Elk Grove Unified School District
Excellence by Design
 EGUSD News and NotesOctober 7, 2013 
In This Issue
Energy Conservation Program
"Be the Change" @ Albiani
UC Davis Helmet Safety Program
Walking Paths Dedication
Digital Citizenship Safety Tips
 
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Be a good cyber citizen! Remind kids that an Internet playground is still a playground and they need to play nicely. A good rule of thumb: If they wouldn't do something in real life, they shouldn't do it online. Find out how your children can report mean behavior or unkind content on their favorite sites and teach them how to do it.

Honoring Our Volunteers

   

S. Delores Roberts of Herman Leimbach Elementary School

  

 

S. Delores Roberts was recognized as an Education Partner at the October 1, 2013, meeting of the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education.

 

Roberts is an awesome parent volunteer at Herman Leimbach Elementary School. She is always willing to help at anytime with anything asked of her. If you need an extra hand in the office or at a community event, she is your volunteer. Specifically, Roberts helped organize Leimbach's first "Invite a Veteran to Lunch Day" last year and currently serves on the School Site Council.

 

Roberts is former military, having spent six years in the Navy where she was an operator of the service's nuclear reactors. Currently, she is employed by Genentech as a validation engineer.

 

Roberts has three sons: Kaleb Roberts - a 3rd grade student at Leimbach, Isaiah Brown - a 9th grade student at Laguna Creek High School and Elijah Brown - a junior at South Carolina State University. 

 

EGUSD encourages students to "Map Your Future"

 

Parents and students will have an opportunity to plan for the future at the Elk Grove Unified School District's first annual

Map Your Future: K-12 Career Pathways Exposition from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 8 at Monterey Trail High School.  The event is offered through a partnership between EGUSD, Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce and Elk Grove Economic Development Corporation.

 

The event will feature 14 of California's industry sectors, which include agriculture and natural resources, energy environment and utilities, engineering and architecture, health science and medical technology, information and communication technologies, and manufacturing and product development. These industries have been identified by Elk Grove and Sacramento leaders as having the greatest potential for growth.  

 

At the event, current and former EGUSD career academy and pathway students will be available to speak with and answer questions from students and parents. Teachers, counselors and school and district administrators also will be on hand to answer questions and offer guidance on applying for an EGUSD academy or pathway. Representatives from post-secondary educational institutions also will be available to provide information about how EGUSD's career academies and pathways connect with college and business partners will be on hand to offer insight into the local labor market.

 

 

EGUSD high school dance companies

to perform at Dance Fest 2013

 
Students from nine Elk Grove Unified School District high schools will perform in Dance Fest 2013: Games, a dance company performance sponsored by the Public Education Dance Alliance (PEDA) at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 12 at the Performing Arts Center at Sheldon High School (8333 Kingsbridge Drive, Sacramento).

 

Dance Fest 2013: Games is inspired by popular games. Each dance piece in the show will seek to transform one game into a significant contemporary dance work for the theatrical stage.

 

The show will include performances by Laguna Creek High School's Infinite Motion, Sheldon High School's Universal Rhythm, Franklin High School's Fusion, Monterey Trail High School's Impulse, Pleasant Grove High School's Soul Purpose, Valley High School's Footworks and Cosumnes Oaks High School's Hype dance companies; guest performers from Elk Grove High School and Florin High School; as well as performances from J. Rene Academy of Dance and Oakmont High School's Dance FX dance company.

 

Tickets are $10 general admission and are available only in advance at each school site. No tickets will be available for purchase at the door. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. Contact Joseph Candelaria at jcandela@egusd.net to purchase tickets. 

 

 

Calvine High School to host blood drive 

 

 

Calvine High School will host a blood drive on Friday, October 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.  To sign up for a chance to donate, contact Ron Eggert at (916) 689-7502.   

 

International Walk to School Day

October 9, 2013

Throughout the Elk Grove Unified School District students from elementary through high school will participate in International Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 9, 2013.  This is a great time to talk to your students about the importance of following safe guidelines while walking or biking to and from school. For more information

 http://www.walkbiketoschool.org/ 

 

 

Welcome to eguNews, an EGUSD email newsletter published every two weeks.  To subscribe to eguNews, click here.  If you have questions about eguNews, you can email communication@egusd.net or call (916) 686-7732.

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Energy Conservation Program kicks off for 2013-2014 school year

 

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The 2013-2014 EGUSD Energy Conservation Program got off to a fantastic start after an overview presentation of the program to the EGUSD Board of Education by Associate Superintendent of Facilities and Planning Robert Pierce on Tuesday, October 1. The top energy-saving schools, as well as student participants in the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)'s internship program, were also recognized at the board meeting.

 

Overall as a district, EGUSD exceeded the goal of saving $1.3 million in energy costs for the 2012-2013 school year. The district achieved 122 percent of its overall goal for the year. Since the program's inception in the 2009-2010 school year, the district has saved over $5 million in utility expenses.

 

The top energy-saving schools were awarded a portion of the district's overall savings. The savings are awarded to the top schools if the district reaches or surpasses its overall goal. The following elementary schools were the top energy saving schools for the 2012-2013 school year:

  • Herman Leimbach Elementary School: 231 percent
  • Florence Markofer Elementary School: 206 percent
  • Elk Grove Elementary School: 192 percent
  • Arnold Adreani Elementary School: 180 percent
  • Foulks Ranch Elementary School: 179 percent
  • Robert J. Fite Elementary School: 179 percent
  • David Reese Elementary School: 170 percent

The following secondary schools were the top energy saving schools for the 2012-2013 school year:

  • Toby Johnson Middle School: 152 percent
  • Joseph Kerr Middle School: 117 percent
  • Franklin High School: 150 percent
  • Laguna Creek High School: 150 percent
  • Las Flores High School: 134 percent
  • William Daylor High School: 134 percent

Cosumnes Oaks High School students Barrington "BJ" Harrison, Jorge Davila and Elizabeth Ditoiu and Laguna Creek High School student Matthew Cordima gave a presentation about their completed project in the SMUD internship program, which focused on identifying ways to save energy at Joseph Kerr Middle School and Ellen Feickert Elementary School.

 

Click here for more information about the EGUSD's Energy Conservation Program. 

 

Students decide to "Be the Change" at Katherine L. Albiani Middle School

 

   

Students at Katherine L. Albiani Middle School are learning how to "Be the Change" in seeing positive behaviors across their campus through a new positive behavior intervention and support (PBIS) program. The "Be the Change" program is the brainchild of the Albiani leadership students and Donna McNeel, Albiani's activities director.

 

"Since I've been at Albiani, I decided to create a program with a positive message to integrate into our culture of our school and PBIS program," said McNeel. "Last year, the theme was 'Be the Difference' and this year it's 'Be the Change.' It was inspired by the Teen Truth assembly."

 

Albiani leadership students assisted in the creation of the program by selecting the areas students pledge to "Be the Change" in - friendship, compassion, respect and kindness. Each area has its own color designation and wristbands. After students watched "The Pledge," a film created by Camfel Productions, they had a chance to take the pledge to "Be the Change" and receive a wristband.

 

Leadership students at Albiani are also continuing to offer activities this year that tie into each area. Compassion is demonstrated through their Kids Can food drive; respect is shown through Bring a Veteran to School Day; kindness will be shown through their anti-bullying campaign that kicks off in January and friendship is demonstrated through the many clubs and other activities at Albiani.

 

Although the program is now only in its second year, it has proven to be quite successful. Students were surveyed about how they felt about the program and 96 percent of students did not feel like they were bullied at Albiani.

 

"This program gives students the skills to deal with social issues in real life," McNeel said. "It shows them how positive choices - such as being safe, respectful and responsible in all areas - creates a positive school climate and a fun place to learn."

 

EGUSD elementary schools participate in
UC Davis helmet safety program
 

 

  
Thanks to a new partnership with the UC Davis Children's Hospital (UCDHS), elementary school students at two schools in Elk Grove Unified - Anna Kirchgater and Prairie - now have a chance to be a little safer as they ride their bicycles through the UCDHS-Kohl's Buckle Up to Grow Up program.   The program was brought to the district by Lisa Dixon, Safe Routes to School coordinator for EGUSD.

 

"Since Safe Routes to School encourages walking and biking to school and endeavors to make doing so safer and easier, I reached out to UCDHS program staff to discuss implementing their program in our schools to further serve students that choose to bike to school or outside of school, but may not be able to afford a bicycle helmet or realize the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet," Dixon said.

 

Any student or community member in the district can receive a free bicycle helmet at one of the Helmet Safety Center locations. Florin Elementary School receives free helmets for their bicycle rodeo but does not distribute helmets throughout the year.

 

"Schools can participate in one or both of two options in the program," said Christy Adams, UC Davis Helmet Safety Center Program Coordinator. "The first option is for a school to be established as a Helmet Safety Center where a handful of school staff are taught basic head injury prevention and helmet safety. The second option is a comprehensive education and helmet distribution program for all students in the school. Through a partnership with nurses from California State University, Sacramento, UCDHS provides a helmet to each student in the school, along with a 15 minute helmet safety presentation given to each class by student nurses."

 

Dixon hopes to continue to expand the program throughout the district.

 

"We plan to continue to grow the program by utilizing student nurses at other elementary and middle schools within EGUSD over the five year term of the agreement," Dixon said.

 

 

EGUSD kicks off "Your Health, Your Choice" employee wellness program with walking path dedication   

   

     



Throughout the Elk Grove Unified School District, employees have laced up their sneakers to kick off the 2013-2014 "Your Health, Your Choice - Celebrating Wellness in EGUSD" employee wellness program.  

 

The District marked the beginning of the 2nd year of the "Your Health, Your Choice" employee wellness program with a ribbon cutting at one of 18 walking paths at schools and sites. The walking paths were created courtesy of EGUSD's partner Kaiser Permanente. The celebration took place on October 2, 2013, at the EGUSD Student Support Center on Gerber Road which houses EGUSD's Transportation, Food and Nutrition Services, Maintenance and Operations,Police Services, Purchasing and Warehouse and Adult Education.   

 

As part of the ceremony, dressed in fitness shoes, Superintendent Steven M. Ladd, Ed.D., Patricia Rodriguez, Kaiser Permanente Senior Vice President Area Manager, and Richard Isaacs, MD, Kaiser Permanente's physician-in-chief for South Sacramento and Elk Grove, led over 75 EGUSD employees in an inaugural walk.  

 

"Everyone needs to put their best foot forward when it comes to good health," Ladd said.  "By taking responsibility for our health, it allows each of us to be an active participant in our own wellness."

 

While all EGUSD schools offer tracks and places for employees to walk, Kaiser Permanente has designated walking routes or paths which have been specifically mapped out with mileage calculated.  Kaiser Permanente has also donated signs, maps and participation stickers for sites with walking paths.

 

This event marks Year 2 of EGUSD's "Your Health, Your Choice program.  Last year, over 78 percent of eligible employees participated in the program.  

 

Click here for more information about the "Your Health, Your Choice" employee wellness program.