The Vine February 17, 2017 From the desk of Superintendent Chris Williams

Congratulations to Jocilyn Pacheco, 4th grade teacher at the Arts Academy at Bauer Speck for being recognized as the KJUG Golden Apple Award winner. Ms. Pacheco was nominated by Ashley Bergstrom (teacher at Kermit King). Students in Ms. Pacheco’s class were treated to a pizza party and were given t-shirts by JP Solar & Electric, the sponsor of the award. Remember to take a moment to nominate an outstanding employee for our annual Employee of the Year honor. Nomination forms are due to Debi Weber in Human Resources by March 1st. Kindergarten registration continues on Tuesday morning at 7:30 AM at the district office. Enjoy your 3-day weekend.

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

National History Day Last Saturday, students from Paso Robles High School, Flamson Middle School, and Lewis Middle School participated in the National History Day contest at PRHS. Thanks to Kristen Shouse, assistant principal at PRHS, PRJUSD is proud to bring the competition back to San Luis Obispo County after a 20-year hiatus. Special thank you to all of the teachers who helped prepare their students for the competition. And thank you to all of our volunteer judges: Stacy Woodruff, Janice Hoy, Maggie Tatman, Robyn Dawley, Dan Sharon, Nathan Sharon, Natalee Johnson, Treva Boyce, Kelsey Laird, Jen Gaviola, Heather Gillis, and Dr. Christina Arpante.

Congratulations to all of the students who have qualified for the state competition to be held in May. PRJUSD will also be hosting its elementary contest on March 10th. Senior Division (Grades 9-12) Exhibit (Group): Group 1 - Brooke Bigelow, Morgan Rego, Sam Harrison Group 2 - Abel Orozco, Corban Payne Group 3 - Camryn Curren, Elise Scheiffele, Siena Berry. Historical Paper – Anastasia Connolly, Diego Sterling

Junior Division (Grades 6-8) Exhibit (Group): Group 1: Jenna Tatman and Colton Wollerman Group 2: Brady Carr, Nolan Rumph, and Khang Truong Group 3: Gena Berti and Maily Nguyen Exhibit (Individual): Malia Gaviola, Bryson Hoier, Danny Perez Historical Paper: Alayna Hernandez, Molly McGinley, Sophia Anglim Live Performance: Maddy Estes, Kristal Roman, Grace Donohue Documentary: Madison Fanning, Natalie Handley Luke Marion, Hunter Breese, and Anthony Garcia

Justin School Grants Attention teachers! JUSTIN Wine is launching a JUSTIN School Grants Program where public school teachers can apply for grants of up to $2,000 to fund classroom supplies and field trips. These grants are only available to teachers in North County Schools. It is a first come, first served process. The earlier you submit your application, the better chance you have of receiving the grant. For more information, go to this link: http://justinwinegrants.com/schools. Applications can be submitted beginning on February 21st.

Tickets are Limited We hope you will join us for our first annual Children's show James and the Giant Peach JR. showing Friday, February 24th and Saturday, February 25th at 7:00 p.m. in the PRHS Performing Arts Center. Based on one of Roald Dahl’s most poignantly quirky stories, James and the Giant Peach JR. is a brand new take on this "masterpeach" of a tale. Featuring a wickedly tuneful score and a witty and charming book, this adventurous musical about courage and self-discovery is destined to be a classic. When James is sent by his conniving aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, he discovers a magic potion that grows a tremendous peach, rolls into the ocean, and launches a journey of enormous proportions. James befriends a collection of singing insects that ride the giant

piece of fruit across the ocean, facing hunger, sharks, and plenty of disagreements along the way. Tickets are going fast, so get yours today! www.prhsdrama.com

PRHS Mock Trial This year marked Paso Robles High School's 2nd year participating in the SLO County Mock Trial Competition. Since September, the Mock Trial team has practiced after school, 2-3 days a week in order to prepare for the county competition. This year, the case was an exciting and controversial one involving the crime of human trafficking and false imprisonment of an immigrant restaurant employee. With 6 returning seniors and 9 first-year juniors, the team made amazing strides with the help of our assisting attorney coach, Mike Hotzman and volunteer Bev Dodge. Our prosecuting and defending teams had 4 very close matches nearly edging out a victory against Mission Prep and San Luis High School. In the end, 5 students received awards for their witness and lawyer performances, including Imelda Jimenez, Sadie Mae Mace, Alex Withers, and Anthony Villarreal. Daniela Lopez was awarded Best Prosecution Witness out of all county competing schools, a very honorable award! Thank you to Mr. Draine for sharing!

Early Learning Academy Jesse from One Cool Earth came by the preschool classrooms for a special treat. Having learned about the different parts of the plant in previous lessons, the students were able to taste all the parts of a plant with a special Taco Bar! All students ate every part, root (carrots), stem (celery), seeds (beans), flower (cauliflower), fruit (bell pepper), and leaves (lettuce). The class is going to continue their exploration by growing their own plants in the classroom to investigate all aspects further. The Early Learning Academy is currently taking applications for the 2017-18 school year. Visit their website: www.pasoschools.org/preschool for more info or email Lauren Handley at lmhandley@pasoschools.org.

Flamson Band Visits Cal Poly Last week, members of the Flamson Middle School beginning band and jazz band visited Cal Poly to see a performance called “Yes Indeed.” Teacher Cindy Lindquist said, “We all really enjoyed the Jazz Performance which included a history of the Blues.”

FFA Welding Team Continues Win Streak Submitted by: Justin Pickard This past Saturday, the Paso Robles FFA Welding team competing at the Merced College FFA Ag Welding Field Day. Thirty two teams, with over one hundred competitors from across the state came to compete in Shielded Metal Arc Welding, Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, Oxy-Fuel Cutting, Carbon Arc Cutting, written test, weld inspection, part ID and job application. The Paso Robles FFA Welding Team took 1st place overall with individual rankings as follows: Iver Hansen (1st), Shane Terra (6th), Zac Alves (9th), Daniel Oliver (14th) This continues our success with FFA Welding competitions this year, marking our 4th consecutive victory out of the 4 FFA Welding Field Days offered so far this season. This milestone has taken a lot of hard work and dedication by these four individuals. Please congratulate them if you see any of these students!

Update: Thanks to one of our maintenance staff members, the lost sculpture project was found. It was located along the fence in Vineyard Field. A little rusty, but a little elbow grease brought back to its original condition.

Future 6th Grade Parent Meetings It was a packed house at both Lewis Middle School and Flamson Middle School last week when both schools hosted an informational meeting for parents of incoming 6th graders. Parents had a chance to learn about the school, electives offered, and academic opportunities for their children.

ASES Students Learn Chess Thirteen ASES students participate in the Chess Club after school at Winifred Pifer Elementary. When the students were asked what they liked best about Chess Club, this is what they said: "I like the Queen piece because you can move any direction and any number." - Jack; "I like that I can make my own strategies." -Anthony; "I like playing with other people." -Ben; "It is fun!" -Alexis

PRYDE The PRYDE program has partnered with The Wellness Kitchen for the past year to bring cooking experiences to after-school students. Terry Knowlton begins with instructing the older elementary students on kitchen and knife safety. The students are treated to a healthy snack and learn to create healthy, no-bake and cold-prep recipes. Each student works on their own cutting board with a paring knife to assist in chopping and preparing the foods. Many students have begun to assist with dinners, making salad, and creating the healthy dishes, like rainbow quinoa salad, for family

meals and gatherings. Each group session runs for five weeks and rotates through the three PRYDE locations. Each season experience varies slightly to include current foods in season, avoid repeat instruction, and allow for a change in format during school vacations. During after-school and/or summer programs, PRYDE partners with the Wellness Kitchen, Food Bank, One Cool Earth, and SLO Health Department to continue to bring fun, fitness, healthy food, cooking, and garden experiences to PRYDE students of all ages.

PRJUSD Students Learn About STEAM Students and teachers from throughout the district are immersed in various STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) lessons. Students in Mrs. Williams's 4th grade class at Pat Butler Elementary used the engineering design process this week to create catapults. Partners worked together to plan and build their apparatus, then they were able to improve their design the next day.

Science experiments were happening at Kermit King Elementary in Mrs. Holman’s room. Astronomy Night was celebrated at Flamson Middle School in January. Local astronomers brought their equipment for students to explore the universe.

PBIS Rewards Congratulations to the 200 students at the Arts Academy at Bauer Speck who earned their wristbands for being responsible. Students who earned their wristbands were also treated to an extra recess this week. This is just one way that our schools are rewarding students for demonstrating positive behavior. Way to go, Bobcats!

GATE Field Trip 7th grade GATE students from Lewis Middle School in Suzanne Hoier’s GATE English Language Arts class had the opportunity to visit the Steinbeck Museum, Cannery Row, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium last week. The students completed a novel study of The Pearl, and they will use the in-depth knowledge and exposure to the life and writing of John Steinbeck to guide them in their Author Projects, which will take place in May.

Muffins with Moms (and Dads) Here are just a few of the parents who participated in Muffins with Mom at Kermit King Elementary recently. As you can see, dads are also more than welcome to attend!

Leadership Students Spread the Love Leadership students at Flamson Middle School decorated the multipurpose room for their “Sweetheart Dance” last Friday. The leadership class from Liberty High School visited Brookdale Assisted living on Valentine’s Day. They had a great time playing Bingo, decorating cookies and hanging Valentine decorations they had made for the residents there!

Athletics Update Congratulations to the PRHS girls’ water polo team for winning the first round of the CIF playoffs! They defeated Savanna High School 17-8. Their next game is Saturday vs Webb High School. The game will be played at Arroyo Grande High School at 1:30.

Congratulations to our PRHS wrestlers who placed 2nd at the league tournament this past weekend. Up next is the CIF Individual Meet this weekend. Also playing this weekend in the CIF first round is the PRHS boys’ soccer team taking on Estancia High School. And the elementary basketball games are scheduled to be played next Tuesday and Thursday with the district championships happening on Friday, February 24th at PRHS. Cost to attend is $3/parents and $1/students. Proceeds benefit the PRHS boys’ and girls’ basketball programs.

One Cool Earth Corner Happy Valentine’s Day from One Cool Earth to you! Here are some fun tips in honor of treating ourselves, others, and the earth with care. Natural Insect Repellent “Love Potion” Create a cocktail of equal parts thyme, peppermint, clove, and rosemary oils – 4-5 drops of each should suffice. Mix this solution into a small spray bottle filled with water. Shake well and apply to infested plants. This potent mix of essential oils will kill most garden insect pests as well as their eggs and larvae. This combination also works great as a general purpose outdoor / indoor insect repellant!

Students in Mr. Wortman’s Therapuetic Learning Center at Virginia Peterson Elementary School will be experimenting this week with concocting natural insect repellents to help treat the school’s cabbage plants. Through treating plants with a non-chemical repellant, students can see that every action can have a larger and sometimes unseen effect, and that we can be choose to be mindful to avoid causing harm. The garden is full of life’s metaphors! February is also National Heart Month, and we think you are berry special! While a box of sweethearts contains 22 grams of sugar (nearly 2 Tablespoons), 1 cup of blueberries contains only 3 grams and is full of heart healthy phytonutrients and antioxidants that are anti-inflammatory. Frozen berries are a wonderful cost effective way of enjoying berries at the peak of their ripeness without sacrificing a loss of nutrients. Looking for fun and meaningful ways to engage in your school community? One Cool Earth needs your help growing PRJUSD gardens big and green! Volunteers can help during garden lunch clubs, class time, and programs like Library on the Lawn to get students learning in the garden and trying new healthy foods. RSVP at action@onecoolearth.org to get involved or get more info! From planting to painting signs, there’s an activity for everyone! Also remember to check out One Cool Earth online: www.facebook.com/onecoolearth or www.onecoolearth.org.

Art Lesson in the Garden

3rd grade students from Mrs. Amato's class at Winifred Pifer Elementary are studying the designs found in nature to create drawings in their art class. The class is using the garden as a springboard into art. We love that our teachers find new and creative ways to incorporate art and garden lessons into everyday learning.

Liberty High Students Volunteer Last week, at Lewis and Flamson Middle Schools, Liberty High School leadership students assisted with the presentation of the REALL program for middle school students. LHS students participated as mock employees of both unemployment and employment offices, a grocery store, and a bank. Eighth grader participants in the program were given an opportunity to experience outcomes of decision-making in real life scenarios, and experience the significance of making good versus bad choices. Last Friday, Liberty students sponsored their quarterly blood drive in association with United Blood Services. Shark Heroes who collectively donated approximately 26 pints of blood included Liberty students, Paso Robles School District staff, and community members! The next blood drive will be May 19th so be sure to mark your calendars! The science classroom is happy to report that their trout eggs have hatched, and the fish nursery has alevin (baby trout) being observed in it! Way to go, Liberty Sharks! Thank you to Debra Lauridsen for sharing!