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SOAR English flyer

MDUSD's SOAR (Support Office for Access and Resources) team continues to work to raise awareness about student homelessness by participating in the California Department of Education's initiative to Wear Green on Fridays for the month of November. Seen below (right) are members of the Student Services team wearing green to show their support for 286 students experiencing homelessness, 56 foster youth, and 56 students living in other forms of extreme financial hardship in Mt. Diablo Unified School District. 

The SOAR team is also working hard to fundraise, gather goods, and sort donations. Seen below (left) is Linda Pete, Director of Strategic Supports and Interventions, volunteering with her daughter at a recent service event to create clothing bags to distribute to students. 

If you would like to volunteer, donate financially, or contribute new or very gently used coats, toys, shoes, books, or bikes, please contact soar@mdusd.org. Receipts for tax purposes can be provided by emailing soar@mdusd.org.

Additional donation information is in the flyers below.

SOAR donations

 

SOAR English flyer

 

SOAR Spanish flyer

 

Read More about Support Office for Access and Resources (SOAR) seeks holiday donations through Dec. 20
Northgate HS Mock Congress

Seniors at Northgate HS turned into senators on Dec. 4-5 as they participated in the school's annual Mock Congress that required them to write bills, then debate and vote on them. It is a "two-day capstone event that showcases the creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration of our senior class," said Principal Kelly Cooper. "This long-standing tradition is a highlight of our curriculum, offering students a hands-on experience in civic engagement and legislative processes."

Teacher Jon Burchett said he "inherited the program" when he came to the school 28 years ago. In the simulation, each student must author a bill and write a research paper explaining the background and context of their proposed law, and why it should be approved, he said. "Each bill is debated and voted on in committees, and the bills which pass are debated and voted on in our Senates. We follow adapted rules which are based on the rules of the U.S. Senate."

The school's roughly 380 seniors divided into four large groups that met in the Little Theater and other areas of the campus to hold Senate sessions. In the theater, student Sarah Zhao argued passionately in favor of her bill, which would require the Department of Defense to conduct an annual audit of its financial statements and operations to ensure transparency, accountability, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Other senators made motions to amend the bill, or argued for or against the motions or the overall bill, before standing to vote in support or opposition. Those who were unsure voted "present." If the vote appeared close, Senate Pro-Tem Matty Biener asked the party leaders to count those standing before declaring that the motion or bill passed or failed. 

During the lunch break, Zhao said she appreciated the event because it opened her eyes to the way Congress works and helped her to apply what she is learning in her U.S. History class to the real world. Sophia Mac, who supported Zhao's bill, said students allowed each other time to speak and were respectful of each other's opinions in the "comfortable and safe space" facilitated by teachers. Ares Foster was proud to have been elected as the Democratic Party leader and said the role involved a lot of work talking to party members and telling them what they should do, but it was also very rewarding. Foster said it was important to research the issues and form opinions in order to vote one way or another on each bill. Ryan-Adele Heskett, who transferred to Northgate from another school, said the event was very rigorous and empowering. "People were writing bills about things I never knew existed," she said, adding that the it gave students a chance to educate themselves and each other about issues that were important to them.

Burchett said he and his colleagues are very proud of the Mock Congress, which has been prominently mentioned in every WASC accreditation report the school has received since he has been there. Teacher Meg Honey expressed her pride on Instagram, posting: "That’s a wrap on Mock Congress 2024! ❤️💛 I’m so proud of our Senior Senators, and I love working with this amazing team."

Northgate HS Mock Congress

 

Mock Congress teachers

Northgate HS Social Studies teachers (l-r) Paula Dillon, Meg Honey, Christine Reimer, Jennifer Krnich, Jen Collier, Jon Burchett, Mitchell Woerner, and Brian Corbett (not pictured: James Rogers and Scott Harris) celebrate "a wrap" on another successful Mock Congress.

Read More about Northgate HS seniors get hands-on U.S. Government experience during 2-Day Mock Congress
SOAR fair

MDUSD's 2nd Annual SOAR (Support Office for Access and Resources) Winter Resource Fair for unhoused, justice-involved, newcomer, refugee and foster youth students and their families on Dec. 4 at Oak Grove MS included toy, book and clothing giveaways; haircuts; and the opportunity to play a drum. The event attracted about 200 people, who were invited to choose from a variety of items that were donated or purchased with contributions to SOAR. 

Dozens of volunteers including MDUSD staff members helped to dole out items, which also included backpacks, sports gear, toiletry bags and balloon animals. And staff from the Urban Barber College and Empire Barber Shop were busy giving haircuts in a classroom. Juliet Bernal, who attended Oak Grove MS in 2012 and now works as an office assistant at Urban Barber College, said she and other staff members love to give back to the community. 

Students and their parents said they appreciated the event. "It's very good," said one mom, who received a bike for her daughter, who attends Oak Grove MS, in a free raffle drawing. "Thank you!" Another mom whose daughter received a bike in the drawing, squealed happily: "We've never won anything! Thank you!" And the mother of a boy who received a bike in the drawing, said: "This is very beneficial because the kids get a lot of things to be grateful for this holiday season. It gives the kids something to be thankful for."

Foster and Homeless Youth Program Specialist Rosie Reid said a large percentage of the attendees were newcomer immigrant families who have lived in the U.S. less than three years. "I think our families were incredibly grateful and we got a lot of appreciation for the support," she said. "It was a success." 

The SOAR team plans to organize another fair next year. "This fair is only one way that we work to get resources out to our families in need, so we are still very much in need of financial donations," Reid said. "We can accept donations via check, cash, or Venmo (@mdusdsoar) and these donations sustain our program's offerings throughout the year."

Donations Requested by December 20 at Willow Creek Center
1026 Mohr Lane, Concord, CA 94519. (925-682-8000 x6242).

Details are here.

Thank you! 

SOAR fair

 

Read More about SOAR Holiday Resource Fair provides clothing, haircuts, toys and more to nearly 200 attendees
Friday Letter

This week's MDUSD Friday Letter highlights:

  • The 2nd Annual SOAR Winter Resource Fair;
  • Northgate High School seniors bring civics to life during Mock Congress;
  • Sun Terrace Elementary student Samantha Gaspar Meija, Sequoia Elementary student Jenner Breward, and Oak Grove MS student Sophia Hernandez were honored by the Concord City Council as winners of the Mayor’s Art Contest;
  • Mt. Diablo HS and Ygnacio Valley HS student-athletes Antonio Kellog Jr., Christopher Arezta, Natalie Dance, and Sa’rye Starks recognized as "Players to Watch" by Bay Area News Group;
  • Pleasant Hill MS art students create "Celebration with Cake" displays;
  • First Farsi Heritage Language Listening session held at Meadow Homes Elementary;
  • Sequoia MS holds first African American Parent Advisory Council (AAPAC) Meeting;
  • School, Alumni, Staff and Technology Integration Leader Social Media Highlights;
  • and more!

You can read it here

Friday Letter

 

Read More about Friday Letter - December 6, 2024
DualEnrollmentFlyersSpring2025

MDUSD is offering seven dual enrollment classes this spring, which enable students to earn college credit while still in high school free through partnerships between MDUSD and its high schools and Diablo Valley College (DVC).

Why Dual Enrollment?

The benefits of dual enrollment are numerous:

  • Students can get a head start on their college education and potentially save time/money by completing college credits early.
  • Classes part of MDUSD’s dual enrollment program are intended to help meet either a certificate requirement or a degree requirement.
  • Dual Enrollment also provides exposure to the rigor of college coursework and helps students transition more smoothly to higher education.

A typical college class will earn students one year of high school credit. Additionally, students earning a C or higher in a dual enrollment class will result in a GPA boost for that class – similar to an AP or honors class. Participating in this program demonstrates academic ambition, preparedness, and long term goal setting. Overall this program offers an opportunity for students to challenge themselves, reduce future college costs, and accelerate their educational journey. 

While MDUSD's spring dual enrollment courses are offered at Concord, Mt. Diablo and Ygnacio Valley high schools, they are open to students across the District. Please note that students are responsible for getting themselves to the classes as MDUSD does not provide transportation.

Spring classes include:

  • Graphic Design at Concord HS;
  • Technology & Society, Introduction to Public & Community Health, and Intro to Race and Ethnicity at Mt. Diablo HS; and
  • Child Development and Psychology; College & Career Readiness; and Math for Technicians at Ygnacio Valley HS.

Take a look at our Dual Enrollment Flyer and Spring 2025 Dual Enrollment Schedule for locations, dates and times.

Applications are now open. For more information, please complete the form here.

Dual Enrollment Calendar

Dec 5th & 6th MDHS Dual Enrollment Application Workshop

Dec 12th & 13th CHS Dual Enrollment Application Workshop

Jan 6th - 26th Dual Enrollment Support

Contacts:

Jorge Salinas-Tognetti email:  salinastognettij@mdusd.org

Amanda Witczack
email:  witczaka@mdusd.org

Sarah Peterson
email:  sapeterson@dvc.edu

Additional information is here.

DualEnrollmentFlyersSpring2025

 

Read More about Applications are now open for Spring Dual Enrollment courses to earn college credit in high school
Coffee with the counselors flyer

MDUSD's next "Cafecito Con Las Consejeras" (Coffee with the Counselors): A Chat with Latina Counselors, will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 14 at Holbrook Language Academy, Room 11, 3333 Ronald Way in Concord.

Topics will include:

  • Academic success,
  • Colleges & universities, and
  • Career exploration.

RSVP here.

For more information, contact:

  • Ms. Angela Ordaz at ordaz@mdusd.org or (925) 682-8000 x85671,
  • Ms. Marcie Torres at torresmm@mdusd.org or (925) 682-8000 x6418,
  • Ms. Yaretzie Amaya at amayay@mdusd.org or (925) 682-4030 x3414, or
  • Ms. Leidi Arias at ariasl@mdusd.org or (925) 682-4030 x3406. 

Hablamos Español. 

Coffee with the counselors flyer

 

Cafecito Con Las Consejeras

 

Read More about "Cafecito Con Las Consejeras" (Coffee with the Counselors) is Saturday, December 14 at Holbrook Language Academy in Concord
Mt. Diablo HS CERT training

Mt. Diablo HS is proud to announce that 12 students in the school's Patient Care health career pathway recently completed in-depth Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training presented by the city of Concord, and participated in a graduation ceremony on Monday, Nov. 18, after learning life-saving skills that they will be able to share with their family and community, said teacher Dr. David Pintado. 

“Special thanks to Mrs. Trish Beirne, Emergency Services Volunteer Coordinator from the Concord Police Department and her team of instructors that came to our school for six weeks and prepared our students for catastrophic events,” Pintado said. “And thank you to our school administration for providing all the logistics to make this important event a success!”

The students participated in drills that required them to be sworn in as Disaster Service Workers and simulate how they would assist in emergency response if an earthquake damaged the school, Beirne said. "It was part of the actual drill," she said. "If they were to be called up to deploy with our team, the first step is to swear volunteers in as DSWs so they are covered by the state’s Workers’ Comp insurance."

The students rotated through the following stations:

  • Incident Command System structure
  • Fire Suppression
  • Cribbing (a technique to lift a heavy object that is pinning a victim underneath
  • Damage Assessment (to report to Command)
  • Light Search and Rescue (of a damaged classroom to find and triage victims)
  • Medical treatment (of victims’ injuries)
  • Radio communications

Congratulations to the students, who have learned valuable skills as part of Mt. Diablo High School's Career Pathways program! More information about MDUSD's Career Pathways programs is here.

Mt. Diablo HS CERT training

 

Read More about Mt. Diablo HS Patient Care Pathway students complete Community Emergency Response Training
Friday Letter

This week's MDUSD Friday Letter highlights:

  • Mt. Diablo HS Patient Care pathway students completed Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training,
  • Students at Mt. Diablo Elementary and Diablo View Middle School recognized with Clayton "Do the Right Thing Awards,"
  • Oak Grove MS hosts panel discussion about hate speech with members of the Ygnacio Valley HS Black Student Union,
  • Walnut Acres Elementary hosts jog-a-thon,
  • Sequoia Elementary holds African American Family Engagement Night,
  • Video highlights El Dorado MS collaboration with Project Color Corps to create new mural,
  • Ygnacio Valley HS "Project 212: Engineering the Future" robotics club video wins Gold Anthem Award,
  • School social media highlights from Gregory Gardens, Meadow Homes, Mt. Diablo and Sequoia elementary schools; Diablo View, Pine Hollow, Riverview and Sequoia middle schools; and College Park, Mt. Diablo, Northgate and Olympic high schools;
  • Riverview MS "secret" staff spirit days,
  • Staff social media highlights from Meadow Homes Elementary, Foothill MS, Oak Grove MS and Holbrook Language Academy, and
  • Reflecting on the loss of Horizons student James Unfried, who tragically passed away in a motorcycle accident.

You can read it here.

Friday Letter

 

Read More about Friday Letter - November 22, 2024
Northgate HS student Angie Yao

Northgate HS junior Angie Yao is getting a head start on career exploration in STEM, having recently completed a summer mentorship quantum physics research project at UC Santa Barbara. She has also founded a Women in STEM Club on campus that works to educate girls about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. And she has started up a nonprofit called Her STEM Space, which aims to increase access to STEM education for girls and currently has over 2,000 members internationally.

"I am encouraging more girls to explore STEM because there are resources that I would have liked to have had when I was younger," said Angie, who is 16, adding that some girls at her school have talked about being the only female in computer science class. "Our club provides a safe space for girls to learn and feel really supported in the environment."

Angie said Northgate HS math teacher Claire Weir and science teacher Corinne Starr are inspirational role models and mentors to her, who deepened her passion for math and science and are "amazing teachers." Angie plans to major in engineering in college. Her 6-week summer research mentorship project on the UC Santa Barbara campus gave her a taste of what it's like to work on a research team, studying quantum physics and inventing a two-cell sample holder that could be used to measure materials such as crystals or liquids using a paramagnetic resonance spectrometer. 

"It was a very collaborative setting," she said, explaining that she worked with undergraduate interns and graduate students. "They were able to help me and guide me along the way." She designed the sample holder using 3D software, then created it using a 3D printer. She attached it to a large cylinder using a spool of copper wire and then inserted into a giant machine. At the end of the project, she wrote a four-page research paper, created a large poster, and gave a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation to her peers about the project.

"It was definitely a life-changing experience to be able to stay in a dorm for six weeks and be independent, and also working on ground-breaking research and being introduced to a lot of interdisciplinary techniques and really diversifying my skills, because I got to try something that was completely new to me, which was physics," she said. "It really deepened my passion for engineering and science."

Angie's interest in STEM was sparked in 3rd grade at Walnut Acres Elementary, when she was asked to design a leprechaun trap. "I was introduced to things like levers and pulleys and that was the first time I ever designed something by myself," she said. "And from then on I really realized that I love being hands-on and designing and inventing things."

Now, Angie is sharing her love of STEM with the 40 members of her Women in STEM Club. Next month, they have invited one of the female founders of Suncoast Ventures to speak to them. Northgate students can sign up for this guest speaker event on Thursday, December 5th using FlexTime on Minga. And they are planning to host an event to teach Valle Verde Elementary students about STEM.

Angie's nonprofit is also offering free monthly coding classes at the Ygnacio Valley Library and in online workshops. The next coding class is on December 14th and the next workshop is December 15th. The link to sign up is: https://forms.gle/n4yNEVg2mp938UGg8. Her STEM Space is also looking for volunteers and interns. Watch this reel to see Angie in action and check out the detailed poster she created about her UC Santa Barbara research project below!

Northgate HS student Angie Yao

Angie's poster explaining her UC Santa Barbara research mentorship project is below.

 Yao_Angie-Poster

 

Read More about Northgate HS student’s interest in STEM leads to UC research, STEM club and nonprofit
Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day

To help educate students about the courageous, historic, and nation-changing “walk” of Ruby Bridges in November of 1960 to integrate schools, Rio Vista Elementary 4th and 5th graders walked to MDUSD's Black/African American Family Engagement Center in Bay Point on Thursday, Nov. 14th, to learn more about Bridges and her role in ending segregation in public schools. As a symbolic gesture, the students re-enacted her walk, then watched a short video about Bridges, and participated fun outdoor activities including jumping rope, throwing softballs and creating Ruby Bridges-themed chalk art on the blacktop. 

Rio Vista was one of several District schools to participate in the national Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day, which is held on Nov. 14th to commemorate the anniversary of the day 6-year-old Ruby Bridges became the first African American child to integrate the formerly whites-only William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana. Schoolchildren around the country celebrate her accomplishment by walking to their schools, reading books and watching videos about Ruby Bridges, and talking about both historic and ongoing efforts to fight racism and discrimination.

The Rio Vista event was hosted by MDUSD's Focal Scholars Team, in partnership with 4th and 5th grade teachers and Principal Janis Heden. A special thanks goes out to the Oak Grove MS and Riverview MS PE departments and principals for lending their jump ropes and softballs for the celebration. Rio Vista and other MDUSD schools received Ruby Bridges flags, bracelets, stickers, and hats through the American Automobile Association. A Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office Deputy helped to escort the Bay Point group on their 1-mile round-trip walk. 

Fifth-grade teacher Jonathan Moses said the event was the culmination of previous lessons he has taught his students about state and federal laws and the history of segregation in the South, which the Supreme Court ruled was unconstitutional in 1954, but which persisted until U.S. federal marshals escorted Bridges to her school. Moses' students A.J. Eda and Aryiane Hill said they enjoyed learning about Ruby Bridges and participating in the walk and activities. A.J., who is Filipino, said he is happy that schools are integrated. "It's good so we can all be together with each other and we can get to know each other and find out about other races and cultures," he said. Aryiane (pictured above with flag) said she admires Ruby Bridges. "I think she was a brave, smart and awesome girl," Aryiane said.

The Focal Scholars Program consists of K-12 students from seven Focal Scholar schools within MDUSD, including Rio Vista Elementary. It is designed to monitor as well as assist students with their attendance, behavior, and academic endeavors to show growth in each area. Some of the students identified as Focal Scholars are unhoused youths, foster children, and more. Students receive free tutorial and counseling services as a benefit of being in this program.

Other MDUSD schools that participated in Ruby Bridges Walk to School events included: Gregory Gardens, Highlands, Mt. Diablo, Monte Gardens, Silverwood, Strandwood, Valhalla and Valle Verde elementary schools, as well as Sequoia and Valley View middle schools. 

Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day

 

Read More about Rio Vista Elementary among several MDUSD schools to celebrate Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day

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