M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 9

PAWSITIVE REFLECTIONS

News and Information for Families, Staff, & Friends

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF, RIVERSIDE

On February 2, 2009, Dr. Robert Davila, President of Gallaudet University, came to CSDR for a very special visit. Upon arrival, he met with both High School and Middle School students during two special assemblies to discuss his life journey, which has led to his current leadership role. Following his presentation, students asked him a variety of questions regarding his job and it ’ s many challenges.

See Davila, page 4

Dr. Davila Visits CSDR B y S t a f f W r i t e r

Ilik

Message from Mal After many, many months of intensive research, gathering information, and attending meetings, the WASC process is finally complete. Infor-mation gathered through this self-study process was compiled into a report which was then sent to both the WASC and CEASD visiting committees.

The committees from both agencies were on-campus from March 25-28, during which time they gathered evidence, met with staff, students and parents, and developed a rough draft of their findings to submit to WASC and CEASD Headquarters. The committees ’ recommendation along with the information in CSDR ’ s report will be sent to headquar-ters to determine the type of accreditation CSDR will receive. We should have the final results by July, 2009.

This visit was the first time that these particular members of the WASC team had ever worked with another group like CEASD. I ’ m thankful to the WASC team for being so flexible and open-minded in the working arrangements and I am equally thankful to the CEASD committee for providing valuable background information about deaf education to the WASC team. Most people don ’ t realize that both groups received the CSDR report six weeks in advance and spent many hours reading and reviewing the information contained in the report ( over 230 pages!) Members of these committees put great effort into developing recommendations in how to improve CSDR services. We appreciate these individuals putting their own work on hold to assist CSDR in meeting its goals. See Mal, page 2

P A G E 2

I ’ d like to thank Janice Smith-Warshaw for taking on the responsibil-ity of chairing the WASC Leadership Team here at CSDR. I also wish to thank the Leadership Team itself for the many hours of work they put into preparing for the WASC visit. All of the CSDR staff who attended meetings to provide input, in addition to their regular duties, are to be commended. Others instrumental in the process were CSDR parents, students, and community members. The process was a lengthy one, but it has paid off.

Regardless of the number of years for which CSDR is accredited, we now have a detailed action-plan to follow that will guide us on raising student achievement and providing a safe learning environment for our deaf and hard-of-hearing children. The self-study has given us insight into not only CSDR ’ s strengths, but also the areas of weakness that we need to improve.

P A W S I T I V E R E F L E C T I O N S

Mal (cont’d from page 1)

The action plan addresses those areas with appropriate tasks and time-lines that create a clear map for the Cabinet members to follow in making CSDR a school of excellence in deaf education. We look forward to working with all of you towards that goal.

CSDR has experienced great success with the Boys Town Behavior Manage-ment Program which was implemented at the beginning of the school year. Our instructional and dormitory staff report seeing quite an improvement in student behavior since the program began. I was also recently able to meet with some student representatives who told me they felt the program resulted in better communication and rapport be-tween staff and students. We expect to see even more positive results as addi-tional CSDR staff are trained in these techniques.

As of this printing, we do not have any

additional information about how the

State deficit will impact CSDR. While

negotiations continue, however, we

have received some good news. We

wi l l be able to complete the

Mul t i -Act iv i ty Center ( M A C ) ,

renovations to the Brill building, and

complete those cottages that were

started before the budget crisis.

It ’ s hard to believe, but the end of the year is now in sight and within the next two months we will begin our preparations for graduation!

Nutrition Ser vices! B y L e h O t a , D i r e c t o r o f D i e t e t i c s

At CSDR a well-balanced nutritious meal is prepared daily by Nutrition Services for day and residential students to promote their physical and mental development growth.

In planning the menu, there are require-ments to follow from the National Child Nutrition School Lunch Program. The key areas and nutrients targeted for emphasis in school meals are calories, fat, saturated fat, calcium, iron, protein and vitamins A and C. Choosing a diet moderate in sugar and sodium ( salt )

intake is essential.

While implementing the local wellness policies, Nutrition Services has added a salad bar at each meal consisting of a variety of fresh fruits, canned fruits, and vegetables. The meals are prepared at CSDR using USDA quantity recipes for School Food Service. And the nutrient value is considered for each recipe.

At CSDR, we also have a Student Food Council Committee. The students are elected by the principals and dormitory counselors to represent their peers

when meeting with the Nutrition

Services Supervisors. At the

meeting, students are given new food

products provided by the vendor for

evaluation. The students sample the

products and give their acceptance or

n o n - a c c e p t a n c e . S t u d e n t

representatives share their concern

regarding foods served and Nutrition

Services follows-up accordingly.

ment of the event ( and generosity of the crowd ) . Finally, the Inland Mopar Club managed to car-jack a cast mem-ber from TV’ s “ Overhaulin ’ ” to autograph the trunk lid of the raffle car!

If you haven ’ t seen the fantastic work that has been done on this car, go to the Inland Mopar Car Club website and t a k e a l o o k ( h t t p : / /www.inlandmoparscarclub.com ) . There isn ’ t a better team to rebuild a car than Ron Borden and John Wilkiewicz! When the car started up, people came pouring out of the build-ings to see it.

Then the club was off to Bakersfield for

a 3-day race. Despite the threat of

thunderstorms, the weather stayed nice

and there was a good crowd at the

races. Many thanks to Legendary up-

During January 23-25, the CSDR Raffle Car made it’ s debut at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona. The heavy wind and rain didn ’ t keep the “ Road Warriors ” from attending this 60th Anniversary event!

With cars, vendors, and visitors from across the United States jam-packed into the show, the Inland Mopar Car Club was able to come through for CSDR once again by selling a record $4,000 worth of tickets! Wow! Consid-ering this was just the first show of the season, the raffle car is off to a great start.

Appearances by TV and screen car buffs included Henry Winkler ( “ The Fonz ” ) and Erin Moran ( “ J oanie Cunningham ” ) from the Happy Days television series added to the excite-

holstery for inviting us to share their

vendor space. What a fun group of

guys. Legendary also donated the inte-

rior for our raffle car, so we were more

that happy to showcase our car for

them. The club earned a total of $3,930

at that event.

Most recently, the club attended an event in Temecula. This show focused on hot-rods up to the year 1976. Since our raffle car is a 1970 Dodge Swinger, it fit right in. The crowd was huge, the people were friendly, and the club brought in over $1,000 in ticket sales.

You too can win this car! Tickets are just $5 and can be purchased from various school organizations and the Outreach office. For questions please contact Greg Visco, the President of “ C ” B o o s t e r C l u b , a t gmvisco@sprint.blackberry.net

P A G E 3

On the Road with the Raffle Car! B y S t a f f W r i t e r

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 9

P A G E 4 P A W S I T I V E R E F L E C T I O N S

D a v i l a ( c o n t ’ d f r o m p a g e 1 )

Read Across America B y E l i z a b e t h F o r o n d a , C o m m u n i t y R e l a t i o n s C o o r d i n a t o r

On March 2, 2009 the Read Across America was held all over the United States. Riverside Unified School dis-trict decided to honor this event by inviting members of the city such as the mayor, councilmen, and business representatives to be storytellers for elementary children throughout the city of Riverside.

CSDR Outreach was honored to be included in the project! Laurie Pietro, Ileana Dona, and Elizabeth Foronda

offered to read two books to Victoria

Elementary School classes. In honor

of Dr. Seuss’ birthday the Outreach

crew selected two books written by Dr.

Seuss. They read “ Green Eggs and

Ham ” and “ E yes Wide Shut. ” All

three of the CSDR staff members went

to four classrooms: Kindergarten, 2nd

grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade.

Laur ie was a spoken Engl ish

translator ( from written English ) ,

CSDR Instructional supervisors also

had the opportunity to have lunch

with Dr. Davila. During that time the

topic discussed was “ The Future of

Deaf Education. ”

Elizabeth was an American Sign

Language translator, and Ileana was a

Spanish translator

The students got the best of all three

languages: ASL, English, and Spanish!

They enjoyed themselves enormously,

and they hoped that Victoria Elemen-

tary students enjoyed themselves as

well!

A Fun FEAST!

By Mary Visco, ECE

Ian Goldstein of FEAST invited us to the special Ian's Pizzeria, and he taught us how to make our individual pizzas. We had so much fun. Ian is one of the best chefs we have ever met!

The real tournament began on Thurs-day and lasted until Saturday evening. All of the teams competed against one another in an effort to win the champi-onship. All the athletes played remarkably well and most of the games were exciting and full of action. Our fans and participants reported that they hadn ’ t been to such an exciting event in a long time.

As for CSDR, we did very well in the tournament. The girls ’ basketball team came in 4th place and the boys ’ basketball team came in 2nd place in a very exciting match on Saturday night. Another exciting highlight was that our very own CSDR cheerleading team came in first place which is the 7th win under Coach Hausman ’ s rein.

In addition to this exciting event, our athletes went to Pole Position in Corona where they were able to ride go-karts and race against one another. This provided a fun-filled atmosphere where students were able to socialize and

During the month of January CSDR proudly hosted the 33rd Western States Basketball Classic and the 26th Western States Cheerleading Classic. This event was a smashing success and everyone left CSDR feeling like a winner. We had seven schools in attendance from the Western part of the United States. In attendance was CSDR, CSDF, Oregon School for the Deaf, Washington School for the Deaf, Utah School for the Deaf, Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind, Phoenix Day School for the Deaf and Marlton School.

T h e b a s k e t b a l l p l a y e r s a n d cheerleaders had a wonderful time during this exciting event. This event began with everyone arriving on Wednesday, January 28,th and an exciting opening ceremony. Athletes gathered in the gym where everyone got to meet one another and participate in different competition-based games using basketballs.

race against one another while eating burritos donated by Chipotles. A big thank you to Pole Position and Chipotles!!!

You would not believe what else was noted as being a smashing success for the WSBC~WSCC event. Our very own FEAST teacher, Ian Goldstein, provided first class gourmet food for our referees, coaches, WSBC Staff and VIP ’ s. The food was just excellent and met the standards of a 5 star restaurant. We can ’ t thank Ian enough for helping out by lending his wonderful skills and the students/staff who worked with him to make this one of the highlights of the weekend.

The WSBC-WSCC event would not have been successful if it had not been for the outstanding team work and effort by everyone involved. CSDR gives its ’ deepest gratitude and thanks to those who helped make this event truly memorable!

P A G E 5 M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 9

Western States Basketball Classic B y M a r k D o r s e y , W S B C C o - C h a i r

P A G E 6 P A W S I T I V E R E F L E C T I O N S

CSDR Reaches Out to Los Angeles Parents B y I l e a n a D o ñ a , I n t e r i m F a m i l y E d u c a t i o n C o o r d i n a t o r

A Fun Way to Remember Math B y P a t M e l v i n , E l e m e n t a r y I n s t r u c t o r

Students in Ms. Melvin ’ s fourth grade class are learning long division in math class. They are using a fun mnemonic device to help them remember the steps to use in long division to solve the problems. The mnemonic they are using is: Dead Mice Smell Bad. The D in Dead stands for Divide. The M in Mice stands for Multiply. The S in Smells stands for Subtract. The B in Bad s tands f o r B r ing down . Remembering this funny phrase helps

the students remember the process of how to solve those problems and get their long division problems correct. The chart Ms. Melvin made for them to use looks like this: Remembering How to Divide

Dead - Divide ( / )

Mice - Multiply ( x )

Smell - Subtract ( - )

Bad - Bring down ( ↓ )

Many of CSDR ’ s families live in the

Los Angeles area and sometimes

these families feel left out of the loop

due to the distance and their inability

to attend events. But on Saturday,

February 14, thirteen families

gathered at the Greater Los Angeles

Advocacy on Deafness ( G LAD )

Office to meet with Superintendent

Grossinger. They were also able to

get helpful information from Paul

Stuessy, staff member at GLAD. He

presented parents with valuable

information on interpreter services

and resources available to the deaf.

These services are important for

parents to use during medical care

appointments and any time an

important event or issue affects the

deaf student or his or her family.

Parents in attendance were also

pleased to hear Supt. Grossinger

explain the upcoming Western

Association of Schools and Colleges

( W ASC ) accreditation process and

its importance to CSDR. One of the

more important features of the WASC

process is the benefit our high school

receives by obtaining a six-year

accreditation when the process is

complete. He also addressed the

status of construction of the new

cottages. Parents understood the

impact the weak economy and

strained state budget was having on

the projects. At the time of this

meeting construction had been

temporarily halted and Mal explained

that plans were to resume the

construction projects as soon as the

state budget was back on track.

Finally, Spanish-speaking parents

were thrilled when Mal announced a

unique communication feature they

can use to access dorm Supervising

Counselors. Up until this time, it had

been a tremendous challenge for a

S p a n i s h - s p e a k i n g p a r e n t t o

communicate concerns or ask

quest ions of our deaf dorm

Supervising Counselors. With the

unique phone numbers provided, these

parents can now access any of our

dorm Supervising Counselors with the

confidence that there will be accurate,

and timely communication. The parent

workshop in Los Angeles was a long-

anticipated forum, and greatly

appreciated by all who attended.

Families are looking forward to the

next visit from Superintendent Gross-

inger and other CSDR representatives.

If you are interested in attending these

meetings please contact Ileana Dona

at idona@csdr-cde.ca.gov

P A G E 7

Mal Grossinger ’ s positive energy and excitement fills the CSDR campus. Under Mal ’ s leadership, the CSDR community is ready to respond to the challenge of providing quality education and training to students, professionals, and parents. In his third year at the school, Mal has developed close relationships with the administration, staff and parents in an effort to improve student achievement. He works hard to create a positive reputation for CSDR within the community. Mal has an excellent working relationship with par-ents and teachers—making everyone feel as though they are part of his team. Mal increased the emphasis on communication and professionalism at CSDR. Approximately 60 staff members have taken sign language classes and the school has benefited from improved dress codes, greater use of technology, sharing of issues and/or concerns with supervisors, enforcement of a code of ethics, and improved communication with parents.

Mal has made it clear that his goal for next year is to recruit more students, from both deaf and hearing families, bettering the increased enrollment that has already begun to happen. Mal has gone into the community to meet with Spanish-speaking families, giving them information about CSDR programs, and how those programs are accessible to them. He has attended resident stud-

N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8

CSDR Superintendent Named Administrator of the Year at CAL-ED Conference B y C a l - E d C o m m i t t e e ( R e p r i n t e d f r o m C A L - E D w i t h p e r m i s s i o n )

dents ’ meetings where students

asked him to continue his visits every

month.

Mal understands the challenges CSDR

faces and has become part of the

solution. Mal has made it his business

to see how quality programs affect our

children as they move through the

parent infant program to the

completion of high school. Deter-

mined to be in tune with what students

need, Mal hired curriculum specialist

to help raise academic standards in

the future by offering more challenging

courses. All of the above are signs of

Mal ’ s unselfish devotion of his time,

and his willingness to provide harmony

and productivity to CSDR.

Superintendent Mal Grossinger is living

proof of a true leader who deserves this

CAL-ED 2009 Administrative Award.

It was a busy month for the elementary students in Physical Education class. Activities included a “ Clean Up Day ” which represented one of the six pillars of Character Counts!—Responsibility. The students were very serious about cleaning up the trash they found on the CSDR campus. They had just learned

The students noticed that President Obama is in great shape, healthy, and loves to exercise. Even with his busy schedule, the President of the United States still finds some time to exer-cise. If he can find time to do fitness activities, WE can find time!

P A G E 8 P A W S I T I V E R E F L E C T I O N S

P.E. Joins in Red Ribbon Week By Regan Anders, P.E. Teacher

Chess Tournament B y S t a f f W r i t e r , M i d d l e S c h o o l

about global warming from a Power-Point presentation. Students were taught how important it is to work toward living GREEN.

The students also had an opportunity to learn about President Barack Obama from a presentation we did in the com-puter lab. They watched President Obama playing basketball with the senators and with some of the US troops in Iraq. At first, the students were puzzled about how this related to Physical Education, however, we asked them to look again and see if they could determine how this presentation was related to P.E.

The CSDR Middle School Chess

Tournament is officially underway!

With over 60 students participat-

ing, the competition this year is

fierce. Students are put to the test

in the 2000 year old game that not

only challenges their concentra-

tion, critical thinking, problem solv-

ing, strategic planning, and crea-

tivity, but is also FUN! None of this

could be done without the help of

the wonderful chess club sponsors

and mentors, their best pawns

forward, the pressure mounts and

the game becomes an unfolding

drama in which we all await to see

who will become the 2008-2009

Middle School Chess Champion!

Good Luck!!!

On the weekend of February 6th Fremont sent down 24 students to compete against our 17 students in a Bowling Tournament. When Fremont arrived the fun times began. How great it was seeing old friends. Everyone enjoyed a BBQ dinner together. On Saturday we arrived at Arlington lanes about 9:30 and separated into teams. Each team played two games

played against each other . No matter how each student and counselor did at bowling, we all made good lifetime friends! Each student left with smiling faces and beautiful medals funded by CSDR Athletics. Oh, and by the way, Missy did win by a land-slide for students. Susie lost a squeaker to Derek. And Peter, well Peter needs to continue to practice bowling. There's always next year in

Fremont.

P A G E 9 P A W S I T I V E R E F L E C T I O N S

Special Olympics Bowling Tournament By Tina Andersen, SN Instructor

University Interns at CSDR B y A l y c e B e r a r d , D i r e c t o r o f I n s t r u c t i o n

to determine the top score for Riverside and the top score for Fremont. We all enjoyed Pizza and soda and waited for the results. Missy Matute from River-side was to challenge Charles Abrams from Fremont. We also had Peter Stecher, our very own Supervising Counselor, play against his peer, Mary Mesa from Fremont. Susie Tousignant from Riverside and Derek Johnson SRP

This year, CSDR has had interns from four different University teacher-training programs through-out the United States. In the early fall, two interns were placed in our Elementary department from Cal State University, Fresno. In January, another intern joined the elementary family from University of California, San Diego. In February,

our Middle School received an intern

from Mc Daniel University in Mary-

land. In March we will receive our

final intern for the year from National

Technical Institute for the Deaf, in

New York. Several of our interns

reside in our dormitories for the dura-

tion of their internship. In exchange,

they contribute ten or more hours of

after school assistance to students

including coaching, tutorial and other

types of supervision. Many of our past

interns have returned to CSDR as

teachers. CSDR will continue to

encourage these types of partnerships

with Teacher Training programs

throughout the United States.

Our CTE TV Production class will be hosting the Fifth Annual CSDR Movie Night on May 14th ( T hursday ) at 6:30 pm; 15th ( F riday ) at 6:30 pm; and May 16th ( Saturday ) at 6:30 pm, which includes an Awards Ceremony with Judges.

Warning! These movies are for 13- year-olds and above.

Tickets are on sale in Yoon Lee¹s TV classroom, located in the Seeley building next to the library. Please be advised that tickets sold out quickly last year, so make sure that you purchase your tickets early.

P A G E 1 0 P A W S I T I V E R E F L E C T I O N S

5th Annual CSDR Movie Night By Yoon Lee, TV Production Instructor

Kindergar ten Celebrates Dr. Seuss! B y K a r e n S h a n n o n , K i n d e r g a r t e n T e a c h e r

This year, we will have three other high schools part icipating: California School for the Deaf, Fremont; Madison High School in San Diego, and Maryland School for the Deaf. Our five judges are: Ed Waterstreet, Linda Bove, CJ Jones, Bob Hiltermann, and Michelina Fisher.

We are excited about our Annual CSDR Movie Night, and we can¹t wait to see all of the entries.

The students brought their favorite books to class.

Very cute Hortons!

Yummy, green eggs & ham!

The Riverside Cheer Team competed against 5 other deaf teams: Texas, Maryland, Fremont, M.S.S.D., and Ind iana at the Clerc Class ic Cheerleading Competition on Saturday, January 18. The team had given up all of their free time Wednesday through Friday to practice. In fact, they finished learning their dance Friday night. On Saturday, during competition, Riverside out-shined the competition with two awesome performances. No one could match their enthusiasm! Their timing was good, jumps beautiful, stunts successful, and tumbling was more advanced. We were also the only school to not fall out of a stunt.

them from performing like pros. In addition, two of our members were selected to the All-Star team: Marco and Marilyn. Congratulations CSDR Cheer! You have made Riverside very proud!

P A G E 1 1 P A W S I T I V E R E F L E C T I O N S

Cheer Team Returns Home Champions By Stacey Hausman, Head Cheer Coach

“Moo”chas Gracias B y T a m m y B e r v e l , E l e m e n t a r y I n s t r u c t o r

The CSDR team consisted of: Marco Duarte ( Sr. ) , PuaLei Ramos ( Jr. ) , Marilyn Rivas ( So. ) , Ian Vasquez ( S o. ) , Artesia Harris ( S o. ) , and Renee Atkinson ( Fr. ) . All 6 team members have never been to a deaf competition before, but that did not stop

"Moo"chas gracias to all of CSDR from Tammie Bervel' ’ s first grade classroom! With your help, we were able to raise over $400 to buy a cow and other milking animals for a family in Rwanda through the program Heifer International.

Principal Nanci and Lead Teacher Lori showed their "udder" support of the pro-ject by reading the story "Click, Clack, Moo" to the entire elementary dept. Thanks to all for helping a family in Rwanda.

Our best Deaf Academic Bowl ( DAB ) team worked hard to reach the number one position this year. We had a sea-soned team of intelligent participants including Ryan Baldiviez ( second year player ) , Jeremy Warshaw ( first year player ) , Richard Iancului ( f irst year player ) , Nicole Strom ( second year player ) , and Raymart Tinio ( f irst year player ) . This was a wonderful, supportive and passionate team- they exemplified what a team should be.

The team was selected after 16 hopeful applicants attempted try-outs. The members selected for this year ’ s team were the top finalist during try-outs as they demonstrated their knowledge and strength in at least two categories of 9

Last fall we competed in the Western Academic Bowl League against five other schools across the western states through video phone.

In February 2009, we participated in Gallaudet ’ s Deaf Academic Bowl against 15 other schools. The compe-tition was located at CSDF. We played matches against some of these schools, and we won three games. All of these schools had strong teams and the competition was very good and challenging.

Overall, our players have demon-strated a fantastic positive attitude and are extremely motivated. CSDR is proud of its DAB team.

P A G E 1 2 P A W S I T I V E R E F L E C T I O N S

A Different Kind of Team By Mitch Kurs, DAB Coach

CSDR Selected as National Grant Recipient B y S t a f f W r i t e r

different content areas: Language & Literature, Science, Nature, & Technol-ogy, Pop Culture & Sports, Mathemat-ics, History & Government, Deaf Stud-ies, Fine Arts, and Geography.

Representing CSDR in the DAB was a huge challenge requiring a significant time commitment. The team practiced two times a week during the 45-minute lunch breaks. On Thursdays, the teams competed against CSDR teachers. Also, DAB team members attended a weekend retreat with intensive training and a session on speed reading.

In addition, we competed against CSDR Administrators in front of a cheering audience. We won the event!

The National Youth Leadership Council ( N YLC ) recently sent out a request to schools across the United States offer-ing to fund the top 10 plans for youth service events. The request coincides with the 21st Annual Global Youth Ser-vice Day, which is a 3-day event that engages youth throughout the world in assisting their communities through volunteer efforts. Schools were to sub-mit detailed plans describing how the students would positively impact their own community.

CSDR submitted a proposal and was selected as one of the service plans to be funded!

Even though CSDR was selected, the plans for the event remain top secret until the students reveal the project to the recipient. The CSDR youth group was granted $1,000 to provide this service. The school is very proud of the efforts of these students to make a difference in the life of a deaf per-son from their community.

Stay tuned for more information in upcoming issues of the school news-letter.