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Piner Highlights

2013-2014 School Year

• Press Democrat's Extra Credit Blog "Piner High Senior: Gov. shutdown is scary".

• Piner Senior, Paloma Romero, featured in Press Democrat's Teen Life. Photo copyright the Press Democrat.

• Piner's Science Department presented the first STEM Cafe. Attendees heard a lecture by Julie Mangada, a Buck Institute research scientist, learned about stem cells, enjoyed refreshments, and participated in an activity about stem cells after the lecture.

• Fall 2013 Spirit Week - Fashion Disasters

• Check out the bounty being grown in the Piner Garden

• Piner High School posts 2nd largest API score gain in Sonoma County. "Nearly three out of four schools in Sonoma County saw their state academic score drop this year. Piner bucked the trend, posting a 36-point gain in its API score. Only the single-grade Sixth Grade Academy in Petaluma made a larger gain." (quote and photo credit Press Democrat). In the photo, Mary Nguyen (left) and Karla Lopez work on a lab project.

• 2013 Press Democrat Football Preview.

• 2013-2014 Welcome letter from Superintendent Shiels.

• Piner Educators Dante DePaola (4th from left) and Sarah Walls (4th from the right) named Educators of the Year from Piner High School. Each school chooses two teachers that exemplify great teaching. Honorees attended the Chamber of Commerce's 28th Annual "Excellence in Education Awards" award breakfast at the Flamingo Hotel.

• Piner Class of 2013 Graduate, Yessica Moran, featured in the Press Democrat's July 28th Teen Life.

• Piner's Kevin To is the SCL Tennis Player of the Year and Piner Teacher, Kurt Kruger, is Co-Coach of the Year.

• Piner Teacher, Dante DePaolo, teaching at Maker Camp Comstock Middle School.

• Check out Piner's Health Science & Biotechnology (HSB) blog

• Piner Biotech students are working at SSU for a two week internship. They are designing the lab protocols for our genetics unit for Year 1 HSB. This involves finding genetic markers to test for GMO's in common foods. The Piner HS/SSU Summer Internship Crew (left to right) is Sera Matasau, Victoria Trier, Anissa Garcia, Chris Campbell, Ryan Williamson, Christian Barnard, Raya Zopolos, Tommy Nguyen.

• Class of 2013 Piner Graduate, Yessica Moran, is the 2013 Career Technical Education Student of the Year by the Sonoma County Office of Education. Yessica will be acknowledged at the June 27th SCOE meeting.

2012-2013 School Year

• Piner's Connor Celeri goes to the State Track Meet on Friday May 31st

• Piner High School's Maker Program profiled on "Makerspace"

• Piner High School Senior Awards Night. Congratulations to all of our students!

• Piner Spring Outdoor Concert and Art Show

• Piner Science Students tour local company, Medtronic for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Awareness Day.

• Piner Senior, Allison Lopez (bottom right), named 2013 All-Empire Large-School Girls Scholar Athlete. Winners received a $500 college scholarship to recognize their achievements. Photo courtesy of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

• Listen out for radio ads about two of Piner's awesome programs, Early College Magnet Program & Geospatial. They are scheduled to air from 5/13-5/26 on KSXY Y100.9FM and KXTS EXITOS (Spanish language).

• Ms. Spearman's AP Lang Class of 2013 carries on the tradition. Dancing to "A Little Party Never Hurt Nobody" (sic), Ms. Spearman's AP Language and Composition class, 46 strong, took the College Board Advanced Placement test today (May 10, 2013). It is a Piner High School tradition for the class to design a t-shirt to wear on the big test day. This year's theme was inspired by the Hollywood release of 'The Great Gatsby', which Ms. Spearman's students went to see. Wearing shirts emblazoned with "Party Like Gatsby," "AP Language," and "PHS '14" the students marched into the quad and danced to music from the new soundtrack before entering the testing room. This tradition of shirts, marching, and dancing has inspired many students who might not consider taking a college-level course to test the waters and see if they can swim. In 2004 the AP Language roster was in the 30s. The class now regularly supports two sections topping off at 50. In 2004, 13 students passed the exam. 27 passed last year's exam! Currently, 81 students have signed up to take the course in 2013-2014. Perhaps a little AP never hurt nobody!

• Piner Senior-Faculty Basketball Game 2013

• Piner PHAST Club (Piner High Astronomy, Science, and Technology), Space Science, and GIS student overnight field trip to the Robert Ferguson Observatory at Sugarloaf. Students spent time observing the moon.

• Parent Meeting regarding summer plans for students with Guess Speaker Efren Carrillo on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 from 6 PM to 8 PM at Cook Middle School at 2480 Sebastopol Rd. in Santa Rosa.

• Piner's Matt Mulligan (bottom left) selected as one of the Community Youth Service Award winners. Click on the link for the complete list of nominees including Piner students: Holley Maasen, Bryan Lococo, Yessica Moran, Malika Lewis, Allison Lopez, and Ian Carpenter.

• Check out the latest Piner Makers class blog.

• Piner Assistant Principal, Tim Zalunardo, participates in Restorative Justice video which was presented to the Santa Rosa City School Board.

• Piner's Environmental Club plants a plum tree in our organic garden in honor of Earth Day.

• Piner students received a free novel in celebration of World Book Night April 23, 2013.

• Glass and Steel. Art and Science. Piner's new Science Center takes shape.

• Hands-on learning at Maker Faire for kids. Griffin Vorhaus, 5, right, prepares to shoot off the rocket he made with the help of Piner High School's Cristian Avalos, 17, second from right, while Rick Vorhaus and Gabriel Grover, 9, left, watch during the Sonoma County Maker Kids Mini Maker Faire on Saturday at the Sonoma Country Day School.

• Piner PTSA sponsored a Spring Beautification. Thank you to our Environmental and Key Clubs for helping out.

• Piner High School Administration Building Dedication for former Vice-Principal, Bob Zeni.

• Schools Plus of Santa Rosa presents Piner High School with a check for $20,000 for art and sports.

• Piner Students participated in the Every 15 Minutes Drinking and Driving Awareness Program

• Piner Art Teacher and Artist, Nick Mancillas, featured in Sunday's Press Democrat. Mr. Mancillas' current show, “Cardboard Currency,” is on display at the Capital One 360 Cafe Gallery in San Francisco through April 22.

• Piner "Mathletes" participate in annual Math Steeplechase. In the event teams compete with schools all over Sonoma County using math to solve puzzles. Piner's Will Tran received 1st place and Tommy Nguyen 2nd place for the Jr/Sr division. Nicole Gregorio got 2nd place for the Fresh/Soph division.

• Piner's Ryder Schalich featured on the Press Democrat Teen Face article

• Piner's 2013 Talent Show. Photos here.

• Piner HOSA students attended the State Conference. Yessica Moran (second from right) received a $500 Kaiser scholarship. Students attended seminars, participated in courtesy corps and Ms. Barcelon judged 2 events. One of our Forensic teams made it to the second round (Kristine Soy and Holley Maasen).

• Piner High School students on the Migrant Ed Debate Team: Eric Chavez, Omar Lopez and Dalia Alvarado won 1st place at the regional competition and will be going on to compete at the State competition. Karla Cuin won 2nd place for prepared speech and 1st place for surprise speech. Edith Meza took third place for prepared and surprised speech.

• Congratulations to Piner Sophomores Guadalupe Escutia-Jacobo, Mariela Martinez, Danile Rojas, and Monserrat Salas for being awarded a scholarship from the prestigious Summer Search project, a national leadership development program! They will receive 2 life-changing summers traveling, plus year-round mentoring and college and financial aid advising.

• The March/April Piner Early College Magnet Program newsletter is now available

• Piner High School students help open younger eyes to science during Piner Science Day

• Piner Senior, Brennen Urutia, organizes a work day in the Piner Garden.

• Piner gets a new wind turbine.

• Piner's Marylyn Duong profiled in the Press Democrat's Teen Face section.

• Piner's new Observatory dome arrives! The 4,000-square-foot facility will house the observatory, a planetarium and computer lab. It will be headquarters for the school’s award-winning Geospatial Technology Pathway but will be open to science, math and other classes that need high-tech presentation space. Principal Sally Bimrose said construction should be completed in June and classes will be held in the building next fall.

• Piner High School celebrates Asian culture.

• John Bribiescas, and Schools Plus representatives present the 2013 Schools Plus allocation of $160,000 to SRCS Board Member, Donna Jeye and SRCS High School Principals at the start of the William Barclay Memorial Choral Scholarship Concert on Friday, February 22, 2013 at the Green Music Center. Piner Principal, Sally Bimrose, is 5th from the left.

• Piner High School Choral students perform at SSU Weill Hall.

• Video showing how Piner's wood oven was created.

• Lexi Palm selected for CA Girls State. Girls State is a program to develop leadership skills in young women. One girl is chosen from each school to participate in a summer retreat.

• Aidan Carpenter wins the Piner Poetry Out Loud competition and moves on to the City wide competition.

• Piner High School's Debate Club participates in its first Tournament in San Francisco.

• The latest Piner Maker Program blog is up. Check out how the students designed and made their own gliders.

• Grace High School student, Amelia Ketzer-Dean, is Santa Rosa City School's Student of the Month for January 2013

• Piner Juniors, Lexi Palm, Marylyn Duong, and Destiny Martin, accepted to be a part of the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights' Junior Commission

• Piner Junior, Marylyn Duong, to attend the February 2013 Young Women's Political Leadership Program in Los Angeles put on by Running Start, a group dedicated to helping young women become involved in politics. She received an all expenses paid trip via a scholarship from Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

• Piner Counselor, Barry Sullivan, honored as Piner's CLHS Educator of the Year

• Farewell to Piner Secretary Kayelean Killen. Kayelean is moving on to the District Office.

• Piner's new Science Center starts to take shape.

• Piner Classrooms get into the holiday spirit.

• Piner Teacher & Staff Flash Mob

• Piner's "Team Organic Garden" build a new garden fence. Piner's Culinary students provided an awesome lunch with burritos, salsa, pie and lemonade.

• Mr. Castro's Spanish Speakers Class celebrate "Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) at Old Courthouse Square on November 1st

• Piner's Front Office gets into the Halloween spirit

• Piner Cross Country Boys Team showing a little patriotism

• Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey holds Q&A with Piner Seniors

(photo credit the Press Democrat)

• Star Rico named Homecoming Queen

• Piner PTSA's Fall Beautification Day

• The dawn of a new day at Piner High School! The glistening Observatory Pad of Piner's Science and Technology Center underneath the Moon and Venus.

• Piner's Ian Carpenter is Santa Rosa City School's Student of the Month for October 2012

• Piner Maker Program is the first of its kind in Santa Rosa City Schools. Scroll down to the Notices section for a description of this innovative program. In this photo below the students are building their own classroom work benches.

• Piner Culinary Instructor, Debbie Grove, wins First Place and Best of Show, Best Medium Awards at the 2012 Sonoma County Harvest Fair for her watercolor painting of a cow and calf grazing.

• Piner Drama students participate in Neighborhood Listening Project

• Piner's Culinary Students sell cookies at the 2012 Sonoma County Harvest Fair

• Piner's GTP Students at the Piner marquee announcing the sponsorship of Trimble Navigation Ltd for Piner's new Science and Technology Center.

• PHS Counseling Department recommended article: Connecting With Your Child's School Counselor for a Successful School Year

• Piner's Luis Luna named Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

• Piner's Kyra Johnson named Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

• Piner Teachers Karen Coster and Andrea Correia honored at the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce's 27th Annual Education & Business Partnership Breakfast. Both teachers have been nominated as "Educators of the Year" from Piner High School.

• Welcome Letter from incoming Santa Rosa City School's Superintendent Socorro Shiels

• Construction on Piner's Science and Technology Center begins!

2011-2012 School Year

• Piner Science Department brings out the telescopes to watch Venus travel in front of the Sun. Here is an image taken by Mr. Kruger. Venus is the largest black circle. The other smaller spots are sun spots.

• Piner's Luis Luna places fifth at State Track Meet.

• Seen around the parking lot on Graduation morning.

• Piner's Culinary students share a Pork and Bok Choy Stuffed Pot Stickers recipe made for the "Stark Reality Battle of the High School Chefs" during the Luther Burbank Rose Parade Festival.

• Piner's Science Department hosted a solar eclipse viewing party on May 20th.
Thank you Mr. Kruger and Mr. Carpenter for arranging the public viewing party. The crowd was big and enthusiastic. It was great to see so many people interested in science. People also discovered science on their own. We found that you could make a "pinhole camera" with your hand and see the eclipse. The light through the trees also created a lot of mini-eclipses.

• Piner's Early College Magnet Students at the End-of-Year BBQ

• Piner's 2012 AP Language Class - This year 43 Piner High School students took the rigorous AP Language and Composition test on May 16th. Marching to the testing site with "This Is How We Do It" blasting from a stereo, Ms. Spearman's class wore student-designed T-shirts commemorating the big day (a Piner AP Language tradition going on seven years now). This year's shirt marked the "Year of the Dragon," the Class of 2013's "Beast Mode," and also a dedication to the passing of Ms. Spearman's father, who always told young adults to "Follow Your Bliss." This truly was a special day.

• 10 years of hard work and dedication by many people, especially Piner Faculty Kurt Kruger and Kristi Erickson, came to fruition on Wednesday May 9th when the City of Santa Rosa School Board approved the bid for Piner's Science and Technology Center. Construction to begin Summer 2012! Read an article in the North Bay Business Journal.

• Piner's Spring Beautification Day

• Piner's Golf Coach, Rich Gregus, named 2012 Boys' Golf Honor Coach

• World Book Night 2012

• Piner's T-Shirt Club demonstrates how to silk screen a t-shirt.

• Santa Rosa City School Board approves the naming of Piner's Administration Building for former Piner Vice Principal, Bob Zeni (third from left).

• Rain or Shine...Piner Prospector Swim Team (below) competes strongly against Montgomery High at Finley Aquatic Center March 27, 2012

• Congratulations to Piner's Monica Acosta who placed in the Top 10 in Prepared Speaking at the 2012 California State Leadership Conferences

• Piner sets meet records at Gold Rush Relays

• Piner's Mr. Erickson and the Piner Christian Club host "Piner's Got Talent!" Click on the picture below to see more photos.

Spirit Week - February


Ms. Michiels Spanish Class

• Piner Soccer Coach Barry Commerford named 2012 Girls Coach of the Year (North Section) of the California Youth Soccer Association.

• Piner Junior Monica Acosta took first place in the Windsor Lions Student Speaker Contest.

• Next time you are at Raley's on Fulton, check out the window art by Piner Ceramics Club.

• 2012 Poetry Out Loud Winner for Piner High School, AJ Smither

• Piner's Luis Luna featured in the 2/5 Press Democrat's Teen Life section

• Piner's Isabel Lopez-Ochoa named Santa Rosa City School District's MEAP Honor Student of the Year

• Piner's HOSA Program holds First Annual Student Health Fair. Read more about it here or in the Press Democrat's Extra Credit blog.

• Piner's GIS Program presented with Golden Bell award at January 25th School Board Meeting

• Congratulations Luis Luna and Kyra Johnson, NBL All-Empire Cross Country Runners of the Year!

• Congratulations to the Piner Athletes making First Team for their sports: Cross Country: Luis Luna, Jaime Silva, Efren Reyes, Jason Saler, Kyra Johnson, Dezirae Johnson; Football: Kyle Patterson, Tight End Many other athletes received Second Team recognition and honorable mentions. Please go to Press Democrat Preps (PDPreps) online for more information.

• Piner places 4th in the Sonoma County Classic. Click here for photos. (Photos courtesy of Freshman parent Mr. Snetsinger)

• The Piner Art Show was a big success, especially open mic. Mi Thong did a solo clarinet piece. Mr. Mizera somehow simultaneously channelled the essence of 1970's William Shatner and Katie Perry in a performance art/poetry piece that had the audience enthralled, confused, and cracking up all at the same time. Mr. Dillilo and Elijah Alexander shared some poetry and music was performed by PJ McGinnis and Thersa Gellesch.

• Latino Club members and Art students visit SFMOMA and San Francisco Art Institute

• Congratulations to Luis Luna for finishing 30th at the 2011 Cross Country National Championship!

• Congratulations to Luis Luna for qualifying for the Cross Country National Championship!

• Congratulations Piner Cross Country Boys Team for placing 3rd at State! Congratulations to Luis Luna for placing 5th at State!

• Mr. Dilillo's Culinary Art's students start the holiday season off right by learning to cook and carve turkeys. All the meat was donated to help feed local homeless people.

• Thanks to our own Mr. Lopez, Piner High School was selected to receive a SAGE Mitsubishi Fellowship Grant.

• Santa Rosa City School Superintendent Sharon Liddell announces Piner High School's GIS Program wins prestigous CSBA Golden Bell Award

• Piner Senior, Leonard Carter, is the Santa Rosa City School's High School
Student of the Month for November 2011

• Piner Boys, led by Luis Luna, shatter records and win NBL Cross Country Championship. Piner Senior, Kyra Johnson, took first place. Varsity Girls tied for second place. JV Boys took second place.

• Teachers Jose Castro and Lorie Wilcox voted "Best All Around Staff" by PHS students

• "Don't Stop Believin'" - Piner Varsity Football gets first win

• Piner Boys Cross Country Team wins Ukiah Invitational

• Fall School Beautification

• Piner Educator Judy Barcelon honored by SCOE as Career Tech Teacher of the Year for work done in the Health and Science Pathway.

• Piner's Luis Luna posts fastest 5K in Empire history and wins Stanford Cross Country Invitational Division III race.

• Piner Graduate Mindy Yu, profiled in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

• Congratulations Piner students! Piner had the highest API score increase (33 points) from 2010-2011 of all SRCS high schools and is above 700 for the first time.

• Piner Boys, led by Luis Luna, dominate Cross Country Meet

• Piner's Principal, Sally Bimrose, provides Guest Opinion in the Press Democrat

• Piner Educators Sandi Lacey (L) and Patty Michiels (R) honored by Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Lacey was awarded the High School Educator of the Year for Santa Rosa

• Karen Coster named Early College Magnet Program Coordinator

• Piner's Luis Luna selected for Nike Elite Running Camp

Varsity gets the first win of the season!

Prospector Pete's Security Team
(aka Principal Sally Bimrose and Vice Principal Steve Mizera)

Spirit Week Day 5 - Mourn the Panther
Homecoming Rally - Sophomores

Spirit Week Day 4 - Santa Rosa Nerd Day
 

Spirit Week Day 3 - Piner Pride Day

Spirit Week Day 2 - Twin Day

Spirit Week Day 1 - Breast Cancer Awareness