Empowering Youth and Addressing Bullying From Bystander to Upstander By Jessica Zovar In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. – Martin Luther King, Jr. I remember walking the halls as a timid sixth grader, hearing unkind words directed toward others echoing off the walls, and fearful that standing up for myself or others against hurtful words could have major implications. Let’s be honest; middle school is not always the friendliest of landscapes. Often the dreamy-eyed wonder of childhood is waning, identities are on shaky ground and youth yearn for belonging and acceptance from their peers. As a licensed marriage and…
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New Year Local Artist
Joaquin Cruz Local Artist My name is Joaquin Cruz, I’m 17 and currently a senior at SLVHS. I’m what feels like inches away from the end of high school which is somewhat terrifying but at least that means I’m growing. The paintings and art I do has meaning and no meaning, it really varies. While painting, sketching, testing different mediums regardless of how it looks, etc. I did my best to create somewhat of a surreal look, even though that look and mindset changed frequently. The majority of my art revolves around the themes of my ethnicity, how I see myself (portraits), how I see the political climates during the…
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Self Esteem in Teens
Secret to Building Self-Esteem in Teens By Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy Being a teen today has many complexities that the rest of us old folks never had to maneuver. We didn’t have 18 months of social isolation where most of our interpersonal interactions were spent perusing social media posts. We didn’t have bullies who hid behind digital screens while they blasted hateful messages and photos to us for everyone to see. Most of the teens I work with today suffer from depression and devastating self-esteem issues. Teens so desperately need to receive affirmations to feel that they’re normal. Whether it’s knowing that their favorite sweatshirt looks good on them or that they’re…
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January 2022’s Mom
Carmen Clark Teaches Art for Life 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! You know it’s serious when they devote a whole room to art. When Carmen Clark, 42, a classroom aide and owner of Crooked Beauty in Felton, moved into a new home with her husband, Aaron Clark, co-owner of Bro Prints, she had one firm request: their dining room would be dedicated to making art. Her…
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Book Review
Sarah and the Big Wave By Jeanette Prather In a pandemic-friendly, COVID-ridden world, it can be hard to fill seats at an in-person event. That wasn’t the case for the authors of Sarah and the Big Wave, the parking lot at Vintage Faith Church, and Sarah Gerhardt – the first woman to surf the revered Mavericks. “I’m amazed that we sold out of books!” Said Gerhardt about the original ten books that turned into 28 when Gerhardt’s husband, Mike, had to run out and get more. Those sold out as well. “There are so many people. The turnout is great!” What was the secret sauce in Gerhardt’s…
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Stress Busters
Stress-busters for Positive Parenting Awareness Month By Nicole M. Young, MSW Are you a parent or other caregiver who’s raising children and teens? If so, it’s that time of year to celebrate YOU! The County Board of Supervisors has partnered with First 5 Santa Cruz County to declare January 2022 as the 10th annual Positive Parenting Awareness Month. Other California counties are doing the same, and the California legislature will pass a resolution, declaring January 2022 as Positive Parenting Awareness Month across the state. Celebrating positive parenting during the first month of the new year is an opportunity to remember that: Raising children and youth to become healthy, confident, capable individuals is the most important…
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Editors Note Jan 22
Editor’s Note By Brad Kava Talk about traumatic. My dog, a 7-month-old standard poodle, ran away for nine hours and I must have walked and driven 20 miles looking for her. It was my fault, as my 5-year-old boy reminded me. I had her on a field and I looked down to answer a text. Next thing, she had run off somewhere around Aptos. I couldn’t believe she could disappear so quickly. After three hours of searching, I got on the internet and put out a call for help on NextDoor. For a while, nothing came back and at noon, while Parker and I were searching, we heard the howls…
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November Contest Winners
Adalyn | Age 7 Amelia | Age 3 Edith | Age 7 Harlow | Age 4 Harper Ivy | Age 5 Levi | Age 7 Marion Presley | Age 6 Ramona | Age 6 Riley | Age 9 Wren | Age 8 Find More Coloring Pages
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Patty Draws Dec 2021
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Gingerbread Person
Gingerbread Person Submit your coloring page for a chance to be in our paper! [email protected] More Coloring Pages
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WTKS Travis Scott
By Mikayla Shults Friday, November 5, 2021 Travis Scott was preparing for his Astroworld concert in Houston. He had encouraged reckless behavior from his fans before, and did the same that night. According to CNN, about 50,000 people attended the concert. People brought their friends and spouses and children. When the crowd broke past the barriers and ran toward the stage, everyone in front of them was pushed, trampled, or crushed. Eight people died; two of which were minors. There were countless injuries and video evidence of people in the crowd trying to get attention from anyone who could help. This went on for 30-40 minutes before the concert was…
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YFTB
Teens: Your Future Is Their Business By Suki Wessling We live in a world that tells teens they need to prepare now for college or a career—but according to Morgan Matthias, who’s now a product manager at Roku, many of them have no clue. “Most students start with ‘I don’t know what I want to do but I kinda like this’,” Morgan says. She would know. As a Cabrillo student with a firm plan for her own future, she became the first intern with local nonprofit Your Future Is Our Business. She and then-director Mary Gaukel Forster took a 20-year-old organization and pulled it into 21st-century expectations. Just in time…
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apple container
By Lisa Catterall The environment and the economy are really both two sides of the same coin. If we cannot sustain the environment we cannot sustain ourselves. -Wangari Maathai The time of year has come again when I feel pulled apart by my love of holiday patterns, papers, sparkles and wrappers, and my grief over the impact western lifestyles are having on the natural environment. I want to run out and buy more twinkling reindeer for my front lawn, beautiful wrap and bows that allow me to artistically show my love for people in my life, and of course, a cascade of toys to pour over my darling children. It’s…
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Tony Hernandez
Tony Hernandez Local Artist Tony is a teen who enjoys the simple things in life. In his short life, he’s experienced quite a bit; however, you wouldn’t be able to tell, given his lighthearted spirit and humor. Tony’s overcome many obstacles, one of those has been learning how to navigate life as an individual diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. Although this diagnosis can be quite scary for many, we’ve learned to help Tony find ways to navigate its complexities. One of those ways has been exploring new hobbies. Over the past couple of years, he’s acquired a passion for the arts. Thanks to his aid, Lou, Tony is now excited…
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Home for the Holidays
Home for the Holidays Why December is the Best Time to Buy a Home By Seb Frey That pain in my neck must be whiplash, because here we are, staring once again at the end of the year, with a new year beckoning right around the corner. It has been one bonkers year for the real estate market, characterized more than anything else by exceedingly strong home price appreciation. I’m not sure if we’re in record territory for a single year’s home price increases, but if not, we must be very close. The market was strong going into December 2020, unusually so for so late in the year, but the…
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Give a Gift Give a Class
The Best Gift This Holiday Season is a Class by brad kava Maybe all those ships stacked up from San Diego to Los Angeles is a good thing. Perhaps it’s time to wake up and realize there’s something more valuable than all that plastic junk manufactured in China. The ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus counseled. “Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.” We seem to have forgotten that the joy of celebrating the holidays is the joy of being together—for a good time—but there’s something else we suggest this season. What about giving your loved ones time to learn something new. There are so many great classes in…
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Celebrate the Holidays
Holiday By Religion Christian4 SundaysAdvent During the season of Advent, Christians across the world prepare for the celebration of the arrival of the Lord into the world through the birth of his Son Jesus Christ. Advent is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness. It is also a time to look forward to when Jesus will come a second time.December 6Saint Nicholas Day recognizes the third-century saint who became an inspiration for the modern-day Santa Claus. St. Nicholas is known for selling all his possessions and giving his money to the poor.December 25Christmas Day a day for spending time with family, observing observing the birth of Jesus,…
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Tech Gifts
TechGifts: Whats Great for 2021? by Luigi Oppidoi One of the hardest things about the holiday season is buying for someone who is tech-minded. There are so many items and things that exist in the tech world right now, it’s hard to keep up! They say we are innovating at 3x the speed. Meaning if you love a technology, and want to stay on top with the latest and greatest, you’ll only catch every 3rd iteration of your product! Let us dive into what 2021 has to offer! Not your Grandma’s TypewriterIf you know someone who spends time building or tweaking PC’s, ask them about mechanical keyboards. An entire art form has been…
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Cruzin in a Santa Cruz
Cruzin’ in a Santa Cruz By Brad Kava You may have seen some of the commercials for it, which feature locals, including skateboard artist Jimbo Phillips, surfer Matt Rockhold, and the Lady Lurkers skate crew If you are going to name a car for our beloved surf city, it sure as heck better be cool. Hyundai’s new adventure vehicle, the Santa Cruz, really is. I got to spend a week with one, the high-end model that lists for $38,000, and I fell in love. (The base model is a more affordable $24,000.) They call it an SAV, Sports Adventure Vehicle, rather than a Sport Utility Vehicle. It’s got a pickup…
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Accessibility in gaming
It’s the Small Things That Matter by zach livinston Let’s talk about Minecraft. Whether you play it, your kids play it, you know some people who play it, you’ve somehow never even heard of it; I think we can all agree that it’s nice when a community in some way or another contributes to a good cause. Making Minecraft as suitable as possible to as many people as possible is what user StitchyYYT decided was needed. He made a texture pack dedicated to making Minecraft suitable for those with Protan Color Blindness, Deutan Color Blindness, Tritan Color Blindness, Monochrome Color Blindness, Dyslexia, Moderate Arachnophobia, and Tryphobia. In order to understand…
