October 19, 2018

From the desk of Superintendent Chris Williams

District Champions Congratulations to our PRJUSD Elementary Cross Country and Volleyball Champions! 4th grade volleyball: Pat Butler 5th grade volleyball: The Arts Academy at Bauer Speck

Girls’ cross country Team: The Arts Academy at Bauer Speck Boys’ cross country Team: Pat Butler

The top boy and girl cross country runners ran a 5 and a half minute mile! Up next is the SLO County Elementary Cross Country Championships on November 11 in Downtown City Park as part of the Paso Half Marathon. Register now by going to: www.pasohalf.com

Wrestling starts next for both boys and girls in grades 3-5. If you are interested in coaching, please contact Kellie Burbank at kaburbank@pasoschools.org.

Pioneer Day Parade Saturday marked the 88th anniversary of one of our community’s greatest celebrations! Paso Schools marched alongside their families and community members to show off their school spirit and dedication to this long lived tradition!

Red Ribbon Week The 2018 Red Ribbon Theme is “Life is your journey, travel drug free”. School sites will be recognizing Red Ribbon week October 23-31 by pledging to be drug, alcohol and tobacco free and lead a healthy and positive lifestyle. Daniel Lewis kicked off by having a pep rally that included an informative skit on the harmful consequences of drugs.

Jammin’ with Jadyn In conjunction with Society Cuisine and with help from the Conservative Club, Paso Robles High School’s Junior Optimist (JOOI Club) pitched in to help Bearcat Jadyn Lehr who has faced some serious medical challenges. To help Jadyn, contact Officer Joe Leonard at the Paso PD. Shown here are chef Nick Nolan and JOOI Club president Cody Buchholtz

Field Studies Collaborative This week the Marine Biology class at PRHS welcomed guest speaker Caroly Skinder, a NOAA Marine Biologist and Director of the Coastal Discovery Center in San Simeon. Ms. Skinder is boarding a research vessel, the E/V Nautilus (Ship famous for discovering the RMS Titanic) next week. The scientific vessel is exploring the sea floor and will be working on mapping the Davidson Seamount. Ms Skinder shared with the students some of challenges with deep sea exploration and the tools scientists use to make discoveries, including sonar and remote-operated undersea vehicles. Students in Marine Biology will be joining a Livestream event next week and will hear from scientists on board the research vessel, ask questions, and watch the dives down to 12,000 feet. As a souvenir, PRHS students decorated styrofoam cups that will join the underwater rover down to the bottom of the ocean. The cups will be compressed by the immense underwater pressure and come up the size of thimbles. They make great Christmas Tree ornaments!

Scarecrow Contest The scarecrows have arrived in downtown Paso Robles! Merchants have “adopted” these unique creations. In the scarecrow contest, people are invited to visit the businesses displaying the scarecrows and vote for their favorite by Monday morning, October 29. Parents, teachers and especially the students enjoy seeing their creativity displayed downtown. The winning classrooms will earn awards, and voters may win mystery prizes at stores where ballots are cast.

Lunch with Your Kid Pat Butler and Kermit King Elementary Schools invited parents and families to share lunch with their students this week.

Parent University Parent University 12th grade modules on October 15 and 22 focus on topics related to parents of seniors, including what to expect as a senior, career readiness, Cuesta Promise, Post-secondary options, information about college fees, applications and admission requirements (CSU, UC and private college systems), exam dates and support services. To learn more about topics covered by Parent University and to register for upcoming modules, follow the link below.

https://www.pasoschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=230&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=6707&PageID=1

Crimson Crew PRHS went pink today in honor of recognizing October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Leadership students sold special edition pink Crimson Crew shirts this week and are donating the proceeds to the Cancer Support Community and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Our Bearcat community is the best and helped to raise almost $2000! There are still a few t-shirts available that will be sold at the football game tonight. Remember to wear pink to the game! #PasoGoesPink

One Cool Earth This week in lunchtime garden club students made compost cakes! They learned about aeration and how nitrogen-rich and carbon-rich items work together with worms in order to break down old plants, veggies and fruits. Students worked well together in order to layer compost properly in bins around the garden.

Paso Robles High School Welding Technology US Armed Services presented to Ag Welding 3 students about welding careers in the Navy. Thank you Chief Hunter and HD1 Montiel for coming in to speak about opportunities in the welding industry outside of private industry!

Dual Immersion The first Dual Immersion (DI) Parent Advisory Meeting of the year was held on Wednesday evening. They discussed last year’s goals, the DI TK-12 articulated program, and parents used the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis tool to provide input on the current DI program. In addition, two parents of DI graduates shared about their child’s experience in the program. The next meeting is scheduled for January 28.

Cuesta College Cuesta College is in the process of applying for the Bellwether Nomination and will use the below video. The video highlights our 2018 graduate Madison Harris and our great partnership for dual enrollment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQR1Sud5E0 This school year, 235 PRHS Seniors attended Cuesta Promise Day! Seniors were given a tour of the campus and participated in a Cuesta Programs Fair.

VAPA TAABS: 4th and 5th grade students are developing their observational skills by creating self-portraits. 12”x18” graphite on paper.

Students have been learning about the phenomenology of watercolor and testing it out with their studies of mountains, trees, rocks, streams, and pumpkins which they will use to compose their autumn landscapes.

These are from the 1000 line assignment.

Third graders at Georgia Brown performed “Peter and the Wolf” for the Kindergarten classes this week!

PRJUSD APPROVES APPLICATIONS FOR CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION FACILITIES GRANTS Paso Robles, CA (October 19, 2018) – Paso Robles Joint Unified School District and School Board approved two applications for Career Technical Education (CTE) Facilities Grants. College and Career Readiness is at the heart of our work here in Paso Robles Joint Unified School District. Our district vision is: Every student will be prepared for success in college, career, and community. We currently have thirteen career technical pathways in our district which are preparing students for college and career readiness. A majority of these courses are both A-G (college preparatory) and dual enrolled with Cuesta Community College. The focus of these facilities grants will be in the following two industry sectors: Education, Child Development, and Family Services: Education Pathway. This pathway focus was selected by our CTE Advisory due to rising job opportunities in our local area, with our own school district currently being the largest employer in our town. The other grant will be in the industry sector: Health Science and Medical Technology: Patient Care Pathway. This pathway focus was selected by our CTE Advisory due to rising job opportunities in our local area, with currently over 15,067 jobs in San Luis Obispo County.

The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District fully supports a CTE plan that focuses on preparing students for high-wage, high-demand, high-skills jobs that exist currently or are emerging in our local community. The plan is dedicated to creating an aligned and coherent educational delivery system to engage students in lifelong learning while developing solid foundations for educational opportunities for students seeking careers in a range of sectors within business and industry. Paso Robles High School currently offers, and will continue to offer, programs that provide rigor, and a comprehensive standards-based curriculum, combined with the integration of industry-specific knowledge and skills.

The grants were successfully submitted to the California Department of Education yesterday. The requested amount for both grants is just under one million dollars. Superintendent Chris Williams commented, "We are excited about the potential of expanding these valuable programs and the positive impact they can have for students, teachers, and our community. Our district’s and school board’s continuous focus on preparing every student for college, career, and community is much appreciated. I would like to especially thank Jen Gaviola, Jennifer Clayton, Brenda Matthysse, Shelby LaMendola, and BreAnne Cerda for their leadership and support in this process."

Paso Robles Joint Unified School District will be notified in February if we receive these state funds to expand our health career and education facilities. For more information please contact our district office with questions: (805) 769-1000.