Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Girls Volleyball / Semi-finals CIF

Although our Girls Volleyball team didn't bring home a CIF title, their accomplishments are far reaching.  This is how Maxpreps sports has them listed:

Mascot: Saxons Team: Varsity 12-13 
Colors: Scarlet, Vegas Gold, White
Address:1765 W Cerritos Ave, Anaheim, CA 92804
Overall:27-1-1 
League: 10-0-0 
National Rank:2625
State (CA) Rank: 239

Their ranking just keeps grows and their individual stats are amazing.  They dominated their opponents throughout the season as you can see by stats by match.  So when they didn't pull off a win in the Semi Finals, this viewer didn't walk away with his head hung low, he walked away knowing these girls made Saxon History.  They are the best we've seen (so far) and their accomplishments are something that should be written about in a blog.

Going into the Semi Finals this is what the OC Register wrote about the game to come:

No. 2 Hemet (Mountain Pass League champ, 21-5) at No. 3 Loara (Golden West League champ, 27-0-1)

Outlook: The Saxons are in the midst of a magical run, entering the semifinals undefeated. Loara swept Connelly in the quarterfinals, 25-17, 25-21, 25-23. After a first-round bye, Loara defeated Big Bear in four and swept Connelly. The Saxons have only dropped eight sets all season. Hemet won the 4A title last season. The Bulldogs have won their last six matches, including a three-set sweep over Twentynine Palms and a four-set victory over Colony of Ontario.

Thank you ladies for a magical season, it's been a great ride.



Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Band Spectacular

 taken from the program November 7, 2012

A Bit of History

Excellence in music in the district began in the early 1920's when Joshua Williams came to Anaheim High School.  During the 30 years at that school he gave free lessons to his high school students as to make a complete orchestra, then he encouraged the elementary schools to develop music programs.  The next important champion in Anaheim was William (Bill) Cook, who came to Anaheim High School while he was still a senior at Redlands College.  With the retirement of Williams in 1950, Bill Cook spearheaded the development of music throughout the new schools that were being  built in the district.

Loara has been blessed with only 3 band directors in our 50 year history,

1. Rick Moreno
2. Bill Schroeder
3. Scott Domingues

The first Spectacular was held at La Palma Stadium in 1963.  The show moved to the newly opened Anaheim Stadium in 1967 and back to Glover Stadium in 1984.  During the enrollment high of the district, and prior to the high schools becoming four year institutions, the Spectacular drew crowds of over 25,000 and featured 26 AUHSD schools (17 junior high schools and 9 high schools).

The Band and Pageantry Spectacular was never intended to be a competition, but rather a "show." The basic rationale of the "show" was to show off the excellence of the Anaheim Union High School District music program and to help the progression of young musicians from the junior high school programs through the high school band programs.

The All District Junior High School Band is composed of 120 musicians represent the eight junior high schools in the Anaheim Union High School District.  The members are selected by their directors to join in this opportunity to introduce them to the high school band program.  The goals of this group are to promote high expectations, outstanding achievement, motivation, and involve junior high school students in the large scope of music education.

The All District High School Band is also chose by the band directors.  They chose an equal amount of students so the band is a overall representation of the best of the best when it comes to High School music.  Over the years some of the best musicians in the nation played in the all district band.

Since the early 90's Loara's ASB has agreed to attend each and every band spectacular and since then other ASB's have been seen there supporting their bands ... of course Loara High School is always the loudest.

Once a Saxon, Always a Saxon.

Monday, November 5, 2012

3rd National Title: Hot Rodders @ Loara


Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA
Auto Show 2012


Aileen Melendez, Josh Coman, Andrew Romero, Chris Shamtiz, Steven Brown, Coach Russ Baccerala
(not pictured alternate Robert Loera)

THE EVENT


The event itself resembles the tear down between rounds at a drag race. The engines are identically prepared small block Chevy's complete with all the goodies, Edelbrock air cleaners - carbs – aluminum manifolds - heads - water pumps and valve covers, MSD distributors - wires, K&N oil filters, Hedman ceramic headers, TD timing chain covers, Moroso oil pans, ARP head bolts, Fel-Pro/Speed Pro gaskets and components, Melling oil pumps and Royal Purple lubricants. As you can see, we have many companies already involved with this event that show case their products. We have numerous manufactures supporting this program that do not build engine products. These Manufactures show support by sponsoring teams at each event. Students must properly disassemble the engine down to just crank, cam, and block using hand tools only with proper detorque and disassembly procedure. The team then returns behind their work bench, and when approved by the judges, teams begin working to reassemble once again with correct assembly procedure and torque specs, all while being viewed by judges and spectators. Time added penalties are assessed for dropped components, improper disassembly/assembly, poor sportsmanship, etc. All procedural penalties are in the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow rule book provided to the High Schools at the start of the school year. The team with the fastest time including penalty minutes wins.





HOT RODDERS OF TOMORROW NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!

Las Vegas NV. - "Showdown at SEMA" is the title of the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge National Championship at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas. This year 13 High School Auto Tech teams competed Oct 29 through Nov. 1, 2012 in the engine teardown and rebuild contest in front of thousands of spectators at the entrance of the SEMA show.

Loara High School Wins Their Third Straight National Championship Title

Team MOTIVE GEAR - Loara High School from Anaheim CA. won the 4th Annual "Showdown at SEMA" their third straight, with the average time of 21:24 minutes. The top three teams were so competitive that they all ended up less than a minute apart! All thirteen teams competing this year did fantastically well with the 13th placed team average being only 33:46!

Event Winners and Wildcard Teams Compete 

The thirteen teams earned their way to the "Showdown at SEMA" national championship. Eight teams by winning their events straight out and five additional teams that had the next best qualifying times in the Nation were invited to compete.

Time Averaged Playoff Format 

During the normal event competitions through the year, all teams compete once. The best time wins the event and that team has the opportunity to compete at SEMA. But during the national championship "Showdown at SEMA" all the teams competed a total of 4 times during the SEMA show starting Monday. At the end of the fourth day each team's highest time was thrown out and the remaining three times were averaged.


The National Champion for 2012 - Team MOTIVE GEAR (Loara High School from Anaheim CA.) was determined the winner with the best average time of 21:24. Trophies and scholarships were given out on Friday morning at the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow award presentation.

Second Place - Team ENERGY SUSPENSION - Eastern Oklahoma County Tech Ctr., Choctaw, OK. - Average Time - 21:54

Third Place - Team MR. GASKET - East Ridge High School from Chattanooga, TN. - Average Time - 22:19

Fourth Place - Team AEROMOTIVE – Burton Center for Arts & Technology, Salem, VA.- Average Time - 24:46

Fifth Place - Team MAGNAFLOW - North Orange County ROP, Anaheim, CA. - Average Time - 25:35

Sixth Place - Team ROYAL PURPLE - Elkhart Area Career Center #1 - Average Time - 25:50

Seventh Place - Team ARP- Elkhart Area Career Center #2- Average Time - 25:53

Eighth Place - Team PROFORM - Peach County High School Fort Valley, GA.- Average Time - 26:14

Ninth Place - Team THERMO-TEC –Thomas County Central High School, Thomasville, GA.- Average Time - 27:40

Tenth Place - Team EDELBROCK - Fremd High School, Palatine, IL.- Average Time - 28:50

Eleventh Place - Team HEDMAN HEDDERS - Belvidere North High School, Belvidere, IL - Average Time - 31:04

Twelfth Place - Team MSD - Joliet Central High School, Joliet, IL.- Average Time - 32:31

Thirteenth Place - Team PAINLESS PERFORMANCE - Sequoyah High School, Soddy Daisy, TN.- Average Time - 33:46


1.2 MILLION DOLLARS Awarded to the participants in scholarship money

Three Auto Technological Colleges: 

Ohio Technical College (OTC), 
University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) and 
School of Automotive Machinists (SAM) 
are presenting all the High School students participating scholarship money.

Each College is awarding the following:

$10,000 to each first place team member,

$9,000 to each second place team member,

$8,000 to each third place team member,

$7,000 to each fourth place team member,

$6,000 to each fifth place team member and

$5,000 to each sixth thru thirteenth place team member.

Friday, November 2, 2012

50th Anniversary / Birthday Rally 11.1.12

On November 1, 2012 Loara High School celebrated their 50th year in existence.  Covered in an earlier blog, Loara Beginnings - 80's you'll remember the school opened on November 1, 1962.  We have been planning this day for quite some time but with the help of David Sporn (class of 1990) Chuck McCance (class of 1974), Susan Nicholas (class of 1965) and alumni teachers Gary and Jeanette Cleaveland we were able to pull this off in full Saxon fashion.  Of course the main players were in place, asb, the band, the choir, jrotc, the cheerleaders and the color guard ready to perform to put on a great show.  We also had help from the PTSA bringing in over 2000 cupcakes for our kids, our new Principal John Briquelet as our emcee, the Superintendent Elizabeth Novack as our guest speaker and several alumni, alumni teachers and staff along with board members and other district officials.  It was an afternoon to remember.


50th Anniversary Celebration


Other Loara Dignitaries were;

  1. Alden Esping (Health and Activities Director / Also at Ball Jr. High 30 years)
  2. Carol Cook 
  3. Dr. Jan Billings (taught in AUHSD and former Superintendent)
  4. Shirley Miller (Ball Junior High's Cafeteria)
  5. Dr. Agnes Meck (AP)
  6. Mike Greenwood and his wife (Math)
  7. Don Budd (Math)
  8. Dave Hurlburt (taught Drivers Ed and Math - the longest at Loara)
  9. Luis Ruiz (one of the first teachers at Loara)
  10. Beverly Nicholas (school nurse)
  11. Dave Strauht (custodian in the 60's and 70's)
  12. Chuck Darrington
  13. Bob Gardener (Principal at Clara Barton)
I can't explain the feeling of the campus by students and teachers alike, they were more complimentary than I've ever seen them in recent memory.

That morning during the video announcements, Gwen Stefani wished the Saxons a Happy 50th Anniversary (a video we also showed those in attendance of the Homecoming Assembly.)


Gwen Stefani's Congrats


"Back on November 1st, 1962, Loara High School first opened its doors to the public. Over the intervening 50 years, it has been an outstanding public high school, one with a rich history of academic and athletic successes and one that is still cherished by its students, staff, alumni, and the local community. Because this Thursday marks the actual 50th Anniversary of the Saxons, we will be celebrating with a pep-rally and ribbon-cutting ceremony during our students’ lunch period. In addition to our own students and staff, dignitaries from AUHSD, and Loara’s storied past have been invited to attend. We are looking forward to a wonderful event that will help all of us memorialize this important date."

Mr. John Briquelet - Principal 2012

Thursday, November 1, 2012

November 1, 2012 Saxon Shield

The Saxon Shield is back, after a few lean budget years and a year where they didn't know the name was the Saxon Shield, the Shield prints it's first issue in years and does so on the 50th anniversary of the school opening.  On November 1, 2012 the following shield went out.

Just a disclaimer, this is not done as a class any longer and the kids do this by their self .  Yes there is an adviser but for the most part it is a true student publication so any typos or not knowing formatting of newspapers needs to be forgiven.  At least for now, it's their first one.  










Thursday, October 25, 2012

LaPalma Park / Glover Stadium and DeeFee Field

La Palma / Las Palmas / Glover Stadium / Dee Fee Field

History of Glover Stadium


As I was looking about to find the History of Glover Stadium, as is usual lately on Facebook, either the Loara High School site or the Loara 50th Anniversary site there is a vibrant discussion of everything Loara.  From the tree in front of the school to when did it go from La Palma Park to Glover Stadium.  So ask no more, thanks to JoAn Burdick Gottlieb (Class of xx) and Richard MacLeod (Class of 72) my answers are clear.

JoAn offered this ... La Palma Park and La Palma Stadium was original name. Anaheim High Coach Glover (pronounced as a "glove" with er ) was honored after he passed away. In the beginning Dee Fee a 6 ft. 3' Anaheim Park Maintenance Superintendent for La Palma Park, had the baseball field named after him and it is Dee Fee Field if you enter from the West entrance look up and see the name Dee Fee Field. In those years I taught my baton twirling groups at La Palma Park on Saturday mornings. I had the Pre-School and young ones, then had the Junior group, followed by the Seniors -- Jr. High and High School. Then I drove to Hollywood to do two shows a night for the Frank Sennes Mouline Rouge Dinner Theater. Saturdays were always hard, as I didn't get to sleep until about 3 am after I drove home from the last show and getting a bite to eat. Couldn't have that much "steam " these days .


LA Times


And then Richard found this from 1989 ...

GOLDEN YEARS : Anaheim's Glover Stadium Celebrates 50 Years of Treasured Sports Memories
June 23, 1989|STEVE KRESAL | LA Times Staff Writer


Joe DiMaggio played there with the Santa Ana Air Base team during World War II.
Connie Mack brought his Philadelphia Athletics there for spring training in 1940.  Mack later told The Sporting News it was the best spring training site he had used in 50 years in baseball.

Joe DiMaggio
The St. Louis Browns trained there in 1946. Many of the stars of the Pacific Coast League in the late 1930s and '40s played there during spring training, including Johnny Vander Meer, who pitched consecutive no-hitters for the Cincinnati Reds in 1938.

The baseball and football stadium at La Palma Park in Anaheim is not unlike a museum: It doesn't look special from the outside, but it's filled with history--50 years of it, to be exact. La Palma Park celebrates its golden anniversary this year. The stadium--best known today as Glover Stadium--opened in March of 1939, and the rest of the park in August.

Many of the best high school baseball players in Orange County have played on La Palma's field, including Mike Witt of the Angels, Gary Carter of the Mets and Royals' minor leaguer Bob Hamelin. The stadium has played host to the Orange County high school all-star baseball game the past 22 years.

"The place just has a mystique about it," Cypress College baseball Coach Scott Pickler said. Pickler, who grew up in Anaheim, played American Legion games at La Palma and later coached his Loara High School teams there.

"I remember when we would host the Loara tournament and we would play the first game of the season there," Pickler said. "The field looked perfect. It was like we were the first ones to ever play on it."

The stadium, one of the few multipurpose stadiums for non-professional teams, is maintained by the city of Anaheim's parks department.

In 1937, area merchants decided some vacant land in north-central Anaheim would be a perfect place for an automobile junk yard. After all, about all that happened there were some Valencia Orange Growers' Assn. shows and an occasional flood.

The city council, however, thought a rusty pile of cars and scrap parts would be an ugly border for the city, so it decided to ask the federal government for money to build a park. The Works Progress Administration program provided the funds, plus 63 workers.

Construction began Dec. 16, 1937. There were a few early delays, one to remove nearly 1,000 feet of irrigation pipe that had been unexpectedly unearthed. About a fourth of the work was completed by March of 1938, only to have a fierce storm hit.

The project resumed in early April and grass was planted in June. In July, the Anaheim Chapter of the Lions' Club held a picnic and grass-cutting party at the park.

The stands and the locker rooms below the stands--which are still in place today--were completed in early 1939. By March of 1939, the baseball field was ready for the opening ceremonies.
Jackie Robinson
In 1950 Jackie Robinson starred in a movie about his life, called "The Jackie Robinson Story." The picture was filmed in part at Las Palmas Park in Anaheim, also known as Glover Stadium/Dee Fee Field. In the photo to the left, Jackie is pictured at bat at Las Palmas with the wood stands behind him.

This park has a long history with professional baseball. It was originally built in 1939 and has been used as a spring training home for the former American League team the St. Louis Browns.

First used by the California League in 1941, (pictured above) it was an active professional ballpark until 1948 when the Sunset League last made this their home for 2 years. The Sunset League was famous for being the first "official American minor league" system to utilize Mexican ballparks as part of the league. The Sunset League later spawned the Tex Mex League and the AZ Mex League. These 3 leagues combined, used over half a dozen Mexican ballparks. Many of which still are standing today and are again part of the new Arizona-Mexican league which started 2003.

Amazingly, this little piece of baseball history is still standing in Anaheim. It's not often you find a former professional ballpark.. not used in so many years... that hasn't been demolished, especially in a large urban environment  Even more astounding, is that it's almost in 1941 game day condition, as shown below.

***

And now you know.

What were some of your favorite memories of La Palma Park / Glover Stadium or DeeFee Field.  (besides the bums that sleep there today)

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Homecoming Dances

Seaxe 1966 / Loara's First Homecoming Dance, Gym 11.19.1965

High school dances have changed in the last 50 years.  If you read the Saxon Shield and Yearbooks of old you will see that the Homecoming Dances were true Homecomings.  The alumni were invited back for free and the cost of the dance was $1.00.  But the decor was not extravegant but it worked for the time.  Most of the time there was a Dj spinning records in the corner and everyone had a great time.


Loara High School Gym 10.20.2012 / taken at the same angle as the 1965 Homecoming Photo


Surprisingly the cost hasn't shot up that much in 50 years.  A ticket is $15.00 today, surly that doesn't match the cost of living increases.  Loara works hard to make the dances as affordable as possible for all to attend.  Nothing worse than a dance with no one there.  In a 1990's yearbook they reported they were over 400 attendees, today we get about 800 in attendance in good years but we generally hit the 700 mark.  Sadly that's about 1/3 of the school, many have to work, baby sit or are not interested in dances.  

In 2013 terms Dj is a name that has morphed Vj (Video Jockey), Digital Dj's and more have entered the scene.  Oddly enough many have turned back to vinyl to mix their music but most do so on a Digital turntable not playing records or cd's at all but digital remixes that are further remixed at the dance itself.  Video has entered the dj scene that allows Dj's to play music videos of the songs they are tracking at the same time.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Homecoming Halftimes / Games

Courtesy of 2012 Seaxe / Kelly Low Queen
There have been several ways we have found to crown a Queen and King.  Since 1965 (First Homecoming) The Queen was announced in a halftime ceremony and by 1988 (First Kings) we began crowning Kings at the dance.

We've brought them out in corvettes, chariots, walked them out, paraded them, carried them and the likes.

No matter how we have done it the winners have felt that stars, like they are the only one in the room at that moment and to them and the school, for that one moment, they are a Queen of a King.

All this while there is a football game going on in between crownings or even a dance when it comes to  the King.

Courtesy of 2012 Seaxe / Nolan Sanchez King
For the 50th we spared no expense, we had corvettes representing each year, we had confetti cannons that went off when the queen was announced, we brought the band out of 1/2 time retirement to play a soft song in the back ground while the queens were announced and we had 2 emcee's describing the girls and boys and they came driving by.  For 2012, we had a show.  In the past 24 years that I've been involved in the crowning, i'm always amazed we make it in time because our 1/2 times often go long.  The shortest I believe was about 4 minutes and the longest was this year and we used all 20 minutes given with only about 50 seconds left on the clock.

Happy 50th Anniversary Loara High School, Happy Anniversary.

Queens of 1965 - 1987 video

Queens and Kings of 1988 - 2012 video

As to the football games, often times the game we chose is the big rival. Either Katella High School or Anaheim High School which will rile up the crowd.  As leagues shift  and we are now in the Golden West League we no longer can battle these teams in our Homecoming game.  We have only been in 3 Leagues, Empire, Sunset and now Golden West.



Homecoming Game / Halftime / Post Game slide show courtesy of Bill Norris


What are some of your memories of Homecoming Game and Halftime?

Monday, October 22, 2012

Homecoming Assemblies

1962 - 1970

Traditional Assemblies were held and the alumni returned to support their team, their school and their community.  It was a true Homecoming where the alumni were allowed to come to the dance for free and helped performed in the Assemblies.

1970 - 1985

Boom Boom (John Dahlem) 1983 HC
Bubbles (Rick Martens) 1985 HC
The Legend of Boom Boom (John Dahlem) was well known at Loara High School during the 1970 - 1985 school years.  Boom Boom performed at all Homecoming Assemblies (until Homecoming 1984) and helped the faculty start the annual tradition of entertaining the Loara community.  Although "political correctness" would not support Boom Boom today, many Saxons fondly remember her dances and cheers for the football team.  For awhile Boom Boom's little sister Bubbles the Ballerina (Rick Martens, class of 75) came to perform but was short lived (1984 - 1987) as the Loara community changed.  Bubbles was initiated in 1985 and it was also the year they began the teachers Lip Sync, which is the tradition that is carried on today.


Seaxe 1985 Farewell to Boom Boom
1985 to the present

The all teacher lip sync came out of need.  Boom Boom retired her wig to become a Principal at Ball Junior High School, Loara's feeder school.  There was a concern to what came next after Boom Boom but with numbers like LMFAO and Psy and the teachers willingness to participate, we really solidified the next era of Homecoming Assemblies.  Our audience this year was filled with alumni and they were treated to a spectacle of cheers and spirit.  Along with the all teacher lip sync we have a 35 minute student assembly with performances from Cheer, Color Guard and Student Groups ... Loara's assemblies are legendary.






Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Homecoming Queens & Kings 1988 - 2012

The Age of the Homecoming King


1988 - 1989 Seaxe
The second 25 years marked a transition with bringing in Homecoming Kings to the mix.  After a game against the Cypress Centurions that ended in a tie, a new set of traditions set in motion.  The field not only had Queen candidates present, but King candidates were there too.  Hearing names like Craig Beltran, Adam Dove, Imron Hussain, Mark Plettink, Billy Kang, Vince Carpino, Dan Bokelman or Robert Garcia announced must have had alumni what had happened, but they didn't hear wrong.  Jerry Halpin, Activities Director at the time, and his cabinet thought it was time to join many in the county that were adding Prince and King candidates on the ballot.

Below, click on to see a video of the Queens / Kings of 88 - 12.  Again, sorry I cannot show the YouTube Video direct, but the link will get you there (click here). Enjoy!


Queens & Kings: The Second 25



1988 - Michelle Wilkoff (the last stand alone queen)
1989 - Nicole Conner & Billy Kang (first King)
1990 - Katy Valdez & Coy Collins
1991 - Jill Stefani & Mark Axtman
1992 - Kerry Swallows & Bryant Jackson
1993 - Diana Rankin & Brent Sporn
1994 - Elana Fox & Vince Pla
1995 - Jaimee Strand & David Ferguson
1996 - Kelli Heise & Richard Meza
1997 - Sunny Chung & Alex Martini
1998 - Erika Guzman & Zack Winnick
1999 - Elisa Vartanian & Sean Moses
2000 - Cheyanne Holton & Aviran Barlev
2001 - Cindy Kobayashi & Greg Pak
2002 - Erin Craton & Chad Peach
2003 - Michelle Malanga & Jack Lam
2004 - Kristy Vincent & Zach Langhauser
2005 - Monse Gallardo & Carlos Vazquez
2006 - Clare Morgenstern & Denni Ki
2007 - Nichole Simpson & Joshua Apia
2008 - Christina Mantas & Patrick Boyle
2009 - Brionna Davis & Mike Jones
2010 - Alyssa Flores & Nolan Sanchez
2011 - Amanda Jones & Esteban De la Cruz
2012 - Kelly Low & Nicholas Garcia


Saxon Shield October 14, 1988

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Homecoming Queens 1962 - 1987

Saxon Shield / November 18, 1965

The First Queen to 1987


Patti Williams - Saxon Shield Dec. 9, 1965
As the school opened in 1962 there was no Homecoming held until they graduated in 1965, the class of 1966 got the first Queen.  Often times people are confused as to who was Queen their year, because Graduation is the calendar year after Homecoming ever happens. This means during the 1966 year the Queen is crowned in 1965.  

Loara's first Homecoming was November 19, 1965.  Loara played Kennedy High School at Handel Stadium and it also marked the night that the Larry Lawrence Memorial Circle was dedicated.  The dance was held after the game in the Gym from 10:30 pm - 12:30 am and cost $1.00 with ASB and $1.50 without ASB to attendees and free to all alumni.


Patti Williams / First Queen
To keep things simple (I hope) I've listed the Queens in their graduating years not their crowning year, and I've separated them in 25 year chunks (which means more to follow).


Enjoy the video montage of the first 25 years of crowning.  Oh and before I hear any chirping I stuck some other photos from other dances in there just to make the video flow with time, see if you can spot them and which dance they were from.

Loara High School Homecoming 1962 - 1987 Video
 (click here)
I apologize that I can't seem to get a video to insert, I believe it's because of special graphics, so you'll need to click through to the video by clicking the link or graphic.




The Queens

1963 - First Class enters Loara
1964 - Sophomores & Juniors only
1965 - First Graduation
1966 - Patti Williams

1967 - Cheri Lessley
1968 - Nancy Freedman
1969 - Anne McDonald
1970 - Dorothy Bye
1971 - Nancy Ribacchi
1972 - Robin Humphry
1973 - Silvia Haaz
1974 - Dean McDonald
1975 - Sue Lee
1976 - Laurie Hoffart
1977 - Linda Emond
1978 - Sara Schantz
1979 - Robin Ray
1980 - Dana Krygler
1981 - Christie Dubach
1982 - Sheryl Sutherland
1983 - Wendy Fowke
1984 - Nancy Reiss
1985 - Ange Andros
1986 - Robyn Gorrie
1987 - Kathy Rodrigues

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Ribbons & Memories

How many people in Saxonland remember these things?  Those ribbons you'd buy every football game at Loara to support your team and your school?

ON this blog please list any other memory you have of Loara High School whether it be a spirit pin, a favorite place to eat, your favorite class or anything else that comes to mind ... we would love to hear your story.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Homecoming Elections

Tuesday, October 9, 2012


Homecoming elections are done.
Thanks Orange County Registrar of Voters
for running them.
I posted on Facebook on the afternoon of Tuesday, 10.09.12 a simple photo and a caption (see right).  From this simple photo and simple caption with a thank you to the Orange County Registrar of Voters (OC ROV) brought some of the most interesting of comments.  Loara has been using the MyBallot Student Election Program  for about three years now for Homecoming elections and last year used them for ASB Elections.  They have worked with us so well you'll even see one of our former students Teejay Hipolito (class of 2012) on the link and pamphlets advertising the program (he is the young man on the far right of the screen when you go to MyBallot).  The program to get them on our campus is simple.  Someone from the OCROV comes to Loara and talks about the election process and why the balloting system is important.  We then go to the OCROV and see how a ballot is made and the security they use so there is no fraud on an elections.  Lastly they come to us and hold our elections for us.

What were those comments? (I took the names off to help out their privacy)




Why do we do our elections so fancy these days?  


Students waiting to vote
Well there are many reasons, here are three: The OCROV need poll workers so they use us as a community liaison to help recruit poll workers ($90 to work the polls, who isn't interested), we want kids to get familiar with the election devices they'll use when they turn 18, and we want to show fair elections at school sites.

In many south county schools parents feel that schools are fixing election and their son or daughter was kept from achieving their High School dream of being Queen or King (look I'm not judging, but it seems a bit odd right?) Although that is far from the truth at Loara High School, as I really don't have any real buy in to who wins or loses, there are those that really think it happens.  So, with the help of the OC ROV electronic machines there can be no doubt.

How do elections run these days?  We allow the entire school to nominate who they want on the ballot, we have a committee to tally all those ballots, all 2600 of them, and then send the names off to the OCROV (all ballots are then locked into the safe in case anyone feels the count is off, I'll let em count them themselves).  We have been doing the tally system for the last 23 years I've been at Loara (and I remember a similar system prior).

Here is where it changes, we used to spend quite a bit of money and time on Scantrons and handing them to everyone for them to bubble in the answer.  Scantrons cost about $200 - $400 an election, and took about 1 hour to run after school.  Our change using the MyBallot system is we agree to a time they will come onto campus to set up their 48 electronic machines, they bring in 5 or so of their employees along with 5 of our students and an electronic election is held.  Seniors come out during one period during the day, Juniors come out during another, Sophomores during another and Freshmen yet another.  Once all that chose to vote do so (this ends at the end of lunch) then a guy wearing a tie carrying a briefcase, a computer and a printer comes onto campus, plugs all the tallying machines together and within 5 minutes we have an answer.

This has allowed us a lot of freedom in the way we announce the court and has freed us up from expense and time.  I am truly thankful to Neal Kelley, who is the Registrar of Voters for Orange County, California, the fifth largest voting jurisdiction in the United States, serving more than 1.6 million registered voters.  He has made elections accessible to schools and has helped Loara High School considerably in the quest to be community minded with their MyBallot program.