Tips for Leaving Kids Home Alone By Nicole M. Young, MSW As a working parent, summer vacation was always a mixed blessing when my kids were younger. It was a relief to have a break from the daily school routine, but figuring out a patchwork quilt of childcare and supervised activities was stressful (and expensive). The older they got, the harder it became to find affordable options that would work for both of them – and not require me to spend half of my working day getting them to and from their different activities. So it was a relief when they were old enough to be left alone, unsupervised –…
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Reading This Summer
Reading This Summer More Important than Ever If your child can read, he or she can learn anything. It’s really quite important. So get on the reading bandwagon this summer and let those skills flourish.. Summer is here and it’s time for fun in the sun. Yes. But, many of your children have been through the pandemic mill when it comes to their classroom experiences and they will need extra support to maintain their reading skills.Some children in primary grades have not had “normal” educational direct instruction for two years. While we all applaud the efforts of classroom teachers during this challenging time, even they know the instruction has not…
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July 21 Editors Note
Editor’s Note By Brad Kava The minute I saw the help wanted ad, I knew we had to do a story about what looked like the sweetest job in Santa Cruz.Driscoll’s was looking for berry tasters, people to eat and review berries for one of the largest berry growers in the country.What?!!! Who wouldn’t want to do that? I was ready to apply for it myself.But it turns out, there’s more to it than eating and giving a thumbs up or down. It takes some real training in food science and developing your ability to describe and categorize tastes and two months of classes before they let you loose on…
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Santa Cruz Mountain Pump tracks
Get Pumped! Our Guide to Santa Cruz County’s Kid-Friendly Pumptracks Do you have an up-and-coming cyclist in your life? Take them to a local pumptrack and boost their skills! A pumptrack is akin to a skate park but is built for cyclists of all ages — even the littlest ones. It’s called a pumptrack because, instead of pedaling or pushing, you generate momentum by pumping your body up and down. Pumptracks are a great way for young riders to build their skills and confidence, and provide hours of fun for the whole family. Here in Santa Cruz, we’re blessed to have a multitude of pumptracks throughout the county. To figure…
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Dads and Grads Gift Guide
It’s always good to remember where you come from and celebrate it. To remember where you come from is part of where you’re going. -Anthony Burgess Adventure Sports Unlimited 303 Potrero Street, #15, Santa Cruz 831.458.3648 asudoit.com Explore our underwater backyard and be mesmerized by the bounty of what our beautiful Pacific Ocean has to offer. Starting at $525. Blue Water Ventures 127 Mason St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060 831 459 8548 BlueWaterVentures.org Join us kayaking in search of whales or among the sea otter pups in the protective wetlands of Elkhorn Slough. Great gift for Dads, Grads. Camps & Bioluminescence kayaking too. Kianti’s Pizza & Pasta Bar 1100 Pacific…
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MOM-ing Glitter
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June 2021 Coloring page
Dolphin Family Deadline July 20 Submit your coloring entry to [email protected] and win prizes. You can also mail them to Box 3505, Santa Cruz, 95063 Read More Coloring Pages
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Check out These Red Balls
Forget Blue Ball Park: Check out These Red Balls In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, the internationally renowned public art installation known as the RedBall Project will be popping up across Santa Cruz County this June. The RedBall Project is an inflatable mobile sculpture created by Kurt Perschke that has been making headlines around the globe since 2001. Considered “the world’s longest–running street art work” the RedBall has been to over 30 cities from Paris to Portland. “On the surface, the experience seems to be about the ball itself as an object,” said Perschke, “but the true power of the project…
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Expanding Broadband in Santa Cruz County
Expanding Broadband in Santa Cruz County by zach friend, county supervisor It is estimated that as many as 1 in 3 California households lack broadband access with a disproportionate number of those households consisting of seniors, those with low-incomes and adults self-identifying as having a disability The pandemic highlighted the critical need for access to affordable, high-speed internet. For students participating in remote learning, parents attempting to work remotely and our families needing to access tele-health, high-speed internet is an essential resource. Yet, many households in our community, and throughout the state, either have limited bandwidth to meet their needs or are priced out of options. The County has taken…
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A Plethora of Pets
Families Have Added Exotic New Members During the Pandemic by Jeanette Prather Who can turn down that furry little faced-friend, or even a not-so-snuggly yet scaly reptile? Pets come in all shapes and sizes, providing pet owners mountains of happiness, friendship, messiness, and love. One of the silver linings of sheltering in place during the pandemic is that pet adoptions are up all over the country. People have had more time to raise and train animals and happy to have a companion…and in some cases, some unconventional ones. Who can turn down that furry little faced-friend, or even a not-so-snuggly yet scaly reptile? Pets come in all shapes and sizes,…
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Killian Rose O’Brien
Killian Rose O’Brien Local Artist Killian is finishing up the 2nd grade at SLV Elementary. She was first drawn to art when her Aunt Laura took her to some Drawn-2-Art classes when she was in preschool. She is currently taking weekly art classes with our small pod of friends from her other Aunt Suzanne, she is so lucky to have such artistic people in her life! In her own words: “Art is fun to me and it is just a thing I do to calm myself down. It is fun to me to draw weird shapes and make it into a creature. I like shading and that is what I…
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Kate Pavao
Kate Pavao of the Live Like Coco Foundation by suki wessling Welcome back to our monthly feature of moms who have faced the task of pandemic parenting while also continuing their work in our community. Research has shown that women have suffered greater economic and personal fallout from the pandemic, losing jobs or having to work while also caring for children. When local mom, writer, and community volunteer Kate Pavao talks about ‘Marie Kondo-ing’ her life, she’s not referring to physical stuff. She’s working on focusing on what’s important, especially at a time when so many people need so much. “I used to manage a freelance writing/editing business as well…
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Exploring New Options
High School Grads are Exploring New Options The pandemic hasn’t stifled them. It’s opened new doors By Jeanette Prather Gap years, YouTube sites, starting college while in high school…these are some of the new ways local teens are facing graduating during a historically challenging pandemic. Many have given up on the usual go directly to college path. “It’s been a full year since COVID-19 flipped life on its head. High school students everywhere have adapted to quarantine, switched to online learning, and seen their junior and senior years widely transformed,” wrote blogger Jeff Rutherford early in 2021 on KnowledgeMatters.com. “At the forefront are our 2021 high school graduates, who are…
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Your Pets
Your Pets! We asked you to share your favorite pictures of your pets, and boy did you! We received so many adorable photos, it was hard to choose just a few! Previous Next Read More Parenting Articles
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SLVHS 2021 Graduates
The Future of SLVHS 2021 Graduates For San Lorenzo Valley High School’s Class of 2021, our seniors have indicated that 84% will be attending a college or university in the Fall and 16% will be taking a career path, which includes attending a trade school, apprenticeship program, military service, gap year or are undecided. For our seniors attending a higher education institution 77% will be staying in California, while 23% will be heading out of state. Some of the states students will be going to include Hawaii, Washington and even states as far as Alaska, Florida and Louisiana. 59% indicated they will be attending a CA Community College such as…
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June 2021 Calendar
GUiSC accepts listings for family-oriented events that are free or cost less than $10, to be considered in the monthly calendar of events. Events costing more than $10 for non-profit organizations or benefits will also be considered. GUiSC does not guarantee that a submitted event will be included in the calendar. The calendar editors will select calendar entries and photos. Photos for the calendar may be submitted by email. Digital images must be high resolution, 200-300dpi. Calendar Deadline: 15th of the month prior to publication. (i.e. June 15 for July issue) Submit Event Ocean Film Festival World Tour – Santa Cruz Month of June Virtual Screening at the Rio Theatre…
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Santa Cruz is a Top Housing Market
Santa Cruz is a Top Housing Market But That’s Not Necessarily Good News by Seb Frey …areas with strong housing demand and rising prices combined with robust economies, lots of good-paying jobs, and the amenities that make a place desirable. These markets have lots of restaurants, bars, and shops as well as reasonable commutes to work. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that the Santa Cruz real estate market has gone completely bonkers. Prices are skyrocketing, supply remains very constrained, and buyers are in a world of hurt. And it’s not just first-time buyers who are feeling the burn (although they do feel it most acutely).…
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The Moms of the MOD
The Moms of the MOD By Jeanette Prather and Rhiannon Crain What the moms of the MOD have learned from this incredibly bizarre year, has been that our small, non-profit children’s museum is, like the children who occupy it, very resilient and necessary. The silence in the Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery (MOD) was almost deafening. For over one year the MOD sat in darkness, remembering a time when children were running through the museum playing and adults were forging relationships. Being one of the two moms that continued to show up in hopes we could weather the storm and open our doors was no easy task. At times…
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How to Shop for a Good Inexpensive Computer
How to Shop for a Good Inexpensive Computer By Luigi Oppido Everybody today wants a fast computer, but not many people want to pay for it. How do you find a good quality computer without breaking the bank? For example, you can go to the big box stores, check out their inventory and sometimes you’ll see a great deal. But that great deal might not be exactly what it says. A lot of the big box stores try to draw you in with cheap computers that have an inadequate hard drive space for storage, or even processors that can’t do the most basic tasks on todays operating systems. How do…
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Behind the Scenes
Behind the Scenes: Santa Cruz County Office of Education Inside Education, May 2021 By Suki Wessling The final Inside Education meeting of the year featured three organizations that help kids and young adults get out and about in our community. The Department of Rehabilitation Student Services aims to help students with all types of disabilities transition from their education toward independence, employment, and a successful life. The DOR helps train students to be successful on the job and to have the tools and resources to live independently. Students 16-21 who have an IEP, 504 plan, or a disability can take part in their program, which matches students with a counselor…
