In This Issue - June 2, 2016
Snapshot from the Ridge

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

A taste of summer: On Thursday, Middle School students enjoyed a break from class and celebrated the return of San Diego sunshine with a visit from the Sweet Treats ice cream truck! 
  
Bulletin Board
Used Uniforms Wanted! 
Have a bunch of uniforms at home that your child has outgrown? You can create more space in your closets by donating them to the Parents Association Used Uniform sales program. You don't even need to park your car - collection bins are located along the drop-off and pick-up routes in the school driveway, as well as inside Mullady Hall and the Middle School. The bins will be out during the awards ceremonies on June 14th. The Parents Association will be hosting its next used uniform sale in August, before the start of school.

Spring Sports Celebration on June 13th
Families of Upper School spring athletes are invited to the Sports Celebration on June 13th. The event will feature a slide show, awards ceremony and breakout sessions for team awards and dessert. Dinner will not be served.
Date: Monday, June 13th 
Time: 5:30- 8:30 p.m.
Location: Athletic Center



Join Pacific Ridge at the Old Globe on August 28th 
For the 7th year in a row, Pacific Ridge families are invited to come together for an evening at Balboa Park's beautiful Old Globe Theatre. This year's selected performance is Shakespeare's Love's Labor's Lost, a delightful romantic comedy that follows the exploits of three schoolmates who swear off romance just before the ill-timed arrival of three beautiful women. A link for ticket sales, complete with a promotional code for Pacific Ridge families, is on its way. In the meantime, mark your calendars for the 6:00 p.m. pre-show picnic and 8:00 p.m. performance on August 28th, and be on the lookout for a summer email with more information about this popular community outing.

Book Buddies - Save Money on Textbooks! 
The Pacific Ridge Parents Association is pleased to announce that Book Buddies is coming back this year! The Book Buddies website was created to facilitate the buying and selling of used textbooks within our school community. Sellers can post books for sale and buyers can find books for purchase with this easy-to-use online "bulletin board." Textbook selections are currently being finalized for next year.  As soon as this list is complete, parents will receive an email with the link and directions on how to use the site.  

School Supply Drive To Benefit Students In Need 
Tools Organizing Successful Students (TOSS), a non-profit organization created and run by Pacific Ridge sophomore David Wiesley, is seeking donations of gently used school supplies. From May 20th through the end of the school year, supplies can be dropped into the metal TOSS bins located in the Middle School and Mullady Hall lobbies. From markers and pens to reams of paper and rulers, all donations are appreciated. Last year, TOSS was able to give backpacks full of much-needed school supplies to more than 3,500 students. Visit www.tossforall.org for more information.

Summer Programs and Sports Camps at Pacific Ridge
From June 20th to early August, Pacific Ridge will be offering a number of summer programs available to all students in San Diego's North County. Choices include non-credit academic and other classes for middle and high school students, the Firebird Program for rising 5th through 7th graders, and sports camps for children in elementary school through high school. For more information and to register, please visit the 2016 Summer Programs page on the Pacific Ridge website.

New & Noteworthy


Who Will Our Firebird Seniors Be Cheering For Next?
Golden Bears, perhaps? Mustangs or Trojans or Longhorns? While we hope our graduating seniors will continue to be Pacific Ridge fans, their primary allegiance will be shifting to their new colleges and universities. Click here to see a list of the lively mascots who will fire up our soon-to-be-graduating Firebirds.

Upper School Global Travel is Underway! 
Pacific Ridge Upper School students have departed for their global travel programs! Ninth graders are exploring China, while sophomores are just heading out for their wilderness adventure in northern California. Juniors and seniors are exploring Argentina, Berlin/Copenhagen, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, India, South Africa, Nicaragua, and the Rocky Mountains on school-designed trips; traveling on self-designed trips, or completing internships. Middle School students begin their travel programs to the Santa Monica mountains and Washington, D.C. next week.

Want to follow our travelers' day-to-day adventures? Parents are welcome to visit Pacific Ridge's Global Travel website! Simply log into Haiku, click on the School Information page, and select Global Travel Program. A link to the travel site and password information will give you full access to daily updates with photos, videos and student perspectives. We encourage parents who are following their child's blog to check out the rest of the blog posts. Pacific Ridge is literally circling the globe! 


Cutting bamboo to make sticky rice at the rice terraces in China

 
Receiving blessings at a Buddhist temple in Cambodia


Visiting the Humboldt penguin colony on Chile's Isla Damas

Receiving smiles and welcome scarves at the airport from children at a local school our India travelers will be working with during their trip!


Taking in the color and culture of South Africa's Bo-Kaap neighborhood

The Class of 2016 Celebrates, Reflects at Senior Retreat
On Wednesday, May 25th, soon-to-be Pacific Ridge graduates celebrated the end of high school with an overnight senior retreat. The Class of 2016 spent the day working on their senior statements for commencement, decorating mortar boards, and writing letters to their future selves to be sealed in a time capsule. The evening was spent at San Elijo campground, roasting marshmallows, playing beach soccer, and sharing laughs and memories with classmates. 



Firebirds Take To The Ice 
On Friday, May 27th, 8th-grade students traveled to Carlsbad's Icetown skating rink for a morning of chills, thrills, and quite a few spills! The field trip gave students an opportunity to bond with classmates and celebrate the end of the school year, while participating in a P.E. activity uncommon in warm and sunny San Diego! Click the image below to watch a fun video of the day, created by Coach VanderHorst. 


Curricular Adventures 
 
Life Science Students Delight In Hands-On Assignment 
Seventh-grade Life Science students finished a unit on bones, muscles and skin with a "hands-on" assignment. The students were tasked with creating a prosthetic hand prototype that is able to grab, lift and release. The use of recycled materials was encouraged and a $20 spending limit was set, but construction and mechanics were limited only by students' imaginations. The finished products, made of everything from cardboard to Lego parts, showed creativity and commitment to the design thinking process. Click the video below to see the them in action! 


Students Tackle Tough Ethical Questions 
What makes an ethical person? Students in Ethical Thinking in Society, Policy, and Law have been tackling that very complex question all year through a study of basic ethical constructs (utilitarianism, deontology, etc.) and ethical quandaries at the heart of scientific/medical issues, domestic/international policy issues, and constitutional law. For their final class project, students were asked to come up with a creative interpretation of their personal beliefs about the qualities of ethical people. Students wrote skits and short stories with characters facing moral dilemmas, created artwork representing how individuals acquire and shift through ethical frameworks, gave speeches on the biology of altruism, and more.  


Parents Association 

Parent Book Club Meeting on June 6th 
The Book Club will be discussing Old Filth, by Jane Gardam at its next meeting. All parents are welcome to attend.
Date: Monday, June 6th
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Pacific Ridge Library

Parent Book Club Summer Reads
The Book Club has selected the following titles for summer reading: Drinking in America: Our Secret History,by Susan Cheever and Wishful Drinking, by Carrie Fisher. The group will meet in late August to discuss both novels. Stay tuned for more details.

2016-17 PA Board Members and Committee Leads 
The Parents Association welcomes the following new board members and committee leads for the 2016-2017 school year:   Executive Director: Monna Radulovich; Assistant Executive Director: Rebecca Baker; Board Secretary: Mindi Marlow; Treasurer: Michele Saunders; Assistant Treasurer: Loanne Cheung; Director of Governance: Debbie Meyer; Events Co-Directors: Heather Schmitt and Lany Zikakis; Events Assistant Directors: Maria Jennings and Monika Colmignoli; Parent Enrichment Co-Directors: Jackie Smith and Debra Kirkwood; Program Support Co-Directors: Lisa Walsh  and Marilynn Gallagher; Technology Committee: Gabrielle Oratz; Book Club: Allison Dinning; Walking Club: Karen McLoughlin; Used Uniforms: Lin Shaw; WeCare Speaker Committee: Linnea Searle, and Holly Julian.
 
If you are interested in volunteering for Parents Association activities for the 2016-2017 school year, please contact the Parents Association at parentsassociation@pacificridge.org.  

Sports on the Ridge

Gianna Bacher '16 Medals in CIF Finals 
Congratulations to senior Gianna Bacher on placing 5th in the 100m Hurdles - 33'' during the CIF Division 2 Track and Field Individual Finals on May 28th at Mt. Carmel High School. Her impressive time, 16.20, is also a new personal best for the hardworking student-athlete.  


Senior Track & Field athlete Gianna Bacher and Coach Steve Edwards.


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

June 6th
Parent Book Club
7 p.m.

June 13th
Spring Athletics Awards Ceremony
5:30 - 8 p.m.

June 14th
Middle School Awards/ 8th Grade Promotion
10 - 11 a.m.

Global Rewind/Lunch
11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Upper School Student Awards
1 - 2:30 p.m.

June 16th
Commencement
10 a.m.

August 28th
Night at the Old Globe
Pre-Show Picnic
6 p.m.
Love's Labor's Lost
8 p.m.

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