Reebok Crossfit Games 2012: Patrick “Manimal” Barber
February 10, 2012, “The Manimal is Back,” By Stan Redetsky and Stacy Brown. Read more: http://games.crossfit.com/video/manimal-back
Building Robots and Skills: Local Teacher Participates in Math and Science Training
Sitting near containers filled with assorted plastic K’Nex and Lego Mindstorm pieces, two seventh grade girls laugh as they put the finishing touches on their robot creation, and joke about what to name it. Nearby, other students concentrate on working with the program software and syncing it to correctly control their robot.
Alum Dances to Raise Money for Pediatric AIDS Research
Santa Cruz Sentinel, 2/4/2012, “Dancing the night away: Two Santa Cruz-area teens join marathon to raise money for pediatric AIDS groups,” by J.M. Brown. Read more: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_19894407#.Ty-HW6DUwaQ.email
Middle School Spanish: Talking Story and Teaching Language
Standing in front of the class, the sandy-haired boy shuffles his feet, avoiding eye contact with the middle school students seated before him. He looks up, shyly meets his classmates’ gaze, and takes a deep breath. Exhaling, he begins telling a story in Spanish. The words come haltingly at first, then, as his confidence improves, he relaxes and expands his vocabulary, exploring different sentence structures and verb conjugations.
‘Golden’ Lesson Combines Math, Art and Literature
By Hema Walker
“Once upon a time…” may be an uncommon way to begin a mathematics lesson, yet in Mount Madonna School’s kindergarten where I teach, that is just how I present our “Golden Number Book” lessons. During the kindergarten year, each student will create their own counting journal, called a “Golden Number Book.” Every week the children add a new page to their book.
Santa Cruz Sentinel: Fifth Graders Give a Hoot about Bird on State’s Concerned List
Santa Cruz Sentinel, 1/20/2012, “Mount Madonna fifth graders give a hoot about bird on state’s concerned list,” by Joel Hersch. Read more: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_19777552?IADID=Search-www.santacruzsentinel.com-www.santacruzsentinel.com
Santa Cruz Sentinel, Education Digest: Burrowing Owl Project & Middle School ‘Voices’
Santa Cruz Sentinel, 1/15/2012, Education Digest: “Students to perform ‘Voices,” and January 18 5th grade Burrowing Owl Presentation.” Read more: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_19746580?IADID=Search-www.santacruzsentinel.com-www.santacruzsentinel.com
Innisfree is Releasing Their First Full Length CD!
Congratulations to Sarojani Rohan and Martin Krilanovich on the release of their first full-length CD, “AFTER THE TOAST”!
Their band, INNISFREE, which is a Celtic trio, also includes Dubliner, Richard Dwyer.
Innisfree has been playing on both sides of the mountain for several years now and with this latest formation of musicians has reached a new level of musicianship and performance.
Giving A Hoot: Students Rally to Protect Burrowing Owl
What: Presentation and DVD screening on the Western Burrowing Owl, subject of Mount Madonna School’s 5th Grade Class current environmental project.
When: Wednesday, January 18, 6:30pm – 8:30pm. Reservation requested; contact Kathy Fieberling at (831) 345-1226 or
MMS Emergency Procedures
MMS engages all the students (except preschool/kindergarten students) in discussions and training about lockdown drills, which have been very well-performed. We have taken particular care with our elementary students to help them understand that the drills we practice are being put in place to keep them safe. Our interactions with the students are primarily around procedures, simple explanations about the difference between our three different emergency drills (Fire, Earthquake and Lockdown), and the introduction of our security team.