The official web site of the Lowell Alumni Association

Dragon Boating Takes Young Alums Far

Bailey Zhao '03 and a number of other recent Lowell grads comprise most of the participants on the Universities of California Dragon Boat team, which has earned the opportunity to represent the United States and its colleges in the Tianjin, China International Invitational College Dragon Boat Championships just last month. The team consists of 24 paddlers, of whom 21 are Lowell alumni. The Tianjin event attracted more than 100,000 spectators and a healthy number of international teams from countries such as Australia, Russia, Italy, China (Mainland, Hong Kong, Macau), Korea, Canada and the United States.

The UC team placed 9th overall in the 500-meter event (3rd in their division) and 12th overall in the 5,000-meter event (6th in their division). For more information or to learn how you can help support the UC Dragon Boat team, visit www.calidragonboat.org.

Lowell Ranks 4th in Latest State API Rankings
Based upon the 2005 growth figures for the state's Academic Performance Index (API), Lowell ranks as the state's fourth-best public high school and the top-scoring Northern California public high school. Despite showing continued growth, Lowell's score of 946 (out of a possible 1,000, with 800 considered a desirable target score) trailed only Gretchen Whitney High in Cerritos (Los Angeles County) at 979, Oxford Academy in Cypress (Orange County) at 964 and the California Academy of Mathematics and Science in Carson (Los Angeles County) at 951.

The API is based upon student scores on various standardized tests in English, mathematics, science and social science as well as results on the California High School Exit Exam.

Sports Teams Dominate City
The Lowell Cardinals wrapped up a phenomenal 2004-2005 year with another slew of team championships, including girls soccer (8th consecutive title), boys tennis (15th in a row) and girls track (19th). Overall, Lowell took 23 of the 32 Academic Athletic Association team titles last school year. And the winning ways are continuing this year, with the varsity football team making a strong bid to repeat as AAA champs on Turkey Day (kickoff at 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day at Kezar Stadium - keep your eye on playoff results at www.cifsf.org). The girls tennis team just took their 8th consecutive team title, with junior Lana Tsodikova taking the singles title for the third year in a row. Lowell accounted for three of the four semi-finalists in the singles competition and all four semi-finalist doubles teams, with Monica Lam and Theresa Nguyen emerging victorious.

AP Program Hits New High
Lowell's Advanced Placement program has moved up one space to become the nation's third-largest both in terms of the number of students taking AP exams and the total number of exams administered. Among all 1,375 California schools participating in the Advanced Placement program, Lowell remains in first place. A total of 40 Lowell students were recognized as National AP Scholars for having earned an average score of at least 4 on all AP exams taken and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more AP exams. (AP exams are scored from 1 to 5, with 3 considered a passing score.) One graduating senior took a total of 14 AP exams, earning top scores of 5 on nine of those exams while another senior scored a 5 on all eight AP exams she took. Two Lowell students even took the AP exam in a course not taught at Lowell -- Human Geography -- and both earned a top score of 5!

Student Survey Measures School Strengths, Weaknesses
A student survey administered this past May, with more than 93% of students participating, showed general satisfaction with Lowell but also highlighted some areas for improvement. 85% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that Lowell is doing a good job of preparing them for college and a staggering 93% agreed or strongly agreed that Lowell classes are academically challenging. It came as no surprise that 71% of respondents said that bathrooms are the part of the school most in need of improvement, while 69% said that the top priority for improving the school library is to increase study space. 70% of the students responding estimated they average at least two hours per night on homework, including 32% who report four or more hours of homework each night. When asked to assess their stress level, only 5% said they don't feel stressed at Lowell. Another 28% said they can handle the stress while 67% report having trouble handling their stress.

Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International Visits Campus
Researchers and officials from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, the non-profit organization originally founded by Lowell alumna Dian Fossey '49 to fund anti-poaching efforts to protect the mountain gorillas of Rwanda, came to Lowell last month. They offered a series of lectures describing their current research throughout Africa as well as a fascinating description of Dian Fossey's life among the mountain gorillas, ending with her tragic murder in 1985. Following the lectures, several of the group's scientists joined afternoon science classes to work with smaller groups of students.

AP Microeconomics Program Lauded
Lowell received national recognition earlier this year when the College Board's "Advanced Placement Report to the Nation 2005" named Lowell's Advanced Placement Microeconomics program as the nation's most comprehensive and inclusive (meaning that, among all large American high schools, Lowell had the greatest portion of its overall student body pass the AP Microeconomics exam). This semester Lowell offers 10 sections of AP Economics, serving approximately 300 students. The Social Studies department, Lowell's largest, offers a total of 40 sections of six different Advanced Placement courses (Economics, US History, European History, World History, Psychology and Comparative Government).

Lowell Still #3 in State API Rankings
The latest Academic Performance Index (API) scores place Lowell tied for third on the list of the state's highest-achieving public high schools. Lowell scored 941 (out of a possible 1,000), trailing only Gretchen Whitney High in Cerritos (Los Angeles County) at 982 and Oxford Academy in Cypress (Orange County) at 953. Lowell tied with the California Academy of Mathematics and Science in Carson (Los Angeles county). Like Lowell, these schools have special admissions criteria, but all are far smaller schools with graduating classes of fewer than 200 students compared to Lowell's graduating classes of more than 600.

To give the API score some perspective, the goal is for all public schools in the state to reach the 800 level, but only seven percent of the state's high schools have met that goal. In Northern California, Lowell is one of only four high schools to have exceeded 900 on the API, derived from the results from a number of standardized tests in English, mathematics, science and social science as well as the California High School Exit Exam.

Sports Success Nearly Unprecedented
In what may turn out to be one of the finest years in Lowell sports history, Lowell teams have captured 12 of the 16 titles awarded so far this school year, including the varsity football championship on Thanksgiving Day at Kezar Stadium. The girls teams have had great success, winning city titles in junior varsity basketball, varsity and frosh/soph volleyball, tennis, golf and cross-country. On the boys side, they racked up city championships in frosh/soph basketball, cross-country and soccer. The boys varsity basketball team made another surprising run at the title, falling just short in the championship game against Galileo. Other championships earned include the co-ed frosh/soph and overall cross-country crowns. Go Cardinals!

Forensics Society Takes Harvard by Storm
Lowell's Forensics Society earned a 4th place sweepstakes award at the 2005 Harvard National High School Invitational Forensics Tournament, making Lowell the only school from the western United States to crack the top ten. In total, nearly 300 schools participated in this prestigious competition. Individual honors went to Thomas Yeh and Jeffrey Kwong as national semifinalists. The Lowell Forensics Society, the nation's oldest high school speech and debate program and Lowell's oldest student organization, boasts nearly 200 current student members.

Applications Continue to Rise
A total of 2,223 students applied to be members of the Lowell class of 2009, up five percent from last year. The increase at Lowell is even more dramatic considering that the total number of students seeking places in the city's public high schools is down 4.2%. Overall, 48% of the city's 9th graders listed Lowell among their high school choices this year, up from 44% last year. The continuing increase in applications comes as no surprise to Principal Paul Cheng based upon his experience at the public school enrollment fair held late last year at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. While all of the city's other public high schools shared space in one hall, with 20 or 30 seats for their presentations, Lowell attracted standing room only crowds of 100 or more for each of the hourly presentations about the school and the admission process. It is expected that approximately 800 students will be offered admission in order to achieve an entering class of 650.

Students Paint Gym
Not every Lowell student spent the December holiday break preparing for finals and the Lowell gym is all the better as a result. 47 students, led by Jonas Chin, William Woo, Tiffany Tan, Corinna Hua, Linda Newman and Cathy Wong, painted the gym walls and added colorful logos representing each of the city's public schools to the walls above the visitors' bleachers. A year earlier, many of these same students added a dramatic Cardinals logo above the home bleachers. The new paint job, rumored to be the first in more than 20 years, has made a dramatic difference in brightening the gym's appearance and adding a dash of school spirit. Congratulations to all for their hard work and to the Lowell Sports Foundation for funding this great project!

Lowell Nominated Again as Distinguished School
Just last month Principal Paul Cheng was notified that Lowell has again been nominated for recognition as a California Distinguished School. A visiting team will arrive later this year to add their evaluation to the information already provided in the school's application for this honor. Lowell has been selected as a California Distinguished School five times in recent years (1986, 1990, 1992, 1994 and 2001), while also earning national recognition from the U.S. Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School three times.

New API Score Ranks Lowell #3 in State
The latest Academic Performance Index (API) scores place Lowell third on the list of the state's highest-achieving public high schools. Lowell scored 936 (out of a possible 1,000), trailing only Gretchen Whitney High in Cerritos (Los Angeles County) at 986 and Oxford High in Cypress (Orange County) at 946. Whitney and Oxford are small high schools, graduating fewer than 200 students each year, compared with more than 600 graduating seniors each year at Lowell.

Among Bay Area high schools, only three others scored 900 or better: Piedmont High at 900, Saratoga High at 911 and Pacific Collegiate (Santa Cruz) at 934. The API combines results from a number of standardized tests in English, mathematics, science and social science.

Advanced Placement Program Exploding
Lowell's Advanced Placement (AP) program coordinator, Bob Jow, estimates that Lowell's AP program will grow by more than 20% this year, the largest year-to-year percentage increase in more than a decade. In total, Lowell students are expected to take 2,700 AP exams this May, an average of more than two exams for every Lowell junior and senior, up from 2,238 exams last May. Even more impressive than the sheer numbers of exams is the fact that Lowell students consistently earn top scores. Globally, only 14% of students achieve the top score of 5 on their AP exams, but 38% of Lowell students reach that level. Measured by the total number of exams administered in 2003, Lowell's is the fourth-largest AP program in the world.

Academic Teams Shine. . .
Lowell's academic teams continue to rack up the wins. Lowell's mock trial team won the city championship for the second consecutive year, thereby qualifying for an April trip to the state finals. Congrats to the team and their hard-working coaches from San Francisco law firm Gordon & Rees. In Academic Decathlon, coach, Lowell counselor and alumnus Harlan Edelman '80 guided his team to yet another city title (no other school has ever won the SF Academic Decathlon title) and trip to state competition. And the Otter Bowl team grabbed third place in regional competition in Monterey in a test of ocean science knowledge.

. . . As Well As Sports Teams
While most of the attention went to the boys and girls varsity basketball teams, with the boys taking their first AAA crown in 51 years and the girls turning in an undefeated regular season, this is shaping up to be another banner year for Lowell athletes. So far this school year, Lowell has claimed 8 of the 15 team championships awarded. Titles include boys frosh-soph and varsity basketball, girls and overall cross-country, girls golf, boys soccer, girls tennis and girls varsity volleyball. In boys soccer, Lowell took only its fourth city title in 70 years of competition (with all four titles under legendary coach Ernst Feibusch) and then went on to win the TransBay soccer title by defeating Skyline High of Oakland. And in boys varsity football, Lowell made it to Turkey Day once again, but this time ended up on the losing end of their match-up with Washington.

All-AAA Cagers Named
Lowell's girls and boys varsity basketball teams enjoyed great seasons, with the girls going undefeated in league play and the boys fighting their way to the city championship. So it's no surprise that the Cardinals are represented on the all-league teams. Senior Matt Allen was named to the all-AAA first team while classmate Johnson Lin made the second squad. Allen also received honorable mention on the All-Bay Area team. On the girls side, sophomore Jazmin Holmes and seniors Stacey Lee and Nicole Nguyen were named to the all-AAA second team while Holmes and Lee received honorable mention on the All-Bay Area team. Congrats to all!

Swim Teams Dominate Once Again
Lowell continues to overwhelm its AAA competition as the boys and girls varsity teams as well as the frosh-soph team took AAA championships. For the girls, this marks their 15th consecutive AAA team title (every girls varsity title awarded since competition began in 1990) while the boys varsity team grabbed its 8th consecutive title. Lowell swimmers won 15 of the 22 events in the AAA varsity finals. First place winners include seniors Sarah Kwan, Stephanie Gee, Jessica Lee and Eliot Quan; juniors Lorraine Albert, Marissa Lee, Brandon Chow and Rex Chien; sophomores Amanda Chau, Lisa Flynn and Garlen Yu; and freshman Tom Li. Coach Art Octavio and assistant Jeff Yang also deserve great credit for their hard work. Currently, 16 of 22 AAA varsity swim event records are held by Lowell alumni, with the longest-standing being the 200 and 500 freestyle marks by Tom Hennessey '85.

Baseball Team On Roll
As of press time, Lowell's varsity baseball team is well-positioned to challenge for its third consecutive AAA title with a league record of 12-0 (including five shutouts) and only two regular season games left to play. So far, Lowell has outscored its AAA opponents by a staggering combined total of 228 runs to 20. It's not too early to make plans to come out to SBC Park (formerly PacBell Park) on Thursday, May 13th for the AAA varsity baseball championship game, set to begin at approximately 4 pm, just after the conclusion of the Giants-Phillies game that starts at 12:35 pm. Once the Giants game concludes, admission is free, so come root for coach John Donohue's boys as they seek yet another city title.

The Lowell Alumni Association was recently awarded a $25,000 grant from the David B. Gold Foundation of San Francisco to help fund an exciting new physics lab that will enable students to apply scientific principles to data they collect in real world situations outside the classroom. According to Lowell physics teacher Richard Shapiro, "The primary purpose of the grant is to expand the physics lab both conceptually and physically by enabling students to acquire and analyze data remotely: in cars, elevators, at lakes and streams, near power lines and even, for example, measure radon gas exposure in their homes. By expanding the physics lab, more students would have more access to real lab and science skills and knowledge. This kind of extension and enrichment will permit students to actually expand and broaden their science education as public funds dwindle, class sizes increase (degrading the in-class lab experience) and less equipment is available for science lab work." The price tag for the full lab is approximately $65,000, so the Lowell Alumni Association will be working with the Lowell PTSA and potential individual donors to secure the remaining funding needed to complete the lab in time for the Fall 2003 opening of the new science/academic wing at Lowell.

Thanks to the David B. Gold Foundation for helping to make this new physics lab a reality!

Lowell senior wins $10,000 college scholarship

On June 9th, Lowell senior Phillip Ngo took the stage at SF's Club Fugazi, home to the long-running Beach Blanket Babylon revue and won a $10,000 college scholarship. Phillip was one of three finalists in the acting competition for the Steve Silver Foundation & Beach Blanket Babylon Scholarship for the Arts. Scholarships are awarded each year in three categories: acting, singing and dancing. The late Steve Silver was a member of the Lowell class of 1962. This scholarship program was establised in 2002 and publicly announced during a special program held in Lowell's Carol Channing Theater featuring performances by Beach Blanket Babylon cast members and remarks by SF Mayor Willie Brown. This year marks the first time a student from Lowell has made the finals.

Read the full story about Phillip Ngo at sfgate.com (external link)

For more information about, visit beachblanketbabylon.com (external link)

Lowell Baseball is Amassing Very Big Numbers
by Mitch Stephens, SF Chronicle, Tuesday, April 29, 2003

Lowell's varsity baseball team is having one of its finest seasons ever, having gone undefeated in league play thus far and steaming towards the city championship game set for Wednesday, May 14th at PacBell Park (game time approx. 4 pm, following the conclusion of the Giants-Expos game that starts at 12:35 pm).

Read the full story about Cardinals' phenomenal season at sfgate.com (external link)

Four Lowell seniors win Meritus College Fund scholarships
by Carol Crawford, Crawford Communications, June 25, 2002

Four Lowell High School seniors have been awarded $12,000 scholarships from the Meritus College Fund, which recently held an awards ceremony honoring a total of 28 graduating seniors from various SF public high schools who will each receive a similar scholarship.

Interestingly enough, two of the four Lowell students chosen by the Meritus College Fund (Jackie Gee and Anna Yu Lam) also received scholarships from the Lowell Alumni Association. Ms. Gee was one of three Lowell seniors who received scholarships through the alumni association's Dealtry Scholarship Fund while Ms. Lam was one of two recipients of a Paul Lucey Scholarship.

Read the full story about Lowell's 2002 Meritus College Fund scholars (external link)

Lowell named as a 2001-2002 national Blue Ribbon school
U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige Names 172 Blue Ribbon Schools
By Dan Langan & David Thomas, from the Department of Education, May 24, 2002

This is the THIRD time Lowell has been so honored, making the school one of only 32 high schools (public or private) to have been awarded this designation three times. There are another four high schools that have achieved this award a record four times.

This marks the 19th year of the program, which honors excellence in leadership, teaching, curriculum, student achievement, and parental involvement. "In education, like every other enterprise, we must aspire to highlight and reward our successes," Paige said. "These schools strive everyday to be their very best, and exemplify what American education can look like when we work as a team to create the best teaching and learning environments for our students."

Read the full story at www.ed.gov (external link)

California secondary schools win national recognition
By Nicole Winger, from the Department of Education, May 24, 2002

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin today praised the selection of the 30 California middle and high schools chosen by the U.S. Secretary of Education as 2001-2002 National Blue Ribbon Schools.

"I congratulate these high-performing schools that exemplify the best in California," said Eastin. "Being recognized as a Blue Ribbon School is a tremendous achievement. Teachers, students, parents, and communities can take great satisfaction in a job well done."

Of the 30 schools selected for the prestigious honor in California, 27 are public and three are private. All of the state's Blue Ribbon public schools were California Distinguished Schools in 1999 or 2001.

Read the full story at www.cde.ca.gov (external link)

Student flushes out the secret of clean restrooms
Student Body Vice President Jonathan Chen keeps his campaign promise to clean up the school.
By Tracey Wong Briggs, from USA TODAY, June 4, 2002

When Jonathan Chen ran for student body vice president at San Francisco's Lowell High last year, he asked classmates what they thought the school needed and got just one reply: clean restrooms.

Chen hit upon the solution while sitting in his just-cleaned bedroom. "Each time I clean my room, I don't want to mess it up," he says. "I thought, 'That's the perfect thing for the bathrooms: to make them so perfect, so clean, they'll respect the bathrooms and won't want to mess them up.' "

Chen and co-coordinator Karissa Yee spent last summer mobilizing more than 50 students to scour and paint the restrooms. The volunteers came with elbow grease and more ideas. Bulletin boards were hung in the stalls to discourage graffiti, industrial brown-gray doors were repainted orange, and student artists were turned loose on the walls. And it worked.

Read the full story at www.usatoday.com (external link)

When success turns to suicide
Lowell High student's death shows how high-achieving teens are also at risk.
By Julian Guthrie, from The SF Chronicle, Sunday, June 2, 2002

On the surface, Thomas Ray Hoo, a Lowell High School junior, was a model student and athlete. He was captain of the football team, placed second in all-city wrestling, had good grades and lots of friends.

To all at his school, he was not a likely candidate for suicide.

But, below the surface, behind the shy, goofy smile and confident mien, was a nagging sense of inadequacy. He never felt big enough, fast enough, smart enough.

Two weeks ago, the 16-year-old killed himself.

Read the full story at www.sfgate.com (external link)