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Mission San Jose High School
Mid-Year Update
February 2015
Dear Families:
In the blink of an eye we have just passed the mid-year point of the 2014-2015 schoolyear. It hit me when this week I had a conversation with our Senior Class Officers
about graduation. Before we know it that event will be upon us. I complimented the 4
officers on making it to the half way point. They have a tough job leading their peers
and they are doing an excellent job. Thank you for your service President Joani Wong,
Vice President Andrew Chang, Secretary Alisha Matharu, and Treasurer Arvindh
Natarajan. Keep up the good work!
Our registration process is underway. The counselors spent Monday February 9th in
Hopkins math classrooms explaining 9th grade and the registration process to our
incoming Freshmen class. In March, counselors and administrators will work with our
current 9th, 10th and 11th graders on registering for classes for the 2015-16 school year.
Students at Mission San Jose win so many awards that if I were to list them all this
update would be about 15 pages long. I know I speak for all of the faculty and staff
when I say we are incredibly proud to be working with the students at our school. One
standout award goes to Vaishnavi Shrivastava, a senior. Vaishnavi is the only student
in Fremont to be recognized by Intel as a 2015 semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent
Search. Vaishnavi’s project was to create a noninvasive regenerative stem cell treatment
for osteoporosis through an injectable nanocomposite orthopedic implant and low
intensity pulsed ultrasound stimulation. Congratulations, Vaishnavi! As part of the
honor, Vaishnavi recognized one of her teachers, Ms. Arshiya Sultana, as an inspiration
for her work. There are only 300 semifinalists nationwide! Vaishnavi won $1,000.00 for
herself and $1,000.00 for Mission San Jose. All great news.
We do not offer “NON-HONORS” classes:
From time to time I hear students chattering and the words “non-honors” have been
heard in their conversations. This is how it goes, Student A: I am taking non-honors
Chemistry.” Student B: “Oh ya, I heard non-honors is hard too.” We offer College
Preparatory, Honors, and Advanced Placement classes but nothing is non-honors.
Students in every level deserve the respect for working hard in the class that is best for
them and to me, referring to a class as “non-honors” is somewhat disrespectful. I’ve
alerted staff to refer to classes as College Prep., Honors, or AP and I enjoy asking
students what non-honors is and then explaining the reason to them. They all get it.
Why do I tell you this? Last week I made it a point to visit some 12th grade classes.
When I walked into Mr. Rath’s 12th grade College Preparatory English class I have to
admit that I was a bit confused. The level of discourse amongst the students was at
such an advanced level I found myself wondering if Mr. Rath taught a section of AP
English. In fact he does not. It was College Prep and it was amazing. Nothing about
the learning was in any way non-honors. I Schoollooped the whole class that afternoon
letting them know how impressed I was and telling them that they are ready for the
future.
Safety:
As a reminder, in case of an emergency there are three resources where the District
posts information:
District Website: www.fremont.k12.ca.us/site/default.aspx?pageid=31
Facebook – Search ‘Fremont Usd’
Twitter - @USDFremont
Alumni:
Because it is February and our 50th anniversary, I have highlighted two alumni who met
at Mission San Jose and are still going strong. Claudia and Vince Zuanich. Read their
great story at the end of this update.
Small Change:
Later this month our main lecture hall and meeting space, Room C-120, will undergo a
facelift and upgrade. Because the room serves so many school and community events it
is important that it look its best and more importantly that it can function as a learning
environment for our students. When outside groups rent our school for evenings and
weekends part of the fees paid to FUSD come back to the site to use for repairs and
supplies. This year MSJHS is electing to use the funds to install a presentation system
for C-120 and paint the interior. Later in the year our art students will be creating
artwork that will adorn the walls. Hopefully this will make the next time you are in C120 move visually welcoming. We are continually looking at ways to improve the
campus and this is one of them. Certainly we wish the funds would pay for an allweather track, a new gym, a new pool or even an enhanced theater but the amount we
receive is not enough to accomplish these major tasks.
Manage the STRESS!
Please continue to ensure that your children get plenty of rest, exercise and time to
decompress as we move through second semester. Mental health and well-being is
critical. A student with excellent grades who is fraught with anxiety is not going to be
able to function as effectively in society as a student who has balance and health in their
lives. Our counselors can help you as we don’t expect families to go it alone!
You may find this link to a study about MINDFULNESS of interest. The authors assert
that it will benefit both students and adults.
http://time.com/3682311/mindfulness-math/?xid=newsletter-brief
I wish you all the best. Let us know if you have questions.
Zack Larsen Carli Kim
Jeff Evans
Diana Brumbaugh
Principal
Asst. Principal
Asst. Principal
Asst. Principal
Mission San Jose High School Graduates:
Claudia and Vince Zuanich
Below is an interview with two Mission San Jose graduates, Claudia and Vince Zuanich.
The pictures that follow are of Vince and Claudia in high school and a more recent
picture of the couple while vacationing in Greece.
-What is your greatest memory of MSJ?
Claudia: I don’t know that I can narrow it down to one as there are sooooo many great memories – the
day Vinny asked me out in January of our Junior year, cheering at football and basketball games, Junior
Prom, Spirit Week, Homecoming, Senior Ball, Senior Picnic, graduation, etc. – but my absolute greatest
memory is more of a “collection” of memories…our Senior year, Vinny and I had a notebook that we
passed back and forth to each other, throughout the day, every day. We still have it – it’s a snapshot in
time and a pretty amusing walk down memory lane.
Vince: I also have many memories that I recall. Certainly, finding my future wife so early makes for
many of the most memorable moments. That started in 5th period English class, where I first noticed her
smile, sense of humor and beauty. Other than that, I have many memorable friend and sports
moments. One that sticks out is being the MVAL leading scorer my senior year in football, prior to
tearing my ACL. It’s a bittersweet memory!
-How did MSJ contribute to your success?
Claudia: We all know that Mission San Jose is a forward-thinking school that scores high across the
board, but what I value most is that MSJ helped teach me about social relationships and emotional
understanding. Those two things have been more valuable when it comes to figuring out how to work
with people and raise a family than anything I could have gotten out of a textbook.
Vince: Everything builds on previous accomplishments. MSJ really did a good job of preparing me for
the next step with college. Outside of college statistics class, I always felt like I had a good baseline
understanding of the courses I took at Cal Poly. Sports also played a major role in my development.
Sports, and specifically team sports, teach a skill set which gets used every day in the corporate world.
As a team member there’s a conflict that one has to manage. You are competing for your role on the
team, but at the same time striving for a greater team goal. Sometimes you even have to compete with
friends, and then manage the social aspect of that competition off the field. Work is the same thing.
Different personalities and different agendas all have to be managed to achieve the broader goal.
Sports, and other group activities, help teach these important skills.
-What activities were you involved in at MSJ?
Claudia: Dance Drill, Mascot, Song Girl, Dance Club, Basketball (barely), Homecoming
Vince: Homecoming, Football, Baseball
-What did you do after HS?
Claudia: After MSJ, I went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and received my BA degree in English Literature.
CPSLO was an eye-opening experience and I loved every second of it. I worked at Gap, Inc. right out of
college and later joined a small division of Berg Electronics that was in Fremont. However, once we had
our first child, I chose to be a stay-at-home mother and have been doing that ever since.
Vince: After MSJ, I attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and received a BA in Agribusiness. My intent was
to get in under this major and transfer to the Business School. Once I was in, however, I found that the
differences in the degrees were not enough to take the extra classes needed to make the change. I
knew I wanted to go into technology sales, so the actual degree was not as important as it would be for
other careers. My first job was with Automatic Data Processing, which was a great start as they hire a
lot of college grads and have an excellent sales training program.
-What are you doing now?
Claudia: Thankfully I have an awesome husband who provides me with the honor of being able to be
home with my kids every day. We moved from Fremont to Livermore a little over 2 years ago, where we
are raising our 3 children (Alexandra 15, Nikita 12 and Roman 8). I work part-time as a Designer for a
new jewelry company called KEEP Collective and as a Consultant for Rodan + Fields Skin Care. Both are
companies that are perfect for moms like me to make a little extra spending money in my free time.
Vince: I currently, work at EMC (data storage and cloud enablement) managing sales teams responsible
for roughly 60M in company revenues. I find this role as a manager really an extension of my love for
sports. I treat the managing of my teams, the same way I approach coaching my son in little league. I’m
there to help them improve at their jobs and guide them in their careers.
-Advice for current Warriors.
Claudia: Find balance.
Vince: Have you ever heard the saying, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease?” Whether you are in high
school, college or the workplace, this phrase applies. What it means to me is that I alone am responsible
for managing my career. I see many people make the mistake of believing that their results alone
should earn them a raise, a promotion, or accolade. But it’s the individual that demonstrates a mastery
of their current role AND is very vocal about their interest in what it takes to take the next step that
inevitably “gets the grease.” Working with your teachers, your boss, or your mentor to let them know
you are keenly interested in what it takes to achieve the next step, whatever it may be, is what
distinguishes one high achiever from another. The only other piece of advice I would give is to try to
align your chosen career with something you are passionate about. Let’s face it, you’ll spend the
majority of your life doing some type of work. You are more likely to be successful and happy when
you’re doing something you love.
-Anything else you wish to say or express.
Claudia: …well, I know this is going to sound corny, but it’s true so I’m going to say it….without MSJ, I
wouldn’t have this amazing husband who I still think of as my boyfriend…It’s not that I couldn’t have
been successful without him – I know I would have – it’s just that everything is MORE with him. We’ve
been together for 28 years and I still think he’s the most amazing, respectful, loving, generous,
handsome man I know…we both know that what we have doesn’t happen very often, but we’re so glad
it did.
Vince: Hard to follow that. Can I just say “ditto?”