Senior projects to begin this year
Tricia Lopez

Mt. Carmel is considering having Senior Projects as part of a graduation requirement. Assistant Principal Sue Forester, along with five faculty members visited Helix H.S., Our Lady of Peace, and San Diego H.S., who are currently involved with the Senior Project.

"We haven’t decided to do this at MCHS," Forester said. "We are only studying the possibility."

A focus group, which meets during professional time every Friday before school, are still exploring the possibilities of what the seniors will do.

"I feel the Senior Project is a way to demonstrate acquired knowledge," Forester said. "It is exciting because it gives opportunities for individual students to emphasize their own personal goals and talents."

Each of the three high schools they investigated has a different emphasis. Helix, for example. is project based with each of the 400 plus students explaining their work to a committee at the end of the school year.

"It is a way to involve the community and for students to make community connections that could lead to lifelong skills and career paths," Forester said. "It is also exciting because this is something seniors can call their own; separating this as a unique happening not seen at any other grade level."

Our Lady of Peace stresses their project on writing through their English classes as their Senior Project. San Diego H.S. recently started Senior Projects which is based on Academic Standard with portfolio assessments.

This school year, Writing Seminar students will engage in Senior Projects starting second semester of this year. They haven’t made a decision yet on what the students will do for their project.

"I think it is a really good idea," Writing Seminar teacher Monique Lamphiere-Tamayoshi said. "It should be something that they are proud of and something that would benefit them at school or in the work force. I would like it to be more experimental this year."

According to LT, she would like the project to be community related. Civics teacher Gary Kroesch will also be involved with the project.

"We will see how it goes from there, perhaps continuing with a focus group during Professional Time," Forester said. "Once adequate studies have been made and a project plan is in place, the entire school will need to look at any proposal we come up with, make modifications, and decide on feasibility."

Rancho Bernardo H.S. is also considering Senior Projects according to Forester.

PUSD begins mentoring program
Gieson Cacho

Local community members began training for the the Poway Unified School District’s mentoring program this week.

As part of Gov. Wilson’s California Mentor Initiative, the program, in its secon year, tries to help failing students through weekly meetings with adults from the community.

Similar methods of helping students like Project Aspire has had success lowering drop out rates and discipline referrals.

Students and adults both had praises for the state program PUSD Community Relations Assistant Karen Goodman said.

"Out of the three schools 55%-65% of the students raised their GPA," Goodman said.

The response to the program has been overwhelming with a large adult turn out from the Poway and Rancho Bernardo Communities.

"I feel a need to help others since I lost a son to leukemia. He graduated from Poway," mentor trainee Jan Bright, 44, said.

Applying mentors must have a valid tuberculosis test, go through a background check and fill out and attend seminars by the PUSD.

The mentor program started when the Governor’s Office of Child Development and Education gave a $75,000 grant to the district. The program is suppose to last three years.

Because of the limited funding, only three schools were chosen to participate in the program. Rancho Bernardo High School, Poway High School and Bernardo Heights Middle School were chosen because of their interest.

Mt. Carmel was set to enter the program but the state legislature stopped it by not agreeing to a $5.1 million bill.

"I was not aware they had such a program," Principal Scott Fisher said. "We had different mentor programs over the years and some had been successful."

Insights conference opens students' minds to future
Tricia Lopez

The year: 2010. The chalkboard: A 65 inch computer screen that can be written on with an alectronic pen and can access the internet at the same time.

Senior Chris Sevrin and juniors Jaime Solis and Jon Peck had the opportunity to experience education in the 21st century in part of the Insight World Conference, last Friday, at the San Deigo Convention Center.

"We explored one small aspect of technology-computers in the classroom," Civics teacher Gary Kroesch said. "It is a quantum leap of where we are in MC."

Kroesch and world history teacher Tasha Muto also took par in the new technology breakthrough in education. Sevrin, Solis and Peck kicked off the two day convention by demonstrating how to use the internet on a 65-inch interactive computer screen which could be seen at the convention from the San Deigo Office of Education.

"I could actually write on the computer screen and have access to the internet on this chalkboard of the future," Kroesch said. "The screen was five times the size of a TV set."

The MC students were at the Country Office of Education and interacted witht the students from Orange Glenn High School. The messages they wrote on the "technology board" could actually be seen by the MC students.

They used the California gold rush as their internet topic. Each school was able to bookmark particular interests related to the gold rush in the computer screen.

"Everyone in the convention could actually see us," Kroesh said. "We were interacting with the conference."

Among those at the conference included British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, TV personality Larry King, and poet Maya Angelou.

Wildfire engulfs Del Dios homes
Gieson Cacho

Low humidity, shifting, gusts of wind and 100-degree temperatures led to a wildfire that ravaged Del Dios, Sept. 24.

More than 15 miles away, sophomores Amy and Christine Dunn were unaware that the blaze threatened their Escondido home.

Their parents evacuated the area since winds pushed the fire towards the house.

"They took me and my sisters stuffed animals and our clothes," Amy Dunn said. "They packed it in both cars. They were ready to leave when they saw the flames come over the hill." The Dunns and their home escaped the blaze.

"The fire was supposed to burn our house down," Amy Dunn said. "Luckily, for the wind, it (the fire) changed directions."

The flames destroyed two sheds, two trailers and two houses. One burnt home, a few blocks from the Dunns, was vacant.

Over 650 firefighters put out the blaze leaving at least 1,200 acres burned.

The Dunns are no strangers to wildfires. Flames threatened them two previous times. One blaze destroyed most of their property except their home.

November sends message to students about technology
Kushal Dave

On September 18 and 19, futurist Alan November spoke to groups of people from the Poway Unified School District at the Carmel Highlands Doubletree, providing food for thought about the future of education.

November preached a message of "informating" instead of automating, where technology adds to learning instead of being "bolted onto" antiquated practices.

"We’re going to connect kids to the world more than ever before. It’s a fascinating time to be alive," November said.

Principal Scott Fisher invited a group of Mt. Carmel students, teachers and administrators to the workshop, joining particpants from throughout the district.

"I brought people who I saw as leaders on campus in terms of technology. The other group was that group of people who had some degree of interest and needed a boost," Fisher said.

Fisher explained that he finds November uniquely engaging. "He piqued my interest level related to technology. There were examples that he gave that were way out there, others were practical and doable."

November pointed out that technology enables people to work in real-time, instead of in "paper-time," so that teachers don’t have to wait for tests to see how well they are teaching when computers can monitor learning as it happens.

He cited examples from schools that experienced radical changes following the introduction of new teaching techniques and technology, including reviving the onr-room schoolhouse and using videophones. The results include greater involvement in the community and greater motivation for students. "Do not ask the teachers what technology they want. Instead, value teachers for knowing what information they need to access to improve learning for their students," November writes in an article on his web site.

He pointed to statistics showing that 41 percent of 18-24 year olds cannot earn a sustainable wage because the new economy calls for those who can carve their own niche.

"The parts of November’s presentation that stand out in my mind or gave me the greatest food for thought had to do with the vision of how learning needs to be placed in the hands of the student," Library Media Teacher Carey Meier said. The revised role he foresaw for teachers is one where students were taught to be "critical consumers of information."

Getting a highly-demanded speaker like November to speak was a coup for the district.

"Your superintendent has a clear vision that he must equally support educators who want to improve the current model of education and those who want to take the risks of exploring new models of learning," November said via email.

Fisher hopes to see an altered use of technology at Mt. Carmel in the future. "I want to see us putting computers where they are being used most effectively," said Fisher.

He also warns, "There's a real balance between people and technology."

Kawasaki explores South Africa
Britny Martin

Teachers from around the nation were selected to go to South Africa last summer. Social Science teacher Karen Kawasaki was granted this opportunity.

Kawasaki was gone for six weeks, learning the different aspects involved in the South African culture.

She has always wanted to go to South Africa ever since she studied bout it in high school.

"I realized that the issues over there are more complicated than here," Kawasaki said.

Her trip was full of a lot of education and excitement.

"I believe that the best education is traveling," Kawasaki said.

In order to qualify for this trip, she had to have at least three years of teaching experience. In addition she had to fill out a lengthy application, and get three letters of recommendation.

Kawasaki saw this as a great experience, but didn’t expect that she would be chosen for it.

While in South Africa her eyes were opened to many things. "It surprised me how much South Africa is like the U.S.," Kawasaki said. "It is very multicultural, westernized, their roads are very developed and their medicine and health care is also very developed."

Kawasaki intends to use what she has learned to broaden the minds of her students, and to better her teaching skills.

"This made me realize that people come in at all different skill levels," Kawasaki said. "It also made me really want to go a lot more in-depth on certain subjects with my classes.

"I also appreciate people’s opinions and backgrounds more."