The Business Community
supporting education
through Career Fairs and
paths and practice key job-hunting skills like resume-writing,
effective interviewing and how to dress for success.
Most middle and high schools have a requisite number of
hours that students are encouraged to invest in community service.
South County students can explore all kinds of opportunities from
helping at the local library to volunteering in therapeutic horse-
back riding programs. Others who need to earn money toward
college are working at our local retail businesses. Their schedules
are more tightly packed than in generations past, so they need to
master the art of time management sooner rather than later.
Among Oakwood’s traditions is the annual “Thanks and Giving
Celebration,” which Oakwood School Principal Michelle Helvey said
gives students a chance to serve the community. Students and their
families donate and box up Thanksgiving dinners, accompanied by
artwork created by the youngest students. The boxed dinners are
then distributed by Community Solutions to families in need.
Celebrating our region’s agricultural heritage this year was Sobrato
High, which has one of the largest Future Farmers of America (FFA)
programs. Students planted hedgerows along the school’s two-acre
farm to protect native habitat and provide critical windbreaks.
Students teamed up with Hedgerows Unlimited and Sustainable
Agriculture Education (SAGE) as part of a project funded by the
California Department of Food and Agriculture. In the process,
students are planning a demonstration farm and learning about
specialty crops and organic farming practices in Coyote Valley.
Effective Communications
Oakwood places a high value on effective communication.
Principal Helvey said that “perform with gusto” is among the
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
school’s catchphrases, and young students are encouraged to
become confident communicators through a variety of activities,
including theater arts.
Through middle school, Oakwood students take two periods
of English daily to hone their writing skills. High school students
learn what goes into writing compelling essays for college
applications and college-level research papers. They also learn to
communicate effectively one-on-one with teachers so they can do
the same in college or the workforce.
At Charter School of Morgan Hill, 8th Graders enjoy a Poetry
Café, and the proof is in the results. This year, students’ works
were published in Poetry Magazine and in Poetic Power, an
anthology of children’s poetry.
South County schools are introducing new opportunities for
their students to communicate effectively through multi-media
technology in the classroom and in student-run clubs such as the
Britton TV Club. Students are making videos for a myriad of
purposes: presenting projects in class, creating senior class tributes,
teaching students how to use Chromebooks, capturing highlights
of sports competitions and theater arts performances, providing
tips for safe bicycling to school, chronicling special events and
awards celebrations, and the list goes on.
The Whole Student
Charter School of Morgan Hill Principal Paige Cisewski has this
advice for parents whose children are coming of school age:
“Tour school campuses, meet teachers and students. There’s more
to school than test scores, like whole-child education and a healthy
school culture.”
JULY / AUGUST 2015
gmhtoday.com
SCHOOL
“Rock the Mock” events.