PUSD Education News A Publication of the Paramount Unified School District
15110 California Ave., Paramount, CA 90723 • Tel: 562-602-6000 • Fax: 562-634-6029
December 2015
Early Childhood Education The Early Childhood Education (ECE) Program held an engaging parent workshop in November. Preschool parents learned about ways to better communicate with their children. They practiced using more questions and vocabulary when talking to children. Theresa Ybarra, ECE/TK Instructional Coach and Dr. Garcia, Program Director shared communication strategies from the Take Time. Talk! Project developed by the Los Angeles Universal
Preschool (LAUP). Parents also got an opportunity to review different types of books and talk about the importance of reading to the
PARAMOUNT PARK PANTHERS VISIT JPL After a long day of walking, talking, eating and exploring, it was a tired bunch of Paramount Park Middle School Panthers that climbed back onto the bus at the end of a very rewarding visit to one of the world’s most renowned space centers, the famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in La Cañada. It was the annual JPL Open House, which typically draws thousands of visitors each year. JPL is home to the three Mars rovers, Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity, and there were full-size models of these famous Martian explorers on display. One of the oldest surviving space probes, the famous Voyager 1, which just passed the outermost edge of our Solar System, and is still sending back data after nearly forty years, is also under the command of JPL scientists and
PPark students (left to right) Keilei Ceja, Valerie Ceja, Eddie Silva, Daniel Sanchez , Aldo Bugarin and Alejandro Hernandez enjoy their visit to the JPL Open House in October.
engineers, some of which were on hand to answer questions. In addition, there were numerous displays and opportunities to talk to the very scientists who design, build and command most of the space probes currently operating in our Solar System, including the ones to the moons of Saturn and Jupiter, as well as New Horizons, which is just now passing Pluto.
Students who waited in one of the longest lines of the day were rewarded with a visit inside JPL’s Command Center where engineers were communicating with Curiosity. There were also several movies highlighting the successes of JPL’s various projects. Jeff Kiesel MESA Advisor
Paramount High School Students Attend College Fairs Paramount High School Senior Campus offered two college fair field trips to students during the month of October. On the evening of Wednesday, October 7th, a group of 100 students attended the Southern California College Fair hosted at the Pomona Fairplex. On Saturday, October 24th, students traveled to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) for the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) Visual and Performing Arts College Fair. The field trips are free of charge and are offered to all
students through daily announcements, flyers, School Loop messages, 1-way Rem i n d t ex t m e s s a g e s a n d counselor referrals. Students were able to interact with a wide range of college representatives who were able to answer specific ques-
tions regarding admissions and programming. Exploring the various types of postsecondary institutions is important as students navigate through majors and careers of interest along with financial aid opportunities.
children. Families received a gift book at the end of the workshop to add to their home libraries.
Big Blue Dog on the Loose! Any other week that kind of announcement would cause concern, but not during the first week of October. It is the season for fall fund raisers and Blue Dog is a big part of that. Jefferson School began their fall fundraiser on Wednesday, October 7th with a series of kick-off assemblies. The principal, Mrs. Williams introduced Karston from Signature fundraising. Mr. Karston proceeded to raise the level of enthusiasm in the school’s multi-purpose room throughout a rousing thirty minute assembly. The students were motivated to help the school raise funds for field trip opportunities by selling a number of delicious foods and interesting products. Additional student enthusiasm came in the form of the possibility of earning their favorite prizes as a thank you for their participation. Students really liked the key chains with images of Blue Dog and one of their favorite key chains was a little electric guitar that they could pretend to play. The most thunderous applause and cheering came on the heels of the announcement that the top fund raisers will be taking a limousine for a fun filled pizza adventure. The assembly ended with much excitement as eager students couldn’t wait to start helping their school. The fund
raiser went on for two weeks, during which, activities and the appearance of Blue Dog helped to sustain the excitement begun at the kick-off assembly. The students and families of Jefferson School showed their Jaguar Pride as they did their best to assure a successful fund raiser. Thank you to all of the Jefferson PTA and community for helping to make the fall fund raiser a positive experience for all involved and for supporting our students. Jeff Bowers Teacher
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING DATES
December 9, 2015
Board of Education meetings are held at 6:00 p.m. in the Boardroom at the District Office, 15110 California Avenue, Paramount, and are open to the public.