May 2, 2008

Evergreen SchoolScene

It’s in the cards

Learning while you play

By Selma Skokic
Times Intern

Excited chatter and laughter echo from Mrs. Arlynn Paulsens’ fifth grade science class at Dove Hill Elementary School. A passerby might think that her students were playing with video games, when in reality they are engrossed in a card game called “Bright Future” that teaches students about the environment just in time for Earth Day.

According to Sherry Blum, Director of Strategic Communi-cations for Applied Materials, “the Bright Future Card game was developed by Applied Materials in conjunction with two educators last summer as part of an Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education (IISME) project.” She explains that this game can be used in a schools or enrichment programs and is a fun way to teach elementary school children about sustainability.

“The game developed out of the company's desire to bring an understanding of environmental sustainability concepts to children in elementary schools.  At a time when environmental and sustainability literacy are becoming critical to the planet, this game is intended to help teachers develop inspirational curricula or play that will enable children to become good stewards of the Earth’s resource,” Blum says.

She further explained that the game encourages strategic thinking and makes students aware that people have a direct impact on the environment. “ It can be used in schools or informal settings, and can be incorporated in science, language arts, math, social studies or arts programs,” Blum says.

Students are engrossed in a card game called “Bright Future” that taught them about the environment just in time for Earth Day.

The game is being evaluated by 40 teachers in 25 schools in California, Oregon and Texas with about 1,200 students taking part in the pilot program. After the evaluation, the card game and Teacher's Guide will be made available to interested teachers to use in their 2008/09 school year program, Blum says.

The game is free of charge and interested teachers can sign up for it at their website http://brightfuture.appliedmaterials.com/game/. If there are enough resources, parents may also sign up to receive the game. Paulsen signed up to pilot the game and is surprised that her students enjoy it so much. She stated that she used the game as a reward in her classroom and it is something they look forward to.

The excited voice of one of her pupils, Rosario, can be heard as she plays the game. “ I just put down an awareness card which is letting us know what is going on with the earth,” Rosario says. It is amazing how much students such as Rosario can learn when fun is incorporated into the classroom. Principal Tina Choy explained that she likes to brig different concepts to the classroom whether it be technology or a game.

A $377,000 GRAND SLAM

The East Valley Family YMCA surpasses 2008 fundraising goal

The volunteer board of managers at the East Valley Family YMCA proudly displays their fundraising check for $377,436.00.

Congratulations to the 200 volunteers and staff at the East Valley Family YMCA who “hit one out of the park,” reporting a record-setting $377,000 and some pocket change – surpassing this year’s 23-day Community Support Campaign goal of $375,000 – 101 percent!

“The YMCA is a positive and enriching organization for keeping kids actively involved in after-school activities, and I’m sure it gives their parents peace of mind that their children are cared for in a caring and structured environment.” said Denise Morris of Windermere Town and Country, who was happy to assist the campaign with a generous contribution of $12,500.

The 160 who volunteered their time to this year’s fund-raising program were inspired by the contribution from Windermere and encouraged other members of the Evergreen and Silver Creek communities to do the same. The volunteers agree that the YMCA is instrumental in improving the quality of life for many in Evergreen and the surrounding areas.

Eddie Garcia

NAACP honors Evergreen resident Eddie Garcia

Eddie Garcia, Evergreen resident and Vice President of the East Side Union High School District Board of Trustees received the NAACP of Silicon Valley's 2008 Freedom Fighter Award. With his family in attendance, Garcia accepted the award at the 56th Annual NAACP Freedom and Friend-ship Gala in downtown San Jose on Apr. 12.

The NAACP highlighted Garcia's two decades of working in business, education and with community-based organizations. As a community activist, he has focused his efforts on developing diverse community leadership. As an ESUHSD trustee, he plans to launch a major initiative to close the education achievement gap to provide the opportunity for all students to succeed. "I understand the importance of a great education," said Garcia. "It's such an honor that the NAACP has recognized the work we have done in the ESUHSD."

Eddie Garcia is a graduate of James Lick High School and San Jose State University. He, his wife Sandra, a Silver Creek High School graduate and elementary school principal, and daughters Marisa and Erica, live in Evergreen.

Evergreen girl wins first prize for United Nations Children’s Painting Competition

Cindy Liu, a fifth grader at Harker School and an Evergreen resident, won the North American first prize in the 17th International Children's Painting Competition on the Environment.

As a regional winner over 700 entries in The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Cindy was honored on Earth Day at a special award ceremony at the U.S. Botanical Garden in Washington D. C. She will also receive an all-expense paid trip to the official World Environment Day celebration in Wellington, New Zealand on June 5 and a cash award of $1,000.

Cindy Liu was awarded the certificate by Peter Rafle, Communication Director for the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Cindy spent almost two months to complete her painting in the art studio of Fang Yunhua in Cupertino. In explaining her inspiration for her winning entry, she says: "In my drawing, I wanted to illustrate how to control climate change by using the various renewable energy sources, such as windmills, dams, solar panels, and ethanol.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said in a congratulatory letter, "I would like to thank you for creating awareness about environmental issues through your art".Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren also sent a letter saying "I hope you will continue to set an example for your peers and community by continuing to use your artistic abilities to educate and highlight their importance".

Cindy was awarded the certificate by Mr. Peter Rafle, Communication Director for the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in Washington D. C.

At the top of the class

Elementary students maxed the grade cards with 4.0 GPA in the second trimester at Evergreen School District

Cadwallader
4th Grade – Singh Amritpal, Duong Annie, Popisith Benjamin, Medida Francis, Tran Savannah, Choyce Sierra; 5th Grade – Nguyen Kristie, Tantiyavarong Yui; 6th Grade – Martinez Katherine, Reynoso Michael, Truong Michlle, Snell Miira, Phan Mivhael

Carolyn Clark
4th Grade – Natalie Chau, Jennifer Chun, Shreya Dash, Sampada Deglurkar, Michelle Du, Aimee Elazegui, Rahul Joshi, Shamanth Kuramkote, Ethan Le, Christine Lui, Yash Maniyar, Ayden Nagel, Falisha Nguyen, Rohit Panikar, Anushna Patel, Shubhi Pathak, Shilpa Repakular, Swetha Revanur, Nikhil Swaminathan, An-Vin Tran, Siddharth Venkatraman, Marcos Verbera, Melissa Wen, Daniel Xiao; 5th Grade – Ramneek Bains, Shivani Bandaru, Jason Bao, Kushol Bhattacharjee, James Chen, Amy Chu, Aaron Deng, Jeremy Fan, Tanmay Ghai, Tanvi Gupta, Akhil Harapanahalli, Lewis Hong, Tara Iyer, Ricky Kishimoto, Zoe Liao, Mindy Luong, Deena Manithep, Michelle Phan, Kalpita Prabhu, Andrea Quimson, Jose Rocha, Karey Shi, Zaki Siddiqui, Charlie Tian, Ethan Trans, Rohan Varma, Megana Vasu, Karina Wong, Jackie Zou; 6th Grade – Saba Ahmed, James Fahey, Nicole Fish, Emilio Garcia, Justin Gaspar, Sarah Giovannini, Megan Ho, Arshdeep Kaur, Joshua Lizak, Justin Ma, Zuhayeer Musa, Carolyn Ngo, Annhien Nguyen, Maxine Patwardhan, Briana Pong, Richard Qian, Justin Tran, Thuyvy Tu, Regina Xu, Vivian Yu, Jamie Zhang, Lilian Zhou

Cedar Grove
4th Grade – Caitlyn Hernando, Mara Matagne, Shannon Tong; 5th Grade – Meileen Cereno, Raymond Chin, Marleyne Delrosario, Christine Le, Diana Nguyen, Lynn Pham, Aleeza Roque, Evan To, Katrina Tran, Jared Victoria; 6th Grade – Zenab Ali, Jackie Borcequin, Nicolette Fregoso, Kali Gabler, Shama Khan, Tiffany Luu, Jade Nguyen, Yvonne Nguyen, Alyssa Phan, Sharon To, Devin Udasco, Josephine Vu

Dove Hill
4th Grade – Tiana Harry, Irene Ho, Charles Le, Cuc Nguyen, Nina Nguyen, Quang Nguyen, Tiffany Vuong; 5th Grade – Arika Fisher, Pamela Nacion; 6th Grade – Jessie Delacruz, Adriana Diaz, Toni Harry, Robirt Kong, Pollina Lopez, Cambinh Nguyen, Cathy Nguyen, Michelle Nguyen, Vanessa Nguyen, Asiah Reynolds, Karen Van

Evergreen
4th Grade – Auni Bagchi, Ryan Chane, Angie Chen, Saher Daredia, Steven Duong, Flora Feng, David Ha, Jialin Hu, Brook Jiang, Kenneth Khuu, Elizabeth Lee, Stanley Lu, Christina Trinh, Lawrence Wan, Kevin Wang, Tyler Yep; 5th Grade – Adit Desphande, Dilpreet Dosanjh, Sindhu Giri, Darissa Hicks, Raymond Huynh, Lennon Kalodrich, Winston Liao, Claire Lu, Michelle Luo, Brian Nguyen, Megan Nguyen, Rebecca Nguyen, Aeon Noveno, Megan Pham, Albert Tan; 6th Grade – Oindrila Das, DivyaHans Gupta, Francesca Hellebrandt, Eller Roblo Juco, Justin Kam, Steven Kou, Priyanka Kulshreshtha, Swaathi Kurella, Geneva Le, Lilian Nguyen, Sophhia Pashtunyar, Adrian Sim, Jillian Simpson, Michael To, Cindy Wang, Andrew Wing

Holly Oak
4th Grade – Ashley Cam, Raymond Dacanay, Quyen Dinh, Jessica DeLaPaz, Connie Huang, Adam Jaka, Jordon Morla, Stephanie Ortiz-Sevilla, Daniel Te, Andrew Tea, Kevin Tran, Tammy Tran, Jenny Vuong; 5th Grade – Nhi Chu, Mithila Dastider, Joshua DeGuzman, Joshua DeLaPaz, Andrew Flandez, April Nguyen, Tracy Nguyen, Vicky Nguyen, Destinee Torrez, Christina Truong, Breanna Williams; 6th Grade – Matthew Camacho, Kim-Mai Hoang, Alexander Lee, Joseph Martinez, Mohammed Zaidi

J.F. Smith
4th Grade – Ryan Bao, Alexandra Bennett, Esther Chang, Jason Contreras, Srishti Dhawan, Sandhya Iyer, Sabrina Jones, Priyanka Kapoor, Kayla Kim, Kellan Kim, Kalvin Lam, Lawrence Li, Hannah Malkofsky-Berger, Brian Milner, Simran Pabla, Priya Padmanaban, Maximillian Sosa, Amiel Wanta; 5th Grade – Divya Balchander, Akash Bellippady, Brandon Bui, Arvan Das, Anushka Deshmukh, Kevin Dinh, John Dobrota, Wicia Fang, Ayana Francisco, Shiva Kannan, Jennifer Kim, Daniela Lee, Surbhi Lohia, Arvind Nandi, Kacee Ngo, Tina Nguyen, Katherine Tian, Joanne Tu; 6th Grade – Elsa Althof, Martha Cabatic, Rhea Dadoo, Amanda Dao, Serena Dhillon, Shaheen Eskandari, Aliya Francisco, Wesley Hsu, Vincent Hu, Priyanka Krishnamurthi, Judy Le, Timothy Le, Jessie Lee, Rachan Narala, Tiffany Nguyen, Vinshaan Nguyen, Viviene Nguyen, Meghan Noyes, Jonathan Pham, Thong Pham, Andrea Quan, Shivani Reddy, Yvonne Tran, Paul Vu, Jennifer Williams, Miranda Yu

K.R. Smith
4th Grade – Charlene Delacruz, Brandon Dinh, Dustin Le, Anastasia Lopez, Shirley Mach, Nathalia Mayorga, Raymond Perez, Alexa Reyes, Irving Sanchez, Samantha Yu; 5th Grade – Shirley Doan; 6th Grade – Gonzalez, Jessica Huynh, Jessica Khauv, Christina Ly, Joel Martinez, Quynh Phan, Adam Romayor

Laurelwood
4th Grade – Madison Bolinger, Adriana Cruz, Anuj Dave, Clark Gholamipour, Pranav Govindaraju, Cynthia Ly, Jenesis Merriman, William Nguyen, Brian Phan; 5th Grade – Vivienne Bui-Tu, Sara Hoshino, Kendall Mcclung, Brianna Merritt, Dean Nguyen, Mackenzi Noto, John Tran, Jeremy Wong; 6th Grade – Krishna Babu, Nikhil Badrinath, Keitel Delrosario, Karin Gandler, Shiva Govindaraju, Simon Le, Christian Mimberg, Jourdan Salinas, Ryan Tsukamoto

Matsumoto
4th Grade – Theresa Abalos, Amog Kamsetty, Jun Kim, Samya Konda, Siddharth Kulkarni, Tae-Shin Lee, Kelsey Lieberman, Justin Lin, Aditya Mamtora, Roshan Narayan, Divya Nekkanti, Aakash Parikh, Michele Pham, Ryan Pham, Anu Polisetty, Raeek Rahman, Manu Saravanan, Riya Shah, Kirtana Veeraraghaven, Priyal Vij, Janaki Vivrekar; 5th Grade – Ruchi Aggarwal, Atehsa Ahagun, Pranav Akella, Himari Aligireddy, Siri Balusu, Riya Bansal, Rahul Battini, Rohan Bhargava, Jennie Chen, Stephanie Cheng, Ausha Dandamudi, Brigitte Dang, Ojus Deshmukh, Ashley Ding, Nikhil Duggirala, Sahiti Gilela, Samuel Han, Karthik Harihara, Mujtuba Husain, Justin Huynh, Harleen Kaur, Sarah Koulabouth, Aarti Lalwani, Andrew Lam, Shannon Lam, Isabella Le, Amanda Luong, Emily Luong, Keith Luong, Samhita Mungamoori, Srivarsha Nandula, Megan Ng, Michelle Nguyen, Nathan Nguyen, Nicholas Nguyen, Roby Park, Ayushi Parmar, Amogh Pathi, Don Robert Pornaras, Sachit Puntambekar, Isha Sakhalkar, Vivek Sharath, Sakshi Soti, Chandrakumari Suvarna, Vanessa Tan, Quynh-Dan Tran, Kendrick Trinh, Michelle Truong, Mallika Varhedi, Sonakshi Vatsa, Danielle Vu, Leeanna Vu, Jessica Wu, Andre Xiong; 6th Grade – Vince Abalos, Stephanie Bui, Christopher Cabreros, Namrata Challa, Ethan Chou, Siddharth Gampa, Mayank Ganesan, Kshitij Gaur, Apurva Gorti, Aamir Hasnat, Kiran Kastury, Alisha Khieu, Jason Liao, Sarah Martinez, Daljodh Pannu, Omkar Raje, Anil Ramappa, Ashwath Ramdas, Trishika Shetty, Ariana Tang, Aimee Vo, Richa Wadekar, Marco Zuniga

Millbrook
4th Grade – Marcelo Almora, Paramdeep Atwal, Sahivjit Chahal, Beatriz Derecho, Jenny Dinh, Deanne Go, Serene Helton, Celine Khuu, Savannah Lavalle, Adrienne Luu, Kenneth Luu, Mark Miranda, Suman Modak, Cesar Moncada, Andre Nguyen, Gabriel Nguyentran, Arshvir Saini, Allisia Sunbury, Khoa Ta, Mindy Tran, Tiffany Tran; 5th Grade – Sanjana Bolleddu, Michelle Cang, Roman DeLaTorre, Jaskiran Kalsi, Emily Moncada, Queenie Ngo, Anthony Nguyen, Erika Olivar, Amy Pham, Leilani Quisenberry, Ramneek Singh, Jessica To, Sydney To, Carina Ulengco, Diana Vu, Nina Zamora; 6th Grade – Christina Bui, Ashley Dang, Brenda Dinh, Kim Dinh, Victoria Duong, Gaganjit Ghardhora, Anna Gonzalez, Ashley Ho, Amanda Huynh, Amy Huynh, Anna Le, Brandon Luu, Kelly Luu, Gurprem Mahal, Jasdeep Mundra, Dana Ngo, Brian Nguyen, Jenny Nguyen, JohnPaul Rindfleisch, Ivy Truong, Brian Vo, Andrew Vu, Jacqueline Vu

Montgomery
4th Grade – Brandon Pham; 5th Grade – Adrian Orozco; 6th Grade – Ashley Argumedo, Vicky Dinh, Jennifer Do, Long Huynh, Veronica Ramirez, Eric Trinh, Silvana Valle

Norwood Creek
4th Grade – Rocio Bonilla, Andy Chen, Thanada Nhuong, Akansha Ravishanker, Akshay Ravishanker, Jonathan Tai, Tracy Tran, Samantha Villanueva, Michelle Vu; 5th Grade – Kiara Calayag, Vivian Dang, Nikki Do, Rohit Godbole, Brian Han, Danielle Mendoza, Aerilynn Nguyen, Jennifer Phung, Ethan Stephens; 6th Grade – Jenny Duong, Allan Ho, Priya Mittal, Aksay Naik, Roshan Nayak, Julie Nguyen, Kim Nguyen, Hilary Phan, Shreya Ramesh, Minh Truong, Oshton Tsen, Charles Wei

O.B. Whaley
4th Grade – Ruben Aguirre, Fareen Ali, Alice Dang, Michelle Doan, Emily Nguyen, Juliann Nguyen, Katie Nguyen, Manh Nguyen, Phuong Pham, Dan Truong, Jasmine Vo; 5th Grade – Alejandro Andrade, Teresa Le, Cuong Luu, Jennifer Nguyen, Jacob Palarca, Leslie Pat, Michael Pham, Raul Sanchez, Jaisal Singh, Edgar Valtierra; 6th Grade – Angelica Gonzalez, Alan Lam, Paula Legaspi, Van Ly, An Nguyen, Kim Nguyen, Trang Nguyen, Herlando Placheta, Rita Russom, Stephanie Tombo, Amy Vu, Phi Vu, Chanh Vuu

Silver Oak
4th Grade – Nikhil Aggarwal, Megan Aguilar, Jennifer Alex, Isabel Anaya, Sarah Barsch, Sofia Bettaglio, Erika Bhadra, Jacob Brashears, Justin Collier, Ryan Condensa, Madison Conway, Rachael DeDominicis, Anirudh Duvvuru, Elyse Gonzales, Meera Haridasa, Annop Jain, P.J. LaBarbera, Alison Lee, Vincent Leuzze, Colin McKinnon, Andrea Morrone, Dominique Nguyen, Stephanie Nguyen, Raina Patel, Austin Sanchez, Samantha Scoppetone, Aarushi Sharma, Samantha Thomas, Milind Vasudev, Melissa Wong, Kevina Xiao; 5th Grade – Nivedita Ahlawat, Sehej Ahluwalia, Taylor Allen, Ankita Bhanot, Kylie Burdsall, Kevin Foltz, Teagan Haden, Maheen Jawaid, Diana Knott, Navya Konda, Jason Li, Ryan Mack, Amanda Marsh, Ankita Pannu, Pradeep Pranav, Sarina Raghavan, Jorge Rodriguez, Lucas Semkiw, Karina Sharma, Jennifer Sherwood, Lydia Sum, Julianne Taylor, Alan Tran, Taylor Whitehead, Stephanie Yang, Evan Zhao; 6th Grade – Lindsey Allen, Elise Barsch, Daniel Berestov, Jessica Choi, Karen Chou, Danielle Davis, Bhrigu Gollabinnie, Simran Gulati, Kyle Hane, Naeha Haridasa, Colette Hendry, Erica Kao, Kayla Kettmann, Christine Kim, Katherine Kirst, Parth Kothari, Sydney Kvitek, Celine Le, Myly Le, Rebecca Lee, Huy Mai, Siddharth Mattela, Megan Nguyen, Brittany Oliveira, Nicholas Phan, Smriti Pramanick, Brandon Sanchez, Megan Seo, Allen Speers, Monica Thukral, Eric Whitehead, Jaclyn Woodward, Claire Yoshioka, Catalina Zhao


Students in middle schools made top grades during third quarter

Chaboya Middle
7th Grade – Sarah Abalos, Tausif Ahmed, Ridhi Arun, Aaron Bagheri, Neeraj Baid, Amrit Bajwa, Vagisha Barot, Kabir Budwal, Katie Bui, Allison Chan, Tiffani Chanroo, Gareth Chen, Julie Chen, Michael Chin, Shelly Chopra, Harshika Chowdhary, Sarah Chung, Alexa Cioffi, Angela Cortese, Aanand Dave, Linh-Thao Do, Laura Dovek, Joi Duncan, Jessica Ferguson, Wynonna Fuentez, Brandon Guerrero, Vivienne Gunadhi, Richard Guzikowski, Marissa Ha, Molly Haar, Paige Haar, Atiriya Hari, Shayna Herns, Ariel Hsing, Nour Itani, Akash Kakumani, Nischaydeep Kaur, Bridget King, Gayathri Kuppa, Kelly Larson, Marcus Le, Megan Le, Yoon-Shin Lee, Christine Li, Tiffany Lien, Melanie Liu, Yizhe Liu, Brandon Luis, David Mace, Kary Mckinnon, Esther Melton, Vidush Mukund, Brittney Nguy, Alan Nguyen, Andrew A. Nguyen, Andrew T. Nguyen, Angela Nguyen, Cynthia Nguyen, Kimberly Nguyen, Mia Nguyen, Joshua Ogrey, Mihika Padbidri, Christian Pascual, Jenny Pham, Phat Phan, Kylee Piazza, Ashley Poelman, Sidart Pradeep, Kelly Quach, Arinee Rahman, Dominique Resuello, Bianca Romulo, Taran Sa-A, Arushi Sardana, Alexandra Schmitt, Ryan Severson, Ajay Shimoga, Alexander Sosa, Vijitha Sridhar, Danielle Steinberg, Rachel Steinberg, Anisha Sunkerneni, Samantha Swenor, Madeline Taylor, Logan Tobey, Amanda Tran, Bryan Tran, Chi-Lan Tran, Kim Tran, Randall Tran, Tiffany Tram Tran, Katie Trieu, Lannie Trieu, Nancy Truong, Danica Van, Monica Van, Sumeet Vij, Devangi Vivrekar, Brian Vo, Christine Vu, Nancy Vu, Victoria Vu, Christine Wang, Michelle Wang, Rebecca Wang, Andrew Wong, Tyler Wong, Kalmina Wu, Larry Yi, Maxime Zaccarin, Katherine Zu; 8th Grade – Anika Arif, Meghana Bhimarao, Chelsea Braza, Calvin Bui, Katheryn Calio, Marcello Caporicci, Liselotte Caris, Courtney Chan, Katelyn Chen, Ray Chen, Karin Cheng, Ariq Chowdhury, Kevin Chuang, Jasmin Craighead, Hiba Dada, Anay Dattawadkar, Darren Dinh, Brian Do, Rachel Do, Sukhreet Dosanjh, Tiffany Duong, Sean Ellner, Mikelle Foster, Chaddy Georges, Barbara Gould, Alexia Green, Minecea Guerrero, Linda Hoang, Phuc Hoang, Andre Huynh, Christina Ja, Neeharika Jaladanki, Balaji Kalluri, Rohan Kapre, Bhargavi Karumuri, Manasi Kasbekar, Zaneb Khan, Winston Kim, Tiffany Koval, Jonjei Ku, Monica Kullar, Evie Lee, Jimmy Lee, Perry Leong, May Lu, Tiffany Lu, Peter Luong, Erica Luu, Omar Martinez, Sanya Mehta, Milan Mishra, Ronodeep Mitra, Nicole Morena, Sapna Nayyar, Alexander Nguyen, Brandon Nguyen, Christine Nguyen, Kevin Nguyen, Sherry Nguyen, Jasmeen Nijjar, Gurdeep Pabla, Gabriela Padilla, Preethi Padmanaban, Natalie Pang, Shaquiel Pashtunyar, Ankita Pasupunatla, Chandni Patel, Vanessa Peneyra, Michelle Pham, Quyen Anh Pham Tran, Nancy Phan, Praneetha Potiny, Lauren Principi, Subi Qian, Yang Qu, Timothy Quach, Emily Quan, Megan Ramaekers, Leslie Rincon, Tiyana Rogers, Uma Sakhalkar, Greeshma Sanchula, David Tan, Jiahui Tan, Andrew Teuthorn, Christopher Thai, Derek Tran, Eric Tran, Lillian Tran, Cynthia Truong, Hanh Truong, Jonathan Vongnarat, Victoria Vu, James Wei, Albert Wong, Cassandra Wong, Shelby Zahn

LeyVa Middle
7th Grade – Arthur Arboledo, Nikki Shine Arquero, Marie Belisario, Gurpreet Bhoot, Jaspreet Bimbh, Han Bui, Ivania Chavez, Jennifer Chin, Jennifer Chung, Nancy Dao, My-Linh Do, Karyna Flores, Kayla Gracia, Melanie Han, Dalena Hua, Katelyn Inouye, Priyanka Khanna, Saurab Kumar, Ana Lomeli, Gabriela Lopez, Almar Marcaida, Ana Milan Mendiola, Alexandra Montijo, Malcom Morales, Cecilia Morfin, Kimmy Nguyen, Diana Nguyen, Christine Nguyen, Charlie Nguyen, Creo Noveno, Tiffany On, Ralph Orteza, Angela Perez, Marissa Reed, Jeannie Salmeron, Leonel Sanchez, Abegail Serrano, Timothy Tan, Brian Tombo, Desiree Torrecampo, Peter Tran, Michelle Tran, Justina Tran, Janet Tran, Kathleen Tubera, Thea Tuliao, Yomira Viramontes, Vanessa Vitaga, Jinny Vo, Catherine Westmoreland, Previn Wong; 8th Grade – Jennifer Brooks, Vivian Bui, Erin Nicole Cariaga, Jim-Floyd Deocampo, Huy Do, Jodie Gee, Nathalie Halley, Alex Hang, Blenda Hoang, Gina Huynh, Naushaba Khan, Karen Lam, Kimberly Mabalot, Wilson Mai, Mi Nguyen, Mary Nguyen, Gina Nguyen, Chamandeep Saini, Ly Tan, Lilian Thoi, Tiffany Tran, Lisa Tran, Cecilia Tran, Michael Truong, Anthony Van, Nancy Year

Quimby Oak Middle
7th Grade – Sabreen Bains, Kevin Bernaga, Ignacio Biorato, Kirsten Blasco, Kyle Calayag, Claudia Chan, Yvonne Chau, Louis Chen, Kevin Diep, Christopher Dinh, Jennifer Dinh-Tran, Tracy Do, Amy Doan, Andrew Duong, Minh-Tuan Duong, Alexis Elazegui, Vanessa Guitron, Jessica Ho, Matthew Ho, Stacey Ho, Ivy Hoang, Kevin Hong, Lanh Hong, Julie Huang, Angelina Huynh, Anjali Kuchibhatla, Howard Lam, Kathy Lam, Sarah Lau, Brandon Le, Brendan Lee, Don Lee, Tiffany Lee, Jennifer Liem, Crystal Llanes, Montana Loveday, Tomson Mathai, Shyam Mervana, David Ngo, Jacinta Ngo, Jennifer Ngo, Timmy Ngo, Antoine Nguyen, Jolene Nguyen, Julieanne Nguyen, Tiffany Nguyen, Vivien Nguyen, Bao-Minh Nguyen-Phuc, Randy Nhan, Anna Pham, Cathy Pham, Reann Pham, Vivian Phan, Kyle Plata, Jonathan Purcell, Victor Quach, Maria Quiroz, Kirpanidh Rai, Rachael Renwick, Prakhardeep Singh, Nicole Sordello, Mark Ta, Anjuli Taunk, Tiffany Thang, Paulina To, Alana Tran, Breanna Tran, Patrick Tran, Jenny Trinh, Ann Truong, Giselle Verbera, Izabela Villanueva, Scottie Wan, Stephanie Wong; 8th Grade – Korrissa Aguilar, Aatif Alam, Kyle Alipio, Brandon Apostol, Alexandra Arauz, Miles Caliboso, Vanessa Carr, Laura Cortes, Vivian Dang, Karen Dao, Michelle Dao, Daniel Do, Sue Do, Tiffany Do, Christina Doan, Kathy Doan, Pratir Doshi, Chheang Duong, Katie Duong, Bianca Garcia, Samantha Garcia, Jeremy Garma, Nathan Gonzales, Ashley Guerrero, Meha Gupta, Katharine Hall, Cassidy Harris, Leonard Hua, Stacey Huang, Michelle Huynh, Shawn Ivey, Simranjit Kalotia, Manjot Kaur, Millard Khaing, Emil Kirov, Cindy Lam, Kimberly Lam, Michelle Le, Tien-Minh Le, Alexander Lee, Davis Liang, Royale Lim, Victor Loi, Derrick Luong, Charlie Ly, Caitlyn Ma, Marissa Martinez, Sofia Mejarito, Amtoj Moonach, Erin Nale, David Ngo, Alan Nguyen, Alan Nguyen, Anh Nguyen, Anne Nguyen, Christine Nguyen, Dylan Nguyen, Evelyn Nguyen, Joanne Nguyen, Jonathan Nguyen, Kha Nguyen, Shannon Nguyen, Stacey Nguyen, Tam Nguyen, Lyn Nuygen, Navya Palacherla, Ritu Parekh, Avi Patel, Cindy Pham, Jason Pham, Marian Pham, Rebecca Pham, Badoi Phan, Bonnie Phan, Matthew Phan, Sharika Rakibullah, Diosann Regaspi, Jessica Sabadin, Samuel Scaglione, Kunal Shalia, Kelly Shi, David-Matthew Sierra, Grace Song, Alexander Spoulos, Avneet Sra, Jerik Straetker, Hannah Suh, Jocelyn Torres-Guzman, Andrew Tran, Antoine Tran, Ashley Tran, Beverly Tran, Grace Tran, Katherine Tran, Kathileen Tran, Liana Tran, Livia Tran, Maivy Tran, Vivian Tran, Anna Trinh, Angie Truong, Amanda-Mae Villanueva, Megan Vonderach, Jennifer Vu, Matthew Wang, Phoebe Wang, Mimi Williams, Amy Yu,
Junwei Yu.

Everyone can help raise school funds with eScrip

By Donna H. Eliason
Staff Writer

Budget cuts that target our schools and school personnel concern local families and our community. Most people agree that quality education is vital for our students to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for their goals and our community’s future.

EScrip is an effective way to provide funds to school through this easy fundraising program. ESI (Electronic Scrip Inc.), a registered California corporation, has distributed over 120 million dollars to schools and youth organizations since its founding in 1999. Its purpose is to establish relationships between commerce and the community to provide funds for schools and youth organizations.

eScrip has a proven record of helping schools nationwide. Participating merchants donate a portion the patron’s purchases to an enrolled school or youth organization of their choice. Even out-of-town relatives and friends can sign up to help your school.

Interested schools have a volunteer coordinate and promote the program. Additional information and online enrollment help is found at www.eScrip. Coordinators receive a confirmation letter, a group identification and password. Each month the school receives a statement and the merchants’ contributions. Sample promotional letters and seasonal fliers are also available online.

Parents, school and community members register their grocery loyalty cards, debit or credit cards through this security-conscious program. Families purchase what they would ordinarily do. The more families that participate, the more funding the school receives.

Participating merchants include stores such as Safeway, Lunardi’s, Food for Less, Macy’s and restaurants like Carrows and Round Table Pizza. Even the San Francisco Chronicle is involved. Over 700 merchants nationwide are partners with eScrip, with continuous new additions.

This voluntary program is used at Silver Oak School where Principal Carole Schmitt says the approximate $2,000 received last year went into a fund that helped provide programs such as music and hands-on art. K.R. Smith School used their approximately $200 to help students afford science camp.

Silver Creek High School collected about $4-5,000 last year. Mrs. Thelma Boac, principal, says the money goes for classroom supplies and field trip buses that “enrich the curriculum in ways that are not always possible otherwise.” A field trip school bus costs $600.

As ESUSD Superintendent Bob Nunez says, “We are not making widgets but graduating young adults. We need to invest more into our students.”

Scholarship deadline approaches

Abrazos & Books offers scholarships to Santa Clara county students based on merit and need. Rigo Chacon has been raising money to help students and children in need for many years. Abrazos & Books now provides more scholarships than any other organization on the area. Applications are due May 30. See the Web site at www.abrazosandbooks.com for guidelines and applications.