-PDBM/FXT
Group expands reach for special needs students By Nick Veronin
N COMMUNITYBRIEFS
KITE DAY AT SHORELINE The sky is the limit at Shoreline Family Kite Day on Sunday, June 23, an afternoon dedicated to single-string kite flying and kite-related activities at Shoreline Park in Mountain View. Volunteers with the American Kiteflyers Association and the Northern California Kite Club helped organize a miniature kite display, expert kite demonstrations, and kite-making activities. “It’s going to be really neat, and something fun to take a look at,” said Kristina Perino, senior recreation coordinator. Food will be sold through the Shoreline Lake Aquatic Center and Cafe. Otherwise, the event is free and open to the general public. The first 100 participants will receive kite-making materials. This past year, Shoreline has been developing a diverse program of recreational activities. In the summer time, these events are specifically geared towards children and families. “We launched this initiative in 2013 as a way to get people outdoors and to be aware of the resources at Shoreline,” Perino said. Shoreline Family Kite Day will be held on June 23, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Shoreline’s Kite Lot. For more information, call (650) 903-6392. —Elize Manoukian
District, the Los Altos School District and the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District. Being a committee that serves the Los Altos Mountain View PTA Council, they will be able to reach 19 schools in three districts — including both Mountain View and Los Altos high schools, Case-Lo said. Naming the group the “Learning Challenges Committee” will allow them to help students who might be just having a small problem with learning but are not classified as having special needs, she said. The organization is working to get a representative at every school in all three districts — a point-person for people to go to when they need help. They’ve made progress on this front, Case-Lo said, but they still need a representative at Bubb, Monta Loma, Theuerkauf and Graham schools. It’s possible they may need a representative for Mountain View high and Crittenden Middle School as well. For more information on how to get help from the LCC or to offer help, the committee’s website is at lcc.lamvptac.org.
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he Mountain View Whisman School District’s Special Education PTA is no more. But that doesn’t mean its members have given up their cause. In fact, according to the former PTA’s co-founder, Christine Case-Lo, she believes her group will be more effective and reach more people in need of their help now that they have ditched the title of PTA and all the bureaucracy that comes along with it. “We just found it wasn’t really working for us,” Case-Lo said of being an official Parent Teacher Association geared toward helping special education students in Mountain View’s elementary and middle schools. “We didn’t need to be a separate PTA with all that paperwork, when the (individual school) site PTAs were doing such an incredible job.” Now, Case-Lo said, her organization will be called the Learning Challenges Committee and will consult with the Los Altos Mountain View PTA Council — which interfaces with PTAs in the Mountain View Whisman School
PRACTICING SAFE SUN It’s that time of year again: as students trade binders for beaches and Santa Clara County residents of all ages bask in the warm weather,
officials from the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center remind those having fun in the sun this season to not get burned. The importance of skin health and safety during the most UV-soaked months of the year was highlighted by county health officials, who said in a press release that it’s an often overlooked precaution that could prevent future damage and disease. Although skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States, according to Valley Medical officials, protecting oneself from harmful rays has never been easier. The simplest prevention is staying in the shade during the hottest hours of the day. But for those brave enough to venture out into the light, clothing such as long layers or wide-brimmed hats can dramatically reduce exposure. According to health officials, sunscreen with sun protection factors (SPF) of at least 30 should also generously be applied and reapplied every two hours, in the amount of one ounce (about a palmful) to cover the face, legs, neck, and body. Even a few serious sunburns at any age can increase risk of disease. Melanoma is the deadliest form of cancer, and often presents as skin discolorations that vary in symmetry, border regularity and color. Representatives from Valley Medical also suggest a cursory dermatological consultation to check out any lesions that present those characteristics, are larger than 6 millimeters in diameter, or evolve in consistency, so that the only thing you’re sweating this summer is the heat. —Elize Manoukian
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MAPPING THE FUTURE
College Destinations for Mountain View and Los Altos High Schools Class of 2013 University of British Columbia (2) Cornish College of the Arts (1) University of Washington (7) University of Puget Sound (8) Seattle University (1) Western Washington University (1) George Fox University (1) Lewis & Clark College (1) Reed College (1)
McGill University (1) University of Montana, Missoula (2) University of Vermont (1)
Washington State University (2) Eastern Washington University (1) Whitworth University (1) Oregon State University (4) University of Portland (1)
Rochester Institute of Technology (1)
Syracuse University (1)
Boston University (3) Boston College (1) Brandeis University (1), MIT (2) Mount Holyoke College (1) Northeastern University (7) Tufts University (2) Wellesley College (2) Worcester Polytechnic (1)
Brown University (1) Rhode Island School of Design (1) Yale University (1), Trinity College (1) Cornell University (4), Elmira College (1) Wesleyan University (3) US Military Academy at West Point (1) New York University (7), University of Michigan (6) University of Wisconsin-Madison (1) Lehigh University (1) Columbia University (2) Pennsylvania State University (1) Princeton University (2) DePaul University (1) Oberlin College (1) Drexel University (1), Haverford College (1), Northwestern University (4) Case Western Swarthmore College (1) University of Chicago (1) Carnegie Mellon University (4) Reserve University (1) University of Maryland (2), John Hopkins Kenyon College (1) Knox College (1) University (1), Maryland Institute College of Art (1) Denison University (1) University of Utah (1) California State University, Chico (2) University of Illinois at George Washington University (1) University of Nebraska - Lincoln (1) Purdue University (5) Urbana-Champaign (2) American University (1) Colorado State University (3) University of Nevada, Reno (2) California State University, Sacramento (1) University of California Indiana University, Bloomington (2) College of William and Mary (1) University of the Pacific (2) at Davis (25) Brigham Young University (2) Washington University in St. Louis (2) Duke University (2) Sonoma State University (9) University of Colorado at Boulder (7) Dominican University of California (1) Elon University (2) Cogswell Polytechnical College (2) University of Kansas (1) California Maritime University of North Carolina (1) University of Denver (2) DIFFERENT Academy (1) University of California at Merced (5) Universal Technical Institute (2) Willamette University (4)
Montana State University, Bozeman (2)
St. Olaf College (1)
University of Oregon (10)
Humboldt State University (1)
California State University East Bay (2), Cogswell Polytechnical College (3) De Anza College (31), Foothill College (122), Marinello School of Beauty (1) Mission College (2), National Hispanic University (3), Notre Dame de Namur University (2) Ohlone College (2), Saint Mary's College of California (4), San Francisco State University (18) San Jose City College (1), San Jose State University (25), Santa Clara University (8) Stanford University (9), University of California at Berkeley (23), University of California at Santa Cruz (8), University of San Francisco (4), West Valley College (5) California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (27) University of California at Santa Barbara (24) Santa Barbara City College (5) Art Center College of Design (1) California State University, Fullerton (4) California State University, Long Beach (1) California State University, Northridge (2) Chapman University (8) El Camino College (1), Loyola Marymount University (4) Occidental College (5), Pepperdine University (1) Scripps College (1), University of California at Irvine (3) University of California at Los Angeles (17) University of Southern California (16) University of Redlands (1) Whittier College (2)
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (8) Claremont McKenna College (1) Pomona College (3) University of California at Riverside (10) University of Redlands (2)
Belmont University (1) Vanderbilt University (1) Clark Atlanta University (1), Emory University (1) Georgia Institute of Technology (2) Santa Fe University of Art and Design (2) University of Alabama (1)
Arizona State University (1) Yavapai College (1) Grayson County College (1) University of Arizona (10) Pima Community College (1)
University of Texas at Dallas (1) Baylor University (1)
Wiley College (1) Tulane University (2)
University of Florida (1)
Rice University (3) Ringling College of Art and Design (1)
San Diego State University (2) University of California at San Diego (9) University of San Diego (2)
Hawaii Pacific University (1)
Hawaii University at Hilo (1) Hawaii Community College (1)
“Foundation-funded programs and services, such as the College & Career Centers, the Naviance system to aid with the college application process, preliminary SATs and investments in STEM curriculum and equipment are significant contributors to students’ success in getting into top colleges.” - Barry Groves, Superintendent of the MVLA High School District
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PATHS
New York University, Shanghai (1) Concordia University, Canada (1) Military Service (6) Gap Year (6) Adult Ed (2) Other (9)
■ Mountain View Voice ■ MountainViewOnline.com ■ June 21, 2013
High School Foundation Investing in Innovation and Educational Excellence
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“We extend our sincere thanks to parents, community members and businesses who gave generously to support our $1.2 million grant to the high school district this year. We wish our graduates continued success as they ‘map their futures’. ” - Laura Roberts, Executive Director of the MVLA High School Foundation