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Academic Awards Presented At Riverbank High School
Tape Face
RHS teacher Kevin Hejnal entertained the crowd with his imitation of comedian Tape Face from last seasons Americas Got Talent during his presentations. He introduced Alejandro Alfaro, left, and Alondra Valdez to the audience at the RHS Academic Block R awards, pointing out that both have aspirations of entering the medical field. News Photos By Ric McGinnis

Where sports awards happen three times a year at Riverbank High School, after each season, the Academic Block ‘R’ ceremony takes place once. The awards were presented last week at the Ray Fauria Memorial Gymnasium. And where the Block ‘R’ for sports is given by their coaches, the academic awards were presented by coaches, teachers and administrators.

The nearly 60 students, from all four class levels, are bound for schools from Modesto Junior College to Stanford to UCLA, and to professional trade schools across the country. There were 23 seniors, 18 juniors, seven sophomores and 10 from the freshman class that received academic recognition for their work in classes this year.

On Wednesday, April 12, the presenters were as varied as the students, some serious, some playful, and a few just having some fun.

Instructor Kevin Hejnal impersonated ‘Tape Mouth,’ an entrant in last year’s America’s Got Talent competition on TV. The audience agreed he remained true to TM’s style in his presentation but was still able to honor both juniors Alejandro Alvaro and Alondra Valdez. Hejnal noted, with title cards, Alvaro is headed to UC Irvine to study Medicine, while Valdez expects to attend UC Davis to study Rehab Nursing.

Also on the light side, teacher Stacey Bauer took to the podium a second time to recognize one of her students that couldn’t be there that night. RHS senior Sam Garcia was competing in an away track meet, but Bauer used her cell phone for a ‘selfie’ and to capture her comments to send to him that night.

Riverbank Unified School District students are on Spring Break this week, but will return to classrooms and playing fields next Monday, April 24.