The Vine June 9, 2017 From the desk of Superintendent Chris Williams

Battle of the Books Throughout the district, 115 students in 4th and 5th grade read enough books to participate in this year’s Battle of the Books. Each site held its own battle and the top 79 students made their way to Centennial Park to begin the district competition. From there, two teams moved onto the finals. Students entered the PAC being greeted by high school students (wearing BOB shirts) that participated in BOB when they were in elementary school. Students then watched an Animoto video of pictures of all of the school site battles. High school students introduced themselves, stated what elementary school they went to and what they liked about participating in Battle of the Books. They led the elementary students in a battle cheer. The top two teams that battled in the Grand Battle of the Books were the Moose and Turtles. The Turtles ended up winning after having stolen points from two questions. All students received a certificate and the students in the top two teams received the book Masterminds from next year's battle list as well as a trophy

Turtles: Auggie B. – Georgia Brown, Bella R. – Kermit King, Kimber W. – Pat Butler, Cadence B. – Virginia Peterson, Gabi H. – Winifred Pifer, Gabriel R. – Winifred Pifer Moose: Aleah C. – Arts Academy at Bauer Speck, Brooke L. – Georgia Brown, Kayla D. – Kermit King, Abigail W. – Pat Butler, Taylor K. – Virginia Peterson

War Memorial Community Event The Paso Robles community is invited to attend the grand re-opening of our beautiful War Memorial Stadium next Tuesday, June 13th, beginning at 4:30 PM. The event will feature a ribbon cutting ceremony followed by the Bearcat spring football game. The community will have an opportunity to come down onto the field and get a first-hand look at the new turf.

Class of 2017 Celebrations Graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 are just one week away and that means that we are deep into awards season! Earlier this week, PRHS held ceremonies celebrating academic accomplishments. The first was the Seal of Biliteracy awards recognizing 49 students who have met the requirements, many of them from our Dual Immersion Program at Georgia Brown Elementary. The students received a seal on their diplomas and a medal to wear during graduation.

The Top Cat Awards recognized the top 10% of students with the highest GPAs at PRHS. Also announced that evening were the valedictorian, Jake Van Wiggeren, and salutatorian, Teresa Cabello. You can see more pictures from the event from the Crimson Newsmagazine at www.crimsonnewsmagazine.org.

The Senior Scholarship Awards were held last night and students in the class of 2017 earned nearly $1 million in scholarships! Thank you to all of the generous donors for their support of PRHS academics.

Our newest tradition of graduation walks will happen at each of our elementary schools next Tuesday at about 9:00 AM. This is where our graduates go back to their alma maters wearing their caps and gowns. It is such an inspiration to our future Bearcats and a real tear-jerker for the teachers and parents! For more information regarding the PRHS graduation, please go to www.pasoschools.org/graduation. Liberty High School/Independence High School Graduation Thursday, June 15th at 6:00 PM at War Memorial Stadium Paso Robles High School Graduation Friday, June 16th at 6:00 PM at War Memorial Stadium

TIP Colloquium The PRJUSD TIP (Teacher Induction Program) Colloquium was held earlier this week. It was a wonderful celebration and recognition of our TIP teachers’ accomplishments! During the colloquium, our new teachers shared their classroom experiences and were encouraged to continue to grow as professionals. PRJUSD had 12 Year 2 candidates complete their work and are currently being recommended to the CTC to receive their clear credentials. We had 12 Year 1 candidates successfully complete their first year of the Teacher Induction Program. Thank you to Kelly Roth and the teacher mentors for all of their work in helping to prepare our newest teachers.

Bearcat Signing Day Paso Robles High School will be hosting a third and final ceremony to recognize three additional Bearcat student-athletes who are signing NCAA National Letters of Intent this year. The ceremony will be held on Monday, June 12, at 3:30 PM in the PRHS Performing Arts Center. The public is invited to attend. These Bearcat athletes join eight others who have signed earlier this year, giving PRHS a total of eleven members of the class of 2017 who have signed their National Letters of Intent:

Codie Wilshusen will be attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as a member of the track and field team. Codie is a 4-year CIF qualifier in pole vault, 3-year CIF finalist, and 2-year state qualifier. She was the league champion in pole vault and finished 16th in the state. She holds the PRHS school record at 12’4”. Kiara Mabien will be attending California State University, San Bernardino as a member of the track and field team. Kiara was the SLO County champion in the 400m and league champion in the 400m relay. She also finished 2nd in league in the 400m and 3rd in the 200m. Miranda Pasky will be attending Monmouth College (Illinois) to play water polo. Miranda earned PAC 8 All-League Honorable Mention and CIF Southern Section 2nd Team honors.

Flamson Cougar Mural The halls at Flamson Middle School have a new mural thanks to professional artist Steve Kalar and the advanced art students in Mrs. Aird’s class. Thank you to Mr. Kalar for inspiring the students to create the

mural and for supplying all the materials. What a great addition to the school that shows the support from our community and real-world learning for our students through collaboration with professionals.

VAPA at the Arts Academy at Bauer Speck The visual and performing arts were on full display at the Arts Academy at Bauer Speck this week! Student performances included dance, choir, band, piano, drama, and strings. Our Bobcats have so much talent! Thank you to the students and staff for putting on such great shows!

Principal for a Day Mr. Fanning took over duties as principal for the day at Kermit King Elementary. According to Mrs. Ward, Mr. Fanning is an outstanding student that has earned all four leap bands. She goes on to say that he is a model student, cooperative, hard-working and kind.

Bicycle Safety Congratulations to Max Knight from Kermit King Elementary who won the Bike to School Challenge this year! He won a brand new bike by logging in the most trips on the Rideshare Safe Routes to School Bike Month website. Pictured here is Max with his father, and Sarah Trauger, SLO County Safe Routes to School Coordinator, and our own Mick DeLeon. Students at Winifred Pifer Elementary, included those in the ASES Program, learned about bike safety by participating in a bike rodeo. The event was sponsored by the California Office of Traffic Safety. Students learned how to safely ride in traffic and are now ready to take to the roads this summer!

One Cool Earth Corner Virginia Peterson Elementary students in Mrs. Young's class engineered their own solar ovens out of pizza boxes! They learned about harnessing the sun’s energy and being resourceful with common household items. Their ovens were put to the test by making quesadillas with an abundance of school garden produce! The activity was a culmination of NGSS garden lessons they did throughout the year with One Cool Earth such as learning about plant adaptations and the structure and functions of the six plant parts. At the end, many students donated their solar ovens to the garden for other classrooms to enjoy. One group said they will be donating their oven to a homeless shelter! One Cool Earth had a blast this year supporting PRJUSD teachers with NGSS lessons through food, water, and waste lenses! Are you hanging around for the summertime? The garden volunteering opportunities will continue! Remember to check out One Cool Earth on Facebook to see when they’ll be hosting school garden workdays and harvestings: www.facebook.com/onecoolearth or www.onecoolearth.org. From planting to painting signs, there is an activity for everyone. RSVP at action@onecoolearth.org to get involved or get more info!

And stay tuned for an article featuring our beautiful garden at Virginia Peterson Elementary coming in September in the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Pictured here is the incredible Mariah from One Cool Earth leading students in a lesson about solar energy.

PBIS Rewards Students throughout the district are being rewarded for positive behavior. Pictured here is an end of year celebration at Lewis Middle School where students were able to use their rewards to buy pies to throw in their teachers’ faces! And at Virginia Peterson Elementary, students were treated to a VIP chalk party. Each week, VIP students earn a special reward or fun event to honor their efforts in showing PRIDE and positive citizenship!

End of the Year Celebrations Celebrations were held this week to recognize students who had completed the Girls Circle and Youth in Action programs. It was standing room only to celebrate the accomplishments of these students. Thank you to Girls Circle coordinator Sandra Becerra for doing such a great job with our students. She and the girls are already planning activities for next year!

And thank you to Youth in Action Coordinator Isidro Soto for the work with our students. He had signup forms for next year’s program and most of the boys plan on returning next year!

New Mural Students from the Arts Academy at Bauer Speck display a mural where sea life and vegetables collide. This mural is the culminating activity where students learned about the impact of marine debris. The mural will be displayed in the school's garden. Pictured here are 3rd graders in Mrs. LaNovara’s class.

PRISC Tutoring This year, the Paso Robles Independent Study Center was relocated to the campus of Independence High School. Having all of alternative education under one roof has had many advantages including the benefits of our cross-aged tutoring program where IHS students have been paired with middle school students for weekly tutoring sessions in various subjects. These pairings have been beneficial on both sides as IHS students have had a chance to develop as mentors, and middle school students have received added support and developed relationships with positive role models. We are excited to continue this program next year and hope to have even more participants. Pictured is senior, Nick Alvarado, tutoring 8th grader, Cooper Johnson.

Field Trips Flamson Middle School AVID students had a jammed-packed day touring Cal Poly, meeting guest speaker Professor Amy Lammert and a few of her food science students, and learning about food production of Cal Poly chocolates, jam, and BBQ sauce.

Virginia Peterson Elementary 3rd graders in Ms. Wilder and Ms. Maytubby's classes spent the day in Morro Bay learning about the native tribes of the central coast region. They had fun playing games, discovering sea life, and on a docent-led tour of Morro Bay Natural History Museum.

Virginia Peterson kindergarten and K/1 combo classes enjoyed a day in Avila Beach at the Central Coast Aquarium learning about marine mammals & ocean conservation. Virginia Peterson 3rd graders visited the Cold Canyon Landfill in SLO furthering their learning of reducing, reusing, and recycling. They learned what a falconer's job entails and how these birds help to control the seagull population at the dump.

Field Day The physical education team at Pat Butler Elementary hosted a field day for the students this week. Not only did the students have fun, but they also were physically active! And as an added treat – Principal Mr. Capalare brought out otter pops to all the students. What a great day for the Butler Bears!

Father’s Day Tribute Kindergarten students at Kermit King Elementary held their annual Father’s Day Tribute. During the event, the students sing songs and recite poems. It all ends with a Kermit King tradition of inviting the dads to do the chicken dance!

Band & Choir Perform The Flamson Middle School Band and Choir performed last week at Great America. According to Mrs. Lindquist, they had fabulous performances. She said it was a terrific experience for the students!

PRHS Athletics Update Congratulations again to our track & field CIF state qualifiers who competed last weekend. Codie Wilshusen, school record holder at 12' 4" in the pole vault joined the top-ranked pole vaulters in the nation finishing 15th in the state. Trad Berti, school record holder at 4:09.06 in the 1600m and 9:10.70 in the 3200m, qualified 2nd for state finals ultimately breaking into the top ten in the state with a 7th place finish running 4:13.48. And last but not least, Annie Meeder, school record holder at 4:59 in the 1600m and 10:29 in the 3200m advanced straight to finals finishing 14th with a time of 10:47.73. The Bearcats end the season on a high note with 9 All-League Athletes, 6 Varsity League Champions, 14 CIF Qualifiers, 4 CIF Finalists and Master Qualifiers, 3 State Qualifiers, 2 State Finalists, 6 New Bearcat School Records and 5 athletes signing to compete in college next year.

Congratulations to the PRHS spring sport athletes who have been recognized for PAC-8 All-League Honors: Pitcher of the Year: Nolan Binkele, baseball 1st Team Will Stroud, baseball Mark Armstrong, baseball Dylan Lewis, baseball Crystal Linn, softball Brooke Milder, softball Ethan Todd, volleyball Annie Meeder, track & field Madison Mitchell, track & field Madison Wineman, track & field Kiara Mabien, track & field Kayla McDonald, track & field Codie Wilshusen, track & field Audrey Hughes, swim & dive 2nd Team Oscar Rendon, baseball Seth Matthysse, baseball Nicole Raithel, softball Lya Abel, softball Micah Canales, volleyball Bailey Flickinger, golf Logan Elliot, golf Trad Berti, track & field

Jacob Franklin, track & field Clay Wilshusen, track & field Cade England, track & field Gavin Hughes, swim & dive Cori Southward, swim & dive Mackenzie Raymond, swim & dive Gabriella Clayton, swim & dive Cecelia Ramirez, swim & dive

Honorable Mention Hunter Barnhart, baseball Jasmine Smiley, softball Ramon Torres, volleyball

Volunteers Needed It’s time for our 16th annual Up with Kids – Back to School Shopping Spree. We need your help to effectively move another 125+ kids through Target in the allowed time of two hours. This requires a ton of coordination and the help of approximately 200 volunteers. Last year, volunteer assistance was an invaluable contribution, which helped us have a very successful event where kids got off on the right foot when returning to school with new clothes, shoes, backpacks and school supplies. We need your help once again! Please contact us at (805)591-5348 or email Mick De Leon at mdeleon@pasoschools.org and let us know if and how you would like to participate. The event will be Saturday morning, August 5th at 6:00 am at the Target store on Theatre Dr., Paso Robles. We will need our volunteers to report a little earlier and we should be wrapping up the event around 8:30 AM. If you wish to make a monetary contribution, make checks payable to Up with Kids (a benefit account at Wells Fargo Bank) and mail to RE/MAX Parkside Real Estate, 711 12th Street, Paso Robles, CA 93446. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. Up With Kids Organizing Committee Phone message at 805-591-5348 Up With Kids Web Page Click Here To Volunteer

Welcome to PRJUSD Congratulations to the following employees whose positions were recently approved by the Board of Trustees: Nathan Meinert, Deputy Principal

Nathan Meinert moved to the Central Coast of California to attend California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics with a Teaching Concentration and proceeded to earn his Single Subject Teaching Credential in Mathematics. Four years later, he returned to Cal Poly as a graduate student, where he participated in the Educational Leadership and Administration Program, receiving a Master’s Degree and California Administrative Credential. Nathan has worked at San Luis Obispo High School as a math teacher for five years, serving as Math Department Chair for three years, Assistant Athletic Director for two years, Educational

Technology Lead Teacher for two years, and WASC Leader. Nathan met his wife, Lindsay, at Cal Poly and they were married the summer after he graduated. Nathan enjoys spending time with family and friends, growing spiritually, playing sports (especially basketball), running with Lindsay, and backpacking in nature. Hilary Walters, Teacher

Hilary Walters’s education began in Dublin, Ireland where she lived with her family for ten years. She returned to the states just in time to begin junior high in the Pasadena area where she remained through high school. Following the footsteps of her parents, she began her journey toward a life in education. With a strong desire to travel, she worked summers abroad during her college years when attending Pasadena City College before transferring to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Having found a home on the Central Coast and reluctant to return to the LA basin, she

continued her education at Cal Poly by studying for a teaching credential and working toward her Master of Arts Degree in English. She met her husband of 17 years in graduate school and became a devoted mother of two while also working in the Lucia Mar, Santa Maria, Paso Robles, and Cambria school districts teaching junior high and high schoolers. She also worked as an assistant editor for an international magazine, Arabian Horse World, and consulted on lesson plans for Lesson Planet. Her hobbies include sailing, running, baking, writing, and spending time with family and friends. She moonlights as an antiques dealer. Her goals are to complete her Master’s in English and continue writing for publication.