Harlow | Age 4 Harper Tessa | Age 5 Ayden Courtney | Age 4 Emma | Age 5 Grant | Age 8 Harshita | Age 6 Hugh | Age 4.5 Isabella | Age 7 Jesse & Turtle | Age 7 Lana Magnus | Age 4 Navaeh | Age 9 Ziggy | Age 6 Gemma Luna | Age 4 Pax | Age 4 Sophia Find More Coloring Pages
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Spooky Coloring
Spooky Halloween Submit your coloring page for a chance to win tickets to Gilroy Gardens or Swank Farms! Send to [email protected] More Coloring Pages
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Contest winners 1021
Isla Jetty | Age 10 Olivia | Age 5 Tristan Rebecca | Age 8 Rogan | Age 5 Find More Coloring Pages
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Dana Ramsey
Dana Ramsey Finds Fertile Ground in Santa Cruz 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. When she opened her new business two-and-a-half months before Covid-19 hit Santa Cruz, Dana Ramsey remembers feeling her stress level dive. “It was life-changing to go from practicing full-scope midwifery for the past 15 years to a much slower-paced, patient-focused practice,” Dana remembers. “It gave me flexibility to pick my…
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Child Tax Credit
Child Tax Credit Brings Benefits And Potential Pitfalls By Suki Wessling The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, whhich was signed into law on March 20, enhances the 2021 child tax credit (CTC). Most families are automatically receiving monthly payments of $250 or $300 per child without having to take any action. This is great news for families, no matter how you cut it. But it adds some complexity over the existing child tax credit, tax experts say. Read on to learn what the new credit is and how it will affect your taxes. What is this new CTC and how is it different from the old one?The major difference…
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Lets cook dinner
Let’s Cook Dinner! Two Quick and Easy Meals to Feed Your Family on Weeknights By Leslie Funk Hello Parents! School just started and the pace of daily life is increasing. Chances are you feel a bit burned out when faced with the question, “What’s for dinner tonight?” The nutritional goals of a home cooked meal are; lean protein, complex carbohydrates from plant sources that provide energy, fiber and nutrients, and heart-healthy fats. By making dinner at home you can insure your family gets the nutrition they need, while avoiding added sugar, bad fats and highly processed ingredients typically found in pre made store meals, restaurant food and fast food. Here…
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2021 Baby Photo
James Powars Wilder Named after his grandpa Jim Wilder and great grandma Patricia Powars. He’s known around town as Sweet Baby James. He was born March 15th 2021 and just turned six months. Both his parents were born and raised in Santa Cruz and he has a huge extended family that are all close by! He has two older sisters whom he absolutely adores (and vice versa) He loves to laugh and be the center of attention. His smile, baby rolls and chubby cheeks bring joy to all that cross his path!
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Pandemic-era Birth Stories
Pandemic-era Birth Stories Unknowns, Rainbows, and Hard Choices By Suki Wessling Pregnancy and birth are full of unknowns even in the best of times. During a pandemic, everything you thought to expect gets thrown by the wayside.Three moms talked to me about their experiences with birth during this time. Two of them were first-time moms and so their experiences were all new. One was having her third—and her experiences were all new as well! I want to thank these moms for their openness and sharing. Although each related struggles associated with pregnancy complications, Covid restrictions, and mental health challenges, their stories—like all good birth stories—are about perseverance and strength in…
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Sea Walls Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Gets 19 New Ocean-Themed Murals by Bridget Lyons Photos by Bridget Lyons During a week-long flurry of “artivism”—activism through art—Sea Walls Santa Cruz transformed 19 outdoor walls into vibrant murals. The festival was the latest edition of the PangeaSeed Foundation’s Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans program that invites engagement with ocean advocacy. You’ve likely already noticed some of the murals, since they’re located in high traffic areas, such as along Mission Street on the West Side, on either side of Soquel Avenue in Midtown, and in various locations downtown, including the bus depot and the Front Street garage. Taylor Reinhold and the Made Fresh Crew, the local artist…
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2021 Halloween
Pumpkin Picking Sunnside Produce Pumpkin Patch2831 Daubenbiss ave, SoquelArata185 Verde Rd, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019Post Street Farm122 Post St., Santa CruzCapitola Produce Pumpkin Patch700 Bay Ave., CapitolaRodoni Farms4444 Coast Road (Highway 1)Crystal Bay Farm40 Zils Road, WatsonvilleGizdich Ranch55 Peckham Rd, Watsonville, CA 95076Live Earth1275 Green Valley Road, Watsonville Halloween movie countdown Addam’s Family Beetlejuice Casper Coraline Corpse Bride Hocus Pocus It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Frankenweenie Nightmare Before Christmas Paranorman EVENTS Saturday 2Roaring Camp: Harvest Faire & Steam Festival 11:00 AM-5:00 PM Step into the incredible world of steam power at the Harvest Faire & Steam Festival presented by Kinetic Steam Works and Roaring Camp Railroads. Welcome Fall…
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A-Mazing Halloween
A-Mazing Halloween in the Fields By Brad Kava When you think about a corn maze, unless you are a big Stephen King fan, you figure you can get though one in five or 10 minutes—if you get out at all! Not at Hollister’s Swank Farms, where last year’s record time was a speedy 25 minutes and that was by some people who really worked hard to get through seven acres of twisting turns. Others may want to bring a picnic to survive. The Swank family, who manage 25 acres of fun, have let their imaginations run as wild as their crops and, besides their two Sunflower Experience weekends in September…
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Kids Halloween
By Mikayla Shults Last October was not what anybody had hoped for, yet all of these kids and their families found a way to make Halloween memorable. The most popular places around San Lorenzo Valley were Riverside and California Dr. in Ben Lomond, which isn’t different from any other year. Almost everyone took a stroll around their neighborhood, where families created contactless forms of trick-or-treating; shooting candy down tubes, throwing treats at kids, and the classic: leaving a bowl on the front porch. Some went to a Halloween parade with masks and social distancing in Santa Cruz. Now that older kids and parents can be vaccinated, don’t fear the Covid,…
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Technology Engineering and Art
The Educational Needs of This Generation Technology, Engineering and Art By Lisa Catterall Art is a universal human language. Direct connections exist between how much art students learn and their success in all academic subjects and as members of communities. Our schools will improve if they deliver quality arts education to all students. The students deserve nothing less. – James S. Catterall My office just became host to a tray of smiling, blinking robotic bees happily keeping me company as I prepare for my classes. I met my first graders today and their teacher introduced me as their “makers teacher,” and I said, “Oh no, these bees are going to…
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Momming Lunches
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College Application Tips
6 Tips for a Winning College Application by Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy College-bound seniors are off to a busy season as they juggle their 12th-grade classes and between 7-20 college applications. This year looks different because colleges are still reeling from COVID challenges with SATs and ACTS, campus tours, and interviews. Here are 6 tips to consider when organizing your college applications: Choose colleges based on the majors offered Most students make the mistake of choosing colleges based on their rankings or locations. Instead, research the majors you’re considering and choose the colleges that have programs that align with your interests. Check out their required courses and electives. You’ll be surprised to…
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Showing Up For Youth
Showing Up for Youth By Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson Whether or not you’re a parent in this community, each of us has been impacted by the tragic stabbing at Aptos High School that led to the death of a 17-year old child, as well as the arrest of two other children. This has led me to reflect on the impacts of adults in my life when I was a child, and my role, our role as caring adults. When was a time when a caring adult who wasn’t your parent comforted, uplifted and gave you space to grow?I remember my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Donovan. Little in size, big in heart, gray-haired,…
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Birth Happens
Birth Happens by Laura Maxson, LM Shared experiences help us understand our world. Local midwives have committed to sharing their combined wealth of knowledge and history around childbirth. “Our efforts are focused on highlighting midwifery and homebirth,” says midwife, Elizabeth Yznaga. She and Kate Bowland, both highly experienced certified nurse-midwives, are partners in the Birth Happens project. The influence of homebirth and midwifery changed obstetrics in the U.S. due in part to the courage of the women and families of the San Lorenzo Valley. They were pioneers in bringing birth back home, while reinventing childbirth education and attending births as midwives. Birth Happens puts a spotlight on local history with…
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The Return of Halloween Events
The Return of Halloween Events Theme Parks Announce Scarefests After 2020 Hiatus By Erik Chalhoub I’ve been surprised over the past few weeks as theme parks throughout the state have been slowly announcing their Halloween offerings this year.Curious, mostly, over how events that rely heavily on “in your face scares” can survive and adapt in a world where a pandemic rages on, and where social distancing is still prominent. The parks have so far been mum on what modifications their Halloween festivities will have in light of Covid-19 and its variants. Will plexiglass separate the monsters from the guests? Will capacity inside mazes be extremely limited, therefore requiring reservations? We…
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Violence in Schools
When Violence Happens at School by Nicole M. Young, MSW Our community is still grappling with the tragic, violent death of a high school student on campus. It’s been weeks since it happened and I didn’t know the students involved, but I still get emotional when I imagine the pain of losing a child. Many people responded with compassion, honoring the student who lost his life and donating money to the family. Others shared strong opinions about whether to have more law enforcement or mental health counselors on campus. And some shared their theories about what causes violence in the first place (hint: it’s usually framed as a parenting failure).…
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Santa Cruz First
A Santa Cruz First Children Receive College Funds for Going to the Dentist Did you know children from low-income households with savings of just $1-$499 for post-secondary education are three times more likely to go to college—and four times more likely to graduate? Starting children with savings early in life can improve their social-emotional development, a proven predictor of increased academic achievement later in life. College Savings Account programs send all children the message that they have the potential and the support needed for academic success and economic mobility, regardless of where they come from or their family’s finances. Dientes Community Dental and Santa Cruz Community Ventures (SCCV) have announced…
