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March Coloring Winners
Emerson Age 5 Ayden Age 6 Haisley Age 12 Jovie Age 4 Lukas Age 9 Sophia Age 8 Wilder Age 7 Find More Coloring Pages
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Easter Bunny
Easter Bunny Submit your coloring page for a chance to be in our paper [email protected] More Coloring Pages
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Mom Purse
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Ashton Reedy
Ashton Reedy Local Artist My name is Ashton Reedy, and I am 17, almost 18. I have lived all over the world, and everywhere I have been, there have always been two things in common: good food and amazing art. While I am not a great cook, I love making art, and I’ve been drawing since I was very little, from monsters to costume designs. It’s been a long road. I started off with just small sketches on the corner of a test to slowly build up my skill and eventually swap to digital and start to work as a commission artist. I specialize mainly in characters as I deeply…
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Housing Market is Boiling Over
The Santa Cruz Housing Market is Boiling Over by Seb Frey This is my first column of 2022 for Growing Up in Santa Cruz, and it’s good to be back! I wrote several articles last year where I discussed buying a home in Santa Cruz. As everyone knows, the Santa Cruz real estate market in 2021 was a hot one, with the median sale price up about 25% compared to the year prior. Going into 2022, there was a sense that the market may have reached something approaching a plateau, with perhaps a modest 5-10% increase in sale prices. That may sound like something more than “modest,” but historically that’s…
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Social Justice Warrior
Mom, Principal, Social Justice Warrior 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! When Jen Ra’anan and her husband arrived in Santa Cruz nine years ago, she was seven months pregnant. Not a good time to look for a job as a teacher. “It was great,” Jen remembers of the unplanned time off. “It was also really necessary—I didn’t sleep for the first, I would say, nine months! I…
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Annual Summit for the Planet
Family Fun at the 16th Annual Summit for the Planet Earth Day Festival Mount Madonna School From barn owls and bearded dragons to California kingsnakes and turkey vultures, the opportunity to get up close and hands-on with wildlife at the annual Summit for the Planet Earth Day festival is always a huge draw. Children and adults alike enjoy the many birds, reptiles and amphibians shared by the Bay Area Herpetological Society (BAHS) and Wildlife Education Rehabilitation Center (WERC). For the 16th annual Summit for the Planet, everyone is welcome to check out the wildlife and family-friendly activities on Saturday, April 23 from 9:00am to 1:30pm at Mount Madonna School. This…
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A Glimpse Through the Keyhole
A Glimpse Through the Keyhole Fake News, Free Press and Education By Lisa Catterall …the only path to lasting global peace will be education, of the unbiased sort that provides a scaffolding for the soul, a habit of critical thought, a passion for truth, and the humility to keep on learning for a lifetime. With guns you can kill terrorists. With education you can kill terrorism.– Malala Yousafzai Yesterday a friend of mine showed me an image of a train station in Poland that had baby strollers lined up across the station platform. The strollers were loaded with bottles, blankets, diapers, and supplies. Mothers in the town in Poland knew…
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Kids Day Downtown Map
Downtown Santa Cruz April 23 | Noon to 4pm Exhibitors will be lined up on Cooper Street and Pacific Ave. (between Church St. & Locust St.) Almost every exhibitor will have a free, family activity. There will also be performances and demonstrations all day long in Abbott Square. Plus, many Downtown businesses will be offering discounts and specials just for kids. Bring your family down to enjoy face painting, music, dancing, bubbles, foosball, crafts & more! Kids Day Downtown is proudly presented by Downtown Santa Cruz, along with our partners Growing Up In Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Museum of Art And History. Read More Parenting Articles
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Teen’s Eye View
Teen’s Eye View By Grace Timan Senior year is the year of freedom, all of the stress of high school is over, and we can finally take it easy and relax. This is what we’ve been told since freshman year, always looking forward to this year of “fun,” and yet here we are as seniors, and the anxiety is more apparent than ever, and submitting our college apps was only the first step in a long and extensive journey. Looking into the future is confusing. In a year’s time, I have no idea what life will look like; all I know is that it won’t look the same. For the…
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Fun Summer Activities
Fun Summer Activities – Plan Them Now! Summer’s Just Around the Corner, and It’s Time to Make Plans! By Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy With 12 weeks off, even the busiest kids get bored. You can only sign them up for so many weeks of Junior Guards or summer camps. To make this summer the best ever, consider creating a custom summer program that meets the needs and desires of your children – at no cost to you! By creating a special summer “camp” for just a few kids, you can set up your kids’ favorite activities and new outings that will keep them engaged all summer. I did this with my girls…
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Watch Your Blood Pressure
Watch Your Blood Pressure Watch Your Blood Pressure 13% of California’s maternal deaths are attributed to these hypertensive disorders, with symptoms that are sometimes missed, misdiagnosed, or masked by other illnesses Preeclampsia, once called toxemia, is a high blood pressure related illness in pregnancy. As more is learned about preeclampsia, it is recognized as one part of a complex series of symptoms in a spectrum of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. While high blood pressure is often the key to diagnosis, the addition of other symptoms can help indicate the severity of the disease. Unfortunately, 13% of California’s maternal deaths are attributed to these hypertensive disorders, with symptoms that are sometimes…
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Raise a Water Wise Kid
Raise a Water Wise Kid! Let’s Enter Another Year of Drought with a Positive Outlook By Suki Wessling I have to admit, it’s very easy to feel dispirited about entering yet another summer in a drought that’s now in its third year. But research shows that a positive focus on how we can help makes us more likely to take successful action to solve a problem. So instead of getting bummed out, let’s work on energizing our families to learn more and become Water Wise Kids. How bad is it?On the bright side, Santa Cruz is one of the few counties on this end of the state that are water-independent. That…
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Kids Day Downtown Santa Cruz
Kids Day Downtown SC Downtown Association of Santa Cruz Kids Day is an opportunity for children of all ages to enjoy safe and friendly Downtown Santa Cruz experiences! You are invited to meet the many community organizations showcasing what Santa Cruz has to offer families! In 2022, you and your kids can enjoy a wide variety of free, fun activities at dozens of booths. Teen bands will be playing at the Abbott Square stage throughout the day and other family-friendly performances will pop up on Pacific Avenue. In addition to all the fun at the Kids Day event, over a dozen businesses throughout Downtown are offering in-store specials and discounts…
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Masking for a Friend
(M)asking for a Friend by Nicole M. Young, MSW The California Department of Public Health recently changed its guidance on masks in school settings from “required” to “strongly recommended.” What does this mean for students, teachers, and families? Just like the last two years of COVID-19 guidance, this latest shift generated lots of questions and reactions. So I’m sharing what I’ve learned from local pediatricians, educators, and public health leaders who are facing the same questions as both parents and professionals.This monthly column provides tips for anyone raising children, based on the world-renowned Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, available to families in Santa Cruz County. If you have a…
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25th Anniversary
Editor’s Note Celebrating 25 Years BY Brad Kava We are celebrating big time. This is the 25th anniversary of Growing Up in Santa Cruz and the third year since my buddy Steve Dinnen and I bought the business. It’s been a labor of love focused on the community, parents and kids. Both Steve and I have been lifelong journalists, spending much of our time investigating crime, government, business and corruption. After leaving the world of daily news, we wanted to do something positive and Growing Up in Santa Cruz has fulfilled our desire. Six years ago, while I was the editor of the Gilroy Dispatch, my partner and I had…
