Danny Ender - Lopez High School
Sandy Nichols
introduced Danny Ender, a teacher at Lopez HS (LHS) for the past three years. He majored in History at UOP and his teaching credential at Cal Poly, and is now working on his Masters from Chapman University. He teaches US and World History and loves teaching at Lopez because of the diverse student population and his ability to help them achieve their goals in a small class environment.
Gina Bravo spoke first, she is 22 years old and is often asked if she is a student. LHS has 170 students with a 15 to 1 student to teacher ratio. She believes this is the key to helping disadvantaged students with previous drug issues, homeless students, students of single parent homes, or other issues. All of the students at LHS must be credit deficient for graduation before being recommended and then accepted to LHS.
Orel Ramirez spoke next, about accomplishments at LHS, they include: Voter registration drive, registering 473 new voters; a blood drive with 55 students volunteering to donate; working with the local Kiwanis Club to send 100 home bound seniors to the Melodrama for an evening; collecting 500lbs of clothes and 200lbs of food for homes shelters. March 19 is an Open House at LHS 5:30 to 7:00.
Onnika Schubert says that education has always been a main part of her life. Sometimes it isn't easy, at Nipomo HS the larger class sizes made paying attention difficult. She got behind on her homework and couldn't seem to get the help she needed to succeed. She tried hard but eventually gave up and no longer felt part of the class. At LHS she started in independent study class and eventually moved to a normal class schedule. LHS is a good environment for her where students help each other. She likes school now and plans to attend Cuesta College and eventually become a teacher