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Motivation, Shakespeare, gifted education, summer school

Education Roundup

The National Merit Scholarship program honors the high school students across the country with the highest scores on the PSAT college entrance exam, taken the fall of junior year. Some years, Sonoma Valley High School has not had any students who qualified, some years more than one. This year, senior Sean Hall has been announced as a semifinalist and SoloQuest student Jasper Ford-Monroe was also honored. In reviewing the list of all the California students honored (www.nationalmerit.org), a few high schools had more than 60 students reaching semi-finalist status, but in our neck of the woods, two is an excellent showing. At the finalist stage, students can receive a scholarship check for $25,000.

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Congratulations to Sal Chavez who has been chosen to fill the empty seat on the Sonoma Valley Unified School District board. Chavez is a business owner who attended El Verano, Altimira and Sonoma Valley High School. After graduation in 2004, he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Sonoma State University.

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Schools of Hope is a volunteer program aimed at increasing the reading skills of Sonoma Valley elementary school children. Volunteers are needed who can commit 30 to 60 minutes per week to tutor students at our elementary schools. No experience is necessary and a short training is provided. Go to svgreatschools.org/schoolsofhope.

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Sassarini’s fifth grade class is having a car wash/rummage sale on Sept. 22 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to raise money for their outdoor education trip to Westminster Woods next spring. The event is at the school and they will also be selling hotdogs, lemonade, lip balm and lotions made with ingredients from their beehive. Donations for the rummage sale can be brought to the office during school hours. Contact Judy Beatrice at 479-7334 for more information.

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“What can parents do to help their children develop skills like motivation and perseverance? The reality is that when it comes to non-cognitive skills, the traditional calculus of the cognitive hypothesis—start earlier and work harder – falls apart. Children can't get better at overcoming disappointment just by working at it for more hours. And they don't lag behind in curiosity simply because they didn't start doing curiosity work sheets at an early enough age. Instead, it seems, the most valuable thing that parents can do to help their children develop non-cognitive skills – which is to say, to develop their character – may be to do nothing. To back off a bit. To let our children face some adversity on their own, to fall down and not be helped back up.”

Those are the words of author Paul Tough, whose book, “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character,” has just been released. The Wall Street Journal ran an excerpt from the book last week.

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U.S. News & World Report released their famous annual college rankings and seven University of California campuses placed in the top 100 ranking of national universities. Berkeley and UCLA ranked 21st and 24th, respectively; Davis and UC San Diego tied at 38th; UC Santa Barbara came in at 41st; UC Irvine 44th; and UC Santa Cruz 77th.

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Pivot Charter School is a free public charter school that offers full-time programs for students, grades 6 to 12, in Sonoma and surrounding counties. In the 2012-13 school year, they will offer new two and five day a week programs that combine an online curriculum with student support and assistance at their new facility at 1577 Farmers Lane in Santa Rosa. I don’t know any local students enrolled with Pivot but if you do, I would like to speak with them about it.

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There continues to be a lot of talk in the education press about brain food and the fact that children’s dietary habits can impact their energy level, mood and academic performance. Top of the list to boost brain power are exactly what my children refuse to eat: foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon, mackerel, trout, sardines, tuna and other fish. Other top foods include blueberries, spinach and quinoa.

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ArtEscape is offering a free Sunday Art Play arts and crafts project called Blockheads on Sept. 23, with drop in hours from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Parents are invited to bring their children ages 2 to 8-plus to create their own blockhead personality using recycling materials. All materials are provided and no registration is required. ArtEscape is located at 17474-A Sonoma Highway in Boyes Hot Springs.

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I’ve always been curious about summer school. Who does it and why? Last summer, 194 high school students enrolled in summer school classes at Sonoma Valley High School. The purpose of summer school in Sonoma is threefold: to provide make-up opportunities for students who fail a class; to provide a way for students to get ahead in science or to take an additional high level class; or a way for students’ to improve their English language arts skills in order to pass the State high school exit exam. The most highly enrolled classes this summer were Algebra I, English Skills and Science Tech 1.

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Middle schoolers do summer school for slightly different reasons. Last summer, 109 Sonoma fifth graders and 118 eighth grades were selected to participate in summer school to help them transition into and out of high school. Students spent 85 minutes a day in core classes and 45 minutes a day in electives. The Sonoma Valley Fund’s Youth Initiative also provided the chance for students to take four study trips over the course of the summer as well.

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The Sonoma Unified School District also offered two topic-specific programs this summer – Algebra Boot Camp and the Summer Reading Academy. Between these four programs, students were provided with a wide variety of opportunities to close the achievement gap and to enrich their regular school year instruction. And for our littlest students, the district offered Jump Start Kindergarten over the summer for area students who have not had previous preschool experience.

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The Sonoma Valley Shakespeare Company is providing educational workshops to students in collaboration with the Teacher Support Network, and with the help of Jane Martin, teacher at Sonoma Valley High School and general manager of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Up to six students will be invited to serve as interns, with the opportunity to perform, understudy roles and participate behind the scenes. The company’s season begins with “As You Like It” on Sept. 21, 22 and 29; Oct. 7, 14, 21; and Nov. 2. “Julius Caesar” runs Sept. 28 and Oct. 5, 6, 13, 18, 20 and 25, and Nov. 2. Finally, “Doctor Faustus” runs Oct. 12, 19 and 27, and Nov. 1. Each show begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Little Theatre. with live music from local musicians. Tickets are $10 for students, $15 for adults at the door.

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At Woodland Star Charter, grades 1 to 5 have weekly gardening classes and the middle school students rotate through the garden during their afternoon block. All students plant, harvest and weed the gardens with the goal of deepening their understanding of biology, botany and nature. Their garden took first place in the Heirloom Food Festival's recent school garden competition. The public is invited to purchase garden produce every Thursday, starting at noon.

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The California Association of the Gifted is presenting a local, one-day symposium for educators and parents, called Unlocking Potential and Reaching for Excellence on Nov. 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at American Canyon High School. The cost is $75 for full day and $50 for CAG members, including morning refreshments and a catered lunch. The keynote speaker is Sandra Kaplan, Ed.D., a pioneer of innovative strategies for differentiated curriculum and instruction. Close to 50 workshops will be offered, covering all levels (elementary, middle, high) and subject areas (science, math, language arts, social studies). Parent workshops are geared toward parents of GATE students. Go to cag.org.