In Connor's Freshman year he never once stepped on campus to attend school. He did everything remotely via Zoom on his computer. The COVID-19 pandemic made it too risky to go to class like he
normally would. Fortunately, he found a way to overcome the many obstacles that make remote learning difficult and came through it all with flying colors.
Round Up 8/17/20
Round Up is when all Homestead students receive their class schedules, purchase yearbooks, and take pictures for student body cards. Since COVID prevented everyone from gathering together, Homestead
created a drive-thru Round Up. In theory everything sounded really great, but the reality was quite different. The queue of cars was blocks long. It took a while before we could turn into the student
parking lot and begin the process of getting all of Connor's school materials.
In line for Round Up.
Sophomore Year
Unlike last year, Round Up was live and in person. Connor was able to purchase his ASB sticker that entitled him to a yearbook and free admission to all school sporting events. It was also where he
quickly realized his schedule would be unlike Jordyn's or Tyler's when they attended Homestead. Connor's schedule showed he had no first period class, but he had a seventh period which meant he would
always get out of school at 3:25. Had he a more traditional schedule that went from first through sixth period he would have been able to leave school at 1:05 on Mondays and Thursdays. At least he can
sleep in a little every day.
Drop Off 8/16/21
Connor's Sophomore year started back at school again. While, technically, in his second year of high school he really hadn't been on campus before. So, when Dad dropped him off for his first day
of 10th Grade it was really like his very first day at a brand new school.
Connor's first dance since he started high school was the Spring Fling. He and a bunch of his friends all met up beforehand and went to the dance as a group. Afterward, they headed over to
McDonald's for a snack before heading home. Connor said this dance was essentially a Sophomore Prom. There weren't many Freshman, and the Juniors and Seniors all have their proms coming up so there
weren't many of them either. In the end, he's glad he went because he had a lot of fun being with his friends.
Semi-formal wear.
Candid photo from Spring Fling published in Epitaph.
Near the end of March, the Homestead JNHS (Japanese National Honor Society) presented at Homestead's Multi Cultural Night. Connor and 3 other friends did a presentation on Tokyo. It was a simple
overview of the city that included climate, history, tourist attractions, etc.. When someone stepped up to the presentation board they made, Connor and his friend Billy would speak in Japanese summarizing
some of the many Tokyo highlights.
Every student enrolled in Japanese 2 at Homestead has to make oyako donburi. Jordyn did it. Tyler did it. And now, Connor has done
it. Out of all the projects the kids have to complete, this is our favorite!
Jordyn and Dad went to see the theatrical release of the Broadway Musical, Allegiance a long time ago. When Jordyn was in college she got to see a live performance in Little Tokyo with George Takei
reprising his role as Sam Kimura. More recently, back in April, a local production of Allegiance by the Palo Alto Players was peformed at the Lucie Stern Theater. Connor was made aware of the show
through his Japanese class at Homestead. He was told if he went to see it he would get extra credit. So, Connor, Jordyn, and Dad all went to see the premiere on Saturday, April 23rd. It was a full
house and the performance was great. They stuck around a little afterward for refreshments and talked about how much they enjoyed the experience. Luckily, they went when they did. Not two weeks later,
the production was shut down due to a COVID outbreak among the cast and crew.
Connor's Junior Year started like last year when he attended Round-Up in person. He took his picture, picked up his class schedule, got his student body card, and purchased his ASB sticker (price
includes yearbook and free admittance to all school athletics). His schedule this year included Computer Science AP, Japanese 3, US History, Physics, American Literature & Writing, and Pre Calculus.
Unlike last year he has a traditional schedule when he attends school from first period through sixth period (not second through seventh). It's still early but things have been going pretty good so far,
and he's been really good about staying on top of things.
Homecoming Week 10/4/22
The week of Homecoming at Homestead is always filled with activities and of course the Homecoming Parade followed by the football game on Friday. On Tuesday (10/4/22) Connor, representing Juniors,
participated in a Pin the Tail on Simon (chipmunk from Alvin and the Chipmunks) game at lunch. During the activity the Homestead Epitaph (school newspaper) staff was taking pictures of the event.
Connor sort of got into one picture (look way off to the right).
One of Connor's assignments for his Japanese class was to make chicken karaage. He was provided with a recipe that was pretty straight-forward. He was careful to follow the directions and although
he did change up a few things he was able to successfully create a wonderful entree for dinner.
For Connor's Japanese 3 class he participated in the annual J-Night right before Multicultural week at Homestead. J-Night is the culmination of weeks of research by the students studying different aspects of
Japanese culture and history. Connor and his group created a presentation board about the different regions in Japan and the dialects spoken there.
Connor in front of his group's presentation board.
Connor's last group assignment for Japanese 3 was to make a dish and then create a video (in Japanese) on how it's made. His group, after many meetings, decided on mochi donuts as their final project. This
is what it looked like.
Connor's a senior this year! He's taking Calculus AB, US Government (followed by Econ next semester), PE (Weight Training), Digital Marketing, Multimedia Design, and Myth/Folklore Writing. So far, he's
on top of everything, but for the next few months he'll be concentrating on his college applications. After that he'll be able to focus solely on school. We're all
so proud of everything's he's accomplished so far, and we can't wait for his graduation!
Connor helped at his last J-Night for JNHS (Japanese National Honor Society). He didn't have to create an information board this year, but he did help set up, man the information table, and clean up.
Connor was quoted in an issue of the Homestead High School newspaper, the Epitaph, about the emergence of the WNBA (professional women's basketball). Caitlin Clark, one of the premiere college basketball players, was drafted as
the overall number one pick by the Indiana Fever in the latest WNBA draft. All of her games in this last March Madness were nationally televised and were record breakers in terms of viewership.
Second column, bottom paragraph.
Epitaph (Online) 5/4/24
The day after the hardcopy Epitaph dropped, Connor was pictured (sorta) in the online version of the Epitaph. If you look closely, he can be seen sitting between players at one of the Homestead Boys Volleyball games.
Can you see him sitting in between two Homestead players?
On May 8, 2024 we received an invitation to the Homestead High School Senior Awards Ceremony. This special invitation was only sent to the families of Seniors who will be honored with a Senior Award. Both Jordyn
and Tyler received Senior Awards before they graduated too.
Connor attended his prom on Saturday, May 25th. First, he and a bunch of his friends got together to take pictures before dinner. Once that was out of the way they proceeded to BJ's Restaurant and
Brewhouse in Cupertino for dinner. After dinner they proceeded to the prom at the Tech Interactive (Tech Center) in downtown San Jose. They got there a little early so they would have to wait outside before
the doors opened. As luck would have it there was an anime convention that just concluded across the street, so they took a walk over there to see all the cosplayers milling around outside. Around 8:30 they
went back to the Tech Center and enjoyed the rest of the evening at the prom.
Connor was invited to the Senior Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, May 29th to receive his JNHS (Japanese National Honor Society) cord. In order to receive this award he had to volunteer at various JNHS
sponsored events, tutor students during tutorial, and maintain a 3.5 GPA in Japanese classes and an overall GPA of 3.0. Connor will now wear this cord when he graduates on June 6th.
Senior Awards Program.
JNHS Award Recipients.
Cillian, Connor, and Vishank.
Birdsong Sensei.
Got his cord!
One of the highlights this year at Homestead is Board Trustee, Naomi Nakano-Matsumoto's participation in all of Homestead's major events. Naomi is a family friend who has been there since the kids were
small. She will be one of the presenters at graduation and asked Connor what side of the field he'll be sitting on. She will position herself to be on the same side of the field as Connor so she will be the
one to hand him his diploma.
Board Trustee, Naomi Nakano-Matsumoto.
Connor and Auntie Naomi.
JNHS cord recipients.
Connor, Cillian, Vishank, and Yusuf.
Family.
Graduation 6/6/24
The big day finally arrived. Graduation didn't actually begin until about 5:00pm, and we were hopeful the weather wouldn't be too hot. Dad brought Grandma and Grandpa Sato down from San Francisco and we
were a little worried about their comfort. The good thing was Connor got to choose where he wanted to sit during graduation, and he chose the home side of the football field where there is coverage for
spectators in the bleachers. When graduation finally began the bleachers were pretty much all in the shade and there was a light breeze that really made things quite pleasant. All told, there were nearly 600
graduates to be acknowledged and there was concern about the length of the ceremony. To our relief the organizers efficiently streamlined the proceedings and the entire event only lasted about an hour
and a half. After the Recessional we met Connor by the cafeteria to take pictures. He stayed a little while longer and then met everyone at home to have his Graduation Dinner (comprised of chow mein, chow
fun, snow peas with water chestnuts from First Wok, and Bonchon chicken). As soon as he was finished with dinner he drove back to Homestead to board a bus for his Grad Night in San Mateo.
From Congressman Ro Khanna.
HHS 2024 Graduation program.
From the FUHSD Facebook page.
Processional (far).
Processional (near).
FUHSD Board Trustee, Naomi Nakano-Matsumoto.
On the way to the stage.
Connor Sadao Sato.
"Let's go Connor!!!"
After receiving diploma.
Recessional.
Grandma & Grandpa in front of Connor's memory board.
