August 2023 - Growing Up in Santa Cruz

Top University and College Options in California

growingupsc — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 19:09:23 +0000

California is home to many higher education institutions. A 2022 Statista report indicates that it had 384 institutions in 2021, the most of any state that year. California also has the most college students, with 2,637,722 enrolled in 2022. This is mainly attributed to the number of universities in the state and the high-quality education they offer. Given this, high school seniors and soon-to-be university students may be attracted to studying in California. Still, they must first decide what type of institution to attend and which one. To this end, this article lists the top private universities and colleges, state universities, universities of California, and community colleges to consider. Private Universities and Colleges Private institutions are those funded by student tuition, donations, and endowments. The fees here may be more expensive, but students can rely on financial aid opportunities to attain the quality of education they provide. Stanford University This private research university is best known for its STEM programs, including medicine and computer science. The university also has decorated faculty members, such as 2020 Turing award winner, computer scientist, and professor Jeffrey Ullman. Stanford University was ranked among the top institutions in Studocu’s 2023 world university ranking chart, where students praised it for its quality of life, courses, and job opportunities. Interested applicants can therefore be assured that they’ll be part of a quality school. The university’s acceptance rate was 3.7% in 2022, so applicants must ensure a high GPA and SAT score to improve their chances of admission. California Institute of Technology (Caltech) This is another private research university in Pasadena. They mainly offer pure and applied sciences programs like bioengineering and astrophysics. The institution is responsible for several scientific advancements, like improving the accessibility of CRISPR—a combination of specialized RNA and protein researchers use to slice genetic codes. Caltech has no GPA requirement, though successful passers typically are on the 3.5 or 4.0 scale to surpass its 3.9% passing rate. California State Universities California State Universities (CSUs) are public and government-funded, typically offering 4-year degrees. Presently, there are 23 CSUs. San José State University (SJSU) This CSU is known for being the oldest public state university in the Western states, established in 1857. It is also Silicon Valley’s source of computer science, engineering, and business graduates. Given this, its most popular majors include business, management, and engineering. Many students also go for its journalism, communication, and social sciences majors. Some of SJSU’s notable alums include Jan Koum, billionaire and WhatsApp co-founder, and the late Gordon Moore—also a billionaire and the co-founder of Intel. California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) Located in San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly aims to bridge the gap between STEM and the humanities, offering numerous degrees in fields like environmental engineering, graphic communication, and psychology. Cal Poly ranked 26th in the 2021 National University Rankings by Washington Monthly for its contributions to research, social mobility, and service to the community. It’s the perfect CSU for students who want a well-rounded educational experience. Universities of California (UC) The University of California is a public land-grant research university system. Of its ten campuses, these are the best options. UC Berkeley This was the first university established in the UC system. Many students apply for its highly-pursued computer, biological, and social science programs. Some of its faculty are Pulitzer Prize awardees, like Michelle Pitcher, a research assistant awarded in 2021 for her contribution to The Marshall Project—a non-profit news organization covering the criminal justice system. For these reasons, UC Berkeley placed 4th on the 2022 US News and World Report ranking of the best universities worldwide. It has a 14.4% acceptance rate, allowing many students opportunities to enroll in its programs. UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) This research university is nationally recognized for its astronomy and space sciences programs. Moreover, they were the first UC system to offer a degree in computer game design, allowing many students to start pursuing this career. The most notable thing about UCSC is how they’re noted for giving one of the highest percentages of engineering graduate degrees to women. Thus, aspiring female engineers feel more comfortable studying at this university. Besides the more technical majors mentioned above, UCSC also has behavioral sciences, political science, and film and video degrees. With its broad range of majors, this university is an excellent choice for students of different career paths. California Community Colleges Community colleges are institutions that serve their surrounding communities. It’s funded by student fees, sales and services, grants, and contracts. Our post “Community College is Best Path to University of California” notes how these can be a gateway to entering UC by helping students improve their GPA or complete initial coursework to be eligible for transfer. Most community college programs only take two years to complete, making it a quick option for students who want to graduate early and work immediately. Foothill College Located in Los Altos Hills, this college’s most popular majors include business and liberal arts, and humanities. While it mostly offers associate degrees, it has one Bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene and over a hundred certificate programs. Foothill also has a 100% acceptance rate, so all applicants can rest assured that they’ll receive an education here. Cabrillo College This college prides itself on being an open-door institution that can fill the community’s educational needs. It has many majors covering various career paths, including business, health, social sciences, natural and applied sciences, and visual and performing arts. Thus, students will find a degree that suits their needs and vision for their future. Cabrillo College accepts all student applicants. They also have financial aid and academic counseling for those who need more support and guidance in their education. Choosing a university or college is a big decision. This list of the best institutions in the state can serve as a helpful starting point.

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Everyone is a Winner When Kids Have the Supplies They Need to Start School

growingupsc — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 09:02:02 +0000

There’s nothing better for kids than the first day of school. It’s like the first day of the baseball season: everybody’s a winner. They’ve got the shiny new backpack, be it Spiderman, Roblox or Barbie (probably not Oppenheimer). There are the fresh new pencils, crayons, notebooks, book covers. And there are endless possibilities. They strut into the classroom that first day so proud and colorful. But what if your kid can’t afford all that new stuff? How would that feel? It’s too sad to even think about. Luckily, people in Santa Cruz have taken up the challenge to help the 2,000 or so students who are unhoused or living in shelters or temporary quarters. They started a program called “Stuff the Bus” to supply those kids with new necessities and brighten their lives. They’ve turned a disaster into a feel-good story and we are proud of them for it. We should all be proud of what this county can accomplish when people set their minds to help. “Stuff the Bus” isn’t difficult to join. You can donate $25 to cover the expenses for one child (check United Way Santa Cruz’s website for how you can help). They are already filled with 150 volunteers who will go to Kaiser Permanente Arena to literally stuff the yellow school bus. But you can check the United Way site to see if there are new openings. Kids and families can really get a feel there for how important and gratifying it is to help other kids in need. They’ve turned it into an event with music and great vibes for all. We salute the people and businesses behind it. Check out our story about “Stuff the Bus.” You’ll want to help next year if you aren’t able to this year. Families need the help year-round. In other back to school news, we’ve got a health column with tips about how to keep in shape with the new school schedule. We have a hugely important column with advice for minorities about how they should fill out college applications now that the Supreme Court has disallowed racial considerations for college entry. And we’ve got some great local profiles of people who’ve grown up in Santa Cruz, including a young female surfer and a 93-year-old tennis pro. On a separate note, we are very sad to lose the Seascape Resort free Sunday concerts, which brought a large community of music lovers to Aptos. Noise complaints sank it. Please send in your suggestions and requests for what we should be writing about in the future. Write me at brad@growingupsc.com Check Out Our New Videos. Look at our new video series on Instagram, Facebook reels, YouTube and TikTok. Just search and sign in to Growing Up in Santa Cruz. We did a quiet roll out and we are getting tens of thousands of views a month. We’d love to make videos for our sponsors and we can possibly get some of your kids into them. Please like the videos or let us know what you think.<p> Thanks for reading! Brad Kava,Editor and Publisher

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Santa Cruz Turns Out to Stuff the Bus

growingupsc — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 08:43:11 +0000

When word got out that hundreds—no, thousands—of students didn’t have the money for school supplies, Santa Cruz residents, businesses and charity groups got in gear. They came up with a program called “Stuff the Bus,” which literally filled a giant yellow school bus with backpacks stuffed with the needed supplies, including pens, pencils, notebooks, crayons, erasers, glue, highlighters, staplers and index cards. The good news is that the project has gathered some 2,000 backpacks so far. The bad news is that so many kids truly need them and they are struggling through homelessness and poverty. Among the groups sponsoring the program, which got going some 14 years ago, are United Way, Comcast, the County Office of Education, DoorDash and the Santa Cruz Warriors. Comcast stepped up during the floods and the pandemic, supplying free internet service (called Internet Essentials) to those in need and giving $50,000 cash to United Way programs to help flood victims. Its employees are among the 150 who are volunteering to stuff the backpacks and the bus. “It’s an opportunity for the community to come together,” says Lennies Gutierrez, Director of Government Affairs for Comcast, whose family came out in public for the first time after Covid to stuff the bus last year. “We were all so happy to be out there in the community again. Our employees are really looking for stuff like this to do. That’s been a really important piece of getting out there. It’s a great showing of support.” Comcast also made a cash contribution of $2,500 to the effort. The most recent data from the 2022-23 school year shows that nearly one in every 20 Santa Cruz County students are experiencing homelessness, a rate 45 percent higher than across California. That’s 1,761 students, out of 38,025 total in TK-12. If you have a kid—or were a kid (ha)—you know how important having a fresh backpack with the right supplies is to feel good about school. And not having them discourages kids from wanting to go. While the need is greater, there are signs that the targeted interventions—of which “Stuff the Bus“ is just one—are having an impact. In Santa Cruz County, students experiencing homelessness have a four-year graduation rate of 81.8 percent, compared to 72.9 percent statewide (average for all students is about 87 percent statewide). Attendance data tells the same story. Santa Cruz County students experiencing homelessness have a 38.5 percent chronic absenteeism rate compared to 46.1 percent chronic absenteeism rate statewide “Students experiencing homelessness are some of the least likely to make it to high school,” says Superintendent of County Schools Faris Sabbah. “We know the earlier we can intervene and support them and provide them the resources they need, like getting them a backpack every year, will help them and increase their likelihood of meeting those outcomes.” Students face additional problems from natural disasters such as the CZU fire in 2020 and this year’s Pajaro floods, which left many more homeless. Thankfully, Santa Cruz has stepped up and the bus is already at 93 percent full and 150 employees of local businesses have volunteered to pack backpacks at Kaiser Permanente Arena Aug. 5. “Santa Cruz really comes out for this,” says United Way CEO Keisha Browder. “For ‘Stuff the Bus’ to have been here for over a decade, you may think it would decrease and people would become disengaged and some would say same old, same old, but really Santa Cruz County continues to show up and make sure this is one of the signature premiere events for back to school, for our young people. This community comes out every year.” There are pick up spots for families to get the backpacks, and for those who can’t get to them, Door Dash has contributed a grant to drive them to locations for the families in need. The Stuff the Bus group has worked with a vendor who sells $80 worth of supplies for only $25. People who want to contribute cash can do so at Unitedwaysc.org Should the county raise more backpacks than are needed immediately, they can be stockpiled for kids who need help after natural disasters. Hundreds were already distributed this year after the Pajaro floods that left many families without homes. “That was a shining example of what this program can do,” says County Office of Education spokesman Nick Ibarra. “We are vigilant in identifying people who are experiencing homelessness and that allows us to intervene quickly and maybe be preventative in our approach,” says Sabbah, the superintendent who has been working toward a community and school approach. “The districts and the schools are keenly aware of the needs of the students and the schools are moving toward being hubs for a variety of services from food and supplies and medical care and behavioral care.” Browder, the United Way CEO says “It’s more than a backpack. It’s how we come together as a community with our COE to support those needs outside of the classroom. So that when a child is inside the classroom they can fully focus and live up to their greatest potential because those other needs are being met.” She saw how important the program is when she saw a new first grade girl get her first backpack. “She walked into the County Office of Education and they told her you could pick your backpack and she went up and picked a backpack and I remember her picking up the pencil pouch, smelling the pencil pouch. “I thought there must be something wrong with the pencil pouch. But she smelled it because it was brand new. And she said, ‘This is mine. I don’t have to share. This is my backpack.’ And that moment stayed with me. This is the power of ‘Stuff the Bus’. The smell of new meant so much to that student.” By Brad Kava

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Ramifications of Affirmative Action Ban in College

growingupsc — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 08:34:08 +0000

Who benefits from Affirmative Action? Affirmative action policies were designed to address historical and ongoing inequalities by providing preferential opportunities to Black and Hispanic students that have been marginalized or disadvantaged. These policies were aimed to promote diversity, inclusion, and equal representation in education. Who is targeted by Affirmative Action? Critics of affirmative action argue that it is unfair to Asians and Whites who may be denied admission to as a result of these policies. They believe that affirmative action can result in reverse discrimination by favoring individuals based on their race or gender, rather than their individual merit. It undermines the principles of fairness and equality; students should be evaluated solely on their qualifications, skills, and abilities, rather than their demographic characteristics. What about minimum admission requirements? Most selective colleges claim that all students meet their admissions standards. However, I work with students who have been admitted to elite colleges through affirmative action and they often come to me because they’re struggling to pass their classes. When students don’t have the critical reading or essay writing skills needed to succeed at these top universities, they often feel like imposters or failures, and these negative experiences can haunt them for the rest of their lives. What about legacies? According to Insider Higher Ed, University of Southern California (USC), Pepperdine University, and Vanguard University admitted some legacy students who did not meet the minimum admissions requirements. USC admitted eight students over the past 4 years who were related to donors or alumni but didn’t meet admission requirements. Two of these students hadn’t even taken Algebra 2 in high school and two others hadn’t graduated from high school. Over the past 3 years, Pepperdine admitted ten legacy students and Vanguard admitted nine students who didn’t meet the university’s standards. When colleges select their incoming students based on family legacies and large financial contributions, they dumb down their incoming classes. When parents donate large sums of money to get their children into selective colleges, they send heartbreaking messages to their children that they don’t believe their children can get into college. Some parents involved in the Varsity Blues Scandal went to prison when they were caught bribing admissions officers, paying off SAT proctors, and buying coaches to lie about their children’s athletic talents. Why would a parent want their child to be the bottom of the class and struggle to graduate because they don’t belong there? Should top universities admit the best students? There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States, and only a few are highly selective (acceptance rate lower than 10%). That means that most colleges will admit just about anyone who applies. But those elite colleges, should be allowed to enroll the smartest students to work with world-class professors so these institutions can create innovative and inspirational think tanks. Imagine the synergy in discussion groups and the solutions to major problems that these brilliant students and professors could solve. Here in the United States, we have produced more patents and started more innovative businesses than any other country in the world, but we may be losing our winning edge to China and Japan. We shouldn’t lower the productivity of these institutions by focusing on ethnicity-based quotas, which reduce the space to enroll the best students. Seeking a diverse student body from various socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds makes this mix of students even more dynamic, but should only be considered for tie breakers when two students have equal talent and brilliance. The key is finding a way to select students for these exceptional higher education institutions without having to fulfill quotas and lower academic standards. I’ve addressed productive and realistic ways to make top colleges accessible to a diverse group of students in [this article]. Let’s keep this discussion going! Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy is the founder of Merit Academy (one-on-one classes)and Merit Educational Consultants (college and educational advisory). She has written books on projects, free child care, education, and parenting. Susan hosts TEDxMeritAcademy for students to present their innovative projects and solutions. In 2019, she was California Mother of the Year.meritworld.com

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Something You Never Get Over

growingupsc — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 08:27:09 +0000

In early July, I interviewed Dr. Gail Newel, who was retiring from her position as County Health Officer, about her career. We talked about how Santa Cruz had just logged its first official death from “tranq,” an animal sedative called Xylazine that is extremely dangerous for humans. I knew we’d talk about the opioid epidemic and I suspected what she would say about the causes. But one statement she made brought me up short: Santa Cruz has a bigger problem than most counties in the state and it stems in part from our local culture. “We have a pretty active glorification of drug culture [in Santa Cruz],” Newel said. “I’m not abstinent myself—I’m not one to say, ‘Just say no.’ But it does make it challenging to message what’s happening with our population and substances.” Newel made a point of rejecting the outdated attempt to deny that the allure of drugs was real. Those who remember the 1980’s will remember Just Say No coming from Nancy Reagan, hardly a relatable figure to young people, and the image of the frying egg on their television screens. It didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now. But Newel stops short of saying that it’s OK to do drugs. She has a good reason. One family’s story In 2016, Newel and her wife Kelli, also a physician, had an unexpected change in their family. Their son Nyeland, a dentist with a thriving practice and apparently everything to live for, moved back home. The official reason was that he’d just experienced a divorce and needed time back home to transition. But the reality was hidden from his mothers and brother. Back when he was a student at UCSC, Nyeland tried heroin. It’s the sort of thing that a college student might do, and most would just bounce back and move on with their lives. But Nyeland wasn’t just any college student. Like many in the human population, he inherited genes that made him more susceptible to addiction of any kind. On top of that, his life was timed perfectly to coincide with a cultural wave that he had no control over. Waves of drug popularity I would guess that many of us in Santa Cruz County might not be aware of the information that Dr. Newel shared about our statistics. I certainly didn’t realize this. When it comes to hazards related to drugs, both legal and illegal, Santa Cruz is faring badly. Newel points out that the 1960s ethos of drug use took up firm roots in Santa Cruz, and ever since, as a local culture we’ve been fine with people turning to substances rather than other, often healthier practices to deal with pain, both physical and emotional. That cultural bent has translated to an unusually high rate of opioid-related overdose deaths. Looking at the state map of deaths, you see dark red blotches over sections of the county, especially in Santa Cruz and San Lorenzo Valley. Recreational drug culture in Santa Cruz County has centered on cannabis for many years. But there has always been an undercurrent of more addictive drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine. Drug use and overdoses came in waves. But then something changed. From drug wave to drug tsunami The current epidemic didn’t arise organically in our culture the way that cannabis use did. Newel remembers when she was a practicing physician and modern opioids like OxyContin were being aggressively marketed as “safe” and “non-addictive.” “I think many of us were skeptical, but it just permeated the whole healthcare culture,” Newel explains. Soon, the drugs were everywhere. And Nyeland’s body, triggered to want more and more, intersected with his profession as a dentist, where legal opioids were freely accessible. At first, Nyeland managed his addiction quietly. Though his family knew that he’d had trouble with substance abuse, they assumed the substance was alcohol. Then the feds asserted control. “[Nyeland’s story] is the story of many, many people who got addicted to prescription opioids,” Newel explains. “As the DEA started cracking down, then it was impossible to get them mail order in the US and then mail order in Canada. [So Nyeland] turned to China. And when that got harder, he invested in Bitcoin and was buying them on the dark web. And finally, when he was having trouble getting access to opioids that way, he turned to the street.” The current situation with street drugs in the US is unprecedented. In the past, there were always overdoses, and there were always tainted drugs, and there were always products sold as one drug that actually contained another. It goes without saying that an unregulated black market will have these problems. But today’s drug market has unique characteristics that Dr. Newel—a mom named Gail who lost her son—wants every parent to understand. First: the ease of addiction “We know now that a certain significant fraction of the population, if they’ve taken opioids for five days, they’re already addicted,” Newel explains. “I don’t think we’ve recognized how quickly the addiction can develop in some people.” Like many teens, my own teen was given a prescription for opioids after he had his wisdom teeth pulled. Recently it occurred to me to take the leftover pills to the pharmacy for safe disposal. When I pulled them out of the medicine cabinet, I was shocked to see that he had been prescribed enough pills to easily start an addiction. For my kid, graced with genes that helped him shrug off addictive drugs relatively easily, it was no big deal. But the message here is clear: You don’t know how your teen is going to react. Even a well-meaning doctor can start them on a path toward addiction. Second: the fun Let’s face it: a lot of people find opioids extremely pleasurable. And our kids are growing up in Santa Cruz, a county you enter with a billboard advertising a cannabis dispensary. Gail’s son was initially drawn by the fun and ease of access. “That’s certainly what my son found: They were there. They’re fun,” Gail explains, further pointing out that it was even more convenient for healthcare providers. “They were just in big boxes, easy for him to grab and take home for recreational use.” Though our teens don’t necessarily have the ease of access that a dentist had, they are growing up in a world distinctly different from our own teen years. You might remember finding out that another teen at your school was a dealer, or you might remember how you found out through the grapevine how to find a dealer. These days, your teen can buy drugs on TikTok and other social media. Dealers use coded language through emojis that your teen may recognize. Some dealers even feature home delivery. Third: the danger As Dr. Newel pointed out, we know that scare tactics don’t work. I know that in my generation, we loved the frying egg commercial—“This is your brain on drugs”—because it was funny. Little did we know that one day, that commercial might be almost literal. The statistics are staggering. As I wrote in this publication in our February, 2022 issue, what you buy on the street—or through social media, delivered in a cute package to your home—may not contain what’s advertised. A single grain of fentanyl in half a Xanax bought on the street killed Sophie Véniel’s son. Users are dying or being hospitalized in unprecedented numbers due to drugs laced with other, stronger drugs, drugs that are hundreds of times more potent than expected, and drugs that simply aren’t what the user expected they were buying. Tranq, the newest kid on the block, causes hideous sores that result in tissue loss and can require amputation as treatment. What’s a parent to do? So let’s take stock: Fear mongering didn’t work for us and it won’t work for our kids. Preaching abstinence didn’t work for us and it won’t work for our kids. It sounds like we have an impossible job. Newel says that it’s of utmost importance—really, a life-or-death matter—that our schools, religious institutions, coaches, and anyone else who works with our kids start to talk to them early. They need to talk not only about the dangers of drugs, but also about the reality that turning to substances is not the only path we can take. Newel stresses that she knows that this is a hard road. “The preventative aspect of the opioid epidemic is certainly not decided,” she acknowledges. “But I think most of us can agree that if we can find other ways to be comforted and feel a sense of well-being that we can avoid some of this. So I think practices like meditation and just anything that helps us live more in the moment.” Newel also suggests that as a culture, we need to reincorporate some understanding that many of us left behind as we advanced into the promise of the modern age. We expected that drugs could be made safe and effective and we were easily duped by the promise of modern opioids. We watch YouTube videos on meditation and think that it should be easy for us to change our habits and our lives. We see the apparent perfection of other people’s lives on social media and wonder what’s wrong with us that we are still living in some sort of old-fashioned analog imperfection. “I think it’s important for all of us to understand that life is hard,” Newel explains. “We can’t avoid pain all the time and discomfort, and that’s normal and it’s OK to feel that sometimes.” She should know. Though it’s been seven years since they lost Nyeland, Newel’s family still grieves. Gail Newel hopes that by telling her story, she can save another parent, another sibling, or another child from experiencing this grief. “Mothers have been losing their children for all of time, but it’s a horrible grief and something you never get over.” Suki Wessling is a local writer, teacher, and radio host on KSQD. Subscribe to her podcast, the Babblery, at www.Babblery.com.

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Mama Bear Self Care Back to School

growingupsc — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 07:19:37 +0000

It’s that time of year when we are hitting the stores to get our kids school supplies and enjoy the last few weeks of summer. This is also the time when we may feel a bit sad that the summer is coming to an end as we’ve just been getting into the flow of the non-scheduled routines. Or maybe you are reading this so excited to get back to your kids’ school routine – either way, there is a transition coming up and I want to share a big tip on preparing for this change as a parent to keep it smooth for our kids. Everyone talks about the village needed for our children, but what about for the parents as we evolve and keep everything together through the changing seasons. Whether your kids are starting a new school, new class or phase of life – one of the most important things we can do for ourselves as parents is line up our personal village. These are the people that will be around to support you through each shift. Take a moment right now to think about your village – who are the people you spend the most time with? Who are the friends you could call for support if you need it? Who are your friends that keep you active? Who are the one that distract you or add chaos to your life? Taking social self-care into account is incredibly helpful this time of year as we get back into the swing of things. It is easy shifting from summer to fall to let all of our personal self-care go out the window because we end up spending all of our energy prepping things for our kids and forget about ourselves. This is where the village comes in! Social support is one of the biggest markers for well-being in any society. The relationships we have and the people around us are certainly going to influence our behviors and routines. Three things to keep in mind when it comes to HEALTHY social self care and curating you village this season: Take inventory – literally go through your phone, texts, social media – make note of who you spend the most time with, watching or around and notice how you feel with them. Are there people in your circle who are lifting you up or more dragging you down. As we shift into the end of summer – work towards cultivating a village that is supportive, encourages your growth and definitely loves your family! Taking space or setting boundaries with some of the friends who can be more distracting can be really helpful right now. Simple tip: Make a list of the people who FILL your cup – include them in your life more and pay it forward 🙂 Check in with what your family needs. Maybe you struggle with dinners or getting to your kids’ activities on time. As a busy parent, I have people in my village who are helpful in all sorts of areas. Learning to ask for help is a big one – as busy parents we tend to feel this need to do it all, but in reality – that’s not ideal. If we can work together with our village we can end up feeling healthier and happier. The hardest part is just asking. The people around you are sure to want to pitch in and help. And of course – be sure to offer help to those around you when you can. It’s a collaborative effort. Join a mom group or hire some help where needed, it will be well worth the investment! Just say NO. It’s ok to hide away for an hour with your favorite beverage to take some much needed QUIET time. One of the toughest things parents find with self care is learning to make their own time a priority. It might feel hard at first but even putting your kids in front of a good movie every once in a while, so you can get much needed solo time to prepare for the upcoming week can be actually very beneficial for the whole family. This is also a great time you can phone that friend or neighbor and drop the kids off for a bit to get organized. Lastly, get the kids involved. Get to know their friends, activities and have them pitch in to build out the family back to school routines. Kick of nightly family dinner and family daily walks. There are social self-care activities your kids can help with at all different ages. If you are struggling to find a supportive village – be sure to reach out! Join one of my weekly walks and I can support your curating your own self-care village. Enjoy the rest of summer and remember you are doing a fabulous job!

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Time to Celebrate Breastfeeding

Laura Maxson — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 06:40:12 +0000

It’s clear that working parents are more successful with their breast/chestfeeding goals when they are given adequate support. Pressures to get back to earning a paycheck often compete with the ability to get breastfeeding firmly established Not enough parents qualify for paid maternity leave, with some back to work even before the typical six weeks given by state disability. While there are supportive employers out there, many workplaces ignore the needs of their breastfeeding employees, making pumping and storing milk at work difficult. While the California Breastfeeding Coalition works with parents who feel their employers are ignoring state and federal guidelines for lactation support at work, not every parent is motivated to push back. This is one reason that each August is designated Breastfeeding Awareness month in the United States. Parents and the public, including employers, can become more aware of ways to support breastfeeding families. Each week focuses on a different aspect of lactation support. Not all the themes for the individual weeks were available in time to make it into this article, but updated information can be found at www.usbreastfeeding.org. •Week 1, (August 1-7) is the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action’s World Breastfeeding Week. This year’s global theme is, Enabling Breastfeeding: Making a difference for working parents. There are many ways to support lactating parents at work. It is well known that parents with supportive maternity leave of three months or more experience a longer duration of breastfeeding. Workplace challenges are a common reason for breastfeeding to end prematurely or to not be initiated at all. •Week 2 (August 8-14), is Indigenous Milk Medicine Week •Week 3 (August 15-21) is Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week. •Week 4 (August 25-31) is Black Breastfeeding Week. Theme: We Outside!: Celebrating Connection & Our Communities • Week 5 (September 5-11) is Lactancia Latina Many local organizations and agencies in Santa Cruz County enthusiastically work to support breastfeeding families year-round, but especially during Breastfeeding Awareness Month. After missing a few years due to the pandemic, everyone is eager for the Community Bridges WIC sponsored Breastfeeding Health Fair and Walk, to resume once again this year. Families typically have a blast at the free breastfeeding awareness celebration. The 16th Annual Breastfeeding Health Fair and Walk event takes place on Friday, August 11, at the Watsonville Plaza (Main St. & East Beach St.) from 3-6pm. Local agencies and nonprofits will provide information and fun activities for the public incorporating education and support around breastfeeding and other health/baby related topics. The drawing for door prizes is a highlight of the day. Everyone gets a free T-shirt while supplies last. Families are then invited to join agencies and organizations in a short but lively “Walk for Breastfeeding” through downtown Watsonville to raise breastfeeding awareness. Of course, every situation is different and not everyone is able to breastfeed their baby. Human milk donations help many babies to thrive. As a new addition this year the event will also serve as a donor human milk drive. San Jose’s Mother’s Milk Bank will collect donated milk and provide information to those interested in becoming a donor or receiving human milk for their baby. Frozen breast milk may be brought to the event for donation. Those interested in getting pre-screened for donations can call donor services at 1-877-375-6645, choose option 3, or connect at www.mothersmilk.org/donate-milk. Each year, in honor of World Breastfeeding Week and Breastfeeding Awareness, Community Bridges WIC and the Santa Cruz County Breastfeeding Coalition put out a call for nominations of local employers that are making working and breast/chestfeeding easier for families in our communities. Those employers chosen for recognition will be announced at the event. Together we can help build a supportive breastfeeding community. By Laura Maxson

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At 93, Owen Hand is the Golden Conqueror of the Courts

growingupsc — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 05:57:28 +0000

Owen Hand, 93 years young, steps off the court victorious. He’s just won three sets of tennis against competitors 30 years his junior. Celebrated by a chorus of congratulatory calls from players and friends across the Tennis Club of Rio Del Mar’s courts, Owen bashfully jests to me how his on court running really isn’t quite what it used to be. Born on July 4th, 1930, Owen always had athleticism coursing through his veins. “I was always the first kid playing at the park and the last kid to go home… I played any sport I could but baseball was really my thing.” His passion and skill for baseball lured him away from his home in Alameda to compete for San Jose State College before graduating from Cal Poly SLO. He ultimately made his home in Santa Cruz County, moving to Freedom in 1960 where he taught 5th graders at Freedom Elementary for over 25 years. While at Freedom he loved engaging his students with creative class projects and he also coached the Junior High basketball team. One of his former pupils, Scott Taylor (now 71) recalls, “Everyone wanted him as their teacher because he was a super friendly guy and a good teacher… at recess he would go out on the field and throw balls, playing with the students” However, Owen admits this period in his life was sadly tainted by vices he now regrets: cigarettes and beer. This began to change at the age of 35 when one of his co-workers convinced him to play his first game of tennis. After a few sets, the ever-competitive Owen took a liking to tennis and endeavored to hone his tennis skills to a competitive level. “I was determined to get better,” Owen recalls. “But the bottom line was I had to quit smoking, I had to lose weight, I had to get healthier to have a chance at beating anyone.” Motivated by his new found love of tennis and burning desire for victory, Owen began jogging and working out in addition to regularly practicing and taking lessons. After years of consistency, and playing in tournaments all over the USA, Owen says “I was in my tennis prime in my 60’s.” This was when Owen and his tennis partner beat the former US tennis champion, Whitney Reed, becoming the Over 60’s Doubles Champions of Northern California. Tennis had more than just a positive impact on Owen’s health. It also motivated him to give back to the Santa Cruz community and share the game that in many ways saved his life. He coached tennis at both Watsonville High and Aptos High for two years. One of his Watsonville High students from 1977, John Zivanovich, recalls “Owen was always very encouraging and supportive.” After retirement, Owen started his own tennis summer camp on a court he built in his yard and then, from 1986, continued to teach both boys and girls tennis teams at Harbor High School for nine years. Nowadays, Owen is a busy man: for over 20 years, he’s organized the Tennis Club of Rio Del Mar’s popular ‘Nooner’s’ program four times a week; five times a week he runs stretching sessions; he regularly bikes and swims; he plays the banjo in his band, The Tin Pan Alley Cats; and he occasionally still pummels his tennis competitors. Just a couple of years ago, Owen triumphed, winning the US National’s Over 90’s Men’s Doubles Title. After 53 years of competing in national tennis competitions, Owen finally brought home the illustrious “Golden Ball”. How does Owen do it? What is his secret to his seemingly unrelenting vivacity? Simply put: his love of tennis. Owen believes his joie de vivre has continued because “tennis was always my incentive to keep me in shape, to keep improving.” Owen believes tennis is a great sport for all ages but particularly ideal for school-aged kids. “Tennis is year round, you only need one other person to play with, the equipment is relatively cheap, and the courts are a lot more accessible than they used to be!” If Owen is any testament, anyone can start playing tennis at any age. Nonetheless, Owen believes that “it’s never too early to get kids on the court… If someone had given me a tennis racket and took me out there, I might have excelled at tennis when I was a kid.” Like others his age, you might think that Owen would start to take it easy? No, not Owen Hand! He’s busy planning his next big adventure – biking 33 miles around Crater Lake. Writer Elise A. Cline is a political science major and journalism and disability minor at U.C. Berkeley

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Riding High in Rough Seas

growingupsc — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 05:46:44 +0000

Bianca Dootson is a 22 year old full-time student and professional longboarder who, despite her relatively short time on the waves, is swiftly riding her board to competitive heights. Unlike many of her peers who were surfing since infancy, Bianca didn’t come from a surfing family. Despite growing up around the ocean in Monterey and Santa Cruz, she only discovered her love for the sport at eleven years old, after taking a lesson while on vacation in Hawaii. “Generally, if your parents are surfers, you start surfing before you can even walk. I started a lot later than a lot of the kids… So I surfed twice as much and really just tried to be the best I could be.” From her first lesson, Bianca was hooked and quickly reeled into the world of competitive longboarding. She went from taking lessons, to surfing for Aptos Middle School then Aptos High School, before endeavoring to demonstrate her surfing prowess on the world stage. Bianca says longboarding feels like “dancing with the waves,” creating “a weird cross between adrenaline and… pure bliss.” She loves nothing better than to be in Santa Cruz, surrounded by Norcal’s oceanic wildlife and her friends, while surfing the breaks she’s come to know like the back of her hand. Bianca hopes that longboarding will soon join shortboarding as an Olympic sport, giving the discipline more respect and offering her a chance to fulfill her dreams of competing in the Olympics. “Longboarding is such a good contrast to shortboarding. It shows the two different sides of surfing,” Bianca says. “A lot of people forget that longboarding is how surfing began in Hawaii… I think it’d be really good to honor [that].” When shortboarding became an event in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Bianca began to quest for a potential path to the Olympics. Because she could not try out for the US longboarding team, she utilized her mother’s heritage and her own dual citizenship to compete and win a place on the German National Team, who she now represents in global competitions. Bianca is not only a committed surfer but a diligent student. She successfully balanced her early educational priorities with the support of Oasis High School and Cabrillo College, who enabled her to continue her studies remotely while traveling the globe. “That kind of flexibility at [Oasis & Cabrillo] let me travel a lot… I started traveling internationally at the age of 16… I was [studying] online even before COVID.” She has now transferred to UCSC, studying Psychology and Earth Science. Additionally, although she receives some support from sponsors, Bianca still works part-time at Sanderlings in the Seascape Beach Resort to personally finance her competitive travel expenses. The more Bianca travels, the more she’s learned to appreciate her home in Santa Cruz. Traveling “makes me appreciate the community that I grew up in… my peers that I surf with, the waves at home.” Bianca gives credit to Santa Cruz for encouraging surfers of all ages and of maintaining the ocean’s ecosystem. She does wish, however, there were more competitions in NorCal to expose young surfers to competitive surfing. After many years of surfing, one of Bianca’s biggest obstacles has been how Santa Cruz’s rough, frigid ocean and climate clash with the tropical, bikini-based images perpetuated by surfing companies implying that “women don’t surf in rugged climates.” Wetsuits may not “look the prettiest” and can make you “look like a seal,” but in the freezing Pacific, everyone must wear them. These aesthetic expectations often limit female surfers’ opportunities to acquire sponsors who frequently value womens’ appearances over their surfing skills. By displaying the true realities of this “forgotten part of women’s surfing,” Bianca believes the sport can begin to deconstruct these stereotypes insinuating surfing “is not a girls sport.” Bianca hopes in the future, female surfers will be evaluated, acknowledged and respected for their surfing instead of their bodies. “The best advice to young girls,” Bianca reflects, is to “know your worth, be proud of your surfing… [it] speaks for who you are… [and] don’t give up” when you encounter bad days on the waves. “Everyone started from the bottom and made their way up” she says, adding that anyone interested in surfing, regardless of their background, should take a lesson. “Just get the basics down… learn etiquette and educate yourself on surf culture” to keep yourself and others safe in the water. Bianca’s surfing journey shows how hard work, dedication, and a love of surfing has propelled her to great heights. She recently placed 5th place in the Pro-Division Queen of the Point Longboard Competition in Malibu, putting her one step closer to her professional goals and accruing her invitations to other Pro-Division championship competitions in the near future. Writer Elise A. Cline is a political science major and journalism and disability minor at U.C. Berkeley

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Coloring Contest Winners

growingupsc — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 05:00:00 +0000