The Scripps Ranch Senior Parent Committee is made up of parent volunteers who work to prepare events for Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) class of 2021.
Jody Luke created the committee in September once she realized the school district wasn’t going to hold events for seniors due to COVID-19.
“It didn’t seem like anyone was advocating for kids … That kind of broke my heart right away,” Luke said. “I think at that point I felt like I had to do something.”
Luke, the mother of a SRHS senior, a freshman and a sixth grader, called other parents she knew to form the committee.
Now, the committee is 15 members strong, with 250 members in their Facebook group.
Luke’s goal with the committee is to support and celebrate seniors.
“I think senior year is a really pivotal time in someone’s life,” Luke said. “This was supposed to be their time to be leaders and captains and role models, and they found themselves at home, in front of the computer all day with no activities and no sports.”
The committee’s first event was lighting the SRHS football stadium for 20 minutes and 21 seconds in the fall when football season was normally held.
“It doesn’t seem like a huge thing, but it was a big deal,” Luke said. “It was something that said, ‘Hey seniors. We see you, we recognize the loss, but we want to support you.’”
During homecoming week, the committee partnered with Scripps Ranch restaurants to organize a seniors’ restaurant week. Ten restaurants participated by giving seniors a discount.
In November 2020, the committee put together an event for seniors to paint parking spots. Painting spots is a tradition normally held as a fundraiser, and this year the committee ensured it was COVID-safe. Since the SRHS campus was off-limits, seniors were allowed to paint parking spots in the Scripps Miramar Ranch Library parting lot.
“I heard of someone, once their grandparents got the vaccine, they took them down to see their senior parking spot,” Luke said. “I don’t know if they would have done that (otherwise).”
Other events the committee put on include a senior drive-in night at the Santee Drive In Theater, a Starbucks Falcon drink, connecting the high school seniors to senior citizens at The Glen at Scripps Ranch Retirement through letters and more.
Luke said it’s been cool to see the community come together for the seniors.
“It speaks to the testament of the families of Scripps Ranch that where they see a need, people just step up,” she said.
Their upcoming events include powderpuff football, a senior picture with a drone and a graduation parade.
“We knew this was going to be challenging from day one,” Luke said. “All these parents have come together to say, ‘Let’s not just watch and wait and see, but be a part of a solution and make some memories for our kids.’”
Luke said the students are grateful they have not been forgotten.
“The amount of gratitude we’ve gotten from seniors and families has been satisfying,” she said. “But that’s not why we did it. We did it because there’s a need, and Scripps Ranch families rise to the challenge when there’s a need.”
To get involved, the committee can be reached by email at srhs2021seniors@gmail.com.
“I started researchingukuleles for the kids, and I found the prices for all of that,” Saguil said. “I started researching grants, and I put together a grant with donorschoose.org. But the only thing with donorschoose.org is you can only put in for 25 ukuleles, and I teach fourth grade, and our numbers can go up to 35 students.”
With the help of the donorschoose.org grant – and another grant through the San Diego Unified School District Visual and Performing Arts program for the other 10 ukuleles – he had the full set of 35 and could begin teaching his students.
This year, however, with COVID-19 preventing any in-person teaching, Saguil loaned the 35 ukuleles to his students in the hope of giving them the musical experience that he loved so much.
“I sent [the ukuleles] all home, and it was probably the best decision I’ve ever made,” Saguil said. “This year, the kids have really become proficient on the ukulele because they have them at home every day, and they’re regularly practicing, and it’s made a huge difference.”
With the ukuleles now with the students, Saguil decided this year he would have the students learn and perform one song. That song: “Surfin’ USA” by The Beach Boys.
“I was looking at the songs that I was teaching them, and ‘Surfin’ USA’ is a fun song. When I first introduced it to them, I started with the YouTube video of The Beach Boys. They looked at it, and they were like, ‘Oh, this is weird.’ You know, of course, it’s black and white, and they’re dancing kind of funny and wearing funny clothes. So, they said, ‘Uh, are we really going to learn the song?’ And I said, ‘sure, why not?’”
Saguil, along with his teacher’s assistant, taught the kids the four chords required to play the song and then focused on the singing aspect of it. He broke the kids up into groups and put them in breakout rooms to practice.
“I would visit the breakout rooms and have them practice the strumming techniques of the song. I would have them check their chords to make sure they were chording properly,” he said. “And then when we got to the harmony part – I split them up, boys and girls.”
Once the song was performed and recorded through Zoom, the final piece that was missing, according to Saguil, was the production company to put it all together and create a video to share.
Finding a production company to put a video together was not easy to do in November or December due to all the recitals and other music performances at every other school. Saguil had to go through a list of companies until he finally reached out to C. Scott Company in Minnesota.
“I signed a contract with the production company, and we started the project. Right away, I started searching for grants, and once again, our Visual and Performing Arts department has a foundation, and the foundation grant came out at about the same time, and I applied for it,” he said.
Saguil received that grant, and the video was now paid for and set to be ready by January.
After posting the video to his own Facebook page, making it public, it has gotten more than 5,000 views, and teachers from all over are reaching out to him for tips to do something similar.
“I’m surprised at how quickly it’s spreading. Every time I look on Facebook, it’s getting more and more views. I think the last time I checked, it’s over 5,000 views, and it’s been on less than a week,” Saguil said. “It’s catching on, and it’s funny, teachers from all over the United States have been messaging me asking me how I got ukuleles for my classroom and asking me how I’m able to teach via Zoom and how I put together a project like this. So, I’ve been responding to them because I think it’s important that, as a teacher, we share our ideas and tips so that way we can spread the love of music as much as we can.”
View the video here: bit.ly/2XMHwY9.
Several Scripps Ranch High School seniors were able to continue a school tradition this fall in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic causing their campus to be closed and off-limits.
Normally, SRHS seniors are allowed to bid on parking spaces at their school as a fundraiser at the beginning of each school year. Then they are allowed to personalize their spaces with colorful artwork. This year, the seniors were allowed to create art on parking spaces at the Scripps Miramar Ranch Library instead of their high school lot.
Photos by Justin Fine. Visit justinfine.com.
Many Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) students will continue a nine-year-long tradition of aiding San Diego's homeless this holiday season. With the help of the SRHS Homeless Outreach Club, students will be donating new clothing and other necessities through a network of collection boxes this holiday season.
Blake Scurry, who is the club's president and a SRHS student, said that they are currently donating more than 800 pairs of socks to various homeless shelters.
"We are planning to donate 100 hygiene kits and hand-written messages of hope to a San Diego homeless shelter," Scurry said.
With the help of the club adviser Ron Tsui, the Outreach Club is a student-run volunteer organization that raises awareness about the homelessness problem in San Diego. It was started in late 2011 by former SRHS students Nicolas Stanitsas and Daniel Miller. Stanitsas started a sock drive for the homeless in the fall of 2011. He later met Miller, who shared the same vision as his. So, they tag-teamed to promote an event called "Christmas Socks for the Homeless" that year in which they collected more than 800 pairs of athletic socks – just like the current project.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic had set back some of the Outreach Club's events, it did not prevent people from donating for the next event.
"Luckily, we have already received donations for hygiene kits from the members of our community," Scurry
said. "Scripps Ranch has always been known for its kindness and generosity."
In April 2020, the U.S. Census reported that there were nearly 4,900 people who were homeless in the City of San Diego, a drop of 4 percent from last year, according to SanDiego.gov. Many are being temporarily sheltered inside the San Diego Convention Center.
While city officials are working on a long-term plan to address homelessness, volunteer programs like the SRHS Homeless Outreach Club offer some comfort and short-term solutions.
"Just like the founders' goal of raising awareness of homelessness, we are hoping to provide aid to those in need and give a spark of hope in their lives," Scurry said.
All Scripps Ranch High students are welcome to join. Email the Outreach Club: srhshomelessoutreach@gmail.com.
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