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 Scott Forstner.
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February connects our cultures within one community |
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Human connection is that magical space that elicits creativity and brilliance. Sharing our celebrations, customs, and histories deepens our relationships and strengthens our Culture of We. February highlights opportunities for shared experiences such as Lunar New Year, Valentine’s, Presidents Day, and Black History Month. We are keenly focused on who we are as individuals in relation to our collective histories and stories to a greater extent than we have been in the past. The power of nearly instantaneous communication allows us to experience each other’s struggles and joy.
We are living the 4th Industrial Revolution in this pandemic, we see that in our online learning and remote working environments. As with each of the last three industrial revolutions where machinery facilitated easier and faster ways of doing things, so too does the 4IR. Data analytics and artificial intelligence is evident in the pop-up messages in our browsers. These and other 4IR elements such as robotics and machine learning give rise to the 5th Industrial Revolution, which some have likened to a renaissance. 5IR is humanity, it is how humanity uses these technologies for purposes that enhance life.
The five pillars of the 5IR are; 4IR service to humanity; Connection of business to purpose; UN Global Goals 2030; and Empowerment of women and girls. Leadership, social influence, emotional intelligence, and inclusion are skills that our students will need for their careers in 2025 and beyond. “Culture and people specialists” is an emerging field in the future world of work. The United Nations Goals 2030 incorporates 17 goal areas necessary for a human focused future. Two of those goals are designing Quality Education that is equitable and inclusive, and the other is Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions that provide “justice for all.”
Our purpose speaks to us through our students, and our humanity is what our learners embody. MUSD proudly recognizes the human centered ingenuity that our learners demonstrate in their endeavors and conversations as illustrated in this month’s edition of MUSD School LIFE.
#WeRMilpitas
Cheryl Jordan
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State Board Member of Year's blog |
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MUSD Board of Education President Chris Norwood launches his State Board Member of the Year blog |
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On March 13, 2020, Governor Newsom announced the Shelter-In-Place order for the state of California. In the months preceding the governor's announcement, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan organized district leaders, including myself and Vice President Hon Lien; Assistant Superintendents Norma Rodriguez, Wendy Zhang and Jonathon Brunson; Director of Tech Services Chin Song; and Association Presidents Diana Orlando (MTA) and Machelle Kessinger (CSEA) to discuss a variety of hypothetical pre-planning situations based on information being received from international family members, community leaders, Stanford research and district thought partners.
What if the Coronavirus (COVID-19) made it to the states? What would it take to ensure learning continuity? How do we pivot from in-person to online? How do we effectively engage MUSD leaders, teachers, administrators, student nutrition? How do we inform parents and students effectively? How much would it cost? These questions and others were quickly answered in the months to come as the Board approved the creation of the Distance Learning Plan, entitled “MUSD EducatEveryWhere, the budget for additional technology,” and more.
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Black History Month 2021 Panel Discussion
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MUSD-City Lunar New Year 2021 video celebration |
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Milpitas HS senior pens inspiring piece on Vice President Kamala Harris in The Union student newspaper/website |
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Milpitas High School senior Sienna Reyes' column "The Power of Representation: Perseverance and Hope" dons the front page of the latest edition of The Union, a student-run newspaper/website.
In her opinion piece, Reyes wrote: "Malcolm X once said, “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman.” On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, almost 60 years after Malcolm X delivered this quote, Americans watched while the first Black and South Asian American woman was sworn into office as the vice president of the United States.
Kamala Harris—Oakland native, Howard graduate, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. member, and former California senator—stood among past presidents and first ladies, members of congress, news reporters, and loved ones as she took the oath of office. Women everywhere celebrated this momentous occasion being that this is the highest position of power that has ever been held by a woman in the country."
Read Sienna's full article in The Union here.
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Rancho Milpitas MS seventh grader starts CliMatter initiative to raise awareness around climate change |
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Nia Gupte, a seventh grader at Rancho Milpitas Middle School, is raising awareness around climate change with her initiative called CliMatter.
"I plan to raise awareness towards climate change at schools (inside and outside) of MUSD by organizing social and educational events," said Nia, who presented at the February 9 Board of Education meeting. "Climatter intends to create a community of passionate students and staff that care for our environment."
Gupte hopes students and staff will take the pledge with her by wearing green on the last Friday of each month to bring awareness to climate change.
Read more about Nia's CliMatter on her website here.
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Milpitas High School alumni offer encouraging words to younger generations of MUSD students |
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When a student-athlete represents Milpitas High School—and the Milpitas community at large—the morals, values and goodwill that are instilled in them by coaches and teachers alike stays with them throughout their life on and off the playing field.
This was never more apparent than during a January 12, 2021 recognition of MHS alumni and current San Jose State University football players Dion Leonard, Alii Matau and Justin Scrempos—who praised their childhood and teen experiences for guiding them to where they are today.
“These are great young men,” said MHS football coach Kelly King. “Anytime they are around our guys and come back, they are great role models.”
Justin was part of the Trojans’ 2017-18 CIF State championship team prior to moving on to San Jose State, where the Spartans won a Mountain West conference title and played in the Arizona Bowl.
“Thank you to all my teachers, and especially to Coach King, who helped get me where I am now,” said Justin, who encouraged the younger generation to “stay focused, keep working hard and keep doing the right things.”
Dion credited Coach King with “shaping us to the men we are today, always having our back, and teaching us that life is bigger than football.” He shared that being a good person and working hard are the two things that “will take you a long way in life.”
Alii echoed his teammates and added: “For me personally, whether in school, football, or just being out in public, make sure to make the right decisions. It all pays off and comes full circle.”
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Vita Vea wins Super Bowl LV with Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
With a 31-9 championship victory in Super Bowl LV, Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defensive lineman Vita Vea (#88 during his playing days with the MHSTrojans) became the first Milpitas HS graduate to win a Super Bowl.
(Historic note: Kim Bokamper, a 1972 graduate from MHS, played in two Super Bowls for the Miami Dolphins, but the Dolphins lost both times.)
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Students developing website to connect school employees with owners of home rentals |
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A group of Milpitas High School students and members of the school’s Math Club are developing a new website that will connect Milpitas Unified School District employees with local property owners who have available rental units, including those in the new Robson homes with Accessory Dwelling Units.
“We will work with homeowners to see if they are willing to reserve their units for MUSD employees who are in need of rental units,” said Superintendent Cheryl Jordan. “School employees are excellent tenants.”
The concept arose when Superintendent Jordan met with Mark Robson of Robson Homes in September 2019. The new 38-home development includes 10 houses with ADUs, better known as granny units. The unique partnership blossomed after Superintendent Jordan proposed the idea of reserving those ADUs for school employees to Mr. Robson, who, in turn, suggested that the students create an app for connecting school employees with homebuyers in the new development.
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MUSD Innovators on the Move! video series |
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MUSD educators are a talented bunch, reaching our learners with their passion, knowledge, and innovation. When faced with a pandemic, our MUSD team members rose to the challenge creating MUSD EducatEveryWhere.
We’ve always been a sharing, collaborative crew. That’s why we’ve begun this video series "MUSD Innovators on the Move!" highlighting the practices, methods and approach of our teachers, specialists, paraprofessionals, and classified team members.
At MUSD, we move forward together and this is how we do it!
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What teacher/support staff has made a positive impact in your distance learning this year, and why? |
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Janet Le
Every time I attend Ms. Ivy Nguyen’s Zoom calls, I am greeted with energy. ... Math is one of the subjects I struggle with the most, so I gladly appreciate that Ms. Nguyen has very concise presentations and notes. The homework assignments are consistently posted and neatly laid out in her weekly agendas. This has allowed me to manage my time better and reduce my stress. She has also been understanding throughout my technological difficulties and has spent time after school administering make up tests
Mr. Adrian Hernandez has been extremely helpful and quick in responding to my emails about literally everything. The stress I had when applying for colleges was greatly reduced when I asked Mr. Hernandez about all the questions I had.
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Shivali Gulati
As our leadership advisor, Mr. Brian McGarry guides over 20 E-Tech sophomores, juniors, and seniors in hosting monthly bonding events to maintain our academy’s strong sense of community virtually. Despite the overwhelming workload on students and teachers, he always enters our meetings with a large smile on his face, ready to engage with his students and turn our ideas into a reality.
In particular, I admire Mr. McGarry’s dedication to not only making our academy-wide events as enjoyable as possible, but also how he encourages connections between the underclassmen and upperclassmen. From Star Wars references to Disney songs, seeing our academy come together with each event is only possible because of Mr. McGarry’s enthusiasm.
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Thomas Phung
Mr. Glen Barrett, who is currently my teacher for AP Environmental Science, has made learning
about Environmental Science fun and engaging. ...He has found ways that allow my peers and I to do labs that we normally would have done in person at home in a way that works for everyone. The labs give me hands-on experience about what I am learning and help me to learn better. As a result, I believe that being able to do the labs is a big
deal.
He also gives extra non-graded work that helps my peers and I practice, called enhancements. These have helped me to better understand what I am being taught and will help me receive a good score on the AP exam. Mr. Barrett makes a lot of jokes to help lighten the mood and make a better learning environment.
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Jaskiran Purewal
We started the year desperately trying to connect through a screen; we are in this together, but it feels like we are so far apart. Through it all my motivation came from my AVID teacher, Ms. Kristina Edwards. She has been my teacher since freshman year and helped me grow into the student I am today. She has always believed in all of her students, and I’ve never once felt like I was just a student in her class. I always felt like I was loved and seen.
Ms.Edwards has always found ways to motivate, uplift, and empower us. She created an environment for our class to be like a family. At the end of the day, she is our biggest cheerleader, our shoulder to lean on, and the big warm hug we all need sometimes. She genuinely takes the time to take care of each and every one of her students.
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Jenina Fernandez
One thing I really appreciate about Ms. Tricia Brownstein is her attentiveness; she works with us and understands us enough to understand our specific strengths. I take a special interest in being an enthusiastic leader who can lead groups of people, and noticing this, she would assign me to tasks that would help me further develop that skill. Not only does she notice my strengths, but she can also be someone I can open up to about my doubts as a student.
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MUSD Team updates community with MUSD EducatEveryWhere v. 3.0 presentation |
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California School Employees 'We are Essential' |
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Happy Valentine's Day from Milpitas Choir |
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"At the Table with Dr. King" event highlights latest community activities from our District Calendar |
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On February 23 at 6 p.m., MUSD invites everyone to participate in a live discussion by Mizel Museum titled, "At the Table with Dr. King," a one-hour presentation using live music, spoken word, and multi-media to bring to life Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Knock at Midnight" and portions of America's Civil Rights Movement. After the virtual program, we will all be treated to a full week of access to invaluable resources on the Mizel Museum website. (We will provide these event links when they become available.)
Have a look at our District Calendar for information on more upcoming events, meetings and more. Here's the link.
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MUSD | Phone: (408) 635-2600 |
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