The Mark Highlights - Summer Edition 2019

Highlights Summer Interns Page 10

2019 Summer Edition

MUSD School Board President Stephen Schluer, Area 6 Vice President Eric Duncan, Area 1

Our

Board Clerk Kathy Howe, Area 2

Vision

Karen Pearsall, Area 3 Marie Freitas, Area 4 Cathy Pope-Gotschall, Area 5 Bob Wallace, Area 7

MUSD Superintendents Dr. Clark Burke, Superintendent Roger Goatcher, Deputy Superintendent

Mission Through smart actions and decisions, MUSD will work together using meaningful, measurable and aligned data for all students to achieve mastery of grade level standards in all subjects based on their unique educational pathway in a safe environment inclusive of design, security, and climate.

Manteca Unified School District 2271 West Louise Ave. Manteca, CA 95337 (209) 825-3200 https://www.mantecausd.net/

The Mark Highlights is published by the MUSD Superintendent’s Office Community Outreach team. Highlights content is contributed by every school site.

When highlight articles are submitted, they are edited for length and clarity.

Feature writing is produced by the Community Outreach Team and student interns.

Highlights is intended to be a reflection of the

Every student works to achieve grade level standards, feels safe, and is supported to realize individual success.

We are

@proudtobemusd

MUSD Vision and Mission, because above all, we value supporting students realizing individual success.

The Mark Highlights Team are: Victoria Brunn Director and Executive Editor vbrunn@musd.net Lindsay Stayner Content Coordination and Editor lstayner@musd.net

Taylor Hasal Reporting, Design, Photography, and Editing Erica McCullough Design and Photography Johanna Victor Photography and Reporting Community Outreach Interns Feature stories submitted by student interns, or an outside contributor, will include an author’s byline credit.

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What’s Inside?

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Making the Mark Back to School Staff Inservice Trainings

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Summer Projects Update

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YMCA Summer Pool Program

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EUHS Youth Basketball Clinics

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Families of MUSD “Wish-It-Forward” 8 District Office Student Intern Program

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Nutrition Education Summer Lunch and BBQs

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Features MUSD Receives Six Gators

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Superintendent’s Leadership Symposium

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Nutrition Education Health and Safety Expo

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Neil Hafley Modernization Project

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Community Corner M.E.L.S. Garage STEM Summer Camp

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Manteca Police Chief ’s Junior CSI

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Family Summer Photos

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Delta College Dual Enrollment

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Manteca Transit Back to School Rides

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Wine on the Farm

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Back to School

Staff Inservice Trainings

Great Valley teachers engaged in a professional development on How People Learn! #Powerful!

Lathrop Elementary staff team building by recreating and performing nursery rhymes with an educational theme.

Lancers invited guest Richard Parkhouse who spoke on building a culture of excellence where everyone matters.

French Camp working together setting meaningful goals for 2019-20.

MHS math training.

Woodward Mustangs are smiling bright for their first day back pictures.

Brock Elliott Champions are ready for the new school year! Staff gathers for training under campus safety, emerging students and standards. Go O’s!

August Knodt teachers doing some mindfulness activities.

Manteca Adult School on Inservice day.

Lincoln staff enjoying their Inservice collaboration time!

Shasta Hornets primary and intermediate educators building capacity with identifying needs revealed by data.

McParland Knights are building school culture with team exercises.

Nile Garden teachers worked hard studying the top performing countries, learning course crosswalks, setting goals and had fun getting to know each other!

Joshua Cowell staff dives into professional development and reflects on their school vision and mission, as well as the District targets.

Sequoia Tigers on Inservice day!

Lathrop High School staff shines light to PLC’s in the Special Education Department.

Facilities and Operations

Summer Projects Update

Manteca High School Modernization and New Construction Project started on July 7, 2019. The project included the demolition of the existing pool, construction of a new softball field, and ADA improvements at the stadium.

This work is scheduled to continue through September.

Phase 1, increment 1 of East Union High School Modernization project continues through summer. This increment includes modernization and new construction work for the agricultural facilities on campus.

Work at Weston Ranch High School stadium is nearly finished. All that remains is the installation of the track surfacing material. This is set to be completed in August.

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East Union High School

Youth Basketball Clinics

The East Union High School Basketball Program held several youth basketball clinics for players in 3rd through 8th grades. East Union basketball coaches, and players led each clinic with a different focus such as offensive skills, defensive techniques, fundamentals and conditioning.

YMCA

Summer Pool Program The YMCA of San Joaquin County in partnership with the City of Stockton implemented a summer pool program at Weston Ranch High School for students, families, and community of Weston Ranch.

The Y recruited students from Weston Ranch High School to train and work as lifeguards through the duration of the program. An average of forty families enjoyed evenings of family swim per night and approximately 50 patrons participated in open swim sessions during each day.

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Families of MUSD Once Granted a Wish

“Wish-It-Forward”

by Chris Courtney, Sierra High School Teacher

Christopher Courtney, son of Sierra High School teacher Chris Courtney, has been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease. In 2017, Christopher was granted his Make-A-Wish dream to swim with the dolphins in Hawaii.

Christopher wants to spread the word and raise money to “pay it forward” for those who made it possible for he and his family to experience his wish.

Christopher’s doctors at Stanford referred him to the Undiagnosed Disease Network run by the National Institute of Health. The UDN only accepts the most medically challenging cases in the nation. Though we have yet to receive an answer to Christopher’s severe medical challenge, we have been told that Christopher has a Huntington’s-like disease which is a severe neurodegenerative disease similar to having ALS, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s all in one. Unfortunately, there is no cure for Huntington’s Disease. Because of the severity of Christopher’s condition, he was referred to Make-a-Wish and had his wish granted in July 2017.

In April 2017 Christopher was invited to throw the first pitch at a Stanislaus State baseball game.

After throwing the first pitch, 8

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Christopher was surprised by the Make-A-Wish team who told him that his wish to go to Hawaii had been granted!

As his parents, we hoped that Christopher’s Wish would give him something positive to look forward to and help him focus on something other than the uncertainty and fear of his disease.

This year’s walk is on August 17, two days before Christopher’s birthday. In the past, Team Courtney raised over $2,000 for Make-A-Wish to grant another child a wish. We have decided that there is no better way to honor Christopher and each of his birthdays than by participating in the Walk to grant the wish of a child who has been diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition.

Follow this link http://bit.ly/TeamCourtney to join Team Courtney for this year’s walk on August 17th, 2019.

by Gayathri Jacobs, Weston Ranch High School Psychologist

My son, Jehan, was 5 ½ years old when he was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in his bladder in 2012. He went through 42 weeks of weekly chemotherapy, 21 days of radiation, 3 months attached to a catheter, surgeries and many blood transfusions. His Make-A-Wish dream was a family vacation to Disney World, and it came at a time when he and the rest of the family needed a boost. The many weeks of treatment weighed on him as he felt isolated and tired of everything.

The Make-A-Wish trip made him feel free to be a kid again. It was a tremendous experience that I would never be able to afford to give to my child and we are truly grateful to Make-A-Wish for this opportunity.

This inspired us to do it again the following year, especially as we were fundraising to grant the wish of one of our co-worker’s children.

We raised over $12,000.

wish. Team Jehan was the top fund raiser!

We came back again this year to do the same. It was more difficult, but the competitive bug got into the Weston Ranch team members and we raised $10,460 to grant another

We hope you will join our team.

Follow this link http://bit.ly/TeamJehan to walk with us on August 17th, 2019 or donate to support our team.

We walk to support a wish experience that can truly change a child’s life, and so can you.

Three years ago, we decided we needed to “Wish-It-Forward” to grant a wish for another child.

Together, with my friends at Weston Ranch High School and community members, we made and sold wish bracelets, held bake sales, raffles and other activities and fundraised over $10,000.

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District Office

Student Intern Program Over 55 interns worked at the District Office this summer.

Comprised of current and graduated MUSD students ages 13-21, these interns gained professional experience in various departments such as Payroll, Information Technology, Purchasing, and Nutrition Education to name a few.

Interns learn valuable work skills throughout their time in the program. These include time management, communication, filing and record-keeping, and the ability to interact with students and parents in a professional manner.

Arveen Birdi (pictured right) reflects on her time as a student 10

Making the Mark

intern with the Nutrition Education Department.

“My internship with the MUSD Nutrition Education Department has not been not only fun, but rewarding in many aspects,” says Birdi.

She also stated that her favorite task during the internship was handing out lunches to students at the weekly BBQ’s.

“Interacting and working with young children and their families is fun and fulfulling to my heart.

“Thank you MUSD for giving me this wonderful opportunity! I sure am proud to be MUSD!”

“I am super grateful to have been given this opportunity to meet great people, learn new skills, and grow as an individual�

- Freshta Halimi, Student Intern

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Nutrition E

Summer Lunch Pr Good nutrition is a key component of learning. Just because schools are on summer break, doesn’t mean healthy eating should be on break too! During summer, some students eat foods and snacks that are full of sugar, fats, and sodium, and other students may face hunger and malnutrition.

To help deter these common issues, the Nutrition Education Department spent the summer providing free lunches and hosting free BBQs to students aged 1-18 years old. The BBQ held at Lincoln Park featured fun games and root beer floats served by the Manteca Police Department and Second Harvest Food Bank.

Meals were served Monday - Friday at various parks in Manteca, Lathrop, French Camp and Weston Ranch. There were a total of 28 staff members and 5 student interns traveling to each of the parks serving meals to students. Over 60,000 meals were served between June 3 and August 2.

Throughout the summer, the Nutrition Education Department provided fun and safe environments for students to enjoy a healthy lunch.

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“It’s great that the Manteca Police Department and MUSD were able to partner up for this event; It’s really special for the kids in our community.”

Chief Jodie Estarziau, Manteca Police Department

Education

rogram and BBQs

s e

60,821 Lunches Served

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Cities

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Locations

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Staff

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Student Interns Making the Mark

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MUSD Receives

Six Gators

Green and yellow spotted Gators were granted to six elementary sites within Manteca Unified; John Deere Gators, we mean.

In an effort to reduce emissions from motor vehicles, San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District issued a $90,000 grant to MUSD in support of the California Clean Air Act of 1988.

“Head custodians were notified on Friday they were receiving these Gators,” said Joan Arnold, Department Supervisor of Facilities and Operations. “And the following Monday, they met us at the yard.”

Head custodians from August Knodt, Brock Elliott, French Camp, Great Valley, Sequoia and Stella Brockman Elementary arrived eager Monday morning to meet with Director of Facilities and Operations Aaron Bowers, Coordinator Jeff McLarty, and Arnold.

“It was like Christmas in July for these hard-working custodians,” Arnold shared. “The best part of it all was witnessing their excitement.

They were exploring, inspecting, pushing buttons and lifting levers,

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Features

and couldn’t wait to jump in the driver seat.”

The Operations Team loves that this Gator TE utility vehicle has a quiet electric operation with zero emissions/fuel compensation.

Though, our Head Custodians may love that its packed with power having a 900lb payload capacity and a 500lb towing capacity. This makes carting heavy equipment and 30-gallon garbage bins after lunchtime a bit simpler.

Arnold explained that a condition of the grant is to send annual maintenance reports on the Gators for up to three years. To ensure proper working operations and maintenance requirements are met.

It was a special morning not only for the custodians, but for Arnold, Bowers and McLarty.

“Overhearing the custodians chat about all the ways which the Gator TE could benefit their site operations coupled with the amount of gratitude was special to witness for us,” smiled Arnold.

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Superintendent’s

Leadership Sym This summer, Superintendent Dr. Clark Burke hosted the annual Leadership Symposium where District and school site leadership gathered together for an educational day centered around our cycle of refinement.

Reflection. Refinement. Results.

Faculty participated in creative activities promoting teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills.

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Last school year our Board of Trustees defined a new Vision: Every student works to achieve grade level standards, feels safe and is supported to realize individual success, established Targets, and collectively we set the mission for all staff.

Each year, our Superintendent

Leadership Symposium is intended to reinforce our District’s Vision + Mission, discuss how to meet our targets, and define a plan of action.

The opening session led by Dr. Burke prefaced the importance of a clear Vision, a unity of purpose, and the development of a strategic plan over the course of the year with a baseline for data.

Data that is meaningful and measurable, and validated. This data will enable us to reflect upon and refine the course to produce results.

After the opening session, administrators from all over

mposium Manteca Unified divided into three groups where they rotated and participated in three different sessions.

latter half of the session, leadership teams practiced aligning site goals to district targets and considered how to align resources and budget.

One principal commented, “I’m excited to see what this powerful tool can do and how it will help inform instruction even more.”

Next Step Assessments was a presentation led by Senior Directors Clara Schmiedt and Jenni Tyson, Director of Professional Learning Julie Jenkins with Coordinators Jeff Caligiuri, Lisa Snyder and Lisa Schnaidt. The session identified the importance of each type of assessment, such as formative versus interim, how and when to effectively use the data from the assessment, and to determine student needs. In the

Data + Design Dashboard was a presentation led by Director of Community Outreach Victoria Brunn and Technology Support Analyst Kathy Cambra. Presenters demonstrated how to prepare and visualize critical, student information using our data within the platform.

The Planning Workshop hosted by Superintendent Dr. Clark Burke and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Lisa Herrin extended the topic from the opening session into a participatory conversation.

“This platform gives the ability for leadership to analyze data to make informed decisions,” stated Brunn.

From left: Senior Director of Elementary Ed. Jenni Tyson, Director of Professional Learning Julie Jenkins, and Senior Director of Secondary Ed. Clara Schmiedt were part of the team that hosted the Next Step Assessments session at this year’s symposium.

Burke stressed the fundamentals of a strategic plan involving building school culture, performing a needs assessment, developing a baseline, allowing for accountability

Superintendent Dr. Clarke Burke reflects upon goals and strategies for the upcoming 2019-2020 school year.

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and progress monitoring. These aspects converged into one plan with the single most fundamental component, authentic data analysis, aims towards achieving the District targets and school site targets.

Through continual review of our curricula programs, evaluation of success rates of student performance, and refining or redefining our strategies to change/ alter course, we can respond to the needs of our students. Making smart decisions related to student

performance throughout the school year is an important aspect of teaching as it will identify student needs for additional programs.

“I found it crucial for us to be using common and consistent language, when referring to assessments district wide,” expressed an administrator.

After lunch, participants merged for a final presentation titled, Authentic Leadership based on the development of school or department culture. Our leaders

“I found it crucial for us to be using common and consistent language, when referring to assessments district wide.”

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were reminded of our unity of purpose— “No war was ever won based on the commitment or effort of a leader alone”. They were challenged to ponder their personal scars and scabs and how vulnerability translates into authentic leadership.

One principal commented, “I really enjoyed the activities and discussion of key pieces that a leader can do to build school culture.”

Administration from each school site worked together throughout the day to prepare for another successful school year.

The day was full of activities that allowed administration, directors, and supervisors to collaborate with each other.

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Retiring Nutrition Education Director, Patty Page, (left) welcomes new department Director, Brandy Campbell (right).

Nutrition Education

Health and Safety Expo Nutrition Education Summer Interns hosted a “Mini Farmers Market” booth, where students were able to take home two fruit or vegetable items of their choosing.

The Nutrition Education Family Health and Safety Expo was held on Friday, July 19th at Sierra High School’s gymnasium and cafeteria. The Expo was a fun and educational opportunity for MUSD students and their families.

Nutrition Education provided a healthy lunch and snacks to those who attended.

Over 25 booths and vendors offered health and safety tips ranging from healthy hydration to proper hand washing techniques. Other booths and vendors included a Mini Farmers Market hosted by

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Nutrition Education summer interns, Stranger Danger by the Manteca Police Department, and Transportation Safety by MUSD’s Transportation Department.

Nutrition Education had several resources at the Expo to help parents and students prepare for the upcoming school year. They introduced a mock lunch line where students practiced the everyday school lunch routine and lunch meal applications for parents to complete!

The non-profit organization, Give Every Child a Chance, hosted a booth where students made their own fruit smoothies by using the Blender Bike. Students hopped on to pedal for 2-5 minutes as fast as they could to blend their custom flavored smoothie. It was a fun way for students to exercise, as well as create a healthy and flavorful treat.

This year’s Health and Safety Expo was extra special, as it welcomed the new Director of Nutrition Education, Brandy Campbell.

The day was filled with fun educational activities that were tailored specifically for MUSD students and families to enjoy.

A student spins the wheel for a prize at a booth hosted by Producers.

Nutrition Education provided lunch for students and families at the event.

The Hydration Station taught students the importance of staying hydrated and provided fruit infused water.

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Neil Hafley

Modernization Project

Neil Hafley Elementary, named after Neil Hafley former assistant county superintendent of schools and Manteca Unified administrator, opened to students in July of 1983.

Fast forward thirty-six years and thirty-five promoting classes, Neil Hafley undergoes modernization and will open its gates to students this month.

This Measure G funded modernization project is part of Manteca Unified’s Phase II Implementation Plan.

“Modernization updates the learning environment while addressing the most urgent health and safety, code compliance, and major deferred maintenance needs of the school,” stated Aaron Bowers, Director of Facilities and 22

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Operations.

While Neil Hafley is in strict alignment with the needs prioritized by Measure G, there are opportunities to integrate innovative elements within the learning environment.

Part of the planning process involves the core planning group.

Which invites key persons such as Lori Guzman, Neil Hafley Principal, Tony Barros, Neil Hafley Head Custodian, Justin Geer, Construction and Energy Technician, and Bowers, to name a few.

Justin Geer explained that, the core planning process is crucial to meeting the needs of the school site. This is how the Facilities and Operations team gathers school

site perspectives and creates a final modernization plan.

“Maybe there is something we are not aware of,” Geer pointed out. “We are looking at it from a 30,000ft aerial view but they [the school] have a zoomed in, more focused perspective of the site.

They know their school site and they understand what it needs.

They help us take planning ideas and turn them into practical, useful applications for the site.”

For instance, the breezeways throughout campus had been suffering from peeling paint. After many attempts to correct the problem, it continued to crack and chip. It was important to staff at Neil Hafley to have the breezeways refinished, so the core planning

group included this project as part of the final plan.

Another favorite piece to the plan, coming in October, the Neil Hafley Hawks will be recipients of four, brand-new playgrounds plus an outdoor classroom.

“The outdoor classroom is going to be a 21st century style learning environment,” noted Geer.

“Teachers can use the space for a science lesson or physical education activity. It creates a flexible space that gets kids out of the classroom but still serves as instructional opportunity.”

The outdoor classroom will come equipped with an enclosed television to allow teachers to utilize multimedia instruction.

Shade was another important aspect to include in the playground redesign.

“Each playground will have an element of shade to them. Kinder and 4th -6th grade playgrounds will have a large, mesh canopy. The 1st-3rd grade playground is more of a nature-play inspired playground and it has been designed to intermingle with the trees,” shared Geer.

To much excitement, Neil Hafley Elementary is armed with new and updated fire alarms, bell and paging systems. There are new roofs on main buildings and classrooms, new grass on the south and west sides, new asphalt throughout play areas, and as part

of deferred maintenance, new carpeting installed throughout the classrooms. The breezeways are refinished, the parking lot will wear new striping, and the multipurpose room gym floor is updated with new flooring.

Note from the editor- we will be highlighting many schools as we are able to reach each one within our 5-10-year plan. Additionally, a true needs assessment is underway to identify the solutions still needed. As good stewards of taxpayer dollars we continue to maximize our different funding sources to provide the most enriching environment for each neighborhood school.

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M.E.L.S. Garage

STEM Summer Camp

MELS (Manufacturing Engineering Learning through STEM) is MUSD’s community makers space.

In Manteca Unified, we strongly believe in empowering our students and families to come together to experience learning through STEM activities.

Through the summer, MELS Garage held STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) Camps to keep students engaged in a 21st century learning environment with classes taught by MUSD educators.

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Community Corner

fuel.

June 10th-13th, MELS hosted City of the Future Mincraft for students in 5th-6th grades taught by Richard Johnson from Veritas Elementary.

Students learned how to measure distance, calculate area, and the building costs associated with developing a city. Further, students investigated the resources needed to power a city and manage the population all within a simulated video game.

June 10th-13th, Special Education teacher Matthew Tate offered June 3rd-6th, Cliff Borden of a STEM Bootcamp to students Weston Ranch High School led the entering 7th-10th grade interested Ranch Robotics Aerospace Summer in learning to code using Ozobots, Camp. Students learned rocket markers, and paper. safety, the laws of rocket stability, June 17th-20th, students in grades fluid dynamics, and aerodynamics 7th-9th attended the Minecraft as they built and launched three 3D Models camp and learned how different vehicles powered by air to measure distance and calculate pressure, water pressure, and solid area as it relates to designing and

creating 3D models, led by teacher Richard Johnson.

inspired them to serve as leaders on campus.

June 17th-21st, MELS Garage and UC Davis STEM Center hosted a Girls in Robotics Leadership Camp taught by teacher Stacia Lagomarsino. This camp motivated girls entering 7th-8th grade to learn computing and STEM concepts and

June 24th-27th, students entering 7th-12th grade enjoyed building and flying their own remote control, RC Glider at Manteca High School with teacher Doug Obrigawitch.

Manteca Police Chief’s Foundation

Junior CSI

Manteca Police Chief ’s Foundation held their summer Junior Crime Scene Invesitgation academy at our District Office taught by School Resource Officer Downs, Officer A. Smith, and Officer Elness. Students became junior investigators and learned about defensive tactics and safety, building entries, cadence in marching, and demonstrations from specialized departments such as K-9, SWAT, Traffic, and Bomb Squad.

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Family Summer Photos Shared with us on @proudtobemusd #BestYearYet #BackToSchool

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