Teaching from a Distance BY LISA CATTERALL Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. -Søren Kierkegaard Every day we wake up and there is nothing but time. My body jumps up thinking I’m already late. Late to make lunches, make breakfast, find their shoes. Did I lay out their clothes? Are their drawers full or will I be digging in the dryer? Don’t forget the bag of supplies for my teaching day. Go, go, go. Where are my keys? Are the car seats in the car? Teaching and parenting has been a marathon for 12 years. But now we have nowhere to go. I turn…
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Proper Theme Park Hygiene
Proper Theme Park Hygiene Ways to Stay Healthy During Your Visit BY ERIK CHALHOUB March was a rough month. With spring pushing winter out of the way and Daylight Saving Time making the days last longer, it should’ve been a great month. But there was something big missing. When Disney announced it would close all its parks at least until the end of the month, the dominoes began to fall. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk not only shut down its rides, but also the arcade, Boardwalk Bowl and Cocoanut Grove. California’s Great America delayed its traditional March opening. Six Flags closed all of its parks nationwide. Just about every other…
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Coloring Page
Coloring Contest Color this local drawing and enter our drawing to win three free tickets to the Boardwalk. Send entries to [email protected] or to Box 3505, Santa Cruz, 95063 Thank you to this month’s coloring image contributor Mountain Flower 831. You can follow her on Instagram @mountainflower831 and shop her designs on Etsy etsy.com/shop/MountainFlower831
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Shelter in Place Resources
Local School Sites Offering Free Meals To All Kids Under 18 Santa Cruz City SchoolsFree meals will be available from 11-1 at the following sites in the parking lot. If you are driving, please stay in your car and meals will be provided based on the number of children in the car. All families are eligible for meal services and may pick up meals at any of the following locations: Harbor High School– drive up in the parking lot Branciforte Middle School– drive up in the cut out in front of the school Gault Elementary– drive up drive up on Effey St. Bayview Elementary– drive up in the parking lot…
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Artist Spotlight
Artist Spotlight Bliss Gervais I’m Bliss Gervais and Santa Cruz is the town I grew up in, so I am delighted to be in this magazine! My husband, Peace, was also born in Santa Cruz.Our parents gave us our unusual names and we happened to meet eachother and instantly felt a strong connection. Now we are raising our wonderful son here. His name is Chakra and he is almost 7 years old. I have been creating art for as long as I can remember. My family is very creative in many ways and I tried a wide variety of art forms at an early age. Pen and paper has always…
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A Naturopathic Perspective
A Naturopathic Perspective BY DR. TONYA FLECK AND DR. JESSICA BERNARDY Many patients and friends have been asking what we as naturopathic doctors suggest for protecting ourselves and our families against this potential threat. There are thousands of studies on the effective use of natural agents for antiviral properties, yet nothing is being said in the news about them. People are dying and public health officials and conventional medicine still resists acknowledging these agents in preventing and treating viruses and other illnesses. At the Santa Cruz Naturopathic Medical Center, we have heard statements in regards to the coronavirus, such as “There’s nothing we can do to protect ourselves — there’s…
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Camps Offer Unplugged Summers
Camps Offer Unplugged Summers BY KAMI PACHECO Ahhhh, the freedom of summer! Every year I count down the days to my favorite season, where memories of worry-free, open-ended, play-filled times bring nostalgic feelings of warmth, peace, contentment, and joy. I picture myself lying on my back under a shaded redwood tree, gazing up into the wide blue expanse of limitless sky. I’m not sure if I actually ever did this, as my personal energy level has consistently been on the upward scale of “always moving,” but even if I never laid still under a tree, this is still my fondest memory of summer. What I do remember most is freedom.…
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With Schools Closed, the Internet Saves the Day
With Schools Closed, the Internet Saves the Day BY SUKI WESSLING What a difference a virus makes. I wrote this article in January, while doing research on the effects of Internet and device use on kids and family relationships. There was a lot of concern out there that our kids were being negatively affected by excessive screen use, by online bullying, by video game addiction. No one was talking about the benefits of this brave new world. Now I find that I am hearing a new refrain: Thank goodness we have the Internet. I’m so glad my student can communicate with his friends online. Can I please please please enroll…
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Dear Parents, Your Computer is Your Quarantine Friend
Dear Parents, Your Computer is Your Quarantine Friend BY JAN PIERCE The kids are home unexpectedly. There are hours to fill and learning to do. You’ve got this. Here is a list of online resources to ensure your kids are busy and happy during this “mini-vacation.” Good Kids’ WebsitesA great website for children will offer quality content and lots of interactive choices. More than just color pages, these sites will have interactive games, downloadables and will relate to real learning. Take a look. sesamestreet.org Pre-schoolers love Sesame Street and always will. The online site continues with early learning fun and games. pbskids.org is already anticipating the need for new and…
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Earth Day 50th Anniversary
On April 22, 1970, a year after a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, 20 million Americans — 10% of the total population of the U.S. in 1970 — rallied coast-to-coast channeling the energy of the era’s anti-war protests to raise public awareness about the deterioration of our environment and corporate pollution of air and water. We can thank those original Earth Day protesters for the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts. On April 22, 1990, 200 million people in 141 countries mobilized as Earth Day became a global protest in defense of our planet.…
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Meet the Four Iron Men
Meet the Four Iron Men Triatholon is a Family Affair BY KEVIN PAINCHAUD Meet the Vandermeer family. This is not your typical family. Yes they have four boys. Yes all four boys have a lot of energy. But what really separates this family from all the rest is that the entire family competes in triathlons. All of them! Every single one of them competes in swimming, biking, and running for miles. Not only that, but they all typically win medals in their own classes. How did this start? I’ll let their amazing mom, Candi tell the story. Before the kids came along: Dennis and I both were triathletes before we…
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It’s Not All Hard
It’s Not All Hard BY MARY GAUKEL FORSTER Last month’s article defined hard skills, their connection to specific careers, and how they can be encouraged and taught. Hard skills are important such as knowledge of anatomy for a doctor or building codes for an architect. A parent can do much to teach or foster the growth of a child’s hard skills but the majority of child development studies indicate that the parent plays an even more important role in developing a child’s soft skills. The top 10 soft skills include communication, teamwork, adaptability, problem solving, creativity, work ethic, interpersonal skills, time management, leadership, and attention to detail. For most careers,…
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Planning for the Unimaginable
Planning for the Unimaginable BY LAURA MAXSON, LM The COVID19 pandemic is in its initial rise as this article is being written. Life is changing with shutdowns, shortages, social distancing and more. It is hard to know exactly where we will be in a few weeks when this article is published. However, it seems likely that normal life will be quite altered, as everything is put on hold. Childbirth, however, is one thing that is not going to be put off, pandemic or not. Planning for birth and postpartum can feel pretty unsettling with the current state of affairs. Here are some considerations for this challenging time: A labor tool…
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Positives of Video Games
Positives of Video Games BY ZACHARY LIVINGSTON SHULTS Many parents believe the internet is a treacherous place that burns kids’ brain cells, but most of the time this is just parents only believing what they hear on the news or by fellow parents. Many games can help out with everyday activities and certain skills. Another found rumor is that violent video games result in violent kids, this is not such a true fact, rather an excuse for some parents and their kids behavior. Many video games can also help kids feel better about themselves or become more social. I think parents just need to take a look at the games…
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Got Some Time? 10 Minute Organization Tips
Got Some Time? 10 Minute Organization Tips By JHONEE FILLMORE Do you have some free time in your house? Here are some areas of your house that you can tackle within about 10 minutes. This is 10 minutes well spent. Books & MagazinesIt seems that for most of us we have books and/or magazines stacked places or overflowing on our bookshelves. Take a minute and sort through them. Just the mere sorting may inspire you to revisit a book. You may know just the right person who would like to read one of your books whether it be a loan or a give. You probably know of a specific organization…
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These Judges Judge Your Kids
These Judges Judge Your Kids BY BOB DERBER In a January GUiSC article, “Judges Matter”, author Annrae Angel was spot on: our Family Court judges impact Santa Cruz every day and in significant ways. Their decisions touch our basic fabric – family structure and the protection of our children when parents are in conflict. We are fortunate to have two ‘bench officers’ who are not just legal scholars. They bring significant life-experiences to the court. They are judges Paul Marigonda and Kim Baskett. Most divorcing parents don’t hire attorneys, and they often appear before these judges to ‘make a call’ when they cannot agree upon a matter. The two parents…
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Making Pupusas with Abuela
Making Pupusas with Abuela BY SUKI WESSLING She can’t ask her parents to call her the name she prefers. His aunt and uncle refuse to let him join family gatherings. They had to go live with Grandma after they were kicked out of their home. She’s living in foster care and can’t see her old friends.Even in liberal Santa Cruz County, gender diverse teens suffer when they come out to their families and communities. Whether the teens are coming out as gay or lesbian, deciding to live as the gender they feel inside, or asking to be called with the pronoun that fits them, families often respond with less than…
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Small Businesses Serving Families Feel the Pinch
Small Businesses Serving Families Feel the Pinch BY SUKI WESSLING A lot of us are feeling fear and uncertainty because of the incursion of COVID-19 into our community. Local small business owners, however, are worried about more than getting sick.“Our business is our livelihood, and if people don’t sign up for lessons, we can’t pay our employees and that creates a stress on its own,” explains Emily Zimmel of Adventure Sports in Santa Cruz. “I will try to employ my people as long as I can.” Raising children in Santa Cruz involves an interconnected network of local families, businesses, nonprofits, and government services. Small businesses are at the center of…
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Nonprofits Struggling As Virus Spreads
Nonprofits Struggling as Virus Spreads BY SUKI WESSLING This interview took place on March 14, when we had very little sense of where our county, our country, and the world would be by April. I wanted to find out what was happening with local nonprofits that work with kids. Through the confusion of the first days of quarantine, Kate and Angela took the time to express the state of volunteerism in Santa Cruz and their hopes for how we might rise out of this mess in the end. KP: Hi, this is Kate Pavao, Executive Director of the Live Like Coco Foundation. Our mission is to help kids in Santa…
