THE CHALKBOARD: Kenilworth Girl Scouts show ‘Christmas Cheer’

What’s happening in our local schools.|

Members of the seventh-grade Girl Scout Cadette Troop No. 100318 from Kenilworth Junior High got in the holiday spirit by spending the afternoon helping at “Christmas Cheer.” This organization has provided food and toys to local families in need each holiday season since 1959. The girls volunteered to sort and organize food in boxes for 600 local families and 65 seniors who will receive the food and some donated gifts prior to Christmas day. These special secret Santas from Troop 100318 include Josephine Rocco, Jessica Naworski, Daisy Depaz, Heather Mahoney, Josie Woldemar, Lily Moser and Chloe Benshal. They are truly spreading the holiday spirit.

Lincoln School’s “The Incredible Reindeer” production took place at the Petaluma Elks Lodge. This meaningful gathering is a very special part of the students’ school-year activities making friendships that last beyond the night as students use the event to connect with and honor the veterans from the North Bay Veterans Resource Center.

Harvest Christian School third-graders took a trip recently to the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, where they participated in some cartooning lessons, drawing their own cartoons in the hands-on education room. These creative kids loved the other exhibits, then took to Snoopy’s Ice Rink for a little ice-skating before heading back to town.

Kenilworth Junior High principal Bennett Holley, reports the audience was captivated by the nine nominees for California League of Middle Schools Teacher of the Year during their presentations. These outstanding individuals delivered amazing speeches to the crowd of family, friends and fellow educators. “The speeches were heartfelt, direct, and showed genuine passion for teaching and working with the junior high age group. Laura Bradley’s speech was by far the most impressive of the evening, bringing many in the crowd to tears. She represented KJHS extremely well, and it was an honor to be a part of the group who witnessed this important evening,” Holley said. He shared that all left feeling rejuvenated and excited to get back to their campuses and continue the valuable work. Congratulations Mrs. Bradley.

Jean Hicks, the lead teacher at Spring Hill Montessori Elementary grades first through third, also runs a nonprofit school in India called The William Carey Memorial School. In order to not only support the school but also as a lesson guided by Design Thinking and empathy, the Spring Hill School elementary students decided to raise funds for the students in India by creating holiday cards in art, trinkets in makers class and pick, bundle and sell produce from the school garden. As a result, the students raised more than $1,300 in one day, which will allow the students in India to see a doctor as well as a dentist and get treatment when necessary. The fundraiser was a perfect way to share the holiday spirit, and create a positive solution to an issue as well as foster empathy and thinking about people across the globe, according to Spring Hill’s Don Lewis.

Grant Elementary School students ventured out into the cold and rainy weather to participate in an overnight field trip to Angel Island. These young adventurers were placed in squads and learned how to be Civil War Union soldiers. Students had to cook, clean, march, stand guard and much more during the excursion. Student Gianna Paretti shared, “Angel Island was an amazing experience. Although the weather was wet and cold, that didn’t delay our activities one bit! We did flag signaling in Morse Code, cooked and baked, learned how to carry a replica gun, and much, much more.” Paretti reports some of the things on the trip weren’t as enjoyable, like the night watch in the middle of the night or washing the dishes, but overall, Angel Island was a very interesting and fun field trip.

Friday was a big day for Cinnabar School with two important events happening. First was the district’s ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the finalization of Cinnabar’s solar project. Second-grade students participated in the ceremony. Two students shared what they are learning in their science class about renewable solar energy shares superintendent/principal Tracie Kern. Cinnabar School Board President, Jennifer Elu and Trustee Ken Ishizu, were present for the event along with the solar project team, staff and students. All were involved in celebrating Cinnabar School “going green by going solar.” The solar panels will generate 100 percent of the electricity used by Cinnabar School, according to Kern. The solar panels also provide parking lot lighting and shade. The solar team, TerraVerde and PCI, will present classroom lessons about solar energy, as well as the water saving benefits of going solar so students understand the impact of this new installation. Also on Friday, the Cinnabar School community welcomed Bob Bergstedt, a fourth-generation Cinnabar alum, who donated his time to beautify and restore the school bell. The original school bell for the district, established in 1859, sits proudly in front of Cinnabar School welcoming students, staff, and families to campus each day.

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

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