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Millennium High School

at Tracy Learning Center

MHS Electives Newsletter for August and September

Posted Date: 10/16/25 (06:55 PM)


MHS ELECTIVES

ELECTIVE COLLAGE
 
art history

Art

FALCONS OF THE MONTH
- Coming Soon

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
Students are working on different techniques to express themselves artistically
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Ms. Hashimi

Ms. Hashimi is the new Art Teacher for Millennium High School. She is very skilled with a wealth of experience in many different art genres.

Currently, Ms. Hashimi is working on her doctorate while teaching full-time, which shows her love of learning and dedication to education.

Ms. Hashimi has her BA in Political Science, her MA in Public Administration and Management
Art examples from class
 
Career Ed

Career Ed

FALCONS OF THE MONTH
  • Aug - Armon Falley
  • Sep - Johnny Rubio-Rodriguez

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
Speakers:
These are the speakers who have presented to our Career Ed. Students 

Entrepreneur 
  • DJ Trev Entertainment - Alumni Trevor Baker
Military 
  •  Army
Schools 
  • University of the Pacific
-----------------------------------------------------------
Projects
Students started their Business Projects in September and completed them soon. 

Presentations will begin the week of Oct 20th - Oct 27th

Below are examples of some of the business ideas students have.
Mr. Woods

Mr. Woods

Hola, Bonjour, Kon'nichiwa, Ciao, Zdravo, Nǐ hǎo, Sata srī akāla, salam, and Hello!

I am starting my 27th year as an educator because I love teaching. I enjoy the energy and the ideas students have each year. 

I began teaching at the Tracy Learning Center in 2003 with Discovery Charter School before moving to Millennium in 2006.

I have taught many subject areas, including Language Arts/English, Math, Geography, U.S. History, Personal Finance, and Career Education, while dabbling with foreign languages : )

I am an AVID supporter of ALL sports teams in Southern California and LOATHE ALL Bay Area and Sacramento teams, including the Chivas, with a PASSION!!!
pic
 
Life Design

Life Design

FALCONS OF THE MONTH
Sofia Rios and Isaac DePeralta.


Mr. Young

Mr. Young

I have been teaching for 20 years! This is my 19th year at MHS. 

I was the Art teacher for my first 15 years at MHS.

In 2019, I was asked to move into administration.

I am now in my 5th year as the MHS School Director. 
 
Life Skills

Life Skills

FALCONS OF THE MONTH
August: Santi Lopez & Praneet Kumaravel

September: Leilani Recomio & :Leahna Ybarra Cardoso

Thank you for taking your learning seriously, for actively participating and for asking questions during class.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
25 Community Service Hours Due By December 5th.  All community service papers are due to Ms. Taylor in the Counseling Office. 

Financial Literacy Test will be during Week 11



Ms. T

Ms. T

Ms. Takeuchi
- Activities Director for DCS and MHS
- Life Skills
- Freshmen Coordinator

 
Music

Music

FALCONS OF THE MONTH
Kaitlyn Kwong and Stephanie Bustos

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
Our MHS Marching Band and Color Guard continue to make their mark in the 1A division, taking the high score for all categories judged in our division.

They have put in a lot of hard work as they continue to improve. They are pulling off some pretty remarkable achievements. 

Trophies Received:

  • 1st Place 1A Division

The remaining trophies are especially significant because they earned them for overall scores out of ALL bands competing that night, divisions 1A through 5A.

  • 2nd Place Percussion (1st in our division)
  • 2nd Place Colorguard (1st in our division)
  • 1st Place Visual
  • 1st Place Music (I am most proud of this one personally)
Mr. Zepeda

Mr. Zepeda

  • Music Director (Dallas Cowboy Hater)
  • 10 Years with MHS/DCS
Band posing with trophies for recent wins
 
PE

PE

FALCONS OF THE MONTH
Aug- Thomas DiGiallonardo & Thao Trosien 

Sept- Anahat Hundal & Rudy Villasenor 

Each of these students have demonstrated Respect and Responsibility throughout this school year. They lead by example and are kind to their peers. They take PRIDE in their health and their daily life.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
In PE we like to teach non-traditional sports they may have never seen before. Introducing these sports allows for all students to overcome the uncomfortable feeling of trying something new. This allows for a safe learning environment and encourages all students to give 100% effort. So far we have learned about Lacrosse, Team Handball and are currently learning about Ultimate Frisbee and Disc Golf. If your family would like to try Disc Golf, there is a beginner and intermediate course at Dr. Powers Park across the street from Monte Vista Middle School off Lowell.

UPCOMING
Going forward, our curriculum will include: tinikiling, speed mitton, pickleball, dotball, self defense, flag football, rugby, and volleyball. We will also include fitness components throughout our curriculum, including things like, TRX workouts, mile runs, and full body workouts. Our goal with our curriculum is to introduce students not only to new sports they likely have not played before, but to help them feel more comfortable with fitness. By the end of our school year, every student will have the adequate knowledge to form healthy habits as they grow into adults. 
PE

Coach KV

Coach Kv
  • 17th year teaching PE at TLC. I’ve taught at all 3 schools. 
  • 15th year coaching Boys Varsity Basketball 
  • Athletics Fundraising Coordinator 
  • Coached Golf for 5 years but this year stepping down as I will be on Maternity leave. 

Coach Hill
  • 3rd year teaching PE at TLC. 1st year at Millennium
  • Discovery Flag Football Coach

OU
 
Spanish 1

Spanish 1

FALCONS OF THE MONTH
Sept- Joseph Bellomo & Alexander Reese

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
Spanish 1 This year we started with our Preliminary Unit in which the students learned all the basics in Spanish. We concluded it with a Group Skit Project for which they wrote their own script and presented it to the class by memory and by acting it.  We also covered our unit on Gustar and Ser. In this unit the students learned to use “ser” to say where they and other people are from. They also learned to use Gustar to talk about different activities they and other people like to do
Ms. De La Torre

Ms. De La Torre

I have been teaching Spanish at MHS for 15 years. This year I am only teaching Spanish 1.  I love teaching the language and the Hispanic culture. I always try to create interactive and engaging lessons for my students to learn in a fun way. Therefore, almost every day is a fun day in Spanish class!
 
Spanish 2

Spanish 2

FALCONS OF THE MONTH
August- Isabella Posada for (Superior Falcon Values) & Josue Contreras for (Falcon Growth)
September- Regina Cuatlatl (Superior Falcon Values) & Soliyana Royal (Falcon Growth)

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
Spanish 2 Classes were working on vocabulary and grammar to review the concepts that they previously learned during Spanish 1. They are also covering the present indicative of regular and irregular verbs and future compound tense conjugation and possessional adjectives. The Unit Test is on September 29. The unit that follows will cover traveling vocabulary and conversational skills with emphasis on grammar related to direct and indirect object pronouns and an introduction to the past preterite tense verb conjugation. The students will work on a Project creating a weather report scene and another project where they will create a country’s traveling brochure showcasing the grammar concepts and vocabulary that they will learn this next quarter.

Spanish 3 Classes finished the preliminary unit and are working in creating a Spanish Commercial Ad of a product that they came up with using skills and grammar that they have reviewed from Spanish 2. They also started the new unit about spending time outdoors with family. They are learning vocabulary about camping, nature, and the extended family members, with emphasis on grammar related to irregular preterite and imperfect tenses. Both of which are important past tenses in the Spanish language. They will also complete a “Dia de los Muertos” Cultural Project after watching the movie “Coco” in class. We used many strategies to use Spanish in class that go beyond traditional lectures. 

HUB Special Activities: Students on period 1 of Spanish 2 working on various engaging activities that help the class practice the school SWO’s. Each day we focus on one of them, such as critical thinking, citizenship, collaboration, communication, and curiosity

TENGO Game below:
Here you can see students in Spanish classes using Games such as TENGO (BINGO) and Arroz con Frijoles, Kahoot (Space Robots Game), Matamoscas, & Quizlets Live, where they practice their new Spanish conversational skills, verb conjugations, and vocabulary:
Ms. Amador

Ms. Amador

¡Hola! I have been teaching Spanish to students of all ages for over 39 years and it is my passion and vocation. I truly enjoy coming to work each day to engage students with my lessons. I love learning and hope to share the joy with my students so they can become life-long learners as well. My education includes a BS in Biology and a Masters in Education. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and it is my honor to share my culture and language with my students and friends. I love parent’s involvement in supporting their children to succeed in my classes. Please, contact me through Parent Square with any questions or concerns and I will love to hear from you and help in what I can. ¡Muchas Gracias!      
SP
 
tech construction

Technical Construction

FALCONS OF THE MONTH
August/September: Alex Ferea

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
Drama - We are moving quickly through our Stagecraft unit, approaching our final project…Haunted High 2025. Students are busy painting, sculpting, and designing attractions for the event in October.

Film Production - We have just wrapped our History of Film unit and are moving forward through the Classical film genre with Casablanca and the Western Film unit with 3:10 to Yuma.

Computer Programming - Students finished up their Hardware and Networking unit and are now actively coding their first websites using HTML and CSS applications.

Technical Construction—Students are learning stagecraft and team project building with the construction of the Haunted High event. They just wrapped up their Basic Skills training.
Mr. Snyder

Mr. Snyder

I have been a teacher here at the Tracy Learning Center for 22 years now.  During my time here, I have enjoyed teaching all grades from 1st grade to 12th grade.  Currently, I am heading up the Drama department, Speech and Debate, and four other elective classes ranging from Computer Science, Personal Finance, Technical Construction, and Film Production.
students working on Tech Construction project
 
Wellness

Wellness for Life

FALCONS OF THE MONTH
August- Tyler Knauss & Khloe Harrington

August- Analise Silveira & Wesley Martin

September- Dylan Gray & Mason Su

Each of these students have demonstrated discipline and commitment to their health during the course of the year, while also working with their peers to help build and improve technique and form.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
Wellness
It has been a busy start to the school year! In Wellness, students have just finished learning about the foundational movements that are the base of not only weighted exercise movements, but also the base of movement in our general, everyday lives

They’ve had exposure to suspension training with the TRX straps, and have taken their foundational movements and started applying them with load through the use of medicine balls. In a few short weeks they will be moving into the squat racks to learn how to apply more load with the use of body bars and barbell

PE
PE has been busy in a wide rotation of activities, including Team Building, Fitness, Disc Games and a brief introduction to Orienteering to kick off quarter 1. In Fitness, as we re-introduced the concepts for the State Fitness Test, along with the Health-Related Fitness Components, students had weekly “Muscle Mondays” that included workouts/games that focus on building in specific components. In disc games they learned basic throwing and catching for KanJam and Ultimate, while we hope to move into more game play in the Spring when we have access to the field. In Orienteering they learned how to read a basic compass, find the bearings and navigate directions. As quarter 2 gets underway, we are starting off with the introduction to Sepak Takraw and Eclipse Ball. Both sports have the opportunity to be frustrating, as they involve skills that take patience and coordination. Students will ideally learn that patience by slowing the skills down and focusing on movement breakdowns. Skills are modified as needed to help maximize student success.

UPCOMING
Stay tuned for a newsletter discussing the all-important topic of HYGIENE!! Tips to help prevent/eliminate body odor during physical activity.

Coach Balsamo

Coach Balsamo

Hi there Falcons! This is my 18th year teaching at Tracy Learning Center and I’m having a blast watching the students grow, discover and overcome challenges through movement! 

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to create a new class, Wellness for Life. It may be one of the most rewarding roles I’ve had here, and has reignited a passion for teaching. I’ve recently had a 2nd level to this course approved, which will roll out next year, called Wellness 2: Advanced Strength Training & Fitness. I can’t wait to continue growing this program! 

In addition to my credentials in Physical Education, I’ve completed certifications through NASM as a Certified Personal Trainer and Youth Exercise Specialist, in addition to a Performance Enhancement Specialization, and a few others, to make sure I’m equipped (and constantly learning) new ways to bring fitness to our students in a way that can help build their confidence when going at it on their own.

Students get an opportunity to focus on fitness form/technique and style, while simultaneously working to achieve their current health goals. We are all on this lifelong journey together!
CB