Sweetwater Must Sees Newsletter

Dear Sweetwater District Families:

We are so grateful for your incredible dedication and perseverance over the past year, navigating through distance learning and the COVID-19 Pandemic. We appreciate that you have chosen to trust us with your child’s education.

We are especially excited about the partial reopening at our school sites while maintaining and following state and local safety guidelines. The exact nature of instruction schools will offer is dependent on the number of families who responded with plans to return in person. While we recognize families must make that personal choice for their students, please be reassured that much planning and preparation has and continues to happen to ensure students return to a healthy, safe, and comfortable learning environment as social-emotional wellness is a critical focus for us in returning to in-person instruction.

The District has implemented health and safety protocols and protective measures for all students returning to in-person instruction. For your convenience, we have provided a link to the District’s reopening plan adopted by the Board here.

Each school site is providing campus-specific health and safety procedures and details to help students know what to expect and what will be expected of them when they return to campus to ensure all of the Sweetwater community remains safe. Above we invite you to view a video message from Interim Superintendent Dr. Aguirre. Below you will find some School Re-opening Videos that some school sites created for their students and staff in preparation for their school re-opening:

Chula Vista Middle

East Hills Academy

Eastlake High School

Montgomery High School

Olympian High School

San Ysidro High School

Sweetwater High School

Thank you for helping make our return to in-person instruction go as smoothly as possible and don't hesitate to contact your school site if you have any further questions.

Our LIVE PREMIERE of the Gala and Awards Ceremony will feature many dignitary judges, including the MAYOR of Chula Vista, SUHSD Superintendent and Board members, as well as representatives from the California Art Education Association, Mingei International Museum, and Southwestern College.

Please enjoy the Gala and Awards Ceremony on SUHSD's VAPA YouTube page here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGzOtJ90Jgg

Job Readiness Workshop and Fair

The SDCOE College and Career Readiness team is collaborating with community partners as part of the San Diego Promise Neighborhoods group to bring a job readiness workshop and fair to all San Diego County students.

Job Fair - April 14 from 1 to 3 p.m.

• See open job opportunities for ages 16 and older
• Explore industries and network with employers
• Employer list available closer to the event
• Event registration

Download event flyers in English and Spanish. Contact Ernesto Rivera with any questions.

Explore Careers at CreaTech Event

Students in grades 8 to 12 can learn about careers in engineering and information and computer technology as part of the CreaTech online career exploration event.

The free, three day event will feature engaging presentations from the region's cutting edge tech employers. Virtual sessions will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 2 p.m. April 27 to 29. Visit the event webpage to learn more and register.

San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering

Now in it's 13th year, the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering is a multi-day educational experience to engage kids and families in all that encompasses STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). This year will be a special virtual experience including a live stage with streaming events, pre-recorded sessions, exhibit booth spaces, and more special programs.

STEAM Week, from April 24 to May 2, will contain all the planned events for students, families and educators to enjoy in a free, virtual format. Visit lovestemsd.org for a complete listing of events.

Working with guest poet (and former BVM parent) Johnnierenee Nia Nelson, BVM students crafted over 600 poems first semester. The poets below were chosen to be published in either Border Voices, or by California Poets in the Schools.

Aiden Sunga, Alianna Amador, Audrey Oani, Ava Nixon, Charlotte Elbel, Chinh Truong, Cielo Muniz-Sigala, Dominique Lopez, Dylan Funk, Isabella Garcia, Jonas Ingco, Jorge Parra, Lesly Quezada, Maya Delgado, Micah Cancel, Pryor Holmes, Sofia Rodriguez, Sofia Mannion, Zachary Luna, Katelyn Flores-Alatorre, Aaron Hernandez, Damian Nunes

San Diego Family Magazine published an article for April featuring two BVM poets:

Izzy Matias

Alianna Amador

April 2021 San Diego Family Magazine

Ashley Farfan’s Young Art 2021 artwork Her Setting, Our Environment was selected to be reinterpreted for Young Art Outside the Frame!

Young Art Outside the Frame brings student art from the Young Art 2021: My World, Our Planet exhibition into San Diego communities. This partnership between The San Diego Museum of Art, SDG&E, and Mindful Murals seeks to enliven public spaces and transform sometimes unsightly infrastructure into a canvas for public art. The Museum and Mindful Murals have organized a diverse team of local artists to cover 25 SDG&E utility boxes with interpretations of select works of art by students featured in the exhibition. This initiative is an opportunity to reflect San Diego’s cultural diversity through the extraordinary, creative expressions by the county’s youth while also beautifying San Diego communities.

The Young Art Outside the Frame driving/biking tour encourages people to visit the utility box art installations, spurring foot traffic in local neighborhoods, fostering art appreciation, and bringing support to local businesses.

A digital map that will include the student information (artwork title, student school and grade level), utility box location, and the muralist name will be available at SDMART.org/young-art by the exhibition opening date of March 26, 2021.

Kudos to Mr. Adan Escobedo for his dedicated work in assisting our students in preparing for the SUHSD Science Fair and SDSU Mesa Day Competition resulting in:

8th Grader Chelsea Ayleen Teutla securing 1st place in middle school Environmental Engineering category in the SUHSD Science Fair. Chelsea also received 2nd place at the SDSU Mesa Day competition in the Think Tank category. Also, 8th Grader Jordan De La Paz won 1st place at the SDSU Mesa Day competition in the Scratch It Up (computer science) category. Congratulations to these exemplary students!

During the Friday, March 26th Montgomery vs. Mater Dei Football Game, Montgomery High School announced the winners for of 2020-21 Homecoming Queen and BMOC (Big Man on Campus) during half time. The winners were Lizeth Luzanilla and Isaac Guel! Congratulations to all the winners, candidates, families, and all those who supported our Aztec Seniors!

Student Standout: Henry Morales, from Olympian High, was selected for the All Southern California Honor Band. Through an online audition process, he was selected as one of three Euphonium Honor Band players in Southern California. Henry is the first Olympian High student to audition and be selected. Congratulations Mr. Morales.

The Academic Decathlon of San Diego had the unique challenge of competing completely virtually this year. Students completed seven written tests in the areas of science, literature, art, music, mathematics, economics and social science. Students also wrote an essay, gave both a prepared and impromptu speech and were interviewed. The culminating event consists of the Super Quiz competition. Top scoring students and teams received medals in all categories tested.

SUHSD celebrated the extraordinary achievement of 11th grade Decathlete Coral Rae Vargas of San Ysidro High School who scored a perfect score, 1000/1000 on her competitive interview, the highest among all competitors in the district. Coral attributed her high achievements this year to the fun she had competing and exploring her passion of poetry. San Ysidro’s Coach Ms. Aidan Connell and peers have built a welcoming and fun experience that Coral is thankful for. She sees how Academic Decathlon helped her reach her full potential with their encouragement and support. Coral encourages all students to step outside of their comfort zone and join clubs and sports, like academic decathlon, that allow students to explore their passions and enjoy new experiences with peers.

Congratulations to Sweetwater High School dancers and their teacher, Mrs. Wendy Guzman on their modern choreography Virtual Dance Concert- check it out!

Share your story with us!

Website: http://www.sweetwaterschools.org/
Location: 1130 5th Avenue, Chula Vista, CA 91911, USA
Phone: (619) 691-5578
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SUHSD
Twitter: @SUHSD