Over 25 local women shared their pandemic-clad workouts, expanding beyond their limits and quite literally pushing boundaries.
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Around Town January 2019
Around Town January 2019 SPRING HILL SCHOOL: Second grader Erik Huemer, 7, sold surprise Pokemon characters with his dad, Peter Huemer, who owns user Friendly Computing. GOOD CAUSE: Spring Hill School sixth grader Odessa Pearce came up with the idea for a craft fair to raise money for local charities and the whole school got behind her. They sold food, arts and crafts, jewelry, ornaments and more raising $1,330 for organizations including SPCA, Save Our Shores, the Homeless Garden Project and CASA. Photos by: Brad Kava
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Dance Like Everyone is Looking
Dance Like Everyone is Looking A Mom Raises the Ballet Barre for the First Time By Ramona Pursley As we enter a New Year, I reflect on what I’ve accomplished during the past year both personally and as a parent. One of the best things I did in 2018 was stepping out of my regular Mom Role and trying a challenge I’d wanted to try my whole life—to learn ballet, a real challenge at the age of 57. As older parents of young children, my husband Bob and I find our selves running from one after school activity to another. Our two children ages 11 and almost 13 are involved…
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Thinking Twice Before You Take Family Matters to Court
Think Twice Before You Take Parenting Matters to Court By Bob Derber So there’s drama with your parenting relationship on how to raise your children. You have both lawyered up and are headed to court. BUT LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP! This often occurs after the holidays. Drama abounds when you navigate who has the children on Christmas, care over school breaks and scheduling winter trips. If you are reading this, you survived, but possibly not unscathed. When parents collide, you may ask a judge to make decisions on matters best left to parents. The judge has no intimate knowledge, as you have, about your children. At your first court visit,…
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Options in Homeschooling
Options in Homeschooling: Umbrella Programs Share Some of the Burden By Suki Wessling January is Growing Up’s Independent Schools issue, and you can’t get much more independent than homeschooling. In California, any family can homeschool simply by declaring their home a private school on a state form. That’s a pretty low barrier to entry, but after the simple form come the complex challenges. I refer to homeschooling as “the ultramarathon of parenting.” You’re not only raising children (a hard enough job) but also educating them and taking full responsibility for their social and emotional growth. Although many families succeed at homeschooling independently and love doing so, another way that Santa…
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Your Letters and Thoughts January 2019
Your Letters and Thoughts: January 2019 Please send your opinions to [email protected] Parent Paparrazzi The parent paparazzi phenomenon is certainly nothing new, but it wasn’t until I took my toddler to a big children’s museum this summer that I was really shocked by it. I was hanging out nearby as my two year old pretended to drive a model cable car, I watched other families interact with their kids around us. Here’s the scene that opened my eyes… Two sets of adults (presumably parents and grandparents) with a chubby cheeked toddler join my little one on the mini cable car. The parent’s placed said toddler in the cable car seat…
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Get Pumped! Bicycle Pump Tracks for the Family
Get Pumped! Bicycle Pump Tracks for the Family By Karen Kefauver Santa Cruz pump tracks are a magnet for kids and parents alike. It’s an ideal place for parents to hangout and experience a unique type of bicycle playground. Typically constructed from dirt, pump tracks feature round bumps and banked turns that are designed to help a rider maintain momentum using a pumping action instead of pedaling. Any age rider can hop on the track to practice “pumping” and pedaling is totally acceptable. Completing a single loop may take anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute, though kids may spend hours on the circuit. Fortunately, there are plenty of tracks to…
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Mall Wonders: The Museum at the Mall is Santa Cruz’s Hidden Gem
Mall Wonders: The Museum at the Mall is Santa Cruz’s Hidden Gem By Patrice Keet Photo by: Kevin Painchaud EXPLORA-MALL-IUM: Visitors come from all over to learn and play at the children’s museum of discovery. Maddox S. from Auburn is building with the magnetic tiles. Growing Up in Santa Cruz has been a big fan of the Children’s Museum of Discovery for years and we’d always assumed it was run by some big corporation or was a franchise. Turns out, we were completely wrong. Although the exhibits in this 7,000-square foot store front near the food court at the Capitola Mall are as well-designed and compelling as those in bigger…
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Top Misconceptions About Private Schools
Top Misconceptions About Private Schools By Paige Berardo Private schools are only for the wealthy. Parents from every walk of life send their children to private schools. For many families, private school is a deliberate choice that demands significant life trade-offs. Where good public schools exist, private schools are unnecessary. Healthy communities provide a wide variety of choices to their families to meet the needs of every individual. FAKE VIEWS: there are so many misconceptions about private schools, including that they lack diversity or are too expensive. Paige Berardo has sent her children to both and clears up some questions. Having strong public and private school choices enables every child to…
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This Theater Group Delivers Miracles Every Week
This Theater Group Delivers Miracles Every Week By Brad Kava Every week a group of Santa Cruz performers meets to practice for a yearly show called “Miracles in Santa Cruz,” and if you’ve seen it or been a part of it, you know it truly is a miracle. The performers have an array of so-called disabilities, but when they take the stage, they light it up as bright as any Hollywood star. A blind woman sings several songs and you wonder, how did she memorize all the words, while everyone else reads them off a karaoke screen? A guy does spot on impersonations of Batman and characters from Doctor Who that…
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Private School: Posh or Perception?
Private School: Posh or Perception? This mother has sent children to public and private schools. Here’s what she learned. By Paige Berardo With heightened awareness of the impact of stereotypes and biases in our world, I considered the labeling in this publication of private schools as ‘a posher place to educate children’ as an opportunity to provide another perspective about fee-based schools. SCHOOL CHOICE: there are so many choices of great schools in Santa Cruz County, public and private, it takes major study to pick what’s best for your children. I get it—‘posh’ is an easy name to call a private (or independent) school. With an annual tuition—what families often…
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Positive Parenting Awareness Month: Ask Nicole January 2019
Positive Parenting Awareness Month: A Time to Renew, Refresh, And Recharge: Ask Nicole January 2019 By Nicole M. Young, MSW Another year has flown by, leaving me wondering where the time went. As I think about my family’s milestones and memories over the past year, I’m reminded of how often I get consumed by work, my family’s hectic schedule, and the never-ending list of household chores. It’s easy for my family to go through the motions of our daily routines – get up, go to school or work, come home, eat, do homework or work, go to bed, repeat, repeat, repeat – and even be in the same room without…
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Letter from the Editors January 2019
Letter from the Editors January 2019 Dear Readers, We celebrate the new year with stories of three amazing women who have overcome challenges, reinvented themselves and brought so much to this community. Ramona Pursley was a Santa Cruz County Sheriff ’s Deputy who, after retirement, started a new life raising young kids and working as a personal trainer and massage therapist. In her “spare” time, she bakes to raise money for Pajaro Valley High School teams and shows up at all their games. That alone would be inspiring enough, but in her 57th year, with surgically repaired knees that would limit activity for most people, she tried out one of…
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Season Pass Buying Guide: Always Amused January 2019
Season Pass Buying Guide: Always Amused January 2019 By Erik Chalhoub January is here, and that means there are months of theme park adventures right around the corner. That also means it’s time to break out the wallet again. Anybody who has visited a theme park knows it can be a very expensive hobby or time out with the family. As the new year begins, and most parks are hibernating in the offseason, it’s a good time to plan out your potential theme park visits for 2019. Through the planning process, you are almost guaranteed to ask the question: Should I splurge for a season pass, or purchase separate tickets?…
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Salesian Students Work on Project Ocean
Salesian Students Work on Project Ocean Learning Conservation First Hand By Joey Silva For three years now, students at Salesian Elementary and Junior High School have been busy working on their 50-acre campus, in the school’s Life Lab, and along the Monterey Bay with gardening efforts for their Ocean Guardian Projects. Salesian is entering its third year being supported by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) via the Ocean Guardian School Program. OCEAN SAVERS Salesian students visit the Monterey Bay where they study environmental protection first hand. Through this program, Salesian students work to protect the ocean and watershed through smart practices and projects that promote healthy ecosystems through the…
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Holding the Light: Birth Matters January 2019
Holding the Light: Birth Matters January 2019 By Laura Maxson, LM We don’t expect labor to be easy, but some labors are just plain hard for a variety of reasons that may include labors that are too fast or too slow, have too many surprises or some unexpected drama. In these especially difficult situations, a woman may have a moment where she throws in the towel. She will say a version of: “I can’t do this anymore.” And in this moment it seems completely reasonable. This is not an “easy” labor; this is the kind of labor in which even the most committed natural-birther could change her mind without remorse.…
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Improvements to our Libraries: County Scoop January 2019
Improvements to our Libraries: County Scoop January 2019 By Zach Friend, County Supervisor Libraries are a great place for families. From the children’s activities and books to the digital options – families often make our local libraries a regular stop. But many of our local libraries are outdated. Now, for the first time in decades, significant upgrades and improvements are planned for libraries throughout the county. Let’s look at how we got here, what’s planned and how you can get involved in the process. How Did We Get Here? In 2013, the Santa Cruz Public Libraries engaged in a comprehensive facilities master planning process to assess the needs at each of…
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Do College Entrance Exams Help or Hurt Students?
Do College Entrance Exams Help or Hurt Students? A New Film Challenges the Multi-Billion Dollar Test Industry By Brad Kava Every year more than 7 million high school students pull out their Number 2 pencils and go through a drill about as pleasant as having a cavity filled—-only it takes longer. For almost a century the SAT and ACT tests have been required by many colleges looking to determine how high school students will do in higher education. Only, in recent years, there has been pushback against the tests by educators who claim they don’t really measure aptitude, they favor students from wealthier homes who can afford paying for test…
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Green Living January 2019
Green Living January 2019 By Suki Wessling Question of the month: What do you do to save energy during the cold months? With the rain coming in, lots of Santa Cruz families start to hunker down. “Warm socks, extra blankets, windows closed,” says Charlotte Thornbrugh of her family’s approach. “Before we turn on heat, we make sure we’ve done all that.” Taylor Darling of Santa Cruz Green Builders has some more specific advice about how to make your home more energy-efficient. “People should start by trying to reduce their energy demand,” he explains. “Here is a partial list, starting with the low hanging fruit, and progressing to more advanced projects.”…
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Make a “Green Resolution” for 2019: Green Tips January 2019
Make a “Green Resolution” for 2019: Green Tips January 2019 By Meredith Keet, founder of The Zero Shop Have you considered which resolutions you want to take on for 2019? You may have already made a few, but we’re encouraging you to resolve to make you daily choices a little more “Green” this year. Recently I’ve had a lot of folks tell me that they really want to be more eco-friendly or try to cut down the waste they create, but they just don’t know where to start. It can be daunting, especially if you aspire to do too much too quickly. So start small. Set yourself up for success…
