THE CHALKBOARD Casa Grande choir and Dunham School sixth graders go on stage

Two Rock Elementary School wins the Red Ribbon Week contest.|

Two Rock Elementary School wins the Red Ribbon Week contest. The judges voted, and out of 18 schools, The Bobcats’ campus was voted best-decorated school, and was awarded $1,000.This is the second year in a row that the school won first place. On Oct. 15, the rural campus held an Earthquake Evacuation Drill. This exercise was part of the statewide California Shakeout, a drill held each year. The student body took this occasion as an opportunity to practice readiness for emergencies by including Search and Rescue and Student Release components to the exercise. The entire drill was witnessed by Coast Guard Fire Chief Chuck Funkhouser, Two Rock Volunteer Fire Chief Lori Annello, and several volunteer firemen, shared Principal Mike Simpson. A debriefing was held afterwards and Chief Funkhouser visited each grade to give feedback and praise the students on following the directions of the staff.

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Music to our ears. The Casa Grande High School Chamber Choir had the privilege and honor to perform this last Friday morning on the Weill Hall Stage in the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University. The choir consists of 30 students, and is the advanced choir at Casa Grande High School. The Chamber Choir will perform again as part of their Winter Choral Concert in the new Casa campus multi-use room at 7 p.m. on Dec. 4. It will also be performing on Dec. 6 at Petaluma Valley Baptist Church at 4 p.m. as a part of the church’s Festival of Christmas celebration. Both concerts will also feature the Casa Grande High School Concert Choir and Casapella, a student-run acapella choir.

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Wilson Elementary School’s cluster building was used as a polling place for the recent election.  Mini class field trips to the polling place allowed students to observe voting first hand. As they came in, they were given their own Wilson School ballot. They were able to vote for their favorite subject and their favorite holiday and other items. Their votes were tabulated and posted on the school windows. Reading was voted in as the favorite subject and Christmas routed other holidays as the favorite, shared principal Eric Hoppes.

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Dunham Elementary School is rocking and erupting these days. Students, led by Miss Dana, performed “Rockin Cinderelli” last week for the entire school. The sixth grade class was busy recently with its own volcanic eruptions creating volcano models as part of their class project.

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McNear Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Amy Turko is guiding her students through an in depth study of all things pumpkin during this season of harvest. Students have been working in groups and pairs to weigh, measure, compare and contrast about 15 pumpkins that were donated by parents, according to Principal Shelia Garvey.

The squash have now been placed all around campus and the students check on them daily to observe and document the decomposition process. Students have seen how insects and other critters are attracted to the slowly decaying fruit, expanding the lesson. 

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AAUW Petaluma is hosting an education forum this evening, Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Petaluma City Schools Administrative Office, 200 Douglas St. in the school district board room. The meeting is open to all. “Innovation and Change in Petaluma Education” will feature a panel of teachers and administrators who will talk about changes in education today ­- Common Core, technology, etc. Contact Patricia Souza at 921-8499 if you have questions or need more information about the presentation.

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Petaluma High School will host a showcase of its programs on Nov. 19 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the school gym. “The showcase will feature information on our focused pathways, STEM courses, elective programs, athletic and club offerings, as well as the strong standards-based curriculum and academic focus which are mainstays of every department,” shares Assistant Principal Tracy Bass. Breakout sessions that showcase support programs - FFA, engineering, STEM, industrial tech, and Honors/AP programs - will also take place. The PHS band and choir will perform and the athletic department will be ready to talk about individual and team sports at PHS. Petaluma High School is located at 201 Fair St. in Petaluma. For further information about the Petaluma High School Program Showcase, call 778-4652.

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A friendly reminder to mark your calendars for upcoming parent teacher conferences taking place at many local schools in the coming weeks. Visit your specific school site for exact dates and details.

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(Maureen Highland is a Petaluma mother and interim executive diretor for the Petaluma Educational Foundation. She can be reached at schools@argus courier.com.) 

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