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Honoring Our Volunteers
Ronnie Cobb of T.R. Smedberg Middle School
Ronnie Cobb was recognized as an Education Partner at the October 4, 2011, meeting of the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education. Ronnie has been an active volunteer at all of his children's schools, starting with Mary Tsukamoto Elementary School. He assisted in their classrooms and chaperoned nearly all of their field trips. Last year, Ronnie created T.R. Smedberg's first Basketball Club, which teaches student-athletes about the history of the game and what makes the great athletes great. Student-athletes are regularly given homework assignments and current events they have to speak on prior to coming to the club. Both boys and girls can participate in the Basketball Club. Ronnie has also served as the boy's basketball coach for the past two years at Smedberg. Ronnie is also a basketball coach for an adult basketball team called "Hoops for Heaven." The adult team travels to the CHAD correctional facility in Stockton to play against and mentor the young men incarcerated there. Ronnie has participated in this program for the past 15 years. Ronnie is married to Lorene Madison-Cobb, daughter of EGUSD Board member Chet Madison, Sr. They have three children: Sarilyn - a sophomore at Sheldon High School, Kyle - a freshman at Sheldon High School and Drew - a 7th grade student at Smedberg. |
EGUSD students and staff earn Elly Awards
EGUSD students and staff from two high schools captured four awards at the 2011 Elly Awards at the Crest Theatre on Sunday, September 25, 2011. The Elly Awards, presented by the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance, honor outstanding achievements of community theaters and artists in the greater Sacramento area. The Elly Awards are named for Eleanor McClatchy, a devoted patron of the arts. Cosumnes Oaks High School - Jason Bramham won for set design in an education play for Romeo & Juliet.
Sheldon High School - Lucas Holland won for lighting design in an education play for Arabian Nights.
- Craig Howard and Denise Lorenz won for costume design in an education play for Arabian Nights.
- Rajheen Dixon won for supporting actor in an education play for Arabian Nights.
Elly Awards are given in seven categories: comedy, drama, young people's musical, young people's plays, education and original works. Within the Education category, there are separate subcategories for musicals and nonmusical plays. The Education category was added to accommodate the growing number of middle and high schools who have become member theaters. All productions submitted by middle and high schools are judged in this category.
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Fall Plays at EGUSD
Dim the lights and open the curtain - its fall theater season once again at Elk Grove Unified! The following schools are presenting productions during the fall season: Cosumnes Oaks High School's theater students will perform "Comedy of Errors" on October 20-22 and 27-29. Showtimes start at 6 p.m. on October 20 and 27, 7 p.m. on October 21-22 and 28-29 and a matinee performance starts at 1 p.m. on October 29. Tickets are $8 general admission and $6 for senior citizens, children under 10 and COHS students with an ASB sticker. In addition to the aforementioned performances, the COHS Culinary Arts Institute will host a special dinner prior to the show on October 21. Tickets are $25 per person. Drama students at Elk Grove High School will perform their rendition of "Miss Nelson is Missing!", a play adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the popular children's book by Harry Allard and James Marshall. Showtimes are at 7 p.m. on November 10, 12 and 17-19. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for students and senior citizens and $4 for children 10 and under. The theater students at Florin High School will present their fall production of "THIS AND THAT: An Evening of Scenes, Monologues & Improvisation" on October 27-29. Showtimes start at 6:30 p.m. on all nights, with an additional 1:30 p.m. Saturday matinee performance. Tickets are $7 at the door. Franklin High School's Theater Company will present "The Imaginary Invalid" - a play by Jean "Moliere" Baptiste Poquelin - October 28-29 and November 4-5. All shows start at 7 p.m., with matinees at 2 p.m. on October 29 and November 5. Tickets are $8 for general admission and $6 for senior citizens, children 12 and under and FRHS students with an ASB sticker. Theater students at Laguna Creek High School will present "The Best Laid Plans," a play by Fred Carmichael, October 27-29 at 7:30 p.m. on all nights in the Black Box Theater on campus. Tickets are $8 at the door or $6 in advance. Advance tickets are available either online or in the campus student store. Monterey Trail High School's drama department has selected "The Disappearance of Daniel Hand" as their fall play. Showtimes are October 28-29 and November 4-5 at 7 p.m. on all nights. Tickets are $8 general admission and $6 for students and senior citizens. This play is not recommended for children under 12 years old. Pleasant Grove High School's theater students will present their fall production of "Ordinary People" November 3-5 and 11-12. Showtimes start at 7 p.m. on all nights, with an additional matinee performance at 2 p.m. on November 12. Tickets are $10 general admission and $8 with an ASB sticker. Theatre students at Sheldon High School will present "A Midsummer Night's Dream" - with a modern twist - as their fall production. Showtimes are November 3-5 and November 11-12 at 7 p.m. A matinee will be performed on November 12 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for general admission. Valley High School Theater will present "Original Student Works," a compilation of short plays, poetry slam and dance on November 4-5 at 7 p.m. on both nights in the Black Box Theater on campus. Tickets are $5 at the door. |
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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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EGUSD elementary schools earn recognition in USDA HealthierUS School Challenge
 On Friday, October 14, all 39 Elk Grove Unified School District elementary schools were honored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for their achievement in the HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) at an awards ceremony held at Prairie Elementary School. The event featured special performances from Michael Marks, a.k.a. "Your Produce Man" - best known for his presentations to students about the uses of and best times to find produce and appearances on CBS 13 News at Noon and Good Day Sacramento; Professor Mimo - an amusing clown that helps students learn healthy nutritional choices, the importance of exercise and good personal hygiene; a Harvest of the Month presentation by Prairie teacher Eva Turner; and Prairie's Ballet Folklorico who performed a dance representing the three regions of Mexico as well as Prairie's Paw Prints Theater students who sang "Gotta Eat" and "Listen to the Beat of my Healthy Heart." HUSSC, sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service, is a voluntary national certification initiative for schools participating in the National School Lunch Program. The program supports First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign by recognizing schools that are creating healthier school environments through their promotion of good nutrition and physical activity. Elk Grove Unified is the only school district in Sacramento County to have schools that earned recognition through this program. Twelve elementary schools - Florin, Franklin, Samuel Kennedy, Anna Kirchgater, Herman Leimbach, Charles Mack, Barbara Comstock Morse, Prairie, John Reith, Sierra Enterprise, Mary Tsukamoto and Union House - received a Gold Award. Silver Awards were earned by eight elementary schools - Maeola Beitzel, Arthur C. Butler, Raymond Case, Elitha Donner, Robert J. Fite, Roy Herburger, Isabelle Jackson and Irene B. West. Nineteen elementary schools - Arnold Adreani, Edna Batey, Carroll, Helen Carr Castello, Cosumnes River, C.W. Dillard, John Ehrhardt, Elk Grove, Elliott Ranch, Ellen Feickert, Foulks Ranch, Arlene Hein, Florence Markofer, James McKee, Pleasant Grove, David Reese, Joseph Sims, Stone Lake and Sunrise - earned Bronze Awards. All schools will receive a monetary incentive - $1,500 for Gold schools, $1,000 for Silver schools and $500 for Bronze Schools - an award plaque signed by a USDA official, a banner to display in their school and their name listed on the Team Nutrition website. Click here for more information about the USDA's HealthierUS School Challenge.
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EGUSD launches Energy Conservation Campaign for 2011/2012 school year
It's Energy Awareness Month and the Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD) has officially launched its Energy Conservation Campaign for the 2011/2012 school year!
EGUSD plans to surpass the energy-saving achievements from the 2010-2011 school year. Last year, EGUSD saved over $1.3 million in energy costs, exceeding its original $1 million goal. This was largely due to all 39 elementary, nine middle, nine high and four alternative schools achieving their energy conservation goals for the 2010-2011 school year.
Schools were challenged to beat a concrete energy savings goal based on their baseline performance in 2008-2009, prior to a board adopted energy savings policy and guidelines. Created by considering a variety of factors, the goals considered square footage differences, number of portables, energy efficient building systems, total consumption and calendars. Click here to view the final results for the 2010-2011 school year.
As a result of meeting their energy conservation goals, 62 schools received shared savings checks ranging from about $500 to about $5,900 for their site discretionary funds. These discretionary funds have been reduced by 30 to 40 percent over the past four years due to budget cuts.
The following schools with the highest energy savings were recognized at the EGUSD Board of Education meeting on October 4: Laguna Creek, Valley and William Daylor high schools; Toby Johnson and Harriet Eddy middle schools; and Elk Grove, Foulks Ranch, Florence Markofer, James McKee and Arnold Adreani elementary schools. The EGUSD Board of Education also passed a resolution recognizing October as Energy Awareness Month at their October 4, 2011 meeting. Click here to view the resolution.
Goals for the 2011-2012 Energy Conservation Campaign will be released in the coming weeks.
Elk Grove Unified's Energy Conservation program was also awarded the Gold Medallion Award by the National School Public Relations Association in July 2011 and the California Gold Award in September 2011 from the California School Public Relations Association.
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Sheldon High School teacher creates new animation textbook
Sheldon High School animation teacher Shawn Sullivan has seen his animation program achieve many milestones since its humble beginnings with just one computer and a few interested students in 1997. Now Sullivan is celebrating another key milestone with the release of his first animation textbook, "Persistence of a Vision."
"The textbook is something I've been wanting to do for the past 15 years and I've been slowly putting it together for that time," said Sullivan. "It grew from an art lesson I taught many years ago where my students remarked how much they enjoyed the animation portion of that class. But now the time was finally right as technology has finally caught up my ideas."
The textbook, which comes in both hard and digital copies, covers beginning animation by tackling the basic concepts of character animation - motion, movement and how animation works. The book contains the lectures from the Beginning Animation I class, making the book an excellent resource for teachers searching for information on how to start an animation program at their own schools. Sullivan wrote the textbook with funding from a $100,000 Perkins Tech Prep Demonstration Site Grant.
"I am a strong believer that animation is a fantastic art form and I want to see it continue to grow," said Sullivan. "Writing the textbook is just one of the ways I'm helping it grow. Animation and graphic design is one of the fastest growing job fields but I want it to be seen as more than just something for kids. I'm pushing for it to be truly accepted in the arts."
As always, Sullivan is pushing forward to his next milestone.
"I have plans to write textbooks for my advanced animation classes as well," said Sullivan. "I'd definitely like to have the help of current and former students in putting these books together. The talents of Kyler Spears, Austin Madison, Eric Hann, Alexa Hann and Cole Sanchez - all former students of mine who are doing amazingly well in the graphic arts and animation field - were essential in the production of the book. I truly could not have finished the project without them."
The book can be viewed in its entirety or purchased online. The book costs are as follows: $50.24 for a softcover book, $68.68 for a hardcover book with a dust cover and $72.58 for a hardcover book with ImageWrap. The textbook can be viewed for free. Click here to view and/or order a copy of the book.
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EGUSD asks students, staff and parents to participate in National Speak Up Survey
The Elk Grove Unified School District is seeking input from students, staff and parents about technology use and education through the national "Speak Up" survey administered by Project Tomorrow, a non-profit education organization.
EGUSD stakeholders are asked to take the survey online at http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2011 and select whether you fall under the category of parents, students or teachers & administrators. The website asks for the user to enter the state and name of the school. Survey takers will then need to enter the "secret word" elkgrove to access the survey.
Individual responses are anonymous. They are associated with a school but are not tied to the individual. The survey opened on October 10, 2011 and will close on December 23, 2012.
The survey results will inform EGUSD about how participants feel about their education and the use of technology. Survey results may be used for planning and community discussion. Project Tomorrow releases national findings through a variety of venues including: Congressional Briefing in Washington, DC, national and regional conferences, e-mail distribution, Project Tomorrow website, and through Speak Up partners. According to Project Tomorrow, local, state and national stakeholders report using Speak Up data to inform their new programs and policies.
Click here to find sample questions on the surveys online. The survey and subsequent results are free of charge to both the people taking the survey and EGUSD.
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