May 19, 2005

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Williams Heritage Day sets new attendance record

Event reflects the diversity of Almaden Valley

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

Yoonha Kim, Christine Suh, Michelle Lee, Anne Lee, Ann Chung, Iris Shim, Jiyeon Lee, Christy Kwak, Jenny Lee, and Elle Lee.

Celebrating 16 cultures, Williams Elementary School’s Heritage Day is fast becoming a don’t-miss event. Not only that, the recent fourth annual PTA-sponsored festivity hit a new record—1,000 guest travelers attended the evening of food, dance and costumes from around the world.

“Heritage Day reflects our changing world and the diversity of Almaden Valley,” said co-chair Trupti Mehta. “The diversity of the area and the potential for learning about, living and working alongside people from other cultures is partly why we wanted to raise our children here. The festival not only promotes acceptance of diverse cultures but embraces diversity.”

Featured on a perfect balmy Almaden late afternoon were cultures from around the world highlighted by festive food and displays. Each culture’s booth incorporated the theme “greetings from around the world.” But the most important element was the Williams children with passports in hand who learned about other cultures and traditions.

Justin Bundang, Stephanie Clark, Rayden Orcine, Kyle Ergas, Trevor Ergas.

“The highlights for me were the dance and music performances by children from the many cultures represented at Williams,” said co-chair Susan Park. “All the children had worked so hard to share their talents with us.”

And the results were impressive as “travelers” watched spellbound the high quality of performances.

Co-chairs Mehta, Park, Susan Gaydon and Su Chow were quick to mention the help of all the parent volunteers whose teamwork created the successful event. They also extended thanks to the Leland High School student volunteers.

But the real winners are the children who expanded their lives learning about the diversity of the world.

Holy Spirit School auction, dinner serves up $200,000 for special programs

Holy Spirit School hosted “Glitter and Glitz—A Roaring 20s Gala” on May 7 at the Hayes Mansion, raising $200,000 for the school’s programs.

Finally, time to party! From left, Sheldon Perry, procurement chair, Diane Perry and Sue Mazon, Decorations Committee co-chairs, and Lowell Mazon relax during Holy Spirit School’s fund-raising gala.

Each year the school holds an auction-dinner as its main fund-raising event. This year, money raised will go toward Holy Spirit School’s special programs, such as K-8 Spanish. The money will also be used to provide laptops and wireless access to all teachers and to train them in further integrating technology into the curriculum.

This year’s event was again very popular with school parents, faculty, staff, parish members and guests. All attending “Glitter and Glitz” seemed to enjoy a festive evening celebrated amidst fabulous Art Deco ambiance, including tables decorated in gold, white and black, featuring themes from the 1920s, such as “The Great Gatsby,” “The Jazz Age,” and “Beads and Boas.”

The evening began with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, served while guests viewed silent auction offerings. Items included custom-made jewelry (fitted personally by Saratoga designer Noel Castellanos), sports memorabilia, class projects and vacation packages. Guests moved into the ballroom for dinner, and shortly thereafter the live auction began. Bidding was fierce for the most popular items, such as a Spa Day for 20 women (complete with a fashion show featuring the latest from Escada), and dinner for eight at Holy Spirit Pastor Fr. Brendan McGuire’s home.

Holy Spirit’s dinner-auction is made possible with the support of hundreds of parent volunteers. “Our fund-raising team has been fabulous. Thousands of hours were spent getting auction donations and seeking underwriting for the gala, classroom projects, program advertising and table decorations,” said co-chairs Laura Castellano and Leanne Popa.

“Everyone had a fabulous time at the gala,” said Principal Eileen Beck. “The co-chairs, committee chairs and parent volunteers showed what an integral part they are of our school community.”

Fr. Brendan McGuire, added, “We are grateful for the support of our many volunteers, and wish to thank all the donors who made this our school’s best fundraiser ever.”

Those serving on the event committees were: Database Maintenance/RSVP/Registration Committee (Teri Chow, Johanna Hernandez, Charlene Murray and Vivien O’Connor); Raffle/Entertainment/Live Auction Committee (Nate and Judy Deaton), Procurement Committee (Sheldon and Diane Perry); Class Baskets Committee (Traci Gifford and Laura Carrillo); Underwriting Committee (Vicky Santos); Decorations Committee (Diane Perry and Sue Mazon); Printed Materials Committee (Liz Cairns and Clarisse Balistreri); Class Projects Committee (Jill Knickerbocker and Jane Boettcher); On-Site Committee (Alfonso Carrillo); and Finance Committee (Becky Menne).

Almaden ‘mathletes’ calculate their way to coveted silver pins

Six members of a home-schooled Almaden Valley Math Olympiad team earned silver pins in the 2004-2005 Math Olympiad.

Almaden’s “mathletes”— Back Row: Frankie Nagle, Matt Bratko, Coach Chris Cardiff. Front Row: Nico Nagle, Hunter Ming, Gwendolyn Cardiff, Richard Nicholson, Amy Niblack, and Chris Bechtold.

Silver pins are awarded to elementary-age students who score in the top 10 percent of the approximately 150,000 students who participate in the Math Olympiad program each year. Matthew Bratko, Gwendolyn Cardiff, Hunter Ming, Frankie Nagle, Amy Niblack, and Richard Nicholson led the “Math Busters” team of third- through sixth-grade homeschoolers.

Math Olympiad is an international program, now in its 26th year. Math Olympiads emphasize creative problem solving, challenging students to use math skills to solve mathematical puzzles. Students compete both as individuals and as a team. The Olympiads consist of five timed problems, averaging roughly five minutes each.

There are five monthly contests, beginning in November and final results for the season are announced in early May. Nearly 150,000 students from 5,000 teams worldwide participated in the Olympiads. All 50 states and 25 other countries were represented.

In addition to the silver pin awards, other members of the Math Busters Math Olympiad team received awards at the May 17 awards ceremony. Scoring in the top 50 percent of mathletes in the nation were team members Chris Bechtold and Bob Rose. Mitchell Hart, Nico Nagle, Paul Rose, and Caterina Rose also received team awards.

Math Buster coach and Almaden Valley resident Chris Cardiff has been training elementary-age homeschool mathletes for eight seasons now. His 1996-1997 team of homeschoolers took “high achievement” honors nationally, while his 1999-2000 team took “meritorious achievement” honors.

Science funding tops Leland Foundation’s May 24 community reception agenda

Details about the enhancements to the Leland High School science program and ways the community can support this improvement effort will be the topic at a community reception set for the evening of May 24.

The Leland Foundation for Excellence in Education has launched a fund-raising campaign in support of school improvements recommended for the science program. The foundation is seeking a total of $130,000 in combined donations of money, technology and/or equipment needed by the beginning of the next school year.

The Science Subcommittee of the Curriculum and Assessment Committee recently completed an evaluation of the current science program and recommended changes including adjustments to the science course sequence, enhancing the upper level physics program with addition of a UC online program and acquiring updated lab equipment. But these changes can only occur if the needed course material, laptops and lab equipment can be acquired prior to the school year.

The focus on science curriculum resulted from recommendations contained in a report presented to the school last summer that called for strengthening the science program to reflect Leland’s value of excellence. The Leland Foundation sponsored a day-and-a-half retreat in May 2004, in which a broad group of parents, students, alumni, teachers, district personnel, and business and community leaders convened to discuss a vision for LHS for the next five years. The results of a visioning retreat held last spring at LHS has provided critical community input for the work of the high school’s leadership committees.

The reception is open to the public and will be held at Leland’s informational technology center from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

For more information visit the Leland Foundation Web site at http://leland.sjusd.org/parents/foundation/. Donations are being accepted online.

The Leland Foundation is currently looking for volunteers to help in this campaign and in support of its mission to improve academic programs at Leland High School. If you are interested, please contact Gary Rummelhoff at Rummelhoff@yahoo.com or call 396-5970.