A SWEETWATER UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT PUBLICATION
NOVEMBER 2012
SWEETWATER CURRENTS
ALBERT EINSTEIN Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program
VEX ROBOTICS COMPETITION Celebrate Diversity with Hilltop Middle School F.L.A.G.S.
Watch Robots Sack the Competition
MULTICULTURAL FAIR THE OTAY RANCH TOWN CENTER Band Review & Community Festival
PLUS! www.sweetwaterschools.org
Chula Vista High Geography Fair November 1st
VAPA WINTER SEASON LINE UP 2012 P.5 SWEETWATER CURRENTS NOVEMBER
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SWEETWATER CURRENTS NOVEMBER 2012
CONTENTS FEATURES
KUDOS
03 HILLTOP MIDDLE SCHOOL F.L.A.G.S. Celebrate Diversity at the Multicultural Fair
04 VEX ROBOTICS COMPETITION
Watch Robots Compete in “Sack Attack”
07 EMILY JIMENEZ
District Teacher Named San Diego County Teacher of the Year
07 ROBERT MANROE
Named Environmental Educator of the Year
05 MONTH OF NOVEMBER
Child Safety Protection Month
06 BAND REVIEW & COMMUNITY FESTIVAL at Otay Ranch Town Center
07 NEWS & VIEWS
Explore What’s New at sweetwaterschools.org
Board of Trustees Jim Cartmill • Bertha J. López • John McCann • Pearl Quiñones • Arlie N. Ricasa Dr. Edward M. Brand Superintendent
www.sweetwaterschools.org
Produced by: Grants & Communications
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1 @9AM
Get Global at the CVH Geography Fair Chula Vista High School is hosting a Cultural Geography Fair this Thursday November 1, 2012 at 9:00am in the gym. The fair will feature Cultural Geography displays by over 40 students as well as community clubs and organizations, plus a host of multi-cultural musical and dance performances. “The Geography fair is a way to bring the world to our students,” explained coordinator Diana Rude. The event aims at helping students gain a better understanding of different cultures from around the world by exposing them to music and dances from various ethnic groups. Preparing for this fair has provided students with an opportunity to improve research, interpersonal communication and presentation skills. F RIDA Y, N OV EMB ER 16 @5:30PM
Celebrate Diversity with Hilltop Middle Celebrate ethnic diversity with Hilltop Middle at their annual FLAGS (Foreign Language and Global Studies) Multicultural Fair on Friday, November 16 at 5:30 pm. FLAGS is inviting the entire school and local community to the fair which will feature multicultural music, food, student-produced games and entertainment. The proceeds of this event will be used to purchase science equipment, send students on multicultural fieldtrips and enrich the educational experience of our students. If you would like to make a donation to the program (food, drinks, or cash contribution), HTM will place your company name and logo on the event program, so the school and local community can thank you for partnering with the FLAGS program. For more information, please contact: Yazmin V. Boyd at (619) 498-2700 or email her at yazmin.boyd@sweetwaterschools.org.
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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Watch Robots Sack the Competition It's free! It's fun! It's for the entire family! It’s the VEX Robotics Competition!
Watch robots compete in "Sack Attack." Two alliances -- one "red" and one "blue" -- compete in matches consisting of a 15-second autonomous period followed by 1:45 minutes of driver-controlled play. There are 98 sacks of flour and 4 bonus sacks that robots race to pick up and deposit at various locations on the field. The winning team scores the most points. The competition will be held at Otay Ranch High School on November 9th at 4:00 pm and on Saturday, November 10 at 9:00am. On Saturday, there will be a mid-day welcome ceremony from 11:30-12:00 with Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox and Dr. Edward Abeyta of UCSD. For details, contact Sandra Hodge at (619) 942-2865 or at hodgefam@cox.net.
Free Flu Shots for Sweetwater Employees All benefits-eligible, active SUHSD employees have the opportunity to receive a flu shot at no cost thanks to United HealthCare. Simply bring your Sweetwater District/School Site ID badge. See the table for specific dates, times and locations. The next opportunity is November 7 at Chula Vista Middle School from 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM. If you have any questions, please contact the Benefits Office at (619) 585-4420. If you cannot attend any of the scheduled dates, you may also contact your Primary Care Provider to schedule and appointment at their facility on a more convenient time and date.
FLU SHOT SCHEDULE Nov 7, 2012
Chula Vista Middle School 415 Fifth Avenue Chula Vista, CA 91910
Auditorium 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Nov 8, 2012
San Ysidro High School 5353 Airway Road San Diego, CA 92154
Staff Lounge 3:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Nov 9, 2012 Rancho del Rey Middle School NOVEMBER 2012 SWEETWATER Cultural Arts Center www.sweetwaterschools.org CURRENTS 4 1174 East J Street Chula Vista, CA 91910 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
NOVEMBER 2012 Child Safety Protection Month
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Dia de los Muertos
12
Veterans Day (Observed Holiday)
12-16
School Psychology Awareness Week
13
Board Meeting
19-23
Thanksgiving Holiday
SUN DA Y, NO V EMB ER 11, 2012
WALK TO SAVE A LIFE
In the United States a person dies by suicide every 14.2 minutes, claiming over 30,000 lives each year. Walk to prevent suicide at The Save a Life San Diego Community Walk. Walk in memory of a loved one, to raise awareness, and to prevent suicide. Your participation helps reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and suicide. 100% of the funds raised are used in San Diego County. There will be a special ceremony for Veterans' Day as well as the traditional resource fair, remembrance activities and dove release. Adult registration includes a Save A Life San Diego Community Walk t-shirt. Start a team, fundraise, or become a sponsor. All ages, friends, family and pets are welcome. This year’s walk is sponsored by Optum Health: Access and Crisis Line in support of The San Diego Chapter of the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program and the Survivors of Suicide Loss-San Diego. The Save A Life San Diego Community Walk is on Sunday, November 11, 2012 in Balboa Park between 6th and Laurel. Check-in is between 6:30 and 8:30 am and the walk begins at 8:15. Information and registration is at www.savealifewalk.kintera.org.
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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Sweetwater School Bands Salute Veterans Spend the day cheering on your favorite Sweetwater school band at The Otay Ranch Town Center Band Review & Community Festival. This year the festival celebrates Veteran’s Day with the theme, “A Salute to Our Veterans!” Parade Band Foundation, Inc. proudly presents this annual parade, marching band review, community festival, and celebrity red carpet event. The parade and festival will be held on Saturday, November 10th, at the Otay Ranch Town Center mall. Award winning High School Marching Bands in Southern California compete for scholarships, grants, and prizes sponsored by Chula Vista’s leading businesses, along with alumni groups and special donors. The Parade Band Foundation, Inc.’s Band Review held at Otay Ranch Town Center has become one of the most important competitions for those High School bands wanting to perform well while being critiqued by the top band judges in California. One of the premier events of its kind in all of Southern California, this festival is put on in partnership with the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce and supported by the San Diego County Community Enhancement Fund. The parade will be from 10:00-12:00 pm and the festival is from 11:00-4:00pm. Visit for http://www.paradebandfoundation.org/bandreview/ details.
NTS E M T N I O P P EA V I T A R T S I ent’s Office N I Superintend ADM ughlin William McLa
www.sweetwaterschools.org
r liance Office Chief Comp
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ALBERT EINSTEIN
Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program is now accepting applications for the 2013-2014 Fellowship Year. The Einstein Fellowship Program is available to current K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educators with a demonstrated excellence in teaching and leadership. Selected teachers spend 11 months in Washington, D.C., sharing their expertise with STEM program directors or policy makers. Einstein Fellows may serve in a Congressional office or in one of several government agencies such as the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Fellows receive a monthly stipend and an allowance for professional travel and relocation. The fellowship year begins in late August 2013. For more information about the program and to learn how to apply, visit www.einsteinfellows.org. Applications for the 2013-14 Fellowship program are due by 11:00 pm (EST) December 5, 2012.
KUDOS! Emily Jimenez Congratulations to Emily Jimenez, teacher at Rancho del Rey Middle School who was among five San Diego County Teachers of the Year at the 2012 Salute to Teachers event.
KUDOS! Robert Manroe Congratulations to Robert Manroe, teacher at Castle Park High School and winner of the 2012 Sycuan Environmental Educator of the Year Award. www.sweetwaterschools.org
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Celebrating Strenghts Celebrating Strengths: National School Psychology Awareness Week November 12–16, 2012 By Margaret Sedor The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has designated November 12–16, 2012, as National School Psychology Awareness Week. This year’s theme, “Know Your Own Strengths. Discover Them. Share Them. Celebrate Them.” helps our students to discover and celebrate their individual strengths. NASP represents more than 24,000 school psychologists who work in schools and other education and health settings. School psychologists work with parents and educators to ensure that every child has the mental health and learning support they need to succeed in school and life. “This year’s theme expresses the importance of students and school staff being aware of their strengths, both as individuals and as members of their school community,” says NASP President Amy Smith. There are twenty-four school psychologists employed in Sweetwater Union High School District. These school psychologists provide a milieu of services and several members that serve in leadership roles within local, state and national organizations. As part of National School Psychology Awareness Week, school psychologists within the Sweetwater Union High School District will be adapting resources and activities provided by NASP to foster strengths in students. Celebrate your local School Psychologist. Margaret Sedor is a School Psychologist at Alta Vista Academy and a NASP State Delegate for California
<< Read the full article by Margaret Sedor here >>
NEWS & VIEWS
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• Watch the video feature of our recent 7th Grade Compact for Success Visit to SDSU
• Read about Sweetwater’s Steady API gains
• See the latest Sweetwater Spotlight
• Keep up with the latest Board updates and recent minutes
• Review our breakdown on possible furlough days and www.sweetwaterschools.org the impact of Prop 30
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VAPA Winter Season is Music to Your Ears Music comes alive this winter at Sweetwater Schools! Don’t miss these amazing performances by students in our Visual and Performing Arts programs. There is something for everyone, whether you can’t resist the thrill of a marching band’s energy, are a showchoir fanatic or revel in the tradition and culture that is mariachi. Support our students and come to see them all!
District Band Pageant
Tuesday November 13 at 6:00 pm at Castle Park High School Stadium (1395 Hilltop Dr. Chula Vista, CA 91911) Enjoy a night full of tradition and pride at our 45th Annual Band Pageant as students from throughout the district perform an array of pageantry excellence.
Holiday Sing
Tuesday & Wednesday, December 4 & 5at 6:30 p.m. at Olympian High School (1925 Magdalena Avenue, Chula Vista, CA 91913) Choirs and show-choirs from throughout the district provide a full stage of holiday music as well as traditional musical numbers for two consecutive nights. See for yourself why this event is always a crowd pleaser.
Mariachi Holiday Night Friday, December 7 at 6:00 p.m. at Location: Chula Vista High’s Jack Tygett Performing Arts Center (820 Fourth Avenue, Chula Vista, 91911) Feel the pride of an energetic crowd. A night rich in culture awaits you as middle and high school Mariachi groups take over the stage.
Please R.S.V.P. to Laura Gonzalez at (619) 796-7700
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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iPads are “The Portal” to the 21st Century Beginning this year the Sweetwater Union High School District is issuing iPads to all students in grade 7 and in the near future all SUHSD students will have one. In an effort to help students not only understand how to use devices like the iPad but why they work, Options Secondary School: The Portal is piloting a new program in their computer science classes using applications from Alice.org. The course is being funded through a generous grant from the National Science Foundation and implemented through a partnership with the San Diego Computer Science Teachers Association and the UCSD SuperComputer Center for Education, under the direction of Dr. Diane Baxter at UCSD. Five universities, including UC Berkeley and UCSD, and a handful of high schools have piloted the program in the past 2 years. This year the Sweetwater Union High School District is piloting the course at four of our high schools, including The Portal. This new program will support core content areas like math, science, English and social science by using computer applications to create cross-curricular projects. Social Science and English departments are collaborating in the 11th grade classes to create a fictional narrative, culminating in a project presentation for parents and teachers. The project is akin to popular books that take literary figures such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and make it about zombies or the recent movie, “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.” For staff at The Portal, the goal is to help prepare students for a 21st century culture that relies heavily on problem solving and innovation. By aligning their core curriculum with technology applications they are on course to achieve that goal.
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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Building Character with theYMCA The YMCA of San Diego County and SDG&E celebrated Character Development in San Diego County during the month of October. Students are invited to participate in an essay or poster contest, which asks them to write or draw about one of the YMCA values of Caring, Honesty, Respect or Responsibility. The deadline for entries is on Friday, November 9, 2012. Each school will be asked to select the essay and poster that best represents the values, and submit one entry per grade level. A county-wide winner from both the essay and poster contest in each grade will be selected. Winners of the county-wide contest will be selected in January 2013. The contest awards are as follows for each grade level: - Middle School One year YMCA Youth Membership and $75 Barnes & Noble Gift Card - High School One year YMCA Youth Membership and $75 Barnes & Noble Gift card For poster and essay contest guidelines got to ymca.org.
lf you have any questions, please feel free to call Kristie Paterson at (858) 292-9622.
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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