Valley View

On Oct. 10, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O?Connell announced that 3,849 schools throughout California will be sharing $10.8 million of a $15 million California Instructional School Garden Grant. Valley View Elementary School is one of these schools. ?Some teachers mentioned the grant at a staff meeting, and I decided to do the application with Karla Bringas,? said teacher Sheryl Hamel. ?We thought the school needed some color.? Valley View will be receiving $2,500 from the grant that will be used toward a garden of native California shrubbery, low-lying plants, and perennials that will be replanted yearly.

The sidewalks around Crescenta Valley were a little more crowded on Oct. 3 with children walking to school. They joined kids around the world in the International Walk to School Day. The idea of one day being set aside to have children walk to school began in 1997 in Chicago, which was modeled after a program in the United Kingdom. The day was a way to bring awareness of children?s safety as well as making communities more accessible for walkers. By 2002, all 50 states had schools participating in the walk to school day. As the program grew it was obvious that the benefit went beyond safety and sidewalk availability to becoming a way to bring attention to the growing problem of childhood obesity.

GLENDALE — Parents at Valley View Elementary School have more to be proud of than just their children. They surprised themselves by reaching 100% membership in the school’s PTA after an energetic September membership drive. The 100% membership benchmark is one that some Glendale Unified schools occasionally reach a few months into the school year, but reaching that level so early in the school year is unusual, said Neda Farhoumand, a Valley View PTA board member.

Some students were tucked into their desks, while others ventured outside to find a covered place to sit on a rainy day. No matter their spot of choice, all the students at Valley View Elementary School were reading Friday morning to kick off the school’s October Read-a-Thon fundraiser. The fundraiser, which is in its second year at Valley View, seeks to raise money to buy supplemental English language arts workbooks. Students set goals for the number of pages they will read during the month and are encouraged to solicit pledges from family members for the reading they do. The school aims for each student to raise $20 in pledges for the month’s worth of reading.

Though the school day had ended hours earlier, Kinder Playground was alive with activity Friday evening, as children hula-hooped and pedaled tricycles while the smell of something on the grill greeted new arrivals to Valley View Elementary School’s fall family picnic. The annual event is held to give students and their parents a chance to meet and interact with others in the school at the start of a new academic year, Valley View Principal Carla Walker said. “The purpose is to get the whole school community together to meet each other at the beginning of the year,” she said.

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The first Valley View Elementary Mother and Son Olympiad was held Friday, June 8. The athletes arrived at the school ready to compete. They started by being assigned a team color. They met and in true Olympic spirit became close team members working together to make their "country flag." The individual teams marched with pride to the playground where Chairman of the Olympics, Principal Carla Walker held opening ceremonies. Two special guests joined the event as surprise torch bearer; retired teacher Coral Lee Gausman and Naehi Wong, a former Valley View teacher who now teaches a Korean emersion class for the district.

Valley View Elementary went back in time to the Gold Rush Days of California as they panned for gold, made gold rush stew and learned to dance like a miner. Fourth grade teachers Sherry Kully and Holly Woodward thought that this program was a great way for their students to learn about those famous California days. "I heard about this from another teacher and we decided to try it," Kully said. "We couldn't have done it without the help from all the parents." The students made a stew that they had at lunch, they panned for gold in make-shift rivers [actually small swimming pools with sand]

Students at Valley View Elementary School got to walk on the wild side at a recent Animal Planet assembly held in the school's auditorium. The assembly was not only exciting and interesting but an honor for the school. Through their computer lab teacher, Shelley Owen, students responded to a pledge to help animals. The students were required to promise to "Reach Out, Act and Respond" [ROAR]. Owen helped her students while during their computer lab to sign up on line, then students took the initiative at home to contact family and friends to pledge to ROAR.

Absolutely no couch potatoes at Valley View Elementary. These stalwart souls showed their great athletic ability during last Friday's obstacle course challenge. All grades competed in the classic bouncing ball race as well as the tennis racket balance. Yes, from the smallest to the tallest, all answered the call to compete. This is the ninth year the obstacle course challenge has been part of the physical education program at Valley View. P.E. teacher Roger Sondergaard has been designing the obstacles that challenge his students for three years.