March 2019 - Growing Up in Santa Cruz https://growingupsc.com Tue, 25 Jun 2019 22:37:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 https://growingupsc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/cropped-Favicon-01-32x32.png March 2019 - Growing Up in Santa Cruz https://growingupsc.com 32 32 Trying College on for Size https://growingupsc.com/trying-college-on-for-size/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trying-college-on-for-size&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trying-college-on-for-size https://growingupsc.com/trying-college-on-for-size/#respond Fri, 01 Mar 2019 16:13:58 +0000 https://growingupsc.com/?p=5760 Trying College on for Size By Suki Wessling This is the second in our three-part series on helping teens prepare for life after high school. Our first, “What Do You Want To Do With Your Life? Teens Face Life Decisions Earlier Than Ever” was published in November. In this installment, we investigate the idea of “college fit” and question the assumption that students should aim for the most prestigious college possible. Frank Bruni’s book “Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be” is full of stories of failure. Students fail to get the grades they need to apply to the “elite” college their friends are applying to. Students fail to get into their college of choice. Colleges fail to make good grades on the widely scorned but all-important U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” list. The funny thing is, the book is an uplifting read, highly recommended for parents who are concerned about their teens’ academic and employment future. NO SUCH THING Failure to get into an elite school isn’t a failure. Sometimes it’s the best thing that can happen. Students need to find a fit, not a brand name. It turns out that failing to get into an elite college is, sometimes, the best thing that can happen to a student. Bruni’s argument is that no matter what lens you look at it through, going to a highly competitive college is not nearly as important as finding the college that fits you. Students who spend their high school years trying to mold themselves into the person that an elite college is looking for might find, ultimately, less success and satisfaction than students who go looking for a college that fits who they already are or who they want to become. How to begin assessing college ‘fit’ Local college and career counselors find themselves working to help students and parents see past the implicit biases that can color their college search. Many families start with assumptions that limit their thinking about what sort of college, if any, will fit their student’s actual needs. “The goal is not to ‘get in’ to what someone else considers to be the ‘best’ college, but to find schools that are right for the student,” explains counselor Laurie Kiguchi. Counselors recommend that students consider three broad areas in order to determine a possible good college fit: academics, community, and cost. Academics: questions to ask Do you have to apply with a major in mind? A growing trend for colleges is to insist that students apply for a particular program, especially for impacted majors such as engineering. But this inflexibility doesn’t actually serve most students’ needs, explains college counselor Kevin Hislop. “The vast majority of 15- to 18- year-olds have no idea what they want to do with their lives,” says Hislop. “I much prefer guiding students toward institutions that either let kids explore academically for a year or two prior to declaring their majors, or, at the very least, make it reasonably easy to switch majors should that become necessary.” Does the university have a good department in your area of interest? “Some people get wooed by the school, then they’ll go and the department for what they are studying is not great,” says college and career counselor Jill Schontag. “Maybe a department at another school without such an exciting name would have been a better department for that major.” What is the learning experience like? “What is the educational environment?” asks Kiguchi. “Is it competitive or cooperative? Research-focused or hands-on learning? Large lectures or small seminars?” Hislop says that the difference between large and small class size can offer different opportunities. “Are you OK with classes that include several hundred people where you work primarily with teaching assistants, or do you want professors who know you on a first-name basis to invite you and your classmates over to their houses for dinners?” Hislop asks. Schontag adds that different state college systems may present a similar major in a different way, so some students might have their needs served better at a less prestigious school. “At UC you’re in huge classrooms, lectures, it’s more based on theory, continuing in academia. CSU has smaller classes, more interaction with the professor, and there’s more of a transition from education to career. They train people to do jobs they can do with a bachelor’s. It’s a different style, a different mission on who they’re working with.” Community: possibilities to ponder Colleges create their own communities, but also take part in the community around them. “Happy students tend to be more engaged at school and graduate!” Laurie Kiguchi points out. “Consider location (nearby or across the world), environment (urban, suburban, rural, coastal, desert, mountains), social scene (Greek life, big sports), religious (not, or with lots of religious required coursework and participation), political climate, student body (outdoorsy, athletic, intellectual, preppy).” Hislop offers a list of questions that students can ask themselves in order to focus their college search. “How liberal or conservative is the school; is it known as a bastion of social activism, or is it committed to steadfastly upholding the traditions of the past? Is the institution religiously affiliated, single sex, or a Historically Black College, and are those designations important to you? Do you prefer an incredibly active fraternity and sorority scene, or do you want no Greek System at all? Can you live in a rural community, or do you require an urban or suburban environment? Are you amenable to attending a college that has a student population equal to that of your high school, or do you want to experience a university that’s the size of a small city?” Another question is whether the student would benefit from a challenge. Just as rural students find their horizons widened when faced with a big city environment, many a big city kid has undergone transformation at rural colleges. Some students, especially from politically homogeneous communities like Santa Cruz, thrive when they’re thrown into a new political milieu. West Coast surf kids might find a thing or two to learn in a land-locked manufacturing town. Family considerations are also important. Bruni’s book points out over and over again that students who turn down exciting academic opportunities because they want to be close to their home communities do not necessarily suffer in the long run. Cost: the buck stops here Everyone knows that college costs more than ever. The graphs showing stagnant wages against the steep, red line of rising educational costs can be daunting. Kiguchi says that families often tackle the cost question in the wrong order. “Families need to focus on how and what they can pay for college and incorporate it into the initial college search,” she explains. “’Waiting to see where the student gets in’ and then figuring out how to pay for it is not a sound strategy. By the time you do this, it may be past the deadlines to apply to schools that could be a good fit and be affordable.” Students who will need loans for college should do the math and see how long it will take them to pay off those loans in their likely field of employment. Graduating from medical school with heavy undergraduate debt, for example, can be workable if the student plans to be a surgeon. But it’s less optimal if the student’s dream is to offer family medical care in poor communities. Students can also balance educational debt with other opportunities. A student might choose a state college over paying full tuition at a private college so that they can study abroad and not focus on getting paying work in the summers. Finally, make sure you know how a potential private school will weigh your family’s income. Some private schools now give generous need-based scholarships for middle class families. And a growing trend is for some state schools to offer reduced out-of-state tuition to students coming from certain other states. For example, the Western Undergraduate Exchange is an agreement between a number of West Coast institutions to offer reduced out-of-state tuition to students from Western states. What really matters Bruni’s book relies heavily on anecdotes about people who have landed in successful careers after missing the boat on getting into “elite” colleges. But he also crunches the numbers and presents the facts. For example, if your focus is on being successful in business, be aware of where the CEO’s of the top ten Fortune 500 companies got their undergraduate degrees: “University of Arkansas; the University of Texas; the University of California, Davis; the University of Nebraska; Auburn; Texas A&M; the General Motors institute (Kettering); the University of Kansas; Dartmouth College and the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Just one Ivy League school shows up.” Amongst successful politicians, undergrad alma maters include Eureka College, Georgia Southwestern College, Whittier College, and Miami University of Ohio. According to Bruni, “Among the 100 men and women in the United States Senate in mid-2014, fewer than 30 got their college degrees in the Ivy League.” Looking to get into a great PhD program? Bruni says that almost all the top feeder schools for doctorate degrees are small liberal arts colleges, even for the sciences. Hoping to get a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship? More Fulbright scholars come from state schools well outside the “top 50” than come from the Ivy League. Finally, trust your gut As all college counselors know, no teen knows where life will lead them. But in some cases, teens make a choice knowing that it’s not right for them. Jill Schontag also works with adults who are exploring career changes, and she says she sees it all the time. “A lot of my adults come in saying, ‘I’ve been trying to be this person for 20 years, and I can’t do it anymore’,” she explains. “With teens, I ask, ‘Why are you doing this major?’ They’ll say, ‘I’m going to make a lot of money, I know there are a lot of jobs’.” Given what she’s seen, she can tell them with authority what’s going to happen if they pursue money instead of their passions. “You can drive the nicest Tesla to work every day but if you don’t like what you’re doing, you’re not going to be happy.” The one common goal that humans have is to seek happiness. Looking for a good college fit is one small part of setting ourselves on that path. Suki Wessling is a local writer and the mother of a teen and a college student. Read more at www.SukiWessling.com.

The post Trying College on for Size first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

]]> https://growingupsc.com/trying-college-on-for-size/feed/ 0 “The Talk” with your Teen: Career Pathways March 2019 https://growingupsc.com/the-talk-with-your-teen-career-pathways-march-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-talk-with-your-teen-career-pathways-march-2019&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-talk-with-your-teen-career-pathways-march-2019 https://growingupsc.com/the-talk-with-your-teen-career-pathways-march-2019/#respond Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:56:06 +0000 https://growingupsc.com/?p=5755 “The Talk” with your Teen: Career Pathways March 2019 By Mary Gaukel Forster This month’s edition of Growing Up in Santa Cruz focuses on teens. Last month I wrote about the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up” and how easily a preschooler might answer, “a firefighter.” Often by the teen years, the students I worked with answered that question with “I don’t know.” Self-consciousness, maturing bodies, peer influence, increased levels of academic challenge, and increased structured time, begin to limit a teen’s FIND WHAT YOU LOVE talk to your kids about what they want to do, what they love and what they are best at. It’s not too early to start guiding them toward their strengths. self-awareness of career possibilities, career pathways. When confronted with “I don’t know” many well meaning adults, family members, teachers, counselors, family friends ask “well, what is your passion?” Having a passion, knowing your passion, is developed over time and experience, not always known or understood by teens. Declaring a passion can often feel too personal or private to a teen. How can a parent, an adult, help a teen begin to explore possible careers? Where to begin? A good place to start is by helping your teen recognize the difference between strengths and interests. Many counselors and some parents will direct their teen to a paper or online assessment to help them generate a list. This can be difficult for teens during a time when they might lack confidence and/or can be self critical. Recognition of strengths and interests should be the place to start before any formal assessments are taken. Casual conversations with teens about your own strengths and interests, maybe ones you discovered as a teen, or those of a favorite relative or family friend, can help a teen develop an awareness that strengths can involve skills, abilities, qualities and personal characteristics and how strengths differ from interests. A strength can be an ability, an innate talent, or a skill, a developed talent, such as the following: creativity, enthusiasm, leadership, listening, math, open-mindedness, organization, originality, drawing, problem solving, reading, social studies, sports, writing. Interests are something that excite curiosity or attention. A teen can be interested in music without having any musical ability or skill. They may be interested in or fascinated by space flight, fashion design, video game design, animation, and an unlimited number of other possibilities. I liked to, and still do, share stories of strengths, skills, and excitement that I observed in my children before they became self-conscious, peer-conscious teens. I shared stories of their activities, their dreams, their interests. My oldest son would laugh as I reminded him of the time he was creative when making a space suit for himself out of aluminum foil. This later showed up when he earned his pilot’s license at 18. For my middle son, it was his ability to explore science, how bats communicate by echolocation, which led us to a talk by the local Santa Cruz “Bat Mama,” complete with live bats. I could see this interest blossom later as he became a backcountry guide. For my daughter, it was the story of how she evidenced her interest in education when she asked for a classroom for Christmas: her own child-sized teacher desk, white board, bulletin board, and calendar. Now she is a behavior analyst working with children and their families. What stories, examples, can you share that might bring a smile, a laugh, an awareness to your teen? Look for opportunities to share these stories and reflections. It will be less likely to feel like “lectures or lessons” to your teen and more like clues to self-discovery. Mary Gaukel Forster is currently the executive director for the non-profit organization, Your Future Is Our Business, focusing on fulfilling the mission of providing all youth in our county with career explorations. She retired from a career in education, teaching pre-school, elementary school, middle school and high school, then becoming a high school principal. Mary has three grown children, is married to retired educator Les Forster. They live in Capitola and are happily acting as career exploration guides for their 4 granchildren. In her free time Mary runs half-marathons. Reach Mary at marygaukel@gmail.com

The post “The Talk” with your Teen: Career Pathways March 2019 first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

]]> https://growingupsc.com/the-talk-with-your-teen-career-pathways-march-2019/feed/ 0 An Uphill Battle for this Downhill Rider https://growingupsc.com/an-uphill-battle-for-this-downhill-rider/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-uphill-battle-for-this-downhill-rider&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-uphill-battle-for-this-downhill-rider https://growingupsc.com/an-uphill-battle-for-this-downhill-rider/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:37:56 +0000 https://growingupsc.com/?p=5743 An Uphill Battle for this Downhill Rider By Kevin Painchaud Extreme rider Lee Faraola, 17, is a rising star in the Santa Cruz mountain biking scene. He’s a sponsored rider who has been racing since he was 11. The Santa Cruz High School junior is overcoming a major set back when he broke his back speeding downhill at Northstar in Tahoe, but is on the mend and ready to hit the dirt. Tell me about your family history here in Santa Cruz? My Dad’s family settled here in Santa Cruz from Naples Italy around 1860. They were one of the original fishing families here in town. Photo by Kevin Painchaud EXTREMELY EXTREME Santa Cruz High’s Lee Faraola, 17, faces his biggest challenge: recovering from a broken back after flying down a Tahoe mountain. The family has always been on the water, fisherman and sailors. My Dad’s dad worked on boats in the SF Bay. My Grandma’s family actually settled in Glenwood in Scotts Valley way back, so we have been here a long time. How old were you when you first learned how to ride a bike? I was two when I started pedaling without training wheels, back in those days there were no balance bikes. I would ride all over with my parents and by 7 I got really into pump tracks and the local dirt jump scene. When did you start mountain biking? When I was 11-12 I started riding mountain bikes. I would ride with my Dad and friends at Wilder, Delaveaga and Demo Forest. At this point I was more into going down hill than up, I raced Downhill and Dual Slalom at Sea Otter for fun. Racing at Sea Otter really got me thinking about racing other events. It was fun and challenging, and I was hooked! At what age did you get serious about mountain biking? When I was around 13 I started to get strong enough to really climb and that is when I really got into the sport. I started racing Enduro format at 14 and stepped up a class each season. When I was 15 I raced a season of high school cross-country and learned what it meant to really be fit. The season of XC primed me for Enduro and I had a great season racing the California Enduro Series as a Jr Expert. My best result was at the Medoncino Enduro where I placed first in the Jr Expert. That race was 40 miles, 6700 ft of elevation climb and six timed downhill stages. We raced all day in the redwoods, best race ever. Are your parents supportive with you biking? YES! They have always been supportive of me but never push me to the point where I am not having fun anymore, which is a great quality for parents to have in my opinion. They say, “tell us what you want to do and we’ll go.”. What inspires you to keep pushing yourself? I always want to be the best I can, and I never think that I am good enough. That keeps me motivated to keep pushing myself to improve. What’s your favorite thing about the sport? Photo by Kevin Painchaud BACK IN THE SADDLE Lee Faraola will start competing again in april, after recovering from a terrible crash. I can always find a challenge or relax on my bike, It’s so versatile. I can ride out my door and find adventure or just go ride to recharge. The people and places I get to experience are a huge bonus. I have met lots of people who became good friends and seen so many new places racing. Least favorite thing? Getting up for school in the morning. That, and bad sportsmanship. Biggest challenge you’ve faced? Not being too hard on myself. Healing from injury. Have you ever been hurt bad while biking? Last summer at Northstar I crushed six vertebrae and ended up in a back brace for three months. How long did it take for you to recover? I am still working out the soft tissue injury but the bones are solid again and Its getting better as I get strength back. Photo by Kevin Painchaud AIRBORNE Lee Faraola is mountain biking’s answer to evel Knievel as he catches air. lot’s of it. Helmet, check. Bike, check. Road, nope. Are you currently sponsored? I have a really good relationship with Santa Cruz Bikes and Troy Lee Designs, racing with the Santa Cruz Factory Racing team has been awesome. The companies that help me out really go a long way with supporting me in my riding. I am very stoked to work with these people to promote mountain biking, especially to the younger kids. I picked up Troy Lee while racing at Sea Otter. They have the best kids gear. Their helmet probably saved my life when I broke my back. Goals for the future? I am just working my way back into shape after my accident last summer. I will be hitting my first race post injury in April. I plan to race selectively this year, increasing next year. My biggest plans are for summer, I am heading to Whistler, BC to train with PMBI to become a Certified Mountain Bike Instructor. My goal is to be able to teach and guide, sharing my passion for the sport with others and helping them achieve higher levels of skill. I will go to school for at least two years. I am looking at programs that I can do and still have time to train and ride. The schools in BC, Oregon and Colorado are top of the list. The riding and winter sports in those areas are hard to beat.

The post An Uphill Battle for this Downhill Rider first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

]]> https://growingupsc.com/an-uphill-battle-for-this-downhill-rider/feed/ 1 Teaching Kids About Money: Ask Nicole March 2019 https://growingupsc.com/teaching-kids-about-money-ask-nicole-march-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=teaching-kids-about-money-ask-nicole-march-2019&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=teaching-kids-about-money-ask-nicole-march-2019 https://growingupsc.com/teaching-kids-about-money-ask-nicole-march-2019/#respond Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:15:42 +0000 https://growingupsc.com/?p=5734 Teaching Kids About Money: Ask Nicole March 2019 By Nicole M. Young, MSW When I was young, my dad supported a family of six on a teacher’s salary. It was hard in the 1970’s, and I can’t imagine trying to do it now. I remember grocery shopping with my mom and watching her keep a running total of every item in the cart to make sure she stayed within her budget. In high school, after I bought a record album on impulse, my mom made me create a budget and show her my income, expenses, and bank statement each month. I hated it, but it taught me to live frugally and save money, which was an essential skill once I left home. I still love a good bargain and try to teach my kids the value of working hard and saving money. Sometimes I think they get it, and other times it seems like “job, budget, and saving” are foreign words to them. This monthly column provides tips for anyone who’s helping raise children, based on the world-renowned Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, available to families in Santa Cruz County. If you have a question or idea for a future column, please email me at triplep@first5scc.org. Dear Nicole, I want my kids to learn the value of money. My partner and I both work two jobs to make ends meet, and we live on a tight budget. Meanwhile, our kids (7, 10, 15) constantly ask for money and complain if we say no. My oldest earns some money from dogwalking but spends it as soon as she gets it. We don’t mind giving them money occasionally, but we don’t want them to expect it all the time. Got any suggestions? –Troy Dear Troy, Good question! Learning to manage money is an important life skill that’s necessary for independence in adulthood. Here are some tips to try: Create a Family Budget If you haven’t done this already, create a simple budget that shows how much you earn and spend each month on essential items like food, housing, transportation, utilities, child care, and other bills. This can help children see how much (or little) money is left for other things like clothing, entertainment, and school or social activities. Teach Your Kids About the Family Budget Kids are often unaware of the family budget because they’re not involved in day-to-day spending deci- sions. Although we don’t want children to worry about the family’s financial health, it’s still good for them to learn the importance of budgeting and saving for the future. This can be hard to teach, especially since kids might not see people use physical money very often. With more options to buy things online, by credit or debit card, or with apps connected to bank accounts, kids might truly believe that money magically appears. To make the concept of money and budgeting more concrete, try using play money from a board game to demonstrate how much money comes into the household each month, how much gets spent on essential items, and how much is left over. Help Them Set Goals for Earning and Saving Money If your kids want certain items, have them research the costs then prioritize one thing they want to buy. Help them identify all the ways they can earn and save money – small jobs at home or in the neighborhood, a job in the community, an allowance, or any money they receive as gifts – even if it’s a few cents at a time. Teach them to create a budget and keep track of how close they are to reaching their goal. They can create budgets using paper, a spreadsheet, or envelopes or containers marked “Saving” (money they won’t spend) and “Spending” (money for buying items they want). This can help kids make a concrete connection between working, earning, and saving money. Encourage Them to Find Contentment from Things that Don’t Cost Money While it can feel good to buy things with hard-earned money, it’s also valuable for children to learn to experience happiness and contentment in other ways. One of the simplest ways to do this is to set a good example – talk with your kids about things that make you feel happy, content, grateful, and loved – including your family and other non-material things. Final Thoughts People often say, “Money doesn’t grow on trees,” and “Money can’t buy you happiness.” These sayings may seem old-fashioned, but they’re as true as ever. Teaching kids about valuing and managing money without relying on material things for happiness is essential for their future independence and life-long wellbeing. Nicole Young is the mother of two children, ages 15 and 18, who also manages Santa Cruz County’s Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, the world’s leading positive parenting program. Scientifically proven, Triple P is made available locally by First 5 Santa Cruz County, the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency (Mental Health Services Act) and the Santa Cruz County Human Services Department. To find a Triple P parent- ing class or practitioner, visit http://triplep.first5scc.org, www.facebook.com/triplepscc or contact First 5 Santa Cruz County at 465-2217 or triplep@first5scc.org.

The post Teaching Kids About Money: Ask Nicole March 2019 first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

]]> https://growingupsc.com/teaching-kids-about-money-ask-nicole-march-2019/feed/ 0 Letter from the Editors March 2019 https://growingupsc.com/letter-from-the-editors-march-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=letter-from-the-editors-march-2019&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=letter-from-the-editors-march-2019 https://growingupsc.com/letter-from-the-editors-march-2019/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2019 14:55:41 +0000 https://growingupsc.com/?p=5731 Letter from the Editors March 2019 Dear Readers, The kids are coming. The kids are coming. On March 24, thousands of kids and their families will be celebrating Kid’s Day in Downtown Santa Cruz from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For those who haven’t attended in the past, it’s a revelation and it shows Santa Cruz at its family-friendliest. Downtown will be laced with booths and activities for kids and families from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday March 24 (please don’t rain, please don’t rain). Tourists from all over the world come to sample our colorful center. Now, the locals can appreciate just how great it is and how it’s gotten even better the past year. All kinds of schools, after school programs, camps, arts groups, theater companies and musicians will be there, a regular county fair geared toward kids of all ages and their families. We are proud to help sponsor it with the Santa Cruz Downtown Association. In recent years, Downtown has gotten even better. Thanks to the vision of former Museum Director Nina Simon, the courtyard outside the Museum of Art & History has become a true town center, with music, dancing, fire arts, food, kid’s art activities and all kinds of weekly surprises. It’s the town center every city needs. And then branch out along Pacific Avenue and the side streets and there are so many great businesses geared to children and families, including candle making, comic collecting, tie-dye creating, book reading, ceramic building and art creating, to name a few. Did we say, please don’t rain, please don’t rain. We love rain any other day but this one. This is our teen issue and you will find some valuable stories inside about finding jobs, checking out colleges, making video games and a new monthly column celebrating the top teens in adventure sports. And there are plenty of other articles for children and parents of all ages, including one about a dentist who learned to fly so she could help poor children around the world. Drop us an email at editor@growingupsc.com and give us your feedback and suggestions for future issues. Yours in Kid Power Brad Kava Jennifer Ford

The post Letter from the Editors March 2019 first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

]]> https://growingupsc.com/letter-from-the-editors-march-2019/feed/ 2 Is Your Teen Graduation from High School Soon? What’s Next? https://growingupsc.com/is-your-teen-graduation-from-high-school-soon-whats-next/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-your-teen-graduation-from-high-school-soon-whats-next&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-your-teen-graduation-from-high-school-soon-whats-next https://growingupsc.com/is-your-teen-graduation-from-high-school-soon-whats-next/#respond Fri, 01 Mar 2019 13:02:15 +0000 https://growingupsc.com/?p=5849 Is Your Teen Graduation from High School Soon? What’s Next? By Hayley Mears As your teenager nears graduation, knowing what kind of work or career is the right fit and supports their interest and goals isn’t easy. As students enter their senior year, they spend a lot of time thinking about what they really want to do in life and what colleges and schools have the programs that best support their goals. That’s why Monterey Bay Economic Partnership and Bright Futures Educational Partnership have joined forces to bring free career resources through the Monterey Bay Career Connect (mbcareerconnect.org) website. A one-stop shop for college and career readiness, the website provides information about local career pathways, scholarships, and skills training programs. A recent addition to the site is a “How do I…” section that provides answers about paying for college, finding local scholarships, and preparing for the SATs. Once on the website, you will find tabs connecting to Monterey Bay Career Coach, which allows students to take a career assessment, explore careers, salaries, responsibilities, qualifications, and live job postings within the Monterey Bay region and California. They can also browse local college programs & trainings offered in the Monterey Bay region, bookmark careers and programs of interest, and build a professional resume and download to Microsoft Word-ALL FOR FREE! High school students are saying the following about using the site: “MB Career Connect offers great advice on how to build a resume and is very user friendly. Giving data about income and job prospects help in making future careers.” – Costanoa High School Student, 2018 “The Career Coach site is really cool! I will use it and I like the way it shows the local wages for careers I’m interested in.” – Costanoa High School Student, 2018 “I like that there are so many tools that make it easy to find out information and help in areas that may be confusing.” – BGCS HS Student Launched in 2017, Monterey Bay Career Connect now works with six cost-share colleges in the region to provide inclusive college curricula and four sponsors: Santa Cruz and Monterey County Offices of Education, Santa Cruz and Monterey County Workforce Development Boards. Each college; Monterey Peninsula College (MPC), California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), Hartnell College, Central Coast College, Cabrillo College and Brandman University, provides up-to-date information on career paths that map to the college curricula available to the students. We encourage students to go online, create a FREE profile to save all your information and start keeping track of your educational history and work experience! Hayley Mears is a Santa Cruz native with over eight years experience in education, career services, job development, and student counseling. Prior to joining Monterey Bay Economic Partnership in October 2017 in the Workforce Development Program Manager role, Hayley worked at UC Santa Cruz for over 5 years, serving students in various positions in academic advising. Her work experience also includes positions as a job development specialist with the UC Santa Cruz Career Center in 2012 and career development specialist with special education students at Santa Cruz City School District. Hayley has a M.A. in Education Counseling with a focus in career services from San Jose State University, Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Dramatic Art from UC Santa Barbara, and an Associate of Arts from Cabrillo College.

The post Is Your Teen Graduation from High School Soon? What’s Next? first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

]]> https://growingupsc.com/is-your-teen-graduation-from-high-school-soon-whats-next/feed/ 0 I’m Jewish, my Ex is Catholic, What About the Kids! https://growingupsc.com/im-jewish-my-ex-is-catholic-what-about-the-kids/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=im-jewish-my-ex-is-catholic-what-about-the-kids&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=im-jewish-my-ex-is-catholic-what-about-the-kids https://growingupsc.com/im-jewish-my-ex-is-catholic-what-about-the-kids/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2019 12:38:51 +0000 https://growingupsc.com/?p=5841 I’m Jewish, my Ex is Catholic, What About the Kids! By Bob Derber What do you do when you and your ex have different parenting policies? Bedtime at your house is 9 p.m., but 10 p.m. in your ex’s home. You permit ‘PG’ rated movies, your ex says ‘G’ only. Possibly it’s more basic. You are Jewish and your ex is Catholic. You each want the children to adopt your faith. Divorced parents face such issues daily. House rules, educational and extracurricular decisions, computer access and age-appropriate media are typical concerns. When household rules differ, children often use one parent’s rules to ‘play’ off the other. ‘But dad lets us play the game at his home!’ or ‘Mom gives us cell phones!’ And be prepared for further complications as you establish new relationships with another parent who has his or her own children. They will have own rules and preferences. Oh, the complications of blended families. Under California’s Family Law, each parent may apply their own house rules while children are in their custody. They need not be the same at both homes, and one parent cannot dictate to the other. You may permit online gaming at your house while your ex says no internet whatsoever when at his or her home. As long as the health and safety of the children are not compromised, each may set their own rules. But inconsistent rules often trigger unintended consequences. Consider a father who permits cell phones, and a mother who does not. Expect significant ‘push-back’ from the children for mom, and issues for both when the children want to take the cell phone to school. As well, children are often confused by different rules. They may be embarrassed when they must tell friends that they can’t have the phone at one home or the other. Like all parenting issues, compromise and agreement are key. You might be amazed that nearly half of elementary school children in California have cell phones. And cell phones can be restricted in several ways, from allowing only certain numbers to call or be called, permitting parental view of any messaging, and even limiting internet sites that can be visited. Perhaps a compromise for all is permitting a cell phone with privileges and restrictions policy common to both homes. Perhaps a minimum age could be agreed-to. Similarly, a common bedtime and computer access are easily navigated by parents who compromise and co- parent effectively. One area poses a most difficult challenge: Religion. Where there is one theology at Mom’s home, and another at Dad’s, the consequence can become a battleground! Worse, the competing theologies may have fundamental differences. One may Christian and the other Hindu. Without agreement, consider the confusion inconsistent training introduces to the children. They may reject both faiths out of frustration. Again, each parent may raise children according to their faith while the children are at their house. Yet even here compromise is important. Both theologies may have a common moral code, and that compass might be taught in a non-denominational setting. As well, there are ways to blend traditions and rituals for both faiths. Consider Passover, an old-testament event celebrated by Christians and Jews. If this is your interfaith challenge, celebrate with a ‘special meal’ that is not characterized as a Jewish Seder but which still memorializes the event. Where these differences cannot be reconciled, respect for both faiths is key. Your children learn much about tolerance and conflict-resolution when you practice interfaith acceptance. Theological teachings might condemn those who do not comply with the faith a parent chose, or even discourage association with ‘non-believers.’ These will be co-parenting challenges for you both, and confusing for the children. You are free to establish your own house rules when the children are with you. Only when these rules endanger their health and safety will a court be inclined to intervene. Don’t set rules to ‘punish’ your ex by adopting practices to aggravate him or her. This may be considered sufficient impact on the emotional well-being of the children that a court may intervene. Generally, however, you have the right to raise the children as you see fit at your home. But positive co-parenting and compromise can pay huge dividends. Children who live with separated parents who work together are often more content and prepared to face their own challenges as they grow. From the Bench by Judge Marigonda You may find yourself in court when disagreements arise that can’t be easily navigated by parents. But when co-parenting issues surface, try to find that middle ground. I am not the best person to make parenting decisions for your family. Compromise and best interests of your children are keys to their success. Search yourself before you ask a court to make parenting decisions. Bob Derber is a local attorney practicing family law. He served as a State appointed Guardian ad Litem in high conflict matters in the State of Utah before returning to his home in Santa Cruz four years ago. Your situation may differ and the above is not intended to be legal advice to you in your own custodial matters. Be sure to consult with your family law attorney as appropriate if you need help in this area. Have questions for him to answer? Send them to editor@growingupsc.com

The post I’m Jewish, my Ex is Catholic, What About the Kids! first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

]]> https://growingupsc.com/im-jewish-my-ex-is-catholic-what-about-the-kids/feed/ 3 7th Annual Children’s Circus: Around Town March 2019 https://growingupsc.com/around-town-march-2019-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=around-town-march-2019-2&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=around-town-march-2019-2 https://growingupsc.com/around-town-march-2019-2/#respond Fri, 01 Mar 2019 12:30:10 +0000 https://growingupsc.com/?p=5830 7th Annual Children’s Circus: Around Town March 2019 Ladies and Gentleman! Orchard School is presenting its 7th Annual Children’s Circus, CircOrchard, involving the whole student body, kindergarten through sixth grade. This is truly a show to be enjoyed by all ages, featuring clown antics, juggling, acrobatics, unicycling and stilt walking, hijinks, roust-a-bout, and circus spoofs. The public show will be performed Saturday, March 23rd, 2:00 p.m. at the Harbor High School Theatre. Our performance schedule includes free shows for students at Alianza Charter School in Watsonville and DeLaveaga Elementary in Santa Cruz. CIRCA-SIZE students at Orchard School get exercise and learn performance skills in classes that teach circus skills. Over the years, audiences have been wowed by the expertise and creativity of these children, and impressed by their confidence level and powerful stage presence. The show is created fresh every year with the addition of new, kid-generated skits, as well as an ever-growing student skill level that infuses new energy and ideas into some of the old standards. For well over a decade, Orchard School students have performed in many community events throughout the county, under the direction of teacher Rock Lerum, a professional performer, and winner of the Gail Rich award in 2003 for his work in the community. Lerum and nine of his students even traveled to New York City in 2007 where they rode 6- foot tall giraffe unicycles, danced on stilts, sang and clowned in the Good Morning America studios in Times Square, as finalists in a national contest for the Oreo Cookie Jingle. The entire school packed up props, costumes, performers, music and set pieces to perform a rendition of the Yellow Submarine Magical Mystery Tour to local schools in Santa Cruz and Watsonville, in 2009, and again in 2013. In 2010 and 2012, students performed with the Santa Cruz County Symphony as part of their family concert series, in the programs Here Comes the Circus and Under the Boardwalk, at the Santa Cruz Civic Center and the Mello Center in Watsonville. More recently, you may have seen Orchard School students when they delighted the Santa Cruz Warrior’s crowds at halftime in 2014 and 2017. In the past two years, CircOrchard was performed outdoors for over 1,600 elementary students at four local schools: Ohlone & Calabasas Elementary in Watsonville, Gault Elementary in Santa Cruz, and Pacific Elementary in Davenport. Orchard School is a non-profit, alternative private school located on 14 beautiful acres in Aptos, with just under 60 students and a dozen teachers who are specialists in their field. The school’s mission is to bring learn- ing to life with a comprehensive hands-on curriculum that celebrates childhood and focuses on the arts as well as traditional academics. The staff shares a commitment to make sure students get out in nature and move their bodies as much as possible, and share the belief that kids need this to fully exercise and develop their brains and inspire their curiosity to want to learn. Tickets: $12 adults, $6 under 12 and seniors, free under 2.To purchase tickets for CirOchard via Paypal, visit orchardschoolaptos.org or call or email the school for more information. (688-1074, info@orchardschoolaptos.org)

The post 7th Annual Children’s Circus: Around Town March 2019 first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

]]> https://growingupsc.com/around-town-march-2019-2/feed/ 0 Caring 4 Kids https://growingupsc.com/caring-4-kids/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=caring-4-kids&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=caring-4-kids https://growingupsc.com/caring-4-kids/#respond Fri, 01 Mar 2019 12:10:29 +0000 https://growingupsc.com/?p=5825 Caring 4 Kids By Susan Wallace Anyone who has ever held a baby, cared for a baby or fed a baby is struck with the extreme vulnerability and innocence of such dependent beings. We know humans take decades to develop and mature into their adult selves with many challenges and struggles along the way. As a society, we keep learning better ways to improve child-rearing and parenting. Parents strive to support and listen with unconditional love regardless of the quality of parenting they endured. We all realize that love, appreciation and connection are much more powerful than correction or punishment. Many parents’ worst nightmares include being unable to protect their children from sexual abuse. We see parents across the US struggling with the shock and horror of finding out that their child was abused. We know that in 5 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18. While there may be no obvious signs during or in the aftermath of the abuse, over time we may notice unusual or sexualized behavior like a young child acting out sexually, trying to be sexual with another, usually younger child, or even trying to approach an adult in inappropriate ways that they witnessed or experienced. It’s important for us as parents or other caring adults to know that when children act out or otherwise misbehave, they are telling us that they need help with something traumatic they have either witnessed or endured. While limits and consequences are necessary at times, punishment and isolation are not solutions – it is important in stressful moments to stop, breathe, and think about the best way to handle the situation. We can keep lines of communication open by prioritizing our children’s needs and striving to maintain mutually loving and respectful relationships, knowing that this takes spending quality time together, listening more than we speak, and seeking adult/peer/professional support for ourselves. Survivors Healing Center is committed to creating a community that recognizes trauma and does something about it. We envision a shift from sexual violence as a norm to respect and dignity for all. The Caring 4 Kids–End Child Sexual Abuse prevention program works to inform community members about the extent of trauma and lifelong impact of sexual abuse. We encourage a discussion on sexual violence, how to recognize the symptoms and how to respond individually and as a community. We need to build a world in which children’s autonomy and bodies are respected and parents know how to protect their children. Please join us on March 24th at the Day of the Child event on Pacific Avenue. We will have educational color- ing books, resources and can answer any questions and discuss any concerns you may have. We are here to help.

The post Caring 4 Kids first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

]]> https://growingupsc.com/caring-4-kids/feed/ 0 Cabrillo Game Designers Get a 10 out of 10 https://growingupsc.com/cabrillo-game-designers-get-a-10-out-of-10/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cabrillo-game-designers-get-a-10-out-of-10&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cabrillo-game-designers-get-a-10-out-of-10 https://growingupsc.com/cabrillo-game-designers-get-a-10-out-of-10/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2019 11:59:12 +0000 https://growingupsc.com/?p=5819 Cabrillo Game Designers Get a 10 out of 10 By Ricky Chavez Most gamers are satisfied beating bosses or winning multiplayer matches, but for many this isn’t enough. Every semester, a class of students enroll into Intro to Programming/Games, a games programming class at Cabrillo College. Future video game developers get the satisfaction of making their own game and after a tough semester they showed off their games in December. GAMERS ON GAMES students testing JAVA’s game Project Jumpman. The class got together the week before finals to play and test each others games. I was able to sit in and personally test out every game that was made. Ed Parrish, who’s a computer science instructor at Cabrillo, teaches the JAVA programming class that is focused on teaching the basics of the language while also teaching the basics of game design. Learning to make characters move and jump around the screen while interacting with other characters and objects in the world are just a few game design basics that are covered. Parrish also covers basic JAVA techniques that are used in many common computer programs, such as opening and saving new files and basic math calculations. At the the start of the class, the students were divided into six teams: Emberscald, Wise Guys, CCMTP, JAVA, Burn and The Hive of Chittering Ratmen. Out of the six groups only the Ratmen didn’t have a game to show. In a single semester, many of these students went from knowing nothing about coding to making their own games. The first team, Emberscald, made a simple platformer called “Air Freshener Adventure”. This was a simple platformer where you play as a can of air freshener trying to clean up a stinky room. Players were able to shoot clouds of air freshener at out- houses, but the attack didn’t seem to do anything. Emberscald said that they just didn’t have time to add in a way to win yet. The Wise Guys were showing off “Nebulcar Rising”. The original visuals immediately catch attention being more appealing than most of the other games. The movement was a little slow but jumping had a nice weight and speed making it feel more responsive than other games. The game keeps players attention by giving out power ups such as invincibility which stops you from getting hurt and power juice which was supposed to end the level. CCMTP presented “Sally From The Ally”, another simple platformer. There wasn’t much to this game but moving Sally around the screen, which was easy and Sally herself looked decent. The most impressive game was “Project Jumpman”, made by team JAVA. There was a ton of original artwork and every character was animated to look like they were moving and not just sliding. The controls were a bit confusing at first but after playing for a while they become natural, using the spacebar to climb the mountainside for a limited amount of time and the WASD keys to move around. When walking towards the edge of a cliff the character would fall to the platform below, which means falling all the way down the mountain is just a single mistake away. There were tons of obstacles, from spikes to wandering monsters that filled the world that were tricky too avoid but never felt unfair. Whenever the character gets hit the screen goes dark which was confusing and frustrating and could probably use some changing, but it wasn’t too intrusive. The final game was “Zombie World” by team Burn, which had the most interesting controls. Using the mouse instead of the keyboard to allow the character to aim and shoot was a welcome change of pace. The animations in this game looked 3D while still being in 2D, which helped it stand apart from all the other games. The gameplay was challenging but with some tweaking final product could be rewarding. Every team started with so little knowledge and really stepped up to show what they could do and the passion they had for making games and show that if you want to make a video game, it’s as easy as signing up for CS-12GP at Cabrillo College.

The post Cabrillo Game Designers Get a 10 out of 10 first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

]]> https://growingupsc.com/cabrillo-game-designers-get-a-10-out-of-10/feed/ 3