Scotts Valley High graduate Austyn Crispell is the founder of Santa Cruz-based Makhai Media, a company that helps other companies do their social media marketing.He spoke at a recent local business forum, where Growing Up was amazed at his successes, as was everyone in the room. Growing Up: Your bio says you make $100,000 per month…really? You might be the top earning teen business person in the county or the whole country. My business revenue at the moment is $100,000 per month but that will increase within the next few months. I don’t live a lavish lifestyle so I just reinvest all of the money back into the business. Growing…
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Hate Speech Doesn’t Belong on Campus
We are deeply disturbed by the fact that some UCSC students held a birthday party for Adolf Hitler complete with a cake filled with Nazi symbols. It’s something we didn’t think could happen in this time and place and it’s seriously frightening that it did—and that the university has done nothing about it. But it also tugs at our gut in another way. We believe in freedom of speech at almost all costs. It’s one of the things that makes this country a bastion of liberty. The right to speak freely is protected in the Constitution and the protection isn’t for speech we agree with but for all speech, especially…
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Where’s the Best Place to Celebrate Graduation?
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Summer Self-Care for Families
Summer means: school’s out, kids are home and routines can go out the window. One of the greatest things you can do for your family this summer is map out some FUN ways to practice self-care. Just a refresher: self-care is all about taking responsibility for our wellness. It’s about making time to nourish our body, mind and spirit every day. As a parent, I believe the greatest gift we can give to our kids is leading by example when it comes to our health and well-being. The good news is you can still have all the FUN this summer and practice self-care. Not to mention, all of these tips…
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Treasure Hunting in Monterey
Ready to hunt for some undersea treasure in Monterey? Treasure Hunt: The Ride will soon open on Cannery Row, taking riders on an interactive, pirate-themed adventure as they battle not only friends and family to score the most booty, but also against ghosts, skeletons and other creatures that lurk in the “newly discovered” caverns. Located near the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the ride will feature hand-crafted set pieces, animatronics and special effects blended with interactive media. Riders will use onboard interactive “Treasure Collector” devices (think Ghost Blasters at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk) to rack up a score. Treasure Hunt is the brainchild of manufacturer Sally Dark Rides, known for its…
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Elemental Tree Network Offers Natural Help for Trees
Over 300 years have passed since California first felt the effects of colonization, but a key victim’s story is still unsung. Siena King, 32, and Sprout Weinberger, 26, are tree specialists tending to Santa Cruz and the greater Bay Area with one thing on their mind: restoration. Siena and Sprout founded Elemental Tree Network, a queer women-owned company, in 2021 inspired by regenerative action and traditional ecological knowledge. Sprout, a soil scientist, oak specialist and arborist was born and raised in Malibu. She moved to Santa Cruz to study Biology and Horticulture at Cabrillo which led her to Santa Cruz Permaculture Program in 2018, where she met Siena: her partner…
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Celebrating Kids Helping Others
Maybe it’s the salt air, the towering redwoods, or the sparkling ocean – who knows? But there is something about growing up in Santa Cruz that does a kid good. Santa Cruz kids know how to do good by contributing to their community and beyond. Please meet Vivienne, a third grader at Santa Cruz Montessori and a kid who is growing up doing good. She recently started a month-long donation drive in her classroom and neighborhood to raise money and gather supplies for the Santa Cruz Animal Shelter and for the Santa Cruz SPCA. We had a chance to sit down with Vivienne and chat with her about her experience…
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COE Announces Educator of the Year Awards
The Santa Cruz County Office of Education announced the recipients of the 2023 Santa Cruz County Educator of the Year Awards, honors awarded to staff from across the county who exemplify educational excellence and embody the values of our school community. Honorees received a plaque recognizing their service to Santa Cruz County and their names will be engraved in the Educators of the Year perpetual plaque hanging in the foyer of the Santa Cruz COE.A selection committee reviewed nominations using the California Standards for the Teaching Profession, the California Professional Standards for Educational Leaders, and the following criteria: 2023 Teacher of the Year Recipient: Maria Ferreira, Special Education Teacher, Post…
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Neurodivergent Student Shares Secrets of Success
Meet Abby. She’s an independent, kind and funny 26-year-old who lives in Santa Cruz and loves hanging out with friends. Abby was born very prematurely and underwent a slew of surgeries as a baby, which left her with a phobia of doctors and hospitals. Abby’s not the kind of person who would allow physical limitations to stop her. Her desire to help others like her has led her to write a book that she plans to publish later this year. What do you want to do when you enter the workforce? Be a therapist for people with mental health issues. I have to be in school and it’s a long…
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Nurse-Family Partnership Provides Support
By Laura Maxson Being pregnant with a first child comes with lots of changes. In the best of situations it can be a challenge for expectant families to find their way through the many decisions that need to be made. And when the situation isn’t optimal? It can feel like a wild ride, as new issues come up faster and faster. An expectant parent can quickly become overwhelmed with so much new information to absorb and situations to work out.Luckily, Santa Cruz County provides a wonderful program to help first-time mothers/pregnant people navigate the sometimes complicated new world a pregnancy can bring. The Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a free and…
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Tips for Dads and Father Figures
I have many happy childhood memories of my dad playing the guitar and singing, instigating highly competitive family croquet tournaments (which my dad usually won), and teaching my siblings and me how to use tools then creating a “workshop” in the garage so we could experiment with wood scraps — just to name a few. Other childhood memories involve events that were stressful then but hold a special place in my heart now – like the time my dad convinced me to go on an amusement park ride with him and I ended up crying in terror every time the ride dipped and my stomach dropped. I buried my face…
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Coloring Contest Winners
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Coloring Contest
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SCPL Receives Grant for NewLaptops for STEAM Program
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL) was awarded a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to purchase 21 new laptops for the “Afterschool STEAM” program at the La Selva Beach Branch Library. In this program, students ages 8-18 learn basic engineering principals while playing Minecraft. Afterschool STEAM takes place at the La Selva Beach Branch Library on Thursdays from 4:15pm-5:30pm. This program was supported by the IMLS under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), administered in California by the State Librarian. The LSTA is the only federal program exclusively for libraries. State libraries use the funds to support statewide initiatives and…
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Summer Reading Program Encourages Kids to Explore
By Amanda Rotella The theme at the Santa Cruz Public Libraries this summer is FIND YOUR VOICE! Our voices have power. We use our voices to share stories, express ourselves, and spark change. Our voices include not only the sounds we make, but the words we write, the art we create, the movements we perform, and the actions we take each day to impact our world. The Library Summer Reading Program encourages children to explore the world of books during their summer break. We want to foster a love for reading and learning, while preventing the summer slide—a phenomenon where students lose academic skills and knowledge over the summer months.…
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Exhausted in the Best Way
My granddaughter is exhausting. But I’m not complaining. When I am with her, I am all in. When she is hungry, I feed her, when she wants to climb up the stairs, I follow behind her ready to catch her if she falls. When she wants to open and close and open and close and open and close the cupboard doors, I sit patiently on the stool until something else catches her eye. The cat walks in, unaware that there is a strange and scary little being who is about to squeal with delight at her presence. She follows the frightened kitty into the bedroom, and I am right there…
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Dads and Grads Gift Guide
It’s always good to remember where you come from and celebrate it. To remember where you come from is part of where you’re going. -Anthony Burgess Adventure Sports Unlimited 303 Potrero Street, #15, Santa Cruz 831.458.3648 asudoit.com Explore our underwater backyard and be mesmerized by the bounty of what our beautiful Pacific Ocean has to offer. Starting at $525. Blue Water Ventures 127 Mason St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060 831 459 8548 BlueWaterVentures.org Join us kayaking in search of whales or among the sea otter pups in the protective wetlands of Elkhorn Slough. Great gift for Dads, Grads. Camps & Bioluminescence kayaking too. Kianti’s Pizza & Pasta Bar 1100 Pacific…
