Meredith Rodriguez, a 7th-grade student with the Otay Ranch Academy for the Arts (ORAA), was named a winner in the Scholastic Book Club’s Picture a President Drawing Contest 2020 for her drawing of former U.S. President Lyndon Johnson.
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Springs’ Palm Academy has moved out of a temporary facility that has housed students and staff for the past seven years and will soon move into a new facility in Indio which includes larger classrooms, an administration office, a location for its KEYS independent study high school program, and a warming kitchen for meal service.
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Homeschool junior Cecilia Clark and freshman Rylea Laux (pictured) are teaming up to help children in foster care this Christmas. Cecilia was once part of the foster system herself, and since being adopted by foster parents has attempted to help other foster children by creating for them “Ready to Go Kits.” As foster children regularly move, the kits provide them with a personal message of encouragement and essential items such as toiletries as they move between homes.
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Lucas Cruz is a creative 7th-grade Homeschool student who is skilled at drawing and creating cardboard comics, reported his ES, Ashley Hughes; when Lucas has a history lesson or a read-aloud, he recreates it in comic form. He developed his talent by watching instructional YouTube videos and has since added to what he learned by creating his own patterns and designs with a focus on superheroes.
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Springs Renaissance Valley Academy is encouraging its students to participate in its school-wide Science and Engineering Fair in January, which will be held virtually for the first time. The school leadership is making an effort to increase student participation, said Vice Principal Brian Bailey, “by trying to make science cool.”
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Trevor Lambert, 9, a 4th-grade student in the Murrieta Student Center, competed in the Jiu-Jitsu World League in Scottsdale, Arizona, and won the gold medal by winning four matches. The French Valley resident trains four times a week a Carlson Gracie Temecula as a grey-black belt and has competed for four years (see photos here).
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Springs sites participated in the annual Great California ShakeOUT! earthquake drill in October, with some students participating virtually from home, reported Sydelle Allington, Safety & Risk Management Technician. The drill reminds staff and students of ways to stay safe during an earthquake.
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Sergio Jandell Tapia-Rodriguez, 7, a 2nd grade student with Springs’ Magnolia Student Center, was introduced to the game of golf through PLAY (Police Leading Active Youth), a free program offered by the Riverside Police Foundation and the Riverside Community Parks Association. Sergio’s mother, Delia Rodriguez, said, “This event is a fun way for kids to try out different sports and get to interact with the police department.”
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The following commentary is adapted from a speech Kathleen Hermsmeyer delivered at the end of September:
Over the past seven months, the landscape of education has changed dramatically. You could say that we’ve all jumped from the education superhighway to the road less traveled. Many innovative educational ideas have been implemented in a hurry out of necessity. It’s been said that real change takes place in deep crisis. The question at this point is: what’s going to stick around in public education after the pandemic is over?
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Armando Villanueva, 16, a senior with Springs’ Renaissance Real World Academy at the Magnolia Student Center, participated in a Fund All Kids Virtual Youth Summit with three other charter school students. Their topic was California SB-98, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, which restricts 2020-21 growth by capping funding for charter schools such as Springs. Armando explained, “We talked about the impact SB-98 will have on students all across California. We spoke about our dreams after school, and how we as seniors wanted to ensure that our underclassmen had the same opportunity we had to fulfill those dreams.”
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