(StatePoint) As misinformation continues to spread about vaccines, medical experts are reminding parents and the general public that vaccinations save lives.

“Overwhelming scientific evidence shows that vaccines are among the most effective, safest interventions to prevent illness and protect public health,” said Dr. Patrice A. Harris, president of the American Medical Association (AMA).

The AMA offers these answers to commonly asked questions:

1. Are vaccines safe? Yes, vaccines prevent individual illness and protect the health of the public. The U.S. has the safest vaccine supply in its history, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The most common side effects are typically very mild, such as pain or swelling at the injection site.

The Garden Club at Miramar Ranch Elementary School meets in the mornings before classes and not only helps students learn about nature the results help feed students in the school cafeteria.

None of this would happen without effort from volunteers. Eric Morgan ­– whose daughter Liberty attended and was recently promoted from Miramar Ranch Elementary ­– headed the efforts for the Garden Club this past school year. 

Morgan is a humble and somewhat reluctant Gardening Club volunteer. He said he has no real interest in the subject, but became involved when his daughter’s Girl Scout troop once worked on a project in the garden. He stated that it seemed like another good place for students to “hang out” before classes.

“If there weren’t ever kids that wanted to come, I would have stopped doing it a long time ago,” Morgan said. “But the kids come back and they’re here and they have fun, so I just stuck with it.”

Morgan arrived each weekday at about 7:05 a.m. and stayed until around 7:40 a.m. during the school year, he said. Students come and go, with between 10 and 20 on any given day.

“They’ll do anything from helping move some mulch or do weeds or vegetables. They help us do a lot of harvesting,” Morgan said.

Harvesting is done at least once a week. One week this spring they delivered about 19 pounds of food to the school cafeteria for the Garden to Café Program, he said.

Items in the garden include a few types of romaine lettuce, butterhead lettuce, chard, ground cherries (related to tomatillos), radishes, beets, collard greens, asparagus, broccoli and carrots. The orchard includes apple, apricot, peach, mandarin orange, nectarine, lemon and pomegranate trees. There are two blueberry bushes, grape vines and a passion fruit vine that has produced about 100 pounds of fruit this year, Morgan said.

Last year, a Boy Scout working on his Eagle project built wooded garden boxes. Morgan expects about three more Scouts to build other plant beds this summer.

“I’ll be here helping to facilitate that. This is awesome. I never got to be involved in Boy Scouts, so it’s nice to help out,” Morgan said.

He credits his wife, Jacqueline, with providing the botanical research for the garden. He explained that it was Jacqueline who insisted that if they were to be involved, it should be done correctly. 

Morgan helped start a curriculum with former Miramar Ranch Elementary Family Faculty Association President Jennifer Leader, who was instrumental in getting the garden in order a few years ago.

On a Saturday morning this spring, Eric and Liberty were joined by volunteers such as nearby resident Hilliard Harper and others, as well as Janelle Manzano, Farm to School Program specialist at San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD). The group was working to mostly install rabbit cages around the plant boxes to prevent the bunnies from eating the plants this summer.

Manzano explained that the SDUSD Farm to School program allocated $200 toward the project. The funds were originally donated to the SDUSD program by the Village Garden Club of La Jolla. The funds were earmarked for the district’s Garden to Cafe program in which items from a school’s garden are used for the cafeteria lunchtime salad bar.

“Eric reached out and said he needed fencing,” Manzano stated.

The group was also fixing the sprinklers and getting the plant beds ready for the next set of volunteers who take over in the upcoming school year.

“I really hope we can find somebody to take this over because … I enjoy kids having a safe place in the morning to come and have fun,” Morgan said.  

Maybe 7:30 a.m. Running Club before school isn’t enough to get up the kids out of bed in the morning, but members of the Wall of Dads at Miramar Ranch Elementary School has figured out a pretty good system.

“For every lap they run, they get a donut hole,” Wall of Dads member Marek Prochazka said. “Sometimes I show up with around 700 donut holes and kids just go crazy.”

The donut holes are not a daily luxury, but the Wall of Dads is always figuring out ways to shake up kids’ mornings. They’re a supportive group of fathers who stand at the end of the finish line handing out tickets to the kids after every lap finished. Some days, they’ll host Indiana Jones-themed runs where the kids have to chase after somebody running with a fake torch.

“We have some super young kids and we tell the older kids, ‘Let them win the lap,’” Prochazka said. “So, we let them go ahead and they run. And then I release the rest of the kids and they try to chase ‘Indiana Jones’ around the track.”

The kids, sometimes totaling as many as 200, meet and run for about 15 minutes every morning. Prochazka said some kids will only go around the track once while others may run as many as six laps. However, fellow Wall of Dads member Mike Giffen said even just bringing his kids to walk their laps has been a good thing.

“Even to me, the kids that aren't running, at least they’re out there getting fresh air and not fooling around in line,” Giffen said. “It's a pretty fun, constructive thing.”

Prochazka said the name “Wall of Dads” came about one morning when a mother was running with her child and the dads were passing out their tickets as usual. When she shouted, “Hey, it’s the Wall of Dads,” the name stuck.

“To me, it’s just a great 15 to 20 minutes before school,” Giffen said. “It's all 100 percent positive for the kids.”

When Scripps Ranch High School 2019 graduate Alexandra Kotsos leaves for the University of California, Santa Barbara this fall, she’ll be leaving behind more than just a few friends and family members.

That’s because she’s the product of three generations living in Scripps Ranch. In a young community that didn't start to blossom until the seventies, this sets Alexandra apart from the others.

Her mother, Tamara Kotsos, said she believes her daughter’s success combined along with her history with Scripps Ranch is no coincidence. Alexandra graduated in June as the captain of Scripps Ranch High’s varsity cheer team and the senior class president, something her mother attributes to living in a strong community with good values.

Alexandra said she hopes those who are just starting high school will follow her lead and get involved on campus.

“At the end of the day, it is so much more fun to participate in activities than to just sit on the side making fun of them,” Alexandra said.

Long before her time at Scripps Ranch High, Alexandra did her time at Dingeman Elementary School, then at Marshall Middle School, where Tamara said her daughter’s activities led to an added 260,000 miles on her minivan. Her mother noted that even her daughter’s first job at Everbowl was in the neighborhood.

While many teenagers are quick to get out of their hometowns, Alexandra said it is easy to see the ways in which her community helped her to get to where she is today. She said her family history in the town has made this connection all the more special, as her mother described growing up during the days when their neighborhood didn’t even have major grocery stores.

“It's been really awesome growing up in the same place where my mom has grown up because there are just so many interesting people and you get to know their stories over the years,” Alexandra said. “I know that wherever I go in life, I'll always find someone from Scripps Ranch.”

Starting in the fall, Alexandra said she has chosen a pre-law track as she takes her talents to Santa Barbara.

Scripps Ranch High School held its commencement ceremonies for the class of 2019 on June 12 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the campus of the University of San Diego. Senior class addresses were presented by Natalie Delos Santos and Kianna Abedi.  Principal Nicole DeWitt presented the Class of 2019. Graduating seniors were led by Valedictorian Michelle Jingwen He, Salutatorian Ashwin Kumar and Senior Class President Alexandra Kotsos.

Three sixth graders who attend Thurgood Marshall Middle School swept first, second and third places at the 10th annual Chelsea King Invitational Mile held May 30 at Point Loma Nazarene University.

Olivia Teates, Gracie Haas and Chloe Adams finished with respective times of 6:02, 6:17 and 6:20. Andrew Beceiro, also a sixth grader at Marshall, placed third for the boys with a time of 5:54.

The students were invited to participate based on qualifying mile times. They were coached at the event by Marshall PE teachers David Gray and Carrie Carambas.
—courtesy of Dawn Gencarelli

Caps, gowns, smiles and celebrations are around the corner for local high school students.

Graduation at Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) will be held at the University of San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion on June 12 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. For two hardworking seniors, this will mean the opportunity to share a meaningful quote, sit on the stage and be properly acknowledged for their hard work and dedication to their studies.

Michelle He and Ashwin Kumar have been named the SRHS valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, of the 2019 graduating class.

“I was really surprised at the news that I was valedictorian. It was not something I had been working towards; I was mostly focused on keeping up my grades,” He said.

Kumar reiterated these sentiments.

“It’s an interesting feeling. Throughout high school you know roughly where you stand in class rank, but when it was announced it felt like ‘Wow, my hard work actually paid off,’” Kumar said.

Neither He nor Kumar felt a sense of rivalry for the top spot and shared that they are close friends. The talented students both have bright futures ahead of them albeit some 3,000 miles apart. He will attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Kumar will attend The University of California, Berkeley. He said she plans to study computer science and biology. Kumar will focus on computer science as well.

He said she was nervous for the next step in her academic journey, but that she is also feeling excited for what is to come at MIT. Kumar said he has a sense of dread about leaving his friends and family, but that he can’t wait to meet new people and build new friendships in college.

He and Kumar credit their family and friends for their support in achieving their academic success, but, above all, they said they were grateful to the teachers at Scripps Ranch High School.

“The teachers at Scripps are massively supportive and amazing. I’m really going to miss this place,” Kumar said.

This is the third year of the Kindness Week program at Jerabek Elementary School. Jerabek Elementary focuses on creating a sustained culture of kindness throughout the school, the students and the community. This happens three times a year when there is a focused week with classroom activities, at-home participation with parents, community projects and a celebration rally on the Friday of each Kindness Week to celebrate the success of all the efforts. 

The final Kindness Week rally of this school year included a special celebration with the entire student population, staff, faculty and special guest speakers. The kids enjoyed music from the school’s local community partner DJ Mr. Tim, as well as a speaker from local fitness club Fitness Quest 10 who spoke about the importance of kindness to yourself, your body, the environment, your community and more. Jerabek Elementary students were in a special formation at the rally in the shape of the words “be kind.”

Activities for Kindness Week are funded by sponsorships as well as the Jerabek Elementary Family Faculty Organization. The goal is to create and sustain a culture of kindness at Jerabek Elementary in which students treat themselves, peers, teachers, their families and the environment with care and compassion. 

Scripps Ranch High School student Sydni Silverstone is a winner of the national “Project Yellow Light” scholarship competition.

Her winning billboard public service advertisement educates the public about the dangers of distracted driving.

Silverstone’s design was chosen as the winner of the “Billboard Design – High School” category. Her design will be featured on the San Diego digital transit/bus shelters.

Silverstone’s public service advertisement will help save lives. 3,166 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2017.

Scholarships for this year’s winning students are provided with support from Aspire, AT&T’s $500 million commitment to education and skilling. This initiative was also supported by AT&T’s It Can Wait program aimed at curbing distracted driving.

Project Yellow Light was established in 2007 by the family of Hunter Garner to honor his memory after his death in a car crash at age 16. According to the latest data, 3,166 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2017, representing 8.5 percent of all crash fatalities that year.

“We’re so proud of all our winners, all those who took part in this year’s competition and everyone taking an active role to encourage safe driving among their peers,” said Julie Garner, founder of Project Yellow Light. “Thank you to our amazing partners helping us advance our mission to save lives.”

Since 2011, Project Yellow Light has partnered with the Ad Council to turn the winning submissions into PSAs that receive national exposure through 1,600 TV stations nationwide, iHeartMedia radio stations, and Clear Channel Outdoor’s hundreds of printed billboards and more than 1,200 digital billboards.

Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) held its Class of 2019 Senior Awards presentation on May 30. Besides student recognition, numerous organizations honored SRHS seniors with scholarships.

Multiple scholarships were presented by the Durkin IMPACT Foundation and the Scripps Ranch Old Pros. The Scripps Ranch Women’s Club, Scripps Ranch Softball Association and the Scripps Ranch Women’s Athletic Club were other organizations presenting scholarships. Families contributing scholarships included the Faralan family, the Marra family and the Sean Maloy family.

One page in the event’s printed program was filled with scores of names of SRHS graduating seniors who had each achieved a 4.0 average.

Jerabek Elementary School has taken its academic experience to the next level. Bridging an ever-growing technology educational gap, the new Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Lab was unveiled at Jerabek Elementary School on May 2. The celebration was marked with a ribbon cutting ceremony and testimonials from students, parents and faculty about the importance of the new lab.

Parents were the driving force behind the fundraising efforts to bring the lab to fruition, and raised more than $150,000 in equipment, furniture, materials, flooring and wall structures. The lab consists of a 2,500 square foot space that includes a robotics room, a makerspace, a quiet room, a messy room and an audio-visual lab.

A group of parents with backgrounds in STEAM fields initiated the effort to build the lab at Jerabek. Terra Norine of Troxel Communications was one of these parents and works to build STEAM Labs in schools across the country. Norine gave her time and resources to build the lab at Jerabek. She said it took about a year and a half to get the lab up and running because of her goal to make it state of the art.

“I sat down and built out a scope and sequence for each grade level so that the skills they are learning in kindergarten are giving them the tools needed for when they get into first grade and so on,” Norine said.

According to Norine, they placed their focus on robotics and coding. She took what they were already learning in the classroom and applied it to be more interactive and project-based in the lab.

At Jerabek, classroom curricula cannot be mandated. Instead, all teachers elected to participate. Each teacher learned aspects of coding and robotics. Dr. Angelia Watkins, principal at Jerabek, said the teachers are what make the STEAM Lab at Jerabek special.

“Our teachers have decided to take it upon themselves to learn the new curriculum, which is phenomenal. This is above and beyond what they are already teaching,” Watkins said.

The influence of the teachers and their newly learned curriculum has been influential in creating an environment where students are highly engaged in their own learning, Watkins said.

“Once the teachers are in that lab, they are more like facilitators,” she explained. “The students drive the lesson. Once students know they get to be the conductor of their learning, they are more engaged.”

Students of all ages, ranging from five to 11, are enamored with the STEAM Lab. Avi Lefkowitz, fifth grader at Jerabek, said he was inspired by what he has learned in the lab to continue on the STEAM path in middle school.

“My favorite subject right now, other than P.E., is probably STEAM. It’s really fun to work with my partner,” Lefkowitz said. “It’s interesting to have that relationship and we can become friends because before STEAM, my partner and I didn’t really know each other. I think it’s really great that my teacher puts us together boy, girl. It just creates a really cool program.”

Watkins said the lab will set students up for STEAM careers and success in the future.

“The younger you start students out with engineering and things of that nature, then they are not afraid later. It sets them up for the next level,” she said. “If we can instill that in them here in the elementary, just think of what they can do in middle school and beyond.”

According to Watkins, the teachers will continue to push the envelope with the curriculum through training at the University of San Diego, partnering with other teachers who also have STEAM labs and every year making sure the rigor is more challenging.