Mira Mesa High scholars have a soft spot for kids at Ronald McDonald House

Some of Mira Mesa High's top scholars had a soft spot for kids... working to collect enough money to buy more than 100 brand new pillows for the kids at the Ronald McDonald House.

The students are members of the Mira Mesa High California Scholarship Federation (CSF) club, with donations and help coming from fellow students, staff, and the Mira Mesa community.

“Every child should have a pillow to sleep on at night," said CSF President, Kristine Lee. "The second we heard the Ronald McDonald House Charities had 102 children without pillows, we got right to work,”

Mira Mesa High students worked directly with the volunteer coordinator at the San Diego Ronald McDonald House Charities to identify their greatest area of need. Lee and her team then went back to Mira Mesa High and ran a very successful marketing campaign and drive to collect pillows.

The MMHS Pillow Drive came to a successful conclusion when Charles E. Day, CEO of the San Diego Ronald McDonald House Charities, met students from the CSF club at the Mira Mesa Big Lots to pick up 102 pillows that the CSF club had raised money to purchase for children in need.

For more information on the program, contact Stacey Seiders, Mira Mesa High ASB advisor, at (858) 566-2262 ext. 4412.

'Chelsea's Champions' from Henry Cluster are part of community run

Patrick Henry High School Cluster students, parents, teachers, and staff teamed up as "Chelsea's Champions" for the Fourth Annual Finish Chelsea's Run in Balboa Park, following a visit by Chelsea's father to Patrick Henry.

More than 70 participants on the team help to raise money for continued awareness and strengthening of Chelsea's Law and to provide scholarships for local San Diego youth. The team from Patrick Henry High School cluster ran with more than 6,500 other participants, including Superintendent Cindy Marten.

Student Ambassador and Team Captain Lauren Haneke-Hopps, who is a sophomore at Patrick Henry High, coordinated the team's registration. She also helped the high school to host guest speaker Brent King, Chelsea's dad, for a day of inspirational assemblies focused on hope and change for the future.

 

The March 1 event was held in memory of Chelsea King, who lost her life to a known child predator while running in a local community park.

 

Election day runs smoothly with help from high school students

Tuesday's mayoral election in the City of San Diego had some helpers from local schools.

Students Donna Flores, of Pt. Loma High, and Hayra Jaramillo, of John Muir School, helped check in voters in a downtown San Diego precinct, supervised by poll worker B.J. Gloudon on election day, Feb. 11.

They're part of a county program for high school students.

The High School Student Poll Worker Program, under California Elections Code Section 12302, allows high school students to serve as poll workers and actively participate in the election process, even if they are not eligible to vote. Launched in 1998 this program has been a tremendous success. Students receive a certificate for community service and a stipend paid directly to them or to their school, depending on the district policy.

To become a Student Poll Worker, contact your social science teacher or school official and ask to be nominated. To qualify for the program you must: be at least 16 years of age by Election Day, a United States citizen, and have a grade point average of at least 2.5. For more information, see the County of San Diego Registrar of Voters website.

Morse High raises $1,470 for Philippine typhoon relief

By Jacinda Hernandez
Morse Code newspaper

After Typhoon Haiyan struck the central Philippines on November 7, 2013, many Morse students and staff members had the immediate urge to help the victims by raising money and donating essential items to the victims.

Coincidentally, the same week as Super Typhoon Haiyan happened it left many people being homeless, the Week of Consciousness whose main focus for the week was homelessness was also occurring. The club organization thought that doing something for the typhoon would be a great way to incorporate the idea of homelessness and connecting it to their cause.

Junior Ashley Carbonell, a member of One World, described the hardships of trying to organize two different causes in one week and how easy it was to get people involved with the Philippine cause. One cause was for the homeless population on campus and the other was the homeless victims struck by the super typhoon.

“I think that the hardest part was making the decision to finalize our plan with the ideas that we had thought of,” said Carbonell. “We had ideas of creating shirts and rubber bracelets, but because of the time crunch we ended up just placing donation money boxes in multiple classrooms across campus and allowed students to drop off donation items at a few classes.”

Choosing a good, credible, and trustworthy charity is hard to find, which was one of the dilemmas that One World had to face. One World made the decision to work with an organization called Gawad Kalinga a.k.a GK. Gawad Kalinga means to “give care.” One World worked with GK to help raise money with many donation boxes distributed to multiple classrooms. All of the money from the donation boxes would then be given to the typhoon victims in the Philippines.

Arlene Benedicto, AP U.S. History and AP Psychology teacher, made a decision with her husband to match however much money was in the donation box. At the end of the week, her classrooms donation box had well over $100 packed inside.

“In just one week Morse raised $1,470 and had about eight carloads of donation items. This was in addition to the 10 boxes of goods already collected before last Friday,” said Benedicto. “The money donated to Gawad Kalinga was enough to buy 294 food packs that will feed a family of four for three days.”

Junior Rejeanne Devera participated in helping the Philippines by donating her clothes and money.
“I donated four shopping bags worth of my old clothes, most of them I never even wore before,” described Devera. “I felt awesome giving things away that’ll be of more use for others.”

“My family was fortunately unaffected by the typhoon, but I’m giving my best regards to those who were,” said Devera.

This heartbreaking time for the Philippines has shown that the students and teachers on campus are caring and thoughtful, we managed to raise lots of money and a lot of goods that the victims no longer have and it is what they need to survive.

Mira Mesa High students volunteer to help challenged athletes

The Mira Mesa High School Challenged Athletes Foundation club has supported numerous events around San Diego.

The students at Mira Mesa High decided that this organization is one that they wanted to support and help by attending organized events such as the San Diego Triathlon Challenge, Del Mar Mud Run, and other various events. The students talk to spectators and athletes at the different events and teach them about the mission of the foundation.

The Challenged Athletes Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides opportunities and support to people with physical disabilities so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics. The Foundation believes that involvement in sports at any level increases self-esteem, encourages independence and enhances quality of life.
Students helped with building awareness, and supporting our challenged athletes (first responders and veterans). Together as a club, the students have volunteered more than 1,000 hours to the Challenged Athletes Foundation: Operation Rebound.

During the summer, the students were thanked for all their time and help at the Foundation building in Sorrento Mesa. The students -- Elizabeth Tieu, Kristen Guzman, Brittney Trinh, Navid Rakei, Stephanie Tran-Rojas, Clarissa Punzel -- were given a tour of the facility and given some goodies.
Most recently, the students have helped at the foundation's San Diego Triathlon Challenge at the La Jolla Cove. These students -- Navid Rakei, Jasmine Doctolero, Kaitlyn Trinh, Brittney Trinh, Elizabeth Tieu, Michelle Le, Stephanie Tran-Rojas, Ann Doan and Thien-an Pham -- worked the silent auction, set up, and clean up. In addition, the following students -- Thien-An Pham, Jocelin Vazquez, Elizabeth Tieu, Brittney Trinh, Jasmine Doctolero, Michelle Le -- attended the Del Mar Mud Run and helped raise $10,000.

The following are athletes that the students have supported since the club began last year:

• Lance Weir: USMC Sharp ShooterQuadriplegic
• Rudy Garcia-Tolson: Paraolymic AthleteAbove knee-bilateral amputee
• Eric McElvenny: Kona Ironman Finisher/Combat injured: below knee amputee

The next event the Mira Mesa High students will participate in will be Buddy Bowl at Camp Pendleton. The students will be playing in flag football event to help raise money for CAF: Operation Rebound.

For more information regarding the club, contact adviser Denise Hughes, DHughes@sandi.net or visit the Challenged Athletes Foundationhttp://www.challengedathletes.org/site/c.4nJHJQPqEiKUE/b.6449023/k.BD6D/Home.htm

 

 

Lindbergh Schweitzer Elementary students collect for UNICEF

Students at Lindbergh-Schweitzer Elementary School in Clairemont are working to raise $500 for Trick or Treat for UNICEF program.

"If they can raise $500, our students will providing funds to build a well for clean drinking water in a country in need," said the program's organizer, teacher Mary Morgan.

Trick or Treat for UNICEF, the United Nations International Children's Fund, has been a popular fundraiser since 1950. The kids carry small cardboard boxes seeking donations.

Morgan asks students if they could remember being hungry for more than a day -- and no child answers "yes." She then talks with students about the fact that in some countries children go to bed hungry every night, and sometimes for days, even without clean water to drink.

She reminds the students that even though we live far away and in a different country, we still could help.

From there, she asks for volunteers to join Trick or Treating for UNICEF.
For more information, contact Deanne Rohde, Principal, at (858) 496-8400.

Home Depot employees, Madison High students join Sequoia Elementary community in school mini-makeover

A mid-summer freshening at Sequoia Elementary School brought not only the school's community together, but 10 students from cluster school Madison High, with local business partner Home Depot supplying paint and five employee-volunteers.

"Students, parents, teachers and Home Depot employees worked together to make Sequoia Elementary more inviting for the new year," said Principal Ryan Kissel. "All of the materials, including the paint and paint brushes, were generously donated by Home Depot."

More than 50 volunteers painted flowers on the school's fence and repainted many areas around the campus, including book characters on the concrete walkways and lines on the blacktop. The crew also pulled weeds on August 17.

For more information, contact Kissel at (858) 496-8240.

Hoover High Wood Shop, Strategic Sourcing Department Show Excellence

A trophy case built by students at Hoover High's new Green Construction Technology facility is now helping improve morale and show off the excellence of San Diego Unified's Strategic Sourcing and Contracts Department.

The case contains some of the annual awards won by the department, which handles purchasing and contract duties for the district, including:

• National Purchasing Institute Achievement of Excellence in Procurement for 2010, 2011, 2012;
• Fully Certified Agency Award from the Universal Public Purchasing Certification Council, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012.

The Strategic Sourcing and Contracts Department annually saves the district hundreds of thousands of dollars by seeking out the lowest price for materials ranging from pencils to pickled pigs (used in science classes).

For more information, contact Director Art Hanby at (858) 522-5808.

• Read more about Hoover's Green Construction Technology facility»

Madison High Students Help Preserve Balboa Park

Students from Madison High School’s AVID, Key Club, and the Latino Hispanic Society have spent a day in Balboa Park learning about the benefits of urban forests and cleaning up our communities as part of the Australian Garden clean-up in Gold Gulch.

The park's urban forester discussed the importance of maintaining and cleaning the park, while a park ranger talked about the habitat of the animals and insects that make up the park's ecosystem.

The 50 students involved spent the day weeding, raking, clearing trash and spreading mulch to begin the initial preparation for the garden's beautification. The event was hosted by the Friends of Balboa Park through a grant by California ReLeaf, CalFire and the EPA as part of the preparations being made for the park's 100th anniversary celebration in 2015.

For more information, contact Greg Williams at Madison High School at (858) 496-8410.

Holmes Elementary Girls Help Kids Throughout San Diego

Girl Scouts from Holmes Elementary School joined more than 1,600 volunteers recently by participating in Kids’ News Day. The scouts organized the annual fund-raising event in front of their Clairemont neighborhood school and got up early to sell a special edition of the U-T San Diego before the start of school.

The girls’ efforts raised $200 for Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.

Now in its 23rd year, Kids’ News Day is made possible through a special partnership of U-T San Diego, NBC 7 San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital Auxiliary. One day each year, local celebrities, firefighters, police officers, community groups, companies, schools and Rady employees and volunteers sell special editions of the newspaper for $1. Every dollar raised goes to Rady Children’s Hospital to fund direct patient care and community education.

For more information, contact Holmes Principal Jonathan Saipe at jsaipe@sandi.net.

IN THE NEWS: Rosa Parks Students Make a Big Contribution

It was big news when John and Becky Moores donated several million dollars to the UC San Diego cancer center that now bears their name. But when fifth graders from Rosa Parks Elementary School, located in the low-income City Heights neighborhood, donate $6,600, in many respects it is even bigger news.

• Read more from U-T San Diego»
• Read more on the Rosa Parks website»

Challenger Middle School Students Raise $2,732 for Shamrock Drive

Students, staff and inspiration Gladys Swensrud celebrate.

Student government members at Challenger Middle School in Mira Mesa have raised $2,732 this year for the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Shamrock Drive, inspired by a staff member who has muscular dystrophy. This brings to more than $12,000 the students have raised over the last six years.

The students are raising the money in the name of Gladys Swensrud, a retired staff member and longtime neighborhood resident who has MD.

"I stand in awe and am extremely grateful for the continued generosity and enthusiast support Challenger’s student body and staff have demonstrated for MDA through their Shamrock contributions,” said Swensrud.

The school creates competition between classrooms for the coveted green and gold shamrocks, which are placed in the class windows.

"Competition can become quite fierce between advisory classrooms as each class strives to have the best display of colorful shamrocks appearing in their classroom windows," said Principal Sheelagh Moran.
The fundraising effort also has educational value, she said.

"Students also learn about the organization and are inspired to help others in need," she said.

Challenger was the first middle school in the county to participate in the Shamrock Drive.

"MDA has been able to use Challenger Middle School as a successful example to inspire more San Diego area schools to join the Shamrock Drive," she said.

About the school

Challenger Middle School is located in Mira Mesa, north of Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. Our school is named in honor of the Challenger space shuttle. The memory of the Challenger crew serves as a role model for our multi-ethnic student population. The Challenger name captures the energy and the inspiration associated with our school’s commitment to success. We motivate students to go beyond their limits, have high expectations and touch the future.

IN THE NEWS: Teaming up to clean up

Proving that it’s sometimes preferable to go au naturel, members of University City High School’s (UCHS) Roots and Shoots club teamed up with Friends of Rose Canyon on Feb. 12 to give native plants a boost in the Rose Canyon Open Space Park.  Volunteers from the two organizations cleared non-native plant species, making way for new native oak trees to grow. They also planted willow and mule fat in some of the more eroded areas in an effort to counter erosion. Read more from the San Diego Community Newspaper Group»

Kumeyaay Students Keap Streak Bearly Alive

Kumeyaay Elementary students in Mrs. Bernstein's class recently collected 398 stuffed bears to benefit Rady Children's Hospital.

Kumeyaay students in Mrs. Bernstein's room collected 398 stuffed toys to Benefit Rady Children's Hospital.

This is the 12th year that Mrs. B and her class has collected bears and delivered them to the San Diego Police Department for a special ride to the hospital.

The new stuffed toys help children find comfort while at the hospital.

Serra High School Student2Student Club Mentors Vista Grande Students

Serra and Vista Grande students talk about transitions.

Vista Grande Elementary School Student Council members wanted to ease the transition of students entering their school. With a mobile military student population of 35-40 percent, they were concerned about how difficult it sometimes is to be “the new kid.” Serra High School students came to their aid, traveling to Vista Grande recently to share some of the strategies used by Serra’s extraordinary Student2Student (S2S) Club.

The S2S Club helps students face the daunting experience of changing schools. Club members offer incoming students a forum to quickly feel welcomed, comfortable, included, and accepted into their new school community. Student tours, welcome packets, and social gatherings during the school year help to diminish the stress and uncertainty of the first days and weeks at a new school. At Serra, friendships often start with S2S.

Serra students shared tools and experiences and demonstrated icebreaker and team-building games that helped Vista Grande students develop their own plans for a Student Ambassador Club at their elementary school level. They answered questions and shared ideas, leaving the student council members with a clear plan for their new club.

S2S, and JS2S (Junior Student2Student) are powerful high school and middle school programs designed by the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC). Serra students and staff received extensive training from MCEC to customize an individualized program for implementation at their school site.

For more information about Serra’s S2S Club, contact Jason Demendonca, Club Advisor, at 858-496-8342 x163 or Marie Byrd, Parent Support Liaison and S2S Activities Coordinator, at 858-496-8342 x231.

Lindbergh Schweitzer Students Participate in Red Shoe Day

Students at Lindbergh Schweitzer Magnet School eagerly lined up on September 28 to deposit money in the size 14 red shoe for the Ronald McDonald House charity drive, Red Shoe Day.

Lindbergh Schweitzer was one of only four schools that participated in the event, and we challenge all schools to get on board next year and participate in this very important community charity.

 

Ronald McDonald House provides a home-away-from-home for families of critically ill children at local hospitals. Many of the families of students at Lindbergh Schweitzer have benefited from their services.

For additional information contact Julie Harris at 858-496-8400 or jharris2@sandi.net.

Fulton Students Support Continuing Haiti Relief

Kiwanis Kids at Fulton K-8 have supported the kids of earthquake-ravaged Haiti by writing letters and sending photos, plus backpacks full of clothing to the residents. The backpacks were sent in time for the holidays with a $2,000 donation from Heartland Alliance.

This project not only impacts the children of Haiti who will benefit greatly, but was also exciting for the Kiwanis Kids -- a program of the local Kiwanis Club -- who put so much work into it.

For more information, contact Gwen Kirkland, Principal, at (619) 262-0777.

IN THE NEWS: Local teen helps seniors in St. Paul's program

Tessa Meads, 16, has volunteering down to a science. Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune»