TUSD Weekly Update | Chief Communication Coordinator Marie Russell

2017-2018

TUSD Weekly Update| 3.12.18

We hope you are enjoying this new communications effort designed to showcase and keep you in the loop on all the wonderful things happening in TUSD. Please follow us on social media for daily vs. just weekly updates! Got a story idea? Please reach out!

STEM-tacular Science Olympiad Results

Turlock Junior High School

Sitara Ali, Donna Creighton, Lori Carlson

Stanislaus County’s Regional Science Olympiad competition for junior high and high school students was held on Saturday, March 3rd at Modesto Junior College. For the second year in a row, Turlock Junior High School placed first overall for the middle school level in their fourth year competing as a team in recent years. TJHS medaled in 18 out of 23 total events, and all 15 team members medaled in at least one event, details of which are below:

1st place: Anatomy and Physiology, Sufia Birmingham and Megha Saini

1st place: Ecology, Jacqueline Maggard and Alice Stessman

1st place: Fast Facts, Sufia Birmingham and Julia Carlson

1st place: Optics, Joel Carrillo and Zach Coughlin

1st place: Potions and poisons, Hannah Sahota and Maya Salvador

1st place: Road Scholar, Julia Carlson and Hannah Sahota

1st place: Solar System, Sufia Birmingham and Julia Carlson

2nd place: Dynamic Planet, Sufia Birmingham and Joel Carrillo

2nd place: Experimental Design, Hannah Sahota, Maya Salvador and Pavit Saini

2nd place: Write it, Do it, Jacqueline Maggard, Alice Stessman

3rd place: Herpetology, Amelia Bettencourt, Pavit Saini

3rd place: Hovercraft, Partaap Bains, Sam Carlsen

3rd place: Microbe Mission, Zach Coughlin and Russell Olvera

3rd place, Thermodynamics, Amelia Bettencourt and Partaap Bains

3rd place: Battery Buggy, Amelia Bettencourt and Sam Carlsen

3rd place: Disease Detectives, Claire Ahlem and Russell Olvera

3rd place: Wright Stuff, Claire Ahlem and Russell Olvera

3rd place: Roller Coaster, Jacqueline Maggard and Alice Stessman

Good luck at the Sate competition which will be held on April 11th at CSU, Stanislaus!

Turlock High School

Kevin Testo

Out of 21 teams from schools in our Stanislaus/Merced region, we placed 7 ^th overall this year; up from 11 ^th place last year. We medaled in 9 events and earned gold in 3 of them. Our team is largely comprised of freshman so look forward to our students improving each year in our goal of winning regional and reaching the State competition.

1 ^st place: Dynamic Planet- Matt Haynam and Nate Haynam

1 ^st place: Microbe mission- Ashley Huh and Lilyane Stessman

1 ^st place: Optics- Mitchell Amos and Harbeer Panesar

3 ^rd place: Thermodynamics- Matt Haynam and Nate Haynam

3 ^rd place: Fermi questions- Victor Pak

3 ^rd place: Disease Detectives- Alondra Herrera and Stella Pak

4 ^th place: Fermi Questions- Mitchell Amos and Stella Pak

5 ^th place: Material Science- Emily Ngo and Obed Meraz

5 ^th place: Experimental Design- Matt Haynam, Stella Pak, and Ashley Huh

Pitman High School

Sean Brooks

1st place: Forensics

Sarah Gordon & Emily Bernardo

2nd place: Anatomy and Physiology

Chuc Luu & Marcus Hawley

3rd place: Helicopters

Kyle Eshagh & Vincent Damante

3rd place: Hovercraft

Sydney Vallier

3rd place: Write It/ Do It

Sarah Gordon & Emily Bernardo

ICYMI FOG March 24, 2018

Hometown Heroes

PFC Brandon E. Hagar graduated from Pitman High School in 2017 and immediately enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. Brandon is currently stationed at Camp Pendleton and serves in the infantry. As a member of the U.S. Armed Services Brandon enjoys "living to a set of standards" and his biggest challenge is the "mental fortitude" this career requires. He would like to recognize the many teachers, friends, and family who supported him in his journey, in particular, the FFA. Brandon plans to make a career of military service and credits the Marine Corps for helping make him a "productive member of society" as well as making him a "stronger and more confident person." Thank you for your service, Brandon!

Whatever happened to . . . Alexander Lima?

Turlock High School

Alexander Lima was a 2016 co-valedictorian at Turlock High School and is currently in his second year studying Mechanical Engineering at UCLA. Currently Alex is “doing a lot with aerospace,” however he is also interested in the auto or sports equipment industry . . . or even opening a bakery! Wherever his future takes him Alex would like to find a career where he chooses to work very hard because he enjoys it. In reflecting on his time in TUSD, Alex would like to recognize Randy Huth and Matt Rosengarth “because they were very hard which is good;” Portuguese with Laura Mann and Joseph Sousa, Environmental Science with Ryan Hollister, and Psychology with Ryan Tribble “because these teachers stood out as being incredibly passionate about teaching their subjects;” and Ag Welding with Chad Russell “because it is extremely valuable to have a diverse education and hands-on skills.” Alex stays very busy with school, but he spends most of his free time with Rocket Project which is a club where he can design and manufacture rockets. He is currently working a motor for a rocket that will be launching to 10,000 feet next month. Alex also enjoys going snowboarding with the UCLA Snow Team as much as he can. Alex would like to thank everyone who works in education and puts students first. Keep up the great work, Alex!

Advice for Students? "There was recently a test given to fifth graders all over the world to try to determine what makes some countries perform better in math than others. The test ended up being way too hard and barely any of the students finished the whole test since they would get bored or give up. The researchers thought the study was a failure and would need to go back to the drawing board, but when they looked at the data there was a strong pattern showing that the students who performed best in math classes were the students that answered the most questions in the study. It did not matter whether the answer was right or wrong, just that the student had persevered and attempted the problems and not given up. Being smart is not at all about having some kind of magical power; being smart is simply working without quitting until you have achieved your goals. And then setting newer, higher goals. So my advice is that there is no substitute for hard work and perseverance - you learn the most when whatever you are trying to do is difficult or even nearly impossible. Don't let the challenge or the fear of failure scare you away; I guarantee that the path will not be easy or comfortable, but it will be worth it."

Meet Richelle

Cafeteria Account Technician

Richelle Salas has worked in TUSD the past five years, first in Fiscal Services and the past two years in Child Nutrition as a Cafeteria Account Technician. Richelle got her start in school finance 16 years ago in Delhi Unified and Stanislaus Union before coming to work in TUSD. Richelle loves her job in Child Nutrition and is excited to be in their new building on Auto Mall Drive. Her primary job responsibility is processing lunch applications for free and reduced lunch applications. Richelle shared, “There are many families that rely on our program so it’s my job to get them qualified quickly and effortlessly.” The new online application has helped expedite this process and Richelle hopes “more families will take advantage of it.” Outside of work Richelle stay buys with her kids’ sports activities, especially basketball (“Go Lakers!”). She enjoys sneaking away to the beach whenever possible and adding to her collection of “You are Here” Starbucks mugs. Thank you, Richelle, for helping put the “US” in TUSD.

Kids' Corner

Erin Walker, Grade 11, eCademy Charter at Crane School

Annelise Sin, Grade 4, eCademy Charter at Crane School

Matthew Green, Grade 8, eCademy Charter at Crane School

Lilyanna Hernandez, Grade 7, eCademy Charter at Crane School

Six Word Stories

Pitman High School

Name | Emmanuel Khoushabeh

Grade | 11

Career Goal | Pharmacist

College Goal | UOP

Last Week in Social Media

This spring we are busy working with our schools to upgrade to new SchoolLoop websites. So far we have converted:‬

‪1️⃣ TUSD‬

‪2️⃣ Turlock High‬

‪3️⃣ Julien‬

‪4️⃣ Crowell‬

We hope you like the new, mobile-friendly designs and always appreciate your feedback!

Find your school on the 2018 Open House schedule. We ❤️ these, don’t you? #tusd ‬

Thank you to I Am Yoga for helping us place Pitman High School senior Alexa Mendoza in an internship position. We appreciate our Turlock business partners! ❤️ Namaste! #tusd

Perfect shout out for #internationalwomensday ! Congratulations to Turlock High School seniors Vanessa Astorga and Mehr Sahota for their selection as 2018 Outstanding Young Women of Stanislaus County by the Stanislaus County Commission for Women. These ladies have bright futures ahead of them and we are proud of their accomplishments!

Relay for Lifers at Turlock High School showed off their BEE Positive attitudes and honored Kayla Bernardi! Thank you, Bernardi Family for the examples of grace, love and goodness that you show to our Turlock community EVERY day. ~Kristin Bettencourt

Marjorie Bettencourt, our new Interim Assistant Superintendent of Finance & Accountability for 2018-2019, shared the LCAP High Priority Considerations at the quarterly Admin Council Meeting. Thank you to everyone who completed the LCAP survey! #tusd

Superintendent Dana Salles Trevethan and Assistant Superintendent Mike Trainor conveyed an important message to Admin Council as part of our ongoing discussions in TUSD about safety and security:‬ ✔️Listen Intently‬ ✔️Follow-up Immediately‬ ✔️Respond Appropriately ‬ ‪ #tusd ‬

‪It’s Medeiros Elementary School night at the TUSD Board of Trustees meeting! Shout out to Taylor Cooper and Aleece Bagnani for providing the Inspiration and Flag Salute, respectively. They were definitely shining stars! #tusd ‬

Thank you Rotary of Turlock for always making time at your meetings to recognize our secondary TUSD Students of the Month. We appreciate you! ❤️ #tusd

Stay in touch!

Please contact Chief Communication Coordinator Marie Russell if you have a recommendation for future content including a retiree to catch up with, student to recognize, or employee to feature. 209.648.0968.

Congratulations to Jay Brem who won a $5 gift card for sharing his favorite movie of 2017-- Jiro Dreams of Sushi . Other popular choices were Lady Bird , Wonder Woman , The Big Sick , Coco, and the Best Picture award winner The Shape of Water .