Volume 4, Issue 5 | April 9, 2019
If this email is clipped—or photos are not displayed—click the "View entire message" link at the bottom of the email. Campus Connections is the newsletter of the Milpitas Unified School District. If you have stories for our next issue, please send them to  Shannon Carr .
Superintendent's Message
Milpitas High School students thrive in commitment to excellence, nurturing younger students because of support by dynamic teachers
Cheryl Jordan
Our Milpitas High School Trojan Olympics are a spectacular demonstration of community, teamwork, and joy. Upper classmen, particularly our Senior class, enthusiastically encourage the Freshmen students to persevere through the jovial and sometimes tricky competitions. Races such as broom rowing, the balloon hop, and tractor jog can be complicated for the younger students; however, they learn to accomplish the goals through teamwork and observation of those who are more experienced. The greatest outcome is that they learn they will be responsible for leading the way for the next generation of MHS students.

This sense of service to others through empowerment is evident in our Science Olympiad, Robotics Club, and Speech and Debate Team. Each of these MHS student groups are nurtured by dedicated staff members who support them not only in their intellectual feats, but in their desire to pave the way for younger students. These opportunities to experience team learning beyond the classroom have expanded to include students and teachers in our elementary and middle schools. The transition from sixth grade to middle school to high school competitions is remarkable because the young adults on these teams have a mission to nurture students who may not consider themselves up for the challenge.  
Each of our Robotics, Speech and Debate, and Science Olympiad teams have placed in local and even state competitions. The Milpitas Xtreme Robotics (MXR) club at Milpitas High School represented the community on February 16 during the VEX Robotics Competition, becoming semifinalists and winning the Sportsmanship Award at the event. At the Santa Clara Spring Speech and Debate tournament held the weekend of March 30, Senior Sana Jaffery won the tournament in varsity Lincoln Douglas debate for the second time in a row, going undefeated, 11 and 0, winning winning 18 out of 20 judges, finishing ahead of 86 others. The Science Olympiad Blue team competed at the NorCal State Competition the weekend of April 6 in Turlock at CSU Stanislaus, placing seventh overall and medaling in Boomilever, Codebusters, Designer Genes, Herpetology, Mission Possible, Sounds of Music, Wright Stuff, Write It Do It, and Orinthology. 

Our students thrive in this commitment to excellence because they learn from one another and are supported by dynamic teachers and community members who strive towards our strategic goal of developing educational pathways that allow students to apply their passion towards their future careers. I am honored to have students who embody our vision of trailblazing leaders, passionate about life and learning.  

Sincerely,
Cheryl Jordan
Superintendent

Highlights
Hardworking custodian Jesus Chagolla loved by Curtner Elementary School community
by Edgar Dueñas, Supervisor of Custodial, Locks, and Painting Maintenance, and Curtner Elementary staff

Curtner Elementary Custodian Jesus Chagolla is an employee that goes above and beyond each and every day. He treats everyone he encounters like his own family, with honesty and respect. Staff, students, administrators, parents and local community members all know Chagolla because of his dedication and hard work ethic. Chagolla has continually volunteered and been involved with many community events at Curtner. 

Chagolla takes pride and joy in upkeep of Curtner's gardens, and ensuring his school is clean and presentable. Chagolla has been with the district since August 2000 and has worked at Curtner the entirety of that. 
"I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon," Chagolla recently said with a big smile.

Curtner Principal Maria Hartman-Hernandez shared her praises of Chagolla's work through the years, and the impact it has made on the school community.  

"Jesus dedicates his time and passion to the Curtner community with love, kindness, and a sense of grace that leaves you feeling empowered," she said.

MUSD students voice opinions about combating gender inequality
by Vivek Chotai, MHS Student Board Representative
Before the Neolithic Revolution, men and women were living in hunter and gathering societies, with little or no social inequality. However, due to the introduction of agriculture, humans worldwide found more time and began to specialize in different types of labor. This formed social classes, leading to social inequality. With this social inequality also came gender inequality, with men being valued over women, both physically and mentally for some tasks, while the opposite for others. Although this injustice began more than three thousand years ago, these social inequalities and classes continue to exist today.

With problems always come solutions; students from our district have found ways to combat gender inequality, manifesting their passions and time to take action. Some prime examples of student efforts related to this cause include the five different clubs from Milpitas High School: GirlUp, She’s the First, STEMgirls, I am that girl, and Girls Who Code. It is important to note that even though these clubs have been centered in Milpitas High School, many of them branch out to elementary and middle school through various programs.

These students are putting in much of their time and effort, and it is important to know their rationale. Why is gender equality important? Why should we be aware of the problem, and try to prevent it? How can I help fight for gender equality? I decided to ask the students themselves the questions. Here are some of their responses:

Trojan Olympics unites Milpitas High School classes with excitement, competition
by Vivek Chotai, MHS Student Board Representative

Milpitas High School’s annual Trojan Olympics filled the large gym with students, staff, parents, and community leaders on March 22. Students complained about the heat, but were willing to sacrifice for their graduating class to win the 2019 Trojan Olympics and secure their legacy. It was Athletic Director Jeff Lamb’s last year, so this year's event was extra special.

The classes (freshman 2023, sophomores 2021, juniors 2020, seniors 2019) participated in various competitions to earn points. The week started off with any student being able to participate and earn spirit points (which counted for the Trojan Olympics) for their graduating class simply by dressing up for spirit days. Themes included blue and gold day, city versus country day, converse versus vans day, dress down versus dress down day, and class color day. The seniors ended up taking first place for spirit week.

However, anything could happen in Trojan Olympics; any class could end up on the top. Students competed in a variety of games, chants, dances, and even a challenge of which class could make the best human pyramid. After hours of deafening cheering, spending an abundant amount of joules to complete the physical tasks, and displaying their talents, the winner had to be chosen. However, every class is a winner for participating; although different years of graduation, every student is still a Trojan. It was a very difficult decision for the judges, as all students had given their best efforts after practicing for weeks. In the long run, the purpose of Trojan Olympics was to unite the community as a whole.

More than 250 students participate in STEAM Showcase
by Karen Muska, MUSD Ed Tech Specialist

The MUSD STEAM Showcase, held on March 9, was a tremendous success! This event highlighted and celebrated our students' journeys and their accomplishments in STEAM, which is the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics.

We were overwhelmed by the quality of the projects and presentations and the number of participants and guests. This was not only the largest STEAM Showcase we have had, with over 100 projects and more than 250 students and lead teachers, there was also representation from all of our schools and all grade bands from kindergarteners through seniors in high school. 

Project topics included robotics, energy, 3D design and printing, arcade games built using math concepts and the engineering design process, pendulums and catapults, coding/programming, the science and math in art, space, wearable technology, and even Zombies!

Parent University a success, serves 179 participants
by Dr. Gerry Lopez, Coordinator II of Early Childhood Education and Parent Engagement

We concluded our 2019 Parent University and it was a great success, thanks to the efforts of so many. We had a total of 174 participants present at the event and their evaluations show that they found the workshops well worth the time they invested with us. Seventy parents along with 44 of their children were hosted by 26 MHS student volunteers and 16 MUSD staff members. Eleven incredible presentations were carried out by 18 energetic and engaged presenters 

We had representation of parent attendees from ALL MUSD sites (including Calaveras Hills High School and Adult Education (THANKS FOR JOINING US GUYS!) and as far as number of parents present, RANDALL WAS THE WINNER!!!, with a total of 22 parents present!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Many thanks for Padres Unidos (a Spanish-speaking parent volunteer group at MUSD) who not only ran the registration process but also provided some very well-attended workshops. Thank you all for your great recruitment efforts and your support. And thanks you for the members of Learning and Development, Student Services, the Child Development Centers, Print Shop, and Cabinet who provided support leading up to and on the day of the event.

We welcome your comments and perspectives to help improve next year’s Parent University. Email me at glopez@musd.org .

MHS Senior Sana Jaffery wins speech and debate tournament, finishing ahead of 86 others
by Charles Schletzbaum, MHS Speech and Debate coach

At the Santa Clara spring speech and debate tournament held the last weekend in March, Milpitas High School Senior Sana Jaffery won the tournament in varsity Lincoln Douglas debate for the second time in a row. She went undefeated, 11 and 0, winning winning 18 out of 20 judges, and finishing ahead of 86 others.

Freshman Disha Yadav made it to semifinals of varsity Lincoln Douglas, beating two competitors who are qualified to the state tournament . Sophomore Saili Karkare made it to finals of Varsity Oratorical Interpretation, finishing 4th overall. Freshman Noell Huynh went 4 and 1, 6th seed out of 87 in prelims, losing in the round of 32. In varsity public forum, sophomores Mehak Garg and Shivali Gulati were third seed in prelims, and were fifth and 2nd speakers respectively out of 99 speakers. Seventh grader Mindy Tran from Russell was tenth speaker of 52 in Novice Public Forum, and her and eighth grader Kaden Nguyen were 6th seed, but lost in the round of 16.
Sinnott sixth grader Ari Philip wins second place in Santa Clara County Office of Education Spelling Bee
Ari Philip (orange shirt), a sixth grader from John Sinnott Elementary School placed second in the Santa Clara County Office of Education Spelling Bee on March 16. He will go on to compete in the State Spelling Bee Championship on May 11 at the San Joaquin County Office of Education.

"The Spelling Bee helps students in Grades 4-6 improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage beyond the level of the everyday," the SCCOE website states. "Students study the correct spelling of words from prepared study lists and participate in 'round' competition in which contestants are eliminated as they misspell a word."
Rose Elementary second, third graders raise rainbow trout
by ViAnna Anderson, Rose second grade teacher

Each year, with special permission from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, several classes of second and third Graders at Rose Elementary Schools became ichthyologists , fish scientists. For weeks, students watch trout eggs provided from a local hatchery develop to become alevin and then fryling. This is all designed to allow students an opportunity to view nature up close and so they have a personal connection to their environment.

Students observed eggs hatching into alevin with their yolk sac. An exciting part of their discovery was recognizing parr marks and emerging fins on their tiny trout. The students recorded water temperature, fish size, and stage of development in journals. They collaborated with the other students from Lucille Lai, Ramon Vijil, and ViAnna Anderson’s classes in art projects, stories, and lessons about the watershed, water cycle, landforms, fish anatomy, and conservation.

Finally, the fish were big enough to survive on their own. On April 2, students released 46 baby fryling rainbow trout into Ed Levin Park’s Spring Valley Pond. Students were proud of the accomplishment that they were able to make a difference in their world by helping a species of fish survive and then go back into nature to thrive.

Adult Education Week shines a light on the importance of Milpitas programs
During the March 26 Board of Education meeting , Trustees adopted a resolution declaring the week of April 8-12, 2019 Adult Education Week. Adult Education is a vital community resource, providing training in English as a Second Language, high school diplomas, High School Equivalency preparation, and classes for parents, short term career training courses (CTE), and a wide variety of personal enrichment classes that add to the cultural and civic pride of Milpitas. MAE is also a member of the South Bay Consortium for Adult Education; this is a collaboration of four colleges and five adult schools in Santa Clara County, serving over 30,000 adult students every year.

Giuliana Brahim, Principal of Milpitas Adult Education Programs, wrote the following historical article about Adult Education and its impact in Milpitas, and the community at large:

The first recorded adult education class in California was held in the basement of St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco in 1856. The class was authorized by the San Francisco Board of Education to teach English to Irish, Italian, and Chinese immigrants. John Swett, who was the first volunteer teacher for the class, later became a State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Since then, Adult Education has made tremendous progress through perseverance and persistence. Not too long ago Adult Ed was considered the odd relative we don’t want to associate with and as I once heard “the story of Adult Ed is like Cinderella without a prince.” I am thrilled to say that it is not the case anymore. Every person that believes in Adult Education has a powerful story that it is worth sharing, in doing so, we are intentionally bringing awareness to the importance of Adult Education and its place at the table in the public educational system.

First graders show off cinematic work during film festival
First graders in Adrienne Barber’s class at John Sinnott Elementary held a film festival on March 11, where they showed off their cinematic work. Parents and students walked down the red carpet, viewed 30 student created films, and all students were awarded Oscars for outstanding film-making.

Students created individual green screen and collaborative fairy tales. For the green screen films, students researched a science or social studies topic (ranging from potatoes to guinea pigs to Angel Falls in South America). They then wrote a top 10 list and created art to be used in the film. Students uploaded a background and used a green screen app for filming. 

Students read and listened to a variety of fairy tales for the collaborative film. They chose groups, focused on telling a new version of a traditional tale (“Three Little Pigs” or “Little Red Riding Hood”). Students worked together to create a background, create a storyline, act, direct, and produce a short film.

Robert Randall Elementary hosting fundraising shoe drive
In the United States alone, more than 600 million pairs of shoes are thrown away per year. The materials used to manufacture a pair of shoes are created from chemical compounds that will create health hazards if left to disintegrate openly or in landfills.

The community is invited to participate in a shoe drive to raise funds for Robert Randall Elementary School. Donations of gently worn, used, and new shoes will be accepted. The amount of money raised is determined by the total weight of the shoes collected.

By donating your gently worn, used and news shoes to the Robert Randall Elementary your shoes are given a second chance to make a difference.

All donated shoes will be redistributed to microenterprise partners through Funds2Orgs, a for profit social enterprise, and used in developing nations for impoverished people to start their own businesses.
 
WHEN : Thursday, March 7, 2019 – May 17, 2019
           
WHERE : Robert Randall Elementary cafeteria, 1300 Edsel Avenue and MUSD District Office Staff Room, 1331 E. Calaveras Blvd.
News and Events
Cal Hills events foster connection between students, staff
Calaveras Hills High School had a fabulous Challenge day on April 1! Students, teachers, and community volunteers spent the day together and participated in a series of activities where they challenged themselves to step out of their box and get real!

On March 29, the school hosted an in-school field trip for its students. Teachers conducted two sessions for students sharing a little bit of themselves and their personal interests with students. Sessions included sprucing up the school garden, learning to play chess, stress management strategies, learning to bake, and hula dancing.  
Rancho Milpitas Middle School employees honor students during GolDON Breakfast
On March 29 Rancho Milpitas Middle School held a GolDON breakfast, an event that gave members of the school community the chance to recognize students outside of the traditional areas of academics, test scores, and athleticism.

Each Rancho staff member was allowed to invite one student to be their honorary guest, and get the chance to know them a little bit better outside the traditional classroom setting. They gave the student a personalized certificate at the breakfast.

"T he GolDON Breakfast was started two years ago at Rancho as a way to recognize and celebrate students in a very significant and personalized way," said Rancho Principal Casey McMurray. " ASB Adviser Amrun Singh, ASB students, our custodian, Jr., Kumi, and I work together to set up the tables/chairs/decorations/music/food/certificates and other important details to make this event special for all who are present."

Intel engineers visits Randall Elementary School students
Several engineers from Intel Corp. visited fifth graders at Robert Randall Elementary School to teach a lesson on self-driving cars March 29.

Students learned words such as CPU, sensors, chargers, circuits, motors, cables, remote, wires, devices, programming, assembling, microprocessor chip and silicon. Students were engaged for two whole hours, asking rigorous questions of inquiry. One student said at the end of the experience, "I didn't know what I wanted to be, but now I know I want to be an engineer." 

Rose Elementary students place during 5K run
Rose Elementary School's Running Tigers competed in the Brazen Hellyer 5K on March 31 at the Silver Creek Sportsplex in San Jose. The following students placed:

  • Isabela Aceves: 1st Place (Girls age 8-11)
  • Kelly Lu: 3rd Place (Girls ages 8-11)
  • Kejian Chen: 1st Place (Boys 8-11)
  • Rodolfo Manuel: 2nd Place (Boys 8-11)
  • Keqin Chen: 4th Place (Boys 8-11)
MHS students from Academy of Travel and Tourism gain real-world experiences during job shadow, field trip events
Last Thursday, March 28, 35 juniors from the Academy of Travel and Tourism attended a Job Shadow event in downtown San Jose. Students had job shadow placements at Fairmont Hotel, AC Hotel, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt Place, The Tech Museum, and The Hammer Theater. 
The previous day, March 27, sophomores from the Academy of Travel and Tourism attended a field trip to San Jose State Universiy, with a presentation from the Hospitality, Tourism and Management program and visited Benihanas in Cupertino for a tour in the afternoon.
MHS Environmental Society hosts Spring Clean-Up
by Jenny Pham, 11th grade Environmental Society club president

On Saturday, March 16, 2019 the Environmental Society of Milpitas High School hosted a Spring Clean-Up at Pioneer Mobile Home Park in collaboration with Milpitas Cares, Community Advisory Commission, Pioneer and City Staff. The Environmental Society of MHS gathered more than 50 volunteers through speaking at a Milpitas City Council meeting and publicizing through their high school. 

Overall, it was a huge success for the community to work together and clean out the plants in a neighborhood where many elders are unable to do so themselves. Through this, the Environmental Society of MHS was awarded with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for their invaluable service to the community. A true difference for the environment and Milpitas community was achieved!  
Ximena Mendez wins budget adoption cover contest
Calaveras Hills High School junior Ximena Mendez won the budget adoption cover contest.

Here she is with Robert Jung, Milpitas Community Educational Endowment founder, presenting her with a $150 prize check, and Wendy Zhang, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services.
Students participate in Girls in STEM Job Shadow Day
Some of the Milpitas High School Digital Business Academy female students participated in a Girls in STEM Job Shadow Day March 13 at LAM Research in Fremont. Students partnered with women engineers and toured the campus, heard presentations from inspiring female engineers encouraging the students to consider an engineering major in college, and then divided into teams to complete a STEM challenge.
Robotics, Engineering students tour Fetch Robotics
Fifty Milpitas High School students in David Carter's Robotics and Engineering class toured Fetch Robotics March 12 in San Jose. These students learned about the Autonomous Mobile Robots and saw what their futures would look like in this career sector. The event was held in collaboration with Fetch Robotics, MUSD, and Evergreen Valley College.
MHS hosts Career Week for more than 250 students
At the beginning of March, Milpitas High School hosted Career Week where students were able to hear from a variety of professionals in different careers. They also had workshops, particularly a resume and interview workshop facilitated by Ms. Garcia, in which students gained valuable information to apply for future jobs and more.

Careers ranged from nurse, Milpitas First Responders, Hospitality Manager for Hotel Nikko in SF, Lawyer, Speech Therapist, Anesthesiologist for Stanford, and more.
They even had the SJ Sharks Director of Media Relations bring signed hockey pucks by Vlasic and Burns for participating students; and a sports photographer for the San Francisco 49ers brought a special guest to her presentation, 49ers wide receiver Kendrick Bourne! It was a successful week with more than 250 students participating. Special thanks to the MHS Workability Program for their support during the week!
Milpitas High School Student Board Representative participates in 'Read Across Weller'
by Vivek Chotai, MHS Student Board Representative

On March 1, I had the privilege of participating in Joseph Weller Elementary School’s annual “Read Across Weller” event, where community members are invited to read books to students on Dr. Seuss day. My day started off with reading “Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!” by Dr. Seuss to a group of first graders for my first group. The first graders were very excited, constantly interrupting the story with bursts of laughter, and telling stories of their own. Although we did not get to finish the book, the students enjoyed the experience (even more than me!) and were especially amused by a picture of Miss Bonkers kissing the principal, Mr. Lowe, on the forehead. 

My second group included another cluster of first graders, who had heard the hysterical laughter from my previous group, wanting to read the same book. These students were particularly interested in the pictures, and noticed details that even I had not seen. Again, the picture of Miss Bonkers kissing Mr. Lowe’s forehead was a popular page, where the students pointed out Mr. Lowe’s shoes had fallen off as a result of his shock and happiness. 

San Jose Sharks Sticks in Hands program comes to Sinnott Elementary School
Eleven classes ranging from kindergarten to firth grade participated in the San Jose Sharks Sticks in Hands program on February 25. They set up an inflatable rink in the front parking lots of the school, provided all the necessary gear, instructed students about safety, and how to play street hockey -- for free!  This P.E. takeover style event is created around a safe, non-competitive experience. At the end of the day, the Sharks left behind a complete set of street hockey gear (sticks, balls and goals) to allow staff to continue hockey instruction through the year.

Upcoming Events
Calaveras Hills High School competing in Silicon Valley Clean Energy's Bike to the Future competition April 27
Calaveras Hills High School is competing in the Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s Bike to the Future competition. There are 20 teams from all over the county in this competition. 

The Calaveras Hills Mustangs team is composed of Daniel Hoady, Manraj Bains, Angeline Salavador and Drew Macabinta and their mentor Terry Augustine.

Students have to design and build an electric bike (e-bike) to compete in challenges to test the efficiency, innovation, and design of their e-bike. The bike must be built by the students. Direct help in the construction of the e-bike from people outside of the team is not allowed and can disqualify teams us participating in the competition.

The students are so excited to have this opportunity to be in this contest. But, also they learning design and team work but they are learning about electricity and how we can use it differently in the future. So far the team has put in more than 35 hours building the e-bike. Come out and watch the team compete, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 27 at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. The contest will take place rain or shine.

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MUSD | Phone: (408) 635-2600