The Ram Page

May 24, 2024

Bi-Monthly Newsletter for Garces Families, Students, Alumni & Friends

June 3rd - July 3rd

Summer Session

August 7th

First day of 2024-25 School Year

This is the last edition of The Ram Page for the 2023-2024 school year.

Follow us on our social media sites to stay up to date on the latest updates from Garces Memorial

2024-2025 School Calendar

The school bell schedule calendar is set for next year. Please click on one of the links below to download the calendar. This year we offer two options for downloading the calendar - one for iPhone users and one for families who prefer the calendar in their Google account. If you have any questions, please get in touch with Mr. Gino Lacava.

Google Calendar for iPhone Users

Google Calendar for Other Users

This is a letter from the very messy desk of the new President.  It has been quite a busy few months, but I feel truly blessed to be where I am today.  I am absolutely in awe of our amazing students and feel so fortunate to have such wonderful supportive families.  My experience so far has been inspiring. I have been so fortunate to be able to attend weekly Mass with our students as well as participate in several programs and events including a very special and meaningful Baccalaureate Mass and Graduation Ceremony for our Garces 2024 class. 

This is a new role for me, and one I would have never imagined.  I have always stayed involved at Garces in a variety of ways, and I think it is mostly because of my love of this school and what it represents.  If you had asked as recently as ten years ago if I would ever think someday I would be the President of Garces - I would have laughed.  But here I am, the President of my alma mater, and I am grateful for the opportunity to give back to the school that has given so much to me, my family, and so many others.  As I have shared, my focus is and will always be on the students, centering on their academic development, spiritual growth, and life experiences while at Garces. 

I look forward to seeing lots of Rams, and future Ram students on campus for Summer School and I am excited for the 2024-25 school year in Ram Nation! 

Praying you have a safe and blessed summer.

Steven Antongiovanni '76

President

Play the video below to hear from some of the members of the Class of 2024 about their experience as a Garces Ram. Thank you to Jocie, Gigi, Maddie, Johnny, Kelsey, and Brandon for sharing what Garces has meant to them.

Senior Sunset

On the Friday before graduation, the Class of 2024 gathered one last time behind the Campbell Field House to read the letters they wrote to themselves as freshmen and again as seniors, sign yearbooks, and watch the "sun-set" on their years at Garces.

Our Baccalaureate Mass always feels so special. There is just something about being in the quad, under the strands of white lights, celebrating Mass one last time as a class, with family, friends, faculty, coaches, and staff. But this year's seemed extra special with a wonderful message from our chaplain, Fr. David. He reminded us that love is a choice, but he also shared that the Class of 2024 made that choice easy as they are easy to love. Check out the photos and the video below.

Baccalaureate Mass Photo Gallery

On Thursday, May 16th, Garces held its 76th Commencement Ceremony on Sam Tobias Field celebrating the Class of 2024. Thank you to everyone who made the event so memorable - especially Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Rossi. Thank you to all of our speakers - Mr. Antongiovanni, Ms. Leon, Fr. David, Mr. Olson, and Mrs. Limi. A big shout to the Garces Band and Mr. Ortega for the music. Thank you to Mr. Ochoa and Mr. Burns for setting up the field and to all the faculty and staff who made it such a special evening for our graduates and their families. Check out our links below.

Graduation Photo Gallery

Garces Graduation Program

Valedictorian

Brooke Hunter

The Garces Award

Jeanette "Gigi" Antongiovanni

The Jim Burke Leadership Award

Jocelyn "Jocie" Sala

The Bishop's Award

Stella Holland

The Bishop's Award

Joshua Pacheco

The Salutatorian

Kelsey Abraham

Junior Service Day

On Thursday, the Junior Class spent the morning giving back to various community organizations. The theme this year is from Mark chapter 20 "The son of man, came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Our students did a great job and we are very proud of them. Continue to pray for our juniors as they prepare to step up as the senior class next fall.

Union Cemetary

St. Vincent de Paul Center

Alzheimer's Disease Association

Kern County Library

Open Door Network

League of Dreams

The English Department at Garces Memorial High School is pleased to continue the summer reading program for the upcoming academic year.

The students have been given the reading list and information outlining the procedures and expectations of the summer reading requirement. When students return to school in the fall, they should have read their selected books and be prepared to take a short reading test in their English class within the first week of school. The reading test scores will be incorporated into the English class, constituting approximately 5% of the first-semester grade. Students also have the option of taking Summer Reading in Summer School.

Summer School

10 Unit High School Courses

Summer Camps for 3rd - 8th Graders

Garces will hold Summer School again this year. Our ten-unit classes will run from June 3rd - July 3rd. Please get in touch with Mrs. Denise Limi with any questions about the high school classes.

The Summer Camps for 3rd through 8th graders are one week long beginning June 3rd. Please get in touch with Mr. John Fanucchi with any questions regarding Summer Camps.

Questions about high school athletic summer classes can be directed to the team coach or Garces Interim Athletic Director, Mrs. Joan Finch.

Registration is open online at garces.org

Congratulations to the Garces Rams who were selected as officers for the next school year. Being selected is arduous and includes an application process, interviews with a panel of faculty and staff, and an interview with outgoing FFA senior officers. Candidates are scored on several criteria and then the top-scoring candidates are placed into an officer role for the following school year. The officers were announced at the FFA Awards Banquet.

• President: Sophia Camou
• Vice President: Luke Zunino
• Secretary:Maddy Baeza
• Treasurer: Jilliana Borba
• Reporter: Sienna Surgener
• Sentinel: Drew Reed
• Chaplain: Gino LaFever
• Historian: Alaura Townsend

FFA Awards Banquet

Submitted by: Sienna Surgener

Chapter Reporter 2024-2025

Last week we celebrated a year of growth, friendship, and achievements at our annual FFA awards banquet. We thank everyone who came and supported us on this spectacular night, and couldn’t be more grateful for all of the love our chapter received. Congratulations to all of our outstanding members who were recognized and couldn’t have imagined this year without you! The sparklers lit up the night as we ended with the announcement of our 2024-2025 officer team! We cannot wait for what our chapter has in store for the new school year! We want to thank all of the barbecue dads and Wool Growers who helped to bring delicious food to our tables. Thank you to our 2023-2024 officer team. The work you did was truly incredible and you will always be welcomed back to our chapter with open arms. Here are some highlighted awards from the night! 

California State FFA is honored to award Mrs.Thompson with the Silver Star Supporting Admin Award, Dr. Pavletich with the Silver Star Counselor Award, and Ms. Abbott with the Bronze Star Supporting Staff

• 2024 Star Greenhand: Gia Wattenbarger
• 2024 Star Chapter Farmer: Presley Reed
• 2024 Blue and Gold Pride Award: Sophia Camou 
• 2024 Forever Blue Award Winner: Melanie Haught
• 2024 Rising Sun Award Winner: Maddy Baeza
• Justice Award: Luke Zunino
• Compassion Award: Kennedy Olney
• Knowledge Award: Adrian Guerra
• Faith Award: Noelle McCrary.
• Dekalb Award: Laurel Magar
• Saint Isidore Scholarship Recipients: Laurel Magar, Kennedy Olney, Adrian Guerra, Ivy Lince, Melanie Haught, Hans Hoekstra, Marie Zaninovich, Noelle McCrary, Ava Echeverry, Gigi Antongiovanni, Isabel Lopez, Miguel Montano, Rosita Menta, Lillian Tracy
• AgriVisionary Award: Adrian Guerra
• The Future of Agriculture Award: Laurel Magar, Frank Fanucchi, and Noelle McCrary.

FFA Awards Highlight Video

Thank you Matt Reynolds of Reynolds Photography for capturing the night.

2023-2024 FFA Slide Show

Thank you to our 2023-2024 Historian, Melanie Haught, for the end-of-year video.

OLPH 8th Grade Awards

Congratulations to the 8th graders at OLPH whom Garces Memorial recognized at the 8th Grade Awards Assembly. Students are pictured with Garces President Steven Antongiovanni and Principal Noel Leon.



Top GPA Award: Alex Maristany

2nd Highest GPA Award: Brandt Stewart

Fr. Bernie Servant Leadership Award: Jameson Bock

OLG 8th Grades Awards

Congratulations to the 8th graders at OLG whom Garces Memorial recognized at their 8th Grade Awards Assembly. Students are pictured with scholarship donors Al & Barbara Sandrini and Gordon Westhoff.

Top GPA Award: Veronica Galapon

2nd Highest GPA Award: Sammuel Medina

Fr. Bernie Servant Leadership Award: Matthew Orozco

Al & Barbara Sandrini Scholarship: Rafael Flores

Carl & Barbara Fanucchi Scholarship: Ennexx Ramos

Gordon & Lynn Westhoff Scholarship: Madelaine Ayllon

Summer School link:

Garces Summer Session Enrollment

Please check your students proposed schedule that you received at the Freshman Parent/Student Information Night in April to see of any "required" or "recommended" summer classes were included. Use the link above to sign up for the classes needed.

Uniforms:

If you were not able to make it to the uniform sales this month, please reach out to Ms. Abbott to arrange a time to place an order for your polo shirts, formal dress shirts, ties, etc.

Orders for skirts must be placed through Norman's. Click here to go to Norman's website. They are offering 20% off during the month of May!

Student schedules

Schedules for incoming freshman and returning students will be sent via email the first week of June ONLY to students who have completed their enrollment packet. If you have not completed the enrollment packet and need assistance, please contact Ms. Abbott.

Academic questions

Freshman counselors will be on campus until July 4th if you have any questions that need to be addressed about your student's schedule.

Students with last name A-L - Dr. Ashley Pavletich at apavletich@garces.org

Students with last name M-Z - Mrs. Candis Howlett at chowlett@garces.org

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

We have so many fun events scheduled for next year and we want to get the dates out to all of you so you can make sure not to miss out.

Monsignor Leddy Golf

Dinner & Man of the Year at Luigi's

Thursday, September 12th

Tournament at Bakersfield Country Club

Friday, September 13th

Homecoming

Friday, October 11th - Sam Tobias Field

Holy Smoke Fall BBQ

Thursday, October 15th - Garces Quad

Hall of Honor

Thursday, November 14th - Luigi's

Garces Gala

Saturday, March 15th - Garces Gym

Garces Annual Fund Drive

The end of the school year is almost here! For those of you who haven't had a chance to contribute to The Garces Fund and want to be included in our 2023-2024 Annual Report as a supporter of this year's Annual Fund Drive, please click on the button below. We appreciate your support for our little school on the hill.

Grant Campbell

Football

Coach Campbell had a successful high school football career at Garces and began his college football career at Bakersfield College where he played on the 2012 State Championship Team. After BC, he transferred to Baylor University where he was the starting middle linebacker. He earned All-Big 12 honors and helped Baylor to a 21-5 record in two seasons, including 2014 Big 12 Championship and 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl win. He was most recently on the coaching staff at Frontier High School.

Moses Delfin

Wrestling

Coach Delfin had a successful wrestling career in high school and college He competed at the Division I level for CSUB and earned a Pac-10 Conference championship and a NCAA Division I All-American honor. After college, coached at CSUB for 10 years. He has been coaching youth wrestling for several years and joined the Garces coaching staff two years ago. Moses is an 18-year veteran with the Bakersfield City Police Department.

Marty Crider

Girls Tennis

Coach Crider has been the Garces Memorial assistant Tennis Coach the past two seasons. In 2022, the girls won the Central Section Team Championship, and in 2023 they made it to the semi finals. He grew up playing tennis locally. He started for two seasons at Bakersfield College and currently plays USTA leagues and tournaments. He is a Kern County Firefighter and an Assistant Tennis Professional on his days off.

Garces is now using SportsNet for our Athletic Clearance Packets. It offers our student-athletes and coaching staff an efficient and secure online tool to make clearance and eligibility management easier. You can find the link below or on our website.

Clearance Packet Link

Congratulations to our swimmers who made the Garces record book! This year Katie McCarthy, Eden Coughran, Charlie Potter, Clay Selvidge, Johnny Mendiburu, and Levi McKay all placed in the top five in a Garces swim record! Click on the links below to view the complete list. A big SHOUT OUT to Charlie Potter who now holds three school records for the fastest times in the 200 Free, 200 IM, and the 500 Free.

Garces Women's Swimming Records

Garces Men's Swimming Record

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Stephen Richard Wright

Brooke (Eagleson) Trybul '66

Mother of Donnie Trybul '91, Katie (Trybul) Mauldin '96, Beth (Trybul) Devahl '98; sister of Lynn Ward '61, Barbara Panici '68, Beverly Champlin (deceased) '71, Mary Lewis '75, and John Eagleson '80,

Please send up your class reunion information so we can help spread the word! You can email Lou Ann Durrett at ldurrett@garces.org.