Del Oro counts down to TV show stardom

Journal Staff WriterLOOMIS ? Youthful energy crackled in the air as skateboarders rode a half-pipe and celebrities signed autographs at a Del Oro High School assembly Wednesday.The Loomis school became the set of ?54321,? an action sports TV show on cable?s Fox Sports Net. The nationally broadcast show stars MTV celebrity Jason ?Weeman? Acuna, former Playboy model and actress Leeann Tweeden and Jenny Jones personality ?Rude? Jude, who declined to give his last name. Students were allowed out of class at 11 a.m. to participate in the kickoff episode of a contest for the show, ?Why Should We Come To Your School??Loomis resident and producer John Johnston chose Del Oro High School because he knows it well, he said. His daughter, Whitney Johnston, is currently a senior at the school.?I knew Del Oro had a ton of school spirit,? he said. ?We got a great show here ? the kids just have a ton of energy.?Vice-Prinicpal Jeff Tooker welcomed his teenage audience before the director began filming.?Sorry to get you out of class,? he said to a raucous student body. ?This has been the best year ever for getting started and we wanted to thank you. The reason the show is here is that we?ve got the best teachers in California and the best student body in the country.?Students crowded the rail of the Del Oro football stadium?s bleachers, shouting ?5-4-3-2-1? and waving their hands in the air for the show?s opening shot. A limousine drove around the track to deliver Tweeden and Jude, while Acuna made a surprise entrance from the top of the Eagle?s Nest, the stadium?s pressbox. ?It?s crazy,? said junior Jordan Matulich, 17 above the blaring music and cheering crowd. ?I didn?t think this school would ever have this. I mean, it?s Weeman. This is the best thing to ever happen at Del Oro.??54321?s? hosts invited Del Oro cheerleaders and football players to film segments with them and students watched local skateboard clubs perform on a portable half-pipe. Del Oro senior Tyler Perkins, a representative with Phreek Industries, a counter-culture clothing and equipment company, asked friends from around Placer County to skate with professionals for the show. As the volunteers used the lip of the half pipe to ollie, grind and otherwise show off, senior Zach Miller, 17, looked on.?This is awesome,? Miller said. ?I don?t know what we did to deserve this. But I hope we do it again.? As the Sacramento-based band ?7th Standard? tore through their chart-climbing singles in some of the show?s last shots, students crowded around Acuna, Tweeden and Jude, clamoring for autographs and photo opportunities. ?This was overwhelming,? Tooker said. ?I had no idea the kids would be so amped. It was pretty awesome for them, but I don?t think we?ll be doing it every year. I?m wiped.?Tony McCuin, ?54321?s? director, said the taping went well.?I love these kids,? he said. ?They?re very good, very responsive. I had made the comment to them at the beginning of the taping that I feel sorry for the schools to follow Del Oro. They set the tone very early. It was very important that Del Oro represented themselves properly and they did just that.?Bomboarded by eager fans, Tweeden said she had fun.?The kids were a great crowd, very charismatic,? she said. ?They had a lot of school spirit. Del Oro set a pretty high standard for the show today.?Acuna seconded Tweeden?s enthusiasm for the Placer County teens.?Del Oro High School is a very enthusiastic, patriotic, cheerful group,? he said. ?They?ve got school spirit up the yin-yang.?The Del Oro episode will air at 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15 on Fox Sports Net.For more photos of the event, visit the "Photo Gallery" link on the page's left sidebar or click here.