APRIL NEWSLETTER

Canyon Families,

I hope all of our students had a great Spring Break and are ready for the final quarter of the school year (48 school days)! With SBA testing happening in April, AP/IB Testing in May and many student activities taking place, school will be over before you know it. March had some great events that took place with our students accomplishing great things and the month of April will also have a lot going on. For a recap and preview of these events, please see the newsletter below.

Have a great day!

Brent McKee
Principal

The AVID program is selling student planners for the 2026-27 school year. The cost is $10 until April 24. There will be limited quantity available for $15. Order forms are available in room 132. Please see the attachment below for more information.

Our Amazing Counselors have been working hard registering students for next year. Now the focus turns to making sure all of our Seniors graduate. Despite how busy they've been, they still found time to create their own newsletter recapping the 3rd quarter and previewing the 4th quarter.

During March, student representatives and staff visited El Rancho to share information about our CTE Pathways and Special Programs to their 8th grade students. It was a great way to promote the amazing programs we have at Canyon as well as recruit future Canyon students to those programs.

Please click on the attachment below to view the April IB Newsletter and learn about all of the great things happening in the IB Program.

Congratulations to the Canyon High School Key Club on being recognized as Club of the Year in Division Four East! Key Club is the oldest and largest international, student-led high school service organization, focused on building character, leadership and community through volunteering. As part of the Kiwanis International family, it promotes caring as a way of life, empowering students to serve their schools and communities while fostering growth. CONGRATULATIONS to all of the Key Club Students and their Advisor Ms. Erin Miller!

CONGRATULATIONS to Canyon Sophomore Ziyana Kassam! Her photo "The Light of Connection" received first place at the state level of the PTSA Reflections Competition and will be moving on to the national level!! The photo, titled "The Light of Connection" is pictured to the right. Another CHS Student, Winston Harman, received 3rd Place in the Reflections Regional level.

Also CONGRATULATIONS to the following students who received awards in the OC Vital Link - Digital Media Arts Contest. Maryam Eljinar (2nd Place), Gavin Patin (3rd Place), Camden Goetz (Semi Finalist) and Evelyn Deller (Semi - Finalist) were all recognized for their outstanding work. All of these students participate in the photography program taught by Mrs. Karen Uyematsu.

In March, some of our students had the opportunity to enjoy a guided tour of Cal State Fullerton hosted by Vital Link. They explored the college campus while learning about various academic programs, student resources, and college life. This experience helped them feel more confident and motivated about their future and all the possibilities that await them.

We also had students who had the privilege of being invited to the United States Coast Guard base in San Pedro for an engaging and educational field trip. They toured the facilities and had the chance to interact with service members, gaining firsthand insight into daily life on the base and learn about career opportunities within the Coast Guard. The experience provided a better understanding of the Coast Guard and a deeper respect for our military while inspiring students to consider future paths in public service.

Congratulations to our Canyon Robotics Team A who took home the Tournament Champions banner at the Vex Robotics California State Championships and an invitation to the Vex Worlds Championships! This is the first time Canyon Robotics has won this top award and no small feat! Competing against 96 teams from all around Southern California, all three Canyon Robotics teams did an amazing job putting their hard work and skills to the test. Team B also earned an invitation to the Vex Worlds Championships through their final skills ranking. Team C was just points away from receiving an invitation also and are still keeping their fingers crossed for a wildcard invite. We are so proud of all three teams and their nonstop commitment to excellence! We wish the teams good luck as they travel to St Louis in April to compete against 800+ other high school robotics teams from not just the United States but over 20 countries from around the world.

On Wednesday, March 25th, we welcomed studentS from Japan to our campus. These students were on tour in the United States and wanted to check out an American High School so we allowed them to visit the best school our country has to offer! The students visited some of our classrooms, met some of our students and definitely enjoyed their 3 hour visit. Thank you to Canyon Counselor Ms. Julie Jung for helping to organize this as well as to our students and teachers who made them feel welcome.

Each year, Orange County hosts a student visual art competition in which art teachers across the county submit outstanding student work. From these submissions, 100 students per grade level are selected for exhibition. From that group, Laguna College of Art & Design then selects a smaller number of works to be featured in their college gallery in Laguna Beach. Canyon students Sofia Guerrero and Andre Lomeli were selected to have their work featured in the gallery! Four other students; Hanfei Phoebe Mai, Katherine Nguyen, Lindsey Trinh and Taylor Wanner were selected for the top 100! To view these students work, please click on the attachment below.

The Canyon Color Guard competed at the Manhattan Beach Power+ Regional competition on March 7th and 8th and placed 1st in their Division against some fierce competition!

They also competed in Palm Desert the weekend of the 20th-22nd and got 2nd place!

In early April, they will be traveling to Dayton, Ohio for the World Championships! Good Luck to our Team in Ohio!

Since the start of the semester our Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band, and String Orchestra have been working on their festival/spring concert music. In March, the Symphony Orchestra performed at the Philharmonic Society of Orange County’s High School Orchestra Festival at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Center for the Arts Concert Hall and received a unanimous “Mastery” rating (the highest possible) from the adjudication. In addition, the Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band, and String Orchestra participated at a Southern California Band and Orchestra Association festival held at Newport Harbor High School. The Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Band both received unanimous “Superior” rating (highest possible) and the String Orchestra received an “Excellent” (2nd highest possible) rating. They even found time in their busy schedule to perform two concerts on March 25 and 26 in front of a packed MPR.

Our Amazing Dance Classes featuring "The Company" and "The Jr. Company" will be performing their Spring Dance Show on April 29, 30 and May 1. Show times are 7:00 and will be performed in the MPR. For more information, please click on the link below.

For four nights in March, our Drama Department entertained audiences with an Amazing Production of "9 to 5". The entire cast was extremely talented! Acting in the roles were Colette Tran (Violet), Chloe Brinley (Doralee), Olivia Melgoza (Judy), Fawn Rinker (Roz) and Eli Medlin (Franklin Hart). Given the quality of the play, it would be surprising if some of these talented individuals aren't recognized with a MACY Award. The MACY program recognizes and awards high school musical theater students and productions.

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section, the governing body that oversees high school athletics, recently released the winners of the team academic championships. CONGRATULATIONS to our Girls Stunt Team who finished 1st with the highest GPA in their sport for the entire CIF Southern Section! By virtue of finishing 1st in their sport, our Stunt team will be honored in a pre-game ceremony on the field at a Los Angeles Angels vs. Toronto Blue Jays baseball game on April 20TH.

Our Academic Success didn't end with them. 21 of Canyon’s varsity programs achieved above a 3.5 unweighted GPA! Canyon also had 9 top 10 finishers in their respective sports. Top 10 finishers included; Girls Cross Country (10th), Girls Golf (9th), Boys Volleyball (8th), Boys Track and Field (7th), Boys Basketball (7th), Boys Cross Country (4th), Boys Golf (4th) and Traditional Competitive Cheer (2nd).

Canyon is extremely proud of the achievements of all of our incredible scholar athletes and is grateful for the amazing efforts of all the students, teachers, coaches, and parents that contributed to this success!

The CIF SS recently honored individual student athletes for their outstanding accomplishments both in their sport and in the classroom. Canyon students Thomas Boyle and Ryley Piche were recognized for their hard work and success as student athletes by CIF! In addition to being outstanding students, Thomas participates in Cross Country and Track in Field while Ryley played on our Girls Soccer Team.

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

CONGRATULATIONS to Ms. Georgina Vargas on being selected as Canyon High School's Teacher of the Month for March! In addition to teaching our high level Spanish Classes, Ms. Vargas is also our IB Coordinator which is a very big job. She is very well liked and respected by her students for the work she does. This is her 14th year at Canyon High School so given the number of student lives she has impacted, this recognition is well deserved!

CONGRATULATIONS to Ms. Jill Day on being selected as Canyon High School's Classified Employee of the Month for March! This is her 3rd year at Canyon and she works in the front office as Ms. Morita's secretary. She has a lot of different job duties and she does a great job at all of them! Before coming to Canyon, she worked at Orange High School. Jill is well deserving of being recognized for her hard work!

Congratulations to Maggie Wooters on being selected as Canyon High School's Classified Employee of the Year! Maggie is completing her 13th year at Canyon as an Instructional Aide and has played a big role in supporting our students with Special Needs. She currently works as an IA in Ms. Sedares classroom. It is great that she is being recognized for her contributions!

Canyon PTSA is proud to once again open their applications for Senior Scholarships. These scholarships are open to current Canyon seniors. In addition, the Orange Unified Council of PTA's is also accepting applications for scholarships from Canyon and El Modena seniors. Use the QR codes in image for more information, deadline and to apply today for both scholarships. Good luck to all the applicants!

Curious to learn more about Artificial Intelligence? Canyon PTSA is proud to be offering their Spring Free Family Workshop focused on the topic of AI. They will have Chad Zimmerman, who is the Information Security Officer of Nano Banc presenting and discussing an array of topics from how to spot AI generated images to teen safety concerns/strategies. We hope you will join this important conversation Thursday, April 23rd at 6:30pm in the Canyon Library. No sign up is necessary and this workshop is open to all families, students and friends!

For parents of seniors, it is probably hard to believe that their student is entering their final quarter of school. Graduation will be here before you know it and there is a lot going on. A letter will be going out in the next few weeks with more information on end of the year procedures, graduation and graduation tickets. In the meantime, here are some important dates:

Prom

• Tickets currently on sale.

• Price increases: April 6, April 20, and May 4

• Last day to purchase: May 6 (during lunch only)

• Event date: May 9

• Time: 7:00 PM – 10:30 PM

• Location: Cerritos Performing Arts Center

Senior Breakfast & Universal Studios Trip

• Now on sale

• Last day to purchase: May 1

• Senior Breakfast: June 8

• Universal Studios Trip: June 9

Yearbook

• Last day to purchase: April 17

ALL ITEMS CAN BE PURCHASED IN THE STUDENT CENTER.

On May 1st, we plan to celebrate our seniors who have been accepted to colleges or the military for next year. We will let them out for nutrition a few minutes early and they will have the opportunity to sign a banner and place a sticker that represents their future destination on the banner. We will then display that banner for the remainder of this year and next year. Seniors need to bring a sticker that represents their school choice or career to place on the banner.

The National Honor Society has tutoring in Room 101from 3:30 to 4:30 Tuesday through Thursday.

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.

The American Chemical Society Club offers tutoring sessions across all levels including Regular, Honors, and AP Chemistry.

Tutoring sessions are held every Tuesday and Wednesday from 2:00–4:00 PM. On even days, tutoring will take place in Ms. Nguyen’s room (129), and on odd days, it will be held in Mr. Brierly’s room (134).

Thursday, April 9th @ 9:00 AM - Canyon PTSA Meeting in the Library

Monday, April 13th @ 7:00 PM - Canyon HS Foundation Meeting in Room 114

Wednesday, April 15th @ 1:10 PM - Athletic Signing Day in the Gym

Wednesday, April 29 - Friday, May 1 @ 7:00 PM - Spring Dance Show in the MPR

Friday, May 1 @ 11:00 AM - Senior Signing Day in the Quad

Saturday, May 9th @ 7:00 PM - PROM at Cerritos Performing Arts Center

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.