Mr. Juan “Boss” Vasquez is this year’s El Rancho Classified Employee of the Year.  Juan is a very quiet guy who has been working as an aide in John Lovitt’s class for many years.  It is his low key approach that makes Juan effective with the special kids that are placed in his classroom.  His calm demeanor keeps them calm!  At the same time, he is ready to intervene on the rare occasion that it becomes necessary to protect students and staff.  He seems always prepared to do what is necessary.  Juan is an accomplished artist who on sometimes shares his work with the students.  Over the years, Juan has definitely made a difference in kid’s lives here at El Rancho.  Congratulations, Juan, we appreciate everything that you do!

Teacher of the Year

Our El Rancho Teacher of the Year goes to the Mrs. Nana Cahill.  We decided to “borrow” Nana from Portola for a summer program here at El Rancho a few years ago and decided to never give her back.  Nana is currently serving as co-chair of our math department.  She is an innovative teacher with a ton of energy and new ideas.  Just like Juan, she loves all of her kids here at El Rancho and has a special place in her heart for the struggling mathematicians.  There are plenty of kids and adults who say they can’t do math, but none of them had an opportunity to take a math course from Nana.  She brings a great smile and a crazy sense of humor to school with her every day and all of that positiveness seems to be contagious.  Congratulations, Mrs. Cahill, on the great job you do for our kids and the leadership that you bring to our school.

What makes a career exciting and fulfilling?  That answer is different for everyone.  That’s why El Rancho Charter School held its annual Career Day on Wednesday, January 25.  El Rancho students had the opportunity to speak with a variety of Career Professionals.  Over twenty-five career fields were represented.  The cafeteria was transformed into a job fair atmosphere where students were exposed to varied career opportunities and had the chance to ask presenters questions about their professions.  Mr. Gorski and his talented students created the beautiful art work displayed on the walls depicting the careers of our presenters.

In appreciation, El Rancho Charter School would like to acknowledge the important contribution of time and talent by our Career Day Presenters who took time out of their day to educate our students on career possibilities.  They include:

Dr. Satinder Bains – Optometrist, Christopher Butler – Special Agent in Charge/US Secret Service, Julia Cherney – Dental Hygienist, City of Anaheim Fire Department – Engine 10, City of Anaheim Police Department/ SWAT, Dr. Sandra Cotter – Internal Medicine Physician/Kaiser, Kortney Dodd – Orange County District Attorney Investigator, Keith Foelsch – Professional Musician, Laurence Gilbert – Sr. Program Manager/Electron Technologies, Jeff Hemerson -  SWAT Training Detail Sergeant, Marc Kazlauskas – Creative Director/Owner Mfactor Inc, Mike Lynch – SWAT Sergeant, Carlo Marzocca – CHP Police Officer/K-9 Unit, Larissa Marantz – Artist/Illustrator/Animator/ Owner OC Art Studios, Leticia McMahan – Sr Financial Analyst/Disney Domestic Parks Capital Reporting, Lori Neill – Community Services Specialist/Marriage & Family Therapist, Justine Nguyen – Relationship Advisor/Silicon Valley Bank, Poorvi Parekh – President & CEO Canterbury Consulting, Kristine Ridge – City of Anaheim Human Resources Director, Dr. Giselle Rocha – Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Alexandra Rodriguez – Used Oil Recycling Program Coordinator/Anaheim Fire, Maria Sabol – Public Information Officer Anaheim Fire, Alan Smith – Firefighter/Anaheim Fire Department, Dr. James Sposa – Doctor of Physical Therapy/Ando & Aston Physical Therapy, Suzanne Stover – Funeral Director & Licensed Embalmer McAulay & Wallace Mortuary, Dr. Paul Yang, Optometrist, Dr. Frances Yang – Major,163rd Medical Group March Air Force Base/Flight Surgeon with Air National Guard/Pediatrician, Kaiser.

We are so fortunate to have supportive & dedicated families at El Rancho…thank you to the generous parents who donated breakfast items & supplies for our presenters, as well as those who volunteered their time to help make Career Day a success.  We would also like to thank the Walker Family and Cantina Lounge for their generous donations, and Eva Mogannam for her work on all of the Career Day printed materials.

Finally, we’d like to thank Mr. Besta, Mrs. Walker, Mr. Johnson, Mrs. Nicol, Mrs. Noonan, Boone and the El Rancho staff for their guidance and for making Career Day a success!

El Rancho will be hosting “Career Day” on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 from 7:50am- 12:10pm.  “Career Day” gives students the opportunity to speak to professionals about a variety of careers.  To make this event a success, we are looking for 30 enthusiastic volunteers to be presenters.

You can earn volunteer hours by presenting, giving donations, or volunteering your time the day of the event.  If you’re interested in helping, please contact us by January 4, 2012 at denise.behle@gmail.com or tamaramurphy@yahoo.com.

We look forward to an exciting and informational “Career Day”.

Denise Behle

Tamara Murphy

Career Day Co-Chairs

Globally, Movember raised over 80 million dollars last year with donations benefiting the LIVESTRONG and the Prostate Cancer Foundations. This is a great opportunity to promote men’s health awareness and inform students of cancers effecting men. Here is a list of participating staff: Mr. Evans, Mr. Besta, Mr. Lane, Mr. Howard, Mr. Castro, Mr. Dreisbach, Mr. Keuilian, Mr. Garrett, Mr. Lovitt, Mr. Herron, Mr. Coffey, Mr. Bob Johnson, Mrs. Hemerson, Mrs. Carlile, Mr. Stephens, Mr. Lasher, Mrs. Walker, Mr. Kilgore, and Mr. Nishimoto. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Castro at scastro@orangeusd.org. Please stay tuned for a list of activities we will be having throughout the month.

If you would like to support our team by making a charitable donation online, please click the link below. Thank you for your support.

Team Home Page

Clinic Hours:
Monday – Wednesday, Nov. 21-23
8-10 a.m.

We’ll finish our week with the Plymouth Rock N Run Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, 2011. Please email Mrs. Allyson Reeds at areeds@orangeusd.org with any questions.

Sign Up Information

Running Clinic Permission Slip

Sponsor Information Sheet

Ticket Registration Form

Live Auction Web List

This October, El Rancho will be recognized for their continuous support of the Adopt-A-Family program.  When Southwest Community Center was considering who to honor with the Youth Award in their 40^th year, they chose to recognize El Rancho’s students for their generosity to the community. Ms. Townsend will attend the Annual Harvest Banquet on Sunday, October 9, 2011, to accept this award on behalf of El Rancho’s students.  We look forward to working with Southwest Community Center and the Adopt-A-Family program once again this year.

Over the last two and a half weeks students have continued to bring in orders and on-line sales increased as well.  Students have earned prizes such as a day at the beach, Castle Park, Wild Rivers, and Knott’s Berry Farm.  They will also be entertained by comedian Pat Hurley, the Money Scramble, and the Game Truck. As students collected ducks, they were awarded daily prizes.  Everyone enjoyed their spin on the money wheel where over $700 was given away!

Unfortunately, we fell short of our goal.  We are extending the sale for one last turn in day on Tuesday, September 27, 2011.  Students will be able to earn event prizes for any orders turned in on that day.  We will also continue to accept on-line orders.  Thank you for your support of El Rancho and our programs.