Gazette!

Page One

SCIENCE: SPAWNING SEASON FOR SALMON We took an exciting trip out to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery in Folsom and learned about the

unique life cycles of river-spawning fish such as Salmon and Steelhead Trout. They face many daunting challenges on their arduous journey upriver. In addition to natural obstacles like

rough rapids, voracious predators, and high cascading falls, the fish must deal with fisherman, trash in the water, warming water temperatures, habitat destruction, and high dams that they

can’t possibly negotiate without help This is where the hatchery comes in. It was designed with special fish ladders, breeding areas, and multiple “nursery pools” for young fish fry at various stages of growth. Once the fish are safely grown, they are released to natural waterways above

the dam to continue their lives. We got to see some huge salmon jumping up

the big ladders, fed the fish with special healthy fish food, and even saw a fun little play about spawning

fish acted out by a group of cute elementary school

students. It was just adorable!

*Content provided, typed, and approved by the consumers of ACE-IT I Editorial Team:

Managing Editor Lisa and associate editors Lizzy, Sam, Patty, Tasi, K.K., Duncan, David, Elean, Chuck, Linda, Don B., Justin, Maria, Xavier, Kim, Ron, Frank, Roseline,

Earline, Dante, Nic, Maricella, Joshua, Melanie, Mariko, Michael, and Phillip.

*Circulation provided by ACE-IT I Pony Express Team!

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Gazette!

Page Two

A NEW FURRY

FRIEND FOR

LIZZY!

“You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension-a dimension of sound...a dimension of sight...a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and

substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into...

“The Newsletter Zone!” Lisa and her courageous little band of intrepid editors bravely enter this zone of fertile imagination every month in order to bring you wondrous

stories and images of life without limits. Onward to the stars!

Bahmm… bump bump babadabadump!!

*Content provided, typed, and approved by the consumers of ACE-IT I Editorial Team:

Managing Editor Lisa and associate editors Lizzy, Sam, Patty, Tasi, K.K., Duncan, David, Elean, Chuck, Linda, Don B., Justin, Maria, Xavier, Kim, Ron, Frank, Roseline,

Earline, Dante, Nic, Maricella, Joshua, Melanie, Mariko, Michael, and Phillip.

*Circulation provided by ACE-IT I Pony Express Team!

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2 0 1 7 TWO NEW CLIENTS! Michael and Phillip both joined ACE-IT I

this month. Welcome aboard, guys!

Lizzy was chillaxin’ at Project Ride when one of their resident felines came strolling by looking for attention. Twilight decided that Lizzy’s lap looked very inviting, and

he was more than happy to oblige! Purrrr!

FIRST BANK RUN Lorenzo recently completed

his work application and joined our vocational crews for

both the Pony Express and Sparkle ‘N Clean teams. This month, he was very proud to join the outing to River City Bank and cash his paycheck for the first time. Congrats!

Gazette!

Page Three

RETURN OF THE GAMERS The guys from Gamers' Gift came back for another demonstration of their cool Virtual

Reality equipment. This time, some of us who didn’t get a turn last time got to try out their “Swimming with Fish” program while others

who had been in the first group got to try out a new virtual “Roller Coaster Ride”. It was very realistic and a little scary for a few of us. Even some of the staff were too scared to finish it

(we’re lookin’ at you, Laida). They’ll be coming back again in another month or

two. We can’t wait! Thanks, guys!!

LAST MINUTE CHANGE OF PLANS

We had an outing planned this month to visit the New World Bakery and watch their fortune cookie machine at work. Unfortunately, once we got downtown to 10th Street, we discovered that the combination of holiday shoppers, state

workers, and road construction made parking for the bus all but impossible. Ken drove us around for over ten minutes looking for a suitable spot within walking distance and found nothing at all. We finally gave up, pulled over, and called Stephanie to discuss alternate plans. After a poll of clients on the bus, we decided to switch gears and visit the Blue Diamond Almond Factory again. We all enjoyed sampling the variety of flavors and some of us also bought treats to

take home. At ACE-IT I, we’re all about flexibility in difficult situations, and everyone did a good job remaining calm and exercising patience in the face of unexpected adversity. This outing was totally nuts, from start to finish!

*Content provided, typed, and approved by the consumers of ACE-IT I Editorial Team:

Managing Editor Lisa and associate editors Lizzy, Sam, Patty, Tasi, K.K., Duncan, David, Elean, Chuck, Linda, Don B., Justin, Maria, Xavier, Kim, Ron, Frank, Roseline,

Earline, Dante, Nic, Maricella, Joshua, Melanie, Mariko, Michael, and Phillip.

*Circulation provided by ACE-IT I Pony Express Team!

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Gazette!

Page Four

AIRCRAFT SCIENCE: SPITFIRE

We found a kit at the hobby store and made a World War Two era Spitfire fighter plane. It had a rubber

band-powered “engine”, so once we had it built, we wound the rubber band and let it fly! We had to

make some adjustments to the wing flaps to get it to do different maneuvers, but eventually got it to fly pretty well. At one point, it “dive bombed” Earline

and landed in her lap. She thought it was hilarious! We had fun with our little plane, but eventually, it crashed spectacularly into the refrigerator and

broke a wing. Oh well…it was fun while it lasted!

WHEELCHAIR HISTORY Erik opened this class with some little-known facts,

including this: the first self-propelled wheelchair was designed by a paraplegic engineer way back in 1565! He used a series of gears and levers to give his chair motion. We also learned that wheelchairs

inspired bicycles and not the other way around. Then, we moved on to watch some videos about body mechanics and the importance of fitting a

wheelchair to the particular individual who will use it. Factors such as body weight and size, arm

length, and center of gravity are all important. Last, we looked at videos about combining wheelchairs

and bicycles. What a cool idea!

*Content provided, typed, and approved by the consumers of ACE-IT I Editorial Team:

Managing Editor Lisa and associate editors Lizzy, Sam, Patty, Tasi, K.K., Duncan, David, Elean, Chuck, Linda, Don B., Justin, Maria, Xavier, Kim, Ron, Frank, Roseline,

Earline, Dante, Nic, Maricella, Joshua, Melanie, Mariko, Michael, and Phillip.

*Circulation provided by ACE-IT I Pony Express Team!

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Stephanie’s Stumpers!

Put on your thinking cap and your smarty

pants and win a $10 gift certificate!

In what article can you find our vocabulary word of the month being used?

Be the first to email or call ACE IT I at

916-564-6117 and let us know the answer and what page it’s on and you will fatten

your wallet with a $10 gift certificate!

Gazette!

Page Five

WORDS OF WISDOM “Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state

of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in

mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas”.

~Calvin Coolidge

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS Cathie December 3rd Justin December 5th Renee December 9th Dante December 18th Osman December 24th

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS

Elean January 5th Chillon January 25th

ATTENDANCE NEWS

EVERY DAY COUNTS! Congratulations to the following consumers for their excellent year-to-date attendance records!!

100%: ELL, DAVID, PHILLIP, EARLINE, FRANK, RON, ROSELINE,

LINDA 99%, DON B., 99%, PATTY 99%, MARIKO 99%, K.K. 98%, TASI 98%, JANICE 98%, MAGDALENA 98%, NIC 98%, DUNCAN 97%, XAVIER 97%, MELANIE 97%,

NICKY 96%, DANTE 95%, THERESA 95%, MARICELLA 95%, NICOLE 95%, JOSH 94%, LISA 94%, RENEE 94%, DON S. 94%, SHENITA 93%, JUSTIN 92%, ELEAN 92%, LIZZY 91%, BALDIP 91%, CHILLON 90%

Thanks, Everyone!

ACE-IT I COOKING ACADEMY “Independence With a Spicy Twist!”

VOCABULARY WORD: Chillax A modern combined slang term blending the

words “chill” (calm down) and “relax”.

TOAD IN THE HOLE! Ken taught us how to make this fun traditional British holiday dish using

English Banger Sausages baked with Yorkshire Pudding. We made the batter the day before and then refrigerated it overnight before we

brought it back to room temperature. Then, we browned the sausages and baked them in oven-proof casserole pans surrounded with the pudding batter. It puffed up impressively in the hot oven! For a tasty side dish, we simmered some Granny Smith

apples in a decadent mixture of cider vinegar and honey. Delicious!!

SMARTY PANTS WINNER! This month, Stephanie’s quiz asked where in the

ACE-IT I Newsletter we could find characters

such as Snow White and Pocahontas. Can you guess who won? Pocahontas herself!!

Before getting on her afternoon Med-Star bus, Maricella was reading her new “hot off the presses” copy of the Gazette, and she

found her picture in the “Thanksgiving Feast & Scarecrow Contest” article on the Feast

Page. There was a big spread about our own Splish-Splash Theatre group with everyone

performing the show in full costume.

Congratulations, Maricella!

*Content provided, typed, and approved by the consumers of ACE-IT I Editorial Team:

Managing Editor Lisa and associate editors Lizzy, Sam, Patty, Tasi, K.K., Duncan, David, Elean, Chuck, Linda, Don B., Justin, Maria, Xavier, Kim, Ron, Frank, Roseline,

Earline, Dante, Nic, Maricella, Joshua, Melanie, Mariko, Michael, and Phillip.

*Circulation provided by ACE-IT I Pony Express Team!

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Gazette!

Holiday Party Page

HO! HO! HO! PARTY TIME AT ACE-IT I Everyone had a terrific time and stuffed themselves full of delicious

goodies at the ACE-IT I Holiday Party this year. The tree was beautifully decorated and we all wore our favorite festive finery. There

were too many Santa Hats to count! After lunch, we did a “Secret Santa” gift exchange again and had a wonderful time opening all of the amazing hand-picked presents, many of them purchased at the HTR Holiday Shoppe. Some of us danced while others zoned out in

comfy chairs to the sounds of our favorite carols and songs. We even made a “Pin the Nose on Rudolph” game. The spirit of the season

gave us all a warm feeling as we headed home for the cold weekend.

ART CLASS: HOLIDAY REINDEER Leslie led a class making pictures of reindeer by using sponge sections dipped in paint. We drew in the antlers with felt pens and then added the obligatory “Googly Eyes”. They came out very cute, although a few looked like they might have gotten run over by Santa's sleigh. It was a pretty simple project, but we really enjoyed it!

*Content provided, typed, and approved by the consumers of ACE-IT I Editorial Team:

Managing Editor Lisa and associate editors Lizzy, Sam, Patty, Tasi, K.K., Duncan, David, Elean, Chuck, Linda, Don B., Justin, Maria, Xavier, Kim, Ron, Frank, Roseline,

Earline, Dante, Nic, Maricella, Joshua, Melanie, Mariko, Michael, and Phillip.

*Circulation provided by ACE-IT I Pony Express Team!

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HOLIDAY RAFFLE PRIZE We went on a fun outing to visit the HTR Holiday Shoppe, and guess what! Cathie won the drawing for a cute Gingerbread House Kit and a delicious-looking jar of

cookie mix. She generously donated them to program, and we got right to work on both projects. The gingerbread kit came

with easy instructions and we had a blast decorating it. The cookies were delicious!