Nation’s School Districts Take A Seat At San Diego Unified’s Table

IN THE NEWS: Food service officials from 30 school districts from across the country on Thursday stopped by Crawford High School for lunch. The officials were there to learn about San Diego Unified School District's farm-to-school program. The Department of Agriculture brought the school food bosses to San Diego for a symposium hosted by the National Food Service Management Institute. Read and watch more from KPBS.

JROTC cadets attend Patriotic Education Seminar on East Coast

Eight JROTC cadets from district and county schools recently attended the Patriotic Education Seminar, a week-long event that included visits to two primary cities with significant historical impacts – New York City and Washington, D.C.

Primarily centered on student-to-student teaching techniques, this experience challenges each cadet to research and present on assigned historical sites, monuments and leaders throughout the trip. In group settings, the cadets discuss foundations of national government, policy and leadership, citizenship responsibilities and key American historical events. Most significantly, students are assessed for their own personal leadership qualities, participation and subject knowledge.

“Learning history from a book in the classroom is one thing, but being able to personally experience it through this trip brings so much more meaning and understanding,” said Cadet Yovana Contreras, a Serra High School junior.

This year's attendees included: Marco McCartney, Scripps Ranch HS; Katherine Solchaga, Kearny HS; Sophia Nguyen, Patrick Henry HS; Yovana Contreras, Serra HS; Parker Grubenski, University City HS; Juan Sanchez, Hoover HS; Aylin Curtis, Morse HS and Ahmad Xallen, Coronado HS.

In New York City, the cadets visited the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Sept. 11 memorial and the United Nations Headquarters. Washington, D.C. was highlighted by visits to the U.S Capitol, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National Archives, all war memorials and several Smithsonian Museums.

This educational trip was sponsored by the San Diego Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars, a patriotic Veterans Service Organization founded to promote good citizenship, patriotic education, and military and public service.

For more information on the JROTC program, contact Program Manager LTC. David Guzman at dguzman@sandi.net.

Crown Point’s Music Education Program receives national recognition

Crown Point Junior Music Academy has been awarded the SupportMusic Merit Award from The National Association of Music Merchants Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education.

The SupportMusic Merit Award is given to individual schools that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. Crown Point is one of 120 schools nationwide and 18 schools in California being recognized by the NAMM Foundation for their school-based music education programs.

The NAMM Foundation presents this award as part of the Best Communities for Music Education program through the SupportMusic Coalition, an advocacy effort for the promotion of music education as a core academic subject in schools.

Crown Point is known for its focus on strong academics through music education. Following their motto, “Music Opens Minds,” teachers at Crown Point focus on integrating music into their entire curriculum which helps improve students’ intellectual development and musical skill.

“Crown Point is a small school with a big vision,” said Principal Muriel Bartolini. “All stakeholders involved in the school believe music to be a vital part of a child’s education, and because of that, our teachers work hard at incorporating music in all they do within the students’ day. Receiving this award has honored our vision.”

This is the first time Crown Point has received this award.

National recognition for two Mira Mesa JROTC students

Two JROTC Senior cadets from Mira Mesa High School recently received national recognition for their academic and leadership achievements.

Emily Le	Chloe Crisostomo

Emily Le received the National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT) Award, and Chloe Crisostomo was selected by the Girls World Expo National Committee as a San Diego Girl of Merit.

The NCWIT honors young women at the high-school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. Le was selected for her computing and IT aptitude, leadership ability, academic history and plans for post-secondary education. This multi-tiered competition includes recognition at the national level, sponsored by Bank of America, and at the local level, sponsored by Microsoft. The competition serves 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Girls World Expo National Committee selects 10 girls among hundreds of applicants who have proven themselves as exceptional members of their community through their actions, activities, leadership and positive influence on others. Crisostomo’s selection embodies the organization’s goal to, “Spark a movement in every corner of the country, giving girls the inspiration and determination to become the best they can be.”

Le and Crisostomo also serve on the JROTC Brigade staff which leads more than 2,600 cadets throughout 13 high school programs in the district.

More information about these prestigious awards can be found at http://www.aspirations.org/ and http://girlsworldexpo.com/.

"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.

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.

 

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.

Youtube Video Link: http://youtu.be/5YhVG3n1N3o

SandiTube Video Link: http://tube.sandi.net/video/videos/4884/harvest-of-the-month-crimini-mushrooms