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Surveys, gardens, dyslexia, Kenwood, Lego

Education Roundup

I urge every family with a child in the Sonoma public schools to complete the first-ever community survey announced last week. Plentiful, specific and honest feedback from school families will result in a better road map for the future of our schools. The survey (in English and Spanish) is in all school offices until March 16 and online: zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22EX9ZM2Y5J.

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Great garden news! The School Garden Project has received a hefty $25,000 donation from the Sonoma Vintners and Growers Association. The grant will help each school establish the extra planting beds for crops that can be served in the school cafeterias as part of the district’s “Farm to Cafeteria” program.

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The Boys & Girls Club is holding a Spring Break Science Camp March 19 to 23. They are hosting a STEM Fair at the Clubhouse March 22, from 5 to 7 p.m.

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Dyslexia affects 15 percent of Americans, including one of my children, so here are some smart-phone apps that are particularly good for dyslexic students (or anyone learning to read).

1. Pocket Phonics ($2.99). Ages 2 to 7, uses graphics, sounds and touch to teach letters and how to “blend” letter sounds together to make word.

2. Montessori Crosswords. ($2.99). A fun game to develop spelling, reading and writing skills using a phonics-enabled movable alphabet.

3. Word Wizard (99 cents). This app supports letter recognition, phonological awareness, spelling and self-correction without sacrificing fun.

4. Dragon Dictation (free) is an easy-to-use voice recognition application that allows you to easily speak and instantly see your text or email messages.

5. vBookz ($4.99). This voice reader reads your books outloud and has a magnifying glass that follows the text as you go.

6. Learning Ally ($99/year) enables students with reading disabilities access to a library of 70,000 digitally recorded textbooks and literature titles.

7. Finally, experts recommend the quick word game Boggle (99 cents) because children hear a ping every time a word is spelled wrong and can fix it.

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Prestwood’s garden is starting to bloom with all of this beautiful weather. This month they were given a donation by Sweetwater Nursery in Santa Rosa of late winter vegetables; organic kale, cabbage and lettuce. They also have a new solar garden fountain funded by a $2,500 Bright Ideas Grant that teacher Kristi Draluck received from PG&E earlier this year. Also at Prestwood, the school just finished a paper drive contest. The class that brought in the most copy paper will receive a visit from the principal, Beth Wolk, who will be wearing pajamas, reading a story, and bringing the students a healthy treat. An amazing total of 828 reams of paper was brought in, saving the school $3,128. Both Paula Lely’s class and Mary Mellinger’s class will be enjoying Ms. Wolk’s visit.

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Other news from Prestwood – their fifth grade Lego Team won the first place Inspiration Award at the First Lego League Capital Division Championship. This award celebrates a team that displays extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit. The boys competed in Sacramento against 47 teams from all the area. To join or coach a FLL team, check out firstlegoleague.org or email lziganti@gmail.com.

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St. Francis Solano School recently competed against four other Santa Rosa area Diocesan schools in an Academic Decathlon (logic skills, critical thinking, fine arts, current events as well as science, math, social studies, language arts, religion). St. Francis came in second in Logic Quiz and third in Super Quiz, and placed in six of the eight individual categories, placing them second overall. Competing for St. Francis were: Grace Avellar, Nancy Pecha, Gavin Orr, Katie Perdue, Jenny Nova, Campbell Martin, Abigail Craig, Anna Stava, Quinn Cordero, Grace Cutting, Emma Stanfield, Jenna Biersch, Hanna Maillard and Dylan Cavaz. Teacher Michelle Momsen coached them.

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St. Francis is staging an “Our Town Art & Music” show at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 23 at the Sonoma Community Center, which will feature student art in various mediums highlighting Sonoma landmarks, as well as student musicians and a wine and cheese reception.

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Kenwood School recently hosted the African Drum Dancing Troupe, who invited students to come up and perform with them. This week, their Band Allegro and Primo Choir, directed by Kay Fish and Karen Haslag, will perform on Wednesday, March 14 at 7 p.m. in their multi-purpose room.

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Sonoma Charter faculty is working with a math specialist out of the Sonoma County Office of Education to review the Common Core Standards that will be in place in California in 2014. Teachers have been trying out new types of math tasks that engage the students rather than just performing calculations. To learn more, visit noycefdn.org/ svmi.php.

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I highly recommend that juniors get a head start on next year by joining the College Application Accelerate Track program at Sonoma High (deadline is Friday, March 30). See Kathleen Hawing in the College & Career Center for details.

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Crescent Montessori’s Upper Elementary students recently spent the day using the Plaza as their classroom. Cross-curricular activities included math – measuring the height and circumference of the trees; botany – identifying trees; zoology – bird identification; art – sketching and pastel painting; lunch and recess; history interview with the staff at the visitors center and research about the history of the Plaza.

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Woodland Star Charter’s third grade has been busy with wool dyeing, using natural dies mixed by hand. The wool dying is typically part of their curriculum block on practical studies, including farming and clothing. Students visited a sheep farm at Bodega Bay a few weeks ago and have been preparing the wool by washing (scouring), carting, spinning and mordanting the wool for dyeing in rich beautiful natural colors. 

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El Verano’s Oral Language Fair is Thursday, March 15. Students are welcome to enter individually or in a group. Students are required to recite a poem for the competition. The Sherriff’s Office will be doing an age-appropriate Stranger Danger presentation on Friday, March 16 at the school. Children will be reminded what to do if a stranger approaches them.

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Congrats to Sonoma Valley High School senior Christopher Swanson on his Home Run Derby last weekend. What a great idea for a senior project, raising money for improvements at Arnold Field. Donations are still being accepted (email christaboy@comcast.net).

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Sonoma State University is offering six-week drama and dance workshops for ages 4 to 9 featuring storytelling, improvisation, movement and dance. This is the 33rd year of this program. SSU students will teach the children under the guidance of SSU professors. The cost is $10 for the entire session. The after-school classes begin in April with theater on Wednesdays and dance on Thursdays, in Ives Hall at SSU. Call 664-2235 to register. Enrollment is limited.

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Students are invited to Sonoma State’s annual Latino Family Summit on Saturday, March 17. The event features workshops, the chance to meet SSU students and tips on how to get into and pay for college. A bus to SSU will leave from Sonoma High at 7:15 a.m. Applications are in the office.

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Teens and adults are invited to Pepperwood Preserve’s very cool “Natural History of Small Mammals” class, Saturday, March 17 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.. They they will examine pelts, skulls, bones and live specimens at this natural history class on small mammals. Participants will learn about the characteristics of mammals, including raccoons, skunks, opossums, foxes and rodents. ().