I hope everyone has enjoyed their winter break and had the students are ready to come back. If the students are not ready to come back to school. I"m pretty sure the parents are ready to send them back to school. With students not returning until the 13th and a Holiday on the 20th, January is going to go by very quickly. Below is a recap of a few events that happened in December as well as some information on upcoming events for the month of January.

When students return to school, that will also be the first day of the second semester. Student schedule changes are usually minimal unless the student has requested it but they do happen. Please have your student check their schedule to make sure it is as they think it should be. If they have questions or need to make a change, have them come see their counselor when we return.

During the month of December our ASB had several activities to help students get into the Holiday Spirit. During the week of December 9th, they organized student dress up days, the annual Christmas Corn Hole Tournament where staff and students had a lot of fun, and played festive music at lunch. During Finals Week, at nutrition they provided Hot Chocolate on Monday, Cookie Decorating on Tuesday and Free Donuts on Friday. Thank you to our ASB for helping make the season bright!

On Saturday, December 14th, our Band and Choir programs combined to hold their second annual Holiday Concert. Our talented instrumentalists, under the direction of Mr. Michael Whang, and our talented singers under the direction of Mr. Jens Hurty combined to produce an amazing show! These students and their directors worked very hard to prepare a entertaining 90 minutes of outstanding music. Both Mr. Whang and Mr. Hurty have made a big impact on their respective programs in the short time they've been here. If you've never attended one of their concerts, I would highly encourage you to do so in the future. Below are some pictures from the concert. Unfortunately, they are silent pictures and don't provide you with an opportunity to listen to their music.

On November 23rd, the Canyon Regiment made up of the Marching Band and Color Guard, competed in the Arcadia Band Review. This is an invitation-only competition between the top 40 schools in Southern California. It was Canyon's first appearance in the Arcadia Band Review. The Band took 3rd place in their division and the Color Guard took 1st place not only in their division, but first across the entire competition - winning the Sweepstakes trophy for Best Color Guard across ALL divisions. This is the first time in the history of the tournament (71 years) that a Color Guard team in the lowest division has won Sweepstakes and the first time since 1997 that a Color Guard team not in the highest division has won the award. CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH THE BAND AND COLOR GUARD ON THESE GREAT VICTORIES!

Our Winter Sports teams have all started league play. All of our teams are currently posting winning records. Some Highlights so far...

BOYS VARSITY BASKETBALL - Currently 14-4 and ranked #6 in the CIF Rankings. They have a big game vs. La Habra this Friday, January 10th at 7:00 PM at Canyon.

GIRLS VARSITY SOCCER - They are currently 8-1-1 and had a big win over Villa Park on December 23. They are currently ranked #9 in Orange County.

GIRLS VARSITY WATER POLO - They are currently 9-3 and tied for 1st place in league with big matches coming up in the next few weeks against Foothill and Villa Park.

Canyon High School will be adding a new sport this spring. We will be having the first every Girls Beach Volleyball team! Tryouts are January 15th and 16th at 3:00 PM at Newland Beach Volleyball Courts. For more information, you can follow them on Instagram @chsgirlsbeachvb or on Facebook at CHS Beach Volleyball.

For all the athletic schedules, please visit the Canyon Athletic Website

Congratulations to Canyon High School Mock Trial team for qualifying for the playoffs! In order to make the top 16 and qualify, they had to win 3 of the 4 trials. For those unfamiliar with Mock Trial, students compete in a court room setting either as the prosecution or the defense against another school. They debate as attorneys in a court trial setting. The team is coached by Mrs. Stephanie Schweitzer (Last year's OC Coach of the Year!) and Mr. Andrew Pohl.

Over Thanksgiving break, Canyon's MUN team participated in one of the largest MUN conferences- Tustin High School's 32nd annual conference. Schools from all over Orange County took part in global negotiation simulations regarding the world's most pressing issues. Canyon was assigned the country of Venezuela and successfully negotiated with other countries on topics such as inflation, crime, human rights, and more. Though this club is making its resurgence after a couple years, Canyon High School students Anish Kalluri and Sultan Rahman received individual awards for their standout contributions. MUN's next conference will be in February and the club is inviting anyone who is interested to join. Reach out to co-presidents Anish Kalluri and Miriam Naqvi or club advisor Mr. Heck. For more information, join their Instagram @canyonmun1 or Remind @chsmun01

Mr. Rooz Moridzadeh was selected as the Canyon High School Teacher of the Month for December. Mr. Moridzadeh, also known as Mr. M, is in his 11th year teaching Social Science at Canyon High School. He is currently teaching AP Government and AP Econ. He is also as Assistant Coach for the Varsity Boys Basketball team and is a proud alumni of Canyon High School. Congratulations Mr. M!

Congratulations to Mr. Doug Roller! Doug is the December Classified Employee of the Month! Doug is in his third year as the Library Media Technician. Whenever your student has used the library, there is a really good chance they interacted with Doug and it was more than likely a positive encounter as he is one of the friendliest employees on our campus. He is a great support to our students and staff!

It is that time of year again where we need the input of our stakeholders. This includes parents, students and staff. We need as many people as possible to take a moment and complete the LCAP survey for the 2024-25 school year. This is an anonymous survey that provides valuable input to both our school and district. To take the survey please scan the QR code to the right.

The State of California mandates vision and hearing screening for students in public school. The screening for Canyon High School students will be conducted on Thursday, January 16th and on Friday, January 17th , by the school nurses on both even and odd days to include all the 10th graders. The exam consists of visual inspection of the eye, along with a visual acuity test. Hearing testing consists of your child responding to sounds by raising their hands to sounds in the conversational frequency tones produced by an audiometer via a headphone in a soundproof truck.

Parents will be notified by mail if their child’s vision or hearing screen shows a need for further medical evaluation. If you have any questions, call the Health Office at (714) 523-8000 ext. 3767 or email the school nurse.

If you Do Not wish to have your child participate in the above screening; a written note by parent/guardian will be required to be on file. Please send the note to the health office prior to the date of testing.

Senior Parents: If you are interested in purchasing a senior tribute ad in the yearbook for your soon to be graduating senior, please click on the following attachment.

Every morning at 7:30 AM, we offer Math Tutoring in Room 139. Mr. Joe Svoboda is available to help any student who is having trouble with Math. No appointment is necessary. This is a great opportunity for those who can't get help outside of school to come before school and get help with Math. Due to Faculty meetings, there is no tutoring on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month.

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY TUTORING

The National Honor Society has tutoring in Room 133 from 3:30 to 4:30 Tuesday through Thursday.

Monday, January 13 - First Day of Second Semester

Monday, January 13 - CHS Foundation Meeting @ 7:00 PM in Room 114

Thursday, January 16 - PTSA Meeting @ 9:00 AM in the CHS Library

Thursday, January 16 - Vision and Hearing Screening for 10th Graders

Friday, January 17 - Vision and Hearing Screening for 10th Graders

Monday, January 20 - Martin Luther King Holiday - NO SCHOOL

For a schedule of all events taking place at CHS, please click on the Master Calendar Link Below.

Things happen quickly at Canyon and there is more going on than could ever be listed in this newsletter. For up to date information, please check out the Canyon Website or the Daily Bulletin.