Yosemite High Badgers Celebrate Fall

OAKHURST – Students, teachers and community members got their Fall on Friday, Sept. 25 at Yosemite High School, as a large and festive group celebrated autumn with an all-school rally.

About 700 classmates, their instructors, administration and special visitors attended the rally in the gym just before lunch. The event was planned and presented by ASB class, led by Rose Curley under the guidance of Tammy Thacker. Also on hand were nearly thirty members of ASB, representatives from the elite Chamber Singers choir, YHS Badger Cheer, Badger Band, and Lori Blate’s special ed class who were a great help with the popular class chants.

Chamber Singers opened the event with an outstanding rendition of the National Anthem, followed by senior class president Shane Eckstein’s report summarizing what’s been happening with sports and clubs on campus. Organizers premiered a video produced by the ASB tech team featuring school clubs, classes, sports, and teachers lip-synching to the tune of Watch Me by hip hop artist Silentó as the crowd in the gym applauded their support.

Activities director and ASB/Badger Academy instructor Tammy Thacker talked about Homecoming Week, scheduled for Oct. 26 – 30 (YHS Homecoming is on Friday, Oct. 30), and the newly introduced 5-Star Program which enables digital tracking of events, attendance and activities.

Finally, Thacker introduced Yosemite Unified School District student Logan Sesto, 5. Logan attends kindergarten at Coarsegold Elementary and lives with residual health issues surrounding Transverse Myelitis (TM), an autoimmune disease he acquired as a baby after being born addicted to meth. Despite whatever setbacks life throws in front of Logan, who was adopted from the foster system by the Sesto family, he maintains a sunny-side-up disposition. Logan and his family are in the process of raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in order to grant a fabulous with to a kid who needs it, in the very near future. Their goal: to raise $7,500.

Yosemite High School students are helping Logan with his project, and are selling Make-A-Wish Foundation Stars on his behalf for $1 each with proceeds going toward Logan’s wish.

Logan recently was granted a wish of his own, spending a day at the beach and a week visiting amusement parks, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. ASB students at YHS are selling Stars for Logan’s wish in front of the library during lunch through next Friday, Oct. 2.

Logan also helped with class chants, a loud and frenzied competition between freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors, to see who can shout their class name the loudest and with the most fervor.

Seniors won decidedly, followed by a rousing performance from Badger Cheer. After that, they played a human game of Hungry Hungry Hippos on wheels, which seniors also won because “seniors are the superior class,” deadpanned one senior class student.

The exciting rally ended with a “fantastic” show by Band as the students were dismissed for lunch and YHS Badger Football went to Mendota for a game while Cross Country took off for Visalia.

Special thanks to YHS Senior Class Vice President Clara Briley for the photos.