Elk Grove Unified School District
Excellence by Design
 EGUSD News and NotesMarch 31, 2014 
In This Issue
Video Games @ Monterey Trail
Florin HS FFA selected to participate in diversity program
Battle of the Books @ Johnson
Air Force Association Teacher of the Year
Digital Citizenship Safety Tips
 
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Minimize chatting with strangers. Tell your kids that people aren't always who they say they are on the Internet. Anyone can pose as a "buddy of a buddy." If kids are playing online games with people they don't personally know, they should be careful not to disclose anything personal.

Honoring our Volunteers

   

The Chadderton Family of Carroll Elementary School 
  

 

The Chadderton family were recognized as Education Partners at the March 18, 2014, meeting of the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education.

 

Volunteering at Carroll Elementary School is a family affair for the Chadderton's. Throughout the month of February, Candy Chadderton volunteered for at least an hour a day in various classrooms at Carroll. She makes herself available to all teachers, whether they have her children or not, and has learned to do fluencies, tutor sight words, help students with their writing or provide support in any way needed. Candy has volunteered over the past two years to coordinate Carroll's parent volunteer program.

 

Marc, a captain with Cal Fire, is also a frequent visitor on campus during his time off. He volunteers in classrooms, goes on field trips and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Carroll students safe. One year, when people were complaining about traffic in the school parking lot, he agreed to wear his uniform while doing cross-walk duty - which helped.

 

Even the Chadderton children's grandmother helps out on campus. Nana volunteers a minimum of six hours per week. She also tutors, assists with assessments and has been known to complete a craft project with entire grade level of students. Every student who has been at Carroll over the past seven years knows Nana - as she has worked with most of them.

 

The Chaddertons have two children: Caitlen - a 6th grade student at Carroll and William - a 3rd grade student at Carroll.

Harriet Eddy Middle School is top middle school in Teens for Jeans donation drive

Harriet Eddy Middle School students and staff collected a total of 7,252 pairs of jeans for the Teens for Jeans campaign - more jeans than any other middle school across the country.

The school will receive a $5,000 grant for being the top middle school in the jean collection campaign.

Calvine High School holds successful blood drive  

 

Congratulations to Calvine High School!

The students and staff at Calvine recently collected a total of 33 pints of blood through their latest blood drive with BloodSource. Their original goal was 26 pints of blood.

A total of 37 people participated in the blood drive and 16 people gave blood for the first time at the event.

Great job to the students and staff of Calvine!  
   
Upcoming High School Spring Musicals & Plays

Spring musical and play season is in full swing at Elk Grove Unified!  The following schools will present musicals and plays over the next two weeks:

Elk Grove High School presents "Cinder-Ella"
Dates: April 4-5
Times: 7 p.m. on all nights, 2 p.m. matinee show on April 5
Tickets: $8 general admission, $6 for students, seniors and military

Florin High School presents "Noises Off"
Dates: April 4-5  The play time: 7 p.m. on all nights  Tickets: $8 in advance, $10 at the door.

Monterey Trail High School presents "Guys and Dolls"
Dates: April 3-5
Times: 7 p.m. on April 4-5, 4 p.m. show on April 3 
Tickets: $10 general admission, $8 for students/senior citizens/children.

Pleasant Grove High School presents Disney Jr.'s "Alice in Wonderland"
Dates:April 3-5 and 10-12
Times: 7 p.m. on all nights with 2 p.m. matinees on April 5 and 12.
Tickets: $10 general admission, $8 for PGHS students with an ASB card.

Sheldon High School presents "Once on This Island" Dates: April 4-5 and 10-12
Times: 7 p.m. on all nights with a 2 p.m. matinee on April 12 
Tickets: $12 general admission, $8 for children under 10

 

 

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Creating video games - all in a day's work at Monterey Trail High School

      

 

At Monterey Trail High School, students in the Design and Technology Academy (DATA) can select computer science as a pathway major.  In addition to covering general computer science curriculum, MTHS DATA students also have the chance to create their own video games through their Introduction to Computer Science class.   

 

This year's gaming topic was "Computer Viruses, Cyber Citizenship or Recycling." Computer science students use a software program called Multimedia Fusion Developer to create their games. Their games must include the following components:  

  • Be a "platform game" (ex: Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario Bros, Wario Land, Donkey Kong, Temple Run)
  • At least three game levels with different backgrounds and parallax scrolling 
  • Multiple components for motion, control, sound, etc.
  • Different music for every level
  • At least one character (character must be able to walk, crawl, climb and jump)
  • Instructions built into the program so that the user knows how to play the game
  • Title and ending screens
  • Scoring component

"Game design is not only fun, but also teaches students time management and planning skills, critical thinking, teamwork and collaboration, persistence and debugging skills," said Cindy Lascola, a computer science teacher at Monterey Trail. "Student have generally had very enthusiastic responses to creating the games, with some students now considering a career path in video game design."

 

Students' video game creations have been entered in the first annual Congressional Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Academic Competition, the "House App Contest." Established by Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, this competition is a nationwide event that allows high school students from across the country to compete by creating and exhibiting their software application, or "app," for mobile, tablet, or computer devices on a platform of their choice.  Throughout the completion period, participating students will be provided opportunities to engage with various STEM educational partners located within the community to mentor and assist them with their app development.  Click here for more information about the App Contest.

 

 

 

Florin High School FFA selected to participate in Enhancing Diversity in Agriculture Education program
 
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Florin High School has been selected to participate in the Enhancing Diversity in Agriculture Education program by the National FFA Foundation and Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc.

 

"Through a California Department of Education nomination, Florin was one of three local high schools that were selected to participate as a coalition," said Sheila Folan, an agriculture teacher at Florin.   "Florin will join Galt and Rio Linda high schools, along with UC Davis' Agriculture Education Division, in engaging in FFA activities and building and sustaining leadership development for students."

 

The high schools were selected because of their demographic diversity, longevity as a program and the support of the faculty for encouraging student participation at all levels. The program is a four-year grant starting in July 2014. Each year, each school in the coalition will receive $25,000 to accomplish their goals of increasing diversity within their FFA programs while building participation and leadership at the local through national levels.

 

This program aims to recruit and retain young minority students who have not traditionally partnered in agricultural education and FFA. The program also seeks to increase awareness and education regarding the importance of diversity in developing premiere leadership, personal growth and career success in agricultural education.

 

 



Toby Johnson Middle School students take on the "Battle of the Books"   

 

On Monday, March 24, the Franklin Community Library served as the battleground for a contest that would intrigue passionate book lovers anywhere - Toby Johnson Middle School's 2014 Battle of the Books competition.

 

The Battle of the Books is a Jeopardy-type quiz where teams answer questions in a varied order from all six books that were assigned. The questions are of different difficulty levels and content. During the competition, students enjoy a pizza lunch and each student gets a certificate of achievement and a parting gift. Each team member from the top three winning teams each earns a trophy and a donated gift card. Past prizes have included gift cards from local businesses, such as Jamba Juice, Game Stop and Tilly's.

 

The competition was started by Johnson's librarian Trudy Somers. It begins with an overview Prezi presentation given by Somers to interested students. Students receive an information packet which includes a letter to parents, a listing of the six books that will be a part of the battle and a calendar of dates for monthly club meetings where students will discuss books that they are reading. The program culminates in a final "Battle of the Books" competition.

 

"A wonderful benefit of the program is that both social and academic," said Somers. "It is a conduit that allows students to meet other students who enjoy reading in an informal setting. It is also an opportunity for students with varied reading levels to strengthen their reading abilities and be exposed to good literature. Over time, I hope this encourages students to develop a desire to pleasure-read and broaden their horizons."

 

In the future, Somers hopes to add a component to the competition where students create book trailers of the books assigned for the competition by using Web 2.0 tools (Voice Thread, Animoto, Photo Story, etc.). This competition segment would conclude with an "Academy Awards"-type ceremony where students would win prizes based on the selection of best film and other categories. She also hopes to have the top three 7th grade teams compete again the top three 8th grade teams at Johnson and eventually take the competition district-wide by encouraging other middle schools to participate.

 

Click here for more information about the Battle of the Books competition at Toby Johnson Middle School.

 

 

 

Elk Grove High School teacher earns Teacher of the Year honors from Air Force Association

   

      

 

Sean McNally, a mathematics teacher at Elk Grove High School, has been selected as the 2014 Teacher of the Year for grades 9-12 by the California Air Force Association's (CAFA) Claude Farinha Gold Rush Chapter. McNally was selected from candidates representing areas from the greater Sacramento area including Fairfield, Marysville, El Dorado County, and Amador County.

 

Educators selected as CAFA Teachers of the Year must have demonstrated accomplishments instructing science, technology, engineering, mathematics and/or aerospace education in the Sacramento area. As a result of a teacher's instruction, students should be motivated to study and demonstrate interest in the aforementioned fields.

 

McNally has been a teacher since 1995. He began working in Elk Grove Unified in 2005 at Valley High School. Since 2006, he has worked at Elk Grove High School where he has been an Algebra I and II and Statistics teacher.

 

Each CAFA chapter selects two Teachers of the Year - one for grades K-8 and another for grades 9-12. McNally has been selected to represent the Claude Farinha Gold Rush Chapter at the state level competition.

 

Click here to learn more about the Teacher of the Year Award.