Union Mine Blog

CAREER CENTER

Some Summer Volunteer Opportunities:
Sierra Wildlife Rescue’s Baby Bird Nursery
- Round the clock feeding of wild baby birds.
6236C Pleasant Valley Rd., El Dorado (530) 621-2650, Barbara Baker

AmeriCorps NCCC Summer of Service Program in Sacramento

• Food, lodging, and uniforms
• A stipend of about $100 per week
• A certificate of completion
• The President’s Volunteer Service Award

(916) 640-0317

The Tahoe Rim Trail Association/ Sierra Nevada Journeys:
two three-day Youth Backcountry Camps (trail building, trail route scouting and flagging)
Contact Jill Falman at jillf@tahoerimtrail.org or call (775) 298-0239

Librarian’s Bookshelf   It’s Summertime!  SPECIAL TEEN PROGRAM AT COUNTY LIBRARY

Summer is a great time for students (and their parents!!) to become engrossed in a good book.  And on hot days, the El Dorado County Library provides a cool haven for browsing and reading books.  So gather up your teenagers and go!

The hours of the main library, located at the top of the hill in Placerville on Fair Lane (across from the County buildings) are as follows:

            Tuesdays and Wednesdays:  1 to 8

            Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays: 10 to 5

You may also browse their catalog by going to their website: 

http://www.eldoradolibrary.org/

Click on Summer Reading Clubs and Events to discover a special program for Teens, called “Don’t bug me…I’m reading”   Teens read books and write short reviews and are eligible for the grand prize.  (Go to the library to find out what the grand prize is!!)  Happy reading!

UNION MINE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC INFORMATION
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 Spring Sports are slowly winding down, with only a few teams and athletes competing at various Section playoffs or finals. Varsity Baseball secured their 1st Round playoff spot last week and met up with Del Oro at Sac City College last night at 8 pm. It was a grueling game, and one that our D-Backs couldn’t steal the win, dropping 12 – 2. Here’s to a fantastic season for our Diamondbacks. We are very proud of their accomplishments!

 In Varsity Boys Golf, Senior Tim Honeycutt played Tuesday in the Master’s Tournament at Stevenson Ranch outside of Modesto. He shot a respectable 77, but was 1-stroke over making the cut to move on to Nor Cals. Again, we’d like to acknowledge Tim and his golf team members for a successful season this year. Tim is on his way next year to play for St. Mary’s.

 Our last group of athletes still competing this week are members of our D-Back Track and Field team. Our mid-distance 800-meter runner, Austin Luchsinger, qualified at sub-Sections Wednesday evening for the Sections meet next week at Hughes Stadium, as well as our Varsity Girls thrower, Anita Gastaldi. Distance runners Will Marquardt in the mile and two-mile, and Varsity girls distance runners Samantha Dougherty and Sierra Davies, all qualified for tonight’s Sections meet at Bella Vista. They, too, are hoping to move on to next week’s Sections meet at Hughes. We send our best wishes their way for success at achieving their goals.
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 With the end of the year approaching, it’s imperative that all returning athletes focus on their current semester ending grades, since these are the grades to be used next fall for eligibility. If your student/athlete is thinking of playing football, cross country, girls golf, boys soccer, girls tennis, or girls volleyball, they will need to have at least a 2.0 GPA at the end of May to be eligible, plus have no fees or fines through Finance, as well as the Library. Please also understand that we are currently taking completed 2008-09 Athletic packets at this time, and will accept them up until Friday, May 30th.  Since our athletic office is closed for the summer, packets will not be accepted again until Monday, August 4th, 7:30 – 3:30. For questions, please call us at 621-4003, ext. 4125. Go Diamondbacks!  �

 End of Year Information

Finals are scheduled for next Thursday and Friday for grades 9-11.  Report Cards will be mailed home on May 30, 2008.    

CSU Sacramento Policy Change Re: Admissions

Due to a policy change at Sacramento State University, all juniors, including those who are interested in attending CSU Sacramento under the guaranteed admission program, must take either the SAT or ACT exam prior to enrolling at the university for file completion purposes. 

SAT and ACT:  University Admission Tests

Juniors planning on attending a four-year university directly from high school should be scheduling a date to take the SAT and/or ACT for the first time this spring or summer. Register online for the SAT at www.collegeboard.com and the ACT at www.act.org .  Additional information on both tests can be picked up in our career center.  Counselors can also answer any questions that you may have.

Tutoring Reminder
Free tutoring (primarily math) in the library Monday through Thursday between 3:00 and 4:00pm

Summer School

Summer school applications are currently available in the counseling office.  The first semester of summer school will be in session from June 9^th through June 27^th.  The second semester of summer school will be in session from July 7^th through July 25^th.  Students will no longer be able to take courses in order to accelerate their high school plans. Summer school now exists for the sole purpose of remediation.  That is to say, a student may take a summer school class only if he/she has already taken the course and failed it or wishes to improve the existing grade.  The classes run a total of 15 days each semester.  Students not taking the final or attending the last day of the semester will not receive credit for the semester.  Please direct all summer school questions to Kris Rohde in Educational Services: 530-622-5081 ext. 235.

In regard to summer school, Union Mine’s block schedule is unique.  An entire course is completed in half of the school year—or one term.  Within a single term, each course is still divided in half—or by semesters.  Permanent credit is issued at the end of each semester.  If a student fails BOTH semesters of a required class (example:  World History), the student would need to repeat BOTH semesters of that class in summer school (the June and the July sessions) or take the entire class again during the next school year at Union Mine.

The more serious confusion with UMHS students and summer school arises from a different scenario.  Let’s say the student fails ONE semester of a required class.  That class definitely should be repeated in summer school, and the student must take the summer session that matches the semester of the class that the student failed (example:  an F in the first semester World History should be made up during the first session of summer school).  The exceptions to the semester rule are English, health, and computers—either summer school semester is fine to make up one semester.  If the student chooses to repeat the class during the next school year, then the ENTIRE course—even the semester that the student already passed—must be repeated.  There are no starting and stopping times for students to pick up a “new” class simply because they have completed half of a course.  And if the student repeats a class for which credit has already been earned, no additional credit is issued.

Kim Secor

Union Mine High School Counselor

Mountain View High School Counselor

(530) 621-4003 x4209

Librarian’s Bookshelf:  All library books are now overdue

With just over a week of school left, we still have lots of library books out.  We have sent out “call slips” to each student, asking their teachers to send them to the library.  We then remind the students to get their library books returned, even if they don’t have the money to pay the overdue fines.  By returning their books now, they also avoid the $5.00 over-the-summer fine.

Students will be charged for each library book that isn’t returned.  However, for those who pay for a lost book and then find the book later, we will refund them the cost of the book.  Seniors will have to return all books and pay fines before graduation next week.

Please encourage your students to look for their library books under their beds, in their cars, or in the bottom of their backpacks.

UNION MINE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC INFORMATION
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 Congratulations to our Varsity Baseball team for their wins this week against Oak Ridge and their chance to move on to play in the Division II Varsity Baseball Sections tournament at Sac City College. Their close Tuesday night victory, 6 – 5, at Oak Ridge, and last night’s 4- 1 win at home gave the Diamondbacks the #2 seed spot and will face either Roseville or Del Oro next Thursday, May 8th, 8 pm, at Sac City College. As for Frosh and JV Baseball, they played their last games at home on Tuesday, only to drop to the “Trojans.” It’s been a great season for our teams, and we wish Varsity plenty of hits and runs leading to a win on Thursday!

 Our two Varsity golfers, Tim Honeycutt and Justin Listar played in the sub-sections tournament on Monday, May 5th, at Darkhorse in Davis. Justin shot his lowest score of the year, 79, but it wasn’t low enough to secure at spot at the next round of play. However, Tim’s 71 got him in, and he’ll be playing next Tuesday, May 13th, at Stevenson Ranch in Modesto for his shot at a Nor-Cal appearance. Good shooting, Tim!

 JV and Varsity Softball both played in their last games of the season this week. JV hosted Oak Ridge Tuesday but couldn’t get that elusive win. Varsity battled hard at Oak Ridge Tuesday, but lost 0 – 2. They were hoping for the win and a shot at the Division II Softball Sections tournament next week in yesterday’s home match, and in spite of their 5 runs, Oak Ridge belted two more runs home to get the 7 – 5 victory. The Lady D-Backs had an incredible season and eight of our 12 players will be returning next year. Thanks for the memories, Ladies!

 Yesterday and today are the Sections Trials for girls and boys swimming at Tokay High School. As of press time, we haven’t heard which Varsity Girls will be moving on to Saturday’s Finals, and as we write, the Varsity Boys are still competing. As mentioned, both Varsity Boys and Girls swimming finals are tomorrow, Saturday, again at Tokay High in Lodi. We’re hoping everyone gets a chance to break their own personal best records! 

 Boys Tennis had a tremendous season this year, and the best news of all, two of our doubles teams did well at yesterday’s Division II Tennis Doubles Championships at Rancho Cortez Swim and Racquet Club in Yuba City. The teams of Connor McClain/Nick Gwerder and Taylor McClain/Spencer Bruttig both won their 1st round matches, advancing to the “Elite 8” before falling to the higher seeds, #3 from Rio Americano and #2 from Granite Bay, respectively.
These D-Backs played outstanding tennis, for sure!

 Our D-Back Track and Field team has been busy this week battling it out at the SVC League Trials and Finals, Wednesday and today. Varsity Girls discus thrower, Anita Gastaldi, threw her personal best, 101’2” on Wednesday, getting her spot at Sections next week at Bella Vista. Today more runners will compete, and we’re hoping they, too, do their personal best and get the chance to move on. We are so proud of our Diamondbacks!

 With the end of the year approaching quickly, it’s imperative that all returning athletes focus on their current semester ending grades, since these are the grades to be used next fall for eligibility. If your student/athlete is thinking of playing football, cross country, girls golf, boys soccer, girls tennis, or girls volleyball, they will need to have at least a 2.0 GPA at the end of May to be eligible, plus have no fees or fines through Finance, as well as the Library. Please also understand that we are currently taking complete 2008-09 Athletic packets at this time, and will accept them up until Friday, May 30th.  Since our athletic office is closed for the summer, packets will not be accepted again until Monday, August 4th, 7:30 – 3:30. For questions, please call us at 621-4003, ext. 4125. Go Diamondbacks!  �

Librarian’s Bookshelf:  Summer Reading

There are lots of summer reading lists available online with suggested reading titles for teenagers.  The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has lots of suggestions.  (The link follows.)  http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklistsbook.cfm 

Typing in “Teen summer reading” on Yahoo brings thousands of results also.

However, an article in the latest CSLA (California School Library Association) newsletter called “Students “Tack” and “Jibe” through Summer Reading with Enthusiasm” by Becky Zeren has an even better idea.  Becky suggests that teens select their reading related to a specific theme.  By doing so, teens have the freedom to choose what they’d like to read and many keep on reading and reading and reading. 

Following are some of the suggestions in the article:

Ø      Read to become an expert in the area of your choice

Ø      Read around the world—let books take you on a journey far away

Ø      Select a favorite place and picture yourself reading by having a friend or parent take your picture

Ø      Design bookmarks of your favorite books

UNION MINE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC INFORMATION
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       Varsity Baseball tasted victory and defeat this week. Monday’s sweet 8 – 4 win against Cordova carried our hopes for a playoff berth farther, only to be set back by Wednesday’s 1 – 6 loss to Christian Brothers. Today our D-Backs face CBS again on their turf, where a good win would bring back our chance at making playoffs. Frosh and JV Baseball played Wednesday at Vista where both teams suffered a loss. Today they both play Ponderosa at 4:15 at “Bruinville.” We’re hoping for a win!
 

       Boys Golf finished their SVC League tournament Monday at Yolo Fliers in 5th Place. Not to be discouraged, we have two Varsity Golfers moving on to sub-sections Monday in Yuba City. Say congratulations to Senior Tim Honeycutt and Junior Justin Listar for making it to the next round of tournament play! In addition to moving on, Tim was also named “Co MVP” of the Sierra Valley Conference following Monday’s match. We are proud of our golfers!
 

       Varsity and JV Girls Soccer just finished their last game of the season yesterday at Oak Ridge. It was a rough and tough game for both teams playing but they held as best they could. Varsity managed to get one goal in the game, but couldn’t stop the onslaught of the Lady Trojan forwards. JV hustled as well, but were unable to post a goal and get the win. Here’s to a fine group of young ladies who demonstrated perseverance all season long and played as tough as nails!
 

       Varsity Softball is doing some victory dancing this week, with two strong wins under their belts. Monday they took care of Cordova, 7 – 2, and Wednesday’s 18 – 0 pounding of Christian Brothers was more music to dance by! Today our Varsity squad is on the road to meet Christian Brothers on their turf. We wish them well. As for JV, Wednesday’s game at Vista del Lago wasn’t the best of outcomes. Today they play at Ponderosa at 4:15. Go get ‘em, Ladies!
 

       Our D-Back Swim Team is poised and ready to compete at next week’s Individual Trials at Tokay High School in Stockton. The Varsity Girls trials are Thursday, and Varsity Boys will compete Friday. Saturday, May 10th will see a combined finals meet at Tokay. Depart time for Thursday’s bus is 6:30 am, and the boys will take parent rides and/or school vans to Tokay. Keep positive thoughts going for our team!
 

       Our Varsity Boys Tennis team competed this past week in the League Singles and Doubles tournaments at Broadstone in Folsom. Tuesday’s singles matches found our player, Connor McClain, qualifying for the “Super Singles” tourney Wednesday, with a possible berth in the Sections tournament at stake. Thursday’s doubles tournament ended with good news for some of our doubles team members. Again, Connor, and his partner, Nick Gwerder, took 3rd, advancing to the Sections Doubles tournament next Thursday, May 8th, at Yuba City. The doubles team of Taylor McClain and Spencer Bruttig took a 4th Place finish, but did not qualify to move on. Good luck to our guys as they continue further in playoffs.
 

       Our D-Back Track and Field team hosted Oak Ridge Wednesday. Despite some great finishes by our team, we were unable to gain enough points to win the entire meet. Senior Will Marquadrt finished 1st in the 1600, along with Alex Nelson’s 1st in the 3200. Jon Baer took 1st in the High Jump, followed by Alex Baer’s 1st in the Long Jump. Kevin Tempel was able to earn the farthest in shot, getting a 1st, while our Varsity girls thrower Taylor DeSilva won 1st in the shot put, too. Next Wednesday and Friday our D-Backs compete at the SVC League meet at Cordova. We hope they continue to put forth the great efforts!
 

       Frosh, JV and Varsity Boys Volleyball finished their season this past Tuesday at El Dorado. Frosh and JV won their matches in three games, while Varsity carried their match to 4, managing to get the victory in the end. This was an amazing season for our young volleyball squads and we truly hope the interest continues in boys volleyball over the next few years!
 

       For those student/athletes who want to play sports with Union Mine next year, 2008-09, we have our “SPORTS PHYSICAL NIGHT” on Tuesday, May 6th.  Student/athletes can attend to get their doctor’s physical out of the way before the school year ends. Plus, for those students who attended a “Physical Night” in years past, the “INTERIM HEALTH HISTORY FORM” has been passed out or mailed home to them. We need those forms returned to Sandy Hamilton at the Front desk by today, Friday, May 2nd. In addition, we have the new 2008-09 athletic packets, and with Physical Night coming Tuesday, May 6th, at Marshall Center for Primary Care in Placerville, your student/athlete can take care of all his/her athletic paperwork before they leave school May 23rd. See our “Physical Night” flyer posted on the web page for specific details, or call us at 621-4003, ext 4125 for questions. Go Diamondbacks!  �
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California High School Exit Exams
Next Tuesday May 6th and Wednesday May 7th, the English and math exit exams will be administered to those sophomores who did not take the exams last February (make-up only) and to the juniors and seniors who have not passed one or both tests.  The exams will be given at 7:50 am on both days.  The exams are given once to sophomores, twice to juniors, and three times to seniors during each school year.
                       CSU Sacramento Policy Change Re: Admissions
Due to a policy change at Sacramento State University, all juniors, including those who are interested in attending CSU Sacramento under the guaranteed admission program, must take either the SAT or ACT exam prior to enrolling at the university for file completion purposes.�
      SAT and ACT:  University Admission Tests
Juniors planning on attending a four-year university directly from high school should be scheduling a date to take the SAT and/or ACT for the first time this spring or summer. Register online for the SAT at www.collegeboard.com and the ACT at www.act.org .  Additional information on both tests can be picked up in our career center.  Counselors can also answer any questions that you may have.
Tutoring Reminder
Free tutoring (primarily math) in the library Monday through Thursday between 3:00 and 4:00pm
Summer School
Summer school applications are currently available in the counseling office.  The first semester of summer school will be in session from June 9th through June 27th.  The second semester of summer school will be in session from July 7th through July 25th.  Students will no longer be able to take courses in order to accelerate their high school plans. Summer school now exists for the sole purpose of remediation.  That is to say, a student may take a summer school class only if he/she has already taken the course and failed it or wishes to improve the existing grade.  The classes run a total of 15 days each semester.  Students not taking the final or attending the last day of the semester will not receive credit for the semester.  Please direct all summer school questions to Kris Rohde in Educational Services: 530-622-5081 ext. 235.
In regard to summer school, Union Mine’s block schedule is unique.  An entire course is completed in half of the school year—or one term.  Within a single term, each course is still divided in half—or by semesters.  Permanent credit is issued at the end of each semester.  If a student fails BOTH semesters of a required class (example:  World History), the student would need to repeat BOTH semesters of that class in summer school (the June and the July sessions) or take the entire class again during the next school year at Union Mine.
The more serious confusion with UMHS students and summer school arises from a different scenario.  Let’s say the student fails ONE semester of a required class.  That class definitely should be repeated in summer school, and the student must take the summer session that matches the semester of the class that the student failed (example:  an F in the first semester World History should be made up during the first session of summer school).  The exceptions to the semester rule are English, health, and computers—either summer school semester is fine to make up one semester.  If the student chooses to repeat the class during the next school year, then the ENTIRE course—even the semester that the student already passed—must be repeated.  There are no starting and stopping times for students to pick up a “new” class simply because they have completed half of a course.  And if the student repeats a class for which credit has already been earned, no additional credit is issued.
�
Kim Secor
Union Mine High School Counselor
Mountain View High School Counselor
(530) 621-4003 x4209

—–Original Message—–

Librarian’s Bookshelf:  California Young Reader Medal announced yesterday.
Nearly 500,000 California students read and then voted on their favorite books for this year’s California Young Reader Medal award.  The winner for the young adult category was Private Peaceful by Michael Morpugo.
To nominate a book, students must select one that has been written in the past four years and the author must be living.  Librarians and teachers then forward their lists to the committee who reads approximately 300 books and narrows the selection down to 3 books per category.  Students must read all three books in the category and then can vote in the library.  The UMHS library has all 3 young adult selections every year.
Below is a summary of this year’s selections.
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpugo.  It’s 1916 and World War I is raging.  Thomas and his brother are forced to join up, even though Thomas is only 16.  The book covers just one night of battle.  This is a story about love that ties a family together.
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin.  When 15 year old Liz Hall dies at age 15 in a hit and run accident, she wakes up on a ship sailing to Elsewhere, a land where dead people go.  Although she is met by her grandmother, Liz misses her family and friends, so she spends hours spying on them.  This is a sensitively told tale, full of hard questions and answers.
Vampire High by Douglas Rees.  When Cody’s family move to Massachusetts from California, Cody flunks out of the local high school and must go to “Vlad Dracul”, a strange high school where all students are 7 feet tall, pale, wear sunglasses, and are petrified of water.  Cody quickly determines that most students are vampires!  This entertaining book has some funny scenes.