The Details:

• Date: Saturday June 5, 2010
• Time: 10am- 4pm
• Location: Aveson Charter School (1919 E. Pinecrest Drive, Altadena)
• Click here to purchase tickets

Aveson Charter School is still seeking volunteers to help out:

Are you a painter, a glassblower, a whittler? What are your hidden talents? Share you talents to help raise money at our June Jubilee this year! We will be having a booth at the June Jubilee to sell Handmade and Fair Trade Items. The handmade items will be things that have been made by members of the Aveson community. As we all know, there are lots of talented people at Aveson — parents and children alike. So, if one of your talents is making things, would you consider donating some of the items you have handcrafted? 100% of the proceeds from the items we sell will benefit Aveson. And any unsold items after the June Jubilee will be returned to you. Here are just a few of the wonderful things, all made by Aveson folks, that were sold at the handmade items booth at past June Jubilees: soaps, jewelry, hair accessories, paintings, bath salts, CDs, woodblock printed cards.”

They are also collecting the following:

CONFETTI EGGS

- empty eggshells for confetti eggs – follow these instructions, through step 4: http://www.project-tnt.com/fiesta/Make%20Eggs.htm

- eggs can be delivered in cartons to the office or to D2

SMALL TOYS/TRINKETS

- such as Happy Meal toys & party favors

- mark “June Jubilee” and deliver to office

STUFFED ANIMALS

- gently used, preferable 10 inches or smaller

- deliver to office or to Mary Nunez at K-2 pick-up

USED BOOKS:

- send them to school with your child to deliver to the advisory book box in each classroom

CLASS BASKET DONATIONS:

-each advisory is putting together a themed class basket for the silent auction

-check in with your advisor or class basket coordinator for ideas on what to contribute

If you are able to help out, please visit their website for more information.

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6th Annual Going to Bat for Our Kids

This annual softball tournament, which raises funds for PUSD athletic programs will be held THIS FRIDAY, April 30, at Brookside Park. Games and festivities begin at 4 p.m.

This year features several returning teams, including Pasadena Fire Department, Pasadena Police Department, California Credit Union, Avon, Guidance Software, Parsons Corporation, Sierra Madre team, Catz Fitness, the Pasadena Unified School District team, and the four time returning champions, Trader Joe’s.

The tournament features an exciting, fast-paced one-pitch game format. Dinner is served from the In N Out Truck, and spectators have the opportunity to buy a ticket for a hamburger meal from the truck.

For more information, click here. You can also contact Phyllis Calderon at pcalderon48@pusd.us or call the PEF Office at (626) 396-3600 ext 88350.

South Pasadena Middle School’s Dodgers Night

SPMS will be hosting its first Dodgers Night on Friday, May 21, as a fundraiser for the WEB program. The goal is to raise funds for continued activities this year, and into next year!

Wear your Dodger blue and come to Chavez Ravine with your glove for a fly ball! Game time is at 7:10 pm, and the Dodgers are playing the Detroit Tigers. This is the “Empire Strikes Back Night & Poster Giveaway” (posters will be given to the first 20,000 fans). Click here for more info.

Register For The Pasadena City College 5K Run

Online registration is now open for the 26th Annual Pasadena City College 5K and Kids Run to be held July 10 on a course that circles the Rose Bowl. All proceeds for the event benefit PCC’s Community Education Center. More than 900 participants ran in last year’s race, and that total is expected to increase in this year’s event.

This family-friendly event is suitable for competitive runners, recreational athletes, and young children alike. All 5K participants will receive a goodie bag, bib, and t-shirt. A commemorative medal will be awarded to the top three placing athletes in each age division.

The Kids Run is a non-competitive run for children 3-and-up on a festive, secure course that offers plenty of space for parents to cheer or escort their racers. Children will have the option to run a shorter or longer course. All kids run participants will receive a personalized bib, race souvenir, and medal.

The 5K begins at 7 a.m. and the Kids Run at 8 a.m.

For online registration, race fees, course map, and other event information, click on the official PCC 5K website at the following link: http://www.pcc5k.org

Photo of The Sandlot Courtesy of Ladies…

Network for a Healthy California (Network)

Each employee that participates is encouraged to consume 3.5 cups of fruits and vegetables and be active for at least 30 minutes each day. I have a feeling the employees will be up to the challenge, considering that last year the Monrovia Unified School District won the Governor’s Award for Physical Fitness and Health for their programs promoting healthy lifestyle. The school that wins the Employee Wellness Challenge at the end of 10 weeks receives a free bootcamp certificate.

Pasadena Star-News spoke with those involved with the program:

“This is about setting the example of a healthy culture in students and trying to encourage district employees to be role models,” said Lizett Olivares, a registered dietician with the Network for a Healthy California in Monrovia Unified.

Valerie Parsons, a health and nutrition coordinator, said, “Some teachers are having their students track the number of fruit and vegetable servings they have for one week.” She added that cultivating teachers and other school site personnel as fitness role models will encourage students adopt a healthy lifestyle

To read the full article, click here.

About Network for a Healthy Challenge

The Network represents a statewide movement of organizations collectively working toward improving the health status of low-income Californians through increased fruit and vegetable consumption and daily physical activity.  Multiple venues are used to facilitate behavior change in the homes, schools, worksites, and communities of low-income Californians to create environments that support fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. Click here for more information.

Photo Courtesy of m_bartosch and FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About Pasadena Waldorf School:

• Pasadena Waldorf School is a not-for-profit independent school offering integrated, developmental and experiential education for children Preschool through Grade 8 on a historic wooded campus in Altadena.
• Our families come from many cultural, religious, and occupational backgrounds, but each family is here because it is drawn to and supports Our Mission. While we highly value the many ways parents enhance the community, the most important contribution parents make to their children’s education is at home. All parents are asked to make their home a place that reflects the values of Waldorf education and offers children a sense of continuity and coherence between school and home.
• Rudolf Steiner, visionary philosopher, scientist, and teacher, conceived of Waldorf education to address the need for social renewal in the aftermath of World War I. Based on Steiner’s view of human development that addresses the needs of the growing child, the Waldorf curriculum cultivates the child’s unfolding and awakening intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities.

Pasadena Waldorf School is located at 209 E. Mariposa Street in Altadena, CA. Check out www.pasadenawaldorf.org for more info. You can also visit www.whywaldorfworks.org where you can find “everything you need to know about Waldorf education.”

“This parent education event is sponsored by the PWS Parent Council for the benefit of all parents who are interested in furthering their understanding of Waldorf education.  The schedule includes events of interest for visitors to our beautiful campus and parents of  PWS students in any grade” (Altadena Blog).

Photo Courtesy of Pasadena Waldorf School

The PFT provides information that can be used by (1) students to assess and plan personal fitness programs; (2) teachers to design the curriculum for physical education programs; and (3) parents and guardians to understand their children’s fitness levels. This program also provides results that are used to monitor changes in the physical fitness of California students. Click here to learn more about the program.

“New physical education specialists, a morning running club at one school and parenting classes on health and nutrition led to significant gains among PUSD fifth-, seventh- and eighth-graders on annual state fitness tests,” reports Pasadena Star-News.

“’We have parenting classes where they teach them how to shop on a budget and how to read labels, because they have to know what they are feeding their children,’ said Ann Rector, Pasadena Unified School District’s health programs coordinator.”

“The 19,000-student PUSD, the largest public school district in the West San Gabriel Valley, improved in the six categories of the California Physical Fitness Test: aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, trunk strength and flexibility, upper body strength and endurance, and overall flexibility, according to results released Monday by state Department of Education.”

Click here to read the full article.

Individual school and school district results can be found at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/pf/pftresults.asp

Photo Courtesy of EatingHealthyAdvice.com

The 2020 Vision Educational Master Plan will be a living document that is updated regularly to reflect the educational and programmatic needs of its students and the many diverse communities it serves.
We need your ideas about how PCC can best support successful student learning and local economic progress and quality of life.

Other ways to get involved:

• Provide feedback through the Vision 2020 website
• Sign up to receive email updates
• Take an online questionnaire

What is it that this plan will specifically change? The plan will:

• Identify new program opportunities
• Inform faculty and staffing needs
• Provide a foundation for updating the District’s Facility Master Plan Technology Plan and other planning documents
• Establish a connection between comprehensive planning and the PCC Strategic Plan development and budget allocation process
• Engage the community in planning for the future

This Educational Master Plan (EMP) is essential to retaining Pasadena City College’s (PCC) status as an accredited community college. The existing EMP does not reflect current economic conditions and community needs or assist to the degree required in directing resources towards the development of future educational programs.  It’s required that PCC engage in ongoing, institution-wide dialogue to assess its effectiveness in fostering student learning. The EMP will help ensure that student achievement and graduation from PCC is formally recognized by the state, employers, and higher education institutions.

Now is the time to get involved!

For details on upcoming events, click here.

Photo Courtesy of Pasadena City College

“Online education offers advantages for many different types of students,” said Dr. Barry Munitz, the Board Chair of iQ Academy California-Los Angeles, “including previously homeschooled students, athletes, performers and others with special needs as well as students seeking Advanced Placement courses or electives unavailable in their local school district. iQ Academy California-Los Angeles is focused on providing students in California with the highest quality education to provide a solid foundation for pursuing their passions and future goals. The iQ Academy board is focused on providing an excellent educational program with high quality curriculum, instruction and fiscal oversight.”

iQ Academy California-Los Angeles is an independent charter school within the Rowland Unified School District. It is currently enrolling students for the 2009-10 school year which begins on September 8th. The online public middle and high school enrolls students from diverse backgrounds and provides them with a high-quality, tuition-free, hands-on education. The award-winning curriculum offers core courses such as English and math, along with extensive Advanced Placement classes. Unique curriculum offerings – such as virtual and in-person science labs and a wide-range of foreign language courses provide students with unparalleled educational opportunities. Students can access online courses and assignments from virtually anytime, anywhere.

“We are excited to launch our online middle and high school and expand opportunities for students to access an extensive and unique curriculum that offers a complete set of standards-based, media-rich courses,” said Lisa McClure, a program director. “Once enrolled, students receive textbooks as required for their courses, and optional use of a laptop computer. As in traditional public schools, these learning tools are provided to students at no cost for as long as they are enrolled in iQ Academy California-Los Angeles.”

For more information, please visit www.iQAcademyCA.com or call 888-997-4722.

That each campus was to receive $1 million in funding from Measure TT – the $350 million school-improvement bond voters approved last November – to upgrade their aging athletic fields didn’t really matter to Muir football coach Ken Howard, his staff and players, and nevermind that construction was to begin as early as May, with completion projected for late August, according to school officials.

There was a “ho-hum” attitude among coaches at both schools despite plans in place for each school to receive a new synthetic turf field and track and that the PUSD already had selected the company that would install the synthetic turf. It mattered little that both schools were granted $75,000 from the California Integrated Waste Management Board for using recycled California rubber in the infield and track and that each school was to receive $500,000 in donation, putting both school half-way toward their $1 million funding goals.

Read the Original Story – Renovations at PHS, Muir going well – Pasadena Star-News

“This is a big, huge idea, the cradle to prison pipeline,” said panel moderator Saudeka Shabazz of the Los Angeles Children Defense Fund. Shabazz told the audience that the problem is systemic and actually starts in the womb, not at school.

Among the key issues discussed at the meeting: an increase in dropout rates at schools within the Pasadena Unified School District and the increased presence of police officers on campuses throughout the city.

“We say cradle instead of school because we want to show how many factors will affect the lives (of the youth) before they are born,” she said. “It’s these sets of policies and guidelines that are failing our children.”

Read the Original Story – Pasadena Now » Blog Archive » ACLU Forum: Is There a“Schools to Prison Pipeline”?

PUSD is one of six California school districts selected by ConnectEd: the California Center for College and Career, to receive the grants, funded by The James Irvine Foundation.

The funds, which are part of the California Multiple Pathways District Initiative, will be used to establish ten pathway programs organized around career themes or industry sectors.

“This grant provides a unique opportunity to transform the learning environment in our high schools and broaden post-secondary opportunities for all students,” said Superintendent Edwin Diaz. “Multiple pathways offer a promising approach to reduce dropout rates, raise student achievement, and help kids realize their college and career aspirations.”

Read the Original Story – PUSD Awarded $1.175 Million Grant | Pasadena Now