My favorite page in most every issue is our coloring page, but this month, it’s the babies.
I love, love, love people who photograph their kids and then inspire people to vote for their favorite pic. Maybe we should just do full pages of the kids’ pics…
But there are some serious issues in this issue. On the positive front, there’s a great profile of some Santa Cruz builders, Bogard Construction, who are building affordable homes for teachers.
What could be more important? Teachers can barely afford to live in the communities they serve, and no matter what the administrations try, it’s not enough. Call me naive or idealistic, but teachers should be paid and treated like athletes. We pay mediocre baseball and football players millions and millions to play, while teachers get by on couch change. Can anyone tell me why this is right? Maybe it would be a step in the right direction if teachers were paid the way school administrators are with healthy six-figure salaries with plenty of benefits.
So we salute Bogard for building something well that we really need. They deserve recognition.
Another story that calls out to me is by Elizabeth Borelli, titled, “What to do When People Don’t Like You”. Is there a parent who hasn’t had to deal with that question? Borelli has some good advice.
We also salute Jim Booth for donating swim lessons for babies. My son started there and he managed to get up on a surfboard six times, his first time out at 10, with no fear. Thanks, Jim.
We’ve got a few stories about AI that are so important. Susan Tatsui D’Arcy give advice on how to make sure your kid isn’t getting fooled by it, and pianist David Larstein suggests why the real thing is so much better than the all-too-perfect artificial one.
Want to really open your kids’ minds? Check out the ads inside for both the Santa Cruz and San Jose symphonies. One of the best things I ever did as a parent was to bring my kid to hear live music performed. It was a struggle at first, because he wanted to talk and some of the older listeners didn’t want to hear him. I understand. But now, he has an appreciation for real music by real people you can’t get in an era of screens and digital effects.
I promise, if you read through every page in this issue, you’ll find great things.
One last request: Two local families are asking for voters in contests that will earn their kids $25,000.
Eleven-year-old surfer Hunter Wegner is up for athlete of the year at Sports Illustrated, and he’s getting votes and needs more to get into the magazine. You can vote here. It’s just a click away: athleteoftheyear.org/2026/hunter-2445. And guess what? He’s writing a column for our next month about youth surfing.
And a baby named Indy is up for a Baby of the Year contest. The boy and his family struggled in the NICU unit when he wouldn’t open his eyes for five days, but he overcame and is thriving. You can vote for him here: babyoftheyear.org/2026/indy-bf41. Let’s do this Santa Cruz. Put our kids on top!!
A last positive note, speaking of the NICU: we honor nurse Joyce Pearce, who has been making care packages for newborns at Watsonville Community Hospital for 43 years. That is so important for our community and she should be rewarded like a starting quarterback. Oh yeah, she’s 90!!!
These are the people who make our county so great.
