December 3, 2019 |
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San Diego Unified participates in BlueTech Week with TMA BlueTech |
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Did you know that San Diego hosts an international Ocean and Water conference each year? This year, The Maritime Alliance (TMA) BlueTech hosted over 600 attendees for their 11th annual BlueTech Week in November. The theme for 2019 included the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are being taught in our CCTE and STEAM curriculum, and integrated into student projects. The week included a series of events in which San Diego Unified participated in a variety of ways.
Our students participated in BlueTech Week through attending portions of the conference, serving as ambassadors, capturing the events through pictures and videos, and showcasing their projects to the conference's international audience.
On Wednesday, student ambassadors from Madison, University City, Mira Mesa, Point Loma, and San Diego High School attended a gala and dinner and shared their knowledge with professionals. They were joined by Lincoln and Henry photography students who took candid photos, and Serra videography students who interviewed BlueTech participants from various ocean and water related industries.
On Thursday, Mission Bay students attended panels and exhibits, and enjoyed a tasty algae inspired lunch with sustainable seafood.
Project Showcases
Elementary School
- Birney Elementary Kindergarten students in Ms. Kovelant's class showcased their STEAM learning through a video
Middle School
- Lewis students engraved wooden cutouts for an SDG photo wall
- Marston students made large SDG box labels
- Montgomery students painted watercolor pieces that represented a "message in a bottle" imagining a world with the SDGs met
High School
- Kearny EID students made SDG table centerpieces and engraved coasters
- Lincoln students created an SDG photo frame
- Mission Bay students created wooden surfboard menus
- Serra students produced stickers of photographs taken by keynote Aaron Chang for the surfboard menus
Participation in this week gave students an idea of the amazing blue economy career opportunities that will be available in the future. Thank you to all of our educators and students for supporting this unique opportunity.
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An Incredible Family Science Night |
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On Wednesday, November 13th, Marie Curie Elementary School held the first of two family science nights, themed “Incredible Science.” Third through fifth graders and their families gathered to experience a variety of hands-on STEM activities inspired by The Incredibles movie franchise, including making artificial snow and engineering “superpower” technologies.
This year, Curie Family Science Nights were funded by a microgrant from the Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education, which partnered Curie Elementary with collaborators from University of San Diego (USD).
USD Outreach Professor Laura Rivard coordinated six student groups from USD to create and run STEM activities, in addition to those from Curie parent volunteers. The All Girls STEM Society (AGSS - https://www.allgirlsstemsociety.org/), who provide free monthly STEM workshops for girls grades 3-8 throughout San Diego, also provided student volunteers.
A second “Incredible Science” Night is planned for April for TK through second grade families.
https://sdusdoss.blogspot.com/2019/12/an-incredible-family-science-night.html
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Hoover High School Student Into Accepted LEDA Scholars Program at Princeton University |
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Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) empowers a community of exceptional young leaders from under-resourced backgrounds by supporting their higher education and professional success in order to create a more inclusive and equitable country. It includes a free seven-week Summer Institute at Princeton University. This highly competitive scholars program requires students to complete the three-round application including academic information and test scores, a personal statement and supplemental essay, a writing sample, biographical information, information on extracurricular activities, and family financial information. The final step is an interview for the finalists.
Congratulations to Michelle Perales Panduro from Hoover who has been awarded the honor of being inducted into the 15th cohort of this program. Michelle attributes part of her success to her Hoover High School counselor, Andrea Munoz. "Ms. Munoz set individual appointments to help me fill out financial and academic information in the application and offered me her office if I ever needed a space to work. She encouraged me to keep pushing through the application although I thought I didn't have a chance to get into LEDA. She was also very willing and excited to write a letter of recommendation for me even though she has a plethora of students," Michelle said.
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Family STEAM Night Brings All Ages Together |
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Carson STEAM Magnet hosted its second annual INNOVATE & CELEBRATE Fall Family STEAM Night on November 19th. The event is a partnership between USD and Carson STEAM Magnet, where university students and elementary students can engage in discovery and learning side-by-side—and elementary students get to imagine their future selves as STEAM learners. Mobius Magic, Colorful Chemistry, Squishy Circuits, and Cartesian Divers, are just few of the more than fifteen, fun, hands-on STEAM activities that families explored. A pupusa dinner, prepared by a local Linda Vista business owner was enjoyed by all. One student wrote on their feedback card that the most memorable thing about tonight was: “the family bonding and to see everyone together.” A big thank you to all of our Carson families and to the USD students who made the evening a blast for everyone!
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Ribbon Cutting in Linda Vista |
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On Friday, November 15th, Linda Vista Elementary STEAM Magnet School celebrated the opening of its joint use field at a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by students, staff, and SDUSD district and community members.
The event began with a welcome by the new school principal, Nina Dixon-Mauricia, who introduced various speakers at the event. Among those who addressed the audience were SDUSD Board Member Dr. Mike McQuary, Chief Facilities, Planning & Construction Officer, Lee Dulgeroff and former LV principal Michael Beraud. Several upper grade students helped cut the ribbon and then officially inaugurated the field with a lap around the track.
The Linda Vista Elementary joint use field joins a host of parks and open spaces, like the Linda Vista Skate Park, dedicated to the enjoyment of the community and its families.
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La Jolla Lab Coat Ceremony |
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La Jolla High School’s CCTE Biomedical Pathway held their annual Lab Coat Ceremony on Tuesday, November 19th. Biomedical instructors Rachel Tenenbaum and Aaron Quesnell assisted in handing out white lab coats to 32 students who are enrolled in the 4th year Project Lead the Way Biomedical Innovations course.
Students will now begin preparation to start their 12 week internships which start on January 24th. All 32 students have placements in internships in their field of interests including La Jolla Institute of Immunology, Sanford Burnham Institute, VA and UCSD hospitals, and the Salk Stem Cell Core.
This is the largest group that La Jolla has placed in this 4 year biomedical program. Congratulations to our students as they embark on this valuable step in preparing for success in college and career.
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STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES |
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Going for Gold(berg)!
The Fleet Science Center, in partnership with the San Diego Engineering Council, will host San Diego’s first-ever Rube Goldberg Machine Contest on January 11, 2020.
The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest is an event where high school students ages 14 to 18 showcase machines that they have imagined, designed and created to perform a simple task. This year’s task is to turn off a light! During the competition, the public will be able to see the contraptions while at the Fleet. This exhibit will be included with general admission to the Fleet that day.
This fun competition will encourage teamwork and out-of-the-box problem solving, in a fresh learning environment and on a level playing field. All one needs is a good imagination and a pile of junk!
Space is limited, and the registration is $295* per team. The registration deadline is Friday, December 15, 2019.
First and second place winners at the Fleet will be eligible to participate in the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest Finals, which will be held Saturday, April 4, at the Lawrenceburg Event Center, in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
*A portion of the $395 team fee is underwritten thanks to the support of the San Diego County Engineering Council.
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Winter Break Paid Externships with SDWFP
Looking to gain paid work experience over winter school break this year? The San Diego Workforce Partnership (SDWP) is currently recruiting for their School Break Externship Program. They still have 80 spots available for high school and college students to work with a San Diego County employer over their school breaks. Externs will be paid $12 per hour for 22 hours of work and 12 hours of training over the course of their winter and/or spring breaks. Participants will also receive transportation and clothing assistance.
Eligibility Requirements:
In order to be eligible, participants must be age 16-24, low income (see income limits here), have a special housing situation, or be current or former foster youth.
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Take Outdoor Exploration to the Next Level
San Diego is a beautiful place to explore the outdoors. Observing nature with your child helps them develop a relationship with their environment. An organization called iNaturalist is helping to improve that relationship by creating an app called Seek. Seek identifies the plants and animals around you and gives you information and fun facts about their species. You earn badges as you identify more species. It’s similar to Pokémon Go in that it gets you moving around outdoors, but it’s way better because it invites you to look up and observe the world around you. Learn more by visiting: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app. |
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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.
The program is completely FREE of charge to all selected student participants.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Feburary 15, 2020 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time
San Diego County students will participate in the program during the week of June 14-19 OR July 19-24.
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
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Become a Water-Wise Gardener
Are you looking to improve your outdoor space, yet protect our earth’s most valuable resource? If so, then The Water Conservation Garden should be your next Saturday family trip.
The mission of The Water Conservation Garden is to inspire positive change in the living environment through the conservation of water and other natural resources. The Water Conservation Garden has nearly six acres of displays that showcase water conservation through a series of beautiful themed gardens, such as a native plant garden and a vegetable garden, as well as how-to displays such as mulch and irrigation exhibits. The Garden can be a learning laboratory for the dedicated gardener, a delightful place for an afternoon stroll, or a place to gather lots of information about water-wise, or California-Friendly® gardening. Admission is free, and the Garden can be viewed on a self-guided tour, with a group or through one of their FREE docent-led Garden tours the first Saturday of each month at 10:00am. Learn more by visiting: https://thegarden.org/.
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