Lenaea Theater Festival

Last weekend our MHHS Theater Department had the pleasure of competing in the Lenaea Theater Festival in Folsom,CA. Out 0f 72 schools from all over the west coast and 1,100 participants, we were able to show why Mountain House students are a force to be reckoned with.

Please help me congratulate Maya Fisher and Stevie Siever-Vincenzi for taking home the top spot for et design and Josh Flanagan and Thomas Gustafson for taking home a bronze medal in the duos category.
These are amazing accomplishments for the competition is fierce! All the competitors had a blast and were able to work with professionals in the business. Go Mustangs!

BSU Staff vs. Students Basketball Game

What:  BSU Staff vs. Students Basketball Game
When:  Friday, February 28th
Where:  Large Gym
Time:  5:30 p.m.

The BSU club is hosting their 3rd annual Student vs. Staff Basketball Game Friday February 28th from 5:30 to 7:30. Come on down and cheer on your favorite team!

ASVAB Assessment Sign-Ups

What:  ASVAB Test
Who:  10th-12th grade students
Where:  MHHS
When:  March 19th at 9:00 A.M.

All 10th-12th grade students are invited to take the ASVAB assessment on March 19th at 9:00am at MHHS.

The ASVAB measures developed abilities and helps predict future academic and occupational success.  Since the ASVAB measures strengths and potential for future success, you don't "pass" or "fail". The results represent how well you have developed your skills in addition to your potential for training.

For further information in regards to the ASVAB please visit this link: https://www.asvabprogram.com/student

All students interested in taking this test will need to sign up by clicking here. The deadline to sign up will be 2/18/2020.

Letterman Jacket Event

Have you earned a High School Letter Patch from sports or other activities on campus?  Unsure of how or where to get your patch sewn onto a letterman jacket?  Mountain House High School has partnered with JacketBack Embroidery in Livermore as a provider of high quality letterman jackets and embroidery.  While you can go to anyone for this service, the Livermore location is close, local, and has all of our school colors and options on file.

JacketBack has decided to run a Letterman Jacket "Pop-up Shop" here on campus at MHHS on Wednesday, February 26th from 4 pm to 6 pm.  If you sign up for the pop-up shop, you receive a $30 discount off of the Standard Letter Jacket package.

Sign up today for your appointment by clicking here:  https://tinyurl.com/mhhs-jacketback

Winter Percussion and Winter Guard

Last week, Winter Percussion and Winterguard traveled to Enochs High School in Modesto for their first competition.  We are happy to report that Winter Guard placed 2nd and Winter Percussion placed 1st in their respective competitions.  What a great way to start the season this winter!  Join us in congratulating our students for their accomplishments.

Academic Block Award

Many of you are familiar with the Block Letter Patch that is obtained by students after they are involved in participating in a Varsity Sport at our High School.  These patches are typically sewn onto a letterman jacket or sweater so that students can show their school pride, and show the pride of their accomplishments that include other pins, patches and awards they receive throughout high school. 

What you probably don't know is that students can also receive a Block Letter Patch for their academic achievements.  Students who consistently obtain a 3.5 GPA or higher and participate in other activities like leadership, community service, sports, or academic teams can be eligible for this award as well.  Obtaining a Block Letter during high school represents a significant achievement on one or more areas of curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular activities. 

Students who wish to obtain their Academic Block Letter should review the criteria for the block letter and determine if they meet all of the criteria for the block letter.  The criteria for the block letter can be found on our website under the "Academics" heading.  For your convenience, the link can be found HERE.  https://tinyurl.com/mh-block-info

Once you review the criteria, please follow the link on the web page to fill out the application to receive your block letter.

The first time students are eligible to apply for the academic block letter is after their Sophomore (10th grade) year.  

Biomed Students Learn about Robotic Surgery

On January 30, 2020 students from the Biomedical Professional Pathway learned about cutting edge technology at the Tracy Sutter Community Hospital.  Tracy Sutter Community Hospital has invested the the da Vinci surgical system from Intuitive.  “The da Vinci surgical system provides a surgeon an advanced set of instruments to use in performing robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery. The term “robotic” often misleads people. Robots don’t perform surgery. The surgeon performs surgery with da Vinci by using instruments that he or she guides via a console.  The tiny wristed instruments move like a human hand, but with a greater range of motion. The da Vinci vision system also delivers highly magnified, 3D high-definition views of the surgical area. The instrument size makes it possible for surgeons to operate through one or a few small incisions.” (Intuitive, 2020).  The accuracy that the system improves outcomes for patients including shorter hospital stays, decreased pain and few complications.

In addition to learning about the systems students were able to operate a demonstration system.  They controlled the system to manipulate the robotic instruments within a simulated abdomen.  It  was an amazing opportunity. 

To the right is an image of a student operating the system controls and viewing the 3D high definition views of the “surgical area”.

Crab Feed and Auction

What:  Athletics Boosters Crab Feed
When:  Saturday, March 7, 2020
Time:  Doors open 6 P.M., Dinner at 7 P.M.
Where:  Tracy Portuguese Hall
Cost:  $55 per ticket
Now is the time to purchase your tickets for the 5th annual Athletics Boosters Crab Feed!  This is the once a year not-to-miss event of the year.  Join us for all-you-can-eat crab, pasta, salad, and dessert.  There is a Tri-Tip option for those who do not eat Crab.  There will be a raffle and auction at the event.
Even if you do not have a student-athlete, this is a great way to support Mountain House High School.

Purchase your tickets TODAY online here:  http://mhhsboosters.wixsite.com/website or by contacting mhhsboosterclub@gmail.com

Early College Pathway Information Meeting

What:  Early College Pathway Meeting
Who:  All 8th grade students and parents
When:  Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Time:  6:00 P.M.
Where:  MHHS Learning Commons

Attention all 8th grade students and parents!

The MHHS Early College Program is a partnership between Delta College and Mountain House High School. This program will help our students gain experience in taking college level courses, earn dual credit for classes taken at Delta, earn a high school diploma, and earn either the IGETC transfer pattern of courses for a state university or an associate's degree while in high school.

MHHS is hosting an information meeting on February 25, 2020, at 6:00 pm, in the MHHS Learning Commons for any 8th grade student/parent interested in this program.  At the meeting you will learn about the program, receive application materials, and learn about the expectations of being an Early College student. 

Here are the requirements to apply to the Early College Program at MHHS:

• Students must apply during their 8th grade year
• Score of 230 or above on the Winter MAP Math Test
• Score of 220 or above on the Winter MAP ELA Test
• 3.0 GPA on 2nd trimester report card
• Recommendation form from two current core teachers
• Student and Parent Essays
• Students must be enrolled in Math 2 or Math 2H in 9th grade
• Students must identify a professional pathway to pursue at MHHS

We look forward to seeing you on February 25th at 6:00 P.M.

Science Olympiad at Aggie Invitational

On Saturday January 25th, all three MHHS Science Olympiad Teams competed at the first-ever Aggie Invitational at UC Davis.

Please congratulate the following students for receiving medals in the following events:
1st Place Dynamic Planet: Jacqueline Prawira and Sahityasree Subramanian (Blue)
2nd Place Fossils: Jacqueline Prawira and Sahityasree Subramanian (Blue)
3rd Place Disease Detectives: Pavana Pragna Bathula and Lizzie Su (Silver)
3rd Place Experimental Design: Crystal Chum, Erin Su, and Sharon Varghese (Blue)
4th Place Write It Do It: Tia Abraham and Elizabeth Varghese (Silver)
5th Place GeoLogic Mapping: Jacqueline Prawira and Sahityasree Subramanian (Blue)
5th Place Protein Modeling: Aarush Maddela, Chinmayi Mutyala, and Sahityasree Subramanian (Blue)

Overall, our Blue Team took 4th place, beating out our Regionals rival Tokay High School who placed 7th.

This was a tough competition written and administered by UC Davis students and our kids dealt with some very strict judges. Our students worked very hard and it definitely paid off!

In the end, our Silver Team placed 20th and our White Team placed 30th.

Please congratulate all of our students who contributed to our overall success:
Blue Team:
Crystal Chum
Aleeza Khan
Pranav Kharche
Tina Le
Elyse Low
Bernice Lozada
Aarush Maddela
Vishnu Matta
Gian Mendoza
Chinmayi Mutyala
Jacqueline Prawira
Erin Su
Sahityasree Subramanian
Mehul Tailang
Sharon Varghese

Silver Team:
Tia Abraham
Isaac Anchanattu
Pavana Bathula
Ananya Domala
Sakina Muckadam
Alicia Roice
Ashlyn Roice
Sukmin Sandhu
Maitreyi Sinha
Sofia So
Julian StaCruz
Elizabeth Su
Cindy Ta
Yen-Chung Ting
Elizabeth Varghese

White Team:
Divjot Gill
Angela Joji
Masaki Kobayashi
Tharuka Kodituwakku
Mumin Makhkamov
Harshitha Mannari
Swetha Nattu
Eshaal Naveed
Roya Rejaly
Sumit Sandhu
Harshini Sarraff
Isha Suba
Sumukhi Tunuguntla
Jasmine Yam

Speech and Debate Updates

Over the past two weekends, Speech and Debate students have competed in the National Catholic Forensics League Qualifier, the Viking Invitational, and the Modesto High YFL competition.  Many of our students won accolades and awards.  See below for specifics.  Congratulations to our students for their many accomplishments.

Two weekends ago a few students went to Sacramento to compete in the National Catholic Forensics League (NCFL) qualifier and they did not disappoint!
This specific tournament was created by the Catholic church in 1951; although not religious in nature, it was divided by regions that were separated by dioceses; so that charter schools, home schools and religious schools could all compete.  In order to be invited to the tournament, you must have a dioceses contact your team and offer the opportunity.  We were invited two years ago.
The events that are offered specialize in national events that are "lesser known" in the world of speech, so they are different and a new kind of fun! This league is one of tradition and excellence, so even attending is an honor.
This past weekend our team entered and the following students qualified to the national touranment, held in Chicago!

Vishnu Matta - 1st Humorous Interp
Anisha Yeddinpudi - 3rd National Extemp
Aashril Shazar - 1st place National Extemp
Rithanya Sivasubrahmanian - 1st in Original Oratory

Please take time to congratulate them!

Additionally, these students also recieved their second bid to the Naitonal Individual Events Tournament of Champions (NIETOC) held in Houston, TX this coming May.  That tournamentis an elite tier of competition that takes only the best students who take prestigious placings at nationally ranked tournaments.

This past weekend, two students, Aashril Shazar and Dhruva Kolikineni, competed at the Viking Invitational held at Irvington High School. These two are excellent in parliamentary debate and it shows

as they not only competed but made it to final rounds, placing 2nd overall, with a defeat in the final round.  Additionally, Aashril placed 4th speaker in the entire tournament!

Finally, we are pleased to announce that the boys have qualified to the National Parliamentary Debate League Tournament of Champions (NPDL).  In addition these students are ranked 10th in the entire nation!

The last of the local tournaments has also happened.  The league, known as the Yosemite Forensics League, has completed six tournaments, each one helping our students refine their speaking skills! This past weekend at Modesto High was no exception, it was an awesome tournament!
Please congratulate all students in competing, as we are all in the process of learning; and celebrate the following students with placing:

Congress 6th - Ameya Puranik

Humorous Interpretation (HI)
6th - Pranav Sundar
3rd - Vishnu Matta

Original Advocacy (OA)
3rd - Zainab Butt
2nd - Chinmayi Mutyala
1st - Sambhav Agarwal

International Extemporaneous (IX)
5th - Anisha Yeddanapudi
3rd - Chandra Kamaraj

Expository (INFO)
1st - Lizzie Sue

Original Oratory (OO) 4th - Brianna Do

Oratorical Interpretation (OI) 4th - Riya Jaitly

Dramatic Interpretation (DI) 2nd - Divya Raj

Perhaps the best part was that two of our students “auto qualified” to state! (Please congratulate: Astrid Mann (OO) and Zainub Butt (OA) as they are our first two qualified to state!

DECA Regional Competition Winners

The Mountain House DECA chapter attended the NorCal DECA competition in San Ramon on the weekend of 1/17-1/19.  Thirty-two students competed in both written business plan and role play competitions.  Our chapter made history for MHHS in winning for the first time in several categories of the competition.  We now have recognition in the region as a competitive chapter with multiple wins.  Over 800 students attended the NorCal competition from 17 high schools.

In each category, the top ten competitors were ranked and recognized on stage with the top three winners receiving trophies called "glass."  The winners outside the top 3 received medals and pins.  Based on last year where one competitor placed in one event, this year is phenomenal.  One student was on stage multiple times.  I am so proud of these students given that we do not yet have the dedicated DECA coaches and dedicated prep classes that the big winner schools have such as Irvington and Washington.  The winners for Mountain House chapter are as follows:

Business Services Operations Research Event
- Harini Srinivasan - 2nd place

Business Finance Services Event
- Ishita Dutta - 8th place

Franchise Business Plan
- Vashaki Lahadas - 10th place

Entrepreneurship Independent Business Plan
 - Kartik Katam - 3rd place

Entrepreneurship Event
- Tanisha Iyer - 9th place

Start-up Business Plan
- Sreeram Ranga - 2nd place

Entrepreneurship Decision Making
- Peter Choi - 5th place
- Yashaswini Punati - 9th place

Finance Operations Research
- Ishita Dutta - 8th place

Restaurant and Food Service Management
- Laasya Manganti - 9th place

Travel and Tourism Marketing Team Decision Making
- Subhan Baig and Gautam Chintalaputi- 3rd place
- Krishna Rajupalepu and Sujit Tangunthi - 5th place

Business Finance Services
- Ishita Dutta - 5th place

Where do Mustangs Go?

Now that MHHS has been around for a few years, and we've graduated several groups of students from our high school, many have been wondering just where our Mustang Graduates have gone after they left the brand new halls of our great school. 
Well, wonder no longer!  Below is a graphic with some of the major colleges and universities that students have been accepted to.  In addition, if you'd like to see a consistently updated list of ALL schools and programs our students have been accepted to, visit the google doc HERE 

2020 Graduation Time Survey

Mountain House High School is asking Seniors and their families to give us feedback on start times for High School Graduation. 

With the 8th grade graduation being moved to Thursday evening, it gives us an opportunity to start graduation at an earlier time to begin the ceremony before the weather gets colder in the evening and to allow graduates time to celebrate with their families before the Sober Grad party begins at 10 P.M. 

Please complete our survey TODAY!  The link has been shared with Seniors and their parents through email.  Please check your email and give us feedback ASAP!

Black History Month

Did you know that February is Black History Month?  Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926.  We owe the celebration of Black History Month to Dr. Carter G. Woodson.  Dr. Woodson was born to parents who werre former slaves, and he spent his childhood working in the Kentucky coal mines and enrolled in high school at age 20.  He graduated within two years and later went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard.  The scholar was disturbed to find in his studies that history books largely ignored the black American population.  Dr. Woodson decided to take on the challenge of writing black Americans into the nation's history.  He established the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History in 1915, and later founded a widely respected journal of African American History.  Mountain House High School remembers and thanks Dr. Woodson for his contributions as we celebrate Black History Month.