Author: thelegendonline

By Diane Tran

Michelle Flores

How did you feel about getting a position here at PHHS?

“Since I graduated from Piedmont, it [has] always been a dream to come back and work here, just because I felt like this was the school that got me on the path to wanting to become a teacher.  So, I was really excited when I was finally able to come back to my higher ship.”

What is one thing you love about PHHS?

“The kids. The kids are really caring towards another.  They are really motivated in school.  They treat each other really well.  It’s just a very good atmosphere compared to other schools.  It’s just a good community.”

Interesting fact: Ms. Flores used to be a former Pirate and taught at Live Oaks!  ### 126/80

 

Justine Kunkel

How do you feel about counseling at PHHS?

“I was really super excited.  You know I used to work here as a PARA (Parent Education in the Special Ed Department) about two years ago.  I really loved working here.  The staff is awesome, the students here are awesome.  Counseling is something I am really passionate about.  I’m glad to be back here as a counselor.”

Interesting fact: Ms. Kunkel is a freshman advisor and she used to work at Piedmont Hills and James Lick High School.

 

Katherine Lighty

Why History?

“I really like history.  I’m fascinated by the choices the people make and the interactions between different cultures and different eras.  So, history allows me to study people and the way their behavior [impacts] a larger scale.”

What is the difference between Piedmont and Palo Alto Preparatory?

“Some of it is just the scale of things.  The last school where I was we had about 75 students in grades 9-12.  It was really small. Generally, my class sizes would be between 7 and 12 students.  So getting used to being at a school that has 2000 students has been fun, but it is definitely different than where I was before.”

Interesting fact: Ms. Lighty has blue/purple hair, can eat fire, and loves to knit.

 

Gerald Johnson

Why Nutrition and Home Economics?

“Well, normally in the past, I would’ve taught performing arts (music).  However, this year there was an opening and I had taught five weeks last year and I really liked it.  I like the school.  I like the kids.  I love the subject, being able to help everyone eat and cook healthy nutritious food.”

What have you done before teaching at PHHS?

“I taught at Yerba Buena for six years.  And then I went into high technology and worked primarily in sales for twenty years, Oracle, Apple, and a bunch of startups.  Then I realized I wanted to get back into teaching.”

Interesting fact: Mr. Johnson used to teach computer technology and music.  His degree originally was in music.

 

Ryan Lundell

What was your aspiration besides being a teacher?

“Mainly, I wanted to be a NBA player.  As I got into high school, I wasn’t going to get much taller than I am and I [couldn’t] really jump, so I knew at that point I needed to get a second career.  But I never really knew what I wanted to do, and even after college it was still like, ‘Do I really want to teach?’  Once I started student teaching, that’s when it became very evident that this is fun, you can have a lot of fun doing it, you can be very creative, you have quite a bit of freedom to use your creativity in the classroom in the way which you like.  That is why this [has to] be my career, it is so much fun. I really enjoy it.

Interesting fact: Mr. Lundell taught at Andrew Hill, Oak Grove, and Yerba Buena. He was a bartender for 8 years.

By Patrick Trieu

Piedmont Hills Class of ‘15 alumnus Johnathan Deming and Class of ‘13 alumnus Bryson Ambrose Young passed away this summer due to tragic events.

Deming was fatally shot by police in Pleasanton, CA in July.  Police officer Daniel Kunkel shot the unarmed Deming during a physical altercation between the two.  After the event, Deming was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he died of his injuries.

Young passed away in his sleep at his home in San Jose, CA on June.  At the time, Young was a senior at UC Berkeley, where he was a Spanish and Pre-Med major and was studying to become a doctor.

Deming served as a defensive lineman on Piedmont Hills’s varsity football team and was remembered by his former social science teacher Paul Romero as a quiet, yet happy student.

“He was very quiet but always felt like he was alert.  He was a good kid, always smiling,” reminisces social science teacher Paul Romero.

During his time at Piedmont Hills, Young was part of the PHHS Treble Makers, which is the school’s vocal jazz ensemble, and the school’s wind ensemble, in which he played clarinet.  Throughout his high school and university career, Young was well-known for his friendly and active personality, as well as his passion for music.

“Bryson was a one of a kind person.  He had a really infectious laugh and had the ability to get along with lots of different kinds of groups of people,” recalls performing arts teacher Myles Ellis, who was a former teacher of Young.

Former teachers of the two alumni express sorrow over the deaths, but also recount happy past memories in honor of the alumni.

“And that’s what you try to think about, you try to think about the good things,” reminds Mr. Romero.

Who runs the world? 2016 Male Cheer performs at the Homecoming Rally.

Photo courtesy of Milee Alcantara

By Valerie Nguyen

On the week of Sept. 28, Piedmont Hills anticipated its 50th Homecoming as ASB (Associated Student Body) prepared for the traditional class hall decorations, Powderpuff games, Homecoming rally, football game and dance.

The hallways were decorated for all of staff, students and visitors to see as they roamed the halls.  Like every year, each class had its own distinctive theme to which they dressed up on their specific spirit day: sophomores on Monday, freshmen on Tuesday, juniors on Wednesday, seniors on Thursday and the usual class color day on Friday.  The halls were divided for each class: the freshmen with Lilo & Stitch, sophomores with Peter Pan, juniors with Alice in Wonderland and seniors with the End of the World.

“As an officer for the last three years, this year’s Homecoming was the best out of all of them,” said senior class Treasurer Trang Nguyen.  “Although it was the most stressful, it was great to see how we changed and progressed as a class through our artwork and commitment towards the halls.”

Girls’ Powderpuff, a flag football game among all the classes, began kick off at the beginning of the week with the juniors facing the freshmen and later followed with the sophomores against the seniors the next day.  On Wednesday, the freshmen and sophomores went head to head for third place, which the sophomores took home with 15-0.  The championship game with the seniors facing the juniors included both touchdowns made from senior Jasmine Gonzalez, resulting with the seniors’ win of 13-0.

For every Homecoming comes a rally at the end of the week that consisted of skits based on themes from each class and performances by the cheerleaders and Male Cheer.

“We put as much time and dedication into Male Cheer as much as someone would put into an after school sport.  We had long practices multiple times a week for about a month and a half.  In the end, it paid off, because we pulled through and gave Piedmont an amazing routine to see,” explained senior Brandon Thai.

The Homecoming game occurred on that same Friday with the Piedmont Hills Pirates versus the Willow Glen Rams.  The game had a halftime show with the performances of the cheerleaders and Male Cheer as well.  The Pirates closed the game with a win of 49-33.  At the end of the game, the Administration provided a fireworks show in honor of Piedmont Hills’ 50th year anniversary.

The Homecoming Dance was the last of the events on the following Saturday with a Monte Carlo theme known as “Welcome to Para-dice.”  Homecoming King and Queen nominees included freshmen Sean Nguyen and Isabella Castro; juniors Alan Huynh and Elaine Pham; senior Dominik Pedraza and junior Heather Le.

The dance contained bright fairy lights, a flashy photo booth and catchy music for students to enjoy throughout the night.  As the voting went on until the end of the dance, Dominik and Heather were announced Homecoming King and Queen.

“My favorite part would have to be the Homecoming Dance.  It was a perfect way to end the long week, because we were all able to come together as a school and have fun,” commented ASB President Richard Nguyen.

ASB definitely had their work cut out for them this year, but as usual, they continue to surprise the students to their abilities along with the help of each class.

By Yen Linh Duong

ESUHSD and Eastside Teacher’s Association came up with a tentative agreement on Sept. 10 in a mediation session, preventing a Work To Rule that was supposed to happen the Monday following after, according to School Site Council President Shelley Moneymaker.

The teachers met again on Sept. 30 and voted for the newly formed agreement, a three year contract.

“We reached a tentative agreement.  Our negotiating team has negotiated, and we voted actually a couple days ago on the 30th and it approved by over 90%,” said math teacher Ting Zhu.

The Board of Education also agreed to the offer and officially ratified it.

“The board members at ESUHSD voted to approve the agreement, so now we have a contract and all negotiations are done until the spring before this contract is set to expire,” explained English teacher Nancy Kennett.

Work To Rule was the solution the teachers agreed on, hoping for fairer working terms and wages from the district.  Even though Work To Rule affected students as well, many were willing to go through it if it could help their teachers.

“I think Work To Rule is a necessity for teachers mostly because they do put in a lot of work for a student and they should be recognize and it’s only fair that they be given some compensation, additional compensation for what they do,” commented Key Club Project Writer Jason Wu.  “I think the teachers just have to do, it’s not going to be pretty for any of the sides, like the district, the administration, the students, and even the teachers themselves. It’s going to hurt everyone.  Our clubs should stand by the teachers and even if the teachers did go onto Work to Rule, as a club, we will work our way around it.”