda (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), Gustavo Rodriguez (2022), Devon Miller (2019), Devika Kadu (2020)
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The competition began and everyone advanced to the second round!
The Bee lasted through 8 rounds before the winners were announced in two categories:
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Ashwati Sabarish (2nd grade)
Sofia Morales Lemus (2nd grade)
Kailan Zhou (4th grade)
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Shoshannah Horwitz (5th grade)
Oceana Matsumoto (2nd grade)
Heath Rogerson (4th grade)
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Congratulations to the winners and all the participants! The Scripps winners will advance to the National Spelling Bee competition to be held on May 11 versus seven other Deaf schools.
Following this fun-filled event, several students who did not participate this year, expressed interest in being a part of next year's competition!
Special thanks go to Larry Mills-Kohler, Joann Ikeda, Julie Baer, Tamara Frijmersum, Celia May "CM" Baldwin, Gerardo Di Pietro and Carley Carbin for helping out. Finally, thank you to Sorenson and AFTC for their ongoing support.
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High School Athletics
All-League & All-American Awards
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Google presents Hour of Code | |
Students of all ages, and from a range of departments, including career technical education, high school, middle school, elementary, and alternate curriculum, participated in the Hour of Code event hosted by our CORE team and led by Google. Yes, our students are learning how to make their own computer codes!
Special thanks to some of our tech-savvy staff for their involvement. Michael Foust, Larry Mills-Kohler Jr, Mark Carney, and Jason Kulchinsky inspired our students with direct communication through American Sign language and the language of coding.
Special thanks to Tristyn Maalouf from Google for reaching out to us about hosting this event.
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Click on images below to enlarge (use + for larger; and - for smaller) | |
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A message from Tristyn Maalouf, Software Engineer on Google Nest
I'm so impressed by the students and staff at California School for the Deaf. Despite reaching out only weeks before Computer Science Education Week, the CSD staff was eager to make an Hour of Code event a reality for their students. I was a little bit nervous to reach out and suggest this event, considering that I'm not a part of the Deaf community and don't know all of the norms; so when the CSD staff responded with nothing but excitement, it was a huge encouragement to me. Spending the day with the students and staff at CSD was only a continuation of that excitement and energy; we met some incredible students who were eager to learn what coding is all about. The students made easy work of the coding activity we prepared for them. I'm so thankful that Google provides ASL classes to employees for free through Deaf Services of Palo Alto (DSPA); and to the DSPA team for providing incredible teachers as well as interpreters for this event. Learning ASL has become so much more than simply learning a new language or skill. It's connected me to a whole community of people whom I have so much to learn from, especially the students at CSD!
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Our 5th graders are learning how to film, edit and finalize video. They are making remarkable progress with ASL teachers Bianca Hamilton Miller & Carley Carbin. Enjoy their latest episodes here. | |
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- 50 States Postcard Challenge
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Universal Human Rights Assembly by 3rd grade class
- Gingerbread Village event
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- ASL Slang
- De'VIA Youth Competition
- Orange vs Strawberry Soda
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- Recycling
- AFTC Golf & Disc Golf FUNdraiser (2022)
- Open House
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- Pep Rally
- Native American Indian Heritage Assembly
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- Elementary Volleyball Team
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Dingo Night is back
International Studies students raise money for their upcoming trip to Thailand and Cambodia
Ray Gier, photography
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Click on images below to enlarge (use + for larger; and - for smaller) | |
Announcements for week of March 20 - 24 | |
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Middle Ground: "Do All Teenagers Think The Same?" | | |
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Middle School
Talon News #5
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Talon Media #9
Soar Studio #3
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Middle School
Talon News #4
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Happy New Year
Soar Studio
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Middle School
Talon News #3
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In-Person Open House
Lisa Nuñez, photography and video
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Tour CSD Book Fair
Experience the book fair just like you were there.
Watch video
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Check out Deaf Services Fair & Variety Show highlights
Even if you didn't attend Open House this year, you can still live it through this video.
Watch video
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California School for the Deaf was able to revive a long-standing tradition of in-person Open House on Veteran’s Day.
Highlights included family educational tours, scholastic book fair, Habitot mobile museum, Deaf services fair, variety show, and concession stands.
Variety Show featured performances by students from early childhood through high school with the theme “ASL That!”. Eagles cheerleading squad opened with a cheer. There was a panel discussion by students from Unity for Diversity clubs. High school students closed the show performing “Eagle Fight Song”, with the spirit of our Eagles on full display.
Deaf Services Fair gave our visitors an opportunity to learn more about the wonderful opportunities available in the Deaf community. Below is a list of the many booths that were set up in the gym:
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- ASL Wood Laser
- Bay Area Asian Deaf Association
- Bay Area Black Deaf Advocates
- Bishop & Associates Real Estate
- California School for the Deaf Alumni Association
- California School for the Deaf Student Organizations
- Convo Communications
- Deaf Counseling Advocacy & Referral Agency
- Deaf Community Counseling Services
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- DeafHope
- Deaf Plus Adult Community
- Lions Wilderness Camp for Deaf Children
- Momentum Life Coaching
- NorCal: Lead-K and Camp Grizzly
- Northern California Association of the Deaf-Blind
- Revival Tabernacle Fremont
- LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
- Sorenson
- Toolworks
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Click on images below to enlarge (use + for larger; and - for smaller) | |
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Educational tours were offered to families with Deaf children and their district representatives. There was a tour of Early Childhood Education and Elementary; another tour of Middle School and High School. And yet another tour of the Student Life cottages and activity centers.
Young children and their families got an opportunity to do art, STEM and maker activities with Habitot’s hands-on exhibits. The fun, interactive activity stations for small hands and bodies included:
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- Rocket Launcher
- WaterWorks
- Boat Making & Tinkering
- Art, STEM, and Making Stations
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- Paintable Wall
- Imagination Playground Blocks
- Baby Ball Pitt
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Eagle Spirit Soaring High
Lisa Nuñez, video
CSD Eagles feel the spirit of our school at pep rallies as experienced in this video. The tradition continues.
Watch video
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CSD hosts Clerc Classic
Special thanks to TriCity Voice for their coverage of the tournament
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California School for the Deaf
39350 Gallaudet Drive,
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 794-3666
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