January 10, 2008

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Almaden Country School students have ‘green vision’

When San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed asked San Jose children 13 years old and under to submit creative interpretations of the city’s 10 Green Vision Goals, Almaden Country School’s art teacher Sharon Wilkus gave the challenge to her fourth-grade students.

Almaden Country School art teacher Sharon Wilkus with the school’s green vision award winners, from the left, Markus Rocca, Kelsey Morris, Ashley Brown, Hannah Conradt, Maren Stubenvoll and Nicholas Pombo.

Ten finalists were selected through a process that included the mayor’s office and each council office, and Wilkus’ art students took six of the 10 places. Thinking “green” about environmental issues in science made cross-curricular connections with art instruction leading to the students’ success; this is truly a reflection of the school’s mission of “discovering the gifts in every child.”

Congratulations to the following Almaden Country School students:

Hannah Conradt “A New Kind of Light” for goal number 2 – Reduce per capita energy use by 50 percent.

Maren Stubenvoll “Natural Powers” for goal number 3 – Receive 100 percent of our electrical power from clean renewable sources.

Ashley Brown “Recycle Water” for goal number 6 – Recycle or beneficially reuse 100 percent of our wastewater.

Nicholas Pombo “Me and My Family” for goal number 7 – Adopt a general plan with measurable standards for sustainable development.

Kelsey Morris “New Trees for a Healthy Future” for goal number 9 – Plant 100,000 new trees and replace 100 percent of our streetlights with smart low-emission lighting.

Markus Rocca “Welcome to the 100 Mile City” for goal number 10 – Create 100 miles of interconnected trails.

These contest winners will help lead the pledge of allegiance at the 2008 Community Breakfast featuring the State of the City Address on Wednesday Jan. 16. The students will each receive four tickets to both the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum donated by each organization.

To find out more about the Almaden Country School, visit the school’s open house on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at 6835 Trinidad Drive, or call (408) -997-0424 for a campus tour.

Williams Elementary to hold e-waste collection Jan. 26

Save Your E-waste!
Because of the new year, many people have upgraded their electronic equipment, whether computers, copiers, phones, stereo equipment, television, video and so on. Remember to recycle! Williams Elementary is having a free electronic waste collection event on Jan. 26.

Donate, recycle and support the school. Just drive in and school volunteers will unload your recyclables for you.
Acceptable e-waste items include computers, mice/keyboards, stereos/radio, laptop printers, telephones/cell phones, monitors, ink cartridges, TVs, speakers, fax machines, DVD/VCR players, receivers, calculators and cameras.

Almaden SJUSD trustee named vice president

The San Jose Unified School District’s board of trustees elected Pam Foley to serve as board president and Leslie Reynolds as board vice president during the board’s annual organizational meeting in December.

Foley was elected to the school board in 2004, and during her tenure the community has become quite actively involved in Willow Glen Middle and High Schools. Her daughter attends Willow Glen Middle School where the new president is a member of the PTSA, a school volunteer and a member of the Willow Glen Middle and High School Foundation.

SJUSD’s board consists of five members. Besides Foley and Reynolds, who was also elected in 2004 for the Almaden area, trustees include Jorge Gonzalez, Rich Garcia and Veronica Lewis. All trustees have children attending or who have graduated from SJUSD schools. Florissa Sy, a senior at Willow Glen High, is the student board member.

Foley, according to a SJUSD release, plans to involve the community in the education of SJUSD students. She plans to revisit the district’s strategic plan and vision, inviting and encouraging community members to help shape the districts goals and objectives in town hall meetings in March.

Monterey County Film Commission offers scholarship program

The nonprofit Monterey County Film Commission is offering a new scholarship and awards program for film students.

Applications are available at the film commission office or forms may be downloaded at www.Film Monterey.org. Applications must be returned by March 31.

The recipient of the first award of $1,000 (or two $500 awards) will be announced in May.

The program was created to provide financial aid and incentive to students of film and beginning filmmakers who reside in Monterey County or are currently enrolled in a community college or university in the county. The fund was established as a permanent endowment with the Community Foundation for Monterey County.

“Our scholarship and awards program is a part of our local educational outreach to encourage student filmmakers,” said Phyllis Decker, chairperson of the MCFC scholarship committee. “This program actually helps a film student work towards a career goal as the funds can go directly to the student to be used for a Capstone or other film project.”

Throughout the year the film commission also offers lectures and presentations on job opportunities in the film industry with its Focus on Film lecture series and Reel Jobs presentations.

For additional information, contact the film commission at (831) 646-0910.

Almaden teams compete in NorCal First Lego League championship

This Saturday, robotics teams from Almaden elementary and middle schools will be competing for the Northern California First Lego League championship. The First Lego League is an international competition with about 9,000 teams ages 9-14 worldwide, about 5,500 in the United States and Canada and about 512 in California.

Saturday's tournament at Newark High School will feature the best 64 of 282 northern California teams. Six of these are teams from Almaden, including two from Almaden Country School, one from Bret Harte Middle School, two from Castillero Middle School and one from Simonds Elementary School. These six teams are among 56 teams that competed in a preliminary tournament at Gunderson High School on Dec. 8. A total of 13 teams from that tournament will be at the Northern California Championship.

In addition to the Almaden teams, there are also two teams from the Camden Community Center, one from Oster Elementary in the Union School District and other teams from Los Gatos and Valley Christian.

While robotics is normally thought of as a "boy's" sport, there are an unusual number of all-girl teams from the South Bay in the championship. Of the 13 Gunderson teams at the championship, there are five are all-girl teams: Lego Cats from Fisher Middle School, GEARS from Harker Middle School, the Technology Cougar Chicks from Simonds Elementary School, Almaden Greenalicious Strawberries from Castillero Middle School, the Electrochip from Oster Elementary. Both Technology Cougar Chicks and Greenalicious Strawberries are made of "rookie" participants who have not previously competed in a robotics tournament.

St. Timothy’s Lutheran School hosts free kindergarten readiness presentation

“Is my child ready for kindergarten?” is a hot topic among preschool parents, and January’s Principal’s Coffee at St. Timothy’s Lutheran School will address just that issue. Guest speaker Lori Burns of the Santa Clara Partnership for School Readiness will speak at the monthly Principal’s Coffee, open to the public, on Friday at 9 a.m.

Burns will address preschool parents’ questions, such as:

- What do teachers expect from kindergartners today?

- How do I know that my child is ready?

- How can I help my younger child get ready for school?

- How can I help my child transition into kindergarten?

Principal Gayle Renken hosts a monthly Principal’s Coffee for parents to discuss relevant topics for parents of preschool and elementary school aged children. These sessions are also open to the public.

There is limited space available for this session. To attend, contact St. Timothy’s Lutheran School at (408) 265-0244. The school is located at 5100 Camden Ave. and hosts students from the Almaden, Blossom Valley, Cambrian and Willow Glen neighborhoods of San Jose and Los Gatos.

St. Timothy’s students share with local families in need

St. Timothy’s Lutheran School students made their final diaper and blanket delivery of the year to benefit local children in need as part of Project Warm Hug. Since the school year began, 2,065 diapers have been donated to local families in need and 973 diapers are being used for the Adopt a Mom program.

Every week during the school’s chapel service, children as young as preschoolers have been bringing in armloads of diapers, blankets or spare change. Elementary school children gathered to make over 100 scarves to provide warmth during these cold winter months. And the students collected more than $400 in spare change and along with the school donated $1,400 to Project Warm Hug.

Altogether the students collected or made 2,065 diapers, 100 handmade scarves and nearly $1,500 collected for Project Warm Hug, whose mission is to provide dry diapers, warm clothing and cool books to local children in need. Along with other area schools, Project Warm Hug has donated more than 53,000 items to local families in need, and still needs help.

Seeking School News

Do you have a school event to promote? Know of a student who has done something amazing or a teacher who has gone above and beyond what is expected of them? We’d like to hear about it. Drop us a line at newsroom@timesmediainc.com or send us a fax at (408) 494-7078.