PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID SAN DIEGO, CA PERMIT NO. 835
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VOL. 11, N0. 18
MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
SEPT. 4, 2015
Sandy, left, and Art Yayanos lead the after-hours travel lecture series at the RSF Library called, “Critters and Cultures of Southern Africa.” Photo by Christina Macone-Greene
Lecture series takes people on a journey By Christina Macone-Greene
RANCHO SANTA FE — A special after-hours travel lecture series was hosted by the Rancho Santa Fe Library Guild, which took visitors on a journey to another part of the globe. The series entitled, “Critters and Cultures of Southern Africa,” was championed by the RSF Library Guild’s board President Art Yayanos and his wife Sandy. The couple jetted to Johannesburg, South Africa in May. From there, they explored various parts of South Africa including the world-renowned Kruger National Park. Their vacation lasted 23 days. Their first trip to South Africa
was 10 years ago and they yearned to go back once again. For Sandy, presenting their trip to others hoped it could trigger how people are missing an opportunity of a lifetime if they don’t visit South Africa. “The cultures are so different and the people are so welcoming,” she said. Sandy continued, “The wildlife is incredible and it’s an experience that changes your life.” While traveling to South Africa gave the couple a fresh perspective, for Art, it afforded him an educational platform. “It gets you excited about continuing to learn more,” he said.
Before leaving, someone may think they are prepared with the new knowledge for their upcoming vacation but there’s always more. “And when you come back, your curiosity just skyrockets,” he said, noting how he’s researched additional material about the culture, animals, and history of the places he did visit and see. While the guides provide comprehensive information, Art has the urge to research more. “Now with the Internet, it’s possible to find that out and there are a lot of organizational sites that contribute important information,” he said. “All I can say is that traveling is wonderful.”
Water usage drops 48 percent in July, district reports By Christina Macone-Greene
RANCHO SANTA FE — For another consecutive month, the Santa Fe Irrigation District furnished data showing that water usage is down once again. The months of May, June and July have revealed that customers have surpassed the state mandated 36 percent water cutback. In July, there was a 48 percent reduction compared to water usage in July 2013. The year of 2013 is the baseline set the state of California. As the temperatures climb toward the end of summer and into September the district is encouraging customers to stay diligent. “As we now enter into the time of year where we typically have hotter and dryer weather, we encourage all our customers to continue and even redouble their water conservation efforts,” said Jessica Parks, spokesperson for the SFID. According to the district’s General Manager Mike Bardin, he said it was clear that most of their customers were being very effective at cutting back water use. “Many have taken advantage of rebate programs to eliminate water guzzling plants, improve irrigation systems and make other changes,” he said. “Our customers are doing an impressive job conserving so far, but the
The Santa Fe Irrigation District is reporting that water usage in its service areas are down once again. File photo
driest and hottest months are ahead of us, and everyone needs to keep working at conserving.” What helped significantly in July was the rainstorm. Parks commends customers for abiding by the State’s water restrictions by turning off all
outdoor irrigation during the rainfall and 48 hours afterward. Parks pointed out that it does take effort for customers to remember to turn off their irrigation during TURN TO WATER ON 17
NOW WE’RE COOKING Woodrow “Woody” Wilson is August’s Kitchen Hack cook at the Rancho Santa Fe Library. He prepared pork filet mignon and Parmesan roasted asparagus and cherry tomatoes. Afterward he was also on hand for his book signing for his cookbook, “The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook.” Photo by Christina Macone-Greene
Chromebooks doled out to school students By Christina Macone-Greene nically challenging to get
RANCHO SANTA FE — At the Aug. 20 Rancho Santa Fe School District meeting Ben Holbert, the technology director at R. Roger Rowe Middle School, updated the school board that the distribution of Google Chromebooks is underway. The first phase of the distribution were for students in sixth, seven and eighth grade. “We distributed all but the 53 of the Chromebooks today and these were just no shows from registration day,” Holbert said. Holbert told the board that the distribution went well. President Todd Frank had a question, which came from about every middle school student that he knew. “They don’t know whether they should be logging into them or using their private emails,” he said. “So what’s the right answer that I can give them?” Holbert said the answer was that they have an account that they haven’t told the students yet. By the first day of school, he was hopeful an active directory would be in sync with Google. He went on to say that it had been tech-
that aspect working and secure. With that in mind, Holbert said the students were entered into a manual upload. Holbert suggested sending out an email update to the parents referring to Frank’s question and the board agreed that would be a good idea. Staff members, Holbert said, also underwent a two-hour intro into Google operations for education. Following this, staff received another two-hour tutorial for educational standards training which related to grades five through eight. Those were separate sessions. The tutorials brought staff members up to speed with the new tools and methods, which will be used in the classroom. “It was a really good day,” Holbert said. The decision to make the switch from the Apple iPad to Chromebooks occurred at the start of summer. Holbert made the recommendation because he thought Chromebooks technology offered a better platform for students. In Windows, students can have multiple applications and browsers opened TURN TO CHROMEBOOKS ON 17