EYE ON EDUCATION A Publication of the Paramount Unified School District
15110 CALIFORNIA AVE., PARAMOUNT, CA 90723 • TEL: 562-602-6000 • FAX: 562-634-6029
MARCH 2011
Welcome to Captain Ray’s Corral! Saturday morning, June 5th, 2010, several families and staff from the Collins’ community arrived at school with hats, gloves, shovels, and trowels wondering what Mrs. Deogracias had in store for them. Jon Basset from FarmScapeGardens.com instructed volunteers to lay a weed cover over the base of the raised garden beds, fill them with soil and compost, set and test the irrigation lines, and then spread wood chips for pathways. Next, children planted a summer crop of zucchini, gooseneck and patty pan squashes, tomatoes, bok choy, corn, pumpkins, watermelon, strawberries, marigolds, herbs, and sunflower seeds. Collins School garden is a resource for teaching nutrition and agriculture so that children can eat healthier by growing their own food and learn how California farmers provide much more than their food and clothing. Teachers are encouraged to utilize the garden for lessons in their core
curriculum. Our cafeteria displays the current harvest so all children can observe their food in its original state. Mrs. Deogracias, a first grade teacher and certified Los Angeles County Master Gardener, facilitates an after school garden club on Fridays with the assistance of a parent and a teacher or two. About twentyfive students from grades one through five maintain the garden. They also learn a bit of
botany and recycle by composting garden waste. During autumn, the children removed seeds from over twenty giant sunflower heads and filled an entire copy paper box full of seeds. They ate fresh roasted seeds for weeks. Our garden guardians nurtured a pumpkin to grow to forty-two pounds. The STAR students relished the sweetness of a vine ripened watermelon. For the winter season, the
children planted broccoli, mustard greens, kohlrabi, chard, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, snap peas, carrots, lettuces, celery, and an artichoke. They enjoyed bok choy soup and quesadillas with fresh Mexican oregano and cilantro. Their families took fresh garden produce home. Thank you Superintendent David Verdugo, Ed. D, Head of Nutrition Services Chris Stamm, Operations Supervisor Roger
Ramirez and staff, Collins PTA, Collins Third Grade Store, and all the garden donors whose contributions of time, talent, and funding enabled our garden to be a reality. Captain Ray’s Corral is helping train our students to be responsible hard workers, problem solvers, and caretakers of our environment. Mrs. Deogracias, Teacher Captain Raymond Collins School
Financial Aid for PHS Seniors
“Thank you so much for the help with my FAFSA, I thought my head would explode!” said senior Gabriela Pedroza after attending one of the on-line FAFSA Workshops in the new PHS Library Media Center. The months of January and February find Paramount High School Counselors focused on helping all PHS seniors reach their college goals and assisting them with financial aid forms and scholarship information. According to 2010 senior exit data, 34% of PHS seniors went on to a four-year university such as a Cal-State or UC, 45% went on to a 2-year community college and 9% went on to a trade or vocational school. Counselors expect this number to grow in 2011 and that means Paramount students will need more financial assistance to help cover
their college costs. Counselors started off the New Year by presenting their Guidance Curriculum on Financial Aid, Funding your Future. The power point presentation was provided to counselors through Edfund and gave a comprehensive overview of financial aid programs and what forms need to be filled out in order to qualify. Counselors visited all of the senior social studies classes where 980 seniors were presented the information along with a handout outlining the key points. Students were also given information on where to find scholarship applications on School-Loop. Seniors must file a FAFSA (Free Application For Student Aid) and a CalGrant GPA verification form by March 2nd, 2011 in order to qualify for financial aid. Students must apply to an
accredited school for the fall of 2011 to receive financial aid. Counselors invited all seniors to FAFSA workshops that were held in the new PHS Library Media Center. Counselors were available to assist students and parents in these workshops by helping them complete their on-line FAFSA forms. Resources to help students and parents can be found on the new counseling website on School-Loop: PHS Counseling Website: http://phs-pusd-ca.schoolloop.com/PHSCounseling FAFSA: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov Cal-Grant GPA Verification form: http://phs-pusd-ca.schoolloop.com/financialaid PHS Scholarship Applications http://phs-pusd-ca.schoolloop.com/scholarship Erik Lindshield Counselor PHS
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING DATES March 9, 2011 & March 23, 2011 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