Ann’s Picks Norrie’s Gift & Garden Shop UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden shopucscarboretum.com/ [email protected] Offering unique, interesting, and beautiful plants in the outdoor nursery or buy online. Also shop for household items, jewelry, gifts, and more. Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History 1305 East Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz 831.420.6115 santacruzmuseum.org [email protected] Unique gifts for all ages celebrating the beauty and nature of Santa Cruz County, including apparel, books and field guides, science, souvenirs, surfing, and more. Woodhouse Blending & Brewing 119 Madrone St. Santa Cruz woodhousebrews.com [email protected] Offering delicious small-batch traditional & non-traditional beers as well as handcrafted barrel-aged blends. Delicious Brazilian-inspired cuisine by @sampakitchensc. Live music. Spacious…
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Coloring Winners Jan
Arabella Cece Niklas | Age 9 Ryan | Age 5 Find More Coloring Pages
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The Voice Saver 3000
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Tooth Fairy
Tooth Fairy Submit your coloring page for a chance to be in our paper [email protected] More Coloring Pages
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Valentine Picks
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Preschool UPK TK
What’s the Difference Between Preschool, UPK and TK? By Jeanette Prather Many opinions and options surround early childhood education and pre-kindergarten. With the new roll-out of the universal pre-kindergarten program easing strict TK regulations, there will be even more. Between preschool, transitional kindergarten (TK), and as of last year, universal pre-kindergarten (UPK), California parents have – and will have even more in the coming years – a myriad of pre-kindergarten educational options. And, what the heck is UPK? UPK is a 2021 early childhood education legislation and pandemic response by Governor Gavin Newsom to make pre-kindergarten more accessible to California parents. Experts are hailing the new $2.7 billion universal transitional…
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Otis Drew Kuhn
Otis Drew-Kuhn February Local Artist A couple of years back, when things got quiet around here, we used to fear the worst. Maybe Otis emptied the cookie jar? Did he give himself a haircut? Worse yet, did he give the cat a haircut?? Thankfully, these days the silence (usually) means he’s found some art supplies and is whipping up his next masterpiece. He used to be all about watercolor rainbows and really perfecting that arch; then came “Race Cars in Crayon. A story of life in 2020 from a 5-year-old perspective”. What followed was a (thankfully) short-lived “expression through stickers” phase. Lately, Otis eats, breathes, draws, and paints dinosaurs exclusively!…
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Youth Bill of Rights
City of Santa Cruz Children & Youth Bill of Rights By Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson and Renee Golder If passed, the Bill of Rights will help us promote youth-adult partnership, amplify youth voice and integrate youth voice in City decision making, and foster youth leadership development. Children and youth well-being is a topic that we can all get behind, right? Each of us has some relationship with children – we have our own grandchildren, aunts and uncles, and caretakers. Yet repeatedly, we as adults, organizations, and the government fails to prioritize youth in our decisions and actions. Case in point-In 2019, the federal government spent only about nine percent of the federal…
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Fave part of Preschool
By Mikayla Shults This month, I spoke to kids from Green Acres preschool and Natural Bridges Children’s Center. Because of COVID, I was worried schools would never be swarming with happy children again. I was pleasantly surprised to see the kids at Green Acres filling the air with laughter. Immersing yourself in little kids’ lives is the best way to get to know them. It’s also a way to get some perspective when your communication methods need to be adjusted. While visiting Green Acres preschool, I helped build castles and learned the names of a few dinosaurs, and it did help me connect with these kids. Something was missing, though.…
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Yvette Brooks
Yvette Brooks, Mom and Problem-Solver Suki Wessling Welcome back to our monthly feature of moms who give back to our community while also raising their children. Research shows that even in families where both spouses are involved, women face more obstacles while attempting to juggle parenting and work. We love to celebrate you, moms! Before the start of the pandemic, Yvette Lopez Brooks “had it all.” Not only was she married and mom of a kindergartener, but she worked for the County Office of Education, had successfully run for Capitola City Council, and was starting her term as Mayor. Suddenly adding teacher and full-time caregiver to her list of duties…
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Black History Month 2022
Black Artists Aaron DouglasAaron Douglas was born in 1899 and made art during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a frenzy of art and cultural expression that happened in Harlem, New York that produced new art, music and literature. While the explosion of all this new art took place in the 1920s, Harlem continues to be a center of African-American art and culture today. Alma Thomas Alma Thomas was an expressionist painter who was born in 1891. Her early work was representational, but she evolved into her signature of work on canvas that is characterized by shapes, color, rhythm and powerful emotions. Thomas was a black woman in a…
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The World is Knocking
The World is Knocking By Lisa Catterall He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.– Friedrich Nietzsche This week I had the pleasure of teaching in a true N95 mask for the first time. Due to the current escapades of our favorite evil little spike protein, my school thoughtfully gave the teachers each a precious, high-grade mask. I feel cared for and protected, and I also feel as if an anvil is smashing my face all day long.The mask muffles my voice. Many years ago, I got laryngitis but wasn’t ill, and I came to school and taught in silence. It worked oddly well; I can…
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Everyday Acts of Love
Everyday Acts of Love By Nicole M. Young, MSW Dr. Gary Chapman says that everyone expresses and experiences love in the same five ways – physical touch, receiving gifts, words of affirmation (praise, positive feedback), acts of service, and quality time – but each person has a primary love language that is most meaningful to them. Almost every Saturday morning, my husband cooks breakfast for both of us. He serves me first, bringing a plate (and often a coffee refill) into my home office, where I’ve usually been working for a couple of hours already (yes, even on weekends). We say very few words besides, “Here you go,” and “Yum!…
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Art in Schools
Studying the Masters so Young? By Brad Kava When I asked my 5-year-old son what he did in his afterschool program the other day, he said he learned about Monet. “Money?” I ask. “No, Monet, he’s a painter,” he replies. I sent him to the Apple Afterschool program, thinking it was just a place for him to play after school, where they even walked him from his half-day kindergarten class to the nearby center and did the usual crafts, games, and child projects. The next day, a different conversation.“Do you think Frida Kahlo was friends with Monet?” he asks me.I was pretty much stumped on that one but knew they…
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How much do you know about music?
Take the quiz for your chance to win tickets to Santa Cruz Symphony’s Family Concert! March 27, 2022 – Civic Auditorium | 2:00 PM Carnegie Hall’s Link Up program introduces students to the orchestra by helping them to become a part of it. Through this highly participatory program, students learn to sing and play an instrument in the classroom and perform with a professional orchestra from their seats at a culminating concert. *Winners will be notified by email on February 25.
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Independent Schools Open Houses
Gateway School K-8TUE & WED | JAN 11 & 12 | 9AM – 12PM255 Swift Street, Santa Cruz(831) 423-0341 | [email protected] and learn how Gateway School inspires children’s innate curiosity and sense of wonder through daily exploration, discovery, and hands-on experiences. Visit www.gatewaysc.org to schedule a tour. Santa Catalina SchoolSUN | JAN 16 | 10:30-11AM1500 Mark Thomas Drive, Monterey(831) 655-9356 | [email protected] Get a tour of campus, meet our students as they engage in the programs they love, and hear from students and faculty about life at Catalina! RSVPs are required. Visti us at santacatalina.org Spring Hill SchoolTHUR | JAN 20 | 6 PM250 California Street, Santa CruzSpringHillSchool.org/open-house-calendarJoin Spring Hill…
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December’s Winners
Kian Nilas | Age 9 Presley | Age 6 Mrs Penprase’s third grade class at Watsonville Charter School of the Arts Find More Coloring Pages
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Happy New Year
Happy New Years! Spot the Difference Submit your coloring page for a chance to be in our paper [email protected] More Coloring Pages
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Kids Say the Cutest Things
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Independent Schools Review
Independent Schools Serve the Whole Child By Suki Wessling At these independent schools, there’s a helping hand next to every potential crack, waiting to give a student a hand up. January is our Independent Schools issue, and every time I write an article for this issue, I’m reminded of my own family’s search for education that suited our kids’ needs. At one point another parent said to me, “We’re just sending our kids to the neighborhood school; we’re not picky about education.” But it isn’t always pickiness that sends parents looking for alternatives—it’s necessity. Although we often talk as if most kids are some imagined “average” student, all of us…
