End-of-the-Week News A weekly sampling of the many great things happening at your Moreno Valley schools – March 10, 2017

Reading Festival draws thousands of students and parents! This event has quickly become a popular MVUSD tradition. Our fifth-annual Reading Festival drew hundreds of families, meaning thousands of people in total, to Moreno Valley Mall last Saturday. It may have been the biggest turnout yet for this Read Across America wrap-up event. Each third-grader in the district who showed up received a book and a little well-deserved recognition for being an active reader, which is really important as grade three is the point at which we want students to be able to stop learning to read and start reading to learn. Here’s a brief video look at this year’s very popular Reading Festival.

Odyssey of the Mind draws MVUSD teams Congratulations to the five teams of students who competed recently in the Inland Empire Odyssey of the Mind Tournament at Indian Springs High School at San Bernardino. More than 100 teams from the Inland Empire took part, including, from MVUSD, two middle-school teams, one elementary (grades 3-5) team and two primary (K-2) teams. Odyssey of the Mind is an international creativity competition in which teams of students learn problem-solving, critical-thinking and teamwork skills while solving a problem as creatively as possible. Teams work for months to create their scripts, costumes, and scenery for their problem-solving performances, and they also have to solve a problem on the spot at the tournament. Dr. Lynn Larsen, volunteer state director for California Odyssey of the Mind, and Associate Dean of the Brandman University School of Education, also happens to be a member of MVUSD’s Strategic Planning Committee. She’s pictured second from right along with some MVUSD team members who enjoyed the support of School Board member Jesús Holguín (right) and Superintendent Dr. Martinrex Kedziora (2nd from left).

MVUSD debuts Middle School Speech Competition Not too many years ago, it was rare for MVUSD to field competitors in local and regional academic competitions. Now we’re going, winning, and we’re even creating our own events! Most recently, it was the debut of the MVUSD Middle School Speech Competition, hosted by Mountain View Middle. This 1st annual event had a decidedly Vista Heights (pictured) flavor to it, as the VHMS speakers finished first in all four categories, and swept the medal stand in two of them. Congratulations, Wildcats!

VVHS and CSHS both finish in the money at speech tournament The annual Dr. Dina Stallings Speech Tournament held at Riverside City College is one of the premier events of its kind in the Inland Empire, and this year, MVUSD students who took part definitely made themselves heard. Congratulations to the teams from Valley View, who finished second overall, and Canyon Springs (pictured), who finished third overall. VVHS’s Jada Hines won the Persuasive category, and Anthony Molina finished third in Impromptu; and Canyon students David Marquez, Joseph Crenshaw, and Morgan Davis swept the Interpretation of Literature event.

Students of the Month Outstanding seniors from MVUSD and our neighbors at Val Verde Unified were honored this week at the Student of the Month Luncheon held at the MVUSD Board Room. They are Jose Sanchez-Soto (BCDS); Nicholas Pereyda (CSHS); Karina Rios (Citrus Hill); America Mendoza-

Mata (MMHS); Rodrigo Martinez (Middle College High School, MVC); Brandon Hernandez-Pacheco (MVHS); Tristan Sukampo (RVHS); Brenlyn Pline (Val Verde HS); Maria Perez (VVHS); and Sam Zaffiro (VLHS). Student of the Month is sponsored by the Moreno Valley Chamber of Commerce.

VLHS hosts its first Southern California Vocal Association choral festival High school choirs from as far away as Valencia converged on Vista del Lago High School this week for the school’s first Southern California Vocal Association (SCVA) choral festival. Nine choirs, including from Vista, MoVal and Valley View, performed two songs each.

MoVal biz students score well at Pasadena business competition When it comes to making learning relevant, nothing beats our many academies and pathway programs. Recently, students in the Moreno Valley High School Business Management Pathway traveled to Pasadena to compete against 76 high schools from California

and New York in their last business competition of the school year. The team earned 4th place in the Impact Marketing Competition and took the Bronze in both Financial Statements and Most Professional Booth. Special congratulations to seniors Jackelin Benitez and Malena Subject, who both made it to the final round of the Marketing Plan Oral Competition!

March Mountain hoopsters play for league title Their final game of the year – the league final against Sierra – isn’t the one they’ll probably choose to remember from an otherwise unforgettable season. Although the league championship eluded them, March Mountain’s 11-1 run to get there showed just how good they really were this year. Congratulations to the team and MMHS on an exciting basketball season!

Sunnymead Elementary students saddle-up for bike rodeo Ideally, students should be able to walk or ride bikes to school. That certainly would relieve some of the traffic around schools twice each day. But safety is always our first concern, which is why Sunnymead Elementary enlisted the

help of Safe Routes to School to teach students how to be safe while riding to and from school. At the recent Bike Rodeo, cyclists learned some basic road rules along with some common-sense safety choices, including wearing a helmet.

Youth Art Month winners Congratulations to Vista Heights Middle School artists Deondre Lee, Miranda Dick and Samuel Ruelas, who earned ribbons and certificates for their winning entries in the Riverside County California Art Education Association Youth Art Month Show. The three finished 1, 2, 3 in the Digital Art category. Their outstanding work was displayed for a week at the Mead Valley Library, and now as local winners, will now move on to the “Area” competition, and their work will be exhibited from March 26 – April 30 at the Norman P. Murray Community Center in Mission Viejo.

SMS ASB attends CAAASA Youth Leadership Summit One of the biggest education conferences in California took place this week at San Diego, and some of our students got to attend and benefit.

The California Association of African-American School Administrators (CAAASA) annual conference also features a Youth Leadership Summit, at which student leaders from Sunnymead Middle School learned more about how to be effective advocates for themselves and their education.

VVHS singer joins All-State Honor Choir Congratulations to Valley View student Chester Roi Perez, who has been taking his singing skills up a notch as a member of the All-State Honor Choir. He auditioned in October to be a member of the Southern California Vocal Association (SCVA) Honor Choir and was the only singer from MVUSD to receive a score high enough to join. After performing with that choir, Chester was chosen for the All-State Honor Choir, which combines the best students from honor choirs from each region of California. Here’s Chester at right with a friend from another high school choir.

CSHS AVID Field Day brings classes together At Canyon Springs, if you’re a member of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), then you’re a member of the program, not just your own AVID class. To emphasize that, the recent CSHS AVID Field Day brought all AVID classes per period

together for some fun team-building exercises, such as a paper-airplane race and the marble relay – and this one, the aptly named “human knot.” “They got to meet other AVID students from different classes and different grade levels,” explained AVID Coordinator Christine Brooks. “Everyone had a lot of fun.”

Measure M Citizens Oversight Committee takes construction-projects tour Prior to its regular meeting this week, members of the Measure M Citizens Oversight Committee (COC) went where few adults ever do: for a ride on a school bus! The committee took a tour of current school construction projects. They visited the new two-story classroom building now in construction at Serrano Elementary; the finished and in-use two-story at Armada Elementary; and the brand new Edgemont Elementary seen here rising from the dirt and due to open in 2018. There’s a lot of improvement taking place in projects large and small all across the district! Here’s a photo gallery from the tour.

Vista del Lago stages “Little Shop of Horrors” There’s just nothing like watching a stage performance, where it all happens right there in front of you in real time. And if you’re looking for a fun theater night out, then Vista del Lago’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors” may be just the thing. The famous Broadway and off-Broadway smash-hit musical is the story of a love-struck young man’s deadly bargain with a big, bad-mouthed carnivorous plant. The show runs March 9-11 and March 16-17 at 7 p.m. at the VLHS theater. This production is sure to devour you!

MVUSD Board of Education Cleveland Johnson, President

Gary E. Baugh, Ed.S., Vice President Susan Smith, Clerk

Jesús M. Holguín Evan Morgan