Honoring Our Volunteers
Rommel and Janice Declines of Irene B. West Elementary School
Rommel and Janice Declines were recognized as Education Partners at the August 17, 2010, meeting of the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education.
The entire Declines family has been an active part of the Irene B. West Elementary School community since the school opened as founding members of the PTA. Rommel and Janice were also supporters of the change of a PTA to a parent group called FIT - which stands for Family Involvement Team.
Rommel was instrumental in bringing the Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) program to both West and Edward Harris, Jr. Middle School. He is West's "Top Dog" in charge of this volunteer group for fathers and father figures.
In addition to her numerous daily contributions and classroom support, Janice is an ongoing participant in the Reading Fluency Team. She has collected over $25,000 for West's Jog-A-Thon and serves as a FIT leader. Janice also collected over $10,000 in donations for the Harvest Carnival/Festival. She coordinates West's Family Appreciation Bingo Night, Family Spaghetti Dinner Night, Notebook Patrol and cookie dough fundraising - which raised $9,000 last year.
The Declines have six children who have attended or currently attend West - Reeanna - a sophomore at Monterey Trail High School, Darien - a seventh grade student at Harris and Teressa, Jeremy, Rommel Jr. and Grace - all students at West.
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Elk Grove High School senior earns national award and $5,000 scholarship
Jake Carlson, a senior at Elk Grove High School, was awarded one of three inaugural Christopher Columbus Agriscience Student Research Awards and a $5,000 scholarship. The Agriscience Student Awards are presented to current secondary school students who are making or have recently made a significant and positive contribution related to the field of agriscience. The Agriscience Research Awards are presented by the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation - an independent Federal government agency - and the American Farm Bureau Federation. The two organizations have formed a partnership to present eight monetary awards and research funding to three groups representing new, innovative approaches in the field of agriscience around the country. For more information about the Christopher Columbus Agriscience Research Awards, click here. |
On the Grid with energy conservation
The Elk Grove Unified School District is searching for great energy savings efforts taking place in our schools and district departments. Outstanding energy savings programs will be highlighted in a video posted on the EGUSD Energy Conservation's webpage "On the Grid." If you know of great things taking place at a school site or in a department, email Communication@egusd.net. |
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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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New principals for a new school year
Six Elk Grove Unified schools welcomed new principals for the 2010-2011 school year:
Elliott Ranch Elementary School: Brian MacNeill was recently appointed principal of Elliott Ranch Elementary School. Previously, MacNeill was the vice-principal at Prairie Elementary School.
Katherine L. Albiani Middle School: Katherine L. Albiani Middle School's new principal is Melanie Dopson. Dopson previously served as a vice-principal at Toby Johnson Middle School.
Harriet Eddy Middle School: William Del Bonta has returned to Harriet Eddy Middle School to take the reins as principal. Del Bonta comes to Eddy from Samuel Jackman Middle School where he was principal. Previously, Del Bonta served as a vice-principal at Eddy and a science teacher at Joseph Kerr Middle School.
Samuel Jackman Middle School: Paul Burke is the new principal at Samuel Jackman Middle School. Burke came to Jackman from Valley High School, where he was a vice-principal. Before working at Valley, Burke served as vice-principal at Harriet Eddy Middle School.
Florin High School: Florin High School's new principal is Don Ross. Before coming to Florin, Ross held the position of vice-principal at Valley High School.
Monterey Trail High School: David Byrd is the new principal at Monterey Trail High School. Previously, Byrd served as vice-principal at Monterey Trail and as a program specialist in the Curriculum/Professional Learning department at the district office.
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EGUSD introduces new Energy Conservation program
The Elk Grove Unified School District has launched a new energy conservation campaign in an effort to save $1 million for the 2010-2011 school year. The Energy Conservation program is designed to educate everyone about energy conservation and to promote positive energy saving habits.
"EGUSD is dedicated to energy conservation," said Robert Pierce, associate superintendent of facilities and planning. "First, and perhaps foremost, the Energy Conservation program will allow the district to save significant money and redirect those hard to come by dollars back into programs and services for students. We also believe that energy conservation is important to save natural resources, protect the environment and to set an example for students and the community."
In July 2010, EGUSD received a 2010 SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utilities District) Community Energy Award for energy conservation. EGUSD continues to work closely with SMUD representatives to successfully implement the energy conservation program. The district hopes to build on the success of the program in the 2009-2010 school year.
This year through the Energy Conservation program, schools will have the chance to earn money for their sites based upon how much energy they conserve. Each school site has a concrete energy savings goal based on their baseline performance from the 2008-2009 school year. Schools will be compared to their 2008-2009 baseline year performance since a program was not in place that year. If the district meets or exceeds the $1 million goal, schools that meet or exceed their individual goal will receive a shared savings contribution. Individual schools' progress will be posted throughout the year on the district's energy conservation website. The results will be posted here. Goals vary from site to site based on a number of factors including square footage differences, number of portables, energy efficient building systems, total consumption, schedules (year round, conversion off of year round, etc.).
To assist school sites in reaching their goals, there will be energy coordinators at elementary and secondary school sites. The coordinator will be responsible for overseeing the program at their school site and will be the liaison between their school and the Facilities and Planning Department. The coordinator will also encourage both staff and students to conserve energy. At the elementary school level, teachers have the option of appointing students as classroom energy monitors. These monitors will be responsible for ensuring their teacher and classmates are conserving energy.
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Salute to Roy Herburger
Roy Herburger, one of the Elk Grove Unified School District's strongest supporters, was recently honored during a celebration commemorating his 80th birthday on Saturday, August 21 at Roy Herburger Elementary School.
The celebration, which was also a fundraiser for Herburger Elementary's library, featured performances from student groups from throughout the district, including: the Singing Hawks (Herburger Elementary), a gold-medal winning performance from the 2009 Oral Language Faire (former Elitha Donner Elementary School students), the Castello players (Helen Carr Castello Elementary School), Reyna Armour (Elizabeth Pinkerton Middle School), the Laguna Creek High School Vocal Ensemble, Impulse Dance Company (Monterey Trail High School) and the Sheldon High School Jazz Ensemble. A special vocal performance by Dr. Natalie Woods Andrews, a close friend of Mr. Herburger, ended the evening. She also led the crowd in a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" for Mr. Herburger.
"Roy's birthday celebration presented us with the perfect opportunity to honor a man who is truly indispensible to the community," said Elizabeth Pinkerton, local historian and fellow school namesake. "For the past 51 years, Roy has been a solid supporter of education and the district. By my calculations, he has attended about 1,200 EGUSD board meetings - he definitely deserves a medal!"
The students, staff and administrators of the Elk Grove Unified School District would like to wish Roy Herburger a very Happy 80th Birthday and are grateful and honored to have had his support over the years.
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EGUSD to offer Agile Mind math program
Known as a nationwide leader in providing innovative learning opportunities for students, Elk Grove Unified has partnered with Agile Mind - a new, online curriculum for Algebra I - for a two-year pilot program at four EGUSD high schools.
Agile Mind is an Internet-based curriculum that offers support in many of the sciences and mathematics. Agile Mind Algebra I content is delivered by a teacher using the Agile Mind website, a classroom computer and a projector. The program also offers teachers instructional suggestions that include off-line activities and online, whole-class problem-solving examples. Students participating in the program must have access to the internet for 60-90 minutes per week either from a home computer or a school lab.
"Agile Mind teachers use the online tools to supplement normal classroom instruction in Algebra I. Although textbooks are still provided, students also have 24/7 access to practice opportunities and demonstrations on the Agile Mind website," said Dr. Anne Zeman, director of curriculum for the district. "The Agile Mind program is an exciting program that seeks to encourage students to become engaged in class in a way that hasn't been seen before in a math class environment."
A total of 20 Algebra I teachers at Elk Grove, Florin, Laguna Creek and Valley high schools are receiving five days of training as well as access to the program online. The program will be implemented with students in early September.
For more information about the Agile Mind Algebra I program, visit http://www.agilemind.com/services_algebra.html.
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