Staff Jerseys 2014-15

The Athletic Department collected custom orders for this year's baseball jerseys earlier this year.  We were all very impressed with their qualities.  These jerseys have been the go-to outfits for school spirit dress days for many teachers.  Staff members get to choose the size, number, and name on their jerseys.  While most teachers chose their last names and graduating class as their numbers, I chose "BEARCATS" and "8" for simplicity.  This is my first baseball jersey.

Thanks, Matthew

Matthew has my geometry class first period, he often comes into the room at least 15 minutes before class starts.  He enjoys reading novels from his iPad.  In his spare time at home, Matthew plays video games.  He is an intelligent student who is doing very well this semester.  Thanks, Matthew.

(*I am always shocked to receive holiday cards or gifts from students. The students always seem to catch me off guard and give me a card/gift at the most unexpected moment. Each time, I am grateful for their appreciation and wish I have the words to thank them sincerely.)

Thanks, Jessica

Jessica is a member of our school's award winning color guard.  In the upcoming quarter, Jessica will also perform with the winter guard.  She is also smiling and is a wonderful student.  I especially appreciate the happy face that she drew for me.  Thanks, Jessica.

(*I am always shocked to receive holiday cards or gifts from students. The students always seem to catch me off guard and give me a card/gift at the most unexpected moment. Each time, I am grateful for their appreciation and wish I have the words to thank them sincerely.)

Thanks, Hana

Hana is a quiet student who has worked very hard throughout the fall semester.  She surprised me with this gift card.  I don't expect gifts from students, but I appreciate Hana picking the "Y" for me.  Thanks, Hana.

(*I am always shocked to receive holiday cards or gifts from students. The students always seem to catch me off guard and give me a card/gift at the most unexpected moment. Each time, I am grateful for their appreciation and wish I have the words to thank them sincerely.)

Thanks, Trevor

Trevor is a precocious sixth grader; he is one of my newest students.  Academically, he excels beyond his years.  In his spare time, Trevor trains for and competes in junior national badminton tournaments.  He is also a cello player.  Thanks, Trevor.

(*I am always shocked to receive holiday cards or gifts from students. The students always seem to catch me off guard and give me a card/gift at the most unexpected moment. Each time, I am grateful for their appreciation and wish I have the words to thank them sincerely.)

Thanks, Alexis

I was honored to be have been asked by Alexis for a letter of recommendation.  She is in AP Statistics and is also the Editor-in-Chief for our school's newspaper.  I gladly completed her request this week.  She's a very strong applicant applying to many competitive schools, I wish her the best.  Thank you, Alexis.

(*I am always shocked to receive holiday cards or gifts from students. The students always seem to catch me off guard and give me a card/gift at the most unexpected moment. Each time, I am grateful for their appreciation and wish I have the words to thank them sincerely.)

Xmas Cards 2014

I am always shocked to receive holiday cards or gifts from students. The students always seem to catch me off guard and give me a card/gift at the most unexpected moment. Each time, I am grateful for their appreciation and wish I have the words to thank them sincerely. Thank you Alexis, Trevor, Hana, Jessica, and Matthew (from top to bottom).

Ornament Fundraiser

I support my teacher friends Paul and Trish by sponsoring this beautiful Christmas tree ornament (#123). For more stories about this wonderful family, visit the following links:

http://ciccocreations.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CiccoCreations

Daily Calendar on a Special Day

This is a traditional daily calendar from Hong Kong.  Students like to help me rip the dates each day.  I chose to photograph Dec. 20th because it is one of the most special days for my family.  My brother married a beautiful bride on this date.  I was honored to be in the bridal party on this long and joyful day.  Congratulations Randy and Lucy.

Christmas Sweets

Cielo from my fifth period geometry class made me some chocolate truffles. She promised me that she didn't poison them. Thank you, Cielo.

Statistics Tree

My AP Statistics student Eric made this personalized Christmas card for me. Eric is an extremely thoughtful and intelligent young man who has recently discovered a passion for the sport of fencing.  The card is a statistics tree with many hidden images. I am appreciative of every bit of its creative detail. The front side has a badminton birdie on top, an ornament  that appears to be a Normal distribution, a boxplot, the character "Yip" in Chinese, a hiking boot, a badminton racket, and the two text books that I use this year.  On the back side is a very touching note. Eric took the time to create, print, cut, and laminate the tree together. When he gave it to me before the final exam today, I thanked him immediately and tried my best to express how grateful I really was for wonderful students like him. Thank you, Eric.  Merry Christmas.

A Smooth First Semester

The fall semester concludes this week.  It has gone smoother than I had expected.  I worked extremely hard teaching during class and planning outside of class time.  In turn, it has been the most satisfying and fascinating semester of my professional life.

This is our new school t-shirt for the year.  It is very popular with the students, on spirit days, a substantial proportion of the students body would wear this t-shirt.

A Touching Letter

Eva is a very hard working student who is new to our district.  She quietly gave me this gift at the end of the finals.  While I thanked her, I didn't open the gift and the following letter until after she had left.  I'll thank her again when spring semester resumes.  Thanks, Eva.

Mutual Support

This "Thank You" card was a very nice gesture from our coaches. Congratulations again to the team for a successful season.

Dance Show

It's too bad that I couldn't attend this show. I was away for my brother's bachelor snowboarding trip in the Mammoth mountains. My dancer students told me that it was tons of fun and a huge success.  I'll definitely try to catch it next time.

Helping Others

The La Verne Police Department won the All Star trophy last night.  Congratulations.  Most importantly, the softball event raised many toys, lots of food items, and over $550 for those in need.  Thank you for all of those who came out to support this wonderful cause. 

(Green = BHS Seniors, White = BHS Staff)

Charity Softball Game

On a beautiful night with perfect weather, I join the BHS Staff in the 2nd Annual La Verne All Star Softball Game in the brand new ULV baseball facility.  We played the BHS Seniors.  While we lost to the students in this charity event, we had a wonderful time.  I was personally proud that I was at bat twice and hit a single each time.  In the second game of the night, the La Verne Police Department plays the La Verne Fire Department.  The winners of each game would play in the night's final.  In all, we raised a good amount of money, food, and toys to those who are less fortunate.

Delivered from China

A parent of one of my students, Peony, returned from her trip to China and brought me this red bean cake.  Peony is a wonderful student who loves to read novels and analyze math related riddles.  Thanks, Peony and Peony's mom.  謝謝你

Early Xmas Treat

This morning, I received an early Christmas treat from my Geometry student Vinny.  He and his mom often bake at home.  He gave me this gift can filled with a variety of cookies inside.  Thank you, Vinny.

Charity Softball Game

I volunteered to play in the second annual La Verne All Star Softball Tournament.  It was originally scheduled for today (12/4/14), but it has been postponed due to the rain throughout the week.  We will hold the event next Wednesday (12/10/14) from 5p to about 9:30p.  The tournament is a four team format.  The winner of Bonita Staff vs. Bonita Seniors will play in the finals against the winner of La Verne Policemen vs. La Verne Firemen.  To attend, please bring a new $5 toy, four canned food items, or a $5 donation.  Come join us and help those who are less fortunate.

College Pennants

The students of ASB, led by Mrs. Lindsay, made some incredible college pennants for every staff on campus.  Each one of the pennants included the teacher's college or university along with its logo and/or mascot. I proudly display mine on the window of my classroom.  It is very cool to see different colleges and universities represented.  All of the mascots and logos were artistically done.  Go Anteaters - Zot zot.

Happy Thanksgiving 2014

Aside from the blessing of my family, friends, and health, I am thankful for my journey as a teacher.  It started when I was a 14 year-old high school student as a private tutor.  I then tutored at UC Irvine as an undergraduate, and again at Cal Poly as a graduate student.  A decade ago, I was given an opportunity to learn from one of the best math teachers I know in Mr. Mulfinger during my first year of teaching at Marshall Fundamental in Pasadena.  I also spend eight wonderful years working many outstanding educators at Gladstone High in Covina.  Now, I continue my journey at Bonita High in La Verne.  I am grateful for all the teachers, supportive staff, administrators, and most importantly, students that I have had the pleasure to meet.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Visiting Sister

It was long overdue, but I got the chance to visit my sister in Dallas over my Thanksgiving break.  She relocated to Texas for work two years ago and I've been longing to visit her.  She spent all of her weekend with me.  We went to a local central grocery market, a fancy steak house, Stockyard (which is also called Cow Town), and took a long morning walk.  It was wonderful to reunite with my sister.  We'll see each other again in a few weeks during our younger brother's wedding.

Bonita Wins Round 2 of CIF

The Bonita Bearcats earned a victory over The West Covina Bulldogs (my alma mater) on Friday night.  It was a CIF boys football playoff match.  As always, the band had a wonderful performance.

Marching Bearcats Showcase

The award-winning Marching Bearcats held an intimate performance for the Bonita family.  This wonderful group of students performed their fantastic field show in front of mostly parents and friends.  The senior band members and color guard performers were honored by the lower class-men with a second show performed only by the lower class-men.  Thereafter, the seniors showed off their creativity by injecting humor and musical talents in another show of their own.  It was a terrific night of music.  It is always great to see students do what they enjoy.  I also have deep admiration for our band director Mr. Bird.  He is such an expert in performance arts and teaching that his creativity and persistence transcends his students to another level.  We are all very excited to see the winter guard show this year.  **As I was taking these photos, I heard one of the students asked: "Mr. Yip, are you gonna put these on your blog?"  You got it.

Our proud Seniors - c/o 2015...

Seniors acting silly...

The entire band acting silly...

Math Fundraiser

I went to support Ms. Kwak's Calculus BC Scholarship Fundraiser on a Tuesday night.  It was a great opportunity for me to visit my former mentor and department chair.  She does so much for her students - I bought her cupcakes.

AP Workshop

I attended a day long AP Statistics workshop in La Jolla.  It was an informative session led by an experienced and enthusiastic presenter.  We went over many tips and official AP questions.  I plan to take back to my classroom all that I've learned.  It was, however, an exhausting day.  I woke up at 5a to be at La Jolla High School by 7:45a.  In all, it was about a four hour drive for a six hour session.  Nonetheless, I still feel that it was worthwhile since I can use any professional development as I can get in this AP course.

Treats from Cheers

At the end of an exhausting week, two cheer leaders stopped by my seventh period on a Friday afternoon and gave me some treats.  Thank you, Bearcats Cheer.

Cultural Exchange

Ivy joined our AP Statistics class a few weeks into the year.  She is an international exchange student from China.  We are very happy to have her be a part of our class.  On Thursday, as a part of her program requirement, Ivy gave a presentation during which she shared some of the Chinese culture with the class.  She did a wonderful job explaining some of the major Chinese holidays and cultural customs.  As a bonus, Ivy held a drawing and gave out some gifts to the students.  She saved a special porcelain piece for me.  Thank you, Ivy!

Showtime

The show was fantastic.  I thoroughly enjoyed the student performance.  One of my favorite parts was the opening song, the students sang their acoustic version of the popular hit "Take Me To Church".  It set the tone for the rest of the play, which was an emotional ride.  I also particularly enjoyed the second half of the play.  The students truly did an excellent job.  Congratulations to Mr. Fredrick for a successful production.

Comp Ticket

Thank you, Mr. Fredrick, for the comp ticket.  I would have been glad to make the purchase.  Very much looking forward to the play - Electra.

Banana Bread

My second period Geometry student Vinny came to my room early Monday morning to deliver a gift for me.  He and his mom bake together on occasion.  He gave me a fresh loaf of the banana bread with chocolate chips that they made this weekend.  It was delicious.  I am so grateful.  Thank you, Vinny.

P.S. On Wednesday, Vinny brought me more treats.  This time he gave me two chocolate chips cookies.

Dodgeball

This is one of the many traditions that we have on campus.  I arrived at the staff v. students game after it began and didn't get to participate.  It was a great lunchtime event that was surrounded with a lot of excitement.  I tried to participate in as many campus activities as I could manage this year.  At the same time, I know that I cannot do it all.  This is an event that I'll definitely try to participate in next year.

A Nerd's Tee

Abbie C. (c/o 2014) gave me this as a Christmas gift in 2010.  I had the pleasure of having her as a freshman in Algebra 2 and again in AP Statistics as a senior.  I also had her older brother Brian (c/o 2012) in AP Statistics in his senior year.  They are both outstanding students and talented musicians.  Abbie was also an elite athlete in volleyball and badminton.  Currently, they are both earning their degrees at Azusa Pacific University.  Thank you, Abbie.

P.S. - At the end of her freshmen badminton season, Abbie won Most Improved Player award.  She also gave me this birdie as a gift in May of 2011, thanking me for coaching her throughout the season.