December 18, 2018 SDUSD Inaugural Partner Convening Focuses on the Future of Work Over 30 of San Diego Unified School District’s valued business, philanthropic, non-profit, and higher education partners gathered at Qualcomm Wednesday, December 5th, to reimagine learning experiences in our school system. The partners were invited to discuss the future of work and to explore ways we might expand career awareness, exploration, preparation, and training opportunities for all students. Superintendent Cindy Marten kicked off the day by emphasizing San Diego Unified’s commitment to continue to work hand in hand with our community to ensure that we are preparing students for success in the technology driven world of tomorrow. It was especially exciting to include 10 High School students in the conversation. Students shared insights revealing the value of their work based learning experiences both in school, and out of school. The students were active participants and engaged the audience with authentic descriptions of what the future of education could look like. Equity ambassadors from the following schools were represented: Serra, San Diego, the MET, Mt. Everest Academy, SCPA, Morse, University City, and Clairemont High Schools. Industry professionals collaborated with educators to identify the 21st century skills needed for gainful employment in San Diego’s Priority Workforce Sectors. The significant turn out at this inaugural partnership meeting is an example of our communities' dedication to, and support of, our schools. Together we will continue to develop programs and learning experiences worthy of our students; together we will make a #BetterSD. https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/sdusd-inaugural-partner-convening.html E.B. Scripps Singers Perform with Barry Manilow Singers from the music program at Ellen Browning Scripps Elementary School performed alongside Barry Manilow in his holiday concert at Viejas Arena on Thursday, December 13. The 26 participating students prepared for their performance with their music/choir teacher at E.B. Scripps, Tom Waczek. Before becoming involved, the singers had to audition and commit to rehearsing several times a week before school. Performing students are in grades 2-5. Mr. Waczek calls this opportunity “a chance of a lifetime” for students, and says “parents and students alike are very excited about this special concert with Barry Manilow.” The students sang a medley of five Christmas songs with Mr. Manilow, and rejoined him onstage for the encore. Barry Manilow: A Very Barry Christmas is a live San Diego concert event filled with classic tunes that define the season, part of a very special multi-city engagement that opened on December 7 in Florida. For more than 50 years, Barry Manilow has been at the top of adult contemporary radio playlists, and 29 of his albums have been certified platinum. His last holiday album, "Because It's Christmas", went platinum and stayed at the top of the Billboard special Christmas album chart for 1990. https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/eb-scripps-singers-perform-with-barry.html Counselors Learning Requirements for a Career in the Military Students nearing high school graduation have a few options: attend college, get a job or join the United States military. Counselors are better prepared to guide students for a path in the military after attending a training by the San Diego Military Entrance Processing Station, also known as MEPS. They learned how to evaluate a student's post secondary preparedness using the ASVAB, and increased their knowledge of military eligibility requirements and enlistment opportunities. For many students a career in the military is a wonderful option upon graduation. To learn more of the benefits visit https://themilitarywallet.com/reasons-to-join-the-military/.  Thank you to John Stine and Gil Compton for hosting this opportunity for counselors. https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/counselors-learning-requirements-for.html Hoover Community Connections Meet and Plan at Ocean Discovery Institute The Hoover Community Connections planning group is a coalition of partners who provide a breadth of services to Hoover high school students. Last week, we were fortunate to collaborate at the Ocean Discovery Institute and heard from Hoover's Vice Principal Diane Conti and Head Counselor Andrea Munoz. Mrs. Munoz shared that there is overwhelming interest for additional college courses such as Chicano, Black and Ethnic studies. In addition, the group of partners all collaborated to ensure every Hoover student has the resources and opportunities for postsecondary success. Thank you to Ocean Discovery Institute for hosting this meeting and sharing about the tremendous opportunity for our students in City Heights.  Ocean Discovery Institute uses ocean science to empower young people from underserved urban communities to transform their lives, their community, and our world as science and conservation leaders.   https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/hoover-community-connections-meet-and.html College Bound Symposium at School of Creative and Performing Arts The counseling team at SCPA hosted a college bound symposium for their Seniors. The event opened with a keynote speaker and many breakout sessions: including UC/CSU, community college, military, private conservatories, financial aid, and more. Counselor Kara Teschner remarked "it was a jam-packed, all-inclusive event to ensure your Senior had a step-by-step roadmap to fulfill their postsecondary dreams." SCPA Seniors are now in a stronger position to make an educated decision about their future. https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/college-bound-symposium-at-school-of.html Nursing & Wellness Promotes Flu Awareness & Prevention With the flu season usually peaking between December and March, the nurses of SDUSD have been busy raising awareness about flu risk and prevention to help keep their school communities healthy. From preschools to high schools, school nurses have been spreading the word about flu through flyers, posters, school-wide broadcast messages, and in-class lessons, promoting healthy habits and encouraging flu vaccination. At several school sites, school nurses collaborated with community providers such as San Diego County Health and Human Services, United Healthcare, Champions for Health, and RiteAid to offer free flu shots to staff, students, and families. For thousands of people across San Diego County every season, the flu means a fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle aches, fatigue, and miserable days spent in bed. It also means many days of missed school and work. Complications, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, sinus infections and ear infections can also occur. Serious complications can result in hospitalization and sometimes death. The most important step in protecting against flu is the annual flu vaccine. The CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older. It is especially important for high-risk individuals, such as babies and young children, people with chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes, and people 65 years and older. Other ways to prevent the spread of flu is to practice frequent handwashing, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or bent arm, avoid touching your nose, mouth and eyes, and to stay home when sick. Contact your school nurse for more information about where you and your family can get vaccinated and for more tips on staying healthy during the flu season. https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/nursing-wellness-promotes-flu-awareness.html President of SDUSD Council of ASB Presidents Swears-In Board Member President of the SDUSD Council of ASB Presidents, Jerry Yang of Scripps Ranch High School, joined Judge Judith McConnell of the 4th District Court of Appeal at a recent Board of Education meeting to swear-in Board Member McQuary. Jerry assisted Board Member McQuary with taking the Oath of Office. https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/president-of-sdusd-council-of-asb.html Clairemont, Mira Mesa and Patrick Henry High School ASB Presidents Serve as Honorary SDUSD Student Board Representatives Skyler Fickett, the ASB President of Clairemont High School, Naedeen Aquino, the ASB President of Mira Mesa High School and Chris Stagner, the ASB President of Patrick Henry High School, recently served as San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Student Board Representatives. The students joined the Board Members on the dais and provided reports about what has been happening at their schools both socially and academically. https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/clairemont-mira-mesa-and-patrick-henry.html Launching into Project-Based Learning How can we design rigorous and relevant project-based experiences for students? This was the essential question teachers were asked at the Project-Based Learning 101 workshop. To answer this question, teachers learned the PBL design process through creating a project they would implement in their classrooms. A big aha! for many teachers was the difference between project-oriented learning and project-based learning. Project-oriented learning is learning the content of the subject first and then completing a culminating project, while project-based learning is when students learn the content through the project experience. After two days of hands-on learning, teachers were ready to get back in their classrooms to launch their PBL projects with their students. https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/launching-into-project-based-learning.html Writing Matters! On Tuesday, December 4th, English teachers from Kearny Engineering, Innovation, and Design (EID) met together to look at student writing to ensure that what students are doing in grades 9-12 is aligned and helping all students progress in their writing skills. Teachers Jessica Frichtel, Sean Armijo, and Kira Matsuo each brought writing samples from their classes that they used to look at common patterns and areas for growth in teaching and learning. With the goal of helping students be college and career ready, the teachers identified specific areas where they need to focus, including helping students understand the difference between summary and analysis, making sure students follow instructions and answer the prompt, and thinking about ways they, as teachers, can help students go deeper in their analysis. The outcome of this work is that students are continually more prepared for the demands of exams, such as the SAT and Smarter Balanced, as well as ready for the expectations of college level writing. https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/writing-matters.html CSTA Climate Summit and Conference The California Science Education Conference, held last weekend, was rooted in climate science and how teachers can create “Climate Warriors”. As teachers are guides for students, students depend on teachers to be transparent about big issues we face as a community, such as climate change. Teachers were inspired to come back into their classrooms and work alongside their students to innovate solutions that create a better world.  If you want to see some of the inspirational work that happened click here: https://conference.cascience.org/ https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/csta-climate-summit-and-conference.html Math Teachers and Admin Working Together! Administrators and teachers from across the district got together recently to discuss best practices in math assessments. School sites gave a common assessment before Thanksgiving, and now school site teams are working together to examine common misconceptions for students and ways to address them. These discussions allowed sites to examine their own assessments and modify them to better fit the needs of their students. We can’t wait for this new knowledge to take root back in classrooms!   https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/math-teachers-and-admin-working-together.html PSAT Scores Have Arrived! PSAT/NMSQT scores have arrived and come with many FREE fantastic benefits! (1) Students get specific feedback on their scores and how to improve for the SAT. (2) All students get personalized tutorials through Khan Academy to improve their scores. (3) Students will be eligible for scholarships simply by completing the steps along the way to their college dreams. Sign up for your free account and link to your PSAT scores to start using these benefits: psat.org/myscore https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/amazing-turnout-at-2018-middle-school.html SDUSD Student Panel at AVID National Conference AVID National Conference was last week in San Diego, hosting about 1400 administrators and teachers from across the country. Students from San Diego High, Farb Middle, and Miller Elementary beautifully showed their confidence and public speaking skills while sharing their appreciation of AVID.  Ruben from San Diego High’s Business & Leadership Academy states, “AVID taught me if I don’t ask questions, I won’t succeed. My community undervalues education and education does change lives.” Tra from Farb Middle says, "I’ve always wanted to go to college and AVID makes the path clear for me." Christina from Miller Elementary adds, "With AVID, I learned how to take notes to remember what I read." All the students commented how AVID feels like family, building confidence and friendships. Brooklyn from Farb Middle feels “every school should be an AVID school to help students be their best selves.” https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/sdusd-student-panel-at-avid-national.html Morse HS Math Department Partners with the San Diego Math Project to Transform Math Instruction Morse HS is one of three high schools in our district to receive a California GEAR UP grant to support classroom instruction and the only high school to use the grant to focus specifically on math instruction. The grant provides an instructional coach for the cluster, serving both Morse HS and Bell MS for six years. In addition, the grant sponsors a partnership with the San Diego Math Project for additional support. On Tuesday, December 11, the entire Morse HS math department spent the day discussing instruction and assessment in PLC groups with three members of the San Diego Math Project, their instructional coach, and an administrator working side by side with them. In February, most of the high school math department teachers will participate in a Lesson Study, led by the San Diego Math Project and their instructional coach, with participation expected from the Bell MS 8th grade math teachers. The combined dedication of the math teachers in the Morse Cluster and support from the GEAR UP grant will undoubtedly result in the development of a model secondary math program that prepares all of their students with meaningful 21st century skills. https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2018/12/morse-hs-math-department-partners-with.html STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's R2L NextGen Program Are you a high school student who wants to learn about how government works? Apply now to CHCI’s R2L NextGen program and take advantage of an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. R2L® NextGen is a week-long leadership and civic engagement program for current high school sophomores and juniors. CHCI will bring a group of Latino high school students to D.C. to learn about how the Federal Government works, meet key leaders, visit historic sites and develop a deeper understanding of how they can affect positive change in their communities and their nation. CHCI is excited to announce that we will be hosting two classes of R2L NextGen participants in 2019. The program is completely FREE of charge to all selected student participants. APPLICATION DEADLINE January 15, 2019 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time San Diego County students will participate in the program during the week of July 15-20, 2019. In order to be eligible to apply, students must: Reside in San Diego County Be a current 10th or 11th grade student Demonstrate interest in learning more about civic engagement While CHCI does require applicants to share their grades and a copy of their transcript, there is no minimum GPA requirement to apply. All individuals are welcome to apply. However, preference is given to individuals with financial need. Interested in applying? Visit apply.chci.org and complete the application named R2L NextGen – San Diego, California Enspire UCSD January 2019 Enspire is the signature outreach event of UC San Diego’s Triton Engineering Student Council (TESC). January 2019 will be their 12th annual event. Enspire is well-known for being one of the largest STEM outreach events at UC San Diego. The purpose of Enspire is to provide middle school students a chance to come to UCSD for a full day of fun and engage in engineering activities. Middle school students will experience a college campus, interact with engineering students, participate in engineering activities, and learn about engineering majors and organizations. Enspire is a free event and they try to accommodate several classrooms from various local San Diego schools to explore UCSD for a day of fun and engaging engineering activities.  Ask your student’s teacher to sign up the class here:  tinyurl.com/enspire2019 Elementary Institute of Science Winter Session For students in grade 2-8 Authentic hands-on science experiences 12:1 student-instructor ratio Activities include: 3-D Printing Coding Dissections DNA Extractions Engineering Rocket Lauching and more! Click here for more information. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Scholarships Application Postmark Deadline: April 3, 2019  Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is the first Greek letter organization founded by university educated African American women. Grounded in service to mankind, this international sorority gives back to local and global communities via a variety of philanthropic endeavors. The San Diego Chapter has awarded academic scholarships since it's chartering in 1949. These scholarships are available to female (male if he will attend an HBCU) San Diego County African American or African Diaspora high school seniors who will attend accredited 4-year colleges and universities in Fall of 2019. Download the fillable PDF application at:  http://www.akasandiego.com Be sure to include your essay and sign the last page before mailing the application packet.  Click here for more information. San Diego Foundation Community Scholarship The 2019-2020 Common Scholarship Application deadline is Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at 2pm. In 2018, more than 876 students received over $2.6 million in scholarships from more than 143 funds that support the Community Scholarship Program. Among the 2018 recipients, 66 percent are the first in their families to attend college and 76 percent are considered low-income students based on Expected Family Contribution data. Since 1997, $30.4 million has been awarded to thousands of students who help fuel our San Diego economy – making our program the largest private non-university scholarship provider in San Diego County. The San Diego Foundation continues to find ways to increase educational opportunity and attainment for local students, particularly from underserved communities. Most recently, The Foundation partnered with College Futures Foundation to launch a new partnership, the Community Scholars Initiative, which will help hundreds more low-income and first-generation students prepare for, pay for and persist through college. Learn More About the Community Scholars Initiative Scholarships are available for: graduating high school seniors, undergraduates, graduate, medical and professional school students and adult re-entry students who are attending community colleges, four-year universities, career/technical schools, teaching credential programs and graduate, medical or professional schools in the United States. McDonald’s HACER® National Scholarship Your generation is changing the world, and McDonald’s wants Hispanic students to be front and center in the transformation. That’s why we’re giving more opportunities to our community. Apply today for a McDonald’s HACER® National Scholarship. https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/community/hacer.html Hurry, the application period ends February 4, 2019. Lions Club Scholarships For more student opportunities, please visit the Office of School Innovation & Integrated Youth Services website UPCOMING EVENTS Tuesday 12/18/18- Thursday 12/20/18 CPMA Winter Music Concert 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM (CPMA Performing Arts Center, 5050 Conrad Ave, San Diego, CA 92117) Tuesday: Advanced Band, Advanced Orchestra and Jazz Band Wednesday: Intermediate Band and Intermediate Orchestra Thursday: Beginning Band and Beginning Orchestra Click Here for Tickets Tuesday 12/18/18 Logan Sea World Ocean Link Lab Experience Click Here for More Information Tuesday 12/18/18 Wednesday 12/19/18 Memorial Prep Sea World Ocean Link Lab Experience Click Here for More Information Wednesday 12/19/18 DAC Meeting 6:30 PM - 8:15 PM (Harold J Ballard Parent Center, 2375 Congress St) Thursday 12/20/18 Monday 12/24/18 - Friday 1/4/19 Winter Break No School Monday 1/7/19 School Resumes for Traditional Schools Thursday 1/10/19 Mann USS Midway Excursion Click Here for More Information Wednesday 1/16/19 Correia USS Midway Excursion Click Here for More Information Monday 1/21/19 Martin Luther King Jr Holiday- No School Tuesday 1/22/19 School Resumes for Year-Round Schools Wednesday 1/23/19 DAC Meeting 6:30 PM - 8:15 PM (Harold J Ballard Parent Center, 2375 Congress St) Wednesday 1/23/19 CPMA Student Choreography Showcase 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (CPMA Performing Arts Center, 5050 Conrad Ave, San Diego, CA 92117) Come see students from CPMA's Advanced Dance perform a series of their original dances in this year's choreography showcase. Click Here for Tickets Thursday 1/24/19 Bell USS Midway Excursion Click Here for More Information Friday 1/25/19- Saturday 1/26/19 SCPA Presents: "Billy Elliot" 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Florence Johnson Grand Theatre) Click Here for More Information Thursday 2/21/19 DELAC General Meeting 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (Harold J Ballard Parent Center, 2375 Congress St) For a complete list of upcoming School Innovation & Integrated Youth Services events visit our on-line calendar or your school's website. For more information about the Office of School Innovation & Integrated Youth Services please visit our website.