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Published on 02/01/1999 All articles from this issue

High school musicians named to state band

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By Linda Taaffe / Town Crier Staff Writer

Schools Roundup

Four local high school musicians will be in the spotlight next month as members of the California All-State Honor Band. Jinsue Choi and Michael Chen, both seniors at Los Altos High School, and senior Dane Clum and junior Stella Zubeck, both of Mountain View High School, will perform with 250 of the state's best high school musicians Feb.14 in Fresno.

The California Band Directors Association selected the four students from among 700 musicians from more than 290 high schools in the state.

"This is a long shot for anybody (who auditions)," said Irene Zubeck, a parent-volunteer from Mountain View High. Only five students from each school are eligible to audition, and of those, only one is guaranteed a spot in the band, she said. Some students spend up to five months perfecting their audition tapes, she said.

This was not the first competition for the students. Chen, who plays flute, Zubeck, who plays clarinet, and Clum, who plays trombone, all performed with the County Honor Band last year.

Choi, who has played clarinet for the past seven years, was named to the National Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall last year, and played as a member of the California Youth Symphony.

"I had no idea if I would make it. I just went for it," said Stella Zubeck, who has been playing clarinet since fifth grade. She has played with the school's wind ensemble, symphony orchestra, pep band and marching band.

Clum, who has played trombone for the past seven years and is a member of the school's wind ensemble and jazz band, said it was an honor to be chosen, especially since two musicians from each school were accepted.

"I feel like we really earned it and weren't just chosen because they had to fill a spot," he said.

Clum said he plans to pursue a career in music.

Bubb student earns spot in regional spelling bee

Jade Adams will join the area's top spelling champs in San Francisco this March for the annual Regional Spelling Bee. The fifth-grader earned a spot in the competition last week after a grueling 30-minute spelling bee that left her champion of Benjamin Bubb School in Mountain View.

Surrounded by about 60 school mates, Jade took a deep breath before spelling "s-c-h-e-m-e"- the word that launched her into the regional level.

Principal Judy Crates said 26 students in grades 4 and 5 took a written spelling test the previous day. Only the top 12 returned to participate in oral contest, she said.

All 12 students lasted four rounds of the competition mastering words from "procrastinate" to "volcano."

The students had practiced after school one day a week since November, Crates said.

About 250 winners from the regional contests will advance to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., this May.

Cupertino expands Mandarin program

A greater number of students in the Cupertino Union School District will have the opportunity to learn Mandarin Chinese next year. The school board of trustees unanimously agreed at its regular meeting Jan. 26 to expand the pilot language program from kindergarten to grade one at John Muir School next fall.

The program could move to a permanent location if the board determines next year that the level of parent support is high and there is space available for a voluntary program, said a district spokeswoman. There are currently 17 students enrolled in the program, she said.

Parents Lynette Eng and Marilyn Chi helped launch the dual immersion program last year. Unlike bilingual classes aimed at teaching English to non-English speaking students, both English and non-English speaking students enrolled in the program learn English and Mandarin.

The district supports approximately 60 languages. About 16 percent of the students speak Mandarin, said the spokeswoman.

IN BRIEF: The Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School Foundation raised more than $100,000 during its annual fall fund-raising campaign. Donations to the foundation help fund the district's tutorial centers, college and career centers, and go toward the purchase of science and technology equipment and software at both Los Altos and Mountain View high schools. When the foundation reaches its goal of $152,000 by the end of this academic year, it will bring the total amount of money donated to the district to $1 million over the past 15 years.

Cisco Systems, Inc., donated 20 routers to the Computer Information Systems Department at De Anza College this month for a new student computer lab. The routers will enable students to communicate with other students from anywhere in the world, via the computer.