The Midland School senior projects are an opportunity for seniors to design an independent project-based course addressing a line of inquiry in an area of their own interest. 

Their projects last a semester long, which is a tough endeavor that requires planning, time management, craftsmanship, problem solving and student engagement. 

Here are some of the projects completed by Midland seniors that will benefit future students as well as the Santa Ynez Valley communities:

Lights and traffic

As the Santa Ynez Valley grows in popularity both as a place to live and a tourist destination, an influx of traffic could threaten the “essential rural feel” of the area. Porter Barnes’ senior project seeks to understand a potentially simple solution to the overcrowding of the valley roadways: modifying light patterns to improve our local intersections. 

Using an agent-based modeling system called NetLogo, Porter investigated one particular intersection between the Alamo Pintado Road and Highway 246 to discover what light patterns reduce the queue length (number of cars waiting) and sojourn time (time to get through the intersection). 

Using five main components: environment, car-behavior, light patterns, view restrictions and data collection, Porter discovered three key recommendations through his model. Firstly, a directional light pattern is essential in the high-flow directions. Secondly, the difference between parallel and directional in the low-flow directions is nominal. Thirdly, the light lengths should be based on regularly updated traffic studies that match the correct flow ratios to the lights. 

With understanding of the limitations of his model and areas for future improvement, especially adding left-hand turn lanes, driver-variance and adaptive light patterns, Porter wrapped up his project paper recommending further research prior to construction or policy change.

Blazing a trail

Senior Luke Brennan set his sights on building a new Midland trail as a way of creating something beautiful from hard work and also adding a treasure to the community that could last a lifetime. 

Identifying Midland’s Rain Gauge trail, which he had worked on as a sophomore, as a tricky trail with a sudden end along Figueroa Mountain Road, he was inspired to create a practical trail connecting Res Road to Rain Gauge trail. 

Creating a trail from start to finish was an entirely new process, and Luke completed significant research, including learning how to use CalTopo, mapping software which allowed Luke to navigate the Midland terrain digitally and find the most ideal descent from Rain Gauge’s elevated location. He flagged (and re-flagged) the trail multiple times before determining the best path. 

From there, he gathered a team composed primarily of other Midland students, taught them how to properly use trail work tools, and headed off to build the trail. 

Over the course of Midland’s MIDterm (a week mid-semester dedicated to hands-on, experiential projects), Luke led his crew through an intense and fun trail building agenda. With priorities such as causing minimal damage to tools, improving trail quality through thoughtful design, negating erosion and easing slope intensity, Luke leaned into trail-building techniques such as drainages, stabilizers, switchbacks and steps. Finally, after working long hours with his trail building team, Luke completed a beautiful new Midland trail: Bobcat Bend trail.

Creating a cup

Max Rasilla used porcelain clay, rather than the typical dover white stoneware, to create a unique cup for the Stillman dining hall to reuse, with it being durable enough to last through many dishwashings. 

Edible insects?

How would you entertain a meal of insects? Midland senior Melia Collard explored the possibility of entomophagy (eating insects) and set out to build a successful mealworm farm and answer her questions if edible insects would be a realistic protein supplement for a household. 

Over the course of Midland’s spring semester, Melia actively managed a farm of over 2,000 mealworms while completing her larger research on insect farming and recipes and restaurant menus. After a few bumps in the road (namely, navigating mold growth in her farm), she was able to host an Experiential Saturday for Midland students where she organized and presented her project to 10 other students through a combination of slideshows, taste tests, cooking competitions, and miniature bug farm building. 

Her research led her to the conclusion that her small-scale farm couldn’t provide enough protein for a small household, but that a larger scale set up could feasibly provide a sustainable alternative to traditional meat.

Documenting campus flora

Inspired by Midland’s 2,860-acre campus and learning about native flora of the property during her freshman year, Macy D’Attile dedicated her senior project to researching and documenting (through illustration & writing) the flora of Midland’s campus. She quickly learned new photoshop skills to transfer her artwork into a digital format and began putting together a ready-to-print document that would eventually wind up (she hoped) as a bound book of 46 Midland plants. With some generous guidance from Jeff Goddard, Midland’s marine biology & field ecology teacher, and the support of local printer John Nygren of JanoPrint, she is currently in the process of final book review steps and looks forward to a first print-run of 150 copies, the majority of which she plans to gift to Midland students, faculty, and to leave as a resource for future Midland students and all future visitors to Midland’s campus and trails.

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Santa Barbara County Fire Department will be conducting a state-sanctioned vegetation management burn starting Monday, December 7, through Wednesday, December 9,  on the Spaulding Ranch in the area between Tims Road and Midland School in the Santa Ynez Valley.

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Contributing Writer

news@santaynezvalleystar.com

Charles Webb, the reclusive author of “The Graduate” died on June 16 in Eastbourne, England. He celebrated his 81^st birthday on June 9. 

Author Charles Webb spent a few years as a local resident, attending Midland School in Los Olivos as a teenager, before becoming a best-selling novelist.
Photo contributed

Although Webb spent only a few years as a local resident, attending Midland School in Los Olivos as a teenager, he subsequently left a lasting impression on many of the Santa Ynez Valley’s senior residents, restoring forgotten relationships and bringing to mind memories of a simpler time, simply by seeking forgiveness for a youthful indiscretion.  

I first came to know Charles Webb in early 2005 when I received an email asking me if I could locate the owner of a record store in Solvang which had existed in the mid to late 1950s. At the time I was working as the lifestyle editor of the Santa Ynez Valley News. 

It was an unusual request, to say the least, but I felt the request was very important to the man who wrote the email. I scoured the archives, looking through the ads hoping to find one which I could use to track down the owner of the long-forgotten record store. 

I called some of the residents who I knew had been around at that time, asking if they recalled a record store in Solvang in the 1950s, and was given a few possible names. In an effort to trim down the list of possibilities, I wrote a piece in the paper asking for the public’s help. I received a plethora of calls and was able to narrow it down to two possible candidates. It wasn’t until emailing back and forth to Charles that I realized who he was – the author of the book “The Graduate” that was made into my favorite movie of the same title in 1967. It is the only movie I have seen more than once or twice – I saw “The Graduate” nearly a half dozen times that year alone. He was not impressed, saying that I should have spent my time more wisely.

It was Charles’ intention to make amends to the owner of the record store or his descendants, for having pilfered a record from the store on a school outing to Solvang. Upon being discovered, Midland’s headmaster had required that a young Webb return the record and apologize, but Webb, secretly returning the record, omitted the apology. He needed to rectify that misdeed and relieve his conscience. 

With the help of many of the valley’s residents, I was able to find “Davison’s…Home of Everything in Music,” but the owner Norman Davison, had since passed away. I was then able to locate Nannette and Donald, Davison’s children, and passed along the contact information to Charles. He subsequently sent Nannette a five-pound note on which he wrote: “To Nannette, with gratitude for the patience your family has shown me over the years. Charles Webb.” He also sent a five-pound note to Donald as well.

Both siblings were delighted and all was forgiven. But that wasn’t the end of it.

After the story about finding the record store appeared in the paper, I received an email from a long-time valley resident, Mark Sanchez, who recalled another record store in Solvang at that time which was owned by Bob Plant. Passing that information along to Charles, he then emailed me saying, “I think Plant is the one.”

My search then led me to Margaret Plant, Bob’s daughter, who told me that her father was alive and living in Arizona. I passed this information on to Charles and he sent Margaret a five-pound note as well, which she sent to her father with an explanation.

Charles Webb wrote many books, some of which were turned into movies. Some of the titles are: “The Graduate” (published in 1963); “Love, Roger” (1969); and “The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker” (1970).

Charles and his wife Eve, a painter known as Fred, have never been conventional members of society. Eve Rudd changed her name to Fred years ago as a gesture of solidarity with a men’s support group suffering from low self-esteem. Both from wealthy families, money or the acquisition of it had never been a high priority to the couple. They lived frugally all their lives, through their own choosing, having divested themselves from the very beginning of all their material belongings, rejecting materialism to the extreme. Most of their earnings were donated to people in need, in support of artists and their art and the Anti-Defamation League continues to receive money from “The Graduate” book sales. They’ve given away whatever money they earned including three homes, valuable paintings, his inheritance and royalties from his book sales and movies. 

The highly successful film “The Graduate” starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, made money for lots of people, but not for the Webbs. He accepted approximately $20,000, a one-time payment, for his book, then watched the film make in excess of $100 million, which he saw none of. But Charles had no hard feelings, for him it was always about art and the artists.

 “I feel most inspired when I’m broke,” he said, “It’s stimulating. Money or sometimes the lack of it is just a tool which enables you to get things done.”

Defying the law at the time, the Webb’s homeschooled their children, David and John, while working at menial jobs to support the family, moving from coast to coast, remaining under the radar.

Fred had suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder and bulimia her whole life and had a severe nervous breakdown in 2001 after they moved to England in 1999. She slept for over two years, eventually recovering somewhat, but she was never the same, Charles confided. Charles was her sole caretaker up to her passing in 2019. 

He once said to me, “The term ‘mental illness’ carries with it such a stigma; I would like to see that change. Mental illness is not some dirty little secret, it afflicts many families and should be addressed like any other illness.”

Webb continued to write, but was unable to participate in the “schmoozing required for making sales” with which Fred had helped him accomplish. 

Webb has written many books some of which were turned into movies. The titles are: “The Graduate” (’63); “Love, Roger” (’69); “The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker” (’70); “Orphans and Other Children” (’73); “The Abolitionist of Clark Gable Place” (’75); “New Cardiff” (2001) (movie titled “Hope Springs”); “Home School” (2007) (a sequel to “The Graduate”); “Kwatz!” (2011); “The Tao of Aging” (2011); “Method Aging and the Infinite Game” (2011); “Tabloid Haiku!” (2011); and “Quick-knife Hoodoo” (2015). 

But this narrative is not about Webb’s life – it is a personal one, about the effect he had on our valley and its residents. In an effort to find peace and forgiveness he brought the residents of the valley together in a way that one would not have imagined. 

In an email I received in 2005 from resident Margie Johnson, it said, “It (the search for Webb’s record store) opened up a lot of doors that I would not have thought to walk through had it not been for my involvement in the search. After hearing about what you needed, I remembered someone who I thought would know the answer and called them up and had a wonderful time reminiscing about old times. That chat led me to a pharmacist who I thought might know and on and on — each of us making contact with others who had been there at the time. Your article seemed to unify the spirit of the Valley, recalling some of the history and the ties that bind us together. These people, the Davisons, were pioneers who built and protected this Valley and making contact with each other was great fun. I spoke to Donald who I had gone to school with and we reminisced about vying for the position of Yell Leader. So many thoughts came back to us about old times when things were simpler. When we had a dance, the whole town went to the dance. When we had a picnic at Nojoqui Falls, the whole town showed up. Your story has unified us a little bit. It allowed us to reconnect with that part of our Valley history and with each other. I feel a renewed sense of community spirit.”

Charles Webb was the catalyst that re-ignited a sense of community spirit and unity within a group of people who had forgotten their past – and even each other. When I told Charles what Johnson had said he replied, “Imagine what would have happened if I’d pulled an armed robbery?” His debt was not only paid, but paid in full.

My hope is that Charles Webb will be remembered for his honor, integrity, generosity, and faithfulness – to his wife, his art form, artists, and to his ideals and principles, however extreme they may seem to the main stream. Many people benefitted from his gentle giving spirit and his desire to make amends for past juvenile misdeeds.   

I continued to remain in touch with Charles for many years after the articles ran in the paper via email, telephone and letter-writing. He was my friend.  

To read more about Charles Webb’s extraordinary life, visit https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/28/books/charles-webb-dead.html 

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Midland School in Los Olivos has been ranked the second-best private high school in Santa Barbara County, following only Cate School at No. 1, by Niche, a ranking and review site for colleges, K-12 schools, workplaces and neighborhoods.

According to Niche, “The 2020 Best Private High Schools ranking is based on rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents. Ranking factors include SAT/ACT scores, the quality of colleges that students consider, student-teacher ratio, private school ratings, and more. Data (is) sourced from the U.S. Department of Education, Niche users, and the schools directly.”

In the ranking, Midland stands out for its 4 to 1 student-faculty ratio, student body diversity, and its experiential and place-based college preparatory curriculum, a Midland spokesman noted.

One anonymous parent review on Midland’s Niche profile reads: “We chose Midland over very high-quality choices in Silicon Valley because of its strong ethos of grit, self-reliance, community, connectedness and most of all experiential learning in a breath-taking natural setting. In this day and age, even the most progressive high schools have become pressure cookers for teens. Add to this, a mix of unguided use of technology in the hands of young teens. They have few outlets and depth of connection.

“We found Midland’s strong focus on experiential learning, a jobs program and intentional use of technology as optimally geared to support adolescents through these years of transition towards adulthood. Within and beyond academics. They do this by providing students with the right amount of independence, community and responsibility, such that it develops grit and intrinsic drive not only towards academics but towards their daily community goals- small or large. Achievement is an outcome of these strong values.”

For more information, go to midland-school.org.

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Each spring the Santa Ynez Valley Star highlights students who have made an impact on the community or on their schools and who will be going on to higher education, military service, or trade schools. 

Today, we profile two seniors at Midland School, Eleanor Larkin and Chani Derbyshire.

Eleanor Larkin has been “gentling” a wild mustang for her senior project at Midland School.

Eleanor Larkin

Having the opportunity to be a kid and finding others who love the balance between fun and learning is what Eleanor Larkin loves about being a Midland School student. She found a way to have an outlet for her stress when she joined the school’s horse program, and now she wants a career involving horses.

“I’ve learned how to follow what I’m passionate about and how to make time for it, because our schedules are so filled up here,” she said.

Eleanor started riding when she was 6 years old but it was different in her hometown, where she had to find a way to get to a facility to ride. In her role as “Head of Horses” for the school, Eleanor is responsible for feeding all the horses in the mornings. She created her senior project to “gentle” a wild mustang from the Return to Freedom sanctuary, a nonprofit organization in Lompoc that preserves the freedom, diversity and habitat of America’s wild horses and burros.

Eleanor has been working with her mustang “Jerry” for several hours every day since last summer to get him comfortable with people.

“I didn’t set one goal and (have been) more exploratory to see what happens. I’ve been using research tools from talking with other trainers, reading books and watching videos to use in my training,” she said.

“Sending him out in a certain direction by using my active and neutral energy to communicate with him. It takes a lot of practice and patience,” she said.

In the beginning of her training his comfort zone ended at 10 feet and he would get a wild look. Now Eleanor can touch him all over and pick up his feet. Recently she was able to put a bareback pad on him, which is a huge step.

“I tend to carry a lot of stress in my body, but when you’re working with a sensitive wild animal you have to figure out how to let go. I have to ask myself, ‘Am I in the right place?’ and center myself,” Eleanor said.

Working with her horse has helped her in her other duties at school and has also transferred to her everyday life.

After she graduates she will be attending Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts because of its horse program, she said with a laugh.

Eleanor is interested in biology and is thinking of going into medicine, but she wants something that makes her happy and involves horses.

Chani Derbyshire found a passion for farming and sustainable agricultural while studying at Midland School.

Chani Derbyshire

When Chani Derbyshire first started at Midland School her freshman year, she was reluctant to participate in the outdoor programs, but after a few outings she decided that it was the best part about school.

“I started working in the farming program and I haven’t stopped, and my entire life revolves around being in the garden,” she said.

The Salt Lake City native got her unique name from a science fiction character in the book “Dune.” She followed in the footsteps of her brother, who also attended Midland.

“Being here really gave me my love for the outdoors, and I love doing manual labor and seeing the results of my hard work in the food we produce,” she said.

Chani is “Head of Garden,” which means she gets to feed the pigs and turn the compost every day. She then takes the compost and puts it into the garden. She says she has learned about soil health and about more varieties of produce than what’s offered in the grocery store.

“I love growing celery root because it reminds me of Chewbacca,” she laughed.

She also works in the school kitchen with meal preparation and planning.

“Agriculture is important, and I have found an appreciation for weeds, as most of the weeds in our garden are actually edible and we put them in our meals,” she said.

Chani has worked with the Chamberlin family just down the road from Midland, and has participated in their programs for soil science health and grazing practices.

When she graduates from Midland, Chani will return to Salt Lake City and attend the University of Utah, majoring in sustainable agriculture.

When she isn’t in the garden, Chani loves horseback riding, rock climbing and backpacking.

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Midland School student Emily Cummings found her love of singing by volunteering with her family as “redcoats” at the Solvang Festival Theater during PCPA’s summer theater series.

“Part of volunteering there is you also get to watch the performances, and I found I really loved the musicals and when the actors would sing,” she said.

Emily, 17, has been chosen along with nine other singers from around Santa Barbara County as the top 10 to perform Feb. 23 at the Arlington Theatre.

Emily got her first singing role at age 12 when she auditioned successfully for a musical put on by the Ensemble Theatre Company in Santa Barbara.

“I started working with a vocal coach and going once a week since I was 12,” Emily said.

A lot of Santa Ynez Valley kids travel to different events, but in Emily’s case the drive is a lot longer as she has lived on the Midland School campus since she was a child. Her father was a teacher for many years, and her mother is the school’s college counselor.

“I love it out here. It’s a unique place,” Emily said.

She has auditioned for Teen Star five years in a row and this is her first time in the top 10.

“I honestly am very excited to compete, but since the voting system is based on popularity, I am not sure I will win. Midland is a small school and I don’t have a lot of family around to vote for me,” she said.

However, she added, she will sing her heart out and hope to win over the judges with her performance.

“I am also really excited to do the group performance and get feedback about my sound,” she said.

The mission of Teen Star Santa Barbara is to support youth in performing arts with the goal of nurturing talent by inspiring passion, instilling a drive for success and encouraging excellence and professionalism.

The winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship and job opportunities and get to open a show at the Santa Barbara Bowl. All finalists will also get funding for their schools’ arts programs.

For more information, visit TeenStarUSA.com or call 800-380-9110, ext. 200.

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The last time a Midland jersey was worn in the cross country finals of the CIF state championship was in 1994, when senior Joaquin Pierce — the fastest Midland runner of all time — placed sixth in the small-schools division.

Twenty-four years later, Midland’s place in the state finals has been reclaimed by sophomore Will Goddard, who placed 18th in the small-schools division on Nov. 24 in Fresno with a time of 16:32.6 for 5,000 meters.

Although he was the only Midland runner in the race, his teammates cheered him on at multiple checkpoints throughout the 5K race. This has been a banner year for Midland’s all-time fastest cross country team, including two sophomore teammates, Porter Barnes and Ziggy Goddard, whose best times have been within seconds of Will’s.

A highlight of the team’s time in Fresno was a chance encounter with their heroes from McFarland, Calif., icons of cross country running, who asked, “Where’s Midland?” while greeting the team warmly. The runners were excited to know that they now have the team to put Midland on the map.

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Contributing Writer

For the past 66 years, a group of local trail riders has been getting together at least once a month, year round, to enjoy an outing on horseback on private ranches, at the beach, or in the backcountry.

The Santa Ynez Valley Riders was founded in 1952 by a group of horsemen and women, a few of whom are still active in the club more than half a century later.

The group was originally a chapter of Equestrian Trails International, a group dating back to the 1940s that formed to help preserve riding trails that were threatened by development, and keep access open for horses. In 1986, the group voted to leave the national organization and form their own independent club. They changed their name to the SYV Riders and wrote a mission statement that was sure to set the tone of their club for the coming decades: The club is about families, inclusion and enjoyment of our local trails and ranches.

Now one of the oldest active horse clubs in the valley, the group is thriving. Fifty members strong, the membership age ranges from 7 years old to 93. Annual dues are kept low to encourage folks to join: $30 per person or $50 for a family for the whole year.

Because of the group’s great reputation for safety, its members get increased access to ranches because landowners trust them to conduct their rides safely. The group insures every ride in case of the occasional unavoidable accident — a hazard of life with horses is that they can be unpredictable. The group has been a client of the same insurance company since it was formed, another sign of its exceptional safety record.

“Our insurance guy loves us, because he knows we are safety first,” said Dawn Perrine, one of the group’s members. “We have trail bosses for each ride, we have well developed rules for our rides that we go over each time before we set out; safety is first.”

That being said, the SYV Riders still enjoy an atmosphere of relaxed fun.

“We are all about inclusiveness. We want riders from all disciplines, all breeds. As long as their horse is good on the trail and in groups, anyone is welcome,” said Treasurer Robin Martinek. “We truly have a great community feel in our club. It’s like an extended family, really. Camaraderie is strong, the people are down to earth. It’s an assortment of backgrounds and horse experiences and even disciplines.”

Members come from as far away as Santa Barbara and Arroyo Grande.

In addition to trail rides, the club gets together every year in December at the Santa Ynez Elks Lodge for a family-style dinner that the club pays for. Members who no longer ride but still pay dues come to the dinner to catch up with old friends. Stories about the year’s rides and camp-outs get told and retold. Photos are shared and enjoyed. And plans are made for the next year’s adventures.

SYV Riders used to host play days and shows as well, and even rode as a group in regional parades, but have not done that for a number of years.

“Although if there was increased interest in doing them again, the club would look into it,” said Martinek. Camp-outs have become a popular activity of the past number of years. The availability of horse-friendly camping spots, such as Montaña de Oro State Park, as well as some private ranches that have camps, makes it easy to plan a weekend out in nature with horses.

“Lots of people have living-quarters trailers now, too, so there are fewer and fewer actual tents at these events, but it’s still camping, and it’s still great fun,” said Leslie Gillies, a member since the 1970s.

Once a year the club votes on which horse-related local charity to make a donation to. A nonprofit themselves, the club members feel it is important to share what they have with other horse groups. SYV Therapeutic Riding, Return to Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary, Midland School’s Riding Program, Sedgwick Preserve, and Los Flores Ranch Park are among several programs they have donated to.

Although the club is healthy and thriving, it faces a difficulty in loss of access to land, decade after decade, due to development, change in ownership, landowners’ fear of liability, bad past experiences with other riders or groups, trespassers, and many other reasons.

The group has seen a lot of change, and members worry for the future of equestrian trail riding activities in California. Still, the club perseveres, maintaining great relationships with their landowner hosts and keeping open opportunities for all horse people to access the beauty of our local ranches and trails.

To learn more, visit www.santaynezvalleyriders.org or visit the club’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/SantaYnezValleyRiders

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Maggie Tang knew while attending middle school in Arcadia, Calif., that she wanted to attend a boarding school, so she searched for boarding schools and chose Midland on a whim.

“I really wanted to experience something different,” she said.

Once she arrived, Maggie quickly realized how different Midland was from the life she had led up to that point. She had never left her suburban home for any length of time, been anywhere without her cellphone, or completed physical tasks such as chopping firewood.

However, she soon embraced the foreign culture and quickly found a personal passion — baking— that she has stuck with throughout her high school career.

Maggie has prepared dessert about 200 times for Midland’s 120 students and staff during her four years at the school. The baking was a project passed down to her by two seniors during her first year at the school, and she has always invited other students into her baking projects to encourage the baking to continue once she leaves.

“I wanted to bake as many desserts as possible with as many people as possible,” she said.

Maggie’s love of food and the experience it provides pushed her to writing her senior thesis about the emotional experience of fine dining. During what Midland refers to as “Experiential Week,” Maggie interned at the two-star Michelin restaurant Atelier Crenn in the Bay Area.

The internship was supposed to last only three days, but Maggie approached the chef about staying longer and then and spent her entire spring break working at the restaurant. She also spent some time at the restaurant Chez Panisse during the week.

Her leadership skills have also been recognized outside of her Midland community. She’s one of only 300 Gates Scholars in the country this year, and she was chosen to speak at the Professional Business Women of California’s annual conference. More than 6,000 people attended the April event, where other speakers included Ashley Judd, Maria Shriver, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

Maggie will attend the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in the fall where she will explore her interests in finance, management, marketing and anthropology. She sees herself working in some field related to food and sustainability.

She credits Midland for teaching her the value of hard work, the importance of community, and the need for courage in the face of new things.

“This place really teaches students how to work,” Maggie said.

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It will soon be time to throw those graduation caps into the air at ceremonies around the Santa Ynez Valley.

For some, elementary school is coming to an end as eighth-graders move to high school. Meanwhile, high school seniors are looking forward to their futures in college, vocational or trade school, the military or the workforce.

The Santa Ynez Valley Star is proud of their hard work and accomplishments, and excited to see where their futures take them.

Here is a list of area high schools’ commencement ceremonies:

• Dunn School: Upper School commencement week begins at 5:30 p.m.  Friday, June 1, with a tradition known as “Senior Chapel” for students, faculty and staff. Every graduating senior takes the stage to express thanks and thoughts about his or her time at Dunn.

On Saturday, June 2, commencement begins at 3:30 p.m., followed by a reception for graduates, families, and friends.

• Midland School: Graduation will be held at noon on Saturday, June 2, in front of Stillman Dining Hall.

• Olive Grove Charter School: Graduation will be held on Thursday, June 7, in the gym at Allan Hancock College, 800 S. College Drive in Santa Maria.

• Santa Ynez Valley Union High School: Students, families and friends are invited to Senior Awards Night at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 23, in the New Gym.

Baccalaureate begins at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 20, at the Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church. This is a celebration of the students’ lives and an invocation of God’s blessing for their futures beyond high school.

For commencement, seating starts at 2 p.m. with the ceremony beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday, June 1, on the high school football field.

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