The Vine May 12, 2017 From the desk of Superintendent Chris Williams PRHS Welding Team Wins State Title The PRHS Welding Team just concluded its undefeated season by winning the California State FFA Agriculture Welding Championship this past weekend. This is the firstever state FFA championship for a team from PRHS. In addition to winning the team championship, all four members placed individually in the top five: Iver Hansen (1st), Shane Terra (3rd), Daniel Oliver (4th), and Zac Alves (5th). FFA welding contestants must demonstrate their ability to perform jobs and skills that are reflective of those required in the welding industry. The contests contain four different events: Welding application, written test, weld test/inspection, and job portfolio/application. The students are judged on competence areas such as safety, measurement, and reading blueprints. After placing third at the state meet in 2016, the team set a goal this year to bring home the championship. During the course of the year, the PRHS FFA Welding Team won all seven field day competitions that they attended throughout the state and in Nevada. Not only did the team win all competitions, but senior Iver Hansen placed first high individual in every one of them! Iver also recently won a gold medal at the state SkillsUSA conference in welding and will be attending the national leadership and skills conference in Louisville, Kentucky in June. Bike to School Day Wednesday was Ride Your Bike to School Day. Every school site participated in the event with a total of 394 students riding to school districtwide - a new record! Pat Butler Elementary was the winner with nearly 50% of their students participating! Even Mr. Williams got into the spirit of the event by riding his bike to EVERY school site! Thank you to Mick DeLeon for all his work organizing the event and handing out prizes. District Employee Graduation Information from PRHS Senior Class Advisors Angela Logan and Janice Hoy: It is tradition here at Paso Robles High School to offer district employees the opportunity to hand their son or daughter their diploma at the graduation ceremony. We will continue with this practice for the 2017 graduation ceremony. Please email Angela Logan, [email protected], by May 26, if your son or daughter is graduating from PRHS this year and if you would like to hand them their diploma at graduation. We will be having an informational meeting regarding the process and seating for this wonderful opportunity prior to graduation. We look forward to seeing you there! Crimson Service Award In honor of our community members who provide outstanding service to our schools, the district has started the Crimson Service Award. The Crimson Service Award will be handed out monthly to community members, organizations, or businesses that go above and beyond in their service to any of our schools and programs. We are pleased to recognize our first Crimson Service Award recipients, Pear Valley Winery owners Tom and Kathleen Maas. They have, not only graciously donated their winery for district events, but also donated over $1 million worth of work and equipment to help rebuild our athletic fields. We cannot thank Tom and Kathleen enough for what they have done for our students. To nominate a community member for the Crimson Service Award, contact Debi Weber in the H.R. Office, [email protected]. Bearcat Athletes Sign National Letters of Intent Congratulations to our Paso Robles High School Bearcat athletes who were recognized earlier this week in a ceremony honoring their commitment to play sports at the next level: Annie Meeder - track & cross country at Cal Poly Trad Berti – track & cross country at Chico State Luis Armendariz – cross country at Cal Poly Christian Erickson – football at Sac State Steven Schouten – football at Humboldt State Gabrielle Morrison – volleyball at Vanguard Madison Morrison – volleyball at Westmont This brings the class of 2017 total to eight so far with a few more students still expected to make their decisions in the coming weeks. Very exciting times for Bearcat Athletics! VAPA Signing Day In addition to our athlete signing day, we will be hosting the first-ever VAPA Signing Day in recognition of our student artists and performers who have been accepted to performing arts programs in college. The VAPA Signing Day will be held on Monday, May 15th at 3:45 PM in the PRHS Performing Arts Center. All are welcome to attend and help celebrate! PRHS Alum Spotlight – Monty Renfrow We love hearing success stories of our PRHS alums! Thank you to Marcy Goodnow for keeping us updated on the acting career of Monty Renfrow. Monty graduated from PRHS in 2012 with a focus of acting for the rest of his life. He was accidentally put into drama his freshman year and never left. You may remember him from shows like "Dracula", "Check, Please!", and "Guys and Dolls". He went to AMDA (American Musical and Dance Academy) in Los Angeles and then made his way to NYC. He has seen quite a bit of success in NYC starting a theater company, being featured in a short film "One Good Pitch" in 2016 that went to the Tribeca Film Festival, a Walmart commercial, and latest being featured in "Shades of Blue" sharing a very dramatic scene with Jennifer Lopez. Monty had this to say about the theatre arts program at PRHS: “What I would say about the company is that it provided me with a place to discover and experiment with my craft at a very early stage in a safe, supportive, and collaborative environment. It also taught me what it truly means to build a production from the ground up and make contributions to something that is ultimately much bigger than the individual. That has been such a valuable lesson that I use to this day in creating my own work and getting it off the ground.” You can ready more about Monty by clicking the links below: http://www.ksby.com/story/35365049/paso-robles-native-guest-stars-in-nbcs-shades-of-blue http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article149885297.html Broadway Bound Workshop Paso High Theatre Company and Advanced Drama is inviting students in grades K - 12 to come and act with them on Saturday, May 20th, from 9 AM - 12 PM. Company members will be working in teams to bring students fun and exciting acting workshops. This event is first come, first served, so sign-up today! Registration closes May 16th. This event is FREE! Broadway Bound Workshop CTE Spotlight Student The May College and Career Ready Student is Alim Benbrahim. Alim is a senior at PRHS. He is a successful A-G student who will be attending Northern Arizona University in the fall (he was also accepted to Sacramento State and Fresno State). Alim is a SkillsUSA state champion for the past two years in Electrical Construction Wiring. He will be competing at Nationals for the second straight year. Additionally, he is a pathway completer in Residential and Commercial Construction. We are so very proud of our May College and Career Ready Student Alim! PBIS in PRJUSD PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Support) rewards are being distributed throughout the district for our students who are demonstrating positive behavior. Students at the Arts Academy at Bauer Speck who are in the upper grades must complete community service hours in order to receive all their PBIS bands. Pictured here are 3rd graders who are reviewing the schoolwide expectations with kindergarteners. Panther Pride Week has been in full strength at Winifred Pifer Elementary. During the week, the students have been working on completing their applications for dog tags. Once a student earns all 5 dog tags for being Safe, Responsible, Respectful, Ready, and their Best, they receive their Panther Pride Badge. During this week, the students who have their Panther Pride Badge participated in three-legged races, a picnic style lunch, karaoke session, kickball and a mystery activity. Mrs. Gail at Kermit King Elementary is helping students fill out their applications for LEAP bands. LEAP stands for: Leaders, Encourage each other, Act responsible, Positive attitude. PRO Academy Parent Information Meeting PRO Academy (Paso Robles Online Academy) will be hosting another parent information night on Tuesday, May 16th, in the PRJUSD board room from 6:00 – 7:00 PM. There will be a short presentation followed by an opportunity for parents to ask questions. There will also be Spanish translation available for any Spanish- speaking families who wish to attend. One Cool Earth Corner Is there anything more fun than eating your art project? When kids help in the kitchen there are fewer meal-time battles and more willingness to try new healthy foods! In partnership with The Kids Cook Monday Campaign, FoodCorps, and One Cool Earth, Georgia Brown Elementary will be hosting the second free family cooking night this Monday, May 15th, from 6pm-8pm to promote family meals and cooking with kids. Healthy Mediterranean Hummus Pizzas will feature garden herbs and will be served up family style. Sounds yummy? It is not too late for Georgia Brown families to sign up. Please inquire more in the front office by Friday, May 12th. We also encourage you to sign up for the weekly Kids Cook Monday enewsletter for seasonal recipes that feature kid-friendly cooking steps at under $3 per serving! Follow this link to sign up: http://www.thekidscookmonday.org. Looking for fun and meaningful ways to engage in your school community? Volunteers can help One Cool Earth during garden lunch clubs, class time, and programs like Library on the Lawn to get students learning in the garden and trying new healthy foods. RSVP at [email protected] to get involved or get more info! From planting to painting signs, there’s an activity for everyone! Also remember to check out One Cool Earth online: www.facebook.com/onecoolearth or www.onecoolearth.org. One Cool Earth is also working on a promotional video featuring two of our school gardens at Virginia Peterson Elementary and Georgia Brown Elementary. National History Day Congratulations to all of our elementary, middle, and high school students who participated in National History Day in Rocklin, California last weekend. This is the first time that PRJUSD has sent representatives to the state level. According to parents and teachers, it was an amazing experience for all involved! Pictured here are students from Virginia Peterson, Pat Butler, and Georgia Brown. We are so proud of our History Day participants! Field Studies Collaborative at PRHS Submitted by: Jon-Paul Ewing PRHS Science Department is committed to putting students in the field as part of our new Field Studies Collaborative (FSC). One of the new FSC courses being offered next year is titled "Intertidal Monitoring". As part of a state-wide LiMPETS (Longterm Monitoring Program and Experiential Training for Students) program, Paso Robles High School students are working with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Marine Sanctuaries Scientists to collect baseline data on intertidal communities in California. On Saturday, 22 Marine Biology students joined up with a NOAA scientist to collect intertidal research data in Shell Beach. The students identified and counted 22 key species living between the tides, they learned field protocols of how to run a transect line and place quadrats. The data our students collected will be compiled and used by researchers who are studying the effects of our changing climate. Next year, FSC students will begin monitoring multiple sites along our county's coastline. Applications for the course will be available in September. Pinnacles National Park Field Trip Winifred Pifer's 5th grade recently students took a field trip to Pinnacles National Park. The students learned about the ecosystems, habitats, geology of the park, specific plants and animals, fault lines, and erosion. The students hiked 2 ½ miles! Preschool Open House Everyone is invited to attend an open house event for our preschool, the Early Learning Academy. We will be hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new facility at the Arts Academy at Bauer Speck on Tuesday, May 16th, from 5:30 – 6:30 PM. Come tour the facility and learn more about our preschool program! For more information about the Early Learning Academy, contact Lauren Handley at [email protected]. PRHS Early Childhood Development CTE Pathway Submitted by: Jenny Martinez These are first-year students in the Career Technical Education pathway for Early Childhood Development. This was the first year PRHS and Winifred Pifer Elementary teamed up as industry partners so students in our newly-implemented ECE class, "The Developing Child", could get exposure to the field of teaching, the school library, office and other areas in the field of education. CTE students walked to Pifer during their block period and were given the opportunity to help in classes including PE and special needs classes. They were exposed to how the school personnel operates on a daily basis. They were able to help students with various assignments as well as assisting teachers when needed. Pifer teachers modeled for them good teaching strategies so they will be prepared for the next step in the education pathway. Many of these students will go on to be teachers or program directors at our very own Bearkittens Preschool program on the PRHS campus and some will participate in SkillsUSA. We hope to expand this program next year reaching more classrooms giving students the opportunity to see what it is like to work in the field of education. ASES Updates The Winifred Pifer Elementary ASES students wrote letters of appreciation to veterans. The letters were delivered to the Paso Robles Veteran’s Center where they are displayed. Frank Goyette, a Korean Veteran, said he reads one letter a day and wants the students to know that everyone truly appreciates all the time and effort they put into them. ASES students at the Arts Academy at Bauer Speck worked this week to create Mother's Day gifts. The students decorated containers and planted flowers. Henrietta Mootiste Finds a New Home Submitted by: Deb Lauridsen Last Saturday, the Cow Parade (the international art/fundraising exhibition) culminated its wonderful nine-month long exhibition in San Luis Obispo County with a stellar auction of many of the cows, hand-painted by local artists for local business, charity and non-profit promotion and fundraising! The auction took place at Oyster Ridge at Ancient Pikes Winery on the Santa Margarita Ranch! The cows, which made their original debut at the Madonna Inn in the fall, and have been on display since then at various businesses around the county, were gathered up for one final group display at the auction! Liberty High School's own Henrietta Mootiste, painted by the drawing/painting class students, has been on display in the lobby of the Paso Robles City Library since her original debut at Madonna Inn. Saturday, she was purchased at the auction by Donna O'Shaughnessy of Atascadero who then gave Henrietta to her son and his family who have relocated Henrietta to Santa Rosa! Liberty High School students want to give a big "shout-out" to Donna for her generous support of the arts program at their school! "Thank you, Donna!!" PRHS Mock Rock The PRHS Mock Rock was held at Gil Asa Gym this past week. The event was put on by the PRHS Leadership Class. It was free for all students and community that wanted to attend. There were 11 acts (close to 50 students) that performed in front of 4 judges and over 400 audience members. There were two types of entries: Students could mock a song or perform a talent and sing or play music. It was a free Friday Night Live event and the top 3 acts are going on to Cal Poly to perform at the county-wide Mock Rock this Sunday at 7pm. Tickets available at the door. For more information, visit: https://www.slofnl.com/mock-rock Perfect Attendance Kindergarten students at Winifred Pifer showing off their perfect attendance dog tags. Congratulations to these awesome Panthers! Paso Robles Library Birthday Celebration Join us as we celebrate the Library’s 22nd birthday at its Spring St location and the Paso Robles Library Foundation’s 20th anniversary. In honor of these two very special occasions, we will be hosting an open house with tours, speakers, demonstrations, and refreshments on May 13, 11:30 am-1:30 pm and a special Friends of the Library used book sale from 10 am-3 pm. Established in 1997 as a non-profit organization under Internal Revenue Code 501(3) c, the Foundation has provided financial support over the years for programs such as the Summer Reading Program, for materials such as books and audio-visual items, and for replacement of library furnishings. With over 24,000 cardholders and over 277,000 items circulating each year, the Library continues to empower the community to achieve its vision for the future.
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