March 10, 2006

Evergreen SchoolScene

Evergreen schools celebrate Read Across America day

Reading events held at several elementary schools, featuring
guest readers, games and of course …reading

By Diego Abeloos
Editor

March 2 proved to be a day when kids across Evergreen had their collective noses buried in books.

Students from Millbrook Elementary School enjoyed experimenting with Oobleck, a substance made from cornstarch, water and green food coloring, which is also described in the Dr. Seuss book “Bartholomew and the Oobleck,” as part of Dr. Seuss Night held at the School on March 2. The event was in celebration of Reading Across America day, held in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

That’s because local schools celebrated national Read Across America day, in celebration of famed children’s author Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program sponsored nationally by the National Education Associ-ation, which founded the day in May of 1997.

“The National Education Associ-ation affirms that motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers,” said District 8 council member and San Jose mayoral candidate Dave Cortese. “Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school.”

Cortese, who has two children attending school in the Evergreen Elementary School District, spent time on Read Across America Day reading Dr. Seuss’ “Oh the Places You’ll go!” to a group of fifth and sixth-grade students at Carolyn Clark Elementary School.

The reading session was followed by a lively question-and-answer session, with questions ranging from the new city hall, to mail theft, to the stresses of running for office.

“The students asked tougher questions than the ones asked at the mayoral forums,” Cortese said with a chuckle.

Aside from Carolyn Clark Elementary, several other schools within the district also celebrated the day with a wide variety of activities.

Millbrook students enjoy stories read in Spanish by school parent Grace Soto during the school’s annual Dr. Seuss Night, held in celebration of Reading Across America day.

Tom Matsumoto Elementary School celebrated by hosting a Dr. Seuss Night at the school campus, which drew more than 450 parents and students. Children and parents were given bookmarks with a reading pledge upon arrival, and rotated through four different stations of activities, featuring literacy games such as rhyming bingo and Dr. Seuss Jeopardy. In addition, school children wrote and added new lines to the famed Dr. Seuss story, “The Cat in the Hat,” while each wing of the campus also had stations set up for storytelling.

“People had a lovely time,” said Matsumoto Principal Mary Helmer, who dressed as the Cat in the Hat for the event.

“Anytime people can embrace something like reading, it’s just great. It’s a basic foundation for learning. Without reading, where can we go?”

The evening of fun for Matsumoto students came after local firefighters visited the school throughout the day, reading stories to various classrooms. At the end of Dr. Seuss Night, each family walked away with a free book and other prizes, such as Cat in the Hat dolls and lunchboxes from a raffle held during the event.

“I think a reason it was engaging is that some of our old students remember it from years past and showed up for this year’s event,” said Helmer.

For Helmer, reading is an activity requiring total involvement, from the school, to the parents, to the kids themselves.

“That to me is the key,” she said. “…It’s the parent, teacher, child connection that makes reading so valuable. For me, that’s what I’m most proud of.”

“There’s no way to get through life without being able to read,” added Cedar Grove Principal Linda Mora, who spent the day reading Dr. Seuss books to several classes on campus. “The ability to read higher-level material opens doors for you.”

Councilman Dave Cortese reads the Dr. Seuss classic, “Oh the Places You’ll Go” to the fifth and sixth graders at Carolyn Clark Elementary School.

Like Matsumoto, Millbrook Elementary School also held its’ annual Dr. Seuss Night, featuring families rotating from station to station, where they listened to stories read by professional storyteller Brian Conroy, as well as their choice of tales read in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. In addition, kids and their parents also participated in a drawing station, where they learned how to draw the Cat in the Hat and Arthur.

Participants also had the chance to experiment and play with Oobleck, a substance made from cornstarch, water and green food coloring, which is also described in the Dr. Seuss book “Bartholomew and the Oobleck.”

The night concluded with a raffle drawing for books, plush Cat in the Hat toys, as well as plush dragons, the school’s mascot.

“We had almost 300 families come this past year,” said Millbrook Principal Dr. Hedwig Rucker, who opened the evening’s events with a poetry reading. “…There was really great participation. It doesn’t matter if it’s raining or sunny, kids just love that.”

Dr. Rucker echoes Elmer’s comments regarding family and school involvement in getting children to read, noting the educational benefits provided by the desire to read.

“Reading is a priority,” she said. “If you can read, you can educate yourself. If we can teach our children at a young age the joy of reading, everything else happens. It’s like a domino effect. They can do their problem solving in math, they can read their social studies, they can do their science because they have the basic love of reading and understanding its value.”

Millbrook School pays tribute to Karen Rowberry

Former school nurse honored with memorial garden

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

Karen Rowberry came to Millbrook School as a volunteer and stayed for 15 years.

Pictured is one of two of the garden’s planter boxes, which is alive with real and faux flowers in early March. In the background are two of the murals designed, drawn and painted by Millbrook students.

The volunteer, whose children attended Millbrook, later became a school employee—she was a health clerk—and was loved by all in the school. She died of cancer about a year ago, said Millbrook Principal Dr. Hedwig Rucker. “She loved life, and everyone loved her. Soon after her death, Millbrook students created a garden as a memorial and tribute to her.”

Working with fifth grade teacher and project coordinator Anne Marie DuPont, who returned to the East Coast this school year, the students painted murals on the walls of a breezeway at the school. Each class, from kindergarten through sixth grade, created a theme, drew it on the wall and painted the mural, said Dr. Rucker.

Karen’s Garden began to take shape. One of the walls became the Millbrook Family tree. It contains the names of all the teachers and staff.

The remaining murals are based on other themes including working together, children at play, outdoor water scenes, a dragon—the school mascot—and a rainbow with children underneath to represent the school’s diversity.

The sixth grade painted the outdoor water scenes, Dr. Rucker said, because “Karen liked the outdoors.”

Another mural represents the diversity that makes Millbrook special, she said. There are 21 different languages spoken by Millbrook’s students who come from a melange of backgrounds including various Asian countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan as well as East India, Germany, the Philippines and such cultures as African-American, Hispanic and European Caucasian.

In another mural, the children painted what makes the school special. This one includes students and their families, teachers, office staff, the PTA, reading at home and, of course, recess.

The PTA designed a plaque to honor Karen Rowberry.

“It took us two and a half months from start to finish,” said Dr. Rucker. “And while the children were working, the PTA designed and ordered a plaque in memory of Karen and painted one of the two benches in the garden. Very close friends of Karen painted the other bench.”

The project was completed last May.

It couldn’t be a garden without flowers. The San Jose Beautifi-cation program donated daffodils while one of Karen’s friends provided irises. The PTA bought two maple trees and the community and parents donated different perennials. The school also planted some ground cover so the garden always has color and greenery.

The plants and flowers were placed into two large planters. One planter is red and the other gold. The gold one has red handprints and the red has gold handprints. The handprints are from representatives of each class.

“The garden is child-friendly. It’s also calming. I love to walk through it and center myself,” said Dr. Rucker. “On nice days, the children can choose to eat lunches out there and typically that is the first space to fill up.”

Evergreen Valley College and San Jose State University
Announce $3.5 Million Hispanic Student Transfer Program

Evergreen Valley College (EVC) and San Jose State University (SJSU) announced a federally sponsored Title V partnership to improve transfer rates of Hispanic students from Evergreen Valley College to San Jose State University.

The $3.49 million dollar program will span five years and consist of three components: Increasing completion rates of “gateway” classes; increasing coordination between SJSU and EVC counselors and faculty, and; extending mentoring and tracking of students once they reach SJSU. The mission of the partnership is to develop, implement, and institutionalize a set of structures and processes on both campuses to increase Hispanic student success.

The program was created by Richard Regua, an English Professor at EVC and Enlace Program chair, and Dr. George Castro, an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry and former Associate Dean of the College of Science at SJSU and an Enlace mentor.

“We want Hispanic students to graduate; that’s the goal,” Dr. Castro said. “Currently less than half of the Hispanic students who transfer to State get to graduation. Right now there is no way to assess what these students need. EVC didn’t know what happened to its students once they left and SJSU didn’t know what support they needed when they came in. This program will help address these issues.”

The first component of the program will take place at EVC and address low Hispanic completion rates in Math, Science, and English courses. EVC’s nationally renowned Enlace Program will train a group of faculty in techniques proven to increase transition and success rates of students. These techniques include culturally sensitive instruction, tying outcomes to assessment, a strong emphasis on mentoring, and peer tutoring.

The second component is direct collaboration between counselors and faculty at EVC and SJSU to weave a support system for Hispanic students as they transfer. This collaboration will occur at all levels of support, including transfer counseling, mentoring and tutoring. This component will also include a Summer Bridge Program aimed at helping Hispanic transfer students deal with issues that arise for first-generation college students. As Castro noted, this is the first time such a program has been offered to community college students.

Finally, at the University level, the program will build an extensive mentoring system and deploy a tracking system to assure that interventions are timely and effective as students go further in their education.

“We are privileged to work with San Jose State on a program of this magnitude. Evergreen Valley College is committed to ensuring our Hispanic students have the support necessary to be successful,” said David Wain Coon, President of Evergreen Valley College. “Partnerships and programs of this nature are essential to fulfilling this commitment.”