Sue Ressmeyer

Cardio-Club

Cardio-Club started up with a bang. Before school, the kids can come and run laps. For each lap they get a ticket; five tickets are equivalent to one mile. For every 10 miles the kids run, they get a Popsicle. Ribbons are given out for milestones like 10, 25, and 50 miles. Many kids come out in the morning for this fun event. It is a great way for our children to stay healthy and to have fun! Encourage your children to come and run.

Spirit Day

Now every Friday at Dingeman is Spirit Day. Remember to wear your Dingeman T-shirts or just wear the Dingeman colors--blue and gold! This is a great way to promote school spirit and enhance our sense of community here at Dingeman. Go Dingeman Tigers!

Fundraisers

The gift wrap fundraiser finished in the beginning of October--it was a great success! Thanks to everyone who purchased gift wrap items and for all the volunteers who made this fundraiser work. The next fundraising opportunity is the cookie dough sales, which is scheduled to start Tuesday, Nov. 4, just in time for our holiday cooking.

Bingo Night

By the time you read this we will have had our annual Bingo Night for Dingeman Elementary School. We had incredible support from our local businesses. They donated many great prizes for our games. There was lots of fun with the costume contest, pizza, popcorn, glow jewelry, 6th grade bake sale, and, as always, bingo!

We would like to thank all the parents who volunteered and the 5th graders who helped as well. In next month's Newsletter look for more details about some of the surprise events and the great sponsors that supported this fun-filled night.

Balboa Park

The 2nd graders went on a field trip this month to Balboa Park. They went on a guided historical walk through the Heritage Park in Balboa Park, and learned many interesting facts about the park. They learned why it was built, how the World Fair was held there, and about Kate Sessions and her work with the botanical portion of the park.

Tooth Fairy Visits!

The kindergarten classes at Dingeman were treated to a visit by none other than the Tooth Fairy--also known as Pearl White. She taught the children how important it is to have clean teeth, to brush regularly, and to eat healthy foods. She even gave each child a new toothbrush! The children were so excited by the visit and enjoyed listening to her talk.

Assemblies

There was a wonderful assembly for the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in October. They watched Papa Gino's Phenomenal Adventure. This mini-opera teaches children about the parts of an opera. They learned about the different singers and the vocabulary within an opera. The assembly was a great learning event for our children--and lots of fun.

Next month the kindergarten through 3rd graders will be treated to an assembly with Garth Gillcrest, a talented storyteller. He will dress up as Johnny Appleseed and tell his tale. That will be another exciting assembly.

6th Grade Art Program

There is a new 6th grade art program. This year Dingeman is bringing in Rose Irelan, a professional graphic artist and art instructor, to teach our 6th graders art. This will be a high quality art program for our students and will be considered by the school as a pilot program for future 6th grade classes at Dingeman.

Sixth graders at Marshall Middle School can elect to take art as part of their "wheel" and are taught by a professional art instructor. We feel that our 6th graders deserve to be taught by a professional art instructor as well. Some of the drawing elements, such as perspective drawing that is taught at Marshall, are also covered in Rose's program.

The program has seven exciting and creative lessons. The first four lessons concentrate on the foundations of drawing. The last lessons use the foundations and let the students use their creativity.

One lesson will have the kids design a book cover from their favorite book, and for the last lesson the students will design their own trading cards. We are very excited about the program and wish Rose all the best with this new addition to Dingeman's 6th grade program.

Hooray for Poway Wal-Mart!

A huge thanks goes to Poway Wal-Mart for their generous support of Dingeman! They supplied us with 100-gallon jugs of emergency water for our campus, as well as several supplies for our school office and nurse's office.

Their donations, which total well over $100, come at a time when budget cuts have affected basic supplies that schools still need. Community support is so important for all of our students, so we want to applaud Poway Wal-Mart for stepping up and lending us a hand!

eScrip Reminder

One of the easiest ways to support Dingeman is to sign up for eScrip. It is as easy as going to the Dingeman website at [www.dingeman.net] and clicking on the link to the eScrip site. You can register your Vons card and add any credit cards. Then, when you make purchases with these cards, Dingeman benefits.

Upcoming Events

• Tuesday, Nov. 4, through Wednesday, Nov. 19--Cookie dough sales;
• Monday, Nov. 10--Staff development day, no school;
• Tuesday, Nov. 11--Veterans Day observance, no school;
• Monday, Nov. 24, through Wednesday, Nov. 26--Parent conferences, early dismissal; and,
• Thursday and Friday, Nov. 27 and Nov. 28--Thanksgiving holiday.

Upcoming Events

If it is true that one reaps what one sows, then Jerabek will have another abundant harvest of healthy hearts and minds this November. So, take the time to note all of the upcoming events, both administrative and extracurricular.

First of all, there are a number of holidays and administrative days this month. There will be no school for our students on Monday, Nov. 10, due to staff development meetings or on Tuesday, Nov. 11, as it is Veterans Day. In addition, school will not be in session on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 27 and 28, due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

And while your calendar is out, please note that parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 2, through Friday, Dec. 5. School will be let out at 12:50 pm on those days. These days are an excellent opportunity to refresh our children's imagination and family spirit.

If your child misses any scheduled school day, Sue Gallego in the Attendance Office reminds parents that it is your responsibility to call the Attendance Hotline at 586-9458 as soon as possible. But remember, with all these welcome days of rest, Koalas will be in high gear trying to fit in all our activities into the rest of the month! So please do your best to keep your students healthy and schedule appointments for after- school hours.

Staying Safe

Jerabek is a safe harbor for our children. The administration, parent volunteers, and even students are working very hard to keep it that way! Principal Tom Liberto recently asked parents to be cautious driving near our school and heed traffic and parking laws.

The Jerabek school parking lot is for staff only; please do not attempt to drop off or park there during the before- or after-school rush. Currently, parent volunteers are manning the front entrance, but a paid position is available for anyone interested. In addition, our 5th grade Safety Patrol is doing its utmost to protect other students crossing Avenida Magnifica. Please be respectful of the Safety Patrol's important role at Jerabek. Those kids are very dedicated!

Playground Patrol

We have even more students striving to make our school a happy place. For the second year in a row, the Playground Patrol program is off to a good start. More than 50 4th and 5th grader students volunteer their time assisting kindergartners once a week during the morning and lunch recess.

Each Playground Patrol completed an application explaining why they should be considered for this important job. Then, they were assigned an area on the school playground to monitor and help the kindergartners. They make sure all the equipment is being used correctly, including the swings, bikes, and sandbox. They distribute jump ropes, balls, and other playground toys, as well as help resolve any problems that arise.

Look for the Playground Patrol volunteers in the blue vests. Let them know what a service they are doing and that you are proud of them.

In order of their assigned work day, the volunteers are: Sarah McDonald, Toby Park, Caitlin Cannon, Elizabeth Lanz, Tara Ash-Reynolds, Duncan Ceriani, Emma Shapiro, Stephanie Sabra, Rachel Guerra, Holly Truong, Mary Simms, Olam Sibounheuang, Haley Bissonnette, Katherine Hahn, Tracy Gallagher, Michael Acasio, Evan Mimms, Marissa Hodson, Karli Altman, Delaney Brown, Robin Smith, Robbie Dalbec, Ashlee Ruff, Troy Rayder, Haley Hernandez, Jennifer Crany, Rachel Acasio, Shannon Merrill, Katlyn Plummer, Nicole Schneider, Charlotte Stern, Chandler Jones, Sarah Spofford, Jeff Compton, Brett Snow, Meredith Gray, Kristina Tabar, Hannah Saddler, Scott Glass, Travis Stephan, Sai Prasad, Carolyn Little, Jessie Goodrum, Cece Meyre, Natali Bagramola, Melody Agre, Caitlin Montijo, Nicole Van Noy, Krista de Vera, Corrina Middlebrook, Molly Merkin, and Carolyn Rabun. Thank you to Gina Volle who helps coordinate this program.

Helping Others

The students are also looking for ways to help others outside our school. Students are encouraged to donate nonperishable food items the week of Monday, Nov. 17, through Monday, Nov. 24. Each year our Koalas give generously. No doubt they will again this year!

Holiday Gift Shop

Our students are always eager to express their gratitude at home, too. Luckily, this year it will be an easier task! Jerabek's Family Faculty Organization (FFO) is reviving an old favorite, the Holiday Gift Shop.

Students will be able to purchase inexpensive gifts for family and friends while at school. Further information will follow in the near future, so start saving those pennies! If you have any questions or would like to volunteer, please call Debbie O'Toole at 586-6689.

Even More Events!

Lastly, other upcoming events are:

• Red Ribbon Week--Monday, Nov. 3, through Friday, Nov. 7;
• Family Science Night, Grade 2--Wednesday, Nov. 5, at 6:45 pm; and,
• Family Math Night, Grade 4--Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 6:45 pm.

Another cool student and parent activity will be Family Astronomy Night for 5th graders on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 6:30 pm. Your children will be so thrilled to come back to school with you on those nights. Don't miss out!

See you at school!

Keeping Busy

We hope you all had a great time at the school's 30th Annual Halloween Carnival. Thank you to parent Michelle Boutte-Burke and the dozens and dozens of volunteers who helped organize this signature event for the school. Another big thank you goes to the many area businesses that contributed to the event. All the money raised during the carnival goes toward important programs for the children at our school.

The 5th graders had a sizzling good time last month cooking up hot dogs with their solar ovens. It was an overcast day and the hot dogs weren't exactly hot. But everyone had a great time during this rite of passage for 5th graders. There was enough food for the entire school. Thanks to all the families that helped.

Budding scientists got to try their hand at cold fusion last month at the Family Science Night with a night set aside for 6th graders and their families. Thanks to parents Sam and Debbe Tahmassebi for coordinating these wonderful events. Fifth graders and their families get their chance to split the atom this month. Mark your calendars for the next Family Science Night set for Thursday, Nov. 20, from 6:30 to 8 pm.

Last month students were treated to the assembly "The Australia Great White Shark Expedition." They watched as Wayne and Karen Brown dove with a 15-foot, 3,000-pound great white shark. Actually, my roving reporter tells me they just watched a slide show of them diving with a shark.

So, if you have been curious as to why your kid no longer likes to go to the beach, at least you now know why. Hopefully, by next summer they will have forgotten their "Jaws-Fest."

The Family Faculty Association (FFA) is sponsoring four assemblies this year. The next one is set for Monday, Nov. 17. I hear they will be treated to the show "Living with the Deadly Pit Viper and Loving It!" (Only kidding.)

Drama Club

The school's Drama Club is up and running. A casting call was put out last month and the response was overwhelming--approximately 150 students signed up. My inside sources tell me they will put on the production Beauty is a Beast. That is not to be confused with the hugely successful show with a similar name created by a well-known entertainment company up in Anaheim.

A huge thanks to 6th grade teacher Krista Jones, parent Suzanne Neshat, and more than a half dozen seniors at Scripps Ranch High School for making this possible. Another thanks to all of them for making sure every child can participate. As you can imagine, this is an immense undertaking. We also appreciate the support from Principal Jennifer Wroblewski and Vice Principal Lorelei Olsen. Drama Club organizers invite parents to help out in any way they can.

Important Dates

An important reminder for parents: parent-teacher conferences are Wednesday, Nov. 19, through Friday, Nov. 21. They will all be minimum days.

Reading Is Fun-damental

Thanks to the Reading is Fundamental (RIF) program and 1st grade teacher Michael Ann Meyer, 1st graders get to choose three paperback books for their very own! The Reading is Fundamental program, funded by a federal grant, will provide books to the school in November and twice more in 2004.

The 1st grade faculty will provide educational activities leading up to each of the three book selection events. Each child gets to keep the books they choose for their very own.

Cookie Dough, Brownies, Cheesecake!

To help get your waistline prepared for the upcoming holiday season, the FFA is having a cookie dough fundraiser from Monday, Nov. 3, through Friday, Nov. 14. You can enjoy these treats yourself, as I do, or you can spread the joy of overeating by giving them as gifts.

Please support a good cause by saying "yes" when a MRE student asks if you would like to buy these items. Money from this fundraiser will be used to buy computers for grades K-2. Last year the FFA raised enough money to buy eMacs for upper grade classes. We hope for another successful fundraiser this year.

A Touch of 6th Grade...

As mentioned, 6th graders are new at Miramar Ranch this year. So to give everyone an idea of what life as a 6th grader is like at MRE, I thought I would include some writings from Nick, one of Ms. Gerondale's students.

...In class we do different grammar activities, book talks, read aloud, read independently while practicing reading strategies, and talk about several things from what would you do if you were bullied to setting goals for ourselves. In one month we have written the "One" poem that really made us think about our 9/11 memories and how society bonded and joined as one.

The "Hands" project is similar, but based on a song by Jewel. This song tells us that even though we are one of billions of people living in the world, we can still make a difference. In the chorus of this song it says a phrase. The phrase is "My hands are small I know, but they're not yours, they are my own and I am never broken."

When we set goals for ourselves, Ms. Gerondale gives us six weeks to fulfill what we had written down about how we could fix our grades, organize our binder, and various other things.

In our class we are polite to each other while independently reading. When a classmate is talking, we keep quiet and listen to what they have to say.

Even though I looked forward to going to Marshall Middle School for 6th grade, I think that we can pull this together and have a great year!

Not bad prose for a 6th grader, huh? He could probably do my job!

Until next month...

Generosity at EBS

During October we focused our hearts and minds on the character trait of generosity. We defined, practiced, and looked for signs of generosity throughout our remarkable schoolhouse. How did we know when someone was practicing generosity? For many students and adults, it was catching an EBS penguin being thoughtful about the needs of a friend or classmate or being a philanthropist during a service-learning project. Generosity popped up all over campus.

When we think of generosity, we always think about the word philanthropy, and philanthropy makes us think about Ellen Browning Scripps. During October we learned more about Miss Ellen and celebrated her legacy on October 16, two days before her birthday.

Most students added generosity to their Writer's Notebook Topic List and found time to share their thinking in writing on this special character trait throughout the month.

Somewhere Today at EBS...

A little girl is reading quietly to herself in the class library on a comfortable beanbag. She is wearing a black sweatshirt with khaki pants and tennis shoes. Now she is reading the Bernstein Bears to herself. As she reads she pronounces words to herself slowly and quietly.

When she is through with her book she picks up a new book and goes through the same process reading the words silently. As she pronounces the words she reminds me of a baby bird flapping its wings slowly, trying to fly.

After a few words or so she looks up and has a small chat with her friends. She then looks back down at her book and reads a few more words and goes through the same process again and again until she is through with the book.

When she is finished with her book she will probably go and get some more and pronounce the words slowly, like the first time, and read a few words and probably chat. Just like a bird flapping its wings and trying to fly.

Campus Café come to EBS

On Monday, Nov. 17, the students at EBS will begin an exciting new kid's choice lunch menu in our Campus Café. Students will be able to select from a variety of menus, including a salad bar.

The penguins will be responsible for choosing which of the menu items he or she wants to put on the lunch tray. If a student does not want some of the items offered, he or she does not have to take them. Students will be encouraged to select milk, an entrée, and at least one other side dish.

Advance payments are made easy, and credit card payments are accepted. All you have to do is call 627-7330. Please allow 24 hours to process. A Kid's Choice Newsletter will be sent home monthly highlighting specials, promotions, and information relating to our Kid's Choice Café.

Upcoming Events

• Every Saturday--Scripps Ranch Farmers Market, 9 am-1 pm;
• Monday, Nov. 10--Staff development day, no school;
• Tuesday, Nov. 11--Veterans Day holiday, no school;
• Wednesday, Nov. 12, through Monday, Nov. 17--4th grade Old Town program;
• Thursday, Nov. 13--Student Recognition Assemblies, Multi-Purpose Room, 10 am--Kindergarten; 11:30 am--Grade 1;
• Monday, Nov. 17, through Saturday, Nov. 22--Academic Fundraising Partnership (AFP) Book Faire;
• Monday, Nov. 17--AFP meeting, Multi-Purpose Room, 6:30 pm;
• Monday, Nov. 17--Kid's Choice lunch program begins;
• Thursday, Nov. 20--Student Recognition Assemblies, Multi-Purpose Room, 9 am--Grades 2 and 3; 11:30 am--Grades 4 and 5;
• Friday, Nov. 21--Mascot Day;
• Monday, Nov. 24, through Wednesday, Nov. 26--Parent-teacher-student conferences, 12:30 pm dismissal;
• Wednesday, Nov. 26--Grand Person's Day, 9:30-10:45 am; and,
• Thursday, Nov. 27, and Friday, Nov. 28--Thanksgiving holiday.

Scripps Ranch Farmers Market and Art Festival

To all our friends and supporters, September came and went and we still remained out in the parking lot on Saturday mornings. The construction on the EBS campus still continues, but we have finally been able to move our Farmers Market back to its regular location.

We truly appreciate all our regular shoppers for hanging in there with us. We now have back our 100+ parking spaces in front of the market for our shoppers' convenience.

A reminder to all schools, children's performing groups, sports activities, nonprofit organizations, and community groups in the area, you are entitled to space at the Scripps Ranch Farmers Market to fundraise and promote your activities. We are here to serve the community. If you would like more information, please feel free to call Bev Cassity at 586-7933 or email her at [ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ].

Community Connections

The San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees recently disbanded its many district Citizens' Advisory Councils (CAC) in favor of a new approach to gathering community input. Since the Miramar College CAC was an extremely involved and effective group of area representatives, it will continue to meet once per semester. That way it could still provide advice and input to our growing college.

It is now renamed the Miramar College Community Advisory Committee. Representatives from Scripps Ranch include Elissa Barber, community volunteer, and Marc Sorenson, SRCA president. Other CAC members include: Joel Anderson, local educator; Jim Minor, Diamond Gateway Chamber of Commerce president-elect; Khoa Nguyen, representative for City Councilmember Brian Maienschein; Rusty Schmitt, MCAS Miramar; Bruce Brown, San Diego Planning Commission; Dave Stall, KFMB radio personality and auto expert; and, Mira Mesa Town Council members Jeff Stevens, Pam Stevens, Debbie Vincent, Robin Stutsman, and Sarah Young.

If you are interested in joining the Miramar College Community Advisory Committee or have suggestions of local community leaders who should be included, we would love to hear from you. Please call the President's Office at 536-7834.

Grant News

Miramar College was just named a recipient of a Title III (Strengthening Institutions) Grant from the Department of Education. Only 74 proposals nationwide were selected for this prestigious award. Funding will be disbursed to the college in $340,000 annual increments for five years, for a total of $1,700,000.

According to Miramar College President Pat Keir, the college has committed to a wide variety of systematic activities to strengthen core curriculum and the uses of technology and data, as well as to increase responsiveness to student learning needs. Work begins immediately.

NTC Lease Gets Go-Ahead

A critical "domino" in the Miramar College facilities build-out plan is the relocation of the campus's Regional Public Safety Academy to the former Naval Training Center (NTC). There it will join the college's firefighter, EMT, and lifeguard training programs. The San Diego City Council just signed a 66-year lease for the NTC--a significant step toward relocation, which should occur within three years.

LOOK FOR SPRING 2004 CLASS SCHEDULES

Spring 2004 class schedules will arrive in your mailbox and at the Scripps

Ranch Public Library in a few weeks. Spring classes start Monday, Feb. 2,

2004. At $18 per unit, California community colleges still offer the lowest

tuition in the nation. And, with four-year universities increasingly

closing their doors to more and more applicants, Miramar College is your

path to guaranteed transfer! Apply now online at www.miramarcollege.net