THE CHALKBOARD: Student bands headed for ball parks

Teacher Appreciation Day at Harvest Christian School. On March 27, teachers and staff enjoyed a luncheon sponsored by parent volunteers. “Thank you to our teachers and staff!” “We appreciate you,” were the messages of the day during the Dr. Seuss themed celebration. 

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Kenilworth Junior High School’s student band, under the musical direction of Kevin Klemenok, will perform the National Anthem for the Oakland Athletics game against the Seattle Mariners on Friday. This will be the band’s first performance for the Oakland A’s, but these students are not strangers to big league stages, having performed at past Giants games and most recently at Disneyland.

The seventh- and eighth-grade students were notified of their scheduled performance after submitting an audition tape earlier in the year, according to Klemenok.

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On April 17, local students will take to the field at AT&T Park to perform the National Anthem at the start of the annual PEF Giants vs. Arizona Diamondbacks game. This is a longtime tradition for students in Mr. Preston Bailey’s music programs. Mr. Bailey is retiring at the end of this school year. Don’t miss this very special moment for a man who has brought an enormous amount of passion to music education in our local schools so that hundreds of students could fulfill their dreams. Game tickets for the special PEF Supporter Section are available through PEF. Game day is also an official fireworks night for the park.

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Valley Vista Vikings started celebrating their official Buddy Week last week. “We’ve read stories about friendship and overcoming bullying. We completed a schoolwide art project. Last Friday, we walked the campus with our Caring School Community buddies, stopping to jump or hula or read a quote about friendship,” reports principal Emily Cremidis.

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Meadow Elementary School and McKinley Elementary School students spent some time on the Kenilworth Junior High campus last week. The students had a chance to check out the classes and campus while visiting with the older students.

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Mr. Goldowitz of St. Vincent Elementary School created a music video with the second grade class. First, he wrote and produced the music for the song on his computer by using pro-tools software and by playing all the instruments. The class then brainstormed and came up with lyrics with the theme being “Turtles.” They talked about what life was like for a turtle and also learned about songwriting, rhyming and being concise yet clear. A green screen was brought in and Mr. Goldowitz shot the video of the students singing different lines of the song. Art teacher, Mrs. Markovich had the second-grade class draw underwater pictures. Through the magic of editing, they were able to have the students swimming with the turtles underwater. It took about three months to finish.

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McDowell Elementary School has a new playground thanks to the many people providing their time and talent to make it happen. In late March, a Petaluma Schools District maintenance team, along with Casa Grande High seniors Armando Espinosa and Jonathan Frias, both McDowell alums, spent the day unloading the structure components and doing prep work for the project. Many parents, teachers, community volunteers and campus alumnae arrived at the east-side school playground on March 28 during a Community Build Day. The new playground was constructed in an action-packed six hours. Grants from the Petaluma Chapter of Realtors, Target, Wells Fargo Bank, and a Rotary Lend a Hand grant helped reach the amount needed to complete the project. What a wonderful way to kick-off spring for the McDowell Mustangs.

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Petaluma Bounty hosted a student crew from the Mary Collins School at Cherry Valley’s after-school program last week. Students from kindergarten through fifth grade participated in the field trip. In a few weeks, the farm is welcoming kindergarten students from McDowell Elementary where they will tour the farm with Kenilworth Junior High students.

The KJHS students will act as docents as part of the Kenilworth Cares Community student program, which provides weekend care packages of food for qualifying students through Blessing in a Backpack.

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(Maureen Highland is a Petaluma mother and executive director for the Petaluma Educational Foundation. She can be reached at schools@arguscourier.com.