A Fantastic February First Friday

Principal Camacho met with parents in the media center Feb. 2 for First Friday. This monthly event includes updates on student life, questions from involved parents, and student spotlights. Representatives from Mustang Minds, San Dieguito Academy’s academic league, and homeroom Olympics attended this meeting.

The primary focus of parents’ questions was the holding of students during third period on Friday, Jan. 26, at Principal Adam Camacho’s First Friday meeting last week. A teacher notified SDA administration of a student’s written assignment that contained explicit threats. Within a minute they had eyes on the student and escorted this student to the offices. The bell was withheld to try and avoid student panic and to provide time to do a quick investigation to determine that the threat was unsubstantiated.

Parents expressed both curiosity for details and concern for their children. Camacho described the safety protocol and the teacher debriefing that occurred on the following Tuesday. He assured the parents that the threats were benign.

Gabriela Sipe, a parent that attended First Friday, said, “[It] gives important information that I’m missing in emails or isn’t on the website.” In general, Sipe finds these meetings to be a great way to gather the information she needs to know.

Representatives from other departments spoke as well. Athletic Director Scott Jordan gave details on upcoming sports games with details on dates and locations. He stressed the importance of being “student athletes not athlete students,” which was applauded by the audience of 13. Counselor Vicki DeJesus gave a brief explanation of course registration and provided final dates for changing classes.

Student body president, Jeremy Romero (junior) and treasurer, Nancy Saltamachio(junior) provided a list of approaching student events including spirit week, winter formal, the talent show, club fair, and prom. Specifically they mentioned plans for the upcoming Meme day and a classic Hollywood themed formal .

Senior Ciro Valdez, Homeroom Olympics president, came to describe the activities being put on by this club. Valdez gave a description of the Mario Cart Race from last year, and the dodge ball tournament in the future. The administration and parents had a laugh when hearing of the prize, a donut party to the winning class.

A highlight of the meeting was the friendly, or possibly unfriendly, competition between Mustang Minds and San Dieguito Academy’s administration. Linda Park asked questions with topics spanning from literature to science to French. It was a great way for students to exhibit their intelligence. With a final score of 31 to 7, Mustang Minds were victorious.