ASPIRE Students Place First - 1.cdn.edl.io · “Pictures mean something more to me ... Valley...

8
VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 2 SEPTEMBER 2017 Continued on next page... Three students from ASPIRE Community Day School received first place for their submissions for the Cali- fornia State Fair Photography competition. Each of these ASPIRE students had their photographs dis- played at the California State Fair in Sacramento. Last year, ASPIREs Career Technical Education (CTE) teacher for Photography and Digital Media, Robert Oliver, has had students working on honing their photography skills. One of the projects was ex- perimenting with shutter speed. Students were encour- aged to think outside of the box and use different shut- ter speeds to capture moments you wouldnt normally see. Students rose to the challenge and took some amazing photographs. Mr. Oliver heard about the Cal- ifornia State Fair Photography competition and re- membered three photographs that stood out to him. He asked his students Hannah Klos, Christian Silva, and Nicholas Fox for specific photos they took during the shutter speed lesson. Each of these three students won first place in their respective categories. Hanna Klos, now a Hemet High student, attended AS- PIRE Community Day School last year and fell in love with photography. She said she wants to pursue it as a hobby and continue to master her skills. Hannahs photo Precious Resourcewon first in the Youth- Nature category. Hannah said she was surprised when Mr. Oliver approached her for her photo. She said she remembers liking her photo, but didnt realize how good it was until Mr. Oliver saw it. She said her new interest in photography has opened a more creative side to her. Pictures mean something more to me now,she said. She said she is able to really appreci- ate a photograph and the creativity that went behind it. Christian Silva, a tenth grader at ASPIRE Community Day School, received the first place ribbon for his photograph Splooshin the Youth-People category. Christian said he remembered this assignment and the shock he felt when he took the photograph thinking to himself, I actually got a good shot,and was even happier when he saw the reaction of Mr. Oliver when he showed it to him. Christian admitted that this class has done more for him than teach him how to take good photos. He said Mr. Oliver first spoke to the class about how to get a job, spoke to them about re- sume building, and then taught them about how to use a camera. Its opened my eyes to the outside world and other possibilities for me after high school.ASPIRE Students Place First

Transcript of ASPIRE Students Place First - 1.cdn.edl.io · “Pictures mean something more to me ... Valley...

Page 1: ASPIRE Students Place First - 1.cdn.edl.io · “Pictures mean something more to me ... Valley Girls’ Soccer team was set to host its CIF ... and Army were in at-tendance and were

VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 2 SEPTEMBER 2017

Continued on next page...

Three students from ASPIRE Community Day School received first place for their submissions for the Cali-fornia State Fair Photography competition. Each of these ASPIRE students had their photographs dis-played at the California State Fair in Sacramento.

Last year, ASPIRE’s Career Technical Education (CTE) teacher for Photography and Digital Media, Robert Oliver, has had students working on honing their photography skills. One of the projects was ex-perimenting with shutter speed. Students were encour-aged to think outside of the box and use different shut-ter speeds to capture moments you wouldn’t normally see. Students rose to the challenge and took some amazing photographs. Mr. Oliver heard about the Cal-ifornia State Fair Photography competition and re-membered three photographs that stood out to him. He asked his students Hannah Klos, Christian Silva, and Nicholas Fox for specific photos they took during the shutter speed lesson. Each of these three students won first place in their respective categories.

Hanna Klos, now a Hemet High student, attended AS-PIRE Community Day School last year and fell in love with photography. She said she wants to pursue it

as a hobby and continue to master her skills. Hannah’s photo “Precious Resource” won first in the Youth-Nature category. Hannah said she was surprised when Mr. Oliver approached her for her photo. She said she remembers liking her photo, but didn’t realize how good it was until Mr. Oliver saw it. She said her new interest in photography has opened a more creative side to her. “Pictures mean something more to me now,” she said. She said she is able to really appreci-ate a photograph and the creativity that went behind it.

Christian Silva, a tenth grader at ASPIRE Community Day School, received the first place ribbon for his photograph “Sploosh” in the Youth-People category. Christian said he remembered this assignment and the shock he felt when he took the photograph thinking to himself, “I actually got a good shot,” and was even happier when he saw the reaction of Mr. Oliver when he showed it to him. Christian admitted that this class has done more for him than teach him how to take good photos. He said Mr. Oliver first spoke to the class about how to get a job, spoke to them about re-sume building, and then taught them about how to use a camera. “It’s opened my eyes to the outside world and other possibilities for me after high school.”

ASPIRE Students Place First

Page 2: ASPIRE Students Place First - 1.cdn.edl.io · “Pictures mean something more to me ... Valley Girls’ Soccer team was set to host its CIF ... and Army were in at-tendance and were

VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 2 PAGE 2 SEPTEMBER 2017

ASPIRE cont...

West Valley Shows Appreciation

Board Vacancy Filled

Nicholas Fox, a junior at ASPIRE Community Day School, received first place for his photo “Water” in the Youth-Black and White category. Nick had the same experience as his other classmates and didn’t realize how good his photo was until he saw the reac-tion from Mr. Oliver. He said at first he didn’t want to be in the photography class, but now he enjoys us-ing the camera and said that it makes life more inter-esting because he is constantly looking for different ways to view things. He also drew a parallel between photography and life, saying, “It’s helped me see things in a more positive way and helped me realize there is more to life than just bad moments. When you are shooting with your camera, all the shots you are taking are good, it’s just one is better.”

CTE teacher Robert Oliver could not be more proud

of his students. He said he took the same class they are being offered when he was in high school and it opened a lot of doors for him and he wants to be able to provide the same experience and opportunities for his students. He said his favorite part is being able to see his students grow, not only in photography, but as a person. His goal is to inspire his students and find lessons where they can express themselves; “this class is about being able to see the world in a different way.”

Congratulations to Hannah, Christian, and Nicholas on receiving first place for your photographs and thank you Mr. Oliver for inspiring your students. You have shown that if you provide an environment for students to grow and learn, they will reach new heights and create amazing things!

School has been in session for about a month now and fall athletics are in full swing. Students have been showing their school pride by sporting school shirts or colors, reminding each other of games via social me-dia, and making their voices heard in the cheering sec-tion at each of the athletic events. However, staff members at West Valley High School used the first football game of the season to show a different kind of pride for their school.

Last school year, Southern California received more rainfall than the last couple of years combined. Due to the excess rainfall, West Valley students and staff were faced with a challenge. Their football field was so inundated with water that it was no longer draining properly. This challenge hit its peak when the West Valley Girls’ Soccer team was set to host its CIF game and the field was flooded. What can only be de-scribed as the epitome of teamwork, students and staff grabbed buckets and any other tools available to get the water off the field in time for the game.

Over the summer, the District’s Maintenance and Op-erations department set to work. Staff put in a new drainage system and replaced part of the football field with new turf all before the first game of the season. In order to thank them, West Valley Principal Dr. Janice Jones asked the Director of Maintenance and Operations Anthony Pipkins to perform the coin toss at the first game of the season to show the school’s appreciation.

Thank you to the Maintenance and Operations depart-ment for their attention to detail throughout the updat-ing process and to the West Valley staff for creating a fun and memorable way of showing their apprecia-tion. We look forward to the fall athletic season and encourage our community members to at-tend the games and show their support for their local high school’s athletic programs!

Interviews to fill a vacant position on the Governing Board were held on September 19, 2017. The seat be-came vacant on August 3, 2017, when Trustee Joe Wojcik resigned. The district filed Mr. Wojcik’s resig-nation with Riverside County Superintendent of Schools on August 3, 2017. By a 4-2 vote, action was taken to provisionally appoint Mr. Robert Allan Davis, Jr. at an open and public meeting on Tuesday, Septem-ber 19, 2017, at 1:00 p.m. Mr. Davis will serve on the Governing Board to complete the remainder of Mr. Wojcik’s term, which ends December 2018. Robert Allan Davis, Jr. will fill the existing vacancy as

provided by Education Code Section 5091(a), unless a petition calling for a special election, containing a suf-ficient number of signatures is filed in the office of County Superintendent of Schools within thirty (30) days of the date of the provisional appointment, it shall become an effective appointment.

Page 3: ASPIRE Students Place First - 1.cdn.edl.io · “Pictures mean something more to me ... Valley Girls’ Soccer team was set to host its CIF ... and Army were in at-tendance and were

VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 2 PAGE 3 SEPTEMBER 2017

September 11th Remembrance

Friday Explorer’s Program

Every year the anniversary of the September 11th ter-rorist attack brings us back to that horrific day. The majority of our students were not alive when this hor-ror took place, but staff and students alike take time to think about those that lost their lives and thank first responders, military personnel, and veterans for the sacrifices they have made for our country.

On September 11th this year, West Valley High School’s JROTC program, choir, and band performed before school began. The band played the national an-them and the choir sang as JROTC cadets raised the American Flag and then lowered it to half-staff. Hemet Firefighters and Police came to show their re-spect and stand with students, staff and community members as they joined in a moment of silence.

Prior to the September 11th Remembrance Ceremony, Chief Warrant Officer 4 and Naval Science Teacher Alfonza Walton took the opportunity to recognize and celebrate student and JROTC Executive Officer An-drew Weishaar. Weishaar received the Legion of Val-or Bronze Cross for achievement in academic excel-lence in Naval Science and academic subjects. An-drew was one of 22 cadets in Area Eleven, which in-cludes all of Southern California and Arizona’s NJROTC programs totaling around 80,000 cadets, to receive the honor and recognition this year. In addi-tion, this is the first time the honor was given in the

school’s history.

Dartmouth Middle School hosted its third annual “9/11 Remembrance” event. Over 70 servicemen and women and dignitaries from the City of Hemet, Cal Fire, Police Department, Navy, and Army were in at-tendance and were served breakfast. Hemet High’s JROTC cadets presented the colors and the Dartmouth choir sang a variety of patriotic songs and joined the band as they both performed the National Anthem. Just as the students were finishing the National An-them, two World War II planes flew over campus from the March Air Force Base. After the performanc-es dignitaries, first responders, military personnel, and veterans gathered in the staff lounge and library to eat breakfast provided by Dartmouth staff.

A big thank you to the service men and women that were able to come to events throughout the district in remembrance of September 11th. Thank you to our first responders, military personnel, and veterans for your service to our community and our country. We appreciate all that you do!

Our goal at Hemet Unified School District is to pre-pare students for life after high school. In order to en-sure students are prepared for college, the workforce, or to enter into a branch of the military, they must be thinking about what they would like to do in terms of a career. Alessandro High School staff has created the Friday Explorers Program to introduce students to new activities and subject areas.

The Friday Explorers Program was created by teacher Francis Garrison. Garrison created this program to engage students on campus in hands-on activities, continue to build a positive school culture, and present an opportunity for students to accrue hours toward elective credits. The Friday Explorer Program will be offered on the last Friday of every month by staff members on campus who have an expertise in a cer-tain area. Garrison said, “Student will leave each monthly class with a new skill and, often, with some-thing they’ve made with their own hands.” For exam-ple, last month’s Friday Explorers Program was a design/engineering project where students used news-papers to build tables.

Future lesson plans for the Friday Explorers Program

will vary in diversity; this month students will be learning how to crochet. Garrison said future lesson plans will include sports and delving into the instruc-tion in officiating; there will be a yoga workshop, a cooking class, and a biology lesson that will include the dissection of owl pellets. Garrison said the maxi-mum enrollment for these classes is around 20, but that can vary depending on the topic.

Thank you to the Alessandro staff for creating a pro-gram that helps engage students on campus and pro-vides an opportunity for them to learn new skills and subject areas, and start thinking about their future.

Page 4: ASPIRE Students Place First - 1.cdn.edl.io · “Pictures mean something more to me ... Valley Girls’ Soccer team was set to host its CIF ... and Army were in at-tendance and were

Students of the Month

VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 2 PAGE 4 SEPTEMBER 2017

On September 21, 2017, students from Hemet Unified and San Jacinto Unified were recognized as Students of the Month at an awards breakfast held at the Sizzler Restaurant in Hemet. Students were selected from Hemet High School, West Valley High School, Tah-quitz High School, Hamilton High School, Helen Hunt Jackson College Prep High School, San Jacinto High School, and Mountain View High School/Mountain Heights Academy.

Sponsors of the Student of the Month Program donat-ed backpacks filled with gifts, gift certificates, a plaque, Certificates of Recognition, and much more. The students had an opportunity to thank their fami-lies and teachers who have supported them and helped them plan their future life goals.

Mariah Harper was selected as the Hemet High School Student of the Month. Mariah was nominated by her teacher Ashley Salsgiver, for her perseverance and dedication to her goals. Salsgiver said “Mariah has overcome more than most grown adults have in their lifetime, while managing to also be one of the greatest leaders I have had the pleasure of working with.” Mariah is the FFA Chapter President, Riverside Section FFA President, and the Southern Region FFA Vice President. Despite her involvement in FFA and various extra-curricular activities, she has maintained straight A’s. Mariah said she plans on attending either California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo or California State University, Chico to major in Agriculture Business and minor in crop production. She said she hopes to then come back and share her love of agriculture with those residing in the valley.

Andrew Weishaar was chosen as West Valley High School’s Student of the Month. Andrew was nominat-ed by his JROTC instructors due to his leadership on campus and the unwavering focus he has for the JROTC program, his studies, and his community. An-drew is the cadet leader for the NJROTC program at West Valley, a football player, the first West Valley recipient to receive the Legion of Valor Bronze Cross for Achievement, has a 3.8 GPA, and has volunteered over 1,000 hours to his school and the community. Andrew also spearheaded The Helping Humanity of Houston where he collected food, clothing, and other items for those that were affected by Hurricane Har-vey. He said he is happy to have found his passion in life and is in the process of enlisting in the United States Navy.

DeLauren Grant was selected as Tahquitz High School’s Student of the Month. She was selected by her History and AVID teacher, Trish Ayotte. Ayotte said she nominated DeLauren for being an exemplary student at all times, being a leader on campus, and

getting involved in her school community. DeLauren has been class President since her freshman year, is ASB President, and plays a variety of sports. She has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her high school ca-reer while taking rigorous honors and AP classes. She said she works hard to fight the stereotype of being labeled unintelligent for being African American and puts her all into everything that she does. She plans on attending the University of California, Los Angeles, to major in biology, attend medical school, and ultimate-ly become a neurosurgeon.

Nathaly Avalos was selected by her teacher Ann Mohn at Hamilton High School. Mohn said she select-ed Nathaly for being a model student. She said Natha-ly is a joy to have in class and is always the first to help other students or teachers. Nathaly is currently a top 10 student on campus, ASB President, California Honor Society President, California Scholarship Fed-eration President, a Peer Leaders Uniting Students member, and Interact member. She is planning on at-tending California State University, Fresno, and pur-sue her career as a social worker.

Sean Garrett was nominated as Helen Hunt Jackson College Prep High School’s Student of the Month. Teacher Felice Hill, nominated Sean for making nec-essary changes in his life that have had a positive ef-fect on himself and those around him. He has turned from an “F” student to the Student of the Month and is now focused on his studies and has not wavered from his positive attitude or work ethic. Sean is now en-rolled in Dual Enrollment classes through College of the Desert and plans on pursuing a trade like HVAC. He said he now has pride and puts effort in everything that he does.

Congratulations to all the students, teachers, princi-pals, and family members. It was an inspiring morning celebrating these students and their bright futures.

Page 5: ASPIRE Students Place First - 1.cdn.edl.io · “Pictures mean something more to me ... Valley Girls’ Soccer team was set to host its CIF ... and Army were in at-tendance and were

VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 2 PAGE 5 SEPTEMBER 2017

Letters to Houston

The Nesting Place

Staff members at Ramona Elementary School are ded-icated to supporting not only the students they serve, but their families as well. In an effort to build relation-ships with families and provide a need to families that may be struggling, Principal Stacy Sorenson and Counselor Richard Patterson created The Nesting Place.

The Nesting Place is a room that will host the Ramona Clothing Exchange. Parents can bring in clothes they have and exchange them for different clothes for their family. Ramona staff hosted the first clothing ex-change event at the beginning of September and re-ceived a lot of positive feedback from parents. Staff is now working on hosting this event every month.

Staff also felt that this would be a great opportunity for students on campus to be involved. A handful of students were chosen to help sort all of the donations they had received by sizes. The organization made it easier for people to know where to go to get what they needed. One student said, “It felt encouraging to help others even though we’re young, it feels good to know that we can make a difference in our community.”

The clothes exchange stemmed from the idea of build-ing a relationship of trust between parents and the staff. Counselor Patterson said many times parents are on campus, because of a parent-teacher conference or other things of that nature, but he wanted to create an event where staff can show that the school can be also be a resource for them. He also hopes this event will open doors to discussions about other needs families on campus have. Ultimately, staff wants to provide as many resources to its families to ensure students are in the best position to learn and gain a quality education.

Thank you to the Ramona staff for creating an event that continues to build relationships with students and their families, while providing a service that can en-hance the quality of life for our stu-dents.

Hurricane Harvey and Irma destroyed businesses, homes, and people’s sense of security. For people across the country that watched the storms unfold, we sat wondering what we could do to help those that had been affected. Some of us donated money, some do-nated clothes and food, but students at Jacob Wiens Elementary School took a different approach and sent heartfelt cards to students in Houston.

The first week of Septemeber, Jacob Wiens Principal Dana Childs-Mazzei was contacted by her cousin De-lores. Delores told Dana that she had a friend, Lynn, that was a teacher at Beverly Hills Intermediate School in Houston, Texas, and she was starting a cam-paign to receive 1,000 cards that could be given to stu-dents on their first day of school. The first day of school was postponed for students at Beverly Hills Intermediate due to Hurricane Harvey. Lynn wanted to make sure that students were given a hand-crafted card on their first day of school, September 11th, to help brighten their day and know that people cared about what had happened.

Teachers at Jacob Wiens rose to the occasion and helped students make cards for students in Houston.

Staff was extremely impressed with how sensitive stu-dents were to those that were affected and the compas-sion they showed. They wrote a variety of different messages such as, “I really hope you guys are safe and I also hope everything will change soon,” “Don’t give up the brighter days are coming soon,” “We believe in your strength,” “I know you’re stronger than Harvey.”

“I am happy we were able to do this, because these students are going to remember this. This campaign allowed us to set a foundation for our students and how they can make a difference,” said Principal Childs-Mazzei.

Thank you to the students and staff members at Jacob Wiens Elementary School. Your compassion undoubt-edly brightened the day of the students at Beverly Hills Intermediate School!

Page 6: ASPIRE Students Place First - 1.cdn.edl.io · “Pictures mean something more to me ... Valley Girls’ Soccer team was set to host its CIF ... and Army were in at-tendance and were

Student Receives Large Scholarship

VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 2 PAGE 6 SEPTEMBER 2017

Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs)

Katelyn Nordal, a senior at Western Center Academy, received a $100,000 scholarship to go towards her tui-tion as Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, where she will be attending next fall. If that wasn’t exciting enough, she was also recruited to play for their soccer team!

Katelyn has been playing soccer since she was three years old. She admitted that it wasn’t until she was ten or eleven when she began playing in a more com-petitive nature and joined the co-ed club team. She plays soccer all year either for travel or for the Hemet High School’s Girls’ Soccer team. She plays right-middle field for Hemet High, but will be club-forward or left-back when she begins playing for Graceland.

Katelyn said she became interested in Graceland Uni-versity two years ago during a college showcase. This allowed high school athletes to run drills with coaches from different colleges and gave them the opportunity to speak with the coaches one-on-one about their fu-ture plans. Katelyn spoke with Graceland’s Soccer Coach, Ozzie White, for 20 minutes and she made up her mind about playing for the college. Coach White attended a tournament Katelyn would be playing in to see her in action. Unfortunately, she was injured for that game and he was unable to watch her play. De-

spite not being able to play, Katelyn was still able to make a difference. The team was currently losing, but Katelyn gathered the team for a pep talk and they end-ed up winning the game. Coach White said he was im-pressed with her leadership skills and team-player atti-tude and ended up recruiting her.

Katelyn will not be the first Hemet graduate to attend Graceland. In fact, she said she knows four people from club soccer that are playing for the soccer team. She said she is excited to join another small school like Western Center Academy, saying that she thrives better in those environments. Although she is excited to pursue her career of playing soccer at a collegiate level and continuing her education, she is nervous about leaving her friends and family. She said they have continued to support her dreams and she is ex-tremely grateful for all of them!

Congratulations Katelyn Nordal on your recruitment and scholarship! We look forward to seeing what the future holds for you, and we know you will represent Hemet well during your time at Graceland University.

Providing a safe learning environment for students is a top priority for Hemet Unified School District, which is why the Governing Board approved the purchase of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to be put in all of our schools.

An AED is a portable electronic device that can auto-matically diagnose life threatening heart complications such as Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). An AED can restart a heart into a normal rhythm by administering an electrical impulse to a patient by using simple au-dio and visual commands that will help instruct a per-son through the process.

Hemet Unified has now joined local school districts such as Murrieta Valley Unified, San Jacinto Unified, Temecula Valley Unified, and Lake Elsinore Unified in providing AEDs district wide to ensure the safety of the students we serve.

Prior to the Governing Board passing the district-wide AED program, staff had a lot of research to conduct to ensure the successful implementation process. Staff members from the district’s Safety and Risk Manage-ment Department walked all twenty-eight schools to determine how many AEDs are needed on each cam-pus and where they should be placed. AEDs need to be easily accessible to people on campus and allow for someone to retrieve the AED and get it to the victim

within a three minute time frame. For high school campuses, they will have a portable AED that will al-low staff to take it out in case it is needed at an athletic practice or game.

The Safety and Risk Management team has also been working with Robert Roy, the President and Founder of the Travis R. Roy Sudden Cardiac Arrest Fund. The Travis Fund has been instrumental in bringing AEDs to Hemet Unified. The Travis Fund’s mission is “Raising awareness so others may survive” and was founded after Mr. Roy’s son Travis passed from Sud-den Cardiac Arrest. He has been working with school districts to bring awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest and a solution that will help save more lives. The Travis Fund donated three AEDs to the District and Mr. Roy personally donated another. We are thankful to serve a community that cares about the safety of our students. Thank you to the Safety and Risk department for your hard work in ensuring this will be available to all of our school sites, and thank you to Mr. Roy and The Travis Fund for your donation and for bringing an extra layer of safety for our students!

Page 7: ASPIRE Students Place First - 1.cdn.edl.io · “Pictures mean something more to me ... Valley Girls’ Soccer team was set to host its CIF ... and Army were in at-tendance and were

VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 2 PAGE 7 SEPTEMBER 2017

Parent Resource Center As a district, we are thrilled to provide a variety of programs to our students to help them succeed. The district offers Career Technical Education (CTE) path-ways, Dual Enrollment Classes, Advanced Placement (AP) classes, AVID at all school levels, and a variety of other programs to help students find a school or ca-reer field they are passionate about. Learning about different programs and other valuable information can be daunting to a parent, which is why we are excited to introduce to our families the opening of Hemet Uni-fied’s Parent Resource Center.

The Parent Resource Center was created to not only help parents become more knowledgeable in the edu-cational process and what we offer students, but pro-vide them with knowledge to continue to support their students throughout their educational journey. The Parent Resource Center will be hosting a series of classes which include: English as a Second Language (ESL), Nutrition, and Positive Parenting; they are also working on providing classes such as Spanish, tech-nology, and informative classes such as college infor-mation and high school graduation requirements.

Carlos Navarro, the director that oversees the Parent

Resource Center, said, “The Parent Resource Center is a place where parents will learn many new things that will build their personal capacity; they will collaborate with other parents; they will learn how to be advocates for their child(ren); and ultimately, they will have in-creased positive outcomes for their child(ren).”

“It is important to provide a space that helped provides support for families that will in turn benefit our stu-dents,” said Superintendent Christi Barrett. “We have a moral obligation to ensure our students succeed and being able to provide a place where parents could ac-cess valuable information and be more involved in their child’s education will provide yet another level of support for our students. I am excited to see the positive impact it will have on our students’ educa-tional journey.”

For more information on upcoming classes, please vis-it their website at ParentCenter.Hemetusd.org or call (951) 765-0004.

Teresa McFarland, Principal at Harmony Elementary is wrapping up her first year as the site’s principal. McFarland was promoted to Principal in January of this year after Principal Alisa Fallon moved to another state. With almost a school year under her belt, she is excited to continue to implement new ideas and pro-grams that will further engage students and staff at Harmony.

McFarland has been in education for over 30 years and has found a true passion in helping students find success. She said her goal is not only for students on campus to be successful, but also for them to be excit-ed to come to school every day. At the beginning of the school year, she asked staff to write down their hope for the 2017-18 school year. McFarland’s goal is to mail staff their card in the middle of the year to continue to inspire them throughout the school year.

McFarland said last year was an important opportunity for her to learn. She was able to gain a true under-standing of where students were succeeding and where staff needed to make adjustments to better sup-port students. She also said that last year proved to be the perfect opportunity to build relationships with stu-dents, families, and staff members. “As a leader, it is imperative that I have a relationship with the people at my school,” said McFarland. Through the building of these relationships, she has gained valuable insight

from staff, families, and even students on identifying needs and interests of students and matching them to resources that meet those needs.

McFarland mentioned that it is an exciting time for students and staff. They began implementing school wide AVID and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) strategies into the classroom to inspire students to begin to think about their futures. The school is also implementing creative and innovative new ways to deepen teacher learning and professional development.

“I want families to want to bring their students to Har-mony because they know we provide a nurturing envi-ronment and that we are the best school for students to achieve due to the services we provide for their chil-dren,” said McFarland.

Congratulations to Teresa McFarland on your almost one-year anniversary as Harmony Elementary Princi-pal. We look forward to the continued success of the students on campus!

Harmony Principal

Page 8: ASPIRE Students Place First - 1.cdn.edl.io · “Pictures mean something more to me ... Valley Girls’ Soccer team was set to host its CIF ... and Army were in at-tendance and were

Upcoming Calendar of events (click on calendar)

VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 2 PAGE 8 SEPTEMBER 2017

Good Apple Awards Hamilton High School is proud to announce three re-cipients of a Good Apple Award. Each individual con-tributes to the overall environment at Hamilton High and ensures students are supported throughout their educational journey.

Patrick Williams is a bobcat through and through. He wears more hats on Hamilton High’s campus than a person can count. He has been the “go to” person for getting technology delivered and set up in classrooms. His skills and intelligence have helped the school trou-bleshoot numerous technological and facility challeng-es. Patrick is also one of the best athletic coaches Hamilton High has ever had. He is always positive and ready to drop whatever he is doing to assist stu-dents and teachers. Patrick’s duties cannot be de-scribed because he does everything all of the time. Thanks for all that you do Patrick!

Counselor Jason Sonnier has not only been instrumen-tal in assisting students in reaching their goals beyond high school, but he is the kind of teammate who is al-ways looking out for others. He is dedicated to the stu-dents at Hamilton High in ways we cannot track. He has spent countless hours problem solving the devel-opment of an almost impossible master schedule.

Somehow, during all of his unique tasks, Jason still is constantly checking on others to ensure they are doing okay. He is the definition of a team player. Hamilton High would not be the special school it is without Ja-son Sonnier.

Deputy Jeremy Parsons is beginning his third year serving Hamilton schools as the School Resource Of-ficer. He has demonstrated every possible characteris-tic involved in school service. He has built incredible relationships, protected the community, and served students in countless ways. He is a primary reason Hamilton High’s attendance percentage continues to grow. Jeremy is the kind of officer and person every parent, staff member, and child would be happy to see when they arrive at their school every morning.

Mr. Williams, Mr. Sonnier, and Deputy Parsons are valuable members of the Hamilton High School com-munity and we are thankful for everything they do to help serve the students and staff on campus.

Megan Haley, has selected Rebecca Packard, Teacher at Cottonwood School, as the September recipient of the Governing Board Recognition and Award.

Mrs. Rebecca Packard received her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Redlands in 1982. In 2009, she received her Master’s Degree in Education from Chapman University. Mrs. Packard is an outstanding teacher leader at Cot-tonwood School. Mrs. Packard serves as the student leadership team advisor. Each year she helps guide students to coordinate middle school dances and activ-ities so the students have safe and enjoyable experi-ences on campus.

Additionally, Mrs. Packard has taken an active role in the AVID implementation and is currently serving as

the AVID lead teacher. Over the years at Cottonwood, Mrs. Packard has also supported students by working as the PLUS coordinator, intervention teacher and as a member of the PBIS team. She has assisted in coordi-nating important field trips for students as well. More than anything, Mrs. Packard has created an engaging and positive learning experience for the students of Cottonwood School.

For outstanding performance, professionalism and loyalty to the Hemet Unified School District, Trustee Megan Haley presented Rebecca Packard with the Governing Board Recognition of Excellence Award and a $500 certificate to be used toward the District pro-gram of her choice.

Governing Board Recognition Award