Capistrano Valley High School

When the school year begins at Capistrano Valley High School on Thursday, students will have the unique opportunity to experiment with choice--through a new and innovative food court at the school. This is the first time in the nation that a public school system and a major business--PepsiCo Corp.

About 300 former and current Capistrano Valley High students rallied Wednesday in support of a teacher accused of making anti-Christian statements in the classroom. Boosters of James Corbett, an Advanced Placement European history teacher, lined both sides of the street in front of the Mission Viejo campus, chanting "support free speech" and holding signs that read, "He Made Us Think," "Irish Catholic Supports Dr. Corbett" and "Who Would Jesus Sue?"

A school bus carrying a high school's girls soccer squad skittered out of control Saturday on the Santa Ana Freeway after its driver lost consciousness, but a quick-thinking coach leaped from his seat, grabbed the wheel and managed to wrestle the vehicle under control. Eight members of the Capistrano Valley High School team were aboard as the driver pitched to the floor. The bus began drifting across three freeway lanes before John Bolger, 54, a realtor who serves as coach, grabbed the wheel.

A San Juan Capistrano high school student and his parents filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging that his history teacher violated his constitutional rights by making "highly inappropriate" and offensive statements in class regarding Christianity.

Scott McCorkle, a Times' All-Orange County basketball player last season for Capistrano Valley High School, will sign a national letter of intent to attend Syracuse, he said.

Ernie Welke, a fine arts teacher at Capistrano Valley High School, has been named Teacher of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber also recently awarded Fabiola Aguirre and Stacey Punchard $500 scholarships for being outstanding students while holding down part-time jobs. The chamber also donated $1,000 in scholarship funds to Capistrano Valley High School, the Dana Hills High School Grad Nite fund and to Marco F.

David Guillen of Capistrano Valley High School has signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Santa Clara University, Cougar Coach Bob Zamora said. Guillen, an outfielder, batted .308 with six home runs last season.

The deadline for the donate-a-computer drive at Capistrano Valley High School has been extended until March. During the Computers for Schools Program, Pacific Bell, GTE, Bank of America and other large corporations will give Capistrano Valley High School refurbished computers for every used one donated to the school by companies with fewer than 200 employees. Donated computers must be in working order for academic use and have a hard drive, monitor and keyboard.

In the fast-growing suburbs of Southern California, where few things matter more to parents than their schools, the lines that separate attendance areas often double as boundaries of class and culture, race and ethnicity. District administrators tinker with them at their peril. Consider the case of the Capistrano Unified School District, in south Orange County, where some parents are angrily protesting the coming transfer of their children to a gleaming new $67-million high school.

Coolness is a state of being much appreciated in Southern California, and no one exudes it better than pitcher/outfielder Jason Corder of Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley. There's nothing fake or disingenuous about his coolness. At 18, Corder already possesses a professional sports mentality that doesn't rely on wearing designer sunglasses or using the most technologically advanced equipment.

As a young boy, Jason Corder used to fall asleep at night with his baseball glove at his side because he "loved the game." At 17, he no longer sleeps with his glove, but his dreams haven't changed. "My life revolves around baseball," he said. A junior at Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley High, he's a 6-foot-2, 190-pound pitcher and outfielder with exceptional talent. Last season, he set school records with 11 home runs, a batting average of .500, 37 runs batted in and 16 doubles.

In bold, black type on a yellow background, block letters shout "Under Construction." That's the headline over Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley High's football schedule poster. It's also the team's slogan, a motto adopted by Coach Randy Blankenship, who was hired last winter to supervise a reclamation project. The Capistrano Valley Cougars, winners of only eight games in the last three seasons, are Blankenship's fourth team in five years.

One must wonder about Bob Janko. What kind of charmed life has this man been living that he could coach Capistrano Valley into Orange County's top 10 with a lineup that hardly registers a blip on an opponent's radar? What smoke and mirrors did he use to get this team to the Southern Section Division I semifinals?

Capistrano Valley won its first softball league title in 24 years of competition with a model as its pitcher. Now, Brooke Weekley looks to take the Cougars to the end of the runway in the wide-open Southern Section Division I playoffs. "Capo Valley has as good a chance as anyone to win this thing," said Fountain Valley Coach Cary Baker. Baker should know.

Capistrano Valley Coach Brian Mulligan couldn't bring himself to single out a most valuable player at his team's postseason banquet, so he gave each of his players a watch. Mulligan considered his players interchangeable parts during the Cougars' run to their first Southern Section title-game appearance since 1992. Most were in the 6-foot to 6-4 range and played every position on the floor. And every game, a different player led the charge. One night it was Matt Sweany. Then Jeff Gloger.

For most of last season, there wasn't much doubt which girls' water polo team was the best in Orange County. Still, highly-touted Foothill did need an overtime period to win the Southern Section Division I championship game. And for most of the season, there wasn't much doubt who was the best player: Capistrano Valley's Amber Stachowski, the Times' Orange County player of the year. Sure, Brittany Hayes and Gabbie Domanic racked up the goals for No. 1-ranked Foothill.