Individual Finals

On the day of the individual finals, the seven players who advanced to the semis and I warmed up very nicely at the Azusa HS gym. In retrospect, the good warm-up amongst the eight of us foreshadowed the success to come later that afternoon. Tony and Elida lost two competitive mixed doubles games to finish fourth in league. Kalene also finished fourth in girls singles while Melissa finished with a bronze medal. Tony also earned a bronze medal in boys singles. It was obvious that he was playing through pain and was not telling anyone about it. Jocelyn and Elida came back from a set down to capture bronzes in girls doubles. Alexis and Sam won bronze medals in the boys doubles.

Two of the most exciting matches of the day were the wins by Alexis and Melissa in mixed doubles. In the semis, they beat out the number one ranked team 11-5 and 13-12 in a roller coaster second set. Despite going through one of the toughest losses in her young career in the girls singles semis, Melissa played extremely well in the mixed doubles finale. Her serves were near perfection throughout the entire match, which went to the third set. In one sequence, she was actually pinned to the back of the court, the number two ranked team cleared to her and Melissa smashed down the middle of the court with authority to put the point away. Alexis played beautiful badminton throughout the whole match. I was extremely proud that our players played and won with class and respected our opponents and the game.

Badminton Pre-Lims

Our badminton team wrapped up the season with a loss to Azusa HS. While the score was not close (3-18), I was proud of our progress throughout the season. In particular, our most dedicated players Elida and Tony beat an undefeated mixed doubles team. Elida and Jocelyn also beat an undefeated girls doubles team. We finish the 2011 season second place in Montview League to a very strong Azusa HS team.

For the individual pre-lims on Wednesday, across the five events, GHS players advanced to seven of the twenty semi-finals. While Coach Aldo is always a great help when he is here, it was evident that day that I could use more help as a coach. Nonetheless, I've given my players opportunities to earn 11 medals. It is an improvement from 2010 when GHS captured seven medals.

GHS to MIT

A student from my AP Statistics class is heading to M.I.T. Congratulations. See SGV Tribute. I take no credit for him getting accepted. He would have been accepted with or without taking my class.

Academic Checkup

Our spring academic checkup with Link Crew leaders went very smoothly on April 1st. It was a complete team effort. Mrs. De Leon planned the agenda weeks in advanced. Ms. Franco and Ms. Curtis prepared the required materials for the Link leaders. On the day of checkup, Mr. Ciccoianni trained the leaders on their tasks during first period. At the same time, Mr. Perdomo and Mr. Abdo set up the gym. I also fired up the slideshow with names of students who earned different levels of Renaissance cards. Of course, none of this would be possible without our wonderful Link Leaders. They did a fantastic job during second period. Let's hope that the freshmen would respond and bring up their passing rates.

Reality Check (part 2)

Here is another local story. KABC-TV article. This one involves an AP English teacher who posted comments on Facebook. I will let you evaluate the story on your own. It is a reminder that I need to be extra careful when I write posts on my blog or class Facebook pages.

Reality Check

The reality is that there are predators out there. Unfortunately, some leak into the public school system. Here is a new report about a volunteer who had an inappropriate relationship with a student. SGV Tribute article. KTLA.com article. LA Times article. We know that bad things happen, but it's shocking when they happen at your school. Minors get taken advantage of, and as a side effect, these terrible news give public schools a bad name.

Team Lunch

The Friday before Spring Break was a minimum day at our school, which ended at 12:35p. We also had a game at 3p. To provide students with a place and purpose to hang out, I ordered inexpensive Chinese food and put together a mini-party in my classroom. It went very well as I served chow mein, fried rice, and fried egg rolls to the players and students. Several students brought drinks to share. I prepared professional badminton match videos for us to watch. We also watched the teachers' dance from earlier this week. The kids also played Jenga, Speed, and Connect Four. Coach Aldo also came to hang out. The team also signed a birthday poster for one of the players Kristyn, who turned 18. It was another nice team bonding event.

We won 16-5 later that afternoon.

Debut

One of my former students and current badminton players, Kristyn, invited me to her Philippine Debut (18th birthday party) Sunday night. I was surprised and honored when her mom asked me to be one of the 18 courts to present the birthday girl with a rose and share a portion of a dance with her. It was an unique experience. I also saw for the first time the 18 candle ceremony, during which 18 of her closest female family members and friends gave a brief speech and lit one of the candles. Shortly after the traditional ceremonies, they opened the dance floor for everyone. I decided to leave at that time; I learned that I was the only teacher there. I know the kids would feel weird if a teacher had stuck around as they partied.

(I don't typically post pictures of students. But Kristyn is already 18 and I've known her and her family for over three years, thought it'd be okay.)

On YouTube

It's official. I'm on YouTube.

Dancing Teachers

For the Renaissance Rally, teachers at my high school have been rehearsing for a dance routine. I sacrificed hanging out with my lunch crew for weeks. We performed it today and had a great time. The students also seemed to have enjoyed it. While we honored significant academic achievements by our students, some gag awards were also presented. Using a texting web application, students voted for Strictest Teacher and Best Hair Award. Yup, I got the Best Hair Award. Seriously. Later, I learned that a few of the badminton players texted over a dozen times within the alloted minute to support me. Thanks.

Riding the Bus

During the badminton season, I get to ride the school bus when we travel to games. It's pure nostalgia. I always looked forward to away games when I was in high school. I loved traveling with my coach and teammates. Our team usually won, which also made the bus rides more enjoyable. I can't show it online for legality reasons, but I passed my iPod Touch around the bus with the video camera turned on. The video captured how much fun playing school sports can be even outside the courts. This Friday, we have a minimum day. I'm planning an after school lunch for the badminton team so that the kids have a place to hang out until the game starts later that afternoon.