already a quarter into the school year!  We have had a busy and exciting time here at Central Coast New Tech High and it has been very rewarding and exciting to see all the things that we began working on last year come into existence.  Beginning with our first parent and student information night last February, to the Beach night in July and the ribbon cutting ceremony is August, our program continues to evolve and develop into an environment focused on our students' academic and personal growth.  

Our Parent Advisory committee (boosters) have begun to meet and look at ways to support our students, staff and program.  The group has identified some areas of need and could use support in School Activities, Fundraising and identifying Class project resources.  Additionally, we will be having our first annual Fall Feast in the middle of November to celebrate our accomplishments together and eat lunch as a family.  This committee helps to support this wonderful event in providing food and drinks.  If you can help or would like to be involved please contact our office at 474-3350 and attend our next meeting scheduled for 11/5 at 6pm in our main building.

Thank you for supporting our program.

Sincerely,

Dan Neff

We are off to a strong start in World Studies! We have celebrated the completion of our very first project together, Stranded...Now What? In this project students explored the rise of democratic ideals while reading Ayn Rand's classic, Anthem, to determine what type of government allows for the majority of people to be happy, healthy and engaged. In addition, they discussed what the role of the group versus what the role of the individual is in various forms of government. The first team presentations were a success and students are already improving in their speaking skills and confidence. We included a picture of one teams piece of propaganda for their island nation (see picture to right). Another big thank you to all of our parents and community members for being a part of our panel and evaluating our students oral communication skills using our project rubric. 

For more class resources check out Jen's website here. 

Our students Camille McClean and Sheridan Lutes are excited about seeing their grades go up by turning in activities. They also said it is important to turn in all activities on time to keep their grades up. Sheridan said, "When we began our first project Stranded...Now What? I was confused, but then during my final presentation I realized I knew what I was talking about and all the work we were doing made sense." Camille said, "Going through our first project in World Studies, I realized how important it is to learn how to collaborate. You have to be able to work and talk to your team and problem solve in order to present effectively."  

We are all super excited about diving into our next project Revolutionaries on Trial. The students were introduced to this project through the court summons linked below. They were also given a court summons that announced that they will be putting Oliver Cromwell, Napoleon Bonaparte, Simon Bolivar, and Mao Zedong on trial for their role in their countries civil wars and revolutions. Students were literally jumping out of their seats after discovering what they will be doing in this next project. They will be exploring the causes and effects of revolution on society as a whole as well as looking at revolution on a smaller scale within their own lives. We are excited to bring a local lawyer and Cuesta College professor, Brian Kreowski, into World Studies at the end of the month to advise students on courtroom etiquette. 

Students have been working hard discovering the characteristics of life and cells for the past six weeks. During this time, we successfully finished our first project, Characteristics of Life.  The driving question was "What are the characteristics of life that an organism would need to live on alien planet?"  Our students put on their N.A.S.A. scientist lab jackets and began discovering other planets in 

our universe that were defined as Goldilocks planets.  A Goldilocks planet is defined by N.A.S.A. as a planet that has liquid water, an atmosphere, orbits a star-

like sun, and has a controlled temperature.  

Once students identified a planet through their research, they then began designing an alien that had all six characteristics

 will be creating a game board based on the biology cell standards, field test them at New Tech and Nipomo High School, then present their findings in a final presentation.  To create a complete understanding of cells and types of cells, students have been involved in several labs teaching microscope use, slide creation, proper scientific drawing/labeling, and identification of eukaryotic/prokaryotic cells.  Students will create their own animal or plant cell in a shoebox to better identify and understand the important organelles in a eukaryotic cell.  Make sure to save your shoeboxes for them!