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Thursday, March 21, 2019 | Volume IX, Issue XXXI
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News, Announcements, & Success Stories
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VIDEO: Natoma Station kindergarteners have fun searching for a Leprechaun on campus
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Kindergarten students at Natoma Station Elementary had lots of fun on Friday, March 15, looking for a Leprechaun on campus in honor of St. Patrick's Day.
Watch the video
featuring Ms. Hanna Johnson's morning class in which students followed clues around campus, in search of a Leprechaun who left behind pranks in their classroom.
Students in all kindergarten classes participated in the St. Patrick's Day fun!
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FHS senior makes Buddy Benches for Carl Sundahl Elementary as Eagle Scout project
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Carl Sundhal Elementary received three Buddy Benches for their school playground from Folsom High senior Owen Gerhards, who made them for his Eagle Scout project.
Two benches were put on the main playground and one bench was placed on the kindergarten playground. The idea behind a Buddy Bench is that a student who is looking for a friend to play with can take a seat, and a peer who notices them sitting there can come up and ask them to play.
Gabriele Merz-Johnson, a Speech and Language Pathologist and member of the school's Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) team suggested the project to Gerhards and supported bringing it to the school. Merz-Johnson said his project is close to her heart because it is another tool for students to find social connections at school. Gerhards did all of his own fundraising for materials to build the benches.
A school assembly was held on Feb. 25 to unveil the buddy benches to students and staff. Principal Monika Himmrich reviewed the expectations associated with using the benches, along with having student council members demonstrating positive behaviors during the assembly.
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Sutter Middle students win at Destination Imagination tournament for service project
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A team of Sutter Middle seventh grade students placed second in a tournament called
Destination Imagination Region O.N.E.
and also earned a Davinci Medal when they competed in the middle school level competition at Olympus Jr. High in Roseville on March 1.
The team of students included Mischa Mal, Erick Ma, Sonya Hong, Avery Bridgam, Noah Finkel and Druva Raju. Their team focused to compete in the Destination Imagination Service Learning Challenge (SLC) which is designed to engage students in public service in the community. The team worked diligently from Sept. 2018 to March 2019, to help raise funds to help UC Davis Children's Hospital through crowdsourcing and donation drop off boxes. The team was able to donate five boxes of comfort items to UC Davis patients with the $525 they raised, specifically for children with chronic illnesses. They placed second and also earned the Davinci Medal, which honors their creativity and innovation through self-independence and extensive teamwork in their project.
Destination Imagination is a non-profit that promotes project based learning for students and encourages critical thinking through collaborative work.
UC Davis Children's Hospital Programming Coordinator Katherine MacDonald said, they thankful for the donations of toys and games that went to the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department at the hospital.
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Cordova students, alums honored by community for service
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Distinguished Teen Service:
Youth participating in Cordova High School's MACH program - it stands for Mentees at Cordova High - were recognized for helping steer students on a path to success. The program, spearheaded by Cordova High staff member Conrade Mayer, matches caring adults with students in need, providing young adults mentors and leadership opportunities.
Read more here about
how this group is making a difference in their school and community!
Hometown Heroes:
Brothers Moises and Ulices Buenrostro jumped into action after a car slammed into an apartment building next door, sparking a fire that threatened the lives of those inside. Through the quick action of these brothers and Folsom Cordova alums, endangered occupants were saved, and the crash suspects apprehended.
Read more about their acts of heroism
!
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IN THE NEWS: Do you get Pi? These Folsom Middle students do!
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It's another day of teaching for Stacy James, a math teacher at Folsom Middle School. Thursday, though, was special because it was officially "Pi Day."
Pi is the mathematical relationship between the circumference and the diameter of the circle. When divided, the number comes out to 3.14 with an infinite number of decimal places. It holds an almost mystical place of importance for math enthusiasts.
"My personal favorite is I have a student who says 'Come to the dork side, we have Pi," laughed James.
James' students received a hands-on interactive series of lessons to help them understand the concept of Pi. They measured the distance around and through a number of circular objects to find the diameter went into the circumference just over three times.
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Student entries sought for annual FCUSD Writing Celebration
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 The FCUSD Writing Celebration is a great event that brings together students from every school and grade-level together. If you'd like to get involved, here's your chance!
All students, from pre-K through high school, are encouraged to submit a piece to our district-wide celebration.
Entries should not exceed two pages. Poetry is encouraged
for the open-mic portion of the celebration, through all genres are welcome.
We cannot guarantee that submissions will be returned, so please make a copy. Include the author's full name on the front of the piece and provide school, grade-level, and teacher information on the back. Please do not send work from your entire class. It helps us greatly if you pick a small sampling of the work that you feel best represents your class.
Submissions are due by April 11.
Send them to Sarah Kirby Gonzalez at Mather Heights Elementary.
Writing Group teachers will review the entries and
teachers will be notified by Wednesday, April 24
if their students have been chosen to be recognized.
Date of event: Tuesday May 21, 5:30-7 p.m.
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Riverview Rockets team state finalists in STEM championships
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Riverview STEM Academy students on the Riverview Rockets team were one of 11 state finalists out of 458 teams in California that competed in the state robotics championships on March 10 at Sierra College in Rocklin.
The Riverview Rockets placed 7th in the overall robotics competition out of 11 teams. This is the first year the school has had a team make it to the state championships.
The name of the competition for this year was
VEXIQ Next Level Challenge
. The team competed in the Robot Skills Challenge and was judged on criteria like programming and skills driver control.
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| It's time to nominate that person for Excellence in Special Education |
Do you know someone who shows Excellence in Special Education? Now's the time to nominate that person for an Excellence in Special Education Award.
The FCUSD Special Education Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is hosting an awards ceremony to show our recognition of and appreciation for individuals who have shown excellence or made contributions to special education. We rely on community members, staff, parents, students and CAC members to identify those individuals who deserve recognition.
Anyone can be nominated: administrators, parents, students, and staff.
To nominate an outstanding person click on the link below:
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Vista students compete in 1
st Sacramento Brain Bee Neuroscience Competition
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On Saturday March 16, Vista del Lago students Venkata Alapati, Visruth Nagman, and Chinmayi Balusu competed in the first Sacramento Brain Bee Neuroscience Competition held at the University of California, Davis Medical Center.
This local chapter of the International Brain Bee program was established by a group of neuroscientists passionate about inspiring our youth in this field.
Sponsors included UC Davis Center for Neuroscience, Society for Neuroscience, California Council on Science and Technology, and the International Brain Research Organization.
All three of Vista's students advanced to the top 10. Visruth Nagman placed second, and Chinmayi Balusu will be representing Sacramento at Penn State in April for Nationals.
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Folsom Community Service Day brainstorming meeting
The Folsom community is looking for projects for the city's upcoming Service Day on Sept. 21.
Come out next week, Wednesday March 27 to give input and help identify community projects.
All are welcome!
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FCUSD is hiring: Find open positions here
Here are some current employment openings with Folsom Cordova Unified School District:
frequently for the most up-to-date postings throughout the year!
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Board of Education: March 14, 2019
The FCUSD Board of Education held its regular meeting on Thursday, Mar. 14.
Agendas are posted online the Friday before each regularly scheduled meeting.
The week's agenda items included:
- Measure M Plan of Finance and Method of Sale
Special Presentation:
- Preschool: Parent Engagement
All agendas can be found
here
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