Bowman Community Newsletter
March 2019
By Adam Villa
This month Bowman celebrated fifty years! That's half a century of welcoming students who've struggled at larger comprehensive high school campuses. Speakers highlighted Bowman's smaller classes, shorter school days and terms, the caring staff, and individual nature of the school's instruction as key to Bowman's growth and success.
“I love to be a champion for this school whenever I get a chance,” said parent Jamie Brant whose three daughters graduated from Bowman. “It’s just a miracle school,” she said.
About two hundred people came to honor the school's first fifty years on Tuesday, March 19th, remembering the many changes that have taken place since 1969, when Board of Trustees Member Jereann Bowman pushed to open a school for students who struggled at comprehensive schools. Bowman opened on the campus of Canyon High School with only two classrooms serving 75 students. By 1992, Bowman had its own campus (the current campus on Centre Pointe Parkway) with 175 students enrolled in the day program and 60 students in the night program. Today, Bowman serves 500 students and has 15 classrooms and 21 teachers.
Bowman’s purpose has always been to help “students who were disconnected for a variety of reasons,” said Principal Eran Zeevi. “We help them to get connected, get motivated, get involved in seeing their value as students, and to graduate from high school.”
“We’re all family at Bowman,” said current senior and Associated Student Body president Ismael Ramirez Valdez. "There's something about Bowman that makes you want to graduate. At my home school, I didn't care as much if I graduated. Now I'm doing the work, and I want to graduate."
The event drew neighbors, students, teachers, counselors, office staff, and administrators from close by and as far away as Florida, as well as representatives from the William S. Hart Union School District including Board Members Dr. Cherise Moore and Mr. Steve Sturgeon, Superintendent Vickie Engbrecht, Deputy Superintendent Mike Kuhlman, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michael Vierra, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Dave LeBerron, and Director of Student Services Kathy Hunter.
Former students and staff caught up with each other over memorabilia marking each decade. Many said the photos and yearbooks brought back memories. Lyndsay Krutak, a Bowman graduate who currently teaches English at Bowman said, "I’ve been here for 12 years now, and I'm so grateful for the honor of carrying on the Bowman legacy with students of my own." When she was a 17-year-old student at Bowman living on her own and working to graduate, she realized Bowman was different than any school I'd been to. It was where I learned what acceptance felt like, where I learned what it felt like to have people believe in me and teach me to believe in myself."
Assistant Principal Nina Zamora said she was grateful to everyone who took the time to attend and glad so many who came shared heartwarming, funny, and brave memories of their high school years or working at Bowman. "The hard work was worth it," she said. Early the following day, she and all the staff and students of Bowman returned to their work, striving to make the next fifty years better still.
Bowman Bulldogs Beat Clippers 87-44
Bowman Bulldog Spring Basketball Schedule
April 11 @ 5:30 Airmen v. Bulldogs
April 18 @ 4:30 Tha Kidz v. Bulldogs
April 25 @ 4:30 Bulldogs v. Clippers
May 2 @ 5:30 Bulldogs v. Airmen
May 9 @ Bulldogs v. Tha Kidz
March Madness is in Full Swing
By Stephan Washington and Nick Cain
Spring is here. Smiles are on faces of people in States hit hard by winter storms as they see snow melting away. Spring also means March Madness. For those not in the know, March Madness refers to the thrilling men and women’s college basketball tournaments happening across NCAA Division I, II, and III this month. The 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament gets the most attention as it has the conferences with the biggest fan bases like the ACC, Big 10, Big East, etc. These conferences have the most successful and recognizable college basketball programs like Duke, North Carolina, Michigan, Villanova, and the like. If you’re one of the many millions of fans who’ve filled out a tournament bracket this is the tournament you’re following. All tournaments are single-elimination and the Division I tournament features 68 teams to determine the national champion for the 2018–19 season.
March Madness gets a ton of media attention but can still fall off the radar of the casual sports fan. The NBA’s regular season is winding down so fans are watching their favorite teams jockey for playoff position. Many NBA fans would argue that’s where the most entertaining basketball is happening but consider this: there’s so much more going on with college basketball. Many of these student athletes can dunk, pass, and shoot like the pros, but these are 18- to 20-something kids. Many players were in high school a year ago. It takes a special level of courage and conviction to go from the classroom to practice to games, not for money but for the love for the game.
Only a few will make it to the NBA like Duke’s 6’ 7” 285 lbs #1 NBA draft pick Zion Williamson. Most will go pro in something else like health care, finance, marketing, media production, etc. There’s a big debate on whether student athletes should be paid but currently they’re not. As a result, everything they do on the court is for their team, their school and to play their hearts out. You can actually see the passion on the players faces. Win or lose, they’re smiling because they know their hard work is paying off. Now, if we could just smile about our losing bracket.
Bowman's Spring Blood Drive
By Isaiah Diaz
On Saturday, March 9th, Bowman High School hosted a blood drive in front of the school. Students volunteered outside the portable clinic.
“Today has been pretty busy with a lot of people have been coming and nothing bad has happened so that's good,” said Anabel Avelino, a senior at Bowman who volunteered at the event. Fifty-two students gave blood, which was considered a successful event, according to Avelino. "It went well today," said senior Michelle Cabral.
According to the American Red Cross local hospitals are always in need of blood donations because blood cannot be manufactured, and only about 37% of the population is eligible to give blood. On average, one in every seven people entering a hospital will need a blood donation.
Friendly Reminder: State Testing Is In April
By Rocio Benavides
After spring break, students will begin state testing. Between April 9th and April 26th juniors will be preparing for and taking the English Language Arts and Math CAASPP. On April 25th seniors will be taking the Science CAST test. Students can earn up to 1.5 credits for participating in the test every day and trying their best to complete each test. The best way for families to support their students is to help them get a good night's sleep the night before, eat a good lunch or breakfast before coming to school, and help students arrive at school on time.March Student of the Month: Marcello Caban
Q: Were you surprised to find out that you were Student of the Month?
A: Yeah, a little bit.
Q: What advice would you give to other students in terms of developing better study habits?
A: It depends on who you are. You should probably just put in effort and do some extra stuff so you can get extra work done so you can get extra credit.
Q: How did you achieve the amount of credits you earned?
A: I was here almost every day. I did work. Sometimes I did extra credit and that’s about it.
Q: What do you plan to do after high school?
A: I plan on going to COC for two years to get my Associate's degree and then see what’s after that.
Q: What are your favorite pastimes outside of school?
A: Playing guitar… you know... video games... fun stuff.
Q: How much homework and extra credit do you do/ask for?
A: Right now not quite so much because I'm almost done with School. (Marcelo graduated March 27 of this month. Congratulations Marcelo!) Last year, I was probably asking for a lot.
Words of Wisdom: "Do your work."
March Student of the Month: Jackie Chavez
Q: Were you surprised to find out that you were Student of the Month?
A: Yes, I was.
Q: What advice would you give to other students in terms of developing better study habits?
A: Stay on top of everything and get all your work turned in.
Q: How did you achieve the amount of credits you earned?.
A: I stayed focused.
Q: What do you plan to do after high school?
A: Go to college, get my degree in criminal justice, and move on.
Q: What are your favorite pastimes outside of school?
A: I work.
Q: How much homework and extra credit do you do/ask for?
A: As much credit in class and as much extra credit as I can get to turn in.
Words of Wisdom: "Keep up the great work and do as much as you can!"
Springtime Awards
By Ismael "Smiley" Ramirez Valdez
On Thursday, March 28th Bowman honored the hard work and progress of its students with awards for Perfect Attendance, Citizenship, Unity, Leadership, English, Creative Writing, Theatre Arts, Math, Science, Social Sciences, Culinary Arts, Athletics, Yearbook, Art, Music, Journalism, Top Scholars, Most Improved, Computers, Workforce Preparation, and Community to name a few.March Holidays: Pi Day
Pi Day wasn’t created for any particular reason other than for scientists to have something special to celebrate relating to their profession. It was chosen to be celebrated on March 14th as it is “3.14” on the calendar. A happy little coincidence is that it is also Albert Einstein’s birthday.
Pi plays a crucial role in all forms of engineering and allows people to calculate the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Although it's important to the mathematical and engineering communities, Pi's popularity begins to falter as it dives outside of these two realms.
Pi day is a niche occasion, which, by definition, means it doesn’t need to be very popular. There is nothing wrong with an esoteric holiday. Another unsung hero in the legacy of human progress. I hope you enjoyed your Pi Day even if you didn't know it was happening at the time.
Saint Patrick's Day
By Blake Beltran
St. Patrick's Day, that time of year when people from all around the world go green for all the wrong reasons. On this holiday, too often, our culture celebrates drinking, the color green, and an Irish saint who is said to have chased all the snakes from Ireland.However, the real reason people celebrate St. Patrick's Day each year is because of one drink that no one can resist: The Shamrock Shake. Every Saint Patrick's Day McDonald’s brings back their classic mint-flavored, sugar-infested, clover concoction. The only way to describe the superfluous shake is as a form of ambrosia, the food of the gods.
Anyone lucky (wink wink) enough to get their hands on such a brew is bestowed with a blessing and a curse; they have been chosen for the opportunity to taste the greatest substance ever created by man. Although, once they have tasted the sweet silk inside Pandora’s box, they are doomed to long for its tantalizing taste for the next eleven months every year until the next St. Patrick’s Day.
Movie Review: Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse
By Nick Munoz
The cinematic debut of Miles Morales makes this movie a pivotal moment in Marvel history. Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse is an innovative motion picture about the Afro-Latino comic book character Miles Morales and his journey crossing paths with other Marvel characters.
Miles is a 13-year-old kid from Detroit who is extremely smart for his age and gets into a prestigious private school. He’s bitten by a spider while he and his uncle are tagging a wall that nobody will see. This spider bite leads Miles to develop powers of invisibility, spidey-senses, and electricity control. He gets these powers just in time to become the new Spiderman after watching the Peter Parker from his universe die. Other spider people from other universes soon show up and help train him so he can help them get home.
This film is also visually compelling and true to the comic books because of the techniques the filmmakers used. It switches from having a picture every frame to having one every other frame in order to show the skill difference between Miles and Peter by making Miles’s movements appear more choppy since he’s developing his powers. So, no matter where you pause this film, it looks like a picture from a comic book. Overall, this movie gets a 9/10 because of its story, style, and because it’s Miles Morales’s grand entrance on to the cinematic scene.
Upcoming Events
April 1st-5th: Spring Break (School Resumes Monday, April 8th)
April 8th-26th: State Testing
April 26th: Term 7 Ends
May 27th: No School, Memorial Day
May 29th: Bowman Graduation!
June 6th: Term 8 Ends
Instructions for Accessing Infinite Campus
In order to log-in you will need the following information:
- User name: 8 digit student Id Number (ex: 98001234)
- Password: Initial of first name | initial of last name | 6-digit birthdate, (example for John Smith: js060293)