September 24, 2019
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VAPA Insiders’ Event Draws Over 100 Teachers
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Over 100 educators attended the annual Visual and Performing Arts teacher pre-service day, entitled “VAPA Insiders’ Event”, on Tuesday, August 20 at CPMA Middle School. The Insiders’ Event is designed to enable VAPA teachers throughout the district to continue their incredible arts educational efforts in pursuit of VAPA’s vision, which is “Transforming Lives Through the Arts.” The Insiders’ Event, which is optional and for which teachers are paid, is provided by SDUSD’s Visual and Performing Arts Department to kickoff the school year with a day of creativity, reflection, and connection.
The day opened with a general session featuring Superintendent Cindy Marten, Office of School Innovation Executive Director Cheryl Hibbeln, and VAPA Director Russ Sperling. Tony Weaver Jr., founder and CEO of comic company Weird Enough Productions did the keynote, sharing his personal story about the power of the arts in students’ lives.
For the rest of the morning, attendees enjoyed a variety of sessions in a conference-style format. Each session featured an expert whose presentation covered ways to transform the lives of teachers and students. Workshops on Adobe Spark (a program now available districtwide), Pranayama breathing, Laban Movement Analysis, Visual Thinking Strategies, social media campaigns, grant writing, and connecting community to student artistic practices all connected VAPA’s mission and the superintendent’s focus on arts education and employee wellness.
After lunch (in which teachers had access to an optional food truck and free Kona Ice), teachers met in discipline groups for networking and professional development. The day closed with a raffle and a reading from “The Element” by Sir Ken Robinson, in promotion of the “One Book, One VAPA” book club available for teachers this year. Over the course of the day, teachers had the chance to stop by a station for participation in an interactive art project, which will hang in the VAPA Department office as a reminder of the passionate and creative work of VAPA teachers and students districtwide.
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Designing Real World Learning at the PBL Institute
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From June 17-June 28th, 139 teachers came together from SDUSD middle and high schools at Project Based Learning Institute to work in interdisciplinary teams to design rigorous real-world projects to implement with students during the 2019-2020 school year. During the two weeks, teachers engaged in a design challenge, job shadow, workshops, brainstormed, created meaningful essential questions, and used the Six A's of PBL (authenticity, academic rigor, applied learning, active exploration, adult relationships, and assessment) as they collaborated to develop a new (or improved) project.
An example of an interdisciplinary project is "Energy Independence: The Future of City Heights" designed by the Sustainable Academy of Building and Engineering (SABE) of Hoover High School for their 9th graders. The project integrates Green Up and Go, Integrated Math 1, and English and challenges students to consider the question: "How can the use of renewable energy promote economic self-sufficiency in low-income communities?" Through the project, students will explore renewable energy sources, sustainability principles in housing, and how renewable energy and sustainability principles can help communities be self-sufficient. Students will utilize renewable energy (wind and solar) to power an EnergiPlant from Primo Energy that is off-the-grid and will provide clean electricity to Hoover students and community members. Additionally, students will be writing proposals to City Heights CDC to potentially establish partnerships between City Heights CDC and Primo Energy for the purpose of fostering economic self-sufficiency in City Heights through the practice of sustainable principles.
This is just one example of the 35+ real-world and client-based projects created by teachers this summer. View more PBL Institute Projects Click here to learn more about the SD Unified PBL Institute.
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9th Graders Start High School Exploring Identity
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Ninth graders at Hoover, Mira Mesa, Morse, and Mission Bay are getting to know more about themselves at the same time as they learn new literacy skills. Many 9th graders at these schools spent the first three weeks of school exploring the meaning of their name, the different facets of their personality, the way they work in groups, and the events in their lives that have shaped who they are. After studying Chimamanda Ngochi Adichie’s TEDTalk, “The Danger of a Single Story,” they learned about different ways to tell a balanced story about who they are. Soon they’ll be exhibiting their hard work to their peers in other classes. Impressive start 9th graders!
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SDEM Pilot in Full Swing!
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Many students in Integrated Math 1 classes across the district are kicking off the new school year participating in SDUSD’s mathematics initiative, San Diego Enhanced Math (SDEM). SDEM starts with the curriculum most highly rated by EdReports, Illustrative Mathematics, and enhances it with additional projects, connections, and deeper and more complex problems to challenge students. Both teachers and students are excited to try on new instructional routines that get kids up and moving, talking, and digging deeper into the Common Core Standards. Warhawks, Tigers, Chieftains, and Pointers are taking on the challenge, and everyone is eager to learn with the new materials. Step One? Community Building Activities to foster a sense of belonging, acceptance, and trust in peers. Now that students have built solid working relationships, rigorous work lies ahead, and there’s no stopping their success!
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Knox Receives Chargers Champion Grant!
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Knox is the proud recipient of a grant for an outdoor fitness center. This $40,000 grant has supported the construction of an outdoor workout center on the Knox field. The fitness center has completed construction and will open in the next couple of weeks to Knox students. Congratulations!
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MTM Feature Teacher
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Ms. Mejia is starting her fourth year of teaching with a bang. Like many teachers, she dedicated several hours over the summer to create a classroom that is welcoming to all students at Millennial Tech Middle School. Her walls are covered in wallpaper making students almost forget they are in a classroom. Decorative touches, such as plants and desks arranged in small groups, provide an atmosphere of safety and camaraderie. Ms. Mejia’s classroom library mimics Barnes and Noble, displaying a variety of new and culturally relevant books waiting to be read. This classroom does an excellent job of promoting literacy! Keep up the good work Ms. Mejia!
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Birch Aquarium Teacher Appreciation Night
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Be introduced to the world beneath the waves in a night of learning at the Birch Aquarium free for educators. Learn what's NEW and available at Birch Aquarium at Scripps for students including education programs, financial aid, and outreach opportunities.
Pre-registration is required for this FREE event. Download a flyer here and share with all educators in San Diego!
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| STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES |
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Better Business Bureau Ambassador and Scholarship Program
This opportunity is to become a peer coach and ambassador for BBB with the added bonus of a scholarship opportunity. The BBB Ambassador Program arms students nearing college and beyond with resources and tools for navigating credit and budgeting, online safety, rentals and housing, student loans and scholarships, and employment scams. Then, students use these skills to educate each other in innovative ways. The program requires students to present to their peers a minimum of three times any time from September 1 through November 29. Three scholarships will be awarded to the students that present to the most number of peers throughout the duration of the program! This scholarship opportunity is open to students in grades 9-12 (graduating classes 2020-2023).
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NOCTI 2020 Video Contest
NOCTI's is the largest provider of industry-based credentials and partner industry certifications for Career and Technical Education (CTE). NOCTI's 2020 Video Contest is now open with the theme: Victory in CTE! What does victory look like to you? It’s not difficult to find examples of CTE victories - just look around! Students are encouraged to use their imagination to create a video that creatively, cleverly, and concisely highlights examples of victories in CTE! Eligible videos must be produced during the 2019-20 school year and submitted to NOCTI by January 31, 2020. Review the rules and requirements in the Entry Packet to ensure your video meets the contest specifications. For more information click here. |
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Society of Women Engineers DesignLab Event
The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is a global non-profit organization founded in 1950. SWENext is a way to become part of the SWE community as a student through the age of 18. SWE will be hosting the local conferences called WE Local for women engineers.
SWENext will be hosting the SWENext DesignLab at WE Local 2020 in San Diego Janurary 31st-Feburary 1st. DesignLab sessions will include role model training, a trip to the WE Local Career Fair, a networking session with women engineers. There are two ways to participate in the DesignLab event - participating in the Community Engagement Challenge and/or applying for the STEM in Action Award!
Community Engagement Challenge asks teams of high school students to create a hands-on engineering activity for younger students that will help resolve a local issue. The teams will present their proposal to a panel of women engineers for a chance to win $1,000 to implement their project and an all expense paid trip to SWE’s annual conference, WE20, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Click here to learn more.
STEM in Action Award
The STEM in Action Award recognizes girls in grades 6-12 who are actively interested in STEM and doing something in their community about it (e.g. raising awareness, mentoring students, participating in SWENext, etc.). STEM in Action Award recipients will attend DesignLab and receive a certificate during the awards ceremony. Click here to learn more.
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10th Grade Mentoring Experience
The UCSD San Diego Supercomputer Center has partnered with two undergraduate campus organizations, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Women in Computing (WIC), to provide a unique mentoring experience for students in grade 10 through the Anita Borg Leadership and Eng
The program's mission is to engage young women in the fields of computer science and engineering through workshops, campus and community events, corporate visits and undergraduate mentor matches. By providing a first-hand look into these two areas of interest and highlighting a variety of career opportunities in an encouraging and supportive environment, it is our hope that these young women continue on to pursue careers in STEM fields.
Students joining the program each year have the opportunity to learn and experience a variety of computer science and engineering focused workshops, events and tours and will have the opportunity to stay involved with ABLE through their high school graduation. The program is open to 10th grade students only at this time. For more information, please visit http://education.sdsc.edu/studenttech/?page_id=678. To apply, please visit https://tinyurl.com/ABLEApp1920.
Application Deadline: Friday, October 4, 2019
Notification of Acceptance: Monday, October 7, 2019 For questions, please contact Magali Chavez at mac180@ucsd.edu Or Ange Mason at amason@ucsd.edu.
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