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
March 2015
Martin Luther King Jr. Hollydale Hornet Day Writing Contest Families Pack the Hive Hornet families swarmed the Hollydale cafeteria on a beautiful Thursday evening. Our families were at school for the Pajama Read Night Party and the capacity crowd filled the room and spilled out into the hallway. The night kicked off with a performance by Annie Banannie. Annie engaged our families with inventive storytelling and punctuated the stories with balloon creations that represented elements of the tales that she told. The stories became interactive as audience members were brought up on stage to participate by helping Annie to develop stories and make balloon creations. Annie brought an end to her storytelling by stepping into a giant balloon to become a human size snow globe. That was unique to see a person envelop themselves in a balloon. And then with a loud POP, the bubble burst to let Annie out again. After Annie’s fabulous storytelling, our Hornet families flew off to a series of rooms for more stories and activities. Our wonderful staff members eagerly read some of their favorite stories to the crowds filling the rooms. In addition to great stories, our staff led students and their families through a series of activities that tied together fluency, writing, and fun. It was great to see so many families engaged in academic pursuits with their children. It was
also great that the children were able to see the fun in reading, sharing, writing, and creating stories. Story time concluded, but the night was not over. Our Hornet families made their way to the front of the school where they were greeted by more Hollydale staff members passing out milk and cookies. Students also got to browse a large selection of books and everyone was able to go home with free books which made all of our little Hornets happy. Pajama Read Night was a success as the storytelling was fun, the treats were tasty and the book give-away created lots of smiles.
There was something for everyone at Read Night and the buzzing from our happy Hornets was heard throughout the crowd as everyone made their way out at the end of the evening. A huge Hornet thank you goes out to the wonderful Hollydale PTA for their support and help in organizing this wonderful event. Thank you to the participating staff and teachers that brought the energy and made the night fun A sincere thanks to all of our Hollydale families for attending this event and being such great supporters of our students and the school.
“From the minute I arrived at the event, I was thrilled to see such a festive and respective celebration. I saw such a wide variety of people who were there not only to celebrate a great man’s holiday, but they were also there to hear me deliver a poem.” These were the thoughts of Gabriel Garcia, a sophomore Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp (JROTC) cadet at Paramount High School, upon reflecting on his experience on January 5, 2015 when he was awarded first place for the City of Cerritos Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Writing Contest. Gabriel was accompanied by Sargent Brayboy, his JROTC teacher, and several other cadets including 2nd place writing contest winner, Joanne Robielos. Gabriel reflects, “When I read my poem, I felt a sense of pride and nerves all at the same time and after everything was said and done, I was happy that I was able to participate in such a great event!” Gabriel Garcia aspires to be an Internal Medicine physician and hopes to explore joining the Airforce in his future. The summer of 2015 will mark his 2nd year in the SMASH summer program at UCLA that focuses on math and science enrichment including access to SAT preparation online resources, college counseling, financial aid workshops and more. He additionally serves as a Young Senator for the 33rd district and participates in the Associated Student Body at Paramount High School Senior Campus. It’s plain to see that Gabriel Garcia and his teammates in the JROTC program have been influenced by their dedicated instructors to become involved and seek “greatness,” similar to the leadership and ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Greatness” By: Gabriel Garcia The eternal desire, Constantly chased but never defined. Generations after generations have moved mountains, crossed seas, and shook the earth to achieve such a title, But what does it really mean to be “Great”? We all want to be important and we all want to be recognized. We love to hear our name attached to something that people are proud of, But in our blinding fervor we miss the most important thing of all, the service. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., a man who changed the world, said that the greatest one of all of us would be a servant But what does that mean? This means that greatness does not come from having a PhD, This means that greatness does not originate from knowing the Ancient philosophy or mathematical theorems, No! Greatness pours out of a person when they are able to serve their community, Able to serve their friends, And even able to serve loved ones. Greatness is not a onetime deal. Greatness is not something that occurs from succeeding at one deed but instead, Greatness is a lot of little things done well. Greatness is an iron lock that only service can free. You do not require money, or a college degree, or any materials for greatness. Because greatness can only come to rise with love and compassion. Greatness is in your service.
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING DATE March 11, 2015 * March 25, 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