October is usually one of the busier months of the school year and this year was no exception. With Homecoming Activities, Athletic Contests, Performances by our Performing Arts groups, PSAT/SAT testing and our 9th Grade Orientation, they were very few days without something going on. Below, you will find a recap of just some of the great performances by our students and the activities that took place in October as well as information on upcoming events.

If you are wanting more up to date information, please check out the link to the Daily Bulletin listed at the bottom of this page along with various social media platforms where you can keep up to date on all of the great things taking place at Canyon High School.

The Theme for this year's homecoming was "Homecoming Luau". Our ASB did an OUTSTANDING job of providing a great week of events that will provide memories for a lifetime for our students. The week included dress up days, a night time pep rally, a halftime program and the dance itself.

We held our annual homecoming rally on Wednesday night, October 2nd. During the rally, both the Varsity Football team and the Homecoming Court were introduced. Friendly competitions were held where both parents and students had the opportunity to participate. Fans were also entertained during the event with outstanding performances by our Color Guard, Band, Cheer Team, Song Team and the Dance Company. It was a fun event for all who attended.

Although the football game didn't go as well as we would have liked, our team still fought hard and did their best. The stadium was well decorated. At halftime of the game, the Canyon Regiment, Canyon Cheer Team and Canyon Song Team all performed. The highlight of the halftime show was the announcement of Zach Cutler and Shadi Sarkeshik as this year's Homecoming King and Queen.

The Homecoming Dance was held on Saturday night, October 5th and attended by over 1100 students. In addition to dancing, students were able to play video games or take a break and watch the Disney movie Moana. If students (and supervising staff) got hungry, they were able to have Hawaiian Ice as well as Pork Sliders. I think it is safe to say that all who attended had a great time!

The AP School Honor Roll recognizes schools whose AP programs are delivering results for students while broadening access. Schools can earn this recognition annually based on criteria that reflect a commitment to increasing college-going culture, providing opportunities for students to earn college credit, and maximizing college readiness. The AP School Honor Roll offers four levels of distinction: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Canyon High School was recently awarded the Silver Award (just missing out on Gold) for our performance during the spring of 2024. The complete report card is attached below.

Election day is next week! To encourage our eligible students to vote, two of our clubs, the Voter Registration Club and JSA combined to help students register to vote. They volunteered their time during nutrition and lunch for a few days to help get potential voters registered. We encourage all of our students who are 18 or older to vote in the upcoming election.

ELECTION DAY IS NEXT TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH!

Canyon High School is one of the few schools in Orange County that offers IB classes. Students can take classes such as IB Environmental Science, IB English, IB Math and IB History to name a few to complete graduation requirements. Students can also jump into the IB program 100% and work to receive an IB Diploma. Students use their 9th and 10th grade years to prepare for the program and the IB Diploma program itself is a 2 year rigorous course of study completed during their 11th and 12th grade years. If you are interested in more information, please contact our IB Coordinator, Ms. Georgina Vargas (gvargas@orangeusd.org) In the meantime, the IB program has their own newsletter which you can read by clicking below.

We are finishing up the fall sports season and as usual, Canyon High School has had a great fall in Athletics. We had two league champions and almost all of our teams participated in CIF.

Congratulations to our Varsity Girls Cross Country Team! On Wednesday, October 29th, they won the League Championship! The League Finals included teams from all 15 schools in the Century Conference! The girls were led by Allison Yim and Savannah Gonzalez who were 1st team All League and Emily Howard and Camille Ta-Perez who were 2nd Team All League. The team will now compete in CIF! The Boys Cross Country Team also had a strong showing finishing 3rd in the 15 team Conference. They will also now compete in CIF playoffs! Congratulations to both teams and all of our runners! In addition, the girls were also Frosh/Soph and JV Champions and the boys were Frosh/Soph Champions. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR RUNNERS!

Congratulations to our Varsity Girls Flag Football Team! They are the Freeway League Champions! They finished the regular season with a record of 16 - 2 and were seeded #13 in the Division 1 C.I.F. playoffs. In the first round, they beat the Trinity League Co-Champion J Serra by a score of 19-14 on Saturday, October 26th. In the Quarter Finals game on Tuesday, October 29th they beat another Trinity League School, Rancho Santa Margarita by a score of 34-27! The girls will play at Orange Lutheran on Saturday, November 2nd in the Semi Finals at 5:00 PM. Should they win that game, the C.I.F. Championship will be Saturday, November 9th at Fred Kelly Stadium.

The regular season for Girls' Golf Team came to a close at the Crestview League Prelim/Finals on October 21-22. Canyons top six golfers competed for a chance to represent Canyon in the CIF Individual Championships. As a team, the girls qualified for the Division 2 CIF Tournament on November 4th! In addition to Mia Duarte and Juliana Allen who competed in the League Finals, Canyon had 4 golfers who qualified for the Individual CIF Championships based on their performance in League. Congratulations to Natrada Pongsasin, Ava De La Cruz and Hannah Godman for advancing to C.I.F. and to Abbey Lee for advancing to the second round of CIF! The four girls who qualified for CIF are pictured to the right.

Coming off of a CIF runner up season in 2023, the Boys Water Polo team had another strong year. They finished 17-10 before losing in the first round of CIF to Ventura. Congratulations to the team on another great year.

Congratulations to our Varsity Girls Volleyball team. Coming off of a CIF semi finals run in 2023, they had another great season finishing with an overall record of 15-10 and tied El Dorado for 2nd place in league. Unfortunately, their season ended with a tough loss in the first round of CIF to Dana Hills.

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

Our talented drama department under the leadership of Mr. David Blum is currently performing their fall musical "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown". They play opened on Tuesday night. If you haven't had a chance to see it, I highly recommend it. There are two more showings; Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2nd. All shows start at 7:00 PM and are in the MPR.

As if one play this month wasn't enough, the talent in our drama department will be on display again at the end of November. The drama department will also be holding their fall play "Clue" starting Tuesday, November 19th and ending Friday, November 22nd. Showtimes are at 7:00 PM and in the MPR.

Our Choir, under the direction of Mr. Jens Hurty, had two amazing performances during October. They performed their fall concert on October 15th and on October 9th they performed at the OUPSF State of Schools here at Canyon High School. There are some amazing singers in our choir program this year. I would encourage you to come out and listen to them at their next performance.

In addition to drumline, orchestra and choir, our amazing Dance Company under the leadership of Ms. Andrea Greene also performed at the OUPSF State of School event. Our Performing Arts represented Canyon proudly at this one night event. The Dance program will be having their fall show on December 3rd and 4th. Look for more information in the December newsletter.

It was a busy month for our band program under the direction of Mr. Michael Whang! The Regiment competed in its first parade of the season. They marched in the Heritage Days Parade on October 19th where the Color Guard placed 1st in their Division and the band placed 2nd in their division! On Saturday, October 26th they had the opportunity to march in the Anaheim Halloween parade wearing their Halloween Costumes. Besides marching in parades, they were also performing at halftime of the Varsity Football games (In their new uniforms!). In addition, the Jazz Band held it's first concert of the year and the orchestra and drumline participated in the OUPSF event. As if that wasn't enough, they even found time to perform at the Homecoming Pep Rally.

Congratulations to Ms. Celena Photopulos who was selected as the October Teacher of the Month! Ms. Photopulos is in her 5th year teaching Science at Canyon. She normally teaches Biology and Biology, Honors but this year she is temporarily teaching AP Biology and she is teaching AVID for the first time. In addition to teaching multiple subjects, she is also our Boys' Water Polo Coach and is the advisor for multiple clubs.

Congratulations to Mr. Jose Penilla! Jose was selected as our Classified Employee of the Month for October. Jose has been a key member of our Canyon Security Team for almost 15 years! He is reliable, positive and has a great rapport with our students.

The Canyon Red Cross Club had its most productive blood drive since COVID. They collected 73 units of blood at their drive on October 17th! Thank you to the club and their advisor Ms. Nicole Elliott for hosting this event and a BIG THANK YOU to all of the students and staff who donated blood.

The Canyon High School Foundation held it's annual Week of Giving in October. On Tuesday, October 15th they provided snacks to students at nutrition. On Wednesday, October 16th they stocked the teachers lounge with snacks and drinks. Thank you to the CHS Foundation for providing these snacks for staff and students!

The Foundation meets the first Monday of each month in Room 114 at 7:00 PM. It is a great way for parents to get involved at Canyon and all are welcome!

The next PTSA meeting of the year is this Thursday, November 7th, at 9:00 AM in the CHS Library. All are welcome! Not a member yet? It only costs $15 to join! Please click the link below for more information.

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 input that provides valuable input to both our school and district. Students will be taking the survey in their math class during the month of November or December (they can also take it on their own at home). This survey is completely OPTIONAL. To take the survey please scan the QR code to the right. To opt your student out of the survey, please click on the link below and return the form to the front office by November 8th.

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a free aptitude test offered to 10th-12th graders and is an excellent way for students to find out more about their career direction. This test can help students connect the dots between their strengths, interests, and possible career pathways. Test results are private and shared with the student only, and there is no military obligation.

Advance sign-ups required- see Mrs. Grammas in the Career Center

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 101 from 3:30 to 4:30 Tuesday through Thursday.

What do you do if you need to pick your student up early? Who do you contact if your student is sick or you need to clear an absence? For answers to these questions and more, please click on the link below.

Monday, November 4 - CHS Foundation Meeting @ 7:00 PM in Room 114

Tuesday, November 5 - Staff Development Day - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

Thursday, November 7 - PTSA Meeting @ 9:00 AM in the Library

Friday, November 8 - PTSA Reflections Award Ceremony @ 12:30 PM in the Library

Monday, November 11 - Veterans Day - NO SCHOOL

Wednesday, November 13 - Athletic Signing Day @ 1:10 in the Gym

Tuesday, November 19 thru Friday November 22 - Fall Play "Clue" in the MPR @ 7:00 PM

Monday, November 25 thru Friday, November 29 - THANKSGIVING BREAK

To View more events at CHS, the Canyon Master Calendar Please Click Below

For up to date information during the month, you can check out the Canyon HS Website or click on the Daily Bulletin which has up to date announcements on what is happening at CHS.