August 22, 2008

Evergreen SchoolScene

Evergreen School District Happenings

The new school year is well underway for the hard-working staff at Evergreen School District. With 18 schools and 13,300 students, summer is prime time to undertake those projects that can only be done when school is not in session. In addition to thorough cleaning projects which include classroom carpets, multipurpose room floors, building walls and bathrooms, many updating and maintenance projects have been completed as well. Quimby Oak has eight new classrooms and new landscaping. Carolyn Clark and Chaboya have each received 3 temporary classrooms. Holly Oak has had new concrete walkways and landscaping. Rubber play matting has been installed at Evergreen, Matsumoto, Cadwallader and Carolyn Clark schools. O.B. Whaley has had a complete field renovation in a very unique joint venture project with the City of San Jose. Chaboya has some new roofing and Cedar Grove has had the accordion walls between classrooms replaced with permanent walls. The schools will be in sparkling shape and ready for students when school begins Aug. 25.

Some of our schools will have new administrators this year! Lyn Vijayendran will take the helm at O.B. Whaley replacing Lisa Artiga, who retired in August. Lyn (formerly Gustaferro) was the assistant principal at LeyVa. Other changes include Dan Deguara from Laurelwood to Norwood Creek; Bob Pruitt from Norwood Creek to Cedar Grove; Brian Martes from Cedar Grove to Carolyn Clark; Jeff Smith from Carolyn Clark to Evergreen; Kathy Shepard from Evergreen to the Instruction Department; Linda Mora from Instruction to Laurelwood; Hedwig Rucker from Millbrook to Montgomery; Kelly Kientzy from Montgomery to LeyVa; Leila Welch from Holly Oak to Millbrook; and Chris Corpus from Instruction to Holly Oak.

This year promises to be a busy one! The study of district boundary changes, which began last year, will continue this year with updated enrollment projections and a series of three community forums. Community forums are scheduled for Sept. 9 at Chaboya, Sept. 16 at Cedar Grove and Sept. 23 at LeyVa. Each forum will begin at 6:00 p.m. and end no later than 8:00 p.m. Check the District Web site for any information updates (www.eesd.org).

As the weeks progress you can expect to hear not only about boundary change proposals but also about a parcel tax measure that the Evergreen School District Board of Trustees has voted to bring to voters. This parcel tax is crucial to leveling out the school funding uncertainties that have become routine in past years. A parcel tax will also put Evergreen School District on par with other high-performing districts in the area such as Cupertino and Los Gatos who have significant sources of local funding for their students. More to come on this.

The District would like to wish each of its families a successful 2008-2009 school year and we look forward to seeing you on Aug. 25!

Mayor Chuck Reed endorses Nguyen and Garcia for East Side High School Board

Nguyen	Garcia

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed has endorsed East Side Union High School District Board President Lan Nguyen and Board Vice President Eddie Garcia for re-election to the Board. Nguyen and Garcia, both Evergreen residents, have been part of a governing team that has created stability throughout the district, improved test scores, passed a bond to improve safety and facilities in our schools with 72 percent voter approval and balanced the budget during the recent state budget crisis with no negative impact to our students.

“Mayor Reed and the East Side Union High School District have had a solid working relationship for many, many years,” said Nguyen. “I’m proud to have earned his endorsement.” Garcia added, “It’s an honor to have the mayor’s support, and I look forward to working with him as we continue to make progress at the East Side.”

“Nguyen and Garcia always put the students first and have helped improve the district’s performance,” said Mayor Reed. “They deserve another term to continue their work.”

ISME Summer Intern Program excites local teachers and benefits students

By Donna H. Eliason
Staff Writer

Excited about the beginning of school after working most of the summer? Yes, this is the feeling from the interviewed Evergreen public elementary and high school teachers who will return to their classes eager to apply the knowledge and experience from their 8-week paid fellowship with scientists, engineers and technologists through IISME (Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education). IISME, established 24 years ago, gives “real world” experiences and knowledge to teachers for classroom enrichment.

The IISME teacher fellows are pictured posing with Applied's president and CEO, Mike Splinter, who sat down with them and their mentors for lunch the other week to discuss the challenges and opportunities in helping develop their students to become a successful workforce for tomorrow.

This industry-education partnership focuses on teachers as primary change agents as they take “new skills, knowledge and experience to update their curriculum with relevant applications,” says Tisha Bacigalupi, sponsor relations manager for IISME. Evergreen teachers joined the l78 teachers chosen from 300 applications for this unique opportunity.

Local teachers had a wide range of experiences. Arlynn Paulsen, 5th grade Dove Hill Elementary school teacher, worked at Applied Materials in the Corporate Strategy group developing and broadening the science/language arts curriculum, and marketing for the company’s newly-launched educational environmental card game, Bright Future. (See ET, May 2, 2008). She shared teaching strategy workshops in Portland, New Orleans, the Exploratorium, Raft and the Santa Clara Office of Education. “This is one of the best things I’ve done as a teacher. I was paid to develop curriculum for my classroom.” She learned about industry and technology needs, and the importance of team collaboration.

Evergreen Valley High school foreign language teacher, Herman Diaz says, “During the school year there’s little time for curriculum development.” Not only is he enthusiastic about education, but he “wants to make learning more engaging” for his students. Herman worked with Synopsys as a web designer. He’s excited about classroom interactive programs for absentee students, and for classroom student participation.

Scott Lubbs teaches AP Physics to juniors and seniors, plus Conceptual Physics to Evergreen Valley High School freshmen. This summer Stanford University sponsored him as a Gratta Research Laboratory Fellow. Scott says, “I chose this project because of the physics (particle physics is cool) and they are using just about every type of laser (lasers are cool).” Before becoming a teacher, Scott built, designed and tested various lasers. He says, “I have a renewed vigor to get back to the classroom, and some great stories to supplement my teaching. I am also developing lesson plans around lasers. My favorite story this summer is when I got heckled by a Nobel Laureate.” (Dr.Doug Oshernoff, Nobel Prize for Physics, 1996)

Third grade teacher at Clark Elementary School, Samantha McCracken, worked at HP as a marketing fellow, assessing training modules and making recommendations for improvement. “I learned about what’s happening in the corporate and business world, and with ‘green’ innovations.” She says, “Corporations want to understand the needs and wants of the next generation. They want the outside perspective of teachers.” This school year her students will participate in a math assessment program at a protected Web site, involving original student word problems with explanations.

Mary Clark, a 5th grade Silver Oak teacher, worked at Silicon Valley Bank. “I am a Training Curriculum Develop/ Process Analyst. This summer I was able to prepare, design and build training templates as well as refine my PowerPoint skills.” She also learned about venture capital, and various software programs. Her students will benefit from her blogging project. “I was able to participate in the blogging community through IISME. Since this was my first time blogging, I learned what I can expect from it in a classroom setting.” She says the students will “love the benefits of more meaningful writing (interactive with teachers and peers).”

Other Evergreen participating teachers were:

John Blair- Evergreen Valley High School
Maria Ramiso- Overfelt High School
Imani Butler- Silver Creek High School
Hong Pun- Silver Creek High School
Cheryl Wong- Millbrook Elementary High School

Many people talk about improving education and making it more relevant to present society needs, but IISME provides experiences and knowledge that impact today’s teachers and students, and tomorrow’s workforce.

Silicon Valley Education Foundation seeks to improve student achievement

Officials at the Silicon Valley Education Foundation have begun a $3 million campaign to fund programs aimed at improving student performance in science, technology, engineering and math, known as the Silicon Valley STEM Initiative.

Noting that students across Silicon Valley are falling behind in STEM subjects and may not be able to provide the future skilled workforce that area companies demand, Muhammed Chaudhry, SVEF president and CEO, said it is vital to provide enrichment programs to bridge the knowledge gap. The foundation is reaching out to business, civic and education partners to help implement the STEM Initiative.

Muhammed Chaudhry, SVEF CEO, shares a moment of laughter with algebra student Thienson Pham, 12.

“If Silicon Valley hopes to continue to lead the world of innovation, and lead the knowledge economy, we must produce home-grown talent,” Chaudhry told a press conference held at Milpitas tech firm Flextronics, one of the STEM Initiative’s partners. “We are falling behind in preparing our children for 21st century jobs.”

SVEF, which provides resources to the county’s 34 school districts, has already launched a math initiative – Stepping Up to Algebra – an accelerated Algebra I program. It launched this summer in four school districts, hosting 450 6th and 7th graders, who spent four weeks in intensive classroom study getting ahead in algebra to be better prepared to take Algebra I during the school year.

The program was made possible by a $1.7 million grant from the Knight Foundation and support from local firms, such as Flextronics, SAP, Google, National Semiconductor, Cisco, IBM, LSI and KeyPoint. Representatives from those firms attended the press conference. The companies provided the algebra program with financial support, as well as corporate volunteers, who worked with students in the classroom to show them the connection between math and the workplace. All participants received certificates of appreciation for their contributions.

Algebra I has received a great deal of attention recently following the state Board of Education’s decision requiring all 8th grade students to take Algebra I. The mandate has raised concerns among Cali-fornia’s Schools Superinten-dent Jack O’Connell and other educators over lack of funding to hire and train thousands of new math teachers needed to implement the plan. O’Connell says it will take $3.1 billion to meet the challenge, putting additional demands on an already strained budget. As state policy makers continue to wrangle over the budget, SVEF is forging ahead with its STEM Initiative.

SVEF also announced the formation of the Silicon Valley STEM Leadership Board made up of Silicon Valley corporate leaders, educators and state and local legislators. The board will advise the foundation on shaping the STEM Initiative.

Also attending today’s press conference were students who participated in the Stepping Up to Algebra program. They praised their teachers for coaxing them to understand and enjoy working algebra problems.

Twelve-year-old Indy Dang wasn’t too crazy about going to the algebra class. “My mom said I had to. I didn’t want to,” he said, hoping to spend the summer at the mall. “I didn’t really like math before. Now I like it a lot better. The teacher made us see how you need math in all the things you do in life.”

Indy’s mom, Thanh Dang, said she saw her son gain confidence as a student by mastering algebra problems. The class pulled him out of his shyness.

The Stepping Up to Algebra program is the first of a series of programs created by the foundation to improve student achievement in STEM subjects. Students who perform at or above grade level in math participate free of charge.