IN THE NEWS: Imagine you’re 17 or 18 years old and one day you wake up to find you have a career, kids, a spouse and bills. How are you going to handle it all? That is the question more than 40 Clairemont High School Academy of Business students faced when they recently took part in “Bite of Reality”, an interactive financial education simulation designed to teach high school teens how to manage money. Read more at the Clairemont Community News.
Monday, April 6, 2015
"Bite of Reality" for Clairemont High Students
IN THE NEWS: Imagine you’re 17 or 18 years old and one day you wake up to find you have a career, kids, a spouse and bills. How are you going to handle it all? That is the question more than 40 Clairemont High School Academy of Business students faced when they recently took part in “Bite of Reality”, an interactive financial education simulation designed to teach high school teens how to manage money. Read more at the Clairemont Community News.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Kearny High Robotics wins regional; competes April 2-4 in San Diego competition
Kearny High School’s Hammer Heads recently won the Inland Empire Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.
The competition, held February 27 to March 1 at Rancho Mirage High School, challenges teams of high school students to design, build and program robots that perform specific tasks. Their robots then participate in qualifying matches where they are randomly assigned to a team of three that contends with another team of three robots.
This year’s competition was called Recycle Rush. This recycle-themed game has robots scoring points for their team by stacking totes on specific platforms, capping those stacks with containers, then using them to dispose of litter, represented by pool noodles.
The Hammer Heads were the top-seeded team after the qualifying matches, with an average score of 115.75. The highest ranking teams then select two other teams to form an alliance and participate in the elimination rounds. Kearny High’s Hammer Heads (Team 1572) chose Hawaiian Kids (Team 359) and LiveWire (Team 3562) to form the Red Alliance.
The alliances formed by the top teams are then put through an elimination-style tournament of three-round matches. When it came time for the finals, the Red Alliance had won the first round, but lost the second. In the final round, the Kearny High Hammer Heads and the Red Alliance took home the win with a score of 130-64.
This is the first time in team history that the Hammer Heads have won a regional competition. This also means that they are qualified to compete in the 2015 FIRST Championship in St. Louis on April 22-25.
The Kearny High Hammer Heads are also competing in this year’s San Diego Regional FIRST Robotics Competition April 2-4 at the Valley View Casino Center. The San Diego Regional will have 60 teams from throughout the country competing to win the tournament, along with many other prestigious awards.
Other San Diego Unified School District Teams competing include:
• Madison High School (Team 1266)
• Scripps Ranch High School (Team 4139)
• Mission Bay High School (Team 4160)
• San Diego High School (Team 4583)
• Henry High School (Team 4738)
• Clairemont High School (Team 5474)
About FIRST:
FIRST is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization devoted to helping young people discover and develop a passion for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Founded 25 years ago by inventor Dean Kamen, the 2013-2014 FIRST season brought together more than 367,000 youth, and volunteers filling over 150,000 roles, in more than 80 countries. The annual programs culminate in an international robotics competition and celebration where teams win recognition, gain self-confidence, develop people and life skills, make new friends, and perhaps discover an unforeseen career path.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
April Harvest of the Month is the crimini mushroom
The Harvest of the Month for April is the Crimini Mushroom from Mountain Meadow Mushrooms located in Escondido, Calif. Find this super veggie on school salad bars every Wednesday during the month of April.
To help educate students on where the Harvest of the Month produce item comes from, San Diego Unified has created monthly Harvest of the Month videos that act as virtual field trips to the farm. These videos are an opportunity to connect students to their food and local farmers. We encourage principals to have their teachers share the videos in the classroom so students can experience the full circle of their food.
SandiTube Video Link: http://tube.sandi.net/video/videos/4884/harvest-of-the-month-crimini-mushrooms
Monday, March 30, 2015
Vote Mack Jackson for best janitor
Mack Jackson, janitor at Washington Elementary School, is one of 10 finalists in Cintas’ Corporation’s National Janitor of the Year Contest. Now he needs your help to win.
The public is being asked to vote by ranking the 10 candidates. Their biographies are available to learn more about each deserving candidate. Voting is open now through May 1, 2015. The website to vote is http://www.cintas.com/customer_applications/JanitorOfTheYear2015/vote.aspx
“Getting ready for the day, Mack takes our kids who come too early under his care, as he waters the gardens, sets up trash cans, washes tables, vacuums and scrubs floors,” said Washington Elementary Principal David Crum. “He carries on conversations with the kids, tutors them and trains them to help while still getting everything done on time.”
The 2015 Janitor of the Year will receive a $2,500 cash prize along with $2,500 in products and services for his or her school from Cintas and Rubbermaid Commercial Products.
To learn more about the contest, visit: http://www.cintas.com/customer_applications/JanitorOfTheYear2015/cast-your-vote-for-2015-janitor-of-the-year-contest.aspx
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Bethune K-8 students become engineers for the day
Middle sch
ool students from Bethune K-8 got the chance to be engineers for the day thanks to Qualcomm and it's Think-a-Bit Lab. Students received hands-on training in engineering by learning about computer programming and working with code to create a robotic art project. Check out the half cat/half dragon that Bethune students created in this piece from Cox Channel 4.
ool students from Bethune K-8 got the chance to be engineers for the day thanks to Qualcomm and it's Think-a-Bit Lab. Students received hands-on training in engineering by learning about computer programming and working with code to create a robotic art project. Check out the half cat/half dragon that Bethune students created in this piece from Cox Channel 4.Qualcomm and San Diego Unified worked together to develop the curriculum for the lab and make it applicable and enjoyable for middle school students.
Link to YouTube (accessible outside district network)
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Radio station helps keep the peace at John Muir
Rest assured that the halls and grounds at John Muir are safe and stylish with the Peace Patrol on duty. Peace Patrol students are sporting new uniforms - hats, lanyards and matching shirts - thanks to a generous donation by Magic 92.5’s Jagger and Kristi.
A testament to the old adage, “It never hurts to ask,” the Peace Patrol received their new swag after one student’s mother, Asia Martinez, wrote in to Jagger and Kristi during their Christmas Wishes season asking if they would help the Patrol reach its goal of $700 to purchase hats and lanyards.
The radio station went a step further, inviting Martinez and Peace Patrol advisor Barbara Waller on the show and surprising them with a $1,350 donation to purchase not only hats and lanyards, but shirts as well.
Waller has since returned to the show to talk about the Peace Patrol program and give an update on the uniforms.
Jagger and Kristi visited John Muir on Thursday, March 5 as guest readers for the school's celebration of Read Across America, an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading.
Founded in the fall of 2011, each recess the Peace Patrol assists students with social issues and promotes good character skills by handing out stickers, pencils, bracelets and bookmarks. Peace Patrol students also participate in several service projects each year.
Last year the students raised enough funds to purchase and decorate a Buddy Bench for the John Muir playground.
Each spring, Peace Patrol members recruit students who will be entering 4th, 5th or 6th grade to apply to be in Peace Patrol. To complete the process, students must fill out an application form and submit a teacher recommendation.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
New CCTE director, Al Love, comes full circle
A Kearny High School graduate, a coach, an industrial arts teacher, an administrator – these are all titles you might use to refer to Al Love. Now one more title can be added to that list – Director of College, Career and Technical Education for San Diego Unified.
Love started his career at San Diego Unified as an instructional aid in the Machine Shop Technology Program at Kearny High. He then left the district and worked his way up through the administration at various middle and high schools where he oversaw CCTE-type programs.
Love recently found his way back to San Diego upon being selected for the CCTE director position, which he said was a natural opportunity for him to return to his home district. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and confidence that he can make a positive impact on the future of the CCTE program.
As director, Love’s goal is to align the technical skills classes offered through CCTE with “A-G” requirements so that students do not have to choose between gaining real-world application based skills and meeting requirements for postsecondary education. In order to be considered for admission by UC and CSU schools, high school students must complete approved “A-G” courses.
“In the past, these [CCTE] classes were to the side – they weren’t seen as rigorous or as relevant as core classes,” Love said. “I want to show that they can be both. That we are in unison, and that students don’t have to make a choice between one or the other.”
In order to implement this integration, CCTE is developing course curriculum maps that align with the “A-G” requirements. CCTE will then submit those plans to the UC system for approval.
Love sees this as an opportunity for CCTE to continue to grow. A product of the ROP Machine Tool Technology program at Kearny High, 1980, Love knows firsthand the value that these technical and occupational based classes provide.
“It is personally fulfilling to remember what this program did for me and to see it is still helping students today,” Love said.
In addition to keeping students on track for postsecondary education, CCTE is building the certification process into programs so that students will also be career ready upon graduation.
The Machine Tool and Engineering Program at Kearny High is housed in the same room that Love sat in as an ROP student, and the program’s current teacher, John Riego de Dios, was a classmate of Love’s in the ‘80s. The program recently received NIMS accreditation, becoming one of only two schools in California who can boast this credentialing from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills.
As CCTE adds accreditation opportunities to its programs and continues to align coursework with “A-G” requirements and Common Core State Standards, the program’s ability to provide students with the tools necessary to succeed in both college and career only grows stronger.
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| Crystal Boggio, John Riego de Dios, Al Love |
Love recently found his way back to San Diego upon being selected for the CCTE director position, which he said was a natural opportunity for him to return to his home district. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and confidence that he can make a positive impact on the future of the CCTE program.
As director, Love’s goal is to align the technical skills classes offered through CCTE with “A-G” requirements so that students do not have to choose between gaining real-world application based skills and meeting requirements for postsecondary education. In order to be considered for admission by UC and CSU schools, high school students must complete approved “A-G” courses.
“In the past, these [CCTE] classes were to the side – they weren’t seen as rigorous or as relevant as core classes,” Love said. “I want to show that they can be both. That we are in unison, and that students don’t have to make a choice between one or the other.”
In order to implement this integration, CCTE is developing course curriculum maps that align with the “A-G” requirements. CCTE will then submit those plans to the UC system for approval.
Love sees this as an opportunity for CCTE to continue to grow. A product of the ROP Machine Tool Technology program at Kearny High, 1980, Love knows firsthand the value that these technical and occupational based classes provide.
“It is personally fulfilling to remember what this program did for me and to see it is still helping students today,” Love said.
In addition to keeping students on track for postsecondary education, CCTE is building the certification process into programs so that students will also be career ready upon graduation.
The Machine Tool and Engineering Program at Kearny High is housed in the same room that Love sat in as an ROP student, and the program’s current teacher, John Riego de Dios, was a classmate of Love’s in the ‘80s. The program recently received NIMS accreditation, becoming one of only two schools in California who can boast this credentialing from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills.
As CCTE adds accreditation opportunities to its programs and continues to align coursework with “A-G” requirements and Common Core State Standards, the program’s ability to provide students with the tools necessary to succeed in both college and career only grows stronger.
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