A SWEETWATER UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT PUBLICATION
MARCH 2014 | ISSUE 2
SWEETWATER
CURRENTS
SOUTHWEST HIGH S TAT E C H A M P I O N S CURRENTS ON THE GO! SIGN-UP NOW & MARCH STAY UP DATE WITH SWEETWATER www.sweetwaterschools.org 2014TO | ISSUE 2 SWEETWATER CURRENTS 1
S W E E T WAT E R C U R R E N T S M A R C H 2 0 1 4 | I S S U E 2
CONTENTS 04 SUHSD STUDENT ART EXHIBIT 05 MONTH OF MARCH 07 CONSTRUCTION CURRENTS
08 CAREER DAY AT SWEETWATER HIGH SCHOOL 09 SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL STATE SOCCER CHAMPIONS 10 BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS
10 09 13 www.sweetwaterschools.org
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Board of Trustees Jim Cartmill • Bertha J. López • John McCann Dr. Edward M. Brand Superintendent Produced by: Grants & Communications
CT CONNEU S WITH
NEWS & VIEWS
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Keep up with the latest
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Keep the 2013-14 Student Calendar handy! Download it here.
! D E M R O F STAY IN WS ALL THE NE N O P U H CATC EBSITE ISTRICT W D E H T IT VIS E NEWS PAG
FOLLOW OUR BOARD MEETINGS LIVE AND DIRECT
twitter.com/SUHSD www.sweetwaterschools.org
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Be a Communication Liaison Do you want to contribute to spreading the good news going on at your school site or department? The Grants and Communications Department is looking for self-motivated individuals who will serve as the voice of their site. In this role, the liaison is responsible for acting as a bridge between their site and the Communications office. The purpose of this role is to enhance the flow of information provided to the Communications office for publication content (Currents) and website/media spotlight opportunities. If you are interested in serving in this role, please contact the Grants and Communications Department at (619) 691-5578 or gcomm@sweetwaterschools.org.
Submitting to
Currents is g e
tting easier!
In order to ca pture all the w onderful thing Communicati s going on in th ons Team has e Sweetwater developed a n Click on the li district, the G ew Currents S nk below to su rants and u bmission Form bmit all Curre for your conv nts story idea enience! s, events, kud os etc. in a sim convenient fo rmat! ple and Visit http://w ww
.sweetwatersch ools.org/curre nts/
SUHSD Student Art Exhibition March 8 through April 8, 2014 South Chula Vista Library Come and view works of art created by the talented students of the Sweetwater Union High School District. Works of art by Middle and High school students will be on display. Come and experience incredible pieces of two dimensional and three dimensional artwork.
Gala & Awards Reception Friday, March 21st 6pm - 8pm
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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CALENDAR MARCH 2014 8
20
25
26
SUHSD Student Art Exhibition Thursday, March 8th - April 8th @6pm South Chula Vista Library 389 Orange Avenue Chula Vista, CA 91911
Annual CUE Conference Thursday, March 20 Palm Springs Convention Center 277 N Avenida Caballeros Palm Springs CA 92262
2014 VAPA CALENDAR Click here to view list of upcoming events.
San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering Fair Tuesday, March 25-30 Balboa Park Community Center 2145 Park Blvd. San Diego CA 92101 Covered California Marketplace Basics Wednesday, March 26 Chula Vista High School Jack Tygett Performing Arts Center 820 Fourth Avenue Chula Vista, CA 91911 Time: 3pm – 4pm
San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering The 2014 San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering is now here! The Festival will take place on March 22nd and is free for students and families to attend. Visit www.gsdsef.org for more information.
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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T’S A H W E E S D N DA E V L O V N I Y A T TER S A W T E E W S E H T HAPPENING IN COMMUNITY
ITY N U M M CO EVENT DARS CALEN SWEETWATER
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CHULA VISTA
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www.sweetwaterschools.org
Y NATIONAL CIT
NC
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3 14 CONSTRUCTION CURRENTS You are invited to a structural steel topping-out ceremony for the National City Middle School Modernization Project 2 on April 16th at 4:00 pm. The steel structure is almost complete and wall framing is already underway. The new 2-story classroom building includes 11 classrooms, a TV production classroom and an ASB classroom. Two buildings have been demolished to make room for a new quad and the 500 building will be demolished to make room for more parking. Completion of this $15 million project is expected this fall. Visit the Planning and Construction Department and Prop O for more info: http://planningandconstruction.sweetwaterschools.org http://buildingpropo.sweetwaterschools.org
CBOC annual report for 2012-13 is now available here.
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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KUDOS!
Mar Vista High NJROTC Blood Drive The NJROTC program at Mar Vista High School hosted their third blood drive of the year, collecting more than 131 units of blood from 180 students. The amount donated can potentially help 393 people! Well done, NJROTC.
KUDOS!
Mar Vista High Senior Sean Arca Mar Vista High School senior, Sean Arca recently led a “Jeans for Teens” fundraiser to provide gently worn jeans to homeless teens in the South Bay. Students and staff at Mar Vista High rallied together to support Arca’s initiative and 338 pairs of jeans were donated!
SWEETWATER HIGH HOSTS CAREER DAY EXPO Sweetwater High recently hosted a Career Day Expo with speakers representing UCSD Health System, Qualcomm, Sempra US Gas and Power, Rady’s Children’s Hospital, Cal-Trans, US Border Patrol, NCPD, NCFD, and more! Students packed the gym as they interacted with lawyers, engineers, law enforcement, performing artists, architects, and health care providers, many of which are SUHi alumni!
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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CONGRATULATIONS 2014 SUHSD Teacher of the Year Candidates! *Our 6 District Teacher of the Year Honorees
Misti Cheers AVA
Diana Kulhanek CVH
Viana Rodriguez* OLH
Helen Keeran* Alternative Education
Molly Keogh ELM
Hayley Salazar* ORH
Ed Gillet* ELH
Thomas Phillips PAH
Karen Thompson GJH
Nicole Reyes RDM
Paul Ecoffey HTH
Carrie Northum SYH
Guadalupe Trejo MVA
Amy Baker SOM
Chantal Sakkal MVH
Monica Gutierrez SOH
Sara Chai MOM
Eric Esperon* SUH
Douglas Baltz CVA Erica Dibello-Hitta MOA Leticia Riel NCA Adrienne Medina SYA Amy Cruz* BVM Rosemarie Day CPM Kimberle Davis CPH Kyle Kupper CVM
www.sweetwaterschools.org
Deborah Brookshier MOH Angela Vazquez NCM
YOU ARE THE BEST!
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SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL STATE SOCCER CHAMPIONS Congratulations to Southwest High’s Boys Soccer team for winning the Regional State Championships! Soccer Coach, Giovanni Medina, was also selected as San Diego Section CIF Coach of the Year. Congratulations Raiders!!
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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OLYMPIAN HIGH STUDENTS HOST 3rd ANNUAL EVENT “BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS” Olympian High School students recently hosted their 3rd annual “Breaking Down the Barriers” event where participants had the opportunity to learn about healthy ways to express emotions. Students engaged in activities called “If You Really Knew Me” and “Crossing the Line” giving them the opportunity to recognize the effects of stereotyping or labeling their peers. By the end of the day, students walked away with a new found commitment to end bullying on campus and restore broken relationships. Kudos to Olympian High and all other SUHSD campuses bringing awareness to bullying and making changes.
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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AZTEC FOR A DAY Recently, parents of Montgomery High School students had the opportunity to tour the campus and classrooms as part of the “Aztec for a Day” event. Parents were given tours of the campus’s new facilities that include a new administration building, ten-classrooms, new gym and renovated lunch area. Parents also engaged in an online computer course where they reviewed Montgomery’s website, Jupiter Grades, the CAHSEE Revolution program and the Shmoop program (provides students support with Advanced Placement Testing, SAT, ACT, and CAHSEE exams).
KUDOS!
Montgomery High Honored By College Board Montgomery High has been recognized by the College Board as one of three schools in the district to qualify for the Advanced Placement Opportunity Program. The College Board was recently awarded a 1.2 million dollar grant by Dell Computers which will provide Montgomery High with the ability to expand the number of Advanced Placement classes (AP Environmental Science and AP Microeconomics) offered. The grant will also provide waived AP exam fees for students in enrolled in these courses, professional development for teachers and supplies.
KUDOS!
Coach Manny Hermosillo Kudos to Montgomery High School Coach
Manny Hermosillo. He is one of the finalist for the Latino Champions Coach of the Year Award. Check out the nominees here.
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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SUHSD School Nurses Keeping Up with Technology Each school nurse within the Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) will soon access student health information immediately with the use of their new iPads. Ronaldo Kovacs RN BSN, school nurse at Chula Vista Middle, applied for and received a grant in the amount of $20, 745.50 for 25 iPads from State funding. Updated technology enables school nurses to provide crucial information needed during staff team meetings, observations and evaluations of students in classrooms. It also gives them immediate access to parent contact information in case of an emergency. The SUHSD school nurses are looking forward to using their iPads to access the most current student information available when healthcare decisions affecting students are made during the above activities. This is a win-win situation for all, but especially for our students and it was accomplished without impacting the Sweetwater Union High School District budget! Good job, Mr. Kovacs!
Energy Conservation During Spring Break
Schools today, as always, are looking for ways to reduce costs. Small adjustments can lead to big savings when it comes to operating schools and classrooms. For more information on how the districts Phantom Load Cost Calculations click here .
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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TUPE Club Students Participate in Spring Jam at Camp Cuyamaca 46 middle school students attended Spring Jam, an overnight event at Camp Cuyamaca in Descanso on March 8 and 9th. Spring Jam is a program that has been designed to enhance leadership skills, promote a healthy lifestyle free from tobacco, and encourage community involvement. Throughout the weekend Spring Jam offered educational workshops on a variety of teen issues. Students were trained on strategies to make a positive change on their campus and in their community. Fourteen SUHSD high school students were trained to assist as camp counselors throughout the weekend. The primary goal of Spring Jam was to provide youth leadership skill development. The secondary goal was to provide opportunities for our students to use those leadership skills to advocate living a lifestyle free from tobacco and other drugs.
Two Bonita Vista High School Show Choirs Reach National Championships
Bonita Vista High School has accomplished something no San Diego County high school ever has by qualifying two show choirs for the national FAME Grand Championship Finals. Click here to read more...
www.sweetwaterschools.org
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