The Vine January 20, 2017 From the desk of Superintendent Chris Williams

We are pleased to welcome three new staff members funded through our Title I and LCAP programs. The Academic Crisis counselor is a temporary position funded through federal Title I funds in the newly required “additional support” category. Through the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), additional temporary counselors were hired for Flamson Middle School and Lewis Middle School as part of intervention services. These new counselors will provide a 500 to 1 counseling ratio. You can read about our new staff members at the end of The Vine.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, buy where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thank you to all of our students who participated in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. poster and essay contests! 5th graders created artwork based on the theme “Unity Matters” and were judged in either the creative, thought-provoking, or relevant categories. Over 50 PRHS students wrote essays and 11 of them were selected as finalists. The winner of the essay contest, Haley Castillo, presented her essay at the celebration and received a standing ovation! Congratulations to all!

Essay Finalists: 1st – Haley C. 2nd – Emily E. 3rd – Kara B. Elizabeth S. Samantha C. Elaine D. Hannah H. Seth M. Damaris H. Blakelee A. Kara B.

Thought-Provoking 1st – Tala A. (Georgia Brown) 2nd – Chloe R. (Georgia Brown) 3rd – Jayden R. (Kermit King)

Creative 1st – Rylinn M. (Winifred Pifer) 2nd – Kalani G. (Kermit King)

Relevant 1st – Jossellyn R. (Bauer Speck) 2nd – Sofia C. (Winifred Pifer) 3rd – Angelina B. (Kermit King)

Honorable Mention Nataly F. (Virginia Peterson) Serenity W. (Georgia Brown) Tiffani S. (Pat Butler) Vanessa V. (Winifred Pifer)

MLK Garden Day On MLK Jr. Day, Americans of every age and background celebrate Dr. King through service projects that strengthen communities, empower individuals, bridge barriers, and create solutions! This MLK Jr. Day, One Cool Earth and Virginia Peterson Elementary School hosted a fruit tree pruning workshop for the community to give back to volunteers who came out to better equip our community with the skills needed to take care of themselves and school gardens. It was a wonderful turnout of people of all walks of life! Even elementary school students were able to practice their new skill of pruning on the peach trees. “This is the funnest thing I’ve ever done in a garden before!” mentioned one student. One Cool Earth couldn’t have done it without our Master Gardener Kim, Garden Coordinator Brian Cisneros, Principal Melanie Crawford, and of course the community.

Garden and orchard workdays are a wonderful opportunity to meet like-minded people from all over the county and spend a morning outdoors helping create and maintain garden classrooms and food sources for students. Check out One Cool Earth on Facebook to see when they’ll be hosting more themed community garden workdays and events at your school: www.facebook.com/onecoolearth or www.onecoolearth.org. From learning to build a compost pile to pruning fruit trees, there is an activity for everyone. Email One Cool Earth at action@onecoolearth.org to get involved or get more info!

MLK Celebration at Pat Butler Pat Butler Elementary celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his belief in equality, peace, and love. Students and staff work to practice his beliefs all year. To see a song about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as performed by Ms. Smirl’s kindergarten class, click the link to view it on the Pat Butler Instagram site: https://www.instagram.com/p/BPc5jc5hGf6/?taken-by=patbutlerbears

Winifred Pifer Rummage Sale Winifred Pifer Elementary is hosting a rummage sale this Saturday, January 21st from 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM in the school’s multipurpose room. Money raised from the rummage sale helps to cover the cost of sending the 4th grade students to Ranch El Chorro Outdoor Education Camp. The goal is to raise $13,000.00.

Athletics Update Congratulations to Lewis Middle School for winning the wrestling duel against last week. This is our 2nd season of wrestling and it continues to grow! Last season, parents in our district bought out all wrestling shoes available in stores from Paso Robles to Santa Maria! If you are projecting for your wrestler to be growing out of his/her shoes, would you consider donating them to our shoe exchange program? By donating, you are added to the list to receive shoes in a new size for those you turn in. If you have shoes that are no longer being used and would like to donate, please contact Kellie Bergquist at 805-835-9144 or kabergquist@pasoschools.org . Congratulations to PRHS girls’ water polo for their big win over Atascadero 8-4. The Bearcats are currently ranked #2 in CIF Southern Section Division 6.

ASES The Food Bank delivers produce once a month to each of the three ASES sites for a total of 252 students! The 5th grade students set up the farmers’ market with signs letting the students know how many items they can get for $1 (with play money) and they hand out recipes. This week they had potatoes, carrots, apples, pears, cabbage, broccoli and spinach. The students get very excited to take home food!!

Students of the Month Congratulations to the Flamson Middle School students of the month! These students were selected for demonstrating one of the PAWS (pride, attitude, willingness to help, self-direction). The Cougars pictured here were all very helpful to their teachers and other students on campus. Way to go!

Cast Announced “The Little Mermaid” cast has been announced and also had its first rehearsal this week. The show opens March 31st and plays through April 9th. For more information, please visit prhsdrama.com.

PRHS Hosts Middle School Leadership Conference Students from Paso Robles High School hosted a middle school leadership conference this week for students at both Lewis and Flamson. Leadership students from both schools (about 100 students) were invited to participate in workshops, teambuilding sessions, and competitions. The conference had a survivor theme and the students were all split up by tribes. The tribes were selected so that students could work with a different group of students outside of just their friends. All of the workshops and activities were put on by the PRHS students. Some of the workshop titles included “Teamwork”, “How to Survive Being a Leader”, and “What is Leadership to you”. Great job by the PRHS co-activity directors, Jen Bedrosian and Anthony Overton for organizing the event. And also kudos to Suzanne Hoier, Paul Oyler, and Monika Robertshaw for the work they do with their middle school leadership students!

PRJUSD Gallery If you have not had a chance to see our gallery inside of Studios on the Park, you are missing out! In addition to the monthly gallery receptions, we employee Paso Robles High School students who work inside of the gallery on the weekends (pictured here). These students have artwork on display (and for sale), they help customers with their purchases, and they serve as ambassadors for PRHS and PRJUSD. The next gallery reception is scheduled for Friday, February 3rd, at 6:00 PM. Be sure to mark your calendars!

IHS Independent Living Class Students in the Independent Living Class at Independence High School took a break from calculating credit card finance charges to sew a geometric holiday quilt which is on display at their school. Thank you to Debra Bean for sharing!

Veterinary Science Team Starts Season This past weekend, the Paso Robles High School Veterinary Science Team attended the first contest of the year at the Animal Health Clinic, San Luis Obispo. The students worked with three local veterinarians and numerous registered veterinary technicians. Advisor Amanda Gardner said, “What an amazing hands-on contest. Career Technical Education as its best! I'm so incredibly proud of these students and that this contest exposed them to the tools, equipment and skills needed for livestock production.” The next contest for the team will be held at UC Davis. Team members are: Natalie Nicolay, Victoria Stewart, Elena Gonzalez, Maria Hernandez and alternate Dillon Azarvand.

Here is a link to a video about veterinary science which includes some of our students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVR_gCFMObo&feature=youtu.be

One Cool Earth Corner We love hearing about the fresh produce being grown on our campuses! Here is an anecdote from Victoria Carranza from One Cool Earth: “Stepped in to the cafeteria to ask to use a prep station for cutting a new fruit I wanted to introduce to the youth in the Growing Green Eco Club this week. The cafeteria staff member was excited to hear about the garden being established, so I shared more of what we were doing. I told her we were getting the tree collards in the ground and that they make great eating (even the flowers on salads!). She wanted to know the nutrition content of the tasty and nourishing plant matter. That is very exciting to me. Here is what I found:

Tree Collard: If you like collard greens you're going to love the tree collard. This member of the collard family is considered to be an evergreen and can reach heights of 8 - 10 feet and have a lifespan of 20 years! Like its diminutive cousin, the tree collard is an excellent source of vitamin K, A, C, folate, manganese and calcium, and contains more protein by weight than beef. Look for them at your local nursery rather than the gardening section.” Reference: http://inhabitat.com/7-nutrient-dense-superfoods-you-can-grow-at-home/7-superfoods-to-grow-tree-collards-4

Elementary Students Set Goals for the New Year Students at Kermit King Elementary and Virginia Peterson Elementary spent part of their first week back setting goals for the New Year. Pictured here is some of that student work.

Welcome to PRJUSD Congratulations and welcome to the following certificated staff who were approved at the last board meeting:

Amy Armstrong - counselor Amy earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science at University of California, Los Angeles and her Master of Arts in Counseling and PPS credential at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She was employed in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District as a middle school counselor for five years and in the Santa Maria Joint Unified High School District as a high school counselor for four years. She lives in Cayucos with her family and animals. She loves outdoor family adventures, making things, and belonging to a community.

Keith Schwanemann – science teacher Keith grew up in Huntington Beach, California A.K.A. Surf City, USA. He graduated from CSULB in 2009 having studied Environmental Science & Policy as well as Spanish. During college as well as the following three years, he worked at an upscale Hawaiian seafood restaurant called Duke's. During this season he pursued many of his interests and passions such as surfing, rock climbing, cycling, cooking, and traveling. He married his wife, Faith, in 2012 and shortly afterwards they moved to Portland, Oregon where Keith went to graduate school earning his Master of Arts in Teaching in 2016. They then moved to Bilbao, Spain for 3 months to teach English. He is proud to be considered for the position of a science teacher at PRHS!

Lindsay Soto - counselor Lindsay Soto completed her M.S. in Educational Counseling through the University of La Verne. Lindsay has already obtained her pupil personnel services credential in school counseling and will be graduating in May with her degree as well as having completed all requirements for clinical licensure as a licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. For her undergraduate degree, Lindsay attended Brandman University and majored in social science. Lindsay worked at Santa Maria High School as a substitute teacher as well as a substitute counselor last school year. She also spent a semester working at Nipomo Elementary providing

personal/social and academic services to at-risk students. At this site, Lindsay secured a grant from the Lion’s Club and started a memory garden for the students. She has recent experience with a local community-based organization providing behavioral services to families and children in partnership with the community. Lindsay is a native of California’s Central Coast. She grew up in Nipomo riding horses and hiking and continues to enjoy the outdoors. Lindsay enjoys spending time with her amazing, supportive husband as well as her two nephews whom she adores.

Lisa Parkin - counselor Lisa Parkin graduated from Cal Poly, SLO in 2006 with a B.A. in Social Science with an emphasis in social work and continued her education at University of San Francisco where she earned her Masters of Counseling Psychology with her PPS credential. She moved back to the Central Coast and spent the next year as a Friday Night Live Youth Development coordinator working with middle and high school students on drug and alcohol prevention. Lisa relocated back to San Francisco to earn her multiple subject teacher credential with an English Language Learner authorization. She worked as the Healthy Novato Project Director for a multi-tiered youth prevention program driven to reduce underage drinking and incidents of

bullying in schools. She moved back to the Central Coast in 2012 and spent the last four years working for SLO County Behavioral Health Prevention & Outreach division as a Friday Night Live Youth Development coordinator then moving into the position of a Student Support Counselor at Flamson Middle School and Atascadero Middle School. It is in this position where Lisa found her love of working with middle school students and helping them build a toolbox of coping and life skills to be more successful academically, behaviorally, and socially/emotionally. Lisa also served on the division’s leadership team as the Prevention & Early Intervention program leader, helping build youth mental health prevention throughout the County. Lisa grew up as the youngest of three in Exeter, CA where she excelled in water polo and swimming. For the last 13 years, she goes back to host a summer league water polo tournament to raise money for a scholarship in the name of her friend who was killed by an underage drunk driver. In her spare time Lisa loves to hang out with her friends, read a good book, watch funny movies, and work in the yard. Lisa’s family comes first in her life and she lives here in Paso Robles with her husband.