May 15, 2008

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Bret Harte to hold cultural fair

Bret Harte Middle School will hold its annual cultural fair, themed “Celebrating Our World Together,” on May 21. The fair precedes the school’s open house. Both events will run from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

About 20 world countries will be showcased, featuring articles or art, music and customs. Food tasting will be available at selected booths, and those interested can pre-order the food. Questions and requests for food ticket pre-order forms may be directed to bh_foodandtickets@yahoo.com.

The goal of the cultural fair is to provide a better understanding of the different cultures that make up the community. “We are very excited to participate in the cultural fair at Bret Harte,” said Manjula Diwakar, program director. “It gives us an opportunity to participate as a family and with the community. We come together and realize that culture is a fickle thing, and that the word culture has many different definitions.” 

“At the end, with cultures and sub-cultures, we are all the same. We have the need to be loved, respected, appreciated, wanted, useful and happy,” said Unal Majid, fair chair. “Culture is learned from generation to another through socialization and by providing the contexts in which people experience each other and the world around them.”

“Bret Harte Middle School has an incredible and valuable community, student and staff representation of our multicultural city San Jose. It is amazing how we can learn from one another, and the richness and influences a multicultural environment has in the growth of student’s academic success. We want to take the advantage of this treasure and on this particular cultural fair day, we would like to share it with the community as whole,” Dominic Bejarano, school principal, said.

Bret Harte students recognized for academic excellence

Twelve students from Bret Harte Middle School were recently honored at an awards ceremony for gifted children held by The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY) at Santa Clara University.

The students were invited to this awards ceremony sponsored by CTY (www.cty.jhu.edu) based on an exceptional performance on a rigorous, above-grade-level test given to second through eighth grade participants. Seventh and eighth graders took the SAT or ACT—the same tests used for college admissions.

Since 1979, CTY has sought the most academically able elementary and middle school students and encouraged their enrollment in the annual fall CTY Talent Search, from September through November. Students then test in December or January.

The results of these tests give families a better idea of a child's academic talents, particularly in comparison to the thousands of other academically talented students in the talent search. Students can also earn recognition at CTY's awards ceremonies, and their test scores may qualify them for CTY's summer programs and distance education courses.

In 2006-07 alone, over 73,000 students from 19 states and the District of Columbia participated in the talent searches offered through CTY. About 25 percent of the seventh and eighth grade testers earned an invitation to a state awards ceremony.

The Bret Harte Middle School students are Nisha Agarwal, Colin Aitken, Arno Gau, Jeffrey Huang, Donghun Kim, Yuhkai Lin, Kunal Mehta, Arindam Sarma, Lochan Shah, Alvin Tseng, Oomung Varma and Kelly Wu. They joined other award recipients at the recent ceremony, and were individually honored by Johns Hopkins for their academic performance and promise.

Aitken, a seventh grader, also is invited to the Grand Awards Ceremony at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. on June 15 which honors the top seventh and eighth grade students in the country. CTY’s founder, the late Dr. Julian Stanley, once estimated that only about one in 10,000 seventh graders can achieve scores as high as the students honored at the Hopkins Grand Awards ceremony.

"With our annual award ceremonies, we're committed to giving these exceptional young people a stage on which to recognize their academic achievements, just as we celebrate achievements in athletics or the performing arts," said CTY executive director, Lea Ybarra. "Their performance places them in the top tier of students taking these tests, and they certainly deserve acclaim. They possess an academic fearlessness and intellectual ability that will benefit their entire generation."

The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth conducts the nation's oldest and most extensive academic talent search and offers educational programming for students with exceptionally high academic ability. CTY parallels and complements, a gifted child's regular school experience.

Almaden Valley Women’s Club recognizes local students

It was a big night at the general meeting of the Almaden Valley Women's Club on May 6, where several local students were acknowledged for their achievements. The AVWC Scholarship committee presented 13 high school students with this awards based upon academic achievements, school participation, and community service. Along with a certificate, each winner received a check ranging from $500 - $1,000 to use toward their higher education. Among those awarded are, (top photo) back row, from the left: Pardis Khosravi, Pioneer High School, Nate Jones, Leland High School, Kellie Marie Henika, Leigh High School, Jordan Chin, Bellarmine College Prep, Liz Marino, AVWC Scholarship Co-Chair, Lindsey Friessnig, Leland High School, Whitney Reyes, Leland High School, Betty Newkirk, AVWC Scholarship co-chair, Morgan Wall, Branham High School, Amna Qamar, Presentation High School, and Erin McKinley, Valley Christian High School. Front row, from the left: Alex Quach, Bellarmine College Prep, James Sonu, Bellarmine College Prep, Scott Wootan, Leland High School, and Jeffrey Doong, Leland High School. The club also recognized Lishan Zhu from Castillero Middle School, who won this year’s annual Almaden Valley Art & Wine Festival logo design contest. Runners up are Lauren Kuechie, Bret Harte Middle School, Alison Wu Lord of the Light Art Studio, Devon Ducker, Leland High School and Abigal Wallace, Alamden Country School. The Almaden Valley Art and Wine Festival will be held on Sunday, Sept.21, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This is the fifth year the festival will be held at Almaden Lake Park, near the intersection of Almaden Expressway and Coleman Avenue in San Jose's Almaden Community. For general club or information on the Almaden Art & Wine Festival, visit www.almadenwine.com.

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