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The Falcons’ focus all week, and this season, was to bring home a Pacific Coast Athletic League football championship back to Scotts Valley High. Senior Caden Stratton made sure it happened, as the Falcons crushed visiting Pacific Grove High, 35-6, to capture the 2021 Cypress...

In the early 2000’s distance runners at San Lorenzo Valley High School dominated the sport. The Barrientos sisters (Alejandra and Raquel) swept the distance running titles for girls and Alex Dunn emerged as the boy to beat.

There are two Bowl games this weekend, and Santa Cruz County will host the one guaranteed to be most fun! It’s North against South this Saturday, February 6, at the 10th Annual Lions Senior Bowl at SoquelHigh School. The Lions Bowl features senior all-stars from NorthCounty high schools going up against seniors from SouthCounty high schools, and everybody is going to win!

A progressive approach to teaching and leading youth into the culture of their future is what the SLVLA is all about. SLVA is a learning facility that provides an After School Leadership Program for the first through the fifth grades. The academy is targeted to open August 25.Mikey Henderson and Mike Herzog are the developers of this innovative program that features S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) projects. Henderson has a passion for technology and all that relates to it. He relishes the idea of discovery and how to foster that attitude in others. Being a software developer, he knows the value of involving children in an innovative culture that will ultimately prepare them with the mind-set and imaginative approach to problem solving and the challenges that characterize an increasingly technological world.SLVLA fosters the skill set necessary for successfully managing project-based learning techniques by teaching the fundamentals of creativity, which is the stuff from which technical solutions arise.Herzog, previous co-owner of Santa Cruz Soccer Inc., has spent the two years in an afternoon leadership program for San Lorenzo Elementary. He will lead F.A.S.T. (Fitness and Sports Training) activities for SLVLA. Herzog developed a leadership training program that was designed to teach the basics of coaching to older campers. That accomplishment formed the basis of a passion for leadership training.Henderson and Herzog teamed up to create the program taught at SLVLA. The two believe that developing personalized learning paths is founded in the outcomes learned by asking questions, experimenting and satisfying curiosity about a subject matter. Their program is designed to make sure that students have something to learn and something to contribute. A comprehensive learning experience is one that empowers students to develop the strength in all subjects and results in becoming excellent communicators and collaborators with outstanding critical thinking skills.Herzog said “my partner, Mikey Henderson, and I are opening up the San Lorenzo Valley Leadership Academy right across from the SLVHS.” They open August 25. An open house is planned two weeks earlier.For more information, call 421-1060

Rene Schlaepfer, senior pastor of Twin Lakes Church in Aptos, has an incredible ability to reach out and transform others with his message about God's unconditional love and grace. He is known for his practical, relevant teaching, and contemporary style as well as for the enthusiasm and high energy he brings to his countywide congregation — which includes many from the Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley.