Vannida Nguyen Vannida has recently graduated from Sierra High School. She finished her senior year as President of California Scholarship Federation and was a 4.0+ GPA honor student every academic term. She will be attending UC Irvine in the fall majoring in Pharmaceutical Sciences. She has been a part of the program for 7 years. She has taken positions such as Administrative Assistant, Senior Web Manager, and Senior Anthology Editor. She enjoys playing tennis, running track, staying busy, eating, and working out. Her favorite TV shows include Glee, New Girl, The Legend of Korra, So You Think You Can Dance, and Elementary. Her favorite colors are periwinkle, teal, blue, and turquoise.
Photo Manager
Rose Thomson Rose Thomson is a second year coach for the Writing and Technology Workshop. She works for the program as Photo Manager and photographer. She graduated from Escalon High School and is currently attending California State University, Sacramento as an English Major. She enjoys reading, swimming and listening to music. Rose wants to be an English high school teacher when she graduates.
Senior Anthology Editor
Noah Ledesma Noah is an incoming 11th grader at East Union High School in Manteca. He is working as an Anthology Editor during his second year as a coach. Along with the Great Valley Writing Project, Noah is involved in other extra-curricular activities such as the Kiwin's club at his high school and the Youth Advisory Commission for the city of Manteca.
Photographer
Allie Fern Allie Fern will be entering round two of high school at Tracy High. Because of her dad's role teaching in the computer lab, she has been lucky enough to participate in the program since 2nd grade. Partnered with her trusty Nikon sidekick, this is her second year working as a photographer. Her passion for reading and writing extends outside the workshop, where she also loves goofing off online, running track and cross-country, and traveling the world. She will keep on helping the Great Valley Writing Project as long as she is able!
Junior Administrative Assistant
Kaitlyn Batterton Kaitlyn is the administrative assistant of the GVWP program. She was in charge of attendance and making phone calls to the parents. Kaitlyn is going to be a junior in high school and is part of a JROTC program. JROTC made her a disciplined and fast learner, making the work easier in the GVWP program.
Senior Administrative Assistant
Anika Williams Anika is going into her senior year at Manteca High School. It's her fourth year with the program, third year as a coach. She has worked with photography, book editing, and is now one of our administrative assistants. She plays soccer year round for MASL and enjoys watching her favorite shows, Pretty Little Liars and Awkward, every week. After high school she plans to attend Delta College to become an Ultrasound Technician.
A/V Manager
Jonah Ledesma Jonah was born in a hurricane in Stockton, California and eventually settled in Manteca. He is a high school graduate going into college at Delta. As the A/V Manager and Primary Student Supervisor, this is his third year working as a coach for the workshop. His interests include music, theatre, and politics. Some of the very cool things he has done is serve as Vice-President of his school's Thespian Club (he is a certified member of the International Thespian Society) and he is also the singer and guitarist for Californian rock band United Front (they are ranked #1 in local alternative on ReverbNation). His favorite band is Foo Fighters and his favorite food is Italian. facebook.com/unitedfronttheband
Junior Anthology Editor
Emily Felt Emily is entering her sophomore year at sierra high. This is her second year of coaching and fourth year with the program. This year, Emily's main jobs were helping Noah with the anthology and taking amazing pictures for the website. She also was in charge of snack distribution for k-3. Emily likes to hike, play volley ball and her favorite animals are puppies. In her free time, she enjoys writing poetry, listening to music and watching movies. She can be easily bribed with chocolate.
Photographer
Carissa Seth Carissa is going into ninth grade and it is her first year as full time student coach at the Ripon Writing and Technology Workshop. This year, she is responsible for editing, organizing, and taking pictures of students throughout the workshop. Although Carissa loves writing, she also enjoys helping others with their writing as well. Carissa worked as a teacher's assistant for an after school writing club at Fox Road Elementary, where she worked with 4th and 5th graders on poetry, narratives, and informational writing. Carissa has won an art contest [Honorable Mention (regional) 2013 Scholastic Art Contest] and two writing contests ["Writer of Distinguishment" 2012 CATE Creative Writing Contest (California Association of Teachers of English)-Central Council; First Place 2013 CATE Creative Writing Contest]
Photographer
Emmitt Grayson Emmitt is a 15-year-old freshmen going into his sophomore year at Ripon High. This is his first year as a senior coach. He is an activities manager and also a photographer for the Great Valley writing project. He is involved in football, wrestling, and track. He also loves reading, writing, playing video games, and working out.