Growing Up in Santa Cruz October 2023

EDITOR | PUBLISHER

Brad Kava and Steve Dinnen

ART DIRECTOR | MANAGING EDITOR

Nathan Mixter

DISTRIBUTION & SUBSCRIPTIONS

Susan Bernstein

CONTRIBUTORS

Laura Maxson, Terry DeDiego, Addie Mahmassani, Elise Cline, Sepideh Taghvaei, Nicole Young, Suki Wessling, Colleen Murphy, Jaime McFaden

AD REPRESENTATIVES

Ann Fitts BobbiJo Palmer Meghan Gruss Sophie Veniel advertising@growingupsc.com CONTACT US 408.656.1519 editor@growingupsc.com

Even small changes can make a BIG difference.

Triple P is a scientifically-proven, world-renowned positive parenting program available to families in Santa Cruz County.

Triple P strategies address a wide range of parenting challenges by providing a toolbox of easy-to-use tips.

Find a full schedule of Triple P tips and classes at triplep.first5scc.org.

Proud Father Celebrates Birth Month

This is our birth issue and it’s one of my favorites. As a first time father, who didn’t want kids, having my son is the best thing that ever happened to me. I don’t know how I lived without a kid who is now the center of my universe. And my hope is that he can make the world better.

Since having him, I light up with every baby I see and wish I had more.

Earlier I thought I didn’t want kids because I worried that the world wasn’t a great place anymore. The environment, the rise of authoritarianism, world poverty and hunger…all the depressing things we face every day. But you parents know that from the first look at your new baby, the world changes.

When Parker was born seven years ago, I held his hand when he was moments old, and I told him, “The world can be a terrible place, but I promise I will do everything in my power to make it great for you.”

And I’ve done everything I can and am always looking for more things for him. I bought this magazine just for him, so I can learn to be a better parent. And so far, it’s worked.

I don’t feel like a helicopter parent but I have him in so many activities—all of them his choice. He’s in Little League, art classes, piano lessons, private baseball lessons, swimming lessons, soccer, juggling and second grade. Oh yeah, and he’s going to be in the Nutcracker in December, with weekly rehearsals until

then. And I forgot, he makes 30 videos a month for Growing Up in Santa Cruz. See them here and please subscribe: www. youtube.com/@GrowingUpinSantaCruzbd5ug. Or just search Growing Up in Santa Cruz in YouTube.

So, here’s our birth month celebration. Check out the contest entries and see the cutest kids in Santa Cruz and make sure to enter your babies next year by September 1.

Thanks for reading!

Brad Kava, Editor and Publisher

Catch the Social Media Wave

This program is made possible through a partnership between First 5 Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency (MHSA – Prop 63 funds) & Santa Cruz County Human Services Department.

I feel the breeze in the air, and then I know fall has started because all the leaves turn orange.

The sun goes down earlier.

By Addie Mahmassani

How Do You Know Fall Has Started?

We have official days—equinoxes and such—for the start of each season, but everyone has their own internal clock marking the passage of time. While we can tell ourselves summer is still going in September, once October hits, there’s no denying autumn is upon us. It’s by far my favorite season, and there’s always a moment when I feel in the air it has arrived. This month I asked the kids of Santa Cruz what the telltale signs of the season are for them.

When it starts getting colder.

It gets cold, and the leaves turn orange— some of them! Not the evergreens.

I just love being out in autumn because it’s not too hot, not too cold.

Josué,

No me gusta el otoño porque las montañas me comen. Translation: I don’t like fall, because the mountains eat me.

En otoño es en donde se caen las ojas y en octubre hace frio. Translation: In autumn the leaves fall, and in October it gets cold.

When the leaves fall and when the animals hide.

Our values and services:

• Low teacher-to-child ratios (1:8 for preschoolers and 1:4 for toddlers)

• Outdoor, hands-on learning that inspires curiosity, exploration, and creativity

• Developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate playbased programs

• Free or affordable costs for most families on a sliding scale

Amy, 10, New Republic Elementary

Carter, 12, Mission Hill Middle

Charlotte, 9, Bay View Elementary

Edith, 9, Happy Valley Elementary

Jesús, 10, Boronda Meadows Elementary

3

Marillany, 8, Los Padres School

Marianne, 7, Boronda Meadows Elementary

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Zumba for Autism: A Heartfelt Journey of Dance, Inclusivity and Generosity

Generations unite to bring back popular Santa Cruz event

BY TERRY DEDIEGO

Let me introduce myself. My name is Terry deDiego and my daughter, Cheryl deDiego-Carlson, and I have been teaching Zumba in Santa Cruz for the last 16+ years.

Over the years we have been a part of many community events such as Relay for Life, Alzheimer’s Association, and numerous fundraising events for less fortunate friends in need. Although people might think that we are giving of ourselves, we are the ones who have truly been enriched in this process. How lucky are we as the only mother/daughter group exercise team in Santa Cruz to be able to share our talents with others while enjoying every moment together?

You know Stoney Godet, everyone does, DJ, bouncer, banker, but most importantly a warrior for kids with special needs, founder of Autism Family Network Santa Cruz (AFN).

Stoney tirelessly has worked with our special needs children in offering Empowerment, Inclusivity and Positivity. With this comes dance parties, roller skating events, trick-or-treating and organizing motorcycle fundraisers for those with special abilities.

You might not know my dad, Hank deDiego. He was a family man, married 62 years, loved people, loved his family, and loved life. Hank played semi-professional baseball, but unfortunately life plans changed when he entered World War II. As a father of five sons and one daughter, he spent his life at all of his children’s sporting events coaching along the way. He ran Teamsters Local 296 in San Jose for many years and was an avid fighter for the underdog. Unfortunately, he passed in 2015.

Stoney started talking to me in 2014 about doing a Zumba for Autism event, but AFN did not have the funds to implement the event so it was put on the backburner for a while.

At that time, my dad had season tickets to the Santa Cruz Warriors and one night as we were walking to our seats Stoney walked by and my dad said, “Hi Stoney,” and Stoney said, “Hi Hank.”

I thought how in the world did my 91-year-old dad know Stoney? But in reality, they are so much alike, because if you have had the blessing to meet my dad once, you would remember him. During that game Stoney mentioned Zumba for Autism again. My dad asked Stoney, well, why aren’t you doing it? Stoney explained he didn’t have the money to get it going. My dad’s response was “Whatever you need, I will take care of it.”

And that simple response is how Zumba for Autism started.

One in 36 children is now diagnosed with Autism. My dad, Hank deDiego, has a granddaughter Ashlee and a greatgrandson Cole with special needs, so as you can guess, he put his money where

his mouth is.

The first Zumba for Autism event was held in 2015 and took place at the Santa Cruz Warriors Arena. Since then, we have held it at Seascape Golf Course. It is a night full of dancing, music, raffle tickets, and a celebration of love, inclusion, empowerment and positivity. Cheryl and I have brought in the best Zumba instructors in Santa Cruz and the room is jumping.

The pandemic shut us down, but for the first time since 2019 we are back!

Zumba for Autism is happening on Oct. 14 at the Elks Club! Doors open at 5:30pm and tickets are $30. We have Venmo set up or pay at the door.

The Elks has an indoor and outdoor

area with a no-host bar. All proceeds will go to AFN for children in Santa Cruz with special abilities.

Our instructors, Cecilia Kelly, Anthony LaFrance, Marisa Jansen, Tara Espinoza, Jaelynn Horton, Cassandra Phillips, Xiomara Delgado, Renee Menard, Kristy Aguirre, Cynthia Hilberath, Joanna Dover, my daughter Cheryl deDiegoCarlson and myself, are ready to bring our passion to dance to you! “Jim-E” Jim Furlong will be on drums and our own man spinning the music, DJ Stoney. There will be two sessions of Zumba and when the sun goes down for the second session, it is a Glow Party!

We will have raffle prizes and a silent auction! We are always looking for donations, so please hit up your favorite instructor with any and all donations. As always, the first music of the night will be the sound of Hank’s grandfather’s clock. Hank loved clocks and had almost a hundred in his home. In the spirit of keeping his memory and generosity alive, let’s hope the gong of the night will raise the needed funds for AFN to empower our community. We hope to see you there, dancing shoes or not, it is going to be a blast!

Zumba for Autism is Oct. 14 at the Elks Club. Doors open at 5:30pm. Tickets are $30.

Baby Photo Contest

Growing Up in Santa Cruz received many cute submissions in our baby contest. Quyen, pictured above, was voted the winner by our readers. Thank you to everyone who submitted pictures and voted. Here are some of the other top entries.

Barrett

Bennett

Duke

Karey

Koda Parth

Good for the Pregnant Parent, Good for the Baby

BY DR. SEPIDEH TAGHVAEI VP OF OPERATIONS AT DIENTES AND CO-CHAIR OF ORAL HEALTH ACCESS

Pregnancy is a time of great joy and anticipation for expecting parents as you prepare to bring a new life into the world. During this crucial period, maintaining good health becomes paramount, not just for the pregnant parent, but also for the developing baby.

While regular prenatal checkups are typically prioritized, many pregnant people overlook the importance of dental care during pregnancy. I want to shed light on the significance of visiting the dentist while pregnant and how it can contribute to a healthy pregnancy and a happy, healthy baby!

THE LINK BETWEEN ORAL HEALTH AND PREGNANCY

Hormonal Changes: Pregnancy is marked by significant hormonal changes that can lead to various oral health issues including pregnancy gingivitis (swollen, inflamed gums.)

Gum Disease and Preterm Birth: If untreated, gingivitis can worsen and ultimately lead to tooth loss and bone loss in the jaw. Gum disease in the pregnant parent has also been associated with pre-term labor and low birthweight outcomes1. The connection between gum disease and poor birth outcomes underscores the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene and visiting the dentist during pregnancy

Morning Sickness: Morning sickness is a common pregnancy symptom. Frequent vomiting can expose your teeth to stomach acids, which can erode enamel and make the tooth more vulnerable to developing cavities. Cravings for sweets during pregnancy can increase consumption of cavitypromoting sugary foods and drinks

WHY DENTAL CARE DURING PREGNANCY IS ESSENTIAL

Preventing and Treating Oral Health Issues: Regular dental checkups and cleanings can help detect and address oral health problems early on. This can prevent minor issues from becoming major ones, reducing the risk of complications during pregnancy. According to dental and medical experts, X-rays, cleanings, and dental treatment

is SAFE during any trimester and recommended during pregnancy!

Relieving Pregnancy Gingivitis and Improving Birth Outcomes: Pregnancy gingivitis, characterized by swollen, bleeding gums, can be uncomfortable and painful. Dental cleanings by a dentist or dental hygienist can help manage gum disease leading to better health for the parent and better birth outcomes Minimizing the Risk of Tooth Decay and Transferring Cavities to the Baby:

The increased acidity in the mouth due to morning sickness makes pregnant women more susceptible to tooth decay. Dentists can

recommend strategies to protect the teeth and minimize this risk as well as treat any cavities that need to be addressed.

Cavities are infectious and can be transferred from the parent to the baby once it’s born. Treating them in the pregnant parent can reduce the risk of transferring the cavities to the baby.

Enhancing Overall Well-Being: Oral health is closely linked to general health. Poor oral health is associated with conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, which can negatively impact both the parent and baby during pregnancy. By maintaining good oral health, we can

reduce the risk of complications. DENTAL HEALTH TIPS BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER PREGNANCY:

Schedule a checkup with a dentist early in your pregnancy! If you have Medi-Cal, you have dental coverage for exams, cleanings, fillings, and more!

Complete recommended the dental treatment while pregnant. It’s safe and important for you and the baby2!

Brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste and floss daily.

Eat a balanced, healthy diet (limit sugars, carbs, and acidic foods) to support both your oral health and your baby’s development.

Rinse your mouth with water or a fluoride mouthwash if you vomit from morning sickness (don’t brush right away; wait 30 minutes.)

Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water to reduce the risk of dry mouth, which can contribute to tooth decay.

To minimize the risk of transferring cavity-causing bacteria, have separate eating utensils for you and baby and use a clean cloth to wipe off the pacifier.

Bring your baby to the dentist by the time they’re one or when they get their first tooth!

Dental care during pregnancy is not just a matter of maintaining a beautiful smile; it is a vital component of a healthy pregnancy. Prioritize your oral health to ensure your own well-being and to create a healthy environment for your growing baby. Your smile, and your baby, will thank you for it.

If you need help finding an affordable dentist and have Medi-Cal Insurance, visit smilecalifornia.org or call the Medi-Cal Dental program at 800.322.6384. For local low-cost dental clinics that accept MediCal Dental and have a sliding-scale call Dientes Community Dental at 831.464.5409 / dientes.org or Salud Para La Gente at 831.728.0222 / splg.org. If you have private health insurance, ask your carrier if you have dental benefits or how to get them.

SANTA CRUZ

Briana celebrates the healthy birth of Jake after seeing the dentist throughout her pregnancy

Homework Routines Are Your Friend

BY NICOLE M. YOUNG, MSW

My children are young adults now, but I still have “homework battle scars.” I remember feeling like our lives revolved around due dates for homework assignments and school projects.

I’ll admit I wasn’t always successful at staying calm, especially when I was tired from working and they needed handson help from me or procrastinated on starting projects.

But as my kids grew older and learned to manage their time and study habits independently, the light at the end of the tunnel grew brighter. My kids learned they were responsible for completing their homework (I wasn’t going to save them), and I learned to trust they would get the work done…even if it was at the last minute. It wasn’t easy, but the effort was worth it.

This monthly column provides tips for anyone who is raising children, based on the world-renowned Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, available to families in Santa Cruz County. If you have a question or idea for a future column, please email me at triplep@first5scc.org

Dear Nicole, School barely started and I’m already having daily battles with my 7- and 9-year old kids over homework. They goof off, take forever to get their assignments out of their backpacks, and then have a hard time sitting still and concentrating. I lose my patience when it’s bedtime and they haven’t finished their homework, but I don’t want them staying up too late and being tired the next day. How can I get them to do their homework?

Charles

Dear Charles, Good question! Homework time is a common challenge in many families. It’s often difficult for kids to focus on homework because they’re physically, mentally, and emotionally tired after school. Or kids are ready to do homework, but find the assignments hard, tedious, or overwhelming. They may need help or encouragement, but it’s hard for parents and caregivers to be present and patient when they’re tired at the end of the day. Here are some tips to try:

HELP YOUR CHILDREN MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM SCHOOL TO HOME

Let them have free time when they get home so they can relax, have a healthy snack, or get their energy out. This also gives you a chance to spend quality time with them and find out how their day went. Agree on the amount of free time they can have and give them a 10-minute “warning” before free time is over so they can start the transition to homework time.

ESTABLISH A HOMEWORK ROUTINE

Set a time for doing homework that works with your family’s schedule. Although the specific time might vary each day depending on other family activities such as work, afterschool care, or extracurricular activities, having a regular “homework time” will help children learn that it’s part of their daily routine, just like eating, getting dressed, and going to school.

Arrange a space for each child to do their homework that’s comfortable, has enough room for them to work, and minimizes distractions as much as possible. Set a few simple ground rules that focus on what you want them to do instead of what not to do – e.g. Get all books and supplies ready before starting homework. Finish homework before screen time.

OFFER “JUST ENOUGH” HELP AND ENCOURAGEMENT

Stay near your children and check on their progress, but don’t do their homework for them. Give descriptive

praise to acknowledge their efforts and progress – “You’ve finished five questions already. Keep up the good work!”

If they want your help, ask questions that encourage critical thinking and problem-solving, such as “What do you think that means?” or “Where could you find the answer?” If they have difficulty finding an answer after 1-2 prompts, then provide or guide them to the solution so that they stay engaged in the learning process instead of giving up.

If they are overwhelmed by the amount of homework they have, help them break it down into smaller segments that feel more manageable. Let them have a small reward after finishing each segment of homework, such as taking a stretch break or listening to a song. When your children have finished all their homework, let them choose a special activity or game as a reward for completing their homework routine.

FINAL THOUGHTS

A few positive parenting strategies can help take the hassle out of homework

for everyone. If the problems continue, ask your children’s teachers about other school-based assistance or resources that could help determine whether there’s a learning disability or challenge that requires a different solution.

Nicole Young is the mother of two children, ages 19 and 23, who also manages Santa Cruz County’s Triple PPositive Parenting Program, the world’s leading positive parenting program. Scientifically proven, Triple P is made available locally by First 5 Santa Cruz County, the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency (Mental Health Services Act) and the Santa Cruz County Human Services Department. To find a Triple P parenting class or practitioner, visit http://triplep.first5scc.org, http://www. facebook.com/triplepscc or contact First 5 Santa Cruz County at 465-2217 or triplep@first5scc.org.

Molding Your Future with Clay

BY ELISE CLINE

Cece Tarahteeff found her “escape,somewhere I can be without judgment” in the bricks of clay, spinning wheels, and buckets of glaze she uses to make her greatest passion: ceramics. “Pottery puts me in a meditative state of mind, in another headspace. I could be having a bad day, but I go into the studio and leave feeling amazing.”

Cece, is a 22-year-old born and raised Santa Cruzian, who discovered her love of pottery when she was 14, while attending Santa Cruz High under the guidance of her teacher, Iver Hennig. His influence was particularly influential for Cece, as “he allows you to have the freedom to explore and create, and gives you the reins… I was really allowed to explore.”

Growing up, art was always central to Cece’s family culture. Her older twin brothers were both gifted artists and musicians, which, according to Cece, actually deterred her from initially experimenting with different artistic mediums. She says she “was intimidated to go down the traditional artistic path just because I felt [my brothers] were so much better than me. But ceramics was my own path of being an artist.”

Cece found her first attempts at pottery extremely daunting. She says, because of her inner critic, “I never like how my art looks. So, starting out and being so unsure of myself was really hard.” But, with a little time, she “fell in love with it and being around clay and the community it fosters.”

After graduating from High School, Cece’s fascination with ceramics continued. She took two pottery classes while attending Cabrillo College, which gave her a place to focus on “refining my skills and learning how to throw bigger, with more confidence, and working on shape.”

After leaving Cabrillo, Cece “was in limbo,” trying to figure out what was next. “I had always suppressed the desire to pursue [ceramics] as a career just because I’ve always been told ‘it’s too hard a field to get into. Nobody’s gonna pay for that. You’re not gonna make a living.’ But I decided one day the only way it’s going to happen is if I make it happen” and so she threw herself into forging a career in ceramics.

There are many costs associated with making pottery. Not only do you have to pay for clay but also dish out a monthly fee to have access to a ceramics studio and its tools, wheels, glazes, and other equipment. Pottery is time intensive too, with Cece explaining that “each individual piece can take a month to several months to produce and go through the whole process.”

However, despite these obstacles, Cece’s love of pottery has continued to push her to advance her craftsmanship. Her favorite part of ceramics is “exploring with new clays, new glazes, new combinations. There are just so many variables that everything you make is going to be some sort of mystery. It often doesn’t come out how you envision it.” Moreover, ceramic casualties are common,

with many pieces never making it out of the kiln as “you can lose up to a good half of what you make.” However, Cece is grateful for these challenges as it is “through this, I’ve learned a lot about loss and letting go.”   Nowadays, Cece sells her pieces at local markets and on her online Etsy shop. Every piece she creates is “a labor of love because everything I’ve made is a part of me and who I am. I love sharing that with people because whenever they use anything that I’ve made, it’s like I’m there.”  She hopes she can forge a career that lets her “be in the pottery studio as much as I can, selling online and at local markets.” One day, she hopes to open her own studio, as she would love to teach and pass on her passion for pottery to others.

Cece advises any aspiring potters to “find a local community studio or take a class at your community college. Community colleges are really underrated because they provide you with outlets of discovery. It’s the cheapest route and you will have somebody in the community to help support you”. She adds that “everybody starts off really bad… just don’t let your initial quality or level stop you.”

Having developed her own skills through encouragement from her “teachers [that] have always pushed me to do things that I am apprehensive to do because I fear failure,” Cece has also pushed herself due to her love of “trying new things, which I think is really key.”

Cece believes “there’s something beautiful about ceramics because there’s not one right way to do it. There are rules, but people are coming out every day breaking them. You just have to know the rules to bend them” and create something new.

Writer Elise A. Cline is a political science major and journalism and disability minor at U.C. Berkeley.

PREGNANCY AND BIRTH GUIDE

Children’s Dentistry

7545 Soquel Dr, Aptos

831.662.2900

www.santacruzkidsdentist.com

We are accepting new patients! It’s time for a dental check-up when your child has a first tooth or first birthday. We are preventive-dentistry oriented and we provide comprehensive dentistry in a caring environment for children of all ages. We have a pediatric anesthesiologist on our premises and are able to treat special, challenging children safely and comfortably under a general anesthesia. We have a 24hour emergency service available for all of our patients.

Community Bridges WIC Program

South County/Watsonville

18 W. Lake Avenue Suite A

831-722-7121

North County/Santa Cruz

1105 Water Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95062 831-426-3911

Communitybridges.org/WIC

WIC provides nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to health care and social services for millions of families, and it plays a crucial role in improving lifetime health for women, their infants, and young children. Part of the nation’s nutrition safety net for over 45 years, WIC serves pregnant and post-partum women, infants, and children through their fifth birthday. Annually, Community Bridges WIC program serves over 500 pregnant women, 800 breastfeeding women, 1,100 infants, and 3,800 children offering a comprehensive range of services to promote healthy lifestyles both on-site and online.

Dientes Community Dental Care

1830 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz

1500 Capitola Road, Santa Cruz

100 Pioneer Street, Suite D, Santa Cruz 1430 Freedom Blvd., Suite C, Watsonville dientes.org

Dientes is a full-service dental provider located in Santa Cruz County. We practice whole family dentistry including kids, adults, and seniors; but children hold a special place in our heart –nearly half of our patients are kids seen by our experienced pediatric dentists. As a non-profit dental provider, our focus is on high-quality, low-cost dental services, including exams, x-rays, fillings, sealants and root canals. We accept Medi-Cal and we have affordable sliding scale fees for uninsured patients. We offer bi-lingual

services – Se habla Español! Dientes, providing dignity through dentistry for over 30 years.

First 5 Santa Cruz County 831.465.2217

First5scc.org

First 5 Santa Cruz County promotes the healthy development of children from birth to age 5. Parents and caregivers of newborns can contact First 5 to receive a free “Kit for New Parents” with parenting videos, children’s books, information on caring for babies and local resources. First 5 also offers parenting support through the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, a worldrenowned program that strengthens families by building positive relationships. To find Triple P classes or quick tips, visit triplep.first5scc.org or facebook.com/triplepscc

Jim Booth Swim School

Harvey West pool in Santa Cruz and Watsonville 831.722.3500

JimBoothSwimSchool.com

Be a water wonder! From our Little Otters swim class for parents and their babies to Aquaphobics, our adult beginner class, the whole family splashes together at Jim Booth Swim School. Little Otters is a gentle introduction to our 94-degree pools that will make you confident that you are guiding your infant to a happy water experience. Our lessons emphasize quality swimming in an exciting class taught by our caring, well-qualified teachers. The whole family can swim at Jim Booth Swim School”

Junebug’s Gym

831.464.BUGS (2847)

3910 Portola Dr., Stes. 2 & 3, Santa Cruz JuneBugsGym.com

Did you know? Activities for babies and toddlers that stimulate balance, movement, and core

strength activate the brain for higher learning concepts and lead to later success in school. Join us at June Bug’s Gym for Inchworms — our baby development classes — for crawlers to wobbly walkers. Every Monday and Wednesday from 12:15 pm to 1 pm

MusicalMe, Inc. offering Music Together™

Locations throughout Santa Cruz and Santa Clara County Call/Text: 831.332.9002

registrar@musicalme.com

musicalme.com

Q: When is the best time to take your little one to a music class? A: Now. Now is always the best time. Learning begins in the womb - we’re here to help you provide a rich, stimulating & musical learning environment that starts now and will enrich both of your lives from now on. Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers—and the grownups who love them!—play and learn together in our Mixed-Age classes, for children from birth through age 5. Interactive and stimulating, Mixed-Age classes feature familystyle learning in an informal, communal setting. Siblings are welcome, and grandparents too!

RC Fam | Raíces y Cariño

A Community Collective for Families

1205 Freedom Blvd, #3B. Watsonville 831.288.3105

Info@rcfam.com

www.rcfam.com

Raíces y Cariño (Roots & Love) believes the best way to ensure children’s livelihood is by empowering their family structure, however that may look. Our collective’s goal is whole family support from babies to grandparents. Join us today to drop in, take a class, or volunteer!

• Students with a math path to complete through AP Calculus BC or AP Statistics

• Comprehensive science curriculum aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and Ocean Literacy Principles

• A minimum of 5 years of high school science for all graduates

• Coding class for 6th-7th grade students

• Technology, engineering and art (T.E.A.) for 8th-9th grade students

• A full series of 9th-11th grade engineering courses in addition to the traditional science cannon and marine science

“I have received so much help from WIC from nutritional classes to just being able to ask questions like is my child eating enough or are the eating too much and also with breastfeeding support.”

Paloma, WIC participant

Birth Network – 25 Years and Counting

BY LAURA MAXSON, LM

This year’s Pregnancy and Birth issue of Growing Up just happens to fall on Birth Network of Santa Cruz County’s 25th anniversary. Receiving their official nonprofit status in October of 1998, Birth Network’s mission to support parents and service providers with information, education, and advocacy for “Mother-Friendly” childbirth began.

Birth Network promotes the goals and principles outlined in the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI), a blueprint for optimal maternity care that was hot off the press in 1996. A quarter of a century ago, Birth Network was the first non-profit to organize around the MFCI, a document ratified by a coalition of 31 individuals and 26 major childbirth related organizations.

Childbirth is a pivotal life event that benefits from accurate information about birth options, and education to make decisions based upon individual needs. The MFCI was poised to bring about critical changes to maternal/infant health in the US, and the world.

While embraced by Birth Network and other grassroots organizations, the national momentum of the MFCI was stymied, in part by the refusal of ACOG, the national organization of obstetricians and gynecologists, to endorse the document - no doubt the promotion of midwifery and low-tech care over typical obstetrics for most births was a sticking point.

As a static document, the language of the MFCI is dated and while it appears non-inclusive, nothing could be further from the truth. The principles and goals are clear and promote diversity, and inclusivity,

acknowledging the burden minoritized groups carry when it comes to the state of maternity care in the US. Birth Network recognizes that Mother-Friendly care includes all pregnant people.

In 1998 it was difficult to simply find a doula, homebirth midwife or other non-mainstream childbirth/ pregnancy related service. Today a pregnant or new parent can easily find Birth Network’s website, their printed Pregnancy and Birth Resource Guide, as well as Meet the Doulas, and Bellies, Birth and Babies events, because these community resources have been present in our community for over a generation.

A mainstay of the birth community, Birth Network is a founding member of the local Breastfeeding Coalition, a member of the Perinatal Mental Health Coalition, and has been involved in many community endeavors over the years. Recognizing early on that they couldn’t possibly oversee everything birth related, Birth Network instead works to be a catalyst in the childbirth community providing collaboration and support on projects and concerns.

Some of Birth Network’s past projects have included:

• Working with student interns from UCSC

• Sponsoring speakers and outreach events at UCSC and Cabrillo College

• Participating in the national Rally for Improving Birth

• Member of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services

• Presenting the live theater production of Singing the Bones

• Member of the Lamaze Parent

Committee on Developing Birth Networks Nationwide

• Sponsoring/cosponsoring film showings and speaking events including Guerilla Midwife, The Business of Being Born, and Born in the USA

• Tabling at events including Children’s Day Downtown, Santa Cruz County Fair, Breastfeeding Awareness events, Mother’s Milk Bank Donation, Midwifery gatherings, and Doula Support

• Rallying support and providing advocacy around community issues including defending public breastfeeding, supporting a lactation center in danger of closing, and organizing around the threatened loss of the right to give birth vaginally after cesarean (VBAC).

So, what’s in line for the future? Birth Network weathered the pandemic and rebuilt their board of

bilingual access to resources.

Birth Network is working with other agencies and organizations to help both doulas and parents understand and access California’s new Medi-Cal doula program.

Birth Network continues to support their professional members with ongoing Networking Lunch speakers and discussion topics, as well as marketing opportunities in their printed Pregnancy and Birth Resource Guide and on the Birth Network website.

This year finishes out with Meet the Doulas on December 3, in Aptos; Bellies, Birth, and Babies on November 12, in Watsonville; and Networking Lunch for professional members on October 13.

Those interested can find details on all the upcoming events at www. birthnet.org. It’s exciting to think that some of those new or expecting parents attending an event this year might come from a family who attended a Pregnancy Information

The Art Factory Studios Reopens in Aptos

BY SUKI WESSLING

Art Factory owner Yvette Contois, 52, stands at the entrance to her big, bright new studio in Aptos. She’s beaming.

“We love our memories of the first eleven years in our little art cottage, and now we’re truly grateful to be starting the next chapter: Art Factory 3.0 in its new home,” she says. ”We couldn’t ask for a more fantastic space to celebrate our fifteenth year in Aptos!”

This reopening has been a long time coming. Yvette’s former onsite business, housed in a little fairytale cottage in the redwoods, was a pandemic casualty.

Even with everything going online, it was hard to leave the charming location, where she had offered art classes and parties since 2009, but she had already been dreaming about a bigger, more community-oriented space. In the meantime, she made the necessary changes to keep the business afloat. She offered online instruction as well as sitebased instruction at schools and in parks.

As serious about business as she is about art, Yvette has been working with the Small Business Development Center since before the pandemic.

“Post-pandemic, she really felt like

she needed a home like she had before,” explains Keith Holtaway, 76, lead advisor at the SBDC . “We spent some time looking at leases and locations and seeing which ones were going to work. And this one—it felt good. It smells like a studio, which is a nice smell. And it looks like a studio, like the studios I went to as a kid.”

Yvette is especially excited about the layout of the large, airy space. The

former leaseholder, a furniture store, installed beautifully lit display cases on beams throughout the room, where staff and student work is already on display.

Margaret Machado, a 16-year-old junior at Aptos High who goes by Maggie, started classes at 6 and now works at the Art Factory. She is possibly its most enthusiastic booster.

“Art has so many real life applications,”

Maggie explains. “Like philosophically, if you think about the way that art really works, it’s all about constant improvement, which can really apply to your life. Doing the Art Factory has helped me cultivate so many skills that have helped me out in my daily life, figuring out who I am as a person— especially in high school!”

Danielle Lewis, 26, has been teaching with Yvette since 2019, and she’s particularly excited that the space has room for a kiln and a dedicated space for ceramics.

“[Working with clay] is different from painting or other art skills just because there’s a lot of touch and motor skills that are involved in ceramics,” Danielle explains. “For little kids, it’s a lot of learning how to use your fingers and hands. For adults and older kids it’s more about technique and how you apply it.”

The Art Factory has scheduled weekly ceramics classes for youth and a Saturday drop-in time for aspiring ceramicists of all ages and skill levels. Yvette explained that the large size of the studio is allowing them to offer such a variety of classes, and pointed out that the fiber arts area is as far as possible from the dusty clay.

For Yvette, a working artist who has dedicated much of her career to training

young people to value the arts, Art Factory Studios is proof positive of the value of perseverance. She’s glad that her new space will allow her to expand her business’s community involvement.

“Community building with regard to ecology, recycling, beach cleanups, literacy, and public art with student involvement has been a rich part of our history,” she points out. “We are partnered with Live Like Coco Foundation and PVUSD for both fundraising events and after school enrichment. We look forward to growing with other community partners as a part of our continued growth.”

But let’s give Art Factory booster Maggie Machado the last word. Lest you think that art classes are not important in this techoriented world, she wants to set you straight.

“It should definitely be STEAM, not STEM,” Maggie explains. “Art is so important. It can be self-expression, it can be a way to express your knowledge. It’s an integral skill to your life—everybody should know how to do art!”

For more information: Visit www. artfactorystudios.com or drop in during studio hours at Aptos Village Square, 7960 Soquel Drive.

Suki Wessling is a local writer, radio host, and teacher. Full disclosure: her kids took lessons from Yvette years ago and Suki adores The Art Factory! Check out Suki’s radio show, The Babblery, at www. Babblery.com and on KSQD.org.

POSITIVE DISCIPLINE PARENTING

A Closer Look at Discipline

Think Respectful, Reasonable, Related and Revealed in Advance

BY COLLEEN MURPHY

When I talk about the parenting classes I teach using the Positive Discipline approach, parents are shocked to hear that the style of parenting I advocate for does not include punishment or rewards.

This seems like a horrible idea to most parents…but it’s not! In fact, not choosing punishment or rewards as parenting tools and instead focusing on discipline is a pathway to create incredibly responsible, respectful adults who call their parents to chat and stay connected to their families. Isn’t that what we all want from our kids?

In last month’s edition of Growing Up in Santa Cruz, a Positive Discipline colleague of mine, Hannah Stubblefield, explored how punishment can get results but also can backfire, creating more power struggles, and more disconnection in the parent/child relationship. In this article, we will turn to what is more effective in the long run, not the short run.

DEFINITION OF DISCIPLINE

Discipline is focused on guiding and teaching. The root word is “disciple”– to be a student. Parents take on the role of teacher/guide with understanding and compassion for their children who have much to learn and many years to develop into their full potential. When parents respond to misbehavior in a disrespectful, angry, shaming, and blaming way, the important lesson will be lost. “I know I shouldn’t have done that,... but Mom was so mean!”

DESCRIPTION OF DISCIPLINE

• It is a consistent practice, provides structure, and involves accountability that is kind AND firm, done with connection maintained and boundaries held

• It puts kids in the role of being responsible for their behavior, not the adult

• It is designed to help children

LEARN effectively long-term for the future, not PAY for their past mistakes

• It develops the “internal locus of control” (looking within to decide good choices) not the “external locus of control” (looking at what I can get away with)

• It invites parents to see disobedience as an opportunity for children to learn boundaries and life/social skills versus seeing disobedience as alarming signs of a bad child

• It helps move from problem-naming to problem-solving

• It allows the lesson to be highlighted because the adult remained respectful and fair

If you are like most of us, this kind and firm model is not the norm. It is hard to know what it looks and sounds like. We fall into becoming our harsh parents, saying those things we thought we’d never say. Or we go too far in the other direction and we lack boundaries or walk on eggshells around our kids. Here’s a guide to help you stay kind and firm with discipline.

NUTS AND BOLTS

When faced with challenging behavior and assessing how you will respond to it, practicing discipline means getting a “Yes” answer when asking these questions

Is it Related?

NO: Disruptive behavior at dinner

means no TV time later

YES: Removal from the dinner table

Is it Respectful?

NO: Yelling, shaming, “Stop it right now! You know better!”

YES: Neutral, clear tone of voice focused on the issue. “I’m stepping in to stop you.”

Is it Reasonable?

NO: Permanent removal of a privilege. “I’m selling your toys.”

YES: Temporary restrictions, with opportunities to re-earn privilege “These toys will be packed away. When you can show me you can follow through on our agreements about cleaning up with other things, I’ll return the toys and you can try again.”

When possible, Is it Revealed in advance?

NO: Deciding consequence during an angry moment. “That’s it! You’re going home!”

YES: Before entering a challenging situation, state expectations and actions that may follow. “I expect you to stay at the table while we’re at the restaurant or we will go home even if you aren’t finished.”

Is it Helpful?

NO: Write “I will never do that again,”

20 times.

YES: Cleaning the mess that was made. “Here’s a broom to sweep up the food you spilled.”

I am not suggesting following the pathway of Positive Discipline is easy. The knee-jerk reaction of punishing is easier, done without forethought. Walking a conscious parenting path focused on thoughtful, respectful responses is intentional work. But it is worthy work, with a grand payoff: lifelong healthy relationships with our kids. Isn’t that what we all want?

Colleen Murphy is a credentialed Adult School teacher, a Certified Positive Discipline Educator and Trainer at www.pdcrcc.org a parent coach at fromtheheadtotheheart.com and in healthy relationships with her two grown kids. Her next series of classes for all ages will be at Cabrillo in Oct. Free! To register: bit.ly/ CabrilloPositiveDiscipline.

That Girl and Her Mom Phenomenon – ‘Better Together’

BY ELISE CLINE

Terry deDiego and Cheryl deDiegoCarlson are a mother-daughter team who have been teaching fitness classes at Toadal Fitness, Live Oak, for the past sixteen years. Their lively, vibrant and playful teaching style has garnered somewhat of a cult following. They’re particularly renowned for their killer Barre and Zumba workouts as well as for their endearing, enthusiastic and unique mother-daughter combined approach to teaching classes.

“When we started sixteen years ago we were referred to as ‘That Girl and Her Mom’… everywhere we went,” Cheryl recalls, but “now we’re the ‘Dynamic Duo’. We love teaching together; we are just better together.”

Terry, the ever-enthusiastic athlete, raised her daughters in her world of workouts and sports activities. They moved to Santa Cruz from San Jose after Cheryl’s first birthday because Terry “loved the outside, the beach, taking walks“ making it “a no-brainer for me to move here and raise my kids”.

Since the age of four, Cheryl naturally gravitated towards dance classes, including jazz, tap, ballet, point, hip hop, modern dance and lyrical. Throughout her attendance at New Brighton Middle School and Soquel High School, she traveled across California participating in dance competitions.

Although Terry has been involved in fitness her entire life, she only began teaching after taking a Zumba class taught by Zumba’s creator, Beto Perez, which ultimately inspired herself and the 21-year-old Cheryl to become certified Zumba instructors.

Eight years later, the pair set out to design their own Barre class, which, according to Terry, “is a combination of ballet, pilates, yoga, strength training, stretching, and really small repetitive isometric movements” that are low impact but target muscles to tone and strengthen the whole body.

Terry and Cheryl prefer teaching together as a mother-daughter team because “we complement each other. We have two different specialties… [Terry] implementing more fitness moves and [Cheryl] pulling from her dance experience.” Their collaboration influences the structure of their classes, allowing both teachers to tradeoff between directing the class and walking the room giving students hands-on help.

The duo maintains a light-hearted rapport creating more approachable classes for students. One student, Sacha Manov, says that “Cheryl and Terry not only bring unparalleled energy and enthusiasm to classes, but play off each other in hilarious ways that have me cracking up during three minute planks. [It’s] The perfect way to sweat while smiling.”

The two endeavor to make seemingly intimidating group fitness classes like Barre more enjoyable and accessible to all. Their

classes are filled with students aged between 14 to 75 years old. Terry says “there is an absolute range of people in our classes from the beginner to the person that is super hardcore… It’s for everyone.”

The duo’s adaptable approach to instruction was partially shaped by Terry’s childhood experience when, at the age of 13 years old, her mother was paralyzed. This life-changing event, in many ways, redefined her understanding of fitness. She clearly remembers the moment when her “mom could finally lift her thumb again,” and she realized the overriding importance of “doing what you can do and being thankful that your body can do it… it doesn’t matter where you are as long as you go further.”

The pair pride themselves on their

expertise of countless modifications, enabling them to help students of any level of physical ability participate. As teachers, they want their students “to have a good time, a good workout, and be more secure and confident with themselves… It’s exciting to see people succeed.”

Their students have become an extension of Terry and Cheryl’s family. They want to build relationships a nd create a warm, safe environment where everyone feels comfortable to develop their own fitness limits while getting a killer workout. Teaching classes is Terry and Cheryl’s own personal release from their own hectic lives and full-time jobs as a court reporter and legal support specialist. As Cheryl says “We’re not here to make money…

We just love teaching together… She’s my mom and my best friend.”

Coming from a family where health and fitness has always been a central part of their family’s interconnection, both Terry and Cheryl emphasize the importance of parents normalizing working out and taking care of themselves, leading by example for their kids.

“My mom taught me the importance of fitness and moving your body and we were always doing it together.” Now with a son and daughter of her own, Cheryl emphasizes that “children need to see that fitness is fun! Kids naturally want to move and groove, it’s important to introduce them to all kinds of exercise at a young age… so it becomes a norm.” She says her “kids love going to the gym,” and she often takes her kids to the children’s classes at Toadal Fitness, Live Oak.

Anyone attending Terry and Cheryl’s classes can feel the mother-daughter duo’s contagious enthusiasm and passion for teaching. Seven times a week they share their love of fitness, accompanied by invigorating music and an ever-evolving repertoire of muscle-shaking movements that inspire students of all ages. Because, as they say: “We are better together!”.

Writer Elise A. Cline is a political science major and journalism and disability minor at U.C. Berkeley.

MICHELLE LEWIS

Name_____________________________________________________________ Age _____________ Address _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Submit your coloring entry to editor@growingupsc.com for a chance to be in our next issue! You can also mail them to Box 3505, Santa Cruz, 95063 Submissions due by Oct. 15. Please include the child’s name, age and address so we can send out a prize.

Banned Books Week Panel: “Let Freedom Read”

Banned Books Week is back, and it’s time to celebrate the freedom to read while shedding light on the ongoing and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools.

For over four decades, this annual event has united the entire literary community in unwavering support of the right to explore and express ideas, even those that may challenge the status quo or be deemed controversial.

In 2022, the American Library Association (ALA)’s Office for Intellectual Freedom recorded a staggering 1,269 demands for the censorship of library books and resources.

This marked the highest number of attempted book bans since the ALA began tracking censorship data in libraries over two decades ago. Of the record-breaking 2,571 distinct titles targeted for censorship, the majority pertained to or were authored by individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community and Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Santa Cruz Public Libraries, the Diversity Center of Santa Cruz, the County Office of Education, and UCSC will host a thought-provoking panel

discussion on Oct. 6 from 3-5pm at the Downtown Branch Library (224 Church St).

The panel will delve into the rising tide of censorship in our educational institutions and public spaces. The conversation will be guided by local author and journalist Wallace Baine.

The panelists include

• Faris Sabbah, Superintendent of the County Office of Education

•Cynthia Lewis, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice for the Division of Social Sciences, UCSC

•Angela Gates, Librarian at Harbor High School

•Zak Keith, UC Santa Cruz PhD Candidate and Facilitator at The Diversity Center Youth Program

The 2023 Banned Books Week theme, “Let Freedom Read,” encapsulates the core of what’s at stake for our democracy: the very essence of our right to think, speak, and express ourselves freely is intertwined with our right to access a diverse range of written perspectives.

In a world where knowledge is power, preserving the right to read without restriction is paramount. Banned Books Week is an opportunity for our community to unite, celebrate, and reaffirm our

commitment to intellectual freedom.

The library invites you to join the conversation and explore the critical issues surrounding the freedom to read and the challenges of censorship.

To participate in this enlightening discussion, please register at santacruzpl.libcal.com/calendar/SCPL/ BBW23.

program is to encourage and support Cabrillo College students, with preference to those who are the first in their to attend college, to pursue careers in local government.

selected as

Both students are and will transfer to degrees. They are current and Santa Cruz

Two Local Government Fellows Selected

Mateo Donato and Dustin Lopez have been selected as Cabrillo College Local Government Fellows. Both students are starting their last year at Cabrillo this month and will transfer to four-year schools for their undergraduate degrees. They are the first in their families to attend college.

The Fellows program was created in 2021 by current and former local government leaders throughout Santa Cruz County and the Cabrillo College Foundation. The goal of the program is to encourage and support Cabrillo College students, with preference to those who are the first in their family to attend college, to pursue careers in local government.

Local Government Fellows the students receive a $2,000 scholarship, an internship in a local jurisdiction, and a mentor. summer of 2024 Mateo will intern with the City of Capitola and Dustin with the City of Scotts Valley. said: "I am humbled and honored to receive this opportunity. This allows me to work with and acquire knowledge from our local government leaders and paves my towards being involved in local government." Dustin am very excited to meet new people, explore my interests in local government, and deepen my understanding own community. I am thankful for this opportunity and to help others in the same way through a career in local government.“ Arne Croce, a Cabrillo alum, former city manager and one of the program organizers, said “We are grateful for the generous community support which makes this program possible. We are excited for Mateo and Dustin and look forward to their futures in local government.”

management, and health and social services are essential to a high quality of life and robust economy.

Developing dedicated, competent and diverse future local government leaders is key to maintaining the essential services provided by our cities, counties, and special districts.

As Local Government Fellows the students receive a $2,000 scholarship, an internship in a local jurisdiction, and a mentor. In the summer of 2024 Mateo will intern with the City of Capitola and Dustin with the City of Scotts Valley.

“I am humbled and honored to receive this opportunity,” Donato said. “This

local government, and deepen my understanding of my own community,”Lopez said. “I am thankful for this opportunity and hope to help others in the same way through a career in local government.“

makes this program possible. We are excited for Mateo and Dustin and look forward to their futures in local government.”

The Fellows program has raised $67,000. The goal is to raise an endowment of $100,000 and support the selection of two Fellows each year. Contributions have come from individuals, businesses, and the cities of Capitola and Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz County and the cities of Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, and Watsonville have committed to providing a paid internship to those students selected as Cabrillo College Local Government Fellows.

The goal of the College first in their local government. receive a $2,000 , and a mentor. the City of Valley. receive this acquire and paves my government." Dustin explore my understanding opportunity and career in local former city said “We are which makes this program

Luxury Yosemite Retreat at Quail Crossing

Effective, efficient local government is critical to communities. Planning, infrastructure, public safety, libraries, parks and recreation, elections

ffective, efficient local government is critical to communities. Planning, infrastructure, public libraries, parks and recreation, elections management, and health and social services essential to a high quality of life and robust economy. Developing dedicated, competent,

Scholarship funds are managed by the Cabrillo College Foundation. Contributions to the fund can be made to the Foundation at: foundation. cabrillo.edu/donate Enter “Local Government Fellows” in the notes section

possible. We are to their futures in local government.” to communities. Planning, infrastructure, public management, and health and social services economy. Developing dedicated, competent,

2023 Local Government Fellow,

Mateo Donato

2023 Local Government Fellow, Dustin Lopez

2023 Local Government Fellow, Mateo Donato

2023 Local Government Fellow, Dustin Lopez

Dustin Lopez

Mateo Donato

SUNDAY 1

Halloween Pop-Up 10am-2:30pm Enjoy a kid-friendly Halloween Pop-Up Event at Little Trends in Watsonville. Local business vendors will sell goods and food. There will be Halloween story time and music and fun activities for all kids. Open to everyone. littletrendsboutique.com

TUESDAY 3

Gateway School K-8 Tour 9-11am Come for a tour and see our classrooms in action, including a look into each grade. 255 Swift Street, Santa Cruz. Register at www.gatewaysc.org.

THURSDAY 5

Pre & K Discovery Day 9:30-11am. Come for a morning hike, circle time and classroom play. Learn about Mount Madonna School ’s Montessori-inspired preschool and kindergarten programs and visit its mountaintop campus. RSVP and more information at 408.846.4042 MountMadonnaSchool.org

FRIDAY

6

First Fridays Santa Cruz 5-8pm On the first Friday evening of every month, Santa Cruz galleries, shops, and cultural venues open their doors to showcase the works of Santa Cruz County artists. With a block party-like vibe, the multi-venue event provides an opportunity to discover local creative talent in a fun and festive setting. firstfridaysantacruz.com/event

FRI-SUN 6-8

Block Party on the Bluff 10am-4pm daily and after-hours celebration 5:309pm on Friday. Learn more about the groundbreaking research on natural events in Santa Cruz County. The event promises to be a fun-filled day with diverse local food, vendors, and live music, all while discovering the value of our coastal ecosystems. At Seymour Marine Discovery Center.

SATURDAY 7

Mermaid Duathlon & Triathlon The Capitola offers an ocean swim around the wharf, views of the Pacific Ocean, fun bike course featuring a gradual climb into the coastal redwoods, followed by a run on the ocean bluff overlooking Capitola Village. mermaidseries.com/mermaid-tri-du-capitola

West Cliff Outdoor Market The Enjoy this outdoor market with unique artisans and food trucks while taking in the spectacular view of the ocean. This one of a kind market will be held in two parking lots along West Cliff Drive.

Vintage VW Invasion The first annual VW Wharf Invasion is open to the public for everyone to come spend the day in the Santa Cruz area and check out some beautiful vintage Volkswagen cars. vdublicious.com/wharf-invasion

Central Fire District Annual Open House 11am-3pm Come visit our fire station and meet your local firefighters & other emergency service professionals at our annual Open House. The Central Fire District Open House is a free and fun event for all ages. centralfiresc.org

SUNDAY 8

Antiques Faire 8am-6pm The Santa Cruz Antique Faire is on the 2nd Sunday of every month. Vendors offer an eclectic blend of antiques and unique items, vintage clothing, collectibles and more. Visit the Antique Faire on Lincoln Street between Pacific and Cedar.

Classic Car Show The Santa Cruz Port District invites you for an afternoon of music, festivities and food. Vintage cars, trucks and motorcycles will be on display near Mariner Park. This is a free event. santacruzharbor.org/upcoming-events

FRIDAY 13

Winter Films Enjoy a Teton Gravity Research winter double-header during the 28th annual ski film at Rio Theatre. Legend Has It will show at 7:30pm and Flying High Again will show at 9pm

Gateway School Fall Festival 4-6pm Enjoy live music, food trucks, games, raffle prizes art and activities for all ages! gatewaysc.org

SATURDAY 14

Water Harvest Festival 11:303:30pm. The Water Harvest Festival is a free and fun water education event for the whole family that will take place at Chanticleer County Park (aka Leo’s Haven Playground). soquelcreekwater.org/271/ Water-Harvest-Festival

MONDAY 16

Campus Tour 1-2:30pm. See Mount Madonna School’s preschool through college-preparatory high school in action. This is a family-friendly event. RSVP and more information at 408.846.4042 MountMadonnaSchool.org

SUNDAY 22

Open House 10am-1:30pm. Come and discover Mount Madonna School’s transformative, college preparatory educational program; visit classrooms, meet teachers and students and enjoy a children’s garden party. This is a family-friendly event. RSVP and more information at 408.846.4042 MountMadonnaSchool.org

FRI & SAT 27-28

Halloween Nutcracker Nightmare Before Nutcracker Spine tingling magic unleashed. The Santa Cruz City Ballet at the International Academy of Dance presents the first ever Halloween Nutcracker! What if the Rat Queen wins? Featuring ballet, tap, hip-hop, and jazz. Come in costume, and get ready for a frightful treat. Recommended ages 8+. Scotts Valley Performing Arts Center. Tickets available at dancestudio-pro.com/ tickets/dance4joy

FRIDAY 27

Halloween Concert 12:30-3pm Head to Cabrillo College for some very spooky music of all genres. Costumes recommended. Concert is free.

SATURDAY 28

Halloween Bash 4-7pm Tannery World Dance & Cultural Center’s 12th annual free, family-friendly live event featuring performances by local dance companies, a dance party with DJ Father Taj, spooky games, costumes and trick or treating!

TUESDAY 31

Downtown Trick or Treat 2-5pm

The Santa Cruz Police Department and the City of Santa Cruz close down Pacific Avenue for kids to trick or treat. Watch for signs in the windows of participating businesses. downtownsantacruz.com/ events/trick-or-treat-downtown.

Boulder Creek Trick or Treat 5-7pm Put on your silliest, scariest or wackiest costume. Come by the Business Association table in front of the Sheriff Substation and you might meet Beaker from the Muppets. bcba.net/events

MINDY ABRAHAM

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Mountain Communities Count the Cost of Three Years of Catastrophes

PHOTOS AND STORY BY ELISE CLINE

For Mike Holton, it was love at first sight. Boulder Creek was supposed to be just one stop on his road trip with his daughter. As they drove Highway 9’s winding roads, the town that appeared before him called to him in a way he had never felt before.Like so many others, Holton immediately felt captivated by this quaint, rustic town of wild west-esque wooden buildings nestled within mystic redwood forests.

That day, he was overwhelmed as he breathed in the natural splendor and decided there and then to make it his home.“It’s just heaven on earth … a majesty of all of your senses: the visuals … of the mountains and the huge redwoods … the fragrance in the air … the sound of the rushing water,” he said. “You put it all together and it’s a magic kingdom … [But, I’ve] realized that I can’t stay.”After enduring two and a half years of repeated catastrophes and delayed recoveries, Holton believes this magic kingdom is collapsing around him

Holton is “very worried… the infrastructure in the San Lorenzo Valley was not prepared for either one of those disasters…  and we’re not even close to being prepared [for future disasters].”Between the

2020 CZU Fire and 2023’s winter of extreme storms, much of the San Lorenzo Valley lies in ruin, littered with the reminisces of burned houses, collapsed roads, downed trees and broken infrastructure that has

routinely shut down the mountain.

Living in this continual disaster zone with little reprieve has forced residents like Holton to question the security, safety and longevity of the rugged refuge they once

could never imagine leaving.

Some residents long to return to their destroyed houses but have been obstructed by local policies impeding their ability to rebuild. Others can no longer bear to live

LONDON NELSON COMMUNITY CENTER PRESENTS

in this fragile region, vulnerable to cycles of climate change catastrophes like wildfires, droughts, mega-storms and landslides.Those that remain are watching their neighbors begin to dissipate, pushed away by the devastation brought by climate change.

In total, the San Lorenzo Valley’s population has reduced by -2 percent in the last three years. This exceeds any other region in the county. Smaller communities on the mountain like Boulder Creek have seen their population transition from increasing by 2.5% the year before the pandemic to decreasing by -3% in the last three years as more and more of the community leaves with every sequential disaster.

WHEN CATASTROPHE STRIKES (AGAIN AND AGAIN)

This population decline was catalyzed when lightning struck the mountain.“We always said Big Basin [State Park] would take the perfect storm to burn,” said Gabe Vega, the Boulder Creek Volunteer Fire Department’s Battalion Chief. And that storm rolled in during the sweltering early hours of August 16th, 2020.

The CZU Fire was started by a deadly concoction of drought, heatwaves and freak summer thunderstorms that, in total, started 650 wildfires across Northern California.

“The fire was getting so big” when Vega and other firefighters arrived, “that this was defensive: we needed to start evacuating structures and evacuating communities and just try to save houses as it was coming down the mountain towards the town of Boulder Creek and towards the San Lorenzo Valley.”

As the fire rapidly spread, about 60,000 people, or 1 in 5 Santa Cruz County residents, were told to immediately evacuate their homes as smoke began to fill the sky and ash rained down upon the San Lorenzo Valley.

The CZU Fire became the most destructive fire in Santa Cruz County in over a century, consuming over 86,509 acres of picturesque redwood forests, destroying 1,490 buildings, damaging the region’s already weak infrastructure and eroding the mountain’s physical stability

This ecological wreckage created the perfect conditions for maximum storm devastation, producing destabilized hillsides ready to slide and dying trees ready to fall when unrelenting rain and wind beat upon them this winter.

Beginning with New Year’s Eve’s extended bomb cyclone and continuing through March, this winter brought one storm after another, drenching the landscape, engorging the rivers and even coating the mountain in snow.

David Scruggs, a long-time Boulder Creek resident and previous volunteer firefighter, and his neighbors experienced “heavy, extensive damage from the windstorms” that “hit harder up here than it did anywhere else ... in Santa Cruz County.”The topography of the Santa Cruz mountains inherently intensifies storms, meaning the area can experience up to four times the rainfall than the rest of the Bay Area. With climate change extremifying these weather patterns, residents have struggled to survive this winter of destructive falling trees, extended power outages and washed-out

roads cutting them off from civilization. Marc Koenig, a teacher at Boulder Creek Elementary School, saw “families that walked … through mudslides to come and pick up their kids … through pretty dangerous areas.” Few completely escaped this compounding ruin, leaving the majority of residents with the monumental feat of recovering all that was lost.

TEARING UP THE ROOTS

For Christopher Bradford and his family, their home tucked away in the redwoods was the center of their world, ‘where everything else sprouts from. [It was] the foundation [the fire] took away … it was a very hard period for my family and for many families.”

However, losing their house during the CZU fire was just the beginning of their hardships.“I found [the county’s] response to the disaster was another disaster in itself,” Bradford says. “Look at the rebuild numbers, the data is quite clear.”

Only 3.5% of the 911 homes lost in the CZU fire have been rebuilt. For almost three years, Bradford and other fire victims have been unable to rebuild because of convoluted, expensive county permitting practices.

Bradford has experienced “a huge amount of personal difficulty because of the county’s response … they wouldn’t let us rebuild right away.” Between the high cost of required pre-clearance consultations and processing delays “pushing us back more than a year, our costs for my private rebuild went from about $800,000 to a little over a million dollars.”

These are fees and delays that many low-income fire victims cannot afford. Part of Bradford’s frustration is because the county initially “told individuals who lost

their homes to the fire that they wouldn’t be treated like new-builds,” which are held to “extremely onerous [building] code regulations.”

Dave Reid, the Director of Santa Cruz County’s Office of Response, Recovery, and Resilience,which was created post-CZU fires to improve community emergency response, admits that while the county tried to streamline the permitting process, including loosening geotechnical requirements and subsidizing some permit fees, they haven’t “helped as many people as we had hoped.”

While Reid empathizes with the struggles of those whose hearts are ‘connected to the valley … [and their] community … and really want to get back,” he maintains that these delays are caused by either outside barriers, including consultant shortages, or the complexities of building in the San Lorenzo Valley.“We live in a very geologically diverse and complex community … [living] next to the San Andreas and Zyanti faults’’ means the county needs stricter permitting codes to “keep people safe.”

However, Bradford says the county has failed to protect and provide for fire victims during their time of crisis, motivating him to run as the next 5th District Supervisor in the 2024 county elections. “

They could have not treated us like newbuilds. They could have taken care of us, and they didn’t. And now there’s a lot of my neighbors who are never going to make it home again, and that breaks my heart.”

LEAVING THE DANGER ZONE

Living in Boulder Creek for 39 years, Joanne Scruggs had never seen her husband scared.  “We’ve never experienced a winter like this … two trees fell right in front of him

… He’d never before been scared living here ... but he was scared.”The Scruggs’ atypical experience mirrors those of residents across the valley: climate change is making the weather more extreme, violent, and, for the first time, terrifying. Climate change has brought year-round danger - forest fires and storms, droughts and floods - that promise to continue raising the cost of insurance, wearing down infrastructure and threatening residents’ lives.

While the county has plans to “build resilience” against future disasters, Reid says the county doesn’t want to “incentivize people building in … hazard areas,” instead encouraging mountain communities to “move into an urban environment” that could more easily protect and “meet their lifes’ needs.”

While Reid recognizes “there’s always people that want to live in the mountains,”  he thinks the effects of climate change will force many “to reconsider where they live.” After enduring storm after storm, Holton realized he “was just going to be constantly apprehensive” of what disaster climate change could bring next.“I just couldn’t do this over and over again.”Tina Davey, the host of KBCZ, Boulder Creek’s community radio station, says that these continued ecological trials have scared all residents.

Residents, like Davey, lucky enough to still have their homes, watch “the rebuilding process, the permitting process … the hoops people have had to go through” and worry, “when is it gonna be my turn?”After experiencing “the sheer terror of” the fire and storms, Davey says “a lot of people just were done. They didn’t lose their house but … [there were] too many close calls. They just couldn’t do it anymore.”

HOME, BITTERSWEET HOME

Yet, despite these grave climate realities, leaving has never been an option for some. The mountain and the communities within it are their home.“These challenges have definitely changed the way we think about living here,” said resident James Mosher. But, “we are not contemplating moving. It’s home.” Instead, they intend to “balance being prepared for the next set of disasters” and simply “appreciating the beauty we have each day.”Davey knows some individuals who, despite watching a falling tree destroy their half-rebuilt house that the CZU fire originally burned, are still “gonna stay … gonna keep doing it.” Davey herself could not see herself ever leaving “the sheer beauty of the nature that’s here and the community that’s here.”

Still, despite the area’s beautiful landscape and caring community, Holton believes “more and more of the residents will make the same decision I made.”His adoration for the natural majesty he discovered in Boulder Creek will never truly disappear. But climate change has eclipsed its allure.“It’s really tough to leave …  I’m going to miss it … so much … But the decision has been made and we gotta go.”

Writer Elise A. Cline is a political science major and journalism and disability minor at U.C. Berkeley.

The annual Santa Cruz County Fair was a hit again this year. Photos by Brad Kava.

Fall Family Fitness, Food and Fun

BY JAIME MCFADEN

School is back in session and as the new routine picks up, some self-care gems can go out the window. This article will share with you a few of my favorite tips to ensure you can get your entire family on board for fitness, healthy foods and lots of fun this fall.

Earlier alarms, homework and all the shifts can cause stress and affect each family member differently.

The first step in fall family self care is to give everyone a “grace” period. For the next 30 days be realistic about all the changes happening from the weather to adjusting to all the new things on your to-do list after a few months enjoying summer.

The brain takes approx 66 days to build a new habit, imagine how tough this can be on our kids. The stress we feel as parents directly effects our children so giving ourselves and family members extra grace through the transitions of seasons can be incredibly helpful for all.

GET ORGANIZED

Here is a great place to start - spend one-day this week for at least one-hour organizing all of the new activities, routine shifts, schedule changes for each person in your family.

Create a google spreadsheet, write it out by hand or get one of those fridge calendars everyone can see (the point is to create the clarity around the new schedule). Make a list of the MIT (most important tasks) for each family member throughout a 1 week so you can see it visually.

This helps in case you notice some things you can take OFF your plate. Have a family meeting to get everyone on board and see who is willing to help with certain tasks (ex: who can help feed the dog, take the garbage out, read with baby sister) As parents, it is up to us to ASK for help.

I can’t tell you how many times moms suggest how tired they are from doing it all but they fail to ask for help and the family might not be sure how to help until mom or dad asks.

FAMILY FITNESS + WELLNESS

A healthy family is a happy family is one motto I LIVE by. I have worked out with my daughter since she was in the womb and thankfully she’s learned to embrace fitness as part of our daily routine.

Due to the upswing in mental health struggles, obesity on the rise and

technology being wrapped around every part of life, living a healthy lifestyle isn’t as easy as it once was.

We need to create healthy structures in our homes by including activities we can do together. Here are my favorite ways to incorporate fitness into family life : Take a walk after a meal together, or first thing in the morning spend five minutes stretching together, commit to eating at least ONE meal together without technology, host a weekly fitness family challenge and have fun with it! The point here is to get everyone involved and understanding how great it FEELS to be healthy!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST FAMILY FUN!

One of the easiest ways to embrace quality time together and be healthy is make the activities FUN. Whether it’s cooking together, singing a tune or dance party in the living room, healthy activites can be as fun as you make them!

Have each family member create a list of ways they enjoy being healthychallenge each other to eat more colors and spend less time on technology so you can bond in healthier ways. According to multiple media outlets, 75 percent of the time we spend with our

kids will be spent by the age 12 which seems wild, but also rings very true. We have 86,400 seconds each day, I invite you to focus on spending more time doing the things that bring us JOY together!

For a FREE seven-day meal guide, reach out to Jaime@jaimemcfaden