Valedictorian Lauren Bracken and Salutatorian Marcel Garcia Friday will lead the 371-member VCHS Class of 2009 as they graduate and enter the real world.
Commencement will be held Friday, June 12, 6:30 p.m. at Jaguar Stadium.
VCHS Principal Ron McCowan told The Roadrunner, “The class of 2009 is the largest graduating class in the Valley Center High School history.
“Not only is this class a large class in size but they also do things on a large scale. The number of students from this class planning to attend prestigious colleges, four-year colleges, and community colleges is very impressive,” he said.
McCowan added, “While at Valley Center High School this class assisted in increasing the API scores, went on record for the highest passage rate on the CAHSEE, and earned more championships in sports. In short, the class of 2009 has made their parents, teaching staff, community, and their principal very proud! We look forward to see what the future will hold for the Class of 2009!”
Following introductory music, including the National Anthem performed by senior choir members, a welcome by 2008–2009 ASB President Natalie DeWindt will be followed by the student address by valedictorian Lauren Bracken and salutatorian Marcel Garcia.
The chain ceremony will be held by this year’s senior class officers, Esmeralda Cifuentes and Alana Pudgil, to next year’s officers Megan Nido and Arielle Lujan.
Faculty member Michael Schanze will address the graduates, followed by the presentation of the Class of 2009 by principal Ron McCowan.
Acceptance of the class will be done by Supt. Lou Obermeyer.
Presentation of diplomas will be made by VCPUSD Board of Trustees, Lori Johnson and Don Martin.
Graduation Candidates Class of 2009
Andrew Christopher Abraham, Aaron Joseph Ackermann, Sean Thomas Adams, Manuel Aguilar, Stephanie Vanessa Aguilar, Jonathan Luis Aguirre, Ricardo Alba, Jonathan Alvarez, Junior Alvarez, Sabrina Akasha Ames, Ruben Andrade, Erica Angel, Brittany Lynn Appl, Joseph Araujo, Emily Rose Armstrong, Natalie Marie Armstrong, Cameron Marcial Avilez,
Katie Bachman, Colton Baker, Greta Rose Baker, Nicholas Zelindo Baldassini, Collin Barnes, Heidi Baumgart, Yadira Bautista, David Bedolla, Taylor Evan Benjamin, Joshua Michael Bergman, Tyler Bernard, Zachariah Bezdeka, Chelsie Biller, Melynda Biller, Fernando Bojorquez, Carlos Manuel Borjas, Emily Grace Botsford, Robby Bowen, Trent John Bozarth, Lauren Ann Bracken, Mark Allen Brashear, Dwayne Joseph Bridge, Samantha Rae Broomell, Jennifer Lauren Brothers, Jared Brown, Nathaniel Jordan Brown, Emily Katherine Brunskill, Robert Bryson,
Ethan Caltrider, Francisco Javier Camacho, James Campbell, Michael Campbell, Samantha Stokes Carr, Kyle Carrico, Hector Carrillo, Ignacio Cervantes, Taciana Racqual Chavez, Eric Craig Childs, Nicholas Chisholm, Paloma Cifuentes, David Cobb, Mica Coburn, Rashall Yvonne Cole, Erin Conn, Lorena Cortes, Rosario Cortes, Christopher Alexander Cozzi, Dante Creighton, Wyatt Crockett, Daniel Cruz, Teresa Cruz Venegas, Sean Culver, Delaney Rae Cunningham, Connor Cutrell
Katie Ann Darland, Kristen Darland, Ashley Day, Olivia de la Cruz, Eduardo DeAlba, Ariel Elizabeth Debin, Cody DeBruyn, Rashed Ramez Deeb, Devin Laurens Dekoekkoek, Natalie Dewindt, Josue Diaz, Oscar Domingo, Brittany Doria, Jeremy Dozier, Joshua Drew, Jasmine Dubauskas, Jordyn Dupray, Marlene Dusek, Haley Rene Duvel, Robby Guy Epker, Maria Esparza, Jonathan Esquivel, Tyler Estes, Megan Everett,
Aram Karim Favela, Paula Noemy Felix, Enelia Fernandez, Allen Ferries, Blake Fessenden, Anthony Fick, Taylor Fiehler, Nolan Fox, Sarah Elizabeth Fox, Annelise Elisabeth Frederiksen, Kalli Frances French, Alfredo Luis Frias, Sasha Friwat,
Brenda Galanos, Georgina Esperanza Galanos, Juana Galvan, Daniela Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Marcel Garcia, Jenna Garrison, John Garritson, Kaitlin Michelle Gates, Alejandra Gazcon, Deanna Gibboney, Ashley Ann Giordano, Rosa Gomez, Angel Gonzalez, Daniel Gonzalez, Jeff Gonzalez, Marco Gonzalez, Maria Del la Gonzalez, Mirta Gonzalez, Vivian Gonzalez, David Gould, Alex Greb, Madison Greer, Shalea Growingthunder, Nicholas Guzman,
Steven Haros, Shannon Harris, Spencer H. Harris, Delphia Sharee Harrison, Michael Hart, William Miller LaPointe Hay, Hannah Helms, P. Alexander Herbert, Bradley Heredia, Nicholas Heredia, Alma Hernandez, Eberardo Hernandez, Eric Hernandez, David James Hinchman, Antonio Hinojosa, Rachel Kelly Hochstetler, Deondra Hofer, Ashley Lynn Hollis, Tahna Hopper, Alana Marie Hubers, Geoffrey Joaquin Hui, Brandon Tate Hutchinson,
Whitney Elizabeth James, Melissa Kay Jauregui, Tyler Jiles, Elizabeth Jimenez, Brianne Johnson, James Johnson, Joann Mary Johnston,
Sara Ellen Kardel, Elizabeth Marie Kasten, Timothy James Kellogg, Nia Kiesow, Hyo Eun Kim, Keegan Knappert, Peter Knoppert, John Kolb, Kyle Steven Krainock, Kimberly Mae Krause,
Luke LaVine, Robyn Hayley Lange, Kylie Last, Justin Lawrence, Adam Lechmann, Joseph Lechnir, Benjamin Ledezma, Kristopher Vincent Leriget, Clayton Lester, Melissa Lettice, Misael Linares, Jessika Linton, Benjamin Levi Lopez, Eulalia Lopez, Juan Lopez, Teodora Maria De La Luz Lopez, Victor Clemente Lopez, Michael Anthony LoPresti, Adan Luis, Vance Hiroshi Lund, Melissa Dawn Lynch,
Sean Richard Macomber, Alisha Madison, Marissa Madison, Ricky Maguire, Leslie Maldonado-Pena, Cameron Manning, Ryan Marcon, Laura Barbaretta Markuson, Anna Martinez, Deana Martinez, Hilario Martinez, Maria Lucero Martinez, Rachael Ann Matheson, Julia Marie Matthews, Kenneth Layne Maurer, Dalton James Maxfeldt, Alexander Mayo, Erin Nicole McGlone, Michelle Danielle McCurter, Jesse T. McHale, Weston McHale, Michael Thomas McLennan,
Alexander Medellin, Juan Melendez, Sean Abdiel Mendez, Rodolfo Mercado Jr., William Meyst, Hayley Miller, Thomas Jeffrey Minturn, Monique Miranda, Myrna Miranda, Brian Todd Moffitt, Eric Moore, Rachel Moore, Merari Morales, Ruth Morales, Matthew Allen Morehead, Doris Morgan, Kaylen Marie Morris, Taylor Morrison, Stephen Austin Moser, Rebecca Ann Murdock, Maxwell Myers,
Marvin Nestler, Christiana Elysse Newcomb, Diana Nicolas,
Darius Alberto Obana, Jose Ochoa, Maria Guadalupe Ordonez, Luz Orozco, Kennedy Ortega, Stephanie Ortega,
Ubaldo Pamatz, Nathan Robert Panek, Andrew Michael Parks, Wyatt Patnode, J. Andrew Patronik, David William Peeples, Iliana Pena, Ismael Pena, Claudia Peralta, Dominique Perez, Rachel Peters, Jerry Anthony Pham, Austin Phillips, Nathan Phillips, Yolanda Piedra, Rosa Pineda, Thomas Daniel Polito, Ruby Ponce, Michael Allan Potter, Victoria Lindsay Price, Alana Rose Pudgil,
Brenda Rangel, Selina Michelle Rangel, Matthew Rau, Matthew Rendon, Daniel Restivo, Jonathan Reveles, Chanelle Rexroade Barner, Daniel Reyes, Olivia Starr Reyes, Josefina Rios, Efrain Rivera, Jimmy Rivera, Luis Rizo, Alexander Robinson, Sharayah Robinson, Joel Robles, Claudia Rocha, Samantha E. Rocha, Gabrielle Renee Rodriguez, Jonathan Alfonso Rodriguez, Andrew Rogers, Megan Rojas, Keith Rose, Andrew Roth, Jeremy Isaac Rubio, Noel Ruiz, Vitali Rusakov, Sean Austin Ryan, Stefanie Magen Ryan,
Luz Elia Sanchez, Katie Sanger, Fabiola Saucedo, Elizabeth Marie Schoberg, Rebecca Scholte, Charles Schwab, Daniel Schwab, Kyler William Schwartz, Juan Segura, Chase Steele Sessions, Sarah Sharp, Amanda Jean Shideler, Jeremy Allen Sichmeller, Alaina Simpson, Avery Singh II, Julie Smith, Rebecca Smith, Alex Jasmine Soria, Miguel Soto, Melanie Jean Sourbeer, Breana Steele, Emilie Stehly, Sasha Stone, William Stratford, Nicholas Stridsberg, Jeremy Stumpges, Adriana Suarez, Janet Suarez, Daniel Brian Swift,
Stephen Tabler, Jordon Tarantino, Rosendo Tavarez, Matthew Thomas, Danielle Thornton, Zuly Tinajero, Katherine Mae Tolstad, Juana Tomas, Hugo Cesar Torres, Isaac Torres, Nancy Torres, Rebecca Truderung, Auslinn Brooke Turner, Caston Turner, Dancy Panther Turner, Spencer Turner,
Stacy Marie Uber, Maria Lupita Urquieta,
Marissa Valdez, Jose Valdovinos Moreno, William Van Alstine, Karen Vargas, Miriam Angelica Vaught, Cristino Valasquez, Nancy Vera, Isaiah Voss,
Holland Wade, Katie Elaine Wagner, Ben Valiant Walder, Lela Wall, Christopher Steven Walters, Megan Ware, Julian Niach Welmas, Michelle Weston, John Wickliffe, John Wilcoxen, Scott Willcockson, Anna Winebarger, Justin Michael Woolley, Melanie Elise Worthen, Liza Jo Wright,
Martha Baleria Zapata, John Dennis Zatlokowicz and Ana Belen Zuniga.
The Greater Valley Center Fire Safe Council (GVCFSC) announced this week that it will be awarded a $150,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service through the California Fire Safe Council Grants Clearinghouse.
According to Jim Courter of CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) the grant will be used for three things:
• To reduce the amount of potential fuel for fire in the right of ways of Lilac Road and secondary roads in that area.
“This fuel reduction will help to ensure safer evacuation routes for local residents, and it will enable firefighting equipment to have better access to the area,” he said.
The roads affected by this Lilac Corridor Fuel Reduction Phase I project are: Lilac Road and Old Castle Road running from I-15 to Valley Center Road.
• The second objective is to provide two educational seminars to local residents so they are better prepared to deal with fires and know how to economically and practically reduce the risk of fire around their residence and also learn proper procedures for evacuation.
• Provide a limited contract chipper service so homeowners can reduce the amount of potential fire fuel around their homes.
This grant was written by Greater Valley Center Fire Safe Council volunteer members. Persons interested in joining the GVCFSC e-mail them at vcfsc@earthlink.net.
Over the next six months San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E) plans work that will remove three areas in Valley Center’s Emergency Power Shut-Off plan “footprint,” by projects that include moving power lines from wooden poles to steel poles—and undergrounding three miles of lines.
The map on this page shows three areas that will be removed from the proposed power shut-off footprint plan once project construction is completed. The areas contain 2,300 customers, i.e. homes and businesses rather than individuals, and also about a dozen pump stations of the Valley Center Municipal Water District (VCMWD)—which has objected strenuously to the original plan and took the utility to court over it.
These projects—one transmission and two distribution—have been designed to help strengthen the overall reliability of SDG&E’s electrical system in the Valley Center area.
According to SDG&E spokesman Stephanie Donovan, “An added benefit is that, by having the lines placed either under ground or on higher-voltage poles, the customers served by these lines—about two thousand three hundred—no longer will face the potential of an emergency power shut-off during periods of high winds and high fire danger.”
The Projects
One project will involve moving an existing overhead 69-kilovolt (kV) transmission line off its wooden poles and attaching it instead to existing steel towers that now carry 230-kilovolt lines. Both of the lines start at SDG&E’s Escondido substation.
As the lines approach the Valley Center substation on Lilac Road, the 69-kV line will be moved off the steel structures and will be put underground for about a mile to the Lilac substation.
The result will be that the utility will be able to keep the power on at that substation even if an emergency power shut-off is required in the Valley Center area, reducing by 1,500 the number of customers affected on the north side of Old Castle Road.
The lower-voltage distribution work involves about three miles of new underground construction, mostly along Old Castle Road and Lilac Road.
Crews also will rebuild some of the overhead electrical system in the area, changing out about 50 wood poles for steel poles, and will add some automated switches and other equipment in the area. That will allow another 800 customers to be eliminated from the shut-off plan.
SDG&E hopes to complete all the work by September.
“We also will do our best to minimize the disruption to the community while this construction work is under way and appreciate the patience of residents during this time,” said Donovan.
Gary Arant, general manager of VCMWD, told The Roadrunner, “Yeah, we’re happy that SDG&E is improving and hardening their system, which will remove more of our facilities from the area. But we still have facilities that we have to be concerned about [another six to eight pump stations].”
The lawsuit that VCMWD and several other water districts are pursuing against SDG&E has been put in abeyance for the moment—although it can be reactivated without prejudice.
Storyteller Linda Henry-Bonin told the Alice! in Wonderland story to children at Thursday’s Farmers Market. She is pictured with cast members Sevan Soghomonian, Julie Burlington, Katie Burlington, Kira Archipov, Riley McCarrick, and Charlotte McCarrick Visit www.vcct.org for tickets and info.
Developers keen to be allowed to build along I-15 will hold an open house on Wednesday, 6:30– 8 p.m. at Castle Creek Country Club to gauge local support for such a proposal.
The meeting is being hosted by the Accretive Group, which owns or controls by option or long-term escrow over 400 acres that form a delta shape that is east of I-15, south of West Lilac Road and north of Circle R Drive.
According to Jim Bartell, a spokesman for Accretive, “Nothing is pending yet, but prior to submitting, they wanted to do community outreach, which they have done with some smaller meetings. They felt it was time to get input from the larger community.”
Bartell added, “The purpose is to create a vision and determine what it is for VC where Randy [Goodson, CEO of Accretive] owns property and find out what people are thinking.”
Oliver Smith, chairman of the VC planning group, and several planners who fought the Accretive Group’s proposed 3-A SPA (specific plan amendment) of 3,000 homes to a standstill last year say they plan to take Accretive up on its invitation and to attend Wednesday’s meeting.
“We’ll see if Randy Goodson can get ‘Nuevo Hornsville’ on the map,” said resident Patsy Fritz, a long-term observer who attended most of the meetings on the development last year.
“Hornsville” is a label that some aggrieved residents attached to the proposed development because they felt that Fifth District Supervisor Bill Horn used his influence to skip over the normal approval process to place the development within shouting distance of being approved.
The SPA was proposed by Devon Muto, chief at the Dept. of Planning & Land Use, who interpreted the 2006 amendment to the board motion by Horn to establish an SPA. At that time Muto assigned a figure of 3,000 homes on 1,600 acres to the area.
Accretive Group’s hopes were initially riding on the concept of the 3-A SPA, which the Board of Supervisors then rejected in July of 2008 as never having been legitimately placed on any of the General Plan Update (GPU) maps.
At that meeting a full chamber of VC residents protested the development.
Goodson has vowed to develop the property that he controls although the maps show most of the developable land to be one parcel per 20 acres. Currently most of that land is Category 18, multiple rural use, with permitted lot sizes of 4, 8 and 20 acres—depending on the topography (steeper requires larger lot sizes).
Under the General Plan Update being worked on today that land would be classified RL-20, [rural land with 20 acre minimum lot size].
At the July 2008 meeting the board left it open that an applicant could file for development, by using the normal channels, as opposed to flying under the radar through a supervisor’s amendment at the board level.
Goodson has so far made no application for the SPA, although on May 13 when the supervisors were discussing the progress of the GPU, Goodson spoke to complain that roadblocks were being placed in the way of his development.
Goodson continues to maintain that the planning group approved Road 3-A, which would serve the development. The planning group continues to deny that that was the intent of its vote.
Cub Scouts from Pack 619 in Valley Center celebrated their promotion ceremony at Adam's Park this last Friday. Promotions consisted of advancements in rank from Tiger to Wolves to Bears to Webelos, the highest rank before Boy Scouts. The ceremony had the boys being pulled across a ceremonial bride signifying their advancement.
By DAVID ROSS
Monday night I was asked to write a retraction to last week’s editorial entitled “Who represents the people?” This is my non-retraction, not withdrawing an inch of my original assertion reply to that request by Dr. Deb Hofler—who serves on the planning group.
I offered Dr. Hofler the chance to write her own opinion piece challenging my assertions raised in that piece, but she preferred to ask for a retraction, so I am forced to present her arguments, briefly, so I can refute them.
First, Dr. Hofler challenged an assertion that I did not make, which is that planning group members serve too long, by pointing out that she is the longest serving planner—at five years. I told her that I didn’t write that, but she said that someone reading the piece might come to that conclusion. Not my problem, I’m afraid.
Next, she sought to disprove a claim that I have made, i.e. and here I quote myself: “But because it is so time consuming and boring to serve on a planning group, elected representatives are subject to a lot of attrition. What happens over time is that elected representatives are replaced by people who, even if they are turned down when they run for office, end up being appointed anyway because they are persistent.”
To disprove my point and to satisfy herself that my whole argument was based on a false premise, Dr. Hofler took a poll of the 11 members who were in attendance (there are, when the group is at full strength, 15) and asked how many had been appointed. Only one raised his hand. The rest were elected, many of them last November.
That actually proves my point. Naturally right after an election many of the members will be elected. But as the months wear on members will quit and be replaced. Many times they will be replaced by people who, if they had run for office, wouldn’t have been elected.
That’s a simple fact. An inarguable fact that plays itself out over and over again. There are currently two appointees to the group waiting for Board of Supervisors approval. Last year the planning group’s nominations committee was kept busy almost every month to fill vacancies.
Certainly Dr. Hofler represents her constituents: she’s been elected by large numbers twice. But that doesn’t disprove my assertion that the planning group OVER TIME is a less than representative group. Dr. Hofler, you are welcome to write your rebuttal. We will publish it.
The Valley Roadrunner
P.O.B. 1529, Valley Center, CA 92082
Tel. 760.749.1112 Fax 760.749.1688
Website: www.valleycenter.com
Email: editor@valleycenter.com
Copyright © 2009, Palomar Community Newspapers, dba Valley Roadrunner. All rights reserved. This content may not be archived, retransmitted, saved in a database, or used for any commercial purpose without the express written permission of the Valley Roadrunner.