Archive for April 29, 2014

Volunteer at Wiseburn’s “Rock Around the Block” Event – Sat. May 3rd

Students, families and staff, please see below for service hours opportunity:

All of us in the Wiseburn School District are getting ready to “STEP UP” for our 11th annual fundraiser, Rock Around the Block FAMILY FUN DAY, on Saturday, May 3rd 10am-3pm at Dana Middle School in Hollyglen to benefit the Wiseburn Education Foundation (WEF).  More than 500 dedicated parents, community members, Board of Trustees, PTA members, faculty, staff and administration, will be in attendance to support quality music and arts programs in the Wiseburn School District. With help from the Wiseburn Ed Foundation, our children are able to receive music programs, art programs, and the Growing Great program.  This is the one major fundraiser the Ed Foundation has each year!

For those who are new to the district this year, Rock Around The Block “RAB” is a carnival style event with food, games, attractions, and a silent auction. There is even a petting zoo, a photo booth and a giant slide this year. The children “walk around the block” to kick off the event at 10 am. Many children from our district’s music program will be performing. We encourage you to come out for this huge community event which is always a lot of fun for everyone!

WEF is actively seeking VOLUNTEERS PLEASE sign up to VOLUNTEER for Rock Around the Block Family Fun Day – here’s how it works in 3 easy steps:

  1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/NzseE2
  2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot)
  3. Sign up! Choose your spots – VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!

Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact Denise Sánchez denisesanchez1966@gmail.com and she can sign you up manually.

WEF RockAroundtheBlock_flyer4 14

Volunteer Opportunity – Saturday, May 17th @ TedX Event

Students – if you need service hours, please read this message below from DVIA teacher, Korey Hlaudy:

Hello! My name is Korey Hlaudy and I am working as a volunteer of the 2nd annual TEDx Conference to be held Loyola Marymount University’s Murphy Hall on Saturday, May 17, 2014.

If you are unfamiliar with TEDx, the TEDx Program is designed to help communities, organizations and individuals to spark conversation and connection through local TED-like experiences. At TEDx events, a screening of TED Talks videos — or a combination of live presenters and TED Talks videos — sparks deep conversation and connections at the local level. TEDx events are planned and coordinated independently, under a free license granted by TED

The reason I am contacting you is because we are in need of STUDENT VOLUNTEERS to help us on the day of the event. We are estimating roughly 150 audience members with over 10 great speakers who will be giving talks that explore the intersection of politics, health, and creativity in education. We need volunteers to help run everything from registration, to set-up, to lunch catering, to clean-up, and more!

Given that your school resides near the LMU community (thereby making transportation more accessible), would you have any students who would be interested in obtaining volunteer hours by working at our event?

There are several time-slots that they can sign up for:

  • · Morning session from 8:30 AM – 2:00 PM
  • · Afternoon session from 2:00 PM – 7:00 
  • · All day session from 9:00 AM – 5:15 PM

Not only will students gain the opportunity to listen to local leaders speak, but we will also provide the morning session with lunch and all volunteers with t-shirts for the event.

If you’d like to learn more about the event and its speakers, please visit our website at: http://tedxloyolamarymountu.wordpress.com

***If you’re students would like to obtain service hours by volunteering, please have them fill out the following survey and I will be in touch with them via e-mail: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1BSilfrBe9IjwrQPsg2zV5BTY_SiTDPB4Jb8tYfNFWtU/viewform***

If you or any staff members at your school are interested in attending the event, the cost is $30 and registration can occur at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/tedxloyolamarymountu-registration-11311084759

Week 33 Update

Student Led Conferences and Testing Week have arrived!  If you are unsure of your student’s scheduled SLC time, please contact one of the grade level teachers as they will be able to provide you with this information.  Once we have finalized schedules, we will also post them to the blog.  Ms. Anderson will be posting a separate message with testing week details, so stay tuned!

week 33 families

Testing Week Information

Hello, Designers!

We have a busy week ahead as we ready ourselves for SLC meetings and testing. Please read ahead for testing details.

  • Grade 9 – Physical Fitness Test: Please click here for all the info!
  • Grade 10 – Life Science California Standards Test: Click here for example questions.
  • Grade 11 – Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and CSU Early Assessment Program ELA/Math Tests
    • The computer-based SBAC exam is new this year and is simply a test of the test. Our 11th grade students will take the SBAC on 2 separate days this week, but will not receive scores. They will be tested on ELA and Math content.
    • The EAP ELA and Math exams will run on the other 2 days. For more information about the EAP, please visit their website.

Please review the schedules below for more details about the week. Contact Megan Anderson with any questions at manderson@davincischools.org.

Testing SLC Week Schedule 2014

 

Testing SLC Week Schedule 2014

Reminder: Student Intern Applications for Summer Camp Due May 5th!

Da Vinci Design will hold Summer Art & Design Camps for elementary age students who are entering grades 1-6 this summer.  The camp is run by Da Vinci Design staff and we are looking for DVD student interns! The application is below and must be turned in no later than Monday, May 5th, 2014.  Please contact Maigon Buckner (mbuckner@davincischools.org) or Jessica Jones (jjones@davincischools.org), with any student intern questions!

Click here to download the application: Summer Camp Internship Application

Summer Camp Internship Application

Attention: Senior Families

Hello Senior Families,

It has come to the school’s attention that a Senior Ditch Day was planned for tomorrow, Thursday, 4/24.  “Ditch days” of any sort are not tolerated at any of the Da Vinci Schools.  This was also clearly stated on the Senior Activities Sheet distributed earlier this semester. (Link to this sheet: DV_Senior_Activities_2014 updated 2-20-14)

The administration visited all senior classrooms today to inform the senior students that should they be absent tomorrow without it being a legitimate excused absence, they will not be permitted to attend the scheduled Senior Breakfast, Photo and Beach day on Friday, 4/25 and that other senior activities may be at risk as well. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any concerns.

Kate Parsons & Megan Anderson

Week 32 Update

Hello Designers!  We hope you enjoyed a relaxing and restful spring break! You all deserved it after such a wonderful Exhibition Night – great work!

As a general reminder, there is no class on Monday 4/21 (this is a professional development day for staff) and we will resume classes on Tuesday 4/22.

Week 32 Families

Cap and Gown Make-Up Pictures – 4/23

If you are a senior who missed cap and gown photos or would like a retake with Stacee Lianna, you must sign-up with Erin Knott by the end of the day on Tuesday. A sign-up sheet will be placed outside of her office door.

Make-up pictures are at 9 am on Wednesday, 4/23.

Questions? Email manderson@davincischools.org

Good News About How To Pay For Your Child To Attend A Top University or College!

To: The Parents of the Sophomore and Junior Class

In today’s tough economic times, it is becoming increasingly difficult to pay for the cost of college tuition, room and board, books and travel expenses. On the low end, college expenses for a four year college now costs over $80,000 on the low end and on the high end it goes over $260,000.

With the rising cost of college tuition, the college counseling department has invited one of the nation’s leading experts on financial aid and paying for college to speak to the students and parents of our juniors and sophomores. His name is Trevor Ramos and he is a Certified College Planning Specialist. He is very knowledgeable and effective at helping to identify colleges where you can potentially get free money in scholarships and grants to pay for the lion’s share of your children’s college tuition. During the past 4 years, he’s helped over 200 families get more than $9 million dollars in financial aid to help pay for college.

In fact, Trevor got his BSBA degree in Accounting from Boston University. The cost was $200,000 and he received $165,000 in free money that he didn’t have to pay back including no student loans and no out of pocket cash from his parents. He will share with you his strategy, tactics, and secrets so you can hopefully do the same. He will also provide information on how you can begin exploring and identifying the colleges where your student can receive the most amount of money depending on your financial circumstances.

You are invited to attend one of his free talks hosted at the Da Vinci Science Forum (13500 Aviation Blvd, Hawthorne, CA 90250) on April 28th, 2014 at 6:00 PM.  Please RSVP so that we are aware of the attendance at:

www.collegefundingremedies.com/davincischools

P.S. The topic of his presentation is titled, “How To Send Your Kids To The Best, Most Expensive Colleges In America For Pennies On The Dollar.” Make plans to attend. You’ll walk away with some great knowledge and you won’t be disappointed.

Creative Behaviors Blog Series – Post Seven – Last one!

Supporting Your Creative Student: The Paradoxes of Creativity

In closing our series on creative behaviors, I’d like to share some interesting observations about creativity from author and creativity expert Michael Michalko. He has suggested the following paradoxes of creativity:

To be creative, you must…

  • …have knowledge, but forget the knowledge.
  • …work hard, but spend time doing nothing.
  • …create many ideas, yet most of them are useless.
  • …look at the same thing as everyone else, yet see something different.
  • …desire success, but learn how to fail.
  • …be persistent, but not stubborn.
  • …listen to the experts, but know how to disregard them.

Psychology professor Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi has written extensively about the personalities of creative individuals. “If I had to express in one word what makes their personalities different from others,” he writes, “It’s complexity. They show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated.”

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Claudia Bear is a Da Vinci parent, with daughters attending Da Vinci Design and the Innovation Academy. She has a background in both science and the visual arts. In addition to practicing optometry, Claudia is a department manager with Kaiser Permanente, where she manages projects, develops leadership training for managers, and serves on the medical center’s Innovation Design Team.

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