Many Iconic Rides Built by Former Local Company Always Amused August 2018 By Erik Chalhoub The trains for the Giant Dipper at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk were manufactured by Morgan Manufacturing in 1984. By Erik Chalhoub Giant Dipper at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Quicksilver Express at Gilroy Gardens, and Grizzly at California’s Great America are staples at their respective parks. But you might not know that all three roller coasters are tied together by a local connection. That is D.H. Morgan Manufacturing, a company founded by Dana Morgan in Scotts Valley in 1983 that eventually moved its operations to San Andreas Road in La Selva Beach in 1991,…
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Do Baby Teeth Matter At All?: Healthy Smiles August 2018
Do Baby Teeth Matter At All? Healthy Smiles August 2018 By Dr. Megan We are constantly encountered with questions from parents asking whether it is important to maintain baby teeth. After all, kids lose them, right? Through my years of experience working with children, I have seen a variety of reactions from children as they step into the clinic. Some are very cheerful, excited and can’t wait to jump on the chair, and some other…not so excited! Children are not all the same. We all know twins with different characters, personalities and coping skills. If it takes a little longer for one child to get himself or herself adjusted to…
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Let Your Children Know You Love Them Every Day at Lunch
Let Your Children Know You Love Them Every Day at Lunch Aptos Mother Creates Award-Winning Lunch Notes Series By Brad Kava When Patty Benson was growing up, she felt out of place in school. She was a Tom Boy and didn’t feel like she fit in with the girls in her elementary school. She was the only girl on her school’s football team. But every day at lunch, she got a treat from her mother–a special hand-written note celebrating some aspect of their lives together. They were funny, loving, endearing and they made her day. “I felt someone was thinking of me and it made going to school so much…
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Cabrillo Before Graduation
College Before Graduation Cabrillo Offers Local High School Students an Alternative By Suki Wessling Probably the most important thing happening to high school education these days is seldom acknowledged in the wider discussions of k-12 education: students are benefiting from an increasing number of alternatives to attending comprehensive high schools. Some students are homeschooling. Some students attend alternative schools. Some students attend specialized magnet schools. And many of them have the option of attending college at the same time. “It’s a safe way for students to have the college experience,” explains Meghan Brightwater, Outreach and Recruitment Coordinator at Cabrillo. “They have access to all our resources and they’re getting support…
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Preparing Your Child for Transitions Ask Nicole August 2018
Preparing Your Child for Transitions: Ask Nicole August 2018 By Nicole M. Young, MSW My oldest child is getting ready for the biggest transition of his life. He’s leaving for college soon, and I couldn’t be more sad. I mean, proud. And sad. Half of my heart is bursting with excitement for him. He worked hard, did well in school, and is a kind, funny, thoughtful (but still tardy) young man. The other half of my heart breaks when I think about his empty room. I know we will always be a family, and yet I also know things will change once he leaves home, and that my daughter is…
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Secrets of a Driving Instructor
Secrets of a Driving Instructor A Lesson in Teaching from a Pro By Ann Carin Nilland Getting a drivers license is one of the biggest, and sometimes the most casually acquired, responsibilities that a young adult can take on. As a parent/guardian, the feelings you experience when your child becomes a student driver can be similar to when they were born. It’s exciting, terrifying. and stressful. There is a new financial responsibility, and it is life altering. I’ve been a driving instructor for nearly two years. It’s a funny job, and I like it very much. When you find yourselves teaching your student driver something complex and dangerous, but at…
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Amnesty Hour
Amnesty Hour By Chris Jackson As a parent, you’re like a spy. You need to gather intel on your kids. With good intel, you can make the right adjustments to keep them safe. The best way to get this intel is to get it right from them during what I call, “Amnesty Hour.” During Amnesty Hour, your kids can confess anything without fear of punishment. More importantly, they can tell you anything without fear of being lectured or seeing you disappointed in them. You see, one of the main reasons kids keep the truth from us is that they treasure our love and approval. They don’t want to lose it.…
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Teacher’s Blog August 2018
Teacher’s Blog August 2018 By Tiffany K. Wayne High school History and Government teacher, Mount Madonna School, Watsonville I am anticipating the start of the new school year and missing my students. The last time I saw most of them was on Friday, May 18th, our last day of academic classes. Finals exams were over but I still had one more day of classes with my 10th grade U.S. History students before they left for a week-long science trip to Catalina Island to study Oceanography. We had started the film, Selma, a few days earlier as an end-of-year movie. “That made me cry,” a student shared, wiping her eyes with…
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How to Make Ice Watercolors
How to Make Ice Watercolors By Jennifer K. Mahal Sometimes the simplest of projects can teach a scientific principle in a fun way. Ice Watercolors, for example, are an easy way to learn about matter and its states while making art. There are three basic states most matter can be seen in: liquid (like water), solid (like ice) and gas (like steam). There are a few other states, such as plasma (like lightning) and the lab-created Bose-Einstein Condensate (a super-cold clump created out of certain elements), but they are unusual. A solid has a certain size and shape, like a block of wood or a plastic toy. A liquid has…
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Five Creative Prompts to Keep Your Child Writing When School is Out
Five Creative Prompts to Keep Your Child Writing When School is Out By Robin Estrin Random Word Generator Genre: Quick fiction Materials: Online access to randomwordgenerator.com Prompt: Using the website randomwordgenerator.com, populate a list of 10 colorful nouns, verbs or adjectives. Using the list as a word bank, give your child 10-15 minutes to write a short story using all of the words. You can increase the number of words (and minutes) for more advanced writers, and decrease the numbers for less experienced writers. Don’t have internet? Manually generate your random word list by moving your finger across the pages of your child’s favorite book. Age range: Generative for writers…
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Back to School in Uganda Has a Very Different Meaning
Back to School in Uganda Has a Very Different Meaning Local Volunteers Bring Gifts and Supplies to Africa By Linda Kay When UCSC’s head men’s basketball coach, Ron DuBois, picks up his sons from an afterschool program he sometimes asks his sons, “What do we say?” Dominic, 4, and Louis , 6, reply, “Entitled to nothing, grateful for everything.” I smile. What a great mantra to teach kids at an early age. Here they are in a classroom surrounded with books, toys, games, and craft supplies. They have had a generous snack and have had the opportunity to play on a playground with grass and a play structure. “Entitled to…
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The Little School that Could Explore
The Little School that Could Explore MCP Serves Students who Have Nowhere Else to Go By Suki Wessling It’s a well-kept secret: We have a school system that serves most students quite well. We have mainstream public schools that serve students with typical needs, as well as offering support for low-achieving students with special needs. We have a network of alternative public schools that serve students in certain demographics or families with specific academic interests. We have private schools for families looking for smaller, posher, or specific types of educational opportunities. Despite the spectrum of choices, however, some students are still left looking for the right school. For a variety…
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How County Services are Funded
How County Services are Funded So That’s Where My Tax Money Goes By Zach Friend, County Supervisor The county budget can often be com- plex and I hope this provides you with a helpful overview. However, if you have any questions. I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to call at 454-2200 The Board of Supervisors recently approved a $777 million budget. With a budget of this size it’s common to be asked why additional funds aren’t readily available for local parks, children’s cultural programs or even children’s health and welfare programs. These are fair questions. One of the best ways to understand how the county budget is…
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We Asked, You Answered July 2018
We Asked, You Answered July 2018 What Does Your Family Get Up to Do Now That School is Out for Summer? By Ann Carin Niland Mike Hance, 37, of the West Side, two girls, 5 and 2. Interviewed atAnna Jean Cummings Park “Both girls will be in preschool this summer,“ said Mike. “that will be for most of the day. I’m a teacher at the University, so I have a relaxed summer schedule and so I spend some time with them in the afternoon. Will go to Tahoe for a week. Will go to visit family for a week. And then they start back at school in August.” Coryn Gardiner,…
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Special Needs Families Hidden Among Us
Special Needs Families Hidden Among Us By Susan H. Shane There are families in Santa Cruz with special needs kids who do not fit the usual categories. These families are deeply traumatized, but few outside the home know about them and the reality they live. The children, initially, present within the norm at school, but have severe emotional and behavioral problems at home. In fact, their behavior poses a genuine danger to the health and safety of the child and family. There are, literally, no resources in town sufficient to help these families. Jane, already a mother of three girls, knew that her two year old, Natalie’s, long, intense crying…
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July 2018 Letter from the Editors
July 2018 Letter from the Editors By Brad Kava and Jennifer Ford The day after our 14-year-old got out of school, she overheard us talking about summertime blues. “That’s not a thing,” she said. “How can you have the blues in the summer? School’s out and you can do whatever you want.” A week later, she had a change of heart. She missed her friends, her theater group, her water polo team and a schedule filled with activities. That inspired one of the themes of this issue: how to find the most unusual and interesting things to do in Santa Cruz for the summer. And, man, did we find them.…
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Reinvigorate Summer with Youth Camps at Cabrillo
Reinvigorate Summer with Cabrillo Youth Camps By Suki Wessling It’s the middle of the summer and the realization has hit: your child needs something more to do. If your kids are like mine, they’ll need their brains as well as their bodies engaged. It’s been a while since my child took a Cabrillo Extension Summer Youth Program camp, so I decided to check out their current offerings. The most important aspect of this camp is that Cabrillo partners with local organizations and teachers to provide a wide variety of offerings. This summer, Cabrillo Extension has partnered with Seafloor Science Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), Mini Mermaid Running Club, Code Naturally, Kuumbwa…
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Have Fun, Save Lives at Junior Guards Since 1966, Local Teens Have Learned to be Lifeguards
Have Fun, Save Lives at Junior Guards Since 1966, Local Teens Have Learned to be Lifeguards By Bryce Stoepfel If you haven’t noticed kids in the house, or if Alice Cooper hasn’t reminded you yet, schools out for summer. For parents that can mean expensive day care bills or dread over the evils of idle hands. Or, send them to the beach to be part of the Santa Cruz Junior Guards. For some parents, it’s the best day care out there. “Parents can drop their kids off and know that they have great instruction and that they’re in a safe environment,” Junior Guards Lieutenant Colin Herric said. “They get in…
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Kids with Kids at Goat Yoga A Different Kind of Flexibility in Your Yoga Practice
Kids with Kids at Goat Yoga A Different Kinda of Flexibility in Your Yoga Practice By Ann Carin Niland Photo Credit: Kevin Painchaud I don’t know how I goat here. Kids playing with kids. Whatever floats your goat. Totes ma goats. Okay, now that that is out of my system… Goat Yoga is the most ridiculous bit of fun your summer is lacking. When I think about yoga, tranquility, focus, and stylish yoga gear come to mind. But add goats to the mix and all the seriousness leaves the atmosphere. There are goat snuggles, goat kisses, laughter, and more than a few goat farts. “It’s opening your heart to new experiences,” said Kara O’Loughlin, 37. O’Loughlin leads…
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Fly and Get Wet in Two New Area Amusements: Always Amused
Fly and Get Wet in Two New Area Amusements: Always Amused By Erik Chalhoub For those of us who live in Santa Cruz County, we are lucky when it comes to finding thrills the whole family can enjoy. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, named the best seaside amusement park for 10 years by Amusement Today, is right in our backyard. But we are also fortunate that two stellar parks, Gilroy Gardens and California’s Great America, are both within an hour’s drive from us. And 2018 is shaping up to be a major year for both of them. Gilroy Gardens, nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains on 3050 Hecker Pass Highway,…
