What's your but?

 

Don't worry. This isn't a New Year's missive encouraging you to head back to the gym to get in shape as your resolution for 2018 after all your holiday debauchery.  I will not try to inspire you to read that book you've been meaning to, or encourage you to begin those projects in your home you've put off thinking you'll start the new year right by tackling them. Take a breath...

 

I walked into a local store last week and saw a large sign with the words "What's Your But?" written on it.  Surrounding that question were responses penned by the store's employees and customers. This happened to be an outdoor equipment store, so the idea was to challenge folks' excuses for not getting out in nature.  "I would hike after work more BUT it gets dark so early," or "I have always wanted to bike that trail BUT I don't have anyone to do it with me."  You get the idea. 

Sure, it's a bit corny, and the cynic in me bubbled to the surface as I justified all my BUTs as being legitimate.  Then I thought a bit longer and considered how much more I could get out of life if I replaced BUT with AND SO. The simple phrase "and so" opens up possibilities in contrast to the doors that "but" closes. "I want to spend more time with my kids to get to know what they are thinking but we're always so busy shuttling from one activity to another" becomes "I want to spend more time with my kids and so I will try to make our endless car commutes count by turning off the radio, getting off the devices, and just talking." Or how about from, "I know my kid is supposed to read that novel for school but he refuses saying it's so boring" to "My kid objects to reading that 'boring' novel for school and so I'll get a copy and read it with him, or we'll find the movie version and watch and discuss it together."

 

Ok, so this is the Sequoia Sentinel after all (produced and distributed by your very own PTSA and if you're reading this you are either a parent, teacher or student) and it wouldn't be right if I didn't encourage you to consider your buts when it comes to school involvement. Try replacing "I would like to get more involved in the PTSA but I can't attend the monthly Tuesday night meetings" with "I would like to get more involved with the PTSA and so I will e-mail them to discuss opportunities to help that don't include Tuesday nights."  Get the picture?

 

I'll leave it to you to think about all the ways your BUTs can become AND SOs as we launch into 2018. 

 

And so, I wish you a happy New Year and I look forward to seeing you around campus.

 

Lisa Hane

Back in November, Sequoia PTSA once again hosted Reflections, an arts recognition program for students. This program follows a "contest" format, but its purpose is to give students a chance to express themselves creatively. The national theme for 2017-2018 was "Within Reach."

We had student entries in 5 of the 6 categories, and we are pleased to announce the awards listed below. All of these winning entries can be viewed here on our PTSA website.  The entries that our judges selected as Awards of Excellence move up for district-level recognition.

Visual Arts:

Ximena Sanchez Martinez ( entry shown above) - Award of Excellence

Maya Donovan - Award of Merit

Literature:

Mackenzie Clarke - Award of Excellence

Zach Lo - Award of Merit

Roger Kyle Soriano - Honorable Mention

Film: 

Lori Sibun-Handler  - Award of Excellence

Music: 

Benjamin Redlawsk  - Award of Excellence

Photography:

Emma Larsson ( photo shown at right) - Award of Excellence

Kate Giorgi  - Award of Merit

Isabel Donovan  - Honorable Mention

Thank you to all who volunteered to be judges, you are fabulous! You agreed to read or listen to or view entries by a certain date without knowing how big a time commitment it might be. You came, on short notice, to our viewing of the Photography and Visual Arts entries so you could make your decisions based on the actual entry, rather than just a digital copy of it. And based on your comments during the viewing and in email, you were very thoughtful and conscientious. 

Next, thank you to the students who entered. You are all busy people and yet you took the time to enter and to share your creations with people you don't know.  That is impressive! It is important for adults in your community to see what you are capable of and what is on your mind and to figure out different ways to support your endeavors. So thank you, students, for giving us that opportunity.

Sometime near the end of January, the district-level PTA will let us know which, if any, of the entries we forwarded will move up to the California state-level of judging. And regardless of the outcome of that, PTSA will be having a reception in the spring to recognize all our entrants. We will keep you posted and in the meantime, go to the Sequoia PTSA website and see what our Sequoia students can do!

Thank you to all who helped provide or make items, set-up, serve, and clean-up, it took many helping hands to deliver this special event, including:  Elvia Acevedo, Adriana Agustin, Heather Alexander, Carmen Alvarado, Carolyn Arbuckle, Meredith Armienti, Brenda Arreguin, Annie Baker, Alma Bejar, Jan Benway, Lucia Castro, Michelle Cheng, Blanca Crispin, Teresa Cruz, Rebecca Joslin-Davis, Dorith Dooley, Guadalupe Esquivel, Lourdes Esquivel, Gabriela Mendoza-Evans,   Gabriela Sepulveda Fajardo,  Claudia Flores,  Laura Vella-Fukuji,  Sandra Gamino,  Susie Gilbert, Elizabeth Gomez, Marlena Griffin, Claudia Gruber,  Ilcia Guirola,  Karen Ha, Lisa Hane, Janet Hart, Catherine Heller,  Ana Hernandez,  Torri Horovitz,  Araceli Huerta,  Stacy Huisman, Julie Juergens, Paula Kaddas, Rachel Krueger,  Eva Lazo,  Susan Lier,  Esmeralda Lopez, Melba Lopez,  Jake Lowenstern, Alisa MacAvoy, Sara Mancini, Holly Matsuo, Sarah McCaughey, Duoc McCutchan,  Jeanette Medina,  Patti Miller,  Olivia Molina, Yasmin Ortiz,  Lauren Pachkowski, Leah Pachkowski,  Betsy Parkhurst,  Sara Paulino,  Jasmin Peccei, Erika Pretell,  Telma Ramirez, Maria Revuelta, América Reyes, Rosalba Rodriguez, Maria Margarita Roldan ,  Sandra Salguero, Maria del Carmen Sanchez, Irene Sandoval,  Kristin Sanon, Caitlyn Schneider, Grace Schulz, Kristina Scott, Gabriela Sepulveda,  Savina Sera,  Maren Stever,  Eva Suruy,  Paul Tanzillo, Sam Tipirneni,  Elvie Tomacder, and Jennifer Webb.