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Questions for Mom
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August Coloring Contest
Wally the Walrus Submit your coloring page for a chance to win tickets to the Boardwalk! More Coloring Pages
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ColoringContest
sponsored by Submit your coloring page for a chance to win tickets to the Boardwalk! Audrey | Age 9 Audrey | Age 9 Hailey | Age 11 Josie | Age 5 Find More Coloring Pages
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TikTok
by Mikayla SHults In 2018, more than 1 billion videos were viewed every day on TikTok. With covid restrictions, kids have been spending much more time on social media apps than in 2018. It is important to know what children have access to online, so we asked some students from SLV, Scotts Valley, Oasis, and BCE what they have been watching on TikTok. Most, if not all, said they watch dancing videos. The most popular dancer on the app is Charli D’amelio, with over 120 million followers. If your kid is on TikTok, there is no doubt that they have seen her videos. There are many more creators like her…
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Kids Back to School
By Mikayla Shults Oasis I only got a few months of regular, in person high school. A lot of these students missed their first year of middle and high school. Like most people, I struggled with online school and the isolation from the outside world. At some point, after I had stopped participating in school almost completely, I realized I need a different way to learn. So I joined Oasis, an independent studies school on the Cabrillo campus. I haven’t been in any classes there and the only students I know are the people I got to transfer there. While most of the people I interviewed said they will be…
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Let Us In
From Selling Floors to the Hollywood Ceiling Santa Cruz Grandfather Sells Successful Movie Plot By Jeanette Prather Callero, who explains he loves a strong female character that kicks the butts of the male character, wants to have a theatrical screening of Let Us In at the Rio, and 100% of the proceeds go to charity. “I like storytelling,” said Joe Callero, co-writer and executive producer of Let Us In, a family-friendly movie released in 2021. “I’ve got a bunch of screenplays and for several decades have been a frustrated writer who likes to think logically about plotlines.” Callero mentioned that his most recent production, Let Us In, will see performance numbers by the end…
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Back in Person
Back to In-Person by lisa catteral There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.– Margaret Wheatley This summer, I’ve been teaching in a program where I feel compelled to state up front, every day, at the beginning of class, with great passion, my honoring and inclusion of BIPOC and LBGTQIA+ students. I say it a little differently every time so that it doesn’t become too redundant, but I am simply relentless about stating it clearly, daily, every single time. It’s become an ingrained part of my teaching practice. There are so many ways in which a culture or society insists on change in…
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Preparing for the New School Year
Preparing for the New School Year By Nicole M. Young, MSW The back-to-school routine is going to be bittersweet for me this year. I’m excited for my kids, who will experience their senior years in high school and college with in-person classes and activities. They’re excited about returning to a more “normal” routine, but there’s also some hesitation about returning to a regular (i.e., earlier, non-pajamas) school day and busier, crowded environments. As for me, I won’t miss the extra dirty dishes and unstable internet during Zoom meetings, but I will miss their presence during the day and will treasure the extra time we had together. This monthly column provides…
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Protecting Breastfeeding
Protecting Breastfeeding A Shared Responsibility By Laura Maxson, LM The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) joins with other organizations for 2021 World Breastfeeding Week: Protect Breastfeeding – A Shared Responsibility, August 1 – 7. Here in the USA, the entire month is dedicated to supporting breastfeeding. The remaining weeks have the following focuses: second week – Native Breastfeeding; third week – Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Breastfeeding week; and Black Breastfeeding week closes out the month. Locally, the first week of August would usually include a Health Fair and Breastfeeding Walk hosted by WIC and the Santa Cruz County Breastfeeding Coalition, but not this year, as…
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Mariah Roberts
Suki Wessling Unlike other local organizations, which are just now waking up after over a year of closures and online approximations of their services, County Park Friends got busy implementing plans that had been pre-pandemic pipe dreams. Mariah Roberts, Executive Director of County Park Friends, has a unique view from her corner of the pandemic. As someone who ‘activates’ outdoor programs, she suddenly found her organization front and center when other organizations were shut down. “What we’re tasked with doing, and got funding to do, was to activate parks through health and wellness and focus on communities that haven’t been able to access existing resources historically,” she explains. “Because we…
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South County
Expanding Services to South County by zach friend, County Supervisor One of the most significant actions the County took during our recent budget cycle was to authorize the purchase of a new South County Service Center. This purchase will create a second County government building that would provide mid and south county residents equal access to County services – including services for children – in a way that hasn’t been seen before. The building purchase, and subsequent location of many County services in a centralized south county location, will be the largest investment in service delivery for the south county in multiple generations. Where is it located?The new South County…
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Back in Rythm
Getting Back in Rhythm Theme Park Operations Slowly Return to Pre-Pandemic State By Erik Chalhoub We all get a little out of practice when we haven’t done something in more than a year. Tucking in our shirts, interacting with colleagues in person, handshakes…the rust is real. The same is happening at theme parks, with most reopening in April and May after a year of Covid-19 closures. I’ve heard horror stories of three-hour waits on GhostRider at Knott’s Berry Farm, where ride operators finally decided to put the second train on the track to speed up the queue … an hour after the park closed for the night. Ouch. Countless rides,…
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Gavin Gasparotti
Gavin Gasparotti Local Artist Hi, I’m Gavin Gasparotti, and I am a recent graduate of Soquel High. Art has been one of my hobbies ever since I was a small child. As I was growing up, I put a lot of practice into developing my natural gifts. By the end of elementary school, I had developed a reputation as an artist, and I even had my art displayed at a gallery in Ben Lomond. During my time at New Brighton Middle School, I drew a picture used as the yearbook cover. I also designed the look of the school planner one year. My art was included in a display of…
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Modern Realtor
The Modern Realtor’s Value Proposition by seb frey Don’t tell anyone, but I watch a fair amount of Reality TV. Not sure how it began – but I think it was Survivor. Then before you know it, I was watching forgettable season after forgettable season of the Bachelor(ette), and I’ve seen all the housewives from coast to coast, humiliating themselves and each other with wild abandon, for more years than I care to count. Of course, my true love is Million Dollar Listing New York. I just love looking at that gleaming Manhattan real estate. Million Dollar Listing L.A. is another show I watch every episode of, but the agents…
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Grade Bump
Need a Grade Bump? California Law Allows Students to Improve Grades after Disrupted Learning Last Year By Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy Finally, we’re facing the fact that students fell behind with all of the disruptions caused by the pandemic last year. In California, K-12 students have several ways to make up for the lost learning. 1. Repeat the Grade For students who didn’t pass at least half of their classes. 2. Replace Bad Grades with Pass/Fail For high school students only. California State Universities will accept these Pass/Fail grades. The University of California and private schools are encouraged to do the same. 3. Take a 5th Year For 11th and 12th grade…
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Financial Fitness
Family Finance You’re Never Too Busy to Save by Thomas Wynn As Mick Jagger once said, “Please allow me to introduce myself.” My name is Thomas Wynn and I’m the CEO of Wynn Capital Management, a registered investment advisor. This is the first of what I hope to be an ongoing conversation about managing a family’s finances. The topics we’ll cover will be guided by questions and feedback from readers. I’ll also touch on seasonal financial issues and topics that are in the news. I’m hoping to make the complex and intimidating world of finance a little less confusing and hopefully, a little less boring. To find out where…
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School Anxiety
Facing Anxiety as Schools Reopen By Suki Wessling Caught early, anxiety can be alleviated and treated. But as children continue to suffer, anxiety can take a toll on their physical, social, and academic health. Before the pandemic, professionals were already sounding alarms about the state of our children’s mental health. Now with the return to school, parents, psychologists, and caregivers are concerned that the problem may have been exacerbated by long months of isolation. Caught early, anxiety can be alleviated and treated. But as children continue to suffer, anxiety can take a toll on their physical, social, and academic health.In this article, a variety of professionals weigh in to help…
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10 questions faris sabbah
With Santa Cruz County’s School Superintendent Faris Sabbah by brad kava 1. Will our schools follow the California Department of Public Health’s guidelines regarding masks being worn indoors by all K-12th graders. Do the individual districts have a choice of following them or not? If so, why did you choose to go the way you are going? CDPH guidance is clear: All students and adults in schools in Santa Cruz County (public and private) must mask indoors. Districts don’t have the leeway to decide for themselves to ignore the guidance from CDPH. The CDPH has also said it expects to reevaluate the masking requirement by Nov. 1 — so it…
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Plant Based Health Bar
Local Plant-Based Health Bar By brad kava As a mom of three kids who moved to Santa Cruz from Stockholm, Sweden two years ago, one of the first new experiences for Jessica Wikingellism 33, was making lunch. In Sweden, schools provide food for all the students. “I am not a chef, nor do I like to cook, so naturally I started to look for healthy snacks to put in my kids lunch boxes,” she recalls. “I also wanted something for myself since I often forget to eat lunch while working from home or running errands. I have always cared for my health being an old track and field athlete and also…
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Memories of Santa Cruz
Memories of Santa Cruz What was it like to Grow Up in Santa Cruz 90 Years Ago? BY growing up staff Jacque Rowland has fond memories of growing up in Santa Cruz. She is now in her 90’s, living in Scotts Valley, and looking forward to the birth of her 21st grandchild due to arrive in August. I was only a toddler when the Great Depression struck, sending shock waves throughout the nation. I doubt if Santa Cruz felt it as keenly as the big cities. I surely don’t remember soup-lines or hearing of any in Santa Cruz who jumped out of windows after losing a fortune. My parents were…
