No School for Students on Friday, Oct. 4 – Capo Talk Vol. 4, No. 11

Southern California Edison has awarded CUSD Foundationwith a $10,000 grant to fund district wide STEM and anti-bullying programs. The STEM program, Putting the E in STEM: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Engineering is Elementary, will provide classroom teachers and students with material resources and support to implement engineering into their curriculums. With a specific kit identified for each grade level, students at all grade levels will work collaboratively on hands-on design projects which will provide them with an understanding of the design process. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program is a whole school program with more than 35 years of research that has been proven to prevent or reduce bullying throughout a school setting. Additionally, the program can increase students’ academic performance and decrease absenteeism and dropout rates.

A Capistrano Valley High School senior is one of 1,600 students designated a semifinalist in the 47th Annual National Achievement Scholarship Program, officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced this week. Joel Reise is one of 12 students in Orange County and 101 in the state to be named a semifinalist in the program. He is eligible to compete for one of approximately 800 scholarships worth more than $2.5 million. The semifinalists were selected from more than 160,000 students who requested they be considered for the program when they took the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).-more-

The Clarence Lobo garden.

The garden at Clarence Lobo Elementary School provides teachers with a useful tool to educate students in several important academic and life lessons. Founded by the PTA, and currently run by two parents– Allison Araujo and Lara Wirtz–the garden will give students a firsthand look at plant and insect cycles. Along with lessons in biology, students can learn responsibility by adhering to maintenance and watering schedules. The garden was inspired by the learning garden at Shorecliffs Middle School. Flowers, vegetables, and fruit will be grown. It is hoped that once complete, butterflies and hummingbirds will be attracted. The flowers being planted are water conscious and native to California.

Orange County Register, Orange County Department of Education, the Fourth District Parent Teacher Association, FivePoint Communities and Acer today introduce a major community initiative to put thousands of laptops into Orange County schools. Orange County Register Laptop Program debuts today as a simple yet powerful initiative designed to take advantage of the collective leadership and strength of parent-teacher associations, school districts, community partners and the newspaper. As supporters of local schools sign up families, friends and neighbors to receive the Register for one year at $1 a day, each supporter will be able to select the school of their choice and donate an Acer Chromebook. The program is designed to bring thousands of much-needed laptops into classrooms for use as learning tools in science, math, history and many other subjects-at no cost to the schools. All schools within the Register’s distribution area from Kindergarten through grade 12 are eligible.-more-

Building on Saddleback College’s strong partnership with the Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD), Saddleback College’s Community Education program will begin offering after-school educational and enrichment activities at local schools for elementary school children. Saddleback College’s Community Education program has set its After-School Experience schedule to include five 6-week sessions to be offered throughout the 2013-2014 academic year. The first session will begin the week of September 23rd and will include more than 200 classes at 35 local elementary schools. The program offers art, science, cooking, sports, and academic enrichment classes, which are taught by CUSD teachers and professional experts. All classes will be held on CUSD elementary school sites and will follow school dismissal times. To register for the After-School Experience program, please visit the Saddleback College Community Education website.