February 8, 2008

Evergreen SchoolScene

Evergreen and Silver Creek students compete in ninth annual sciencepalooza! science fair

Students from Evergreen Valley and Silver Creek High Schools will join more than 1,200 potential future scientists from the East Side Union High School District, and compete for prizes and recognition at the ninth annual sciencepalooza! on Saturday, Mar. 1, 2008 at Expo Hall at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.

sciencepalooza! is one of the largest competitive science fairs in California and will showcase creative and fascinating science projects by East Side students in grades 9-12.

“sciencepalooza! has become a wonderful tradition at East Side schools,” said Joann Mauro, science department chair at Silver Creek. “Students enjoy an invaluable experience when they undertake the challenge of exploring science with their own hands.”

“Our students get to view science from an important perspective as they choose their own project topics and see the process all the way to conclusion,” said Barjinder Sabherwal, a biology teacher at Evergreen Valley High School.

Over 125 volunteer judges from industry and academia will review projects from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Winners of Albert Einstein Prizes (first place projects, a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate) and Galileo Prizes (projects deserving honorable mention, a $25 gift certificate) will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at noon. Prizes will also be awarded to school science departments in several areas, including best projects in engineering, environment and innovation. The school with the best overall projects will receive a $2,500 cash award.

Many sciencepalooza! participants will advance to the county, state and international science fairs later this year.

sciencepalooza! is an annual event sponsored by the nonprofit Synopsys Outreach Foundation. This year’s sponsors include Kaiser Permanente, Seagate, Hitachi, the Hitachi Foundation and Adaptec.

WHAT: sciencepalooza!

WHO: Creative Students, Fas-cinating Projects and Great Vis-uals

WHEN: Saturday, Mar. 1, 2008 from 9 – 11 a.m. (Awards Cere-mony Starts at Noon.)

WHERE: Expo Hall, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, 344 Tully Road, San Jose

J. F. Smith’s 2nd Annual Casino Night scheduled

Save the date. The Casino Night fundraiser will be held Feb. 29 at the Silver Creek Valley Country Club.

Students win stock market game

Fourth Grade students from Tom Matsumoto School won the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place positions in the Northern California Region’s Stock Market Game (SMG). The SMG is a comprehensive program based on a real-life simulation of the stock market. It teaches about the U.S. economic system while conveying and reinforcing basic concepts in math, business, social studies and personal finance.

The children, in Ms. Fleischer’s class, were grouped in three-person teams and given a virtual $100,000 to invest in stocks. They were cautioned to think about buying things they knew about in their own personal lives. The winning team showed a 15.35 percent return over a 10-week investment period. The children selected Apple, Nike, and Google stock to invest. While placing first in their region, they also placed eleventh in all of Northern California among 771 elementary school teams.

Matsumoto principal Mary Helmer presented (l-r) Samantha Chin, Vanessa Tang and Joel George with their First Place awards for the Stock Martket Game. The 4th Grade student team had a 15.35% return on a 10-week stock market simulated investment and finished first in their region out of 77.

Principal Mary Helmer honored the students in a classroom ceremony and promised a pizza party, provided by the district’s Child Nutritional Services Department, for the entire class. “I couldn’t be prouder of you all. You did a wonderful job: and to take 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place against all those other 4th, 5th and 6th grade teams is just marvelous,” she said.

The winners are: First place - Samantha Chin, Joel George, and Vanessa Tang; Second place - Janet Liu, Michael Pham, and Raeek Rahman; Third place – Nathan Lam, Neelesh Dodda, Amara Shaikh; and Fourth place - Saige Julian-Laroza, Sahib Grewal and Diyva Nikkanti.

“I got interested in introducing this as part of my math curriculum as it became apparent that many companies will no longer be offering retirement pensions for their employees in the future. With Social Security gone for their generation, these students are going to have to learn smart ways of taking care of their own futures,” said Ms. Fleischer. “We just concentrated on the market: bonds were a little too complicated for me this first time around,” she added.

Merrill Lynch underwrites the $10 entrance fee for each team. Prizes included certificates, ribbons, gift cards and certificates.

More information about the program can be found at: http://www.smgww.org/

After-School Program Features Indian Fine Arts

By Donna Eliason
Staff Writer

The nonprofit educational group, Evergreen Balvihar, strives to promote cultural exchanges, especially within the fine arts, with the goal to promote understanding and harmony among various ethnic groups. Through after-school classes, summer programs and performances, they strive to expand children’s intellectual horizons, their use of teamwork and their growth in self-confidence.

Approximately 40 students from ages 5 to 14 participated in traditional and folk Indian dance and music.

The group started with Praithibha Kaithirasetty’s dream. She arrived from India in 1992 with a Master’s Degree in Computer Science and a job in a software company. Later, with twin sons, she felt the importance of cultural enrichment for children, with an emphasis on a fine arts program within the Indian community.

Now the program is expanding to all generations of Indians, and other cultural groups. She seeks the “common thread” between cultures, with an emphasis on the performing arts. Since 2003 the group has staged theatrical productions, with music and dance competitions scheduled for the near future.

Last Dec. 31, the Evergreen Balvihar presented its seventh gala performance at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. Approximately 40 students from ages 5 to 14 participated in traditional and folk Indian dance and music.

The group conducts an after-school program with homework help, along with classes in Indian languages, folk and traditional dance and music at the Scholar’s Academy on Silver Creek Road, near Silver Creek High School. Class sizes are limited.

Twenty-Six CCOC students earn Grove Foundation scholarships

Twenty-six Central County Occupational Center (CCOC) students and six former students will receive a Grove Foundation School-to-Career Scholarship valued at up to $4,000 to spend on tuition, books and related educational expenses.

For some students, the Grove Scholarship means they will be able to focus on school instead of needing to work full-time and attend college full-time.

“The Grove Scholarship takes the stress off my shoulders on being able to pay for college,” Adrianna Rodriguez, CCOC Medical Assisting and Mt. Pleasant High School student, said. “I learned about the scholarship through my class at CCOC and I’m really happy that I was awarded the scholarship.”

CCOC is one of ten high schools in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties that are eligible to participate in the Grove Scholarship program. Students attend CCOC for half of their school day; for the other half of the day they attend their home high school.

Nineteen of the students who received scholarships applied through CCOC while seven other students applied through their home high school. Six other students who attended CCOC last year will also receive a Grove Foundation Scholarship. CCOC’s Scholarship winners come from 14 different high schools and represent 15 CCOC programs. The Health Occupations program had the most winners (8), followed by Truck Mechanics, Auto Body and Medical Assisting.

While in college, Grove Scholars must maintain a minimum 2.5 grade point average, take a full course load, attend Grove Scholars events and program offerings, and continue their college career path. The scholarship is for up to $4,000 as determined by the student’s education plan.

The Grove Foundation was founded in 1986 by former Intel Chairman and CEO Andy Grove and his wife Eva. The Groves founded the School-to-Career program in 1998 in order to give students an opportunity to achieve their focused career goal in careers such as automotive technicians, paralegals, nurses, accounting and medical assisting. The scholarships are limited to students who will attend Cabrillo College, Evergreen Valley College or San Jose City College to earn their career-focused two-year associate's degree or technical certificate.

CCOC Grove Scholars include seniors Jordan Nuque, Adrianna Rodriguez, Ana Guitron and Michael Almeida* from Mt. Pleasant High School; Antonio Aguilar* from Overfelt High School; Cory Laubscher and Melissa Garcia from Pioneer Hernandez, and Tejinder Singh,* Edgar Gonzalez* and Traci Stanger* from Silver Creek High School. Those marked with a * applied through their home high school.

For more information on CCOC’s Grove Scholarship winners, contact Michelle Alaimo at 723-6464 or malaimo@metroed.net.

For more information, call (408) 221-6335.

Barnes & Noble Eastridge, Santa Clara County Office of Education
and Kaiser will be hosting Fit For Learning Festival

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, childhood obesity affects 1 in 3 children in the United States and remains “the fastest-growing, most threatening disease in American today.” Presented with these alarming statistics, more and more school districts are implementing programs to combat this epidemic. The Santa Clara County Office of Education, in collaboration with Kaiser and Barnes & Noble is pleased to present our Fit For Learning Festival countywide. Parents, children and their families will learn valuable information to help them make healthy choices in diet, exercise and in life.

The Barnes & Noble located at Eastridge Mall will be hosting the following events in support of this great initiative:

Saturday, Feb. 9 at 3:30 p.m. - Physician Bindya Singh, author of Nine Easy Steps To Complete Health and Well Being discusses different ways we can improve our physical, mental and spiritual health.

Saturday, Feb. 16 - Healthy Choices Storytime at 12:30 p.m. - Learn about healthy choices in this special Saturday story time, featuring a special mystery guest!

Saturday, Feb. 16 - Kaiser Educational Theatre Program at 2:30 p.m. - Barnes & Noble Eastridge is pleased to welcome members of Kaiser’s Educational Theatre Program! Join us for singing, dancing and tons of audience participation while sharing information on nutrition, education, literacy and more.

Saturday, Feb. 16 - Live Music Featuring David “Papa Hugs” Sharp at 4:00 p.m. - Our Fit for Learning Festival continues with an outstanding musical performance by local children’s musician David Sharp and his band. Don’t forget to pick up a copy of his outstanding CD, All The Things You Can Dream available in our Music & DVD Dept.

Barnes & Noble Eastridge will also have special health-themed story times during its regular story time period. Toddlers and Preschool children on Mondays at 10:30 a.m. and All Ages Story Time Saturdays at 12:30 p.m.

A percentage of the sales at Barnes & Noble Eastridge, and at other Barnes & Noble stores throughout Santa Clara County, will be donated to the Fit For Learning Program at the Santa Clara County Office of Education. (From Feb. 9-17). Customers interested in contributing can go to the Santa Clara County Office of Education or Fit for Learning Websites at www.sccoe.org or fitforlearning.org to obtain a voucher. Be sure to present it at the store for your sale to get credit.

“Fit for Learning is a great program that combines important information about the importance of choosing the right foods and being active with reading and literature, something Barnes & Noble is all about, “said Karl Bachert, Store Manager.

Spring into Spring with Your Preschooler

By Nadine Williams
Director of East Hills Preschool

East Hills Preschool was awarded a grant from the city’s Keep San Jose Beautiful Program and it came at a perfect time because we are preparing now for our spring science curriculum.

The activity of seeding to plant and observing how plants bring forth leaves and flowers is a wonderfully engaging experience for children to learn about the cycle of life and how it relates to most aspects in our world, including people.

At East Hills Preschool the children help us place native, California plants and flowers in our Hummingbird and Butterfly Habitats. The Butterfly Habitat was started ten years ago when teacher Peggy Susoeff joined the preschool and decided to leverage the school’s 3000 square-foot backyard hillside to plant butterfly-attracting plants for a hands-on Life Science program.

Parents can easily implement these life science lessons at home and now is a great time to start preparing. Identify an area in your yard where you can place native plants that attract and sustain butterflies and hummingbirds. Some great sources for plants are www.laspilitas.com and www.larnerseeds.com.

Talk with your children about what they’d like to plant. Choose a weekend in early March for a planting activity. Afterwards, give your preschooler the task of watering the plants regularly and observing the hummingbirds and butterflies they attract.

Our philosophy at East Hills Preschool is that learning is an active experience. When we create environments like our Hummingbird and Butterfly Habitats, our children learn through hands-on activities and develop the love of learning. This, in turn, helps enhance self-motivation, which impacts self-direction and, ultimately, self-image.

About East Hills Preschool
East Hills Preschool is a well-respected early childhood education institution that has been serving the community since 1979. Through a very stimulating and loving environment we maintain high standards of education. We offer 2-day, 3-day and 5-day three-hour sessions for potty-trained children ages 2 years and 9 months to 6 years old. Our classroom ratios are 3 teachers to every 24 students.

Registration for the upcoming 2008-2009 school year is Saturday, Mar. 1 from 8 to 10:30 a.m. at East Hills Preschool. For more information or for a school tour, call (408) 923-8616 or visit www.easthillspreschool.com.

Kohl’s offers scholarships to young volunteers

Through the Kohl’s Kids Who Care® Scholarship Program, more than 7,000 scholarships and prizes totaling over $1.5 million have been awarded to youth volunteers nationwide since 2001. This year, Kohl’s plans to award another 1,900 kids ages 6 to 18 with $300,000 in scholarships and prizes. Awards range from $50 to $5,000 to recognize their selfless acts.

Kids are making a huge impact. In fact, America’s youths contribute more than 1.3 billion hours of community service each year, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service.* Kohl’s feels strongly about recognizing the actions of these stand-up kids.

The Community Service Survey* notes an estimated 15.5 million youths participate in volunteer activities; this is nearly twice the adult volunteering rate. Last year’s national Kids Who Care scholarship winners included a 9 year-old who raised $19,000 to buy 23,000 pounds of food for a local food pantry, a 12 year-old who raised more than $20,000 for kids with life-threatening illnesses and a 17 year-old who founded a school group to increase student and community autism awareness.

“We’ve seen kids take volunteering to new heights by creating their own community programs, teaching younger kids to read after school and hosting birthday parties to benefit animal shelters, among other good deeds – their compassion is evident and inspiring,” said Julie Gardner, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Kohl’s Department Stores. “Through the Kids Who Care Scholarship Program, Kohl’s is thrilled to encourage and reward these kids for their initiative, creativity, leadership and generosity.”

To nominate a young volunteer for a Kids Who Care scholarship, visit www.kohlskidswhocare.com. Nominations are accepted Feb. 1 through Mar. 15. Two nominees from each of Kohl’s 900+ stores will win a $50 Kohl’s gift card; 190 of them will win regional scholarships worth $1,000 toward post-secondary education. Ten volunteers will earn national recognition winning scholarships worth $5,000 toward post-secondary education. Kohl’s will also contribute $1,000 to a nonprofit organization on behalf of each national winner.

The Kids Who Care Scholarship Program is part of Kohl’s Cares for Kids, a program focused on improving the lives of children.For more information or a list of past Kohl’s Kids Who Care winners, visit www.kohlskidswhocare.com.

Silicon Valley Education Foundation launched

By Muhammed Chaudhry
President and CEO, Silicon Valley
Education Foundation

I am delighted to share with you the latest transformation of our Education Foundation. In order to embrace the regional challenges that are faced by our local public schools, the Board of Directors has made the decision to move beyond the borders of the City of San Jose, and offer our programming and expertise to the larger Silicon Valley. As of Feb. 4, 2008, the San Jose Education Foundation will become the Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF).

These are exciting and challenging times for those of us who are concerned about education. The stakes keep getting higher for both our students and the educators who serve them. At the same time, budgets are contracting and there are fewer and fewer resources to meet the growing need. However, these very challenges have created the motivation at the state and local level to make meaningful changes in public education.

We are very proud of our progressive history of serving just one East San Jose neighborhood to now serving the entire Silicon Valley. We have leveraged our expertise in connecting the larger business community and civic leadership with actual schools and their students. In the last five years, this Foundation has raised over $14.9 million on behalf of our schools, serving over 18,300 teachers, students and families.

The Silicon Valley Education Foundation will continue the exciting work of SJEF throughout Silicon Valley. SVEF will focus on the following to achieve our goals:

·1. A Voice for Silicon Valley schools: We drive debate around education, providing a unified voice for the 34 school districts in the Silicon Valley.

·2. Connect Silicon Valley Businesses to Silicon Valley Schools: We are the conduit from the boardroom to the classroom, providing Silicon Valley businesses with the expert knowledge to make sound investment decisions in Silicon Valley schools.

·3. Invest in teachers: We help recruit quality teachers and bring innovation into the classroom, continuing our successful programs like Teach Here, Live Here rental assistance for teachers, and innovation grants for the classrooms.

·4. Prepare Silicon Valley students to Silicon Valley Jobs: We are launching a program to accelerate math learning for middle school students, and an exciting new program being announced today.

·5. Advocate for arts education and special education services: Assisting teachers and schools in providing a rich educational environment for a wide range of students.

.For more information, please visit us at SVEFoundation.org.

Speech winners

Speech winners in the East Side Elementary School District were recognized in a ceremony at Chaboya Middle School.

Back row, from left to right: Roshan Nayak, Sebastian McGriff, Devangi Vivrekar, Arushi Sardana, Katelyn Chen, Kelly Shi. Front Row, from left to right: Samiha Dawalbhakta, Dan Truong, Priya Padmanaban, Enrique Guerra.

Picrtured right: Speech coordinators from left to right: Linda Mora, director of instruction in the Evergreen School District; Gina Juarez, assistant principal at Quimby Oak Middle School; Ruth Stephens-Radle, assistant principal at Quimby Oak Middle School; Lyn Gustaferro, assistant principal at LeyVa Middle School.