June 2016 Message from the Superintendent

Student/Superintendent Advisory Council

Oh the places you’ll go...

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

Any direction you choose. 

--Dr. Seuss

The 2015-16 Student/Superintendent Advisory Council (SSAC) provides a forum where students can participate in the important decisions and processes that affect their education. Fourteen students, representing CUSD’s three high schools, come together monthly to talk about current topics facing the Board, and issues and concerns that the students bring forward.

Last Friday the (SSAC) held its final meeting of the year.  It was time to honor our graduating seniors for all they contributed to the Council, and to talk about their future plans. Here’s what four of our of our students shared:

Ally Hatter wants to be a middle school math teacher. She will be attending Cal Lutheran in the fall, studying Math and Pedagogy. Ally also loves animals, so she is currently volunteering at Ivey Ranch, in their Therapeutic Horseback Riding Program for special needs children.

Garrett Henkel played baseball for CHS for four years, and was a Royal Lancer. Now he is following his dream to attend UCSD and play Division 1 baseball. He will be studying international business, and is also interested in public health, nutrition and fitness. He is going off to Europe with his family this summer after graduation.

Shakiba Mashayekhi will be attending MiraCosta College for one year, and then, with credits from her AP classes, plans to transfer to UC Berkeley or UCLA. In the fall she will be working as an intern in the office of California Assemblyman Rocky Chavez. She is planning on a double major in International Relations and Philosophy, with a minor in Spanish. After college she hopes to go to law school, specializing in human rights law.

Israel Tribby graduated in March from Carlsbad Village Academy, and is now manager of the Coolbeans Skate Shop in San Marcos. Israel started working at the shop when he was 16, and is now starting his own line of high end street wear. His is interested in taking business management, graphic design and art classes at MiraCosta or Palomar College.

At our end-of-the-year meeting the students took some time to talk about how they had benefited from being a part of SSAC and what they had learned from their experience. 

Here are some of their comments:

“SSAC gave me a voice, and my ideas made a difference when decisions were made.”

“I connected with people I would never have had the opportunity to talk with, and I gained new perspectives from these new connections.”

“I got a feeling for how much the district helps students learn, and helps us through our careers as students.”

“I want to work in a school district, so it's very relevant to me to learn how they work.”

“I gained so much knowledge about all that goes into running schools--so many people working together for us.”

“You don't need to be a certain age to make a difference.”

“I learned how to hold a conversation with someone who can really help me in the future, and how to speak confidently with adults.”

“We got to take part in several events. I had the opportunity to speak at the State of the District event, which was inspiring--all of these great people from the city, the business, education, and community leaders, were there to support the District.”

“I liked being a part of the State of the District event, and working on the District’s new mission statement.”

“I gained confidence talking with the other members of the group and Dr. Lovely. At first I didn’t expect to fit in, but I made friends, and became part of a new community.”

“I learned so much about leadership skills and public speaking.”

It has been inspiring for me, as superintendent, to work together with these talented young people. Their futures hold great promise. I’m looking forward to hearing about their successes in the lives and careers they pursue.

May 2016 Message from the Superintendent

Science- Relevant, Meaningful, and Hands-on

As Carlsbad Unified rolls out the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), we are challenged to view science from a dynamic new perspective. NGSS describes three dimensions that are elements of instruction at all levels:

1- Core ideas: the specific content and subject areas of science;

2- Science and engineering practices: the methods of scientists and engineers; and

3- Cross-cutting concepts: key underlying ideas that are common to studying science.

Here’s what science looks like at Pacific Rim Elementary School in Mrs. Hamabe’s 3rd grade class. The Mojave Living Desert Garden exhibit has a contest that encourages students to guess when their desert tortoise Maxine will emerge from brumation (reptilian hybernation).  Mrs. Hamabe’s students studied about brumation and how it is impacted by weather (core ideas); analyzed data from past years (science and engineering practices), so her students were prepared to make good predictions and estimations (cross-cutting concepts). Of the 1,200 students who guessed when Maxine would emerge, Jolie, a student in Mrs. Hamabe’s class, had the date and time estimation that was closest to the actual time of Mojave Maxine's emergence, and was the San Diego County winner of California’s Mojave Maxine Desert Tortoise Emergence Contest. The Living Desert came out to Mrs. Hamabe’s class with a real desert tortoise to celebrate Jolie’s successful estimation.

Ask a student in Mr. Sottile’s and Ms. Ludka’s Calavera Hills Middle School science class “Why are you and your team crawling around on the ground making a roller coaster out of rubber strips and wooden blocks” and you will find out. “We have been learning about potential and kinetic energy and gravity,” explains a student. “We are trying to get as much potential and kinetic energy out of this roller coaster as we can.”

Calavera Hills Elementary and Middle Schools are debuting their new Maker Space this month. With Qualcomm’s Thinkabit Lab as their inspiration and with funding from CEF, the schools set out to create a place where students can use their knowledge and ingenuity to design and build. Students can extend their learning by designing a solution to a real-life challenge-- building it, testing it, and then refining it. The lab is equipped with a variety of building materials including arduinos and servos so the creations can be coded and computer-controlled, a 3D printer, and an engraver.

These schools are pioneering the Project Lead the Way STEM curriculum which encourages students to “apply what they know, identify problems, find unique solutions, and lead their own learning.” Students can study robotics, CAD design, and Bio-med.

The Maker Space will give the schools another tool to make learning relevant and meaningful. These are the skills that our businesses tell us they are looking for in employees, and the skills that will support our students in life and in the careers of their choosing.

In the words of a CHMS student,  “If I can dream it I can build it.”

Design thinking, engineering design, scientific inquiry. The new science standards describe performance expectations for students in the area of science and engineering. They define what students must be able to do in order to show competency. The Next Generation Science Standards will engage students in a deeper, more hands-on, integrated experience of science.