Two Reminders from Principal Ms. Lofton
1) As an entire staff, we are very pleased to be establishing this year, a new, school-wide, yearly Digital Portfolio assignment. We believe that it will have multiple benefits for our students. All students need to be working on their Digital Portfolios. During the month of January, students will have their first "Progress Check". All students will need to show their progress on their Digital Portfolio to one of their teachers. At least one assignment... continued HERE
2) We are all celebrating our third successful completion of requiring students to do 5 hours of community service each semester. Congratulations to all students for getting this assignment completed! Some of the fun places that students worked last semester include: ...... continued HERE
Skateboarding Champion, Minna Stess
We are so proud of the hard work and dedication, courage and self-discipline that Minna Stess has demonstrated in her skateboarding career just this past semester. In addition to simply learning the very difficult task of how to do independent study as a new Valley Oaks student, and being only in 7th grade, Minna has been seriously practicing her sport. She travels to both a Sacramento and a San Diego training facility from Thursday nights to Monday mornings most weekends and in October she went to Nanjing, China for a huge televised competition to help her qualify for the next Olympics! Minna is all over the internet and ...... continued HERE are great photos, videos, and statistics about Minna's skateboarding!
April Adelman in the Lead Roll of Shrek
Valley Oaks junior, April Adelman, is a rock star when it comes to acting, performing, and singing! He had the lead in the latest Cinnabar Theater production, Shrek, and it was a tremendous success thanks to the long hours he put in studying lines and practicing scenes and also, in large part, due to his good nature, free spirit, and depth of character. April admits that Shrek suited him perfectly and says that this role was the most fun yet because at age 12, when he saw the Oscar-winning DreamWorks Animation film, Shrek The Musical, he "has been in love with the show!". This was his fifth play - after 2 others with Cinnabar and two with a Marin County Theater. In February, he will be auditioning for Mama Mia, also with Cinnabar. Musicals are his favorite. The most difficult thing about ...... continued HERE
Felipe Jimenez - Mike's at the Crossroads
This is Felipe's second job - his first job was at a Thai restaurant in Petaluma working with another VOS student. A gym friend of his encouraged Felipe to apply. Felipe enjoys this part-time job because both his co-workers and the customers are really nice. He says "it's a really 'chill' "environment. He can skateboard to this job from home and he enjoys mostly that he earns tip money! The most difficult part about his job he says is learning the computerized register. He easily memorized all the table numbers and most recently he has taken on an additional part-time cafe job.
Cece Illingworth - Starbucks
Cece has been at Starbucks for 8 months and she works at different sites. This is also her second job - her first was at Thistle, here in Petaluma. She feels that working here is very good experience for whatever future career she ends up pursuing. Her co-workers and managers are supportive and nice and there is a good sense of teamwork between everyone. The most challenging part of her job was learning all the drinks! An unusual task she had recently was to set up the holiday decorations which took 8 straight hours - she didn't get off work that night until 10:30pm! Sometimes the scheduling is difficult but she knows to be flexible. Her favorite drink? - "Straight Cold Brew".
Abbi Grogan - Panda Express
Abbi feels she has found a great, long-term part-time job at "Panda", which will take her through college. Her first job was at Target and now at Panda Express she realizes how much fun a job can be! This job is fast-paced and her managers clearly respect her and think very highly of her. Abbi says that there is great communication and everyone is very helpful. She feels well trained and says that there is "a lot of structure and efficiency". Because she is very passionate about food, she thought she would seek a non-retail position. There are many tasks involved in food handling and this helps make the work interesting for Abbi. Mostly Abbi takes customer orders but she says, "Honestly, I have enjoyed the smaller jobs more such as filling the sauces, cleaning the tea, and taking the temperatures."
Staff Interview: Ms. Janine Bender
If you did not know Ms. Bender, you might say that the most striking thing about her is that she is really tall! Once you do get to know her, you will find that she is particularly personable - just the type that makes a perfect teacher. She will tell you short stories about herself and you will then know that the most striking thing about Ms. Bender is her giving, sensitive spirit and desire to care for and be of service to others. To try and help make an entertaining story, she started this interview with four "cool things" from her life - but we'll get to those later. Ms. Bender is a dedicated iRide Petaluma volunteer (assisting seniors to & from appointments) and manages the serving of a weekly dinner for Redwood Gospel Mission, a nomadic shelter that provides evening accommodations. Ms. Bender also embraces charity opportunities as they come up. For example, she did a mission trip several years ago with her church to assist Native Americans at the White Earth Chippewa Reservation in Minnesota. This reservation is where her mother grew up and went to school. Although Ms. Bender grew up in Petaluma, Ms. Bender is a card-carrying member of the Chippewa Tribe! To return to those original four "cool things" from Ms. Bender's life... ... continued HERE
School Counselor Malcolm Jamerson
Mr. Jamerson's Fall Semester College Night classroom was at-capacity with students and parents. Mr. Derek Bradley from SSU's Administration & Recruitment, and Mr. Vince Hamilton, a counselor from the SRJC Petaluma campus presented the "How To's" and answered questions for 45 minutes about enrollment in the 100+ California Community Colleges and the 23 California State Universities. Of special interest was news about the impacted campuses and majors. Students living near a CSU campus have priority admission rights to it unless that campus or major is impacted. Nursing is a major that is impacted at all CSU's. SDSU, Long Beach, & Cal Poly are all impacted universities. Six students stayed after the presentation and filled out their FAFSA financial aid forms with the classroom computers and help from Mr. Jamerson. Watch for news about the next College Night and be sure not to miss it! You are highly encouraged and welcome to browse Mr. Jamerson's calendar and schedule a counseling appointment any time by clicking HERE.
School Secretary Trisha Shew with the Staff from NOVA
Last month we enjoyed a scheduled visit from the staff of NOVA Independent Study School in Novato. Thanks to Trisha who successfully explained how our VOS scheduling of students works on our giant white board! NOVA principal, school secretary, and three teachers attended part of a VOS staff meeting, talked to Ms. Lofton and toured the VOS teacher offices. One take-home idea that they will probably be implementing for sure is our fun Bell Ringing Ceremony for graduates since they are currently shopping for a bell that is similar to ours.
November's P.E. Group Work-Out
Pictured in the foreground is Aubrianna Bossaller, inspired by the National Guard Armory nearby to show a sallute. Pictured from left to right in the back are Ian Peracca, Cece Illingworth, Nicholas Barajas, and Brenda Amador. What a nice, fresh sunny fall day this was! - And great entertainment from Starbucks employees Cece and Aubriana's funny and likely caffeine-induced talk and laughter!
Kelly Garcia Pointing to her Latest Artistic Creation
Senior Kelly Garcia loves art! She has taken Art for the past three semesters. She says she was curious about the course and that it sounded fun. Now she can easily use the terminology of art and can describe the artistic skills she has learned. For example, she is pointing to a recent pencil piece that she completed. It was an assignment on Value, which is ... ... continued HERE
Jessica Rue Coulman with Sweatshirts & T-Shirts for Sale
Senior Jessica Rue Coulman took home her new silver VOS sweatshirt last month. This latest shipment of logo items included these unisex sweatshirts which are silver zip-ups with hoods. The logo is large on the back in maroon and the words as you can see here are on the front left corner in maroon. There are now 4 remaining: 1 XL, 2 large, & 1 medium. They cost ... ... continued HERE
Kristin Ward at her Bell-Ringing Ceremony
Congratulations to Kristin Ward who graduated the week of December 17th! Pictured here are her parents and sister. Kristin consistently made the Principal's Honor Roll and was a constant delight for all staff members. We are so proud of you, Kristin! And your future is so bright!
Minna Stess Dissecting a Squid for Science
In late November, one of Minna Stess' labs for science was to investigate the fascinating and highly unusual squid. Minna studied and identified both the external and the internal anatomy of this creature. Finding the beak was the most fun. The most difficult task was the identification of its posterior versus anterior ends!
December's P.E. Group Work Out
Pictured from left to right are Preston Ashton, Ian Peracca, Nicholas Barajas, and April Adelman. These young guys were encouraged to believe that it "was just a little misty out", and so they went out to our "track" on the street to run and, wouldn't you know it, the rain came and got us drenched! Good sports, they carried on in the gym.
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Email: nparker@PetK12.org
Website: https://www.petalumacityschools.org/valleyoaks
Location: 540 Vallejo Street, Petaluma, CA, USA
Phone: (707) 778 - 4794