June 21, 2007

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Castillero blasts off to summer

By Shana McLean Moore
Special to the Times

Last week Castillero Middle School celebrated the culmination of another successful school year in a way that was anything but business as usual.

More than 1,200 students spent the “Last Blast” day with their grade-level peers, rotating through three different activity stations.

In the past, students marked the last day of school with bus trips to local skating rinks, leading to both a substantial financial cost and an energy drain from the campus on the last day of school. While the students always had a good time, the consensus was that the fun didn’t need to be outsourced this year.

Due to the support of an active and newly formed Project Cornerstone parents’ group, Chief Organizers Jean Hendrickson and Gwen Anderson, along with the dynamic administrative team led by Principal Sue Walker, felt ready to tackle the planning of a “Last Blast” extravaganza that would launch everyone into summer with a smile, right there on campus.

More than 1,200 students spent the day with their grade-level peers, rotating through three different activity stations. While some students were entertained by a professional magic show by Almaden’s own Greg Finch, others had the chance to play games such as Pictionary, poker, or Taboo inside classrooms. The next rotation took the students to the Indoor Commons for a variety show that showcased the talents of their classmates who sang, danced, performed instrumental recitals and even contorted their way to an enthusiastic round of applause. Then, it was out to the field for the 15 stations of an outdoor carnival.

Many of the 400 students who took the field during each rotation spent their time jumping and sliding through four inflatable obstacle courses and slides. Others found their way to an inflatable Twister competition, speed pitch baseball, and inflatable basketball hoops. For students looking for team sports, there was a dress-up relay, team ski race, flag football, and potato sack races.

There were also stations for those who wanted to beat the heat and express themselves even more than their free-dress clothing day allowed them to by spending their time in the crazy hair and face-painting booths. Many of them then cheered on a rock band composed of Castillero students, turning the musicians into homegrown rock stars for the day.

Math teacher Liz Linehan was exhausted at the end of the day, but really had herself to blame. It appears her sixth graders challenged her in one of the obstacle courses, and she was determined not to let them down. “I must have gone through that course 32 straight times. It was so much fun!" she said.

The parents were equally enthusiastic. Tracey Ananmalay was impressed with the cooperative team of parents, teachers and administrators who “did such an excellent job of showcasing the true meaning of community.” She went on to say that the embedded lessons of the event for her son and his classmates “extend far beyond the common denominators, syncopation, tectonic plates and persuasive essays that fill most of their school hours. Our children simply soaked up the values of caring, involvement, fun, service and creativity, never noticing the lessons they would unconsciously file away for another day."

Principal Walker agreed. “The ‘Last Blast’ was a day to celebrate our many successes at Castillero and truly represents our shared community vision of nurturing a caring school climate.”

Jean Hendrickson spent Friday cleaning out her classroom and reflecting on the previous day’s activities. “I couldn't help but look out towards the field and smile,” she said, especially when remembering the conversation she heard between a student and his teacher. “When you hear a child say: ‘It was the best day ever of my life! I got to do things I've never done before,’ all the hard work is SO worth it!”

Almaden Country School celebrates 23rd graduating class

Filled with hope for the future, the Almaden Country School community gathered to celebrate the graduation of 31 talented young people students as they transitioned from middle school to high school. Led by Steve Hayden, head of schools, the gathering of family, friends, and teachers was welcomed and thanked for their support of the graduating class.

The 23rd graduating class from Almaden Country School celebrates the transition from middle school to high school.

After an invocation by outgoing science teacher Charu Gulati, co-valedictorians Austin Connelly, who will be attending Bellarmine, and Victoria Ray, who will be attending Presentation High School, each talked about the fond memories of their years at Almaden Country School, including class trips to Yosemite and Washington, DC, spending time with their little buddies and the International Fair. Each student attributed the sense of confidence that comes from being part of the ACS community to the devotion of the teachers and encouraged their classmates to take positive risks while using the skills they have learned at ACS to help them achieve success in high school.

In recognition of the support and encouragement given them, each graduate took the opportunity to thank those who had helped them at Almaden Country School. Each teacher and staff member who had worked with the class of 2007 from Preschool through eighth grade was recognized by a graduate for his or her dedication and care. Many past teachers returned for this ceremony.

Nan Hunter, who started Almaden Country School 25 years ago, made the final presentation of the evening by selecting one student to receive the Founder’s Award. This award is given to one student who best represents the ideals of service, respect and support upon which ACS was founded. Rachel Hendricks-Key, who will be attending Notre Dame in the fall, was the recipient.

Jennifer Uible, upper school principal, commented that, “The class of 2007 has many gifts to share with the new school communities they will be joining. I am hopeful and encouraged as we send these students off to experience new things.” Members of this graduating class will be attending high schools including Bellarmine, St. Francis, Presentation, Archbishop Mitty, Leland, Notre Dame, Pinewood, Lincoln and St. Lawrence.

Castillero student Jana Wieland selected for State Leadership Conference

This fall, Almaden middle school student Jana Wieland (pictured) will join a select group of highly acclaimed students in California to take part in a leadership conference sponsored by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council.

The conference honors and recognizes outstanding middle school students for their scholastic achievement and leadership potential. To attend the conference, each student must be personally nominated by a teacher or selected based upon extraordinary academic achievement. Jana was nominated by Wesley Woo of Castillero.
The four-day curriculum focuses on eight core leadership power tools under the guidance of trained facilitators.

School’s out!

Bret Harte celebrates end of school year with annual Broncothon Blast

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

The last day of school was a blowout of good times at the Broncothon Blast at Bret Harte Middle School.

Girls just want to have fun and that they did at the Broncothon Blast. Left: Gal-pals Danielle Martin, Michelle Klinker and MacKenzie Arnold. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

The annual Broncothon turned the sports field into a plethora of inflatables and games of chance. Class times were reduced and the fun started at 10:30 to the excitement of the kids.

“My favorite is the climbing wall,” said Bret Harte seventh grader Jacob Ley. “But it’s all fun!”

Ley had just donned a Velcro suit so he could fling himself on another inflatable called the sticky wall reminiscent of Spiderman performing his super feats.

And besides the climbing and Velcro walls, other inflatables included the obstacle course, jousting ring, bungee run and of course, a giant slide. At the same time, there were carnival games for prizes like a milk can toss, ring on the bottle, tip the clown, five pin bowling and even a movie. Teachers were even doused with water if students aimed properly at the Splash Down.

“It’s kind of like a carnival,” said Bret Harte sixth grader Danielle Martin. “It’s really fun.”

Martin was joined by friends, fellow sixth graders Michelle Klinker and MacKenzie Arnold.

The girls agreed that the climbing wall was their favorite, but also liked that time in each class was limited to only 15 minutes before the Broncothon Blast started.

The jousting ring was fully safe with safety gear and inflatable cushions.

Besides the fun for the kids, the Broncothon is Bret Harte’s only school-wide fundraiser that supports the many sports programs and special interest clubs. Students from all grades may participate in the Broncothon Blast by contributing $25 or more for different levels of participation in other events. Last year, $20,000 was raised at the fun-filled event. This year the Booster Club [parent volunteers] organized the event again and solicited donations from South Bay Materials, Susan Di Bene DDS, Pearl Dental, Normandin, Vidya Bobba Dental and Wells Fargo Blossom Hill to purchase prizes like a Nintendo Wii Systems for the winning kids.

And there were plenty of other prizes for everyone: candy, toys, jewelry, sports balls, stuffed animals, games and even a whoopee cushion that brought much delight to the excited students.

“This is great,” said Bret Harte parent Paige Brown. “Kelly Dippel [Booster Club Broncothon chair] doesn’t even have a child who attends the school anymore and she worked on the event. She has a lot of talent and energy.”

Dippel had lots of help from parent Becky Trovato and other parent volunteers who manned the games and made sure everything went smoothly for the last day of the year Broncothon.

And so Bret Harte kids ended the school year with a real blast—a Broncothon Blast, that is.

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