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Self Esteem in Teens
Secret to Building Self-Esteem in Teens By Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy Being a teen today has many complexities that the rest of us old folks never had to maneuver. We didn’t have 18 months of social isolation where most of our interpersonal interactions were spent perusing social media posts. We didn’t have bullies who hid behind digital screens while they blasted hateful messages and photos to us for everyone to see. Most of the teens I work with today suffer from depression and devastating self-esteem issues. Teens so desperately need to receive affirmations to feel that they’re normal. Whether it’s knowing that their favorite sweatshirt looks good on them or that they’re…
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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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5 Tips Success
5 Tips on Organizing Your Child for Success By Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy Organization with Merit PlannerAll kids (and parents too!) need structure. When they start school, they should have their own paper planner where they can enter homework, quizzes/tests, and project assignments as well as sports, clubs, and social events. I use the Merit Planner because it has 7 days (not just school days) that are divided into 30-minute segments starting at 6:00 am and ending at midnight. By entering in classes for the semester, they’ll have the structure to enter in homework, test, and project dates for each class. Homework and Study Skills While in class, your children can enter…
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Grade Bump
Need a Grade Bump? California Law Allows Students to Improve Grades after Disrupted Learning Last Year By Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy Finally, we’re facing the fact that students fell behind with all of the disruptions caused by the pandemic last year. In California, K-12 students have several ways to make up for the lost learning. 1. Repeat the Grade For students who didn’t pass at least half of their classes. 2. Replace Bad Grades with Pass/Fail For high school students only. California State Universities will accept these Pass/Fail grades. The University of California and private schools are encouraged to do the same. 3. Take a 5th Year For 11th and 12th grade…
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Behind the Scenes
Behind the Scenes: Santa Cruz County Office of Education Inside Education, May 2021 By Suki Wessling The final Inside Education meeting of the year featured three organizations that help kids and young adults get out and about in our community. The Department of Rehabilitation Student Services aims to help students with all types of disabilities transition from their education toward independence, employment, and a successful life. The DOR helps train students to be successful on the job and to have the tools and resources to live independently. Students 16-21 who have an IEP, 504 plan, or a disability can take part in their program, which matches students with a counselor…
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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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Inside Ed April 2021
Cooking and Racial Justice Are you a community member who would be interested in getting an in-depth look at our local education system? Contact Les Forster at [email protected] to join Inside Education’s next round. Every year, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education welcomes a diverse group of locals—businesspeople, educators, government employees—to come together monthly and learn about education in Santa Cruz County. The program serves as a bridge between public education and the wider community, promoting understanding and connections to benefit both sides. This month’s Inside Education started with an important subject for parents to hear: the hot topic of “learning loss.” Debi Bodenheimer, Associate Superintendent of the County…
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School Safety During Covid
Face to Face: The Follow Up School Safety During Covid-19 by Jeanette Prather Demonstrating an admirable resilience in the face of a pandemic, students have adapted and adjusted to the times, and teachers have shown that their valiant efforts and unwavering passion can and will educate children across many platforms and over a variety of wavelengths. As local schools make a slow crawl aAs local schools make a slow crawl away from what was undoubtedly the strangest school year in modern history, they’re looking onward while trying to keep it together, safe, and “normal” for the kids.“Based on our experience with distance learning in the spring, there was little question…
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Face to Face School
Demonstrating an admirable resilience in the face of a pandemic, students have adapted and adjusted to the times, and teachers have shown that their valiant efforts and unwavering passion can and will educate children across many platforms and over a variety of wavelengths.
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Distance Learning
Distance Learning What Students are Saying by nick morris Schools remain nearly empty as class continues virtually. Let us not waste the experiences from last spring and instead use them to learn how to improve the quality of distance learning this year. As part of a project to record this moment in history I have had the privilege of interviewing graduates of Santa Cruz High’s class of 2020 and listening to what they have to say about distance learning. Three themes that ran through every conversation include communication, structure, and flexibility. Communication Communication provides the foundation for learning both academically and in the social-emotional sense. Teachers’ communication with students should…
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Fighting an Invisible Invader
How the Office of Education Fights an Invisible Invader By Suki Wessling Jennifer Buesing is a mom who really hopes that her two kids can go back to school soon. She’s also one of the people in charge of deciding when that will happen. “Things always seem easier on paper,” admits Buesing, Director of School Safety for Santa Cruz County Office of Education (COE). “You think you have a great plan, but until you actually go to the school and you walk through your day, then we realize that we have some pieces to work out.” Until March of this year, Buesing had a very different job. “All of the…
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Inside Ed November
Inside Education Monthly This month two teachers of young children presented about the joys and challenges of teaching online courses for our youngest TK-12 students. Alicia Romero teaches in Live Oak’s dual immersion Spanish/English program, which is a new program this year. It’s quite a challenge, she says, not only to teach the youngest children but to try to develop a new program at the same time. Her students are online for 180 minutes a day, and she is focused on trying to make second language acquisition fun and interactive. Kelly Liebenthal teaches transitional kindergarten for the youngest set at Santa Cruz Gardens. She points out that the adults are…
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Inside Education Monthly
Inside Education Monthly BY suki wessling Every year, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education welcomes a diverse group of locals—businesspeople, educators, government employees—to come together monthly and learn about education in Santa Cruz County. The program serves as a bridge between public education and the wider community, promoting understanding and connections to benefit both sides. Like our local schools, this year Inside Education has gone virtual. This year’s participants represent a wide variety of business and public sectors, including the public library, for-profit family-focused businesses (including two representatives from Growing Up), local museums, Cabrillo College, and social services. Inside Education explores the whole child from an educational perspective, with…
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Cabrillo Promise
Free Tuition for Cabrillo College CABRILLO COLLEGE CABRILLO COLLEGE PROMISE FREE First and second year of tuition to any graduating senior from the Cabrillo College District service area. The Cabrillo College Promise eliminates financial barriers to highe education, making a college degree a reality. For information and to apply, visit cabrillo.edu/services/promise/ . DUAL ENROLLMENT Take Cabrillo Classes for free while in high school. Hundreds of students jumpstart their college education by enrolling at Cabrillo College while they are still in high school. Through Dual Enrollment, high school students may attend classes at Cabrillo for free, with the permission of their high school counselors. For every one unit of college credit…
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Cabrillo
Cabrillo Extension Offers Online Camps CABRILLO COLLEGE EXTENSION In response to the ongoing Shelter in Place Orders for Santa Cruz County, Cabrillo College Extension has moved many of their popular workshops and summer camps to a virtual format with live instruction. Classes in creative arts, culinary, health & wellness, home & garden, as well as Extension’s summer youth camps are offered via live instruction that can be enjoyed from home. Students can interact with instructors and fellow students to complete projects and learn new skills, and classes are full of instructor-led demonstrations, social interaction, and expert guidance. The Cabrillo Extension staff now works from home, but they have stayed connected…
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Can High School Journalism be Saved?
Can High School Journalism be Saved? Studies Show Teens and Tweens are Susceptible to “Fake News” BY JOHN KOENIG Democracy dies in darkness. Those powerful words, taken up as a slogan by the Washington Post, remind us that ethical journalists are guardians of the light that dispels the darkness of ignorance and hidden corruption. Sadly, according to local teachers and administrators, it’s been years–often more than a decade–since journalism classes have been offered in most Santa Cruz high schools. “Journalism students become skilled through regular practice in gathering information by asking smart questions,”says Cabrillo College English Instructor David Sheftman. “They learn how to work as part of a highly collaborative,…
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Can’t Have One Without the Other
Can’t Have One Without the Other BY MARY GALKEL FORSTER In my October article I shared different online tools that can be used to explore careers by matching one’s skills, interests, and values, with aligned careers. What is a skill? How does one know what skills they have? Career skills are divided into two categories, hard and soft skills. Hard skills are job specific skills and knowledge needed to perform a job. Soft skills are interpersonal, people skills, considered important and necessary in almost all careers. This article will begin a three part series to provide you with strategies for helping children understand the difference between hard skills and soft…
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Looking Back and Looking Ahead
Looking Back and Looking Ahead Why I Support Measure R, Funding for Cabrillo College BY GEORGE OW, JR. When I was in high school, I was a mediocre student. My family had a small grocery store in Monterey, where my siblings and I needed to work so that we could survive. My only option for college was Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) because I could live at home, work at our store and tuition was nominal. I did not feel cheated by going to a community college and not going away to a four-year university. It would not have been practical for my family and that was not my dream. A…
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Who Runs the Class, Teachers or Students? Behind the Teacher’s Desk February 2020
Who Runs the Class, Teachers or Students? Behind the Teacher’s Desk: February 2020 By Lisa Catterall Ego is a room where you just try to get everything on your own terms. – Pema Chodron In the days leading up to vacations, I often have students come in and immediately ask if they can please have a break rather than learning anything. “Can we just watch a movie today instead of class?” “Can we lie on the floor and sleep for this period instead of doing the quiz?” “Can we go for a hike instead?” This one might be unique to holding school on 300+ forested acres, but I’m not sure.…
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Local Teachers are Hungry, Homeless and Leaving
Local Teachers are Hungry, Homeless and Leaving What can we do to keep our teachers local? By Suki Wessling LL teaches Transitional Kindergarten full-time for a Santa Cruz public school. For six weeks, she had to live in her car. Cate and Jon felt like they were just throwing their rent money into a hole in the ground, but they don’t have family who could help with a down payment in our expensive real estate market. The president of Cabrillo College, Matthew Wetstein, is still renting, unsure whether he’ll be able to buy a home. Welcome to the teacher’s life….in Santa Cruz County, at least. It used to be that…
