Class notes

Participating schools include All Souls School, South San Francisco; Good Shepherd School, Pacifica; Nativity School, Menlo Park; Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, Redwood City; St. Charles School, San Carlos; St. Pius School, Redwood City; and St. Raymond School, Menlo Park.

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A fourth-grade student from White Oaks Elementary school in San Carlos needs your help.

Kyer is coordinating a community blood drive on Tuesday, March 9 from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Kyer is doing this to raise awareness for the need of blood for children because children can’t donate blood but they sometimes need donations. One in four people need blood but only four in 100 donate.  Every two seconds somebody in the United States needs blood. The Bay Area needs 500 pints of blood every day.

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Clarisa Ontiveros grew up going to her local Boys and Girls Club in Redwood City.

She recalled looking up to the teens volunteering and working with her. Ontiveros would make drawings to give to those teen mentors. Today, the 18-year-old Sequoia High School senior receives such drawings from the little children she works with at the Mervin G. Morris Clubhouse in Redwood City. Her work giving back paid off as Ontiveros was named the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula’s 2010 Youth of the Year. Last week, Ontiveros was named the Northern California Youth of the Year. She will participate in the state competition March 17.

Giving back is not a temporary plan for Ontiveros who plans to study communications and return to help her community.

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On Friday, March 12 the Hibernian Club of San Mateo County will be hosting their 61st annual St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon. The day includes entertainment, traditional Irish food, Irish soda bread and Irish music and dance and visits from Irish government officials. Also included in the festive day is a raffle with top prizes of $1,000 and two round-trip tickets to Ireland. The luncheon begins at 11:15 a.m. with the annual "Attitude Adjustment Happy Hour” at the Burlingame Hilton Gateway Hotel.

The Hibernian Club of San Mateo County was founded in 1949 as a fraternal and community organization to support brotherhood among the Irish community here on the Peninsula. It was founded by George Reily with his friends Bill McCarthy, Rod O’Meara, James Hearne and Judge James O’Keefe.

Over the past 61 years, the Hibernian Club has raised over $332,000 in charitable contributions and educational scholarships for deserving students in the area. Its chief scholarships are the Mary Ann Johnson memorial scholarship, named for a local lady and teacher involved in local soccer programs, the Sheriff  Brendan Maguire and T. Michael Lupton scholarships.

Frank O’Neill, the current president of the Hibernian Club since 1976, said "Saint Patrick welcomes all. He knows no strangers. In the Irish spirit, we wish to welcome all in the community to our luncheon, whether you are Irish in blood or Irish in spirit. Come join us in celebrating St. Patrick, Ireland, and the next 60 years of the Hibernian Club.”  

For tickets or more information visit www.thehibernianclub.com or call  Frank (415) 371-1000.

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San Mateo Middle College High School, an alternative education program for San Mateo Union High School District juniors and seniors, is accepting applications for Fall 2010. The application deadline is March 26.

Middle College, located at College of San Mateo, includes 60 students, who take a combination of high school and college classes. These classes are intended to help the student meet high school graduation requirements and college general education requirements.

The students are "high-potential” students who prefer not to attend a traditional high school campus. Students demonstrate the potential maturity to cope with the freedom of the college environment. Recent Middle College graduates are attending colleges such as the University of California at Berkeley, University of California at San Diego, University of California at Irvine, San Jose State, San Francisco State and MIT.

Students are recommended for admission by parents, teachers, guidance counselors and administrators. Other application procedures include student testing for reading and writing, an informational meeting with parents/guardians and interviews with students and parents/guardians.

For more information contact Principal Greg Quigley at 574-6101 or middlecollege@smuhsd.org. Information is also available at www.collegeofsanmateo.edu/middlecollege.

Class notes is a twice weekly column dedicated to school news. It is compiled by education reporter Heather Murtagh. You can contact her at (650) 344-5200, ext. 105 or at heather@smdailyjournal.com.