The Vine September 22, 2016 From the desk of Superintendent Chris Williams

In this past month, we have had the pleasure of meeting and continuing our work with community organizations. We

recently hosted the Rotary luncheon at our Culinary Arts Academy where we shared the state of our district and had the privilege of hearing Chef Gregg Wangard talk about our Food Services Department and the work they are doing to provide healthy options for our students. The passion for the work that he does was evident in his words. We serve 2000 meals per day, have a catering business in our community, have developed new menus, and are focusing on a fresh and healthy approach to meals. We have developed a working restaurant and deli that trains students how to use the most current technology and methods used in restaurants: Students learn how to be line cooks, servers, hosts, deli workers, dishwashers, and expediters. The future plans for the Café include training for students and providing a restaurant/deli that helps to promote a healthy lifestyle and encourages cooking and sit-down eating for families.

The Rotary Club has provided over 90 years of service to the community of Paso Robles and especially to our schools in PRJUSD. They support local youth activities, service projects, and high school scholarships. Just as we value and adhere to the PRJUSD Guiding Principles, the Rotary Club also uses their Four-Way Test to determine the value in what they are doing in the community. I ask you to think about the Four-Way Test and how it pertains to both the work we do with students and the work we do with one another as educators and employees of PRJUSD.

1. Is it the TRUTH? 2. Is it FAIR to all concerned? 3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? 4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

@pasoschools @pasoschools Paso Robles Schools @PasoSuper

Paso Robles Rotary Receives $180,022.00 from the AIM Foundation Donation will be used for scholarships for future Paso Robles High graduates Paso Robles Rotary Service Club received a donation of $180,022 from The Paso Robles AIM Education Foundation which will be used to create a scholarship and endowment fund for Paso Robles High School students.

The Aim Foundation board voted to donate the accumulated funds from the Gedeon Family Scholarship fund, which was gifted to the AIM Foundation about 10 years ago, to the Paso Robles Rotary Service Club Inc. The Rotary Club already has an active scholarship process in place with the Harlow Ford Foundation Scholarship Fund. The mission of granting scholarships from these funds will continue through the Paso Robles Rotary Service Club Inc. Steve Gregory of the Rotary Club worked with former City Councilman Jim Heggarty, who is the Chairman of the AIM Foundation, and their Board of Directors to complete this wonderful donation of scholarship funds. This latest donation will allow the Rotary Club to increase their annual scholarships to $50,000 every year from the current amount of $30,000 a year. Rotary has given over $400,000 in scholarships to date from this fund.

PRJUSD Gallery Reception This Thursday, September 22nd, PRJUSD will host its first gallery reception of the year at Studios on the Park from 6:00 – 7:30 PM. This first exhibition of the year features artwork from our very own staff and alumni. All are invited to attend! If you cannot make the reception, the exhibit will run through October 26th.

PRHS SkillsUSA Student to Compete in World Skills Contest Mason Steiner, senior at Paso Robles High School, has been invited to the World Skills competition taking place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Mason will be headed there next year in October of 2017 to compete in plumbing. This is the top honor in the world of SkillsUSA. At the National Leadership & Skills Competition in Louisville, Kentucky, Mason was the Bronze Medalist in 2015 and Silver Medalist this past year. Mason’s PRHS SkillsUSA advisors are Randy Canaday and Dennis Peters. Mr. Canaday says, “We are excited for

Mason and this opportunity. Mason is an exceptional young man who has been diligent in his pursuit of plumbing experience.” This last summer he worked for a local plumbing contractor, Scott Beavers. For more information regarding Mason’s competition, you can visit the World Skills website at: https://worldskillsabudhabi2017.com/en/.

Arte de Tiza The Arte de Tiza Chalk Art Festival was held this past weekend in downtown Paso Robles. Students of all ages in our district participated in the festival. Here are some pictures of students and their artwork from Flamson Middle School. PRJUSD loves our VAPA programs!

GATE The ELA (English Language Arts) GATE, Honors, and AP (Advanced Placement) teachers from Flamson, Lewis, and PRHS met as a PLC on Wednesday to discuss common goals and objectives. The meeting focused on streamlining vertical alignment to ensure student success and student schievement in our GATE/Honors/AP English Language Arts departments. The focus on differentiating instruction in our elementary GATE cluster groups has enhanced the depth and complexity rigor for all students in Erica Poppen’s second grade class. In the picture, one student is defending his decision as to where to place the story “All About Families” under the “Big Idea” icon while using evidence to support his answer.

Vision Screening During the month of September, the Paso Robles Lions Club provides funding for vision screening and a portable vision trailer at each elementary school site. Local optometrists volunteer to screen students’ visual activities. The health team, optometrists, and the Lions Club work together to ensure all students with visual deficits receive a professional exam and glasses if needed. Elle Wangard, a fifth grade student, is receiving a vision screening from Dr. Doug Major D.O. and a volunteer Cal Poly Student, Ben Trinh.

One Cool Earth Corner Children in the ASES afterschool program are engineering solar ovens this week! They are learning about harnessing the sun’s energy and being resourceful with common household items. Next week they will be testing their ovens by roasting the abundance of sunflower seeds from their school gardens. If you are a teacher or parent looking for simple instructions and curriculum connections on making solar ovens, please contact Mariah Marten-Ray, One Cool Earth’s FoodCorps AmeriCorps member!

In other news, this Saturday from 8am - 12pm will mark the first community garden workday of the season for Virginia Peterson Elementary School! Come join us for a fun morning of harvesting, tilling soil, painting garden signs, and planting a winter garden to be used in the school lunch program throughout the district. This garden day is not just limited to Virginia Peterson families, and we ask that you do not drop off your children. Snacks and water will be provided, but remember to bring sun protection. Check out One Cool Earth on Facebook to see when they’ll be hosting community garden workdays at your school: www.facebook.com/onecoolearth or www.onecoolearth.org Please contact our FoodCorps AmeriCorps Member, Mariah, at mariahr@onecoolearth.org for further opportunities and information.

Cozy Corner VIP Lounge at Flamson Flamson Middle School Library Technician, Jeni Miller, has been working on promoting PBIS. The “Cozy Corner VIP Lounge” was created for students who show their PAWS (Pride, Attitude, Willingness to help, Self-direction). Here is a description of the program from Jeni Miller “ I select one student a week to spend nutrition and lunch in the "Cozy Corner VIP Lounge". The student gets to select 5 friends to join them and they get to enjoy their lunches and snacks as well (normally no food or drinks allowed). These are students who are showing positive attitudes, great effort, and who are all around caring Cougars. I don't look at grades, as I am more focused on effort and willingness to help others. So far I have been looking at kids who already enjoy coming to the library, but I am also asking teachers for input as well. An added bonus is, it has also been an important

lesson for the kids on which friends they will choose to join them. I had one boy who picked some friends who weren't behaving in a positive way. We had a discussion about what it means to be a good friend, and how to treat someone who has invited you for a special treat. It made them think about who was truly being a good friend. At the end of the week all the friends selected were grateful and appreciative to the boy who selected them. It was a really great moment hearing them thank him and me for letting them spend the week in the "lounge". They have also done a great job at cleaning up after themselves and taking pride in their cozy corner. It has been a treat so far!” Jeni Miller is also making literacy relevant to today’s tweens by creating a William Shakespeare display which identifies popular idioms and phrases that came from Shakespeare.

Club Expo at PRHS Last week, Paso Robles High School held its annual Club Expo at lunch. The Club Expo gives students an opportunity to see what types of clubs and activities are available at the high school. Students were manning all of the booths and talking to potential members about what their club provides. There was even a flash mob performed by the PRHS Drama Club!

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) Here is a STEAM report from Trina Nicklas, the PRJUSD California Math and Science Project Director: Several elementary teachers have been working on engineering design projects with their students. Third grade teacher, Nancy Mayer, introduced her students to the engineering design process through a structure project using toothpicks and gumdrops. Students had to work within certain constraints to support a designated weight. One student exclaimed, “Mrs. Mayer, I failed!” and he was all happy about it. Another student hurried out of the class at the end of the day and couldn’t wait to tell her mom that today she had done engineering!

Monica Pafumi’s kindergarteners collaborated with their fifth grade buddies in Stephenie Walker’s class to design and create a working slide. The engineering project trailed the reading of The Recess Queen. The children were excited to be engineers!

In Holly Moore’s fifth grade class, students are using Google draw to develop their plan for Caine’s Arcade. They are using the cyclical steps of the Engineering Design Process to articulate their way through the assignment.

Crimson Weekly Click on the link below to view the latest issue of the PRHS Crimson Weekly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=ThEjKLwZ6Os

Lewis Middle School Students Working Together The yearbook and leadership classes hosted a lunchtime kickoff to promote their yearbook sales. The students had a football activity, facts about the history of Lewis Middle School, and a game to see how many social media icons could be named which correlates to the yearbook's theme this year. Every student who participated received a ticket which entered the student into a drawing for a half price yearbook.

Social Media Be sure to follow our school sites and programs on Facebook and Twitter:

https://www.facebook.com/Daniel-E-Lewis-Middle-School-2066692493556468/

https://www.facebook.com/flamsoncougars/

Twitter: @KermitKingFrogs https://www.facebook.com/KermitKingFrogs/?hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf

Twitter: @BauerSpeck

https://www.facebook.com/PRCrimsonCrew/ Twitter: @PRCrimsonCrew