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Instruments needed, FFA, Challenge Day, virtual field trips, library fundraiser

Education roundup

Valley Vibes Orchestras has partnered with the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation to launch an after-school youth orchestra program. They are in need of donations of orchestral instruments. If your child has outgrown or lost interest in an instrument, consider donating it for the future enjoyment of another Sonoma student. Any and all instruments (especially violins, violas, and cellos) can be dropped off at 17878 Railroad Ave. from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday, and you can be provided with a receipt for your tax-deductible donation. If you would prefer to have the instrument(s) picked up at your home, call Anne Case at 425-773-3408.

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Sonoma public elementary schools are coming together to host a Stories for Students fundraiser event for the school libraries from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb 2, at the Sonoma Plaza amphitheater. Families from all over the district are invited to enjoy community celebrity readers, hot chocolate and goodies, and come together to show our appreciation and support for our elementary school libraries.

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There is a Barn Sale scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Field of Dreams at 1777 W. Watmaugh. Donations of household items, books, furniture, lamps, etc. are sought. One-hundred percent of the proceeds benefit Sonoma Valley public schools through the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation. You can drop items off the day of the sale, or contact Holly Bennett at Holly.Bennett@sothebyshomes.com. Bennett is also organizing an eWaste and shredding fundraiser on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Adele Harrison parking lot.

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Across town, at the Republic of Thrift on Hwy. 12, owners Jeanette and Michelle Mammini have distributed an additional $16,000 to Sonoma Valley public schools and $4,000 more to the Education Foundation. This brings the total donated in their first year of business to $39,000. Republic of Thrift accepts gently used clothing, shoes, furniture and housewares. The store is open everyday; donations are accepted Friday through Monday.

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The University of California campuses received more freshman applications from Latino students than from any other racial or ethnic group in the state for the first time this year. In total, 67,000 individuals submitted applications, up nearly 10 percent from last year. The number of out-of-state applicants went up by 15 percent and international applications went up by a whopping 34 percent.

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In perhaps related news, starting Jan. 1, a new state law allows students who are not in the country legally to have access to state-funded college tuition financial aid. Cal Grants and similar aid is now open to non-legal residents. To be eligible for the money, students must graduate from a California high school after attending for at least three years, and meet financial and academic standards.

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Within five years, students at the University of California will likely take 10 percent to 15 percent of their courses online, UC President Mark Yudof said last week. Yudof also announced his retirement. He oversaw a near doubling of tuition during his five years as president.

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Students are invited to choose any book for free during the upcoming Sonoma Valley Regional Library book sale, Feb. 6 through 9. School faculty can get as many books as they might need for their facilities during the last two hours of the sale on Saturday, Feb 9.

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Congratulations to Sonoma Valley High senior Allyson Beckwith, junior Brittany Daly, senior Sabrina Domitri and junior Kyler Fritz, who have earned their state FFA (Future Farmers of America) degree by working more than 500 hours and earning at least $1,000 with their agriculture projects, as well as donating 25 or more hours to community service.

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A handful of adult volunteers are sought for Sonoma Valley High’s Challenge Day on Wednesday, Feb. 13. In this full-day program, entitled “Be The Change,” 100 students and 25 adults will be guided through a series of experiential learning processes. The program aims to increase self-esteem and tolerance, to shift dangerous peer pressure to positive peer support and to eliminate the acceptability of teasing, violence, drugs and all forms of oppression. This is the fourth large-scale, anti-bullying event put on by the high school this year. Challenge Day is sponsored by the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, under the leadership of high-school teacher Tammy Rivara. (Go to challengeday.org for details.) Parents/guardians, teachers, administrators, police officers, elected officials and community members who are interested in participating should contact Rivara at trivara@sonomavly.k12.ca.us.

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Leo’s Pad is a series of animated apps for preschoolers, developed by educational researchers from Stanford University. The apps measure a child’s responses along 70-plus dimensions of learning and automatically adjust in difficulty. The games can identify a child’s strengths and weaknesses across academic, cognitive, emotional and physical skill sets, such as motor control, spatial reasoning, instruction following and empathy. Coming soon is a parent dashboard to show a child’s progress based on a 70-component educational matrix. (Go to kidaptive.com)

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I read an interesting blog on ways that parents and teachers can use the Oscar-nominated films, “Lincoln,” “Argo” and “Zero Dark Thirty” to teach history. It suggests discussing whether the films reflect reality and, in the case of “Zero Dark Thirty,” looking at how filmmakers obtained their (frequently classified) information. The blog post also includes additional resources and tips for aligning the movie-based lessons to the Common Core standards. ( go to tinyurl.com/bdf4gqm)

In light of budget cuts to their schools, some teachers are embracing the idea of taking students on virtual field trips. There are a number of interactive websites that allow students to have almost the same learning experience. (See areavibes.com/library/online-field-trips-for-students/)

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I was thrilled to read that the most popular TEDTalk ever, with 16 million views, is about education. If you haven’t seen Sir Ken Robinson’s talk about how our education system is killing student creativity, you should give it a look. He suggests that we radically rethink our approach to schooling. See the talk at
tinyurl.com/bg7zuan.

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Register for spring 2013 community education classes at Santa Rosa Junior College online at santarosa.edu/communityed.

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If you are in your 40s or older, you will be surprised to learn that the ACT has for the first time overtaken the SAT as the most popular (commonly used) college admissions exam.

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Tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Altimira, Woodland Star Charter is hosting a talk on “The Wisdom & Science Behind Successful Parents” by Todd Sarner, MFT, director of transformative parenting. In this two-hour introductory talk, Sarner will explain the much-misunderstood theory of attachment parenting (see transformativeparenting.com). This free talk was made possible by a grant that Woodland Star received toward bullying prevention.

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National Catholic Schools Week 2013 is Jan. 27 to Feb. 2 and the theme is “Catholic Schools Raise the Standards.”

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Honor Roll News: Lauren Schorr has made Cornell University’s Dean’s List of the College of Arts and Sciences for the fall 2012 semester. Noah Huyette, an anthropology and psychology major, is on Butler University’s Dean’s List for the fall semester. Pre-business major Michele Lynn Schuhriemen has been named to the Dean’s List at Clemson University for the fall semester. Note: I can only run what I receive.