Susie Deutsch 25 years Surfing Tell us about an intense or fun surfing memory One fun and intense memory I have was arriving at Tamarindo, Costa Rica after a red eye flight. My trip overlapped with my good friend Joe’s trip by 12 hours. Joe insisted that we have a surf together before his family returned back to Santa Cruz. We paddle out in the windy afternoon conditions with me having zero energy. After a bit Joe exclaimed “Look, a turtle!” As we watched the “turtle” the tail came up a good 8 feet from the head. At that point we realized it was a crocodile. My energy went from…
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Syda Cogliati
Syda Cogliati 30 years Surfing Tell us about an intense or fun surfing memory When my daughter was 3 months old, I took her on an all ladies’ surf trip to Costa Rica. She would fall asleep in a baby sling, and when I went out to surf, I would slip the sling off and put it on one of my girlfriends. Tell us something unique about you as a mother who surfs with/without your kiddos My son is now in college on the east coast. When he came home for spring break last month, I drove to the airport with all his surf gear packed in the car.…
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Jessica Benet
Jessica Benet 25 years Surfing Tell us about an intense or fun surfing memory Some of my best memories are growing up surfing with my dad and my older brother and I look forward to sharing that stoke with my own kids. What is your occupation Landscape Designer Do you have any significant community involvement? I enjoy catching up with the regulars every time I paddle out at the lane. Tell us something unique about you as a mother who surfs with/without your kiddos I have a background in marine biology, so I have fun teaching my son about ocean life both above and below the water. What is your…
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Shana Bartlett
Shana Bartlett 26 years Surfing Tell us about an intense or fun surfing memory I was on a surf trip in Mexico with about 14 grom surfers and a few guy leaders including my husband when I was 21 years old. Funny enough,a handful of those groms became Santa Cruz’s top surfers just a few years later(Anthony Tashnick, Bud Freitas, Darshan Gooch, Peter Garaway and more). I was feeling really off, tired and nauseous. It hit me on the trip that maybe I am pregnant. There were no girls to talk too about these symptoms and no phones to look up anything on. I can still remember confiding in my…
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Gretchen Bach
Gretchen Bach 43 years Surfing Tell us about an intense or fun surfing memory Dropping my 11-year old daughter off to surf the Lane by herself. That was harder for me than watching her drive away in a car for her first time. What is your occupation Realtor Do you have any significant community involvement? Current: Santa Cruz Educational Foundation Board Member. Past: Santa Cruz City Green Schools Board Member, Co-Founder of the Santa Cruz County Scholastic Surfing League, and former Surf Coach for Santa Cruz High, and Mission Hill and Branciforte Middle Schools. Tell us something unique about you as a mother who surfs with/without your kiddos I like…
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Inside Ed April
Inside Education April 2021 Moving Forward into Santa Cruz’s Educational Future BY suki wessling This month’s Inside Education took place days after the verdict from the Derek Chauvin trial was announced, and County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah highlighted how that event mirrors the change that is taking place in our local schools. “The idea that we can claim that schools are apolitical is getting smaller and smaller,” Sabbah explained. “There is a great opportunity for us to reimagine our schools. It ties into our ability to uplift student voice and address inequity.” Santa Cruz County has received $100 million in one-time pandemic-related funding, and Sabbah says that the COE…
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Early Financial Literacy
The Value of Early Financial Literacy By Christy Shults Whatever you choose, teaching your children the value of budgeting and saving at a young age will carry with them through their adulthood. Good luck with your money adventures! “Can you Venmo me? Or CashApp, Paypal, Zelle, I’m pretty sure I have Facebook Pay too.” Sound familiar? Who writes checks anymore or carries cash? Long gone are the days of giving your kid a $20 to go out. Admittedly paying allowance has been much easier since March 2020 when social outings came to a halt. All I have to do is transfer my kids’ budget to their savings accounts. It could…
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Mary Wright
This Month’s Mom Doesn’t Run From a Challenge Meet Mary Wright of Arete Women’s Running Club by suki wessling Welcome back to our monthly feature of moms who have faced the task of pandemic parenting while also continuing their work in our community. Research has shown that women have suffered greater economic and personal fallout from the pandemic, losing jobs or having to work while also caring for children. “Since August, we have worked really hard to prioritize our kids’ socio-emotional health,” explains Mary Wright. Why August? That’s when she, husband Andy, and their three kids Lucia, Oliver, and Annabel welcomed a fourth, baby Thomas.Mary is Co-Founder and Director of…
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Martina Goulart
Martina Goulart May Artist of the Month When I was 15, I lived in a different country. The time, place, and culture made me believe that drawing and painting was childish and it wasn’t going to get me anywhere in my life. I gave up on my dream, and moved on to a more practical path in my career. Luckily, I didn’t give up on my dreams to travel. A few years later, I moved to California, where I could truly be who I really was, an artist. Now residing in the Santa Cruz Mountains, I feel very fortunate to be a part of such a great community and stunning…
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Mini Musicians
Give Kids The Choice…By Taking It Away by Chris Jackson If your kids want to choose to learn an instrument once they’re adults, they can, right? Wrong. If you don’t make music lessons mandatory for your kids, they won’t have the choice to learn later. If you require the lessons, they will have the choice to not pursue it as adults. The vast majority of successful musicians do not have some crazy gift. They learned early and played their instruments a lot. My parents made it mandatory for me to take piano lessons at nine years old. They did the same with my two brothers. Both of them made the…
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Mother’s Day Gift Guide
There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one. – Jill Churchill May is the month we celebrate mothers – women who give selflessly to those around them. A mother is not always the one who gave birth to you; she may be your aunt, guardian, or friend. She may live next door, across the country, or be watching over you from beyond this world. We celebrate a mother’s unconditional love, her ability to be somewhere/someone safe when we are scared, and our cheerleader through life—cheers to all women out there wearing their hearts outside of their bodies. Here in Santa Cruz…
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Spring Gut Reset
Spring Gut Reset Spring Cleaning for Your Tummy by Gretchen heimsoth Spring has no doubt sprung! Blossoms have budded and transitioned to leaves, it is getting warmer by the week, and seasonal farmers’ markets are reopening. As the seasons turn, there is a benefit in focusing on the various shifts going on around us, how our bodies respond to those changes, and their own needs accordingly shift. After a season of the cooler, denser energies of winter, spring has a noticeable lightness and expansiveness. Digestive needs change as our bodies respond to the temperature changes around us. spring and summer are rich times of the year, abundant in seasonal foods…
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Cultivate Food Enthusiasm
Cultivate Food Enthusiasm With Chef Andrea This Summer By Suki Wessling Despite her extensive work with adults, Chef Andrea speaks most enthusiastically about working with younger kids who are far from thinking about careers. Chef Andrea Mollenauer doesn’t seem to do anything halfway. “I kind of have my fingers in every area of the food industry—and I love it!” Andrea is a caterer, owner of the Food Lounge (a “community-minded food venue”), Cabrillo culinary instructor, high school Career Technical Education instructor, and summer camp leader extraordinaire. And in case you’re wondering: No, she hasn’t slowed down during the pandemic.When she learned that she was going to have to teach from…
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Joy Blossoms
A Place for Joy to Blossom By Lisa Catterall I wonder why, when parents choose schools for their kids, they don’t ask students at the school whether they experience happiness in class every day? “The joy in learning is as indispensable in study as breathing is in running.” – Simone Weil Anything that enters a human brain through the senses passes through a simple triage process. Standing at the triage station is the amygdala, and it has three modes: “Danger – run away!” is one; “Happy happy joy joy!” is another; and the third is simply “neutral.” When the amygdala senses danger, every other brain function funnels energy into running…
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Adventures in Mom-ing
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Organized Family Car
The Organized Family Car By Jhoneé Fillmore Our family car is one of the main vessels in which we seek fun, errands, work, school and many adventures. Within our spontaneous adventures my sons’ often get soaked and muddy. Bless this vehicle’s heart as it endures countless crumbs, spilled drinks, sticky handprints, wrappers, dirt and mud galore, sticks, rocks, seashells and random toys that have found their way here. Our family car is one of the main vessels in which we seek fun, errands, work, school and many adventures. Within our spontaneous adventures my sons’ often get soaked and muddy. Bless this vehicle’s heart as it endures countless crumbs, spilled drinks,…
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Santa Cruz’s Hidden Beaches
Santa Cruz’s Beach Favorites And the Quirky Things We Do There By Jeanette Prather Take it from the locals, when it comes to beach-going Santa Cruz knows what’s up. Throughout the county there are all kinds of fun and beachy things we do with our children, some more mainstream and others more eclectic. Whatever your saltwater pastime, adventures are limitless in our beach town. “When I take my 4-year-old to the beach, we always collect treasures (broken shells, crab bodies, feathers, etc.),” said local mom, Nicole Alfaro. “Then, we build a sandcastle and decorate it with our treasures.” Even when the beaches might not be easy to name or have…
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May 2021 Calendar
GUiSC accepts listings for family-oriented events that are free or cost less than $10, to be considered in the monthly calendar of events. Events costing more than $10 for non-profit originations or benefits will also be considered. GUiSC does not guarantee that a submitted event will be included in the calendar. The calendar editors will select calendar entries and photos. Photos for the calendar may be submitted by email. Digital images must be high resolution, 200-300dpi. Calendar Deadline: 15th of the month prior to publication. (i.e. May 15 for June issue) Submit Event Saturday 1 May Day Celebrated in many different cultures around the world. It is a day of…
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The New Normal
The New Normal By Jeanette Prather “These are the best of times!” announced Julie Horner, editor of the SLV Post. At first glance you might be thinking that Horner was referring to some obscure, off-the-cuff situation, but she was simply referencing the “here and now.” She was mentioning how good things have spawned from the bizarre year-plus our society is coming out of. And she’s not alone, especially among the parents locally who’ve become masters at thinking outside of the metaphoric parenting box. “Creative parenting,” we can call this. “Our weekends used to be really full of events, birthday parties, etc.,” said Felton mom, Sarah Marie Shane-Vasquez. “During the pandemic…
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May 2021 Coloring page
Mama and Her Piglets Deadline June 20 Submit your coloring entry to [email protected] and win prizes. You can also mail them to Box 3505, Santa Cruz, 95063 Read More Coloring Pages
