Hollyann Dickinson Local Artist My name is Hollyann Dickinson and I am 10 years old. In August, my life turned upside down because I lost my home in Boulder Creek to the Santa Cruz Complex fire. It was the worst day of my life because I lost everything I cared for and many of my friends also lost their homes. I am thankful that we safely evacuated with our dog Rufftin and our bearded dragon Willy. After we evacuated, we moved five times. Everywhere we went, there were really nice people that helped us. We finally settled in Mount Hermon and I met a new friend named Sarah. Everyday I…
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You Can’t Afford Not to Own a Home in Santa Cruz
You Can’t Afford Not to Own a Home in Santa Cruz By Sebastian “Seb” Frey In the column I wrote last month for Growing up in Santa Cruz, I shared a lot of information that would-be Santa Cruz homebuyers need to know right now. Yes, the market is hot, and prices are up…but what else is new? I’ve been a Realtor in Santa Cruz since 2003, and while I can say that this market is more difficult for buyers than any market I have known – it’s not that much harder. People – people who are not so different than you – are buying homes every day in Santa Cruz,…
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Winter Wellness
Winter Wellness A Different Hustle and Bustle and Self Care goes Double Time! by gretchen heimsoth Here we are! December 2020! We made it! Let’s bring this crazy and intense year to a close! Well done! I know it’s not been easy, and we will have lingering challenges into 2021 and beyond. Administrations change, but we are steeped in the ravages that have been thrust on our environment. Our area felt its layer of trauma this year with the CZU fire. And for many, the trauma is not over. Families are still displaced. Many are not sure if they can or want to rebuild, fears of what will happen in…
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Boardwalk Rides Reopen, Then Quickly Close
Boardwalk Rides Reopen, Then Quickly Close Shopping, Dining Areas Still Open at Seaside Park By Erik Chalhoub For just one weekend in Santa Cruz, life was almost back to normal.During Nov. 7-8, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk became the first amusement park in California to reopen its rides following an eight-month closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There were limited options, to be sure, but one couldn’t help but feel hope for the future when stepping into the Giant Dipper’s coaster train for the first time in what seemed like forever. Just a few days later, however, the rides went dark again, indefinitely. How did we get here?California health officials…
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Holidays Without Plastic
Holidays Without Plastic By Lisa Catterall If the year 2020 has taught me one thing, it’s to be less judgmental. We’ve all been through loss and fear and seen our friends and family handle it in so many different ways. It’s a year to grow and a year to try new things. My family is enjoying using the extra time at home to start our preparations for the holidays early. I love the traditions of the season. I am from Minnesota and we always hunkered down in the freezing weather and made a very busy Christmas. My grandmother had lived through the Great Depression and it meant so much to…
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Head Start Perseveres
Head Start Perseveres Caring for the Children of Those Who Care for the Rest of Us By Suki Wessling “Three-quarters of the folks I work with never used email until May!” exclaims Maria Castro, director of Migrant/Seasonal Head Start, which serves the largely Latino migrant worker community in South County. Head Start, the half-century-old early childhood education program, has strong bipartisan support—a rarity in these times. Castro’s corner of Head Start, which is specifically designed for the migrant worker population, went through a painful transition last spring.“We couldn’t have our traditional monthly meetings and trainings,” Castro explains. Her care providers had to learn Zoom, and Castro had to try to…
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How The Pandemic Shrunk Our Homes
How The Pandemic Shrunk Our Homes Families Get Creative To Find Space During The Pandemic By Martin Spierings Lives changed dramatically for Santa Cruz County families when the shelter-in-place order, one of the very first of the nation’s pandemic response, was put into place on March 17. Businesses were shuttered, schools were closed and families were largely confined to their homes. While everyone’s situation was unique, invariably families were spending much more time between their four walls than they had ever anticipated. Homes that were completely empty during the day, because both parents worked and any kids were at school, were now occupied 24/7. How did Santa Cruz families react…
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You Think Covid-19 Rules are Tough?
You Think Covid-19 Rules are Tough? Try Being Pregnant and Needing to Pee By Sarah Hirshland I found out I was pregnant two months into the Covid-19 crisis, and man, oh, man did the universe pick an interesting time to bring a baby into the world. As excited as I am to be carrying my baby girl, I’ve come across unexpected problems.One thing I was not prepared for with Covid in mind…is simply having to pee. I am in my second trimester and currently this takes place every 10 to 20 minutes or so. As a traveling sales person who still does in-person calls, I have urinated in some not…
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Shop Local for the Holidays
Shop Local for the Holidays Amazon Doesn’t Need You; Santa Cruz Does By Suki Wessling “Bookshop’s customers have always been there for us,” says Casey Coonerty Protti of Bookshop Santa Cruz. “It was true after the 1989 earthquake when our customers saved us from the rubble, to when big chain bookstores came to town, to the challenges of this year.” And oh, what challenges our local businesses have seen. In the distant past (in other words, January, 2020), the big concern was the cost of living for employees. It’s hard to pay a living wage in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country.Then came the pandemic,…
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Should the Aptos and Central Fire Districts Merge
Should the Aptos and Central Fire Districts Merge? It could save $3 million by 2026 By Zach Friend, County Supervisor Recently, the Santa Cruz Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) voted unanimously to approve the consolidation of the Central and Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection Districts. Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the consolidation. Why is LAFCO involved in the consolidation? LAFCOs have broad authority under the state Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act in regards to boundary changes for cities and special districts (like the Central and Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection Districts). Specifically, under this authority LAFCO can deny or approve, with or without conditions, a wide range of…
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December Celebrations
Tuesday 1Gateway Tours by Appointment 9:30am-3:00pm. Gateway School, 255 Swift Street. Come and learn how Gateway School inspires curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking through innovative education for a fast-changing world. You’ll have the opportunity to see the health and safety protocols of our facilities while also learning more about our curriculum. Visit www.gatewaysc.org to make an appointment for a personalized, individual tour of our campus. National Pie Day National Eat a Red Apple Day Rosa Parks Day Rosa Parks Day honors an American Civil Rights hero. On either February 4 or December 1, the holiday recognizes the civil rights leader Rosa Parks. Learn more about Rosa Parks, that day in…
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Local Nonprofits Wrap Up a Great Year of Giving
Local Nonprofits Wrap Up a Great Year of Giving Now it’s Our Turn By Jeanne Howard Every now and then, the benefits of local nonprofit efforts is thrown into high relief by events. 2020 will be one to remember. The demand for services increased exponentially while revenues decreased and forced staff cuts, and willing volunteers had to be turned away due to insufficient PPE and distancing requirements that many facilities could not accommodate. Local nonprofits are always laboring away like year-round elves meeting crucial needs, enriching the culture, and cleaning up messes made by many of us, but this year the community leaned extra heavily on them. These hardworking groups…
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December Teacher of the Month
Making Distance Learning Feel Close Teacher of the Month is a monthly feature in Growing Up in Santa Cruz. We honor local teachers based on your nominations. Send your nominations to [email protected] and please stop in and thank Kianti’s for their uplifting community spirit! By Brad Kava The 5th grade teachers at San Lorenzo Elementary School faced a double whammy when this school year started. First, there was COVID-19, which forced students to be taught on home computers. Then, there were the horrible wild fires that wreaked havoc all over the district and forced school to start weeks late. But parents and students who nominated all of the 5th grade…
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Buying a Wii in 2020
Why You Might Want to Consider Buying a Wii in 2020 by zachary livingston shults In the current day, Nintendo is pushing the Nintendo Switch forwards to be the greatest console they have ever produced. Although this is true, it costs $300. This is no laughing matter; the original NES first retailed at $90, which is a third of the Switch price. The Wii launched for $250. Unlike the NES, the Wii’s price has only gone down, and currently, you can buy a Wii that runs perfectly fine with games already on it for $40. If you try to find an original NES it would be around $300. Player categoriesI…
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Your Gift Giving Organization
Your Gift Giving Organization By Jhoneé Fillmore The holiday season is filled with so much love, joy, gratitude and giving. However, the planning of many meaningful gifts, family gatherings, donations and travel can feel a bit overwhelming. Here are some things we can organize during the holiday season to make the time more enjoyable and less chaotic. KEEP AN EYE OUT:Begin thinking of good gifts to give all year long. When spending time with someone that you usually gift during the holidays (or birthday), pay extra attention to what they need, what they have, their style or jot down an item that you have heard in a conversation. People often…
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Bright Spots
Finding Bright Spots in the Midst of Uncertainty By Nicole M. Young, MSW 2020 started off promising. The California legislature passed the first-ever statewide resolution declaring January as Positive Parenting Awareness Month. Go parents! I took a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Australia in February to present at an international conference for Triple P providers and researchers. My kids had enjoyed a long break from their rigorous high school and college classes and were gearing up for their spring semesters. Life was busy but good. And then came COVID-19…and racial unrest…and the wildfires…and repeated disruptions to our daily lives. This year has been filled with one challenge after another, and at times…
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How to Avoid Email Scams
How to Avoid Email Scams By Luigi Oppido With people’s home phones diminishing and less and less communications happening via phone calls, scammers have moved into the world of email. Email scamming is the easiest way for a thief to gain personal information about you without doing much work. There are multiple ways that email scams can come into your home, with or without your solicitation. We’re going to talk about some of the ways you can recognize those email scams and what to do about them when you think you’ve got one. The first thing to understand is reading an email scam does not do anything to your computer…
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Electrifying your Bike
Thinking of electrifying your beloved bike? Check This Out By Brad Kava E bikes are all the rage these days, and why not? We live in an area that’s so hilly and we are trying to be more environmentally conscious. Yeah, it would be great to simply pedal everywhere, but there’s a great alternative for those who can’t get up the hills or need to do more miles faster, like commuting on the someday coming rail trail (or, we wish, just bike trail). You can buy a new E bike (with battery-powered pedal assist) for anywhere from $1,200 to $6,000 or more. Or, if you have a bike you love,…
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Teacher of the Month
We always want to do more for teachers and here’s something we can all do. Send your nominations for a teacher who deserves to be honored. Write us a letter about why this teacher is special.We will print your letters and choose teachers to receive cash, flowers and a bottle of wine! How has your nominee gone above and beyond to help your kids?How have they inspired your kids during the pandemic? We are looking for teachers of all grades, from preschool to college. You can even send us a video. Let’s celebrate those who do so much for all of us. Even though they deserve to be paid as…
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Distance Learning
Distance Learning What Students are Saying by nick morris Schools remain nearly empty as class continues virtually. Let us not waste the experiences from last spring and instead use them to learn how to improve the quality of distance learning this year. As part of a project to record this moment in history I have had the privilege of interviewing graduates of Santa Cruz High’s class of 2020 and listening to what they have to say about distance learning. Three themes that ran through every conversation include communication, structure, and flexibility. Communication Communication provides the foundation for learning both academically and in the social-emotional sense. Teachers’ communication with students should…
