Marina High School

A Canyon Lake man accused of injuring two Marina High School educators in an alleged drunken car crash is expected to be arraigned Friday morning, officials said. Thomas Lance Reed, 23, faces charges of felony driving under the influence causing bodily injury, driving with a blood-alcohol level of more than .08, and hit and run with injury, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. He faces a maximum sentence of almost 10 years in state prison. Prosecutors are expected to ask that Reed, who is out on bail, be taken into custody Friday on $50,000 bail.

It's been years since Marina High School has had a performance choir or a full-time choral program. Now the program is back, and many at the school are elated — but no one more than the newly hired choir teacher, Eric Graham. The 24-year-old can be seen at lunch and between tardy bells standing out in the school's quad looking for new recruits for the his three classes, including the fifth-period Vikings performance choral. "I am trying to become visible so they know we are there," Graham said.

The gym at Marina High School was filled with about half of the school's students early Friday. But it was dead silent and full of tension. All eyes were directed at a projector screen that showed the story of a young boy from Uganda named Tony Bazilo. Tony grew up surrounded by war, poverty, tragedies and loss. He lost many loved ones, including his mother, and had no one to pull him through until he met young men and women from the Invisible Children. The Invisible Children are the child soldiers who are abducted from their homes by a guerrilla group called the Lord's Resistance Army and forced to fight.

Dave Brooks A Marina High School music teacher has been accused of allegedly molesting six female students. Victor Rodriguez, 49, of Huntington Beach, faces two counts of a lewd act upon a child and four counts of child annoyance, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office. Rodriguez is accused of sexually assaulting six girls between the ages of 14 and 17 during one-on-one singing lessons at the school. If convicted on all counts, Rodriguez would be sentenced to up to three years and eight months in state prison and would have to register as a sex offender.

The Rotary Club of Huntington Beach and the Sunrise Rotary Club will present 1,850 books to kindergarten through third-grade students at Westmont School Friday. This project is a part of the "Reading by 9" literacy program. Huntington Beach Mayor Jill Hardy and Ocean View School District Superintendent Jim Tarwater will attend the event. A video of a leadership program presented by C-SPAN and Time Warner Cable conducted at Huntington Beach's Marina High School is available for public viewing online at http://www.

Coroner's investigators this week still don't know why a 14-year-old Marina High School student collapsed and died during a physical education class Friday. A Saturday autopsy did not reveal a cause of death, coroner's officials said. It may take weeks or longer for further tests to provide more information. The student, identified as John Rambo of Huntington Beach, was pronounced dead at 9:26 a.m. at Huntington Hospital, said Larry Esslinger, a spokesman for the Orange County Coroner's Office.

-- Jose Paul Corona Local firefighters earlier this month gave interested students a look at what it takes to become a firefighter or paramedic by visiting local schools. Firefighters made appearances at various career day programs in schools throughout Huntington Beach. Oak View Elementary School, Sowers Middle School and Marina High School were some of the schools that firefighters visited between May 30 and June 4. Firefighters told students about how they could start preparing for careers in firefighting or as paramedics.

Huntington Beach Boy Scout Michael Olmstead has earned the group's highest honor, the Eagle Scout Award. Olmstead, 16, received the award Sunday after earning 21 merit badges and supervising the renovation of an observation platform at the Shipley Nature Center. He is a junior at Marina High School and is the son of Bob and Susan Olmstead. ... Army Pfc. Shane O. Anderson has returned to Vilseck, Germany, after being deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

A coroner’s investigation is ongoing in the death of a 14-year-old student who collapsed in the weight room of Marina High School Friday morning, authorities said. The student, identified as John Rambo of Huntington Beach, was pronounced dead at 9:26 a.m. at Huntington Hospital, said Larry Esslinger, a spokesman for the Orange County Coroner’s Office. Huntington Beach police received a call at 8:35 a.m. saying a student at Marina High School, 15871 Springdale St., started having seizures after lifting weights, said Huntington Beach police Lt. Terry Lindsey.

A former Marina High School teacher was found guilty Tuesday of sexually assaulting four of his former students in 2003 and 2004, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office. Huntington Beach resident Victor Rodriguez, 50, was convicted of two counts of lewd acts on a child and two counts of child annoyance, and he now faces up to three years, eight months in prison, officials said. He also will have to register as a sex offender. From February 2003 to December 2004, the music teacher molested four female students, touching near and around their breasts while pretending he was locating their diaphragm during private singing lessons, officials said.

A big congratulations has to go out to Betty Nguyen for the unbelievable scholarship she earned. Nguyen is the first Marina High School student to win the Gates Millennium Scholarship, according to a news release. The award is given to 1,000 students annually nationwide and covers five years of college tuition toward an undergraduate degree, two years of graduate school and four years of a Ph.D program. Students can use the money toward a degree in computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health and the sciences.

It's zero period at Marina High School on a serene Tuesday morning and students are slowly making their way onto campus. But on the north side of campus, the sound of voices harmonizing softly emanates from Room 322. Vocal music director Eric Graham and his Viking Chamber Choir are practicing the song "Since Feeling Is First," by composer Joshua Chai, for an upcoming music festival. This group is one of six choir classes with Graham at the helm. This couldn't have been the case seven years ago. "This room wasn't here when I started," he said.

Marina High School has announced a series of fundraisers in the coming weeks for the family of Austin Brashears, the class of 2009 graduate who died Saturday in a crash in New Zealand. Principal Paul Morrow said the school has partnered with a pair of Huntington Beach eateries and plans to collect funds on campus to send to Brashears' family, which is trying to raise enough to have his body transported back to the United States. The first fundraiser began at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Hot Off the Grill at 16522 Bolsa Chica St. The restaurant planned to keep the fundraiser going until 11 p.m. and donate all proceeds from interested customers to the Bring Austin Home campaign, as it's formally known on PayPal.

When Austin Brashears was ready to take off for New Zealand, his mother's boss lent him a small item for his travels: a backpack. The Huntington Beach resident had arranged a semester abroad, and he didn't intend to spend all his time outside class lounging in the dorm. "He was not going to be laying around playing Xbox," said Debbie Kagawa, chief financial officer of Capital Resources & Insurance, Inc., where Brashears' mother has worked for more than 10 years. "He was going to be out seeing people.

The gym at Marina High School was filled with about half of the school's students early Friday. But it was dead silent and full of tension. All eyes were directed at a projector screen that showed the story of a young boy from Uganda named Tony Bazilo. Tony grew up surrounded by war, poverty, tragedies and loss. He lost many loved ones, including his mother, and had no one to pull him through until he met young men and women from the Invisible Children. The Invisible Children are the child soldiers who are abducted from their homes by a guerrilla group called the Lord's Resistance Army and forced to fight.

Shelly Luth rolled her eyes when the subject was brought up, then looked around the Marina softball diamond, as if trying to find out how the information leaked out. Despite her good-natured kidding, there was a definitely twinkle in her eye as she playfully sought out the culprit. Her team, and assistant coaches, had already scattered to all ends of the field following a home nonleague win over Kennedy. It was too late. It was the same type of twinkle Luth possesses any time she's on the playing field, where she's fully immersed in what's taking place, be it practice or a game.

Brandon Castagna learned to pick up the tempo when he joined the Marina High School choir his junior year. The 18-year-old had mostly skimped on his studies as a freshman and sophomore, preferring to hang out with his friends than prepare for college. When he signed up for music teacher Eric Graham's class, though, Castagna got more than just a group to complement his tenor. He got the incentive he needed to become a top student. His last two years, while attending night school to make up lost credits, Castagna rose at 6 every morning, appeared in two school musicals and even played backup quarterback for the varsity football team.

A Canyon Lake man accused of injuring two Marina High School educators in an alleged drunken car crash is expected to be arraigned Friday morning, officials said. Thomas Lance Reed, 23, faces charges of felony driving under the influence causing bodily injury, driving with a blood-alcohol level of more than .08, and hit and run with injury, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. He faces a maximum sentence of almost 10 years in state prison. Prosecutors are expected to ask that Reed, who is out on bail, be taken into custody Friday on $50,000 bail.

A Canyon Lake man pleaded not guilty Friday to injuring two Marina High School principals in an alleged drunken car crash. Thomas Lance Reed, 23, faces charges of felony driving under the influence causing bodily injury, driving with a blood-alcohol level of more than .08, and hit-and-run with injury, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. He faces a maximum sentence of almost 10 years in state prison. Marina Principal Paul Morrow and his passenger, Assistant Principal of Curriculum Jeanne Ellis, were injured in a car accident about 11 p.m. Feb. 18 after Reed hit another car on the 91 Freeway near Imperial Highway.

This is the best of high school, right here. American secondary education took another black eye recently with the death of Phoebe Prince, the Massachusetts teenager who hanged herself after months of alleged bullying by classmates. With Massachusetts and other states weighing anti-bullying legislation, it’s easy to forget how tolerant and supportive teenagers can be. But we have a perfect example at Marina High School, where the senior class is preparing for its second annual Seniors Give Back rally to cheer on underclassmen taking standardized tests.