Letters October 2019 Hello, My name is Séverine. I’m French and few days ago I was in California for my summer holidays. During my trip, I made a stop at Santa Cruz and I ate at Charlie Hong Kong. There, I found your September magazine, and the cover photography was so cool that I took one to realize a poster for my home. I wanted to put it on a frame. Only for my personnal use, only to have a souvenir. I love the California light on it, the color and even the typography and what’s written, school, grand parents… Anyway, I lost it at the airport … So today…
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Coloring Page October 2019
Coloring Page October 2019
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Editor’s Note October 2019
Editor’s Note: October 2019 Lou Reed called having a baby “the beginning of a great adventure,” which we love. But it’s also like a roller coaster ride, with ups and downs and questions, questions, questions. It seems the more we know, the more we need to know. Do I vaccinate? Do I send kids to day care? How long should I breast feed? How early is too early to start applying to colleges? If my kid doesn’t play violin by age 2, am I failing as a parent? Growing Up is all about being a resource to answer your questions. We are lucky to have some of the greatest experts…
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The Birth of a Mother: Yoga Can Help Childbirth and Infant Rearing
The Birth of a Mother Yoga Can Help Childbirth and Infant Rearing By Hannah Muse The journey of pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum is undoubtedly one of the most incredible, life-enhancing, fulfilling experiences one can ever experience! And – whether it’s our first pregnancy or our fourth – it can also be a great challenge for our bodies, minds, and emotional life in ways we’ve never experienced; in ways that we don’t always feel ready and resourced to handle without additional support. Who needs goat yoga when you’ve got baby and prenatal yoga? And in Santa Cruz you can learn to be a prenatal yoga teacher. Photo: Expressivephotographics.com Luckily there is…
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Sing to Your Baby: Music and Brain Development
Sing to Your Baby Music and Brain Development By Jan Pierce The sweet interaction between a mother and her baby when the mother sings to the infant is a universal behavior. And researchers now know that this simple, most natural activity is mutually beneficial to both mother and child. Singing provides the sensory stimulation that helps baby to focus attention enabling learning, and the mother feels empowered as she creates a positive bond with her baby. Music builds connection, both with words and the unconscious mathematics of creating a melody. Benefits of Musical Experiences But studies are showing that a broad array of musical experiences can build connections in the…
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When Saying Good-bye is Hard for Babies (and Parents): Ask Nicole October 2019
When Saying Good-bye is Hard for Babies (and Parents) Ask Nicole: October 2019 By Nicole M. Young, MSW You wouldn’t know it now, but my daughter cried constantly when she was a baby. First, she had colic. Then she cried whenever I was out of her sight. This made it extremely hard to drop her off at child care, and I often ended up crying just as much as my daughter. Our wise child care provider suggested I give my daughter something that smelled like me when saying good-bye, so she could be reminded of me throughout the day. Saying bye to baby or his older brothers can be challenging,…
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Building Baby’s Library
Building Baby’s Library By Jan Pierce Books Matter Educators tell us that every child needs to hear five hundred books read aloud to them before entering Kindergarten. Hearing all those stories prepares boys and girls for learning to read. They’ll pick up important “book knowledge” such as concepts of words and sentences, left to right orientation, top and bottom, the beginning, middle and end of a book and much more. Here’s a place Kindle and tablets haven’t penetrated—books for babies and kids. Nothing beats nightly reading and educators say kids need to hear 500 books before kindergarten. They’ll learn to enjoy book language which is different from everyday speaking. They’ll…
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Lighting the Fire: Behind the Teacher’s Desk October 2019
Lighting the Fire Behind the Teacher’s Desk: October 2019 By Lisa Catterall “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel” —Socrates. “I have to do what? Talk about how a living thing is different than this candle flame? Why?” Good point. Why would I have you do that? Well, there are years of research showing that for many kids, thinking and talking about something cause that concept to fall into your memory in a more useful way than passively reading about it or listening to a teacher give you the answer. “Can you just give me the answer?” I would like to offer all of…
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He Lights up the Skies for Kids: Marc Monte Honored for Donating $4 Million to Schools
He Lights up the Skies for Kids Marc Monte Honored for Donating $4 Million to Schools By Brad Kava Marc Monte loves fireworks. That’s one of the reasons he came up with a yearly show held in October that has raised $4 million for local schools, libraries, sports fields and boatloads of other charities. When his father, Rudolph Monte, opened the gourmet supermarket, Deluxe Foods in Aptos in 1977, they donated $150 to a charity golf tournament, the Little Helpers Tournament. But they wanted to do more. So, starting in 1996, Marc came up with the idea of a fireworks show held at Seacliff State Park for which kids would…
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Getting Your Ducks in a Row. Pregnancy Homework Pays Off: Birth Matters October 2019
Getting Your Ducks in a Row. Pregnancy Homework Pays Off Birth Matters: October 2019 By Laura Maxson, LM There is so much to learn about, plan for and decide on when expecting. Parents-to-be and new parents can easily feel confused or overwhelmed. Although it can seem like an eternity at times, pregnancy does go quickly when it comes to getting all your ducks in a row before baby arrives. And who knew there were so many ducks. There is support for the biggest adventure, having a baby, at Bellies, Birth and Babies, where you join other mothers and learn about everything from compostable diapers to home birth and breast pumps.…
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Behind the Masks: Aptos Man has Made Millions on Trick or Treating
Behind the Masks Aptos Man has Made Millions on Trick or Treating By Brad Kava There’s probably no one in Santa Cruz who likes Halloween more than Chris Zephro. A decade ago, he started his mask-making company, Trick or Treat Studios with $250,000 and some designers who knew how to make the creepiest masks. Today, this lover of all things spooky, sells $20 million worth of masks and collectibles from a Soquel warehouse. Chris Zephro has taken his teenaged daughter to meet stars like Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne, when he does costumes for their shows. She still doesn’t think he’s cool, he says. We do. More recently, he branched…
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These Online Helpers Help Teens Find Careers: October 2019
These Online Helpers Help Teens Find Careers Career Pathways: October 2019 By Mary Gaukel Forster Schools today are focusing on programs to help guide students on their career paths. Districts in Santa Cruz have adopted the on-line program called NAVIANCE, a comprehensive college and career readiness solution that helps districts and schools align student strengths and interests to postsecondary goals. Naviance improves student outcomes by helping them connect their strengths and interests to long-term goals today. There are important tools teens can find to help get them started on career paths. They can do them in school or at home on computers. This program serves middle school through high school…
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Pump It Up: Extreme Adventures October 2019
Pump It Up Cabrillo Grad Makes Olympic Race Tracks Extreme Adventures: October 2019 By G.P. Scheppler From humble beginnings all the way to the Olympics, Alex Fowler has made the most of growing up in Santa Cruz, building a small bike track business into an industry innovator. For those brave individuals who blaze a trail all their own, the road to success isn’t smooth, flat, straight or paved. Its hard packed dirt filled with jumps, twists and turns. Count Fowler, founder of Action Sports Construction and builder of the 2016 Rio Olympics BMX pump track, amongst the latter. The 31-year-old Aptos transplant is changing the way people design and build…
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You Can Still Buy Packaged Food: Eating Healthy October 2019
You Can Still Buy Packaged Food But “health food” isn’t always healthy Healthy Eating: October 2019 By Kris Holden It’s easier than you think to start eating healthy. That doesn’t mean having to spend most of the day in the kitchen. For convenience, you can still buy pre-packaged food and you don’t have to limit yourself to the designated “health food” aisle found in many grocery stores. Surprisingly, many of those “health foods,” may not be the best choices for your health. Food affects mood, memory, energy and overall quality of life. It’s never too late to start paying more attention to what we put into our bodies. Spending a…
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Work and Play Can Mix: Always Amused October 2019
Work and Play Can Mix New class at Boardwalk prepares students for hospitality jobs Always Amused: October 2019 By Erik Chalhoub High school students across the county are gathering once a week to learn the ins and outs of the hospitality and tourism industry. And they are doing it at the most fitting location possible: the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The Santa Cruz County Office of Education’s Career Technical Education Partnership (CTEP) program teamed up recently with the Boardwalk to offer the new CTEP Hospitality, Tourism and Recreation course. “One of the benefits is they get to know the behind-the-scenes of one of the coolest local employers,” Mollenauer said. “It’s like a…
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Frights of Passage: A History of Being Scared, Madame Tussaud to Santa Cruz Dark Rides
Frights of Passage A History of Being Scared, Madame Tussaud to Santa Cruz Dark Rides by John Koenig Dark and shadowy places have always held a fascination for those who dare to enter them. Caverns and caves, moonlit graveyards, ominous forests, and abandoned houses were the “haunted attractions” that inspired dares to enter in the days long before amusement parks, movies, or even electric lights. Do you or don’t you dare to enter the Fright Walk? It’s part of the local history of scary rides. Photo: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Ghost stories told around campfires were the main source of supernatural chills until around 200 years ago, when a legendary…
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Green Family Living: October 2019
Green Family Living October 2019 By Linnaea Avenell An important facet of green living is changing our mindset, not just for us as adults, but for our children starting out in the world. That is, teaching children to respect our natural world and to want to take action to preserve it. At my farm camp, Little Garden Patch, we approach green living from many fronts: boosting imagination and creative thinking, learning social skills to help them work better with others, Linnaea Avenelli’s Garden Patch program gets kids away from their digital toys and into sharing the joys of nature. She suggests parents get their kids into some gardening to help…
