March 12, 2009

NEWS BRIEFS

Project Cornerstone Awards Breakfast to be held March 19

Project Cornerstone’s annual Asset Champions Breakfast will be held on Thursday, March 19 from 7 to 9 a.m. at the Fairmont San Jose.

This event honors the individuals and organizations whose commitment to building positive relationships with young people makes Santa Clara County a better place for young people to live and grow. More than 800 people representing local governments, businesses, schools, community organizations and the faith community as well as parents and youth are expected to attend.

The 2009 Asset Champions Breakfast celebrates Project Cornerstone’s 10th anniversary of serving Silicon Valley through programs that strengthen families, neighborhoods, communities, and schools, and by ensuring that young people’s needs are addressed in public policy.

Awards will be presented for: Adult Role Model, Positive Peer Influence, Positive Cultural Identity, Community Values Youth one each for Caring School Climate—Elementary, Middle and High School.

The public is invited to attend and honor asset building at its finest, and celebrate the progress of our countywide movement to ensure that all our children and youth have the positive values, relationships, and experiences—known collectively as developmental assets—that they need to thrive.

To register, visit www.projectcornerstone.org.

About Project Cornerstone
Project Cornerstone’s mission is to train and mobilize adults throughout Santa Clara County to intentionally work to develop healthy, caring and responsible children and youth. The organization works with more than 200 community-focused groups, including schools, youth- and family-serving organizations, city and county governments and businesses. Project Cornerstone has been recognized by America’s Promise as contributing to the city of San Jose being named one of the 100 best communities for young people.

Vivace Youth Chorus will hold concert

Vivace Youth Chorus of San Jose will perform compositions by award-winning local composers Sondra Clark and Henry Mollicone at a concert on March 21 at 8 p.m. at Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph in downtown San Jose, along with the San Jose Symphonic Choir, Mission Chamber Orchestra and soloists.

They will present Clark’s critically acclaimed “Requiem For Lost Children” and Mollicone’s cantata “Flight Through the Stars.” Maestro Leroy Kromm will conduct.

Led by Artistic Director Peggy Spool, Vivace Youth Chorus is a high-quality choral program for children ages 4 to 18. Youth from throughout the Silicon Valley participate in six choral levels. The chorus offers a program that balances vocal training, music theory, and performances. Upper level choirs take part in choral festivals and tours.

All choristers gain exposure to various musical genres, from traditional folk to classical, jazz, and contemporary. The chorus collaborates with area composers and musicians, as well as with other ensembles including Opera San Jose.

Vivace singers have performed throughout San Jose as well as at choral festivals in California, Colorado and Hawaii. Local venues have included the Rotunda at San Jose City Hall, the 01SJ Festival at St. James Park, Le Petit Trianon, the San Jose Museum of Art, the Children’s Discovery Museum, the California Theatre and local churches, schools and retirement homes. 

Tickets for the March 21 performance are priced $10-$22 and may be purchased at www.sanjosesymphonicchoir.org or by calling (408) 995-3318. Group discounts are available for orders of 10 or more tickets.

San Jose City Hall achieves LEED Platinum Rating

In the nation’s center of green innovation, San Jose ’s city hall is one of the greenest buildings in town, achieving the top certification of LEED-EB Platinum from the U.S. Green Building Council. To date, no other city hall in the United States has achieved LEED-EB Platinum, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

By reaching the Platinum level, the city not only helps conserve resources and create a healthier environment for employees and visitors, but also saves substantially on cost through green building maintenance practices.

“In difficult economic times, improving building performance helps the city’s bottom line,” emphasized Mayor Chuck Reed. “By being energy efficient and implementing other green practices, San Jose’s city hall will yield annual savings of more than $30,000 in energy costs alone.”

The announcement demonstrates San Jose’s commitment to achieving its Green Vision goals. City hall’s certification adds more than half a million square feet toward the city’s goal of 50 million square feet of green buildings by 2022; it also contributes to reducing energy use, achieving zero waste and beneficially reusing wastewater. Reed noted the significance of the achievement; “ Certifying City Hall is almost a fourfold increase of our municipal square footage of green building space and brings our new total to over 700,000 square feet.”

By participating in USGBC’s Portfolio Program, the city has committed to certifying the operation and maintenance of at least 30 additional existing buildings with four planned for certification in 2009.