In This Issue - January 21, 2016
Snapshot from the Ridge

Each week, Pacific Ridge School invites you to enjoy a spontaneous view of school life.


Good gear = happy hikers: Last week, Global Programs Director 
Justin Symington gave 10th-grade students some tips on shopping for 
the Northern Sierras trip. Most important purchase? Quality socks! 
 
Bulletin Board

Reminder: Middle School Social Event on January 29th 
Date: Friday, January 29th
Time: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Place: Middle School Reading Room
Cost: $5 ticket includes pizza dinner; African flag t-shirts available for $10, proceeds benefit the New Haven Night Shelter in Cape Town, South Africa

Reminder: Winter Semi-Formal in the Enchanted Forest!
Upper School students are invited to venture into the enchanted forest for this year's winter semi-formal. Great music, snacks and refreshments will be offered.
Date: Saturday, January 30th
Time: 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Place: Mullady Hall
Cost: $12 in advance; $15 at the door

9th-Grade Parent Coffee on February 1st 
Freshman parents are invited to an evening coffee on February 1st. This event is designed to give parents information about supporting students as they prepare for orations as well as provide general information about the global travel trip to China.
Date: Monday, February 1st
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Place: East Reading Room


Reminder: Admissions Applications Due February 1st
The deadline for submitting admissions applications and tuition assistance applications for the Pacific Ridge School 2016-2017 academic year is Monday, February 1st. Please contact the admissions office at 760-448-9841 with any questions.
Tickets On Sale Now for All Shook Up!
Show dates for All Shook Up are Friday, February 5th and Saturday, February 6th at 7:00 p.m., with an additional matinee at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. All performances will be held at Vista's AVO Playhouse. It's 1955, and into a square little town in a square little state rides a guitar-playing roustabout who changes everything and everyone he meets in this hip-swivelling, lip-curling musical fantasy that'll have you jumpin' out of your blue suede shoes with such classics as "Heartbreak Hotel," "Jailhouse Rock," and "Don't Be Cruel." Click here to reserve your seats now!



Tinkering Camp @PRS Offered Over February Break
Looking for something to do over the February vacation? Tinkering camp is a 4-day project-based camp where students collaborate, design and build, using real tools and materials (power tools, 2X4s, plywood, etc.). The camp is facilitated by parent/architect/graphic designer Kim Viernes, who has been inspired by and trained at tinkering school san francisco. This class is open to Pacific Ridge students and students from the larger community, grades 6 - 12. Sign up and bring a friend! For more information, please visit the After-School Extension page of our website.
Dates: February 16th - 19th
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Place: Arts & Technology Center


Photo courtesy of Tinkering School SF

Parents: Interested in Learning About Robotics?
The Pacific Ridge Upper School Robotics team is looking for volunteers to help with hosting an on-campus league match on Sunday February 7th from 7:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. No experience is necessary - just a willingness to volunteer and get inspired by an enthusiastic community of future engineers. Questions? Please contact Mr. Park at bpark@pacificridge.org.

Hands of Peace Seeks 2016 Host Families
Hands of Peace, an interfaith program developing peace-building and leadership skills in Israeli, Palestinian, and American teens through the power of dialogue and personal relationships, is seeking host families for its 2016 San Diego Summer Program. The program takes place from July 13 - August 1st, at Pacific Ridge. Families interested in hosting one or two teen participants or a staff facilitator can contact Family Coordinator Tamara Kabban-Miller (tjkabbanmiller@gmail.com) for more information. 

Educational Insights

blog
Voices from the Ridge: Click here to read history teacher Hannah Bahn's blog post about an important part of the 9th-grade Service Learning program: "Understanding Social Justice."

New & Noteworthy

Middle School Spellers Shine
In a world of spell check and autocorrect technology, Pacific Ridge students demonstrated the value of old-fashioned brainpower during last week's Middle School Spelling Bee. The 21 finalists, who were selected as winners in their individual English classes, pulled from their reading and memorization strengths, as well as their phonetic and pattern-recognition skills to spell words such as garrulous, organelle, and gargantuan. In the end, 8th grader Shivam Desai, was the last student standing. His winning word? De rigueur. Shivam will go on to represent Pacific Ridge in the county-wide San Diego Spelling Bee in March.


"May I have the definition, please?" Students impress during this year's Middle School Spelling Bee.

Pacific Ridge Delegates Excel at Columbia University 
Model United Nations Conference 
Seventeen students from Pacific Ridge School joined more than 800 high school delegates from across the country at Columbia University's 15th annual Model United Nations Conference and Exposition (CMUNCE) on January 14-17. CMUNCE is one of the nation's premiere Model United Nations conferences, and is known for its fast-paced crisis committees, which allow students to react quickly and address real-world scenarios in international affairs. Committees ranged from the modern (the United Nations CyberSecurity Task Force) to the traditional (the Persian Constitutional Revolution). Congratulations to all the participants, including the following award winners:

Best Delegate: Josh Kahn '16, Alyssa Martindale '17, Michael Rattner '18, Connie Yu '18
Outstanding Delegate: Robert Farmer '17 
Honorable Mention: Andrew Duca '17, Jonah Gerke '17
Verbal Commendation: Rachel Farris '18, Vincent Wang '16



Curricular Adventures 

Juniors and Seniors Explore All Forms Of Wellness
Last Monday, the 11th and 12th-grade teams kicked off a weeklong initiative to encourage a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle among students. Wellness Week featured discussions and workshops on a variety of personal wellness topics. Pacific Ridge alumni led a discussion on intelligently navigating college "party culture," faculty members hosted movie screenings on body image and facilitated discussions about healthy relationships, and community members led yoga classes and participated on panels about the cost of addiction. Thank you to everyone who helped run all 18 of the week's workshops, and a special thank you to Mrs. Symington for organizing the entire event. 


Students build strength and reduce stress during a Yoga workshop.


Faculty members Tom and John Nagler lead a healthy cooking demonstration. 

Service Learning In The Field

A Message of Gratitude From Nepal 
Last spring, in the wake of Nepal's devastating earthquake, Upper School Service Learning group NKT Connections and students in the Thailand global travel group (who were scheduled to travel to Nepal but changed destinations in light of the disaster) teamed up to help raise emergency funds for Yangrima School in Sermathang, Nepal. Students raised more than $3,000 by designing and selling t-shirts on campus. The funds, and Pacific Ridge polos, were delivered to provide a bit of relief to the students, many of whom lost family and shelter in the earthquake and were in dire need of resources. In early January, Yangrima expressed thanks by sending this beautiful photo of students meditating in Pacific Ridge shirts. The school is currently operating out of temporary facilities while the lengthy rebuilding process takes place.


Parents Association 
    
Walking Club Meets on January 28th  
The Walking Club will head out on the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Course Trail next week. All parents are welcome!
Date: Thursday, January 28th
Time: 8:30 a.m. 
Location: Rancho Santa Fe Golf Course Trail; Meet at Thyme in the Ranch, 16905 Avenida de Acacias, Rancho Santa Fe, 92091

Book Club Meetings for January and February Scheduled 
The Pacific Ridge Parents' Book Club will meet on Monday, January 25th and February 22nd. This month, the club will discuss Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff. For those looking to start reading the club's next book, Between the World & Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates has been selected for February. All Pacific Ridge parents are welcome to attend. We hope to see you there!
Date: Monday, January 25th; Monday, February 22nd
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Pacific Ridge School Library

Alumni Notes

Chen '15 Competing in SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition
Tyler Chen '15 is helping design the future of transportation as a member of the Berkeley University SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition team. The competition, inspired by a white paper published by visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk, calls for teams to design and develop a prototype pod for Hyperloop: a solar-powered, transonic transportation system that consists of passenger/cargo "pods" traveling at upwards of 750 m.p.h. through a low-pressure tube. The Berkeley team is one of just 150 teams to pass through a preliminary proposal stage. This week, Tyler and the team will present a final design to SpaceX with hopes of becoming one of twelve teams that will move on to the final phase of competition - building a pod at 80 percent scale, and testing it on SpaceX's mile long test track in Hawthorn, California. Click the video below to view a simulation of the team's design. 

  
Class Notes

Elle Lefebvre '16 Competes in Rock Climbing Championships
Congratulations to senior Elle Lefebvre on competing in the California/Nevada Divisional Rock Climbing Championships on January 9th and 10th in Reno, Nevada. Elle, who is a member of the Mesa Rim Climbing Team, earned a spot in the Divisionals after a successful showing during December's Regional Competition in Los Angeles. 



Sports on the Ridge

Home Games, January 25th through January 30th
Schedules are subject to change. Please check Schedulestar 
regularly for the most accurate information.

1/26/16
3:15 p.m. - Boys Middle School 'A' Basketball vs. Santa Fe Christian Schools
3:30 p.m. - Boys Varsity Soccer vs. San Diego Jewish Academy
4:15 p.m. - Boys Middle School 'B' Basketball vs. Santa Fe Christian Schools

1/27/16
4:00 p.m. - Boys JV Basketball vs. Tri-City Christian Schools
5:30 p.m. - Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Tri-City Christian Schools
7:00 p.m. - Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Tri-City Christian Schools

1/28/16
3:30 p.m. - Girls Varsity Soccer vs. The Bishop's School

1/29/16
3:30 p.m. - Boys JV Basketball vs. Vincent Memorial Catholic
5:00 p.m. - Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Vincent Memorial Catholic
6:30 p.m. - Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Vincent Memorial Catholic 

 
Scores:

Boys Varsity Basketball
1/12/16 San Dieguito Academy 39 71 L
1/15/16 Mar Vista High School 67 55 W

Boys Junior Varsity Basketball
1/12/16 San Dieguito Academy 36 78 L
1/15/16 Mar Vista High School 29 50 L

Boys Junior Varsity 'B' Basketball
1/12/16 San Dieguito Academy 20 88 L
1/16/16 La Jolla Country Day School 54 49 W

Boys Middle School 'A' Basketball
1/13/16 Maranatha Christian 36 25 W
1/14/16 Tri-City Christian Schools 18 62 L

Boys Middle School 'B' Basketball
1/13/16 Maranatha Christian 37 17 W
1/14/16 Tri-City Christian Schools 18 62 L

Boys Middle School 'C' Basketball
1/13/16 Tri-City Christian Schools 11 23 L

Boys Varsity Soccer
1/12/16 San Diego Jewish Academy 1 1 T

Boys Middle School 'A' Soccer
1/11/16 Rancho Santa Fe Middle School 1 1 T

Boys Middle School 'B' Soccer
1/11/16 Rancho Santa Fe Middle School 3 1 W

Girls Varsity Soccer
1/12/16 Sage Creek High School 4 1 W

Girls Middle School 'A' Soccer
1/11/16 Rancho Santa Fe Middle School 6 0 W

Girls Middle School 'B' Soccer
1/11/16 Rancho Santa Fe Middle School 9 0 W

Beyond The Ridge

Summer Opportunities Fair on January 27th 
The annual Summer Opportunities Fair is coming up on Wednesday, January 27th. This year's event will include a presentation on best practices for pursuing academic and outside interests over the summer, as well as sessions on scholarship searches and understanding the changes underway in standardized testing. Vendors including Camp Stevens, Travel for Teens, Rustic Pathways, Army Navy Academy, Rosetta Instititue of Biomedical Research, The Oxbow School, Where There Be Dragons, Camp Nakawa, US Naval Academy, Oxbridge Academic Programs, ARCC Programs, Global Leadership Adventures, Sail Caribbean, The Experiment in International Living, and more will be on hand to share information on various summer programs. 
Date: Wednesday, January 27th
Time: 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Location: Mullady Hall

Community Happenings 

Connected Parenting Workshop on February 11th
On Thursday, February 11th, therapist and author Jennifer Kolari, will teach parents the tools to help their children and teenagers control their emotions to become more confident and emotionally resilient. The workshop will teach parents how to use the tools that therapists implement to help children develop the emotional and neurological hardware they need to deal with whatever life throws at them. Kolari will discuss her CALM technique which helps to de-escalate behavior while building trust.
Date: Thursday, February 11th
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: The Children's School; 2225 Torrey Pines Lane, La Jolla, 92037
Registration: Online at www.tcslj.org/rsvp or by call 858-454-0184





In a community that fosters academic excellence, ethical responsibility, and global engagement, Pacific Ridge School prepares students for college and a purposeful life.

Pacific Ridge School | www.pacificridge.org

January 25th
Parent Book Club
7 p.m. 

January 27th
Summer Opportunities Fair
6:30 p.m.

January 28th
Parent Wallking Club 
8:30 a.m.

January 29th
Middle School Social Event
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

January 30th
Upper School Winter Semi-Formal
7 p.m.

February 1st
Admissions Applications Due

9th-Grade Parent Coffee
5 p.m.

February 5th
All Shook Up
7 p.m.

February 6th
All Shook Up
2 p.m. & 7 p.m.

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