Alicia Tran with student
Ever since I was little, I would try to get my younger brothers to sit down and listen to me as I played pretend teacher. Although they never quite listened, it became my aspiration to become a teacher in order to educate others. My dream was first inspired by my parents’ limited education. Both of my parents immigrated from Vietnam and attained a minor education, a high school diploma. Having witnessed their struggles from their limited education and professional background, I knew I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives so that others wouldn’t have to go through the similar burdens that my parents went through.
In my sophomore year my Advanced English teacher Ms. Vallejo introduced the class to an autobiography, “Kaffir Boy” by Mark Mathabane. This autobiography opened my eyes to the immense poverty and injustices found in underdeveloped countries. Kaffir Boy describes the story of Mathabane’s life during South Africa’s apartheid. Mathabane reveals his devastating childhood in South Africa’s most desperate ghettos where frequent police raids and bloody gang fights seemed to be the inevitable future. Mathabane endured a degrading school system and the loss of inalienable rights. In addition, he was the victim of a corrupt government, discriminating prostitution, extreme violence, and painstaking hunger at a young age. Despite the lack of opportunities during South Africa’s apartheid, Mathabane obtained the courage to turn his fate around by working hard to learn English and achieve a good education. He even illegally played tennis with white professional tennis players. Through his perseverance and passion, Mathabane achieved an American college tennis scholarship to Limestone College in North Carolina.
2013 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 170,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 7 days for that many people to see it.
Dublin Rotary Volunteers
For Rotarians throughout the globe, there is a simple test to measure their actions:
- Is it the truth?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
In each of these four cases, the answer for Rotary District 5170 is “yes.” For decades, the Dublin Rotary organization has worked tirelessly and quietly to better the Dublin community. Founded in 1971, this group as actively sought out opportunities to partner with local organizations, including the Dublin Unified School District (DUSD). Rotary has embraced the support of both global and local needs. On a very large scale, they have committed themselves to the eradication of Polio in the world. Through much of their efforts, the group has vastly reduced the incidence of Polio – mostly confined to a few countries in the Middle East. This has been accomplished by providing medical services, vaccines and other methods of support world-wide. But the Rotary maintains its roots at the local level. The Dublin Rotary is part of the south bay and east bay which is comprised of more than 59 clubs and over 4,000 members. The Dublin Rotary organization consists of 47 very active members.
In another example of local service and partnership with Dublin schools, the Dublin Rotary executed an adoption of some local families in advance of the holiday season. This is not a new program. It has been ongoing for several years and some of the primary benefactors were students/families from Valley High School.
Fallon Middle and Dublin High School Cheer Teams Rock Warriors Halftime
For the fourth year in a row, Fallon Middle School and Dublin High School brought down the house at the Oracle Arena during the Golden State Warriors half time show. They were cheered on by a sold out crowd of Warriors basketball fans and over two hundred Dublin residents who took a Thursday night road trip to support the teams. The Cheer programs in Dublin schools have expanded dramatically in recent years, due in part to the inclusive policy put in place by Dublin High School Cheer Coach Kristine Cousins (who started her Dublin Cheer career at Fallon Middle School). The Cheer program is split into multiple Spirit Teams and the selective Competitive Cheer Teams, and include a Hip Hop Team for the 2013-14 school year. All Cheer participants have to maintain academic standing and follow a code of conduct to participate and compete.
For those that couldn’t get a ticket to the sold out event, here is HD video and photos from court side:
Dublin High School Choir Ushers in the Holiday Season
Jonathan Ulrich and Fawn Holman
For some, the holiday season may have begun with Black Friday. Locally, the true kickoff of the holidays came in the form of the Dublin High School Winter Choral Concert on Tuesday night. This evening also featured both the Fallon Middle School Mustang Chorus and the Wells Middle School Roadrunner Chorus. A packed Student Union gathered to experience a tidy, yet very fulfilling performance.
The evening got off to an unexpected, yet very gracious start. Dublin Partners in Education (DPIE) Executive Director, Fawn Holman, presented the Dublin Unified School District with a check for $2,500. These funds are to be specifically earmarked in support of the Choral programs within the district. From there, new Choral Director Jonathan Ulrich took the reins and led an hour-long program filled with musical standards, popular music and holiday classics. In reality, this evening represented something much more significant. While the band programs at all three schools have been on the rise, there had been rising evidence that many students were interested in a choir program. As Wells Middle School Vice-Principal Mark Woy had noted to us, the program at that site had been largely dormant for over a decade. This was not out of indifference, but due to a lack of resources and the rapid growth of their own drum corps, marching and jazz bands. Recent student surveys had confirmed a desire to resurrect this important elective.
Prior to the Winter Concert performance, OneDublin.org had the opportunity to sit down with the new Director of Secondary Choirs and A Music Theory, Mr. Jonathan Ulrich. Jonathan is a native of Wisconsin. Upon completing a Bachelors of Music Education from Saint Norbert College, he determined that he had spent his “last frigid winter in Wisconsin.” With his eyes to the west and some family that resided in Salinas, Jon came to California. During this time, he completed his Masters of Arts in Education from San Francisco State University and embarked upon his professional career. Mr. Ulrich shared his thoughts on his background and his vision for choral arts in DUSD.
Dublin High student studying for an AP exam
Finals. A single word that is guaranteed to scare away any teenager. Here’s a 10 step guide to help you survive the Dublin High School finals this semester.
1. Start Early
That’s right, you hear this every year. No more, “I’ll start tomorrow…” start studying as soon as you can! The Dublin High finals start on January 22, which gives us all of winter break to prepare. So mark your calendars and make a schedule for what you’ll study each day and stick to it. Time management is everything when it comes to finals.
2. Sort Out Your Priorities
Assuming all tests are all equally important is one of the biggest mistakes students make while studying for the finals. We’re all different and some of us are better or worse in certain subjects than others. Focus on your weakest classes, if your grades are barely hanging on at the edge in a certain class, that would also be sign that you should dedicate more time on that subject.
3. Take Breaks & Reward Yourself
Take regular breaks and reward yourself: go on a walk, play with your dog, or bake something. Don’t overwhelm your brain by cramming all the information in on one day, you’ll be able to learn much faster after taking a quick break to grab a snack. Or try something like rewarding yourself with a gummy bear every time you successfully memorize a vocab word.
Read more…
Murray Elementary School Celebrates Opening of New Kindergarten Complex
Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
The Dublin Unified School District and Murray Elementary School community formally welcomed the opening if its new kindergarten classroom project. In a habit that never seems to get old, the celebration was complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony. As one of the oldest school sites in the district, this facilities improvement had been highly anticipated. Work on this project commenced in spring, 2013. It necessitated the demolition of the existing kindergarten building and the replacement of the existing EDCC daycare building. While the new classrooms are now occupied, a secondary element of this project remains to be completed. By summer 2014, the side parking lot will be expanded and a much more efficient ingress/egress will be installed.
Like the new Humanities building on the Wells Middle school campus, the kindergarten complex was delivered on budget and ahead of schedule. So, rather than trying to move into their classrooms during the winter break, the kindergarten instructors were able to set up their teaching spaces much sooner. One of the highlights from this upgrade is a fully dedicated Science Laboratory that all students will have the opportunity to enjoy.
OneDublin.org had the opportunity to sit down with Principal Carrie Nerheim and gain her perspective on what this construction projects means to Murray.
Life as a University of Southern California Trojan On and Off the Stage
by Ryan McRee (Dublin High School Class of 2013 graduate and University of Southern California freshman)
Ryan McRee Dublin High Commencement Speech
If there’s anything I’ve learned in the last year, it’s that unexpected things happen. Life takes surprising twists and turns, but if you’re up for the ride, change can be an incredible enhancement to life. I never could have anticipated that I would end up at the University of Southern California. In fact, if I had tried to tell anyone that a year ago, I would have been met with indignation and shock.
You see, I come from a Berkeley family.
My parents met at Cal. They both got business degrees from Cal. My uncle has a degree in computer science from the school and my brother just graduated from Berkeley in 2013, now working for the athletic department. I was raised as a Bears fan, spending many weekends in Berkeley decked out in blue and gold rooting for the football team. I’ve hissed at the USC marching band, and gone home in a mild depression after being defeated by the Trojans. (It happened quite a lot.) But now I’m a proud member of the Trojan family, and so are my parents, though they admit the fact with great reluctance.
Take an Hour to Code During Computer Science Education Week
Earlier this week Computer Science Education Week kicked off with a challenge to students of all ages to spend an hour coding (details on how to participate for free below). Coding has long been the high value secret handshake of computer scientists and engineers – the magic behind the smartphone apps and computer software we rely on to get stuff done.
But coding isn’t just for software engineers, as NASA’s Amy Mainzer observed in a recent OneDublin.org interview, “…scientific programming is the language we all speak. Use of the computer is probably the single most important technological advancement that’s driving astronomy research” and as musician Thomas Dolby advised in a OneDublin.org interview, “if you are a musician looking to join a band you can tell them you can also build a website or manage their social media, it will make you just that much more attractive.”
While coding may not be for everyone as a career, an hour of coding is valuable for everyone because coding teaches structured problem solving which is useful in many different careers. Hopefully someday coding will be a mandatory course in a K-12 curriculum; for now, however, find an hour to get a small taste of coding.
Here are several fun, free and easy ways you and your family can invest an hour coding:
- Install the CodeAcademy Hour of Code app (available here)
- Watch the Khan Academy Hour of Code instructional videos (available here)
- Read about free terrific teaching tools for kids: So Your Child Wants to Create Computer Games (and you’re not sure where to start)
- Read about why coding is a creative exercise: The Poetry of Programming (How I Created my First iPhone App)
New Courses Coming to Dublin Schools Fueled by Growth
At the Dublin Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting last night a slate of new courses, primarily at the secondary level, were introduced as expanding enrollment supports more choice for students.
The proposed changes and additions include revising middle school math (including Algebra 1 and Geometry) for the Common Core standards (impacting grades 6-8) as well as adding the following courses at Dublin High School:
- Principals of Biomedical Science: meets UC / CSU “d” requirement. In this course, part of the Project Lead the Way Engineering and Design Academy, students investigate various health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, sickle-cell disease, hypercholesterolemia, and infectious diseases. Students will determine the factors that led to the death of a fictional person, and investigate lifestyle choices and medical treatments that might have prolonged the person’s life. The activities and projects introduce students to human physiology, medicine, and research processes. This course provides an overview of all the courses in the Biomedical Sciences program and lay the scientific foundation for subsequent courses. Future courses that may be proposed: Human Body Systems (year 2), Medical Interventions (year 3) and Biomedical Innovation (year 4). Read more…
OneDublin.org 