 Yosemite
& Coarsegold Districts 
School
News
November
19, 2004
YHS
grad Nick Carey is presidential security guard
YHS
pool information updated twice a week
YJUHSD
meeting student needs
Classroom
construction underway
YHS
grad Nick Carey is presidential security guard
Presidential Security Guard
SUBMITTED
2001 Yosemite High School graduate Nick Carey is shown standing at attention
as President George W. Bush steps off the presidential helicopter. Carey
is a Presidential Security Guard attached to the president’s helicopter.
Carey joined the US Marine Corp in September 2002 and was assigned to
the president’s guard in April 2003.
Nick
Carey, a 2001 graduate of Yosemite High School, is a member of the Presidential
Security Guard attached to the presidential helicopter. He is one of
the Marines who salutes the president when he steps off the helicopter.
The day after President Bush was re-elected for another four years,
Carey, who was in Coarsegold visiting his family, said he was glad that
Bush had won.
He said Bush is “very personable” and makes a point of stopping
to say hi to the guards.
“He’s really down-to-earth,” Carey said of Bush. “He
doesn’t think he’s better than everyone else.”
He said the whole Bush family is nice. He said last Christmas when some
of the guards were at Bush’s Texas ranch, Laura Bush brought them
cookies. Carey was not on that assignment.
As a security guard attached to the helicopter, he goes wherever it
goes. This has included the Normandy trip for the D-Day observance and
trips to England, Singapore and Thailand.
The helicopter is sent ahead of Air Force One on a cargo plane and Carey
and the other guards travel on the cargo plane.
In addition to seeing President Bush on a regular basis, Carey gets
to see a lot of heads of state and he sees Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell frequently. He says they
are both very nice people.
Carey has had an interest in a law enforcement career since he was a
freshman at YHS but he says he “didn’t have a clue”
that a job such as he has now existed.
He signed up to be a military police after he joined the Marine Corp
in September 2002 and was sent to school for that position.
After that, between 200 and 250 MPs were interviewed by officers and
20 were selected to be Presidential Security Guards.
Following the initial selection, Carey and the others had to undergo
psychological tests and had to receive top secret clearance.
As part of that process, officials visited YHS and talked to some of
the staff members.
In April 2003 he began his work as a guard to the president. He will
remain in that position until is tour of duty in the Marine Corps is
up in September 2006.
At that time, he will leave the military and hopes to have a career
in federal law enforcement, possibly in the FBI.
Carey lives in an apartment about a half-hour from Washington, DC. He
has a lot of opportunities to go sightseeing. He works 12-hour days
with a schedule that varies from two days on and two off to three days
on and three off.
Carey kept busy in high school as a member of the Sheriff’s Explorer
Post for four years. He also took the Regional Occupational Program
(ROP) Careers in Criminal Justice class taught by Madera County Sheriff’s
Deputy Roy Broomfield.
While he was home on his week-and-a-half leave earlier this month he
spoke to Deputy Broomfield’s class and visited other staff members
at YHS.
He told the students in Broomfield’s class about his travels with
the president, noting that the last time he had been with him was three
weeks earlier in Ohio. He also told them that he has been to Camp David
with President Bush.
Broomfield remembers Carey as “an outstanding student” who
had a lot of integrity and was highly responsible. He said although
he was a quiet kid, he stood out because of his hard work.
Carey’s advice to students is to “keep in mind what you
want to do in the future and let that guide you in what you do now.”
He says he has chosen law enforcement as a career because “I like
to help people and can do that best by protecting them from the bad
guys.”
He is the son of Mike and Becky Carey.
YHS
pool information updated twice a week
Winter
weather will have an impact on the hours the Baker Swim Complex at Yosemite
High is open for use.
Aquatics Director Chad Houck updates the phone message twice a week
to give up-to-date information on hours; phone 683-1987.
As of last week, the pool was open for lap swimming Monday - Thursday
from 7:30 to 9 p.m. for adults; Tuesday - Thursday 6:30-7:30 a.m. and
Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
If the pool temperature gets below 75 degrees, it will be closed.
District Superintendent Bill McCabe expects the pool to return to a
full schedule about March, depending on the weather.
The YHS water polo teams used the pool extensively during the fall season.
In the spring the swim teams will be using the pool.
The $3.5 million complex was opened in September with a ribbon cutting
ceremony and an afternoon of free swimming for the public.
Fees for using the pool are $4 per day for adults; $2 for students and
for those 60 years and older; children under five are admitted free
but must be accompanied by an adult.
Special monthly fee packages are available.
For more information, a brochure is available at the Yosemite High office
or it is available on the district’s Web site: www.yosemiteuhsd.com
then click on Sports and then Baker Swim Complex Web site.
YJUHSD
meeting student needs
The
Yosemite Joint Union High School District is committed to meeting the
needs of all students.
“At a time when many schools are cutting programs such as fine
arts, vocational arts, counseling and library services, we have not
only kept these programs but have expanded them,” comments YJUHSD
Superintendent Bill McCabe.
“We are proud of the expanded opportunities we have for our students
this year,” notes Yosemite High School Principal Steve Raupp.
He points to two new programs -- aquatics and Cadet Corp -- and to additional
classes in the fine arts program.
A new position at YHS this year is student support facilitator. This
is a full-time position created to help address mental health needs
of students. In prior years, the district had contracted for two days
of support services each week. It was recognized that this was not sufficient,
so the full-time staff position was created.
Valarie Edwards, who had previously served the school on a contract
basis, accepted the full-time position.
Raupp notes that while virtually every other district in the area has
dropped freshmen football, YHS has kept its team and doubled its schedule
this past season.
Aquatics is another new area of sports that became available this year
with the opening of the Baker Swim Complex in September.
The boys’ and girls’ water polo teams had their inaugural
season and did very well. Raupp says there was tremendous interest in
water polo and they will be placed in a league next year. “We
did great for our inaugural season,” he says.
In the spring, girls’ and boys’ swim teams will be part
of the sports schedule.
The Cadet Corp is also in its first year. Students have uniforms that
they wear to school on designated days. Thirty YHS cadets participated
in the Veterans’ Day Parade in Fresno November 11. YHS received
a plaque for one of the best marching groups.
In addition to classes and programs to meet student needs, facilities
needs have also been addressed with the school’s major expansion
and renovation project.
“These new and improved facilities improve the educational environment,”
McCabe says, noting that the contained classrooms are a great improvement
over the original open classrooms and that the permanent facility now
under construction will be much superior to portable classrooms.
Additional classrooms have been put at Ahwahnee High School and a separate
classroom was added for Yosemite Adult School. A science laboratory
was put at the district’s charter school, Glacier High School
Charter.
“We have a mission to meet the needs of every student,”
McCabe says. “That is the mission of our board of trustees and
everyone in the district. We share a common vision of providing the
best opportunities possible for all of our students.”
Raupp explains that the district and site administrators and staff look
at the needs of students and address ways to meet those needs. “In
a climate where schools are reducing programs and opportunities, YHS
continues to put students first,” he says.
Classroom
construction underway
Construction
is well underway on the 23-classroom building at the front of the Yosemite
High School campus on Road 427. The steel framework is being put up
at this time. The silver-colored metal sheeting on the roof is a deck
or subroof. The roof on the completed building will be brick color like
the rest of the buildings. The building is scheduled to be ready for
occupancy by the beginning of the Fall 2005 semester. This is the last
major construction project on the campus.
Depending
on Mother Nature, the dream is to have the new 23-classroom building
at Yosemite High School completed in July 2005 so there is time to move
in the furniture before school starts in August.
The steel framework changes daily as work continues on the building
that is estimated to cost $8 million.
The classroom portion of the building will be 23,534 square feet. With
the addition of teacher work rooms, bathrooms and other facilities,
it will be 27,343 square feet.
This is the last major construction project at YHS. Work started on
the school’s major expansion and renovation project in 1999 following
the passage of an $11.76 million bond in 1998. This allowed the district
to qualify for state matching funds and state bond funds.
Additional funds have been from grants, developer fees and donations.
When all projects are completed the cost will be about $30 million.
It is expected that the school will not need any additional major projects
for 15-20 years.
The performing arts center is expected to be open in January and preliminary
plans are underway for a grand opening sometime early next year.
The renovated football stadium is “outstanding,” according
to YHS Principal Steve Raupp.
The new all-weather track will be used next spring when track season
begins.
Soccer teams will be playing on turf for the first time this season.
The Baker Swim Complex that opened this fall was used for water polo
during the fall season and will be used by swim teams in the spring.
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