October 2004 News Archive
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Quentin Panek to Serve as Principal of Dos Pueblos High School
Quentin Panek has been selected to serve as the new principal of Dos Pueblos High School. He replaces former principal David Cash, who recently accepted an assistant superintendent position in the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. Mr. Panek will begin work in early November.
"I am very excited to be the new principal at Dos Pueblos High and look forward to upholding the school’s long-standing tradition of excellence. The focus of my efforts will be on student learning as well as maintaining a positive campus climate for all. Thanks to each individual from your educational community for the wonderful opportunity you have given me," stated Mr. Panek
Dr. Brian Sarvis, interim superintendent of the Santa Barbara School Districts, added, "We are delighted to have Quentin on staff. He is a person of high integrity, a bright, effective leader who works well with staff and parents, is highly respected by students, and is known for his commitment to educational and co-curricular programs. Quentin’s leadership style will be a great match for Dos Pueblos High School."
Mr. Panek has been serving as an assistant principal at Carmel High School, a post he has held since 1998. Prior to his work in Carmel, he was the assistant principal at Oak Park High School in Agoura. In the areas of school governance and leadership, Mr. Panek has been responsible for oversight and review of athletic and student body budgets, co-curricular eligibility guidelines, emergency procedures, and various facets of special education. His duties have also included oversight of student attendance and discipline policies. He has participated in the WASC accreditation process; overseen articulation with local community colleges on school-to-work transition; devised course curriculum for various programs; and administered a variety of testing programs.
For almost 20 years, Mr. Panek taught at the junior high and high school levels. During those years, his teaching experience included assignments as an adult school teacher, athletic director, gifted and talented program coordinator, and humanities program coordinator.
Mr. Panek earned his administrative credential, master’s degree in education, and bachelor’s degree in history, English, and speech from California Lutheran College in Thousand Oaks.
San Marcos High School’s First Faculty-wide CPR/AED Training
The entire faculty of San Marcos High School, some 95 employees, will gather in the school’s cafeteria and undergo their first staff-wide cardiopulmonary resuscitation/automated external defibrillator (CPR/AED) training on Wednesday, October 13, 2004. At 12:45, in the school cafeteria, the American Heart Association’s Dr. Robert Gayou will address the importance of CPR/AED in emergency health care. Fireman/paramedic Jim Emerson will lead the training exercise, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
Proactive health care has been an important focus at San Marcos High School, the site of the Santa Barbara School Districts’ first Health Careers Academy. The Academy was recently the recipient of defibrillators, provided by the American Heart Association. For the October 13, 2004, training, the American Heart Association has given the school 90 mannequins and 3 AED trainers.
CPR training is not new to the campus. In school year 2003-04, approximately 100 students underwent CPR training in the school’s physical education classes. In the current school year, the RISE (Royal Introduction to Scholastic Excellence) class taken by all 9th graders (approximately 600 students), is incorporating CPR into the curriculum.
San Marcos High School is located at 4750 Hollister Avenue, Santa Barbara, CA 93103.
Nine School District Semifinalists in the 2005 National Merit Scholarship Program
Last spring, some 1.3 million high school juniors in approximately 21,000 high schools across the country took the National Merit Scholarship Program’s Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. From that pool of 1.3 million entrants,16,000 students were recently selected as semifinalists in the 2005 National Scholarship Program. Nine of the semifinalists are seniors in the Santa Barbara High School District: David Levi, Caitlin Maxwell, Amy Seale, Leah Silverstein, and Diane Zaida from Dos Pueblos High School; Eli Kupperman and Sarah Ollikkala-Jones from San Marcos High School; and Danny Silverman and Zev Weiss from Santa Barbara High School.
With the fulfillment of several competition requirements, these high-scoring entrants now have the opportunity to advance to finalists. Semifinalists will be evaluated on various details, such as his/her academic performance in college preparatory work, SAT scores, a recommendation from the school principal, extracurricular and/or leadership activities, and information about the school’s curricula and grading system. According to the National Merit Scholarship Program, approximately 15,000 of the semifinalists are expected to move to the finalist level of competition. Finalists will be announced in the spring of 2005. At that time, approximately 8,200 merit scholarships, worth $33.9 million, will be offered.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation was established in 1955 to conduct the annual academic competition.