Honoring Our Volunteers
Terri and Bill Briggs of
Foulks Ranch Elementary School
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Terri and Bill Briggs were recognized as Education Partners at the March 16, 2010 meeting of the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education.
Terri and Bill are remarkable volunteers at Foulks Ranch. Bill is currently serving as President of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and Terri is the fundraising chairperson for the PTO.
Bill took over as President of the PTO in 2008. He was instrumental in reorganizing the PTO at Foulks Ranch to meet the challenges of budget shortfalls and program eliminations which led efforts to not only raise money, but to raise parent support on campus as well. Bill advocates to parents about the need to have them involved in their child's education on many levels. His goal is to provide events to all families - at little or no cost - to bring them on campus.
Terri has served as the fundraising chairperson for the past two years. She has orchestrated a huge "Free Money" campaign, identifying and sharing programs that generate free money; i.e. eScript, Quality of Life programs and Box Tops for Schools, just to name a few. Her "parent" perspective is a benefit in deciding which fundraising activities to do, such as cookie dough and note cards created by Foulks Ranch students.
The Briggs' have one child - William, a 3rd grade student at Foulks Ranch.
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Representatives from U.S. Naval Academy visit Florin High School
On Friday, March 12, representatives from the United States Naval Academy stopped by Florin High School for a special visit.
Naval representatives spoke to three classes about the Naval Academy and also held a special question and answer session after school for students who were unable to hear the presentations during the day.
One of the highlights of the visit was a performance by the Electric Brigade (EB). EB, the Navy's premier Contemporary Entertainment Ensemble, acts as the United States Naval Academy's musical ambassadors to the nation. EB supports the Brigade of Midshipmen and is also a major public relations tool for the Navy, supporting Navy Recruiting by acquainting young Americans with the Armed Forces. At the Naval Academy, EB is called upon to entertain the Brigade of Midshipmen for a variety of functions ranging from formal occasions such as the Graduation Ball during Commissioning Week, to informal dances, pep rallies, and company picnics. During the last two years, the group traveled to the Houston Bowl and Emerald Bowl tailgate parties to support the Midshipmen and Navy football.
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Nike Reuse-A-Shoe Collection returns
The City of Elk Grove is seeking schools to participate in their 3rd Annual Nike-Reuse-A-Shoe Collection.
In celebration of Earth Week 2010, schools can choose to participate in the annual shoe collection. The old athletic shoes collected by schools will be shipped to a Nike facility where they will be recycled and turned into playing surfaces, such as running tracks, basketball courts and soccer fields.
Shoes will be collected at elementary schools during the week of April 12-16. Middle and high schools will collect shoes during the week of April 19-23. The elementary school and the middle/high school that collects the most shoes will win $1,000 each for their school.
The City of Elk Grove will provide all promotional materials and manage all logistics for the shoe collection event. Allied Waste will collect the shoes at the end of the week.
For more information about the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe Collection or to sign up a school to participate, call Kim Perry at (916) 478-2289 or email at kperry@elkgrovecity.org. |
David Reese Elementary School to induct students into national honor society
On Thursday, April 8, students from David Reese Elementary School will be inducted into the National Elementary Honor Society (NEHS). To qualify for NEHS, students must demonstrate both academic achievement and a commitment to service learning.
Reese Elementary is not only the first elementary school in the Florin region to start a chapter of NEHS, but they are also the first Title I school to start a chapter as well. Three other elementary schools in EGUSD currently have NEHS chapters: Elitha Donner, John Ehrhardt and Foulks Ranch.
For more information on NEHS, visit www.nehs.org.
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Welcome to eguNews, an EGUSD email newsletter published every two weeks. If you have questions about eguNews, you can email communication@egusd.net or call (916) 686-7732.
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Arthur C. Butler Elementary School students are "Runnin' for Rhett"
Students at Arthur C. Butler Elementary School are becoming physically fit while supporting a positive cause - all at the same time. On Sunday, March 28th, 34 Butler students participated in the 7th Annual Nutrition Fuels Fitness 5K/10K & Kids Fun Run in Elk Grove Park through the Runnin' for Rhett training program. The Butler students trained with third grade teacher Jeff Wilson for four weeks leading up to their race. To prepare for the race, students participated in various drills and jump roping to increase their stamina. In addition, EGUSD Nutrition Specialist Anne Gaffney came out to speak with the students about nutrition and selecting healthy foods. Runnin' for Rhett is a non-profit foundation that was founded in 2007 by a grassroots group of family and friends in memory of Rhett Seevers, a former Prairie West student. Their mission is to inspire individuals to get off the couch and do something that one special little boy couldn't do - walk or run - no matter how hard he tried. "Although Runnin' for Rhett has been an organization that works mainly with adults, we wanted to reach out and include students to teach them about fun and fitness through running," said Tami Dokter, a member of the Board of Directors for Runnin' for Rhett. "It was great to see the students participating in the Nutrition Fuels Fitness Run and our members really enjoyed supporting the students throughout the race." Although this is the first year Runnin' for Rhett has expanded its program to students, they would like to rotate the training program to different schools in the district. "We believe that it is important for youth to become active to fight childhood obesity," Dokter said. "This program helps students feel as though they are part of something to help build up self-esteem and acceptance while learning proper techniques and nutrition." For more information on the Runnin' for Rhett program, visit www.runninforrrhett.com. |
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SHARP Grant = Health Resources For Families
Thanks to a $40,000 grant provided by Kaiser Permanente, the Elk Grove Unified School District has been able to implement the Student Health Access and Referral Project (SHARP). The grant is for one year - December 2009 to November 2010.
"The SHARP project is designed to develop a comprehensive summary of the priority medical needs that create the most pressing barriers to student attendance and achievement," said Tami Silvera, project implementor for the district. "Using this data, SHARP staff will work to identify free and low cost medical practitioners and resources in the area and connect students and families - who lack access to health care - to these critical health services."
One health issue of concern already identified by the SHARP grant is oral health care. According to the America Academy of Pediatrics, dental cavities is the most common chronic disease affecting children in the United States. It is five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, American school children lose more than 51 million school hours each year due to dental problems.
EGUSD's Student Support and Health Services Department partnered with the Sacramento District Dental Society, Western Career College, and other dental service providers to plan and host regional dental screenings for families. SHARP grant funds were used to facilitate a successful free dental screening at Florin Elementary School on March 12 when over 250 students were screened. The next dental screening is scheduled for April 16 at Helen Carr Castello Elementary School from 8 a.m. to noon. It is available to any Kindergarten through 6th grade student in the district.
"Our ultimate goal is to develop a comprehensive master plan of clinics, services, and resources available to EGUSD students each year. We will work to better inform our schools and families of these essential services and their availability throughout the district," Silvera said.
Although EGUSD staff have accomplished much four months into the grant, they still have plenty of plans for future events.
"We are developing the health assessment instruments and hope to begin that aspect of the project in late spring," said Silvera. "We are working to become an approved site for the 'Vaccines for Children' program so that the district can provide free immunizations for EGUSD families beginning next fall."
SHARP staff have also partnered with Cover the Kids (CTK), The Sacramento Children's Health Initiative, to host the annual Healthy Kids Day on Saturday, April 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Edward Harris, Jr. Middle School. The event will provide opportunities to obtain free to low-cost health coverage for children, teens and expectant mothers through Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, Kaiser Permanente Child Health Plan and Healthy Kids. The event will include child and family resources, child fingerprinting and ID, free dental screenings and other giveaways.
For more information about the SHARP grant, contact Tami Silvera at (916) 686-7568.
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Foundations Program helps students stay on track at Toby Johnson M.S.
Students in need of extra assistance academically at Toby Johnson Middle School have an excellent opportunity to develop the skills necessary to be academically successful through the Foundations Program.
"The Foundations Program is designed for students who are performing below grade level on their California Standards Test (CST) or who are not demonstrating mastery in their core classes," said Chandra Guckeen, Foundations teacher at Johnson. "Our teachers work very hard to ensure the success of our students. Both teachers and students alike have commented on how much the class has improved the academic performance of our student participants."
Through the Foundations Program, students improve their math skills and reading comprehension. Students who are struggling in math or humanities classes are placed in the Foundations Program. Foundations classes are taken in lieu of an elective class.
Students spend 45 minutes each in two classes for math and Language Arts. Math class instructors pre-teach math concepts students will encounter in either their math or Bridge class. The math class also reviews skills in order to bring students up to current grade-level standards. The Language Arts class emphasizes reading and covers select concepts from Humanities classes. To exit the Foundations Program successfully, students must have A's and/or B's in their core classes.
"The program is definitely an asset to the students who are enrolled because it provides them with the extra support they need," said Guckeen. "As a result of the program, we have seen a large number of students increase their CST score and improve their grades in the core class. The success of the Foundations Program is demonstrated by the decision by many students to remain in the program because they find it to be helpful."
For more information on the Foundations Program, click here.
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Florin High School "adopted" by Siemens Corporation
It's not every day that a school gets the chance to be adopted by a local corporation.
But that's exactly what happened to Florin High School when the Siemens Corporation came knocking at their door.
The partnership started last year when Stacey Hill, an employee at Siemens, contacted Florin High School. Siemens was in the process of looking for schools to assist that were close to their offices. That simple phone call has sparked a relationship that Florin High School has benefited from tremendously.
"Last year we told them of our need of supplies for staff and simple things like notebook paper, pencils and other supplies for our students," said Karen Best, career counselor at Florin. "We are now able to provide new students in need with a backpack filled with paper, pencils, rulers, calculators and other items. Siemens has stopped by our school several times with supplies we requested and even stuff we hadn't asked for."
Siemens has continued to watch over Florin High School during the current school year. The company has participated in fundraisers all year, such as ice cream socials and metal collection, at their site to raise $5,000 for scholarships for Florin seniors. A total of five seniors will receive $1,000 scholarships to assist them with their college costs.
"Florin High is so very lucky to have the support of the wonderful employees at Siemens," said Best. "It has made teachers feel like it's Christmas on campus whenever they stop by with their gifts of supplies."
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