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SCHOOLS
Download
the 2007-2008 schedule listing School District Opening, Closing,
Holidays and Vacations for Merced County
News
& Coming Event
| June 16 - 20, 2008
"SUMMER
BLAST"
VBS IN CITY PARKS
At Friendship Trek kid discover new
friends and build a powerful relationship with their
Forever Friend, Jesus Christ. This Christ-centered VBS
is just what EVERY CHILD needs to grow in their faith,
while experiencing loads of fun. Plus the Gospel message
is included in every lesson, every day!
Sponsor a Child - for only
$25.00 you can sponsor a child for the whole week at
Vacation Bible School. Each child will receive
daily Bible story lessons, learn Bible verses, play
creative games, enjoy a nutritious snack, learn new
songs, learn to follow a trail, set up a tent, and create
crafts from natural materials. On Friday, each child
will take home their very own Children's Bible, their
T-shirt plus a list of the participating churches with
their worship and Sunday School times, addresses, and
phone numbers.

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"SUMMER BLAST"
VBS IN CITY PARKS
JUNE 16 THROUGH JUNE 20
5:30pm - 8:00pm
APPLEGATE, FAHRENS, MACIAS, RAHILLY & STEPHEN LEONARD
PARKS
Day 1 - "Friends Reach Out"
Day 2 - "Friends Love"
Day 3 - "Friends Give"
Day 4 - "Friends Care"
Day 5 - "Friends Share"
PLUS...
• Wilderness Crafts
• Survivor Games
• Backpack Snacks
• Campfire Bible Stories
• Buddy's Bible Challenge
FOR CHILDREN WHO WILL BE IN 1st through 6th
grades
FREE!!!!
For more information, please call:
Jan Sorge 769-1884 |
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May 14th - 9:30am
Galen Clark Preschool - 211 E 11th Street in Merced
New Findings show Obese
Children can still be Malnourished
The Merced County Office of Education’s
Network for a Healthy California will host a briefing to introduce
“Malnutrition in the 21st Century,” an education
brief featuring new, shocking evidence that Central Valley
children may be suffering from malnutrition.
A collaborative of health and nutrition experts from the Central
Valley Health & Nutrition Collaborative have found that
Central Valley ooverweight and obese children may be nutrient
deficient despite an excess of calories. Malnutrition, a lack
of nutrients despite an abundance of calories, is jeopardizing
the future of our children and the welfare of our communities
because they lack the nutrients needed for healthy development.
An excerpt from the brief reads: “For most Americans,
the concept of malnutrition evokes heartbreaking images of
starving, emaciated children. In the Central Valley, however,
malnutrition has taken a new form in the 21st century. Many
of the Valley’s overweight children may actually be
malnourished – nutrient deprived but calorically oversatisfied
– according to information collected by the Central
Valley Health & Nutrition Collaborative.”
The briefing will be held at Galen Clark Preschool, 211 E
11th St. in Merced, on Wednesday, May 14 from 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Dr. Connie Schneider, Nutrition & Family Consumer Science
Advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension,
and Jaci Westbrook, Nutrition Project Manager for the Merced
County Office of Education will both speak at the event about
best practices in school food service and nutrition education.
At 10 p.m., a local berry farmer will give a presentation
about farming, and students will get to taste a variety of
local berries.
For more information on the Network for a Healthy California,
call Jaci Westbrook at 385-5394.
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May 9, 2008
UC Merced’s Get S.E.T.
Team to Show Burbank Students Practical Science
UC Merced engineering and science students demonstrated
their science skills to elementary school students at Burbank
Elementary School on Friday, May 9.
Members of UC Merced’s service learning project called
Get S.E.T., which stands for science, engineering and technology,
provide elementary school students and their educators in
Merced County school districts with hands-on science demonstrations.
The program is a collaboration between UC Merced and the Merced
County Office of Education along with other local school districts.
For more information on the program, visit getset.sl.ucmerced.edu.
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Atwater
High School
dedicates its music building in honor of former Band Director
Atwater High School held a
Dedication Ceremony and Open House for the naming of the Atwater
High School Music Building. The original Band Director, William
H. Schnider was a wonderful and the building is being names
the "William H. Schnider Music Hall". |

Widow of William H. Schnider cuts ribbon
to the
"William H. Schnider Music Building"
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Danielle and Jacqueline is pictured with
Atwater Chamber of Commerce President, Connie Hunter
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Miss Atwater, Danielle Battisti,
was on hand for the dedication of the Music Building. She
is also the Drum Major of the 140 member Falcon Band of Atwater
High School. Also in attendance was Wee Miss Atwater, Jacqueline
Serrano.

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Advocates for Long-Term Care Residents
The Merced County Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is accepting
applications for individuals interested in becoming a Certified
Volunteer Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Applicants must complete
36 hours of classroom training and no less than 10 hours of
field training. A minimum of five individuals is required
for the free training class. To receive an application or
for further information, please call #385-7402. |
| May 5,
2008
Comcast Cares
for MCOE Head Start
On Saturday, May 3, more than 4,000 Comcast
employees and their families and friends will volunteer to
improve 28 schools throughout California as part of Comcast’s
seventh annual “Comcast Cares Day.”
And the Merced County Office of Education’s Atwater
Castle Head Start Preschool will be one of those schools.
The event will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and at 11 a.m.,
elected officials will speak and make a presentation.
Comcast employees and their families will join with students,
parents, Head Start employees and other volunteers to spend
the day repainting walls, cleaning up the grounds and planting
at the preschool.
In total, more than 50,000 Comcast volunteers nation-wide
will participate in this year’s company-wide day of
community service, making it one of the nation’s largest
single-day corporate volunteer efforts.
Attending the event:
• Children from Atwater Castle Head Start Preschool
and their families
• California State Senator Jeff Denham (R-Merced)
• Lee Andersen, Merced County Superintendent of Schools
• Gaye Riggs, Assistant Superintendent of Early Care
and Education
• Linda Kaercher, Director, Merced County Head Start
• Debbie Santistevan, Site Supervisor, Castle Head Start
Preschool
• Jill Schwinn, Director of Government Affairs, Comcast
– South Valley
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| May 5, 2008
MCOE
Hosts First-Ever Autism Forum
The Merced County Office of Education, along
with the Challenged Family Resource Council and the Special
Education Advisory Committee, will showcase present and future
plans for educational services for infants, toddlers, children,
and young adults at an Autism Forum on Thursday, May 15.
The forum will be held at MCOE’s Clark/Newbold conference
rooms, 632 W. 13th St. in Merced, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Parents will be asked to give input on present and future
programs for autistic children through small breakout sessions.
A light dinner, child care and translation services will be
provided at the forum.
For more information and to RSVP for the event, call the CFRC
at 385-5314. |

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| April 24, 2008
Migrant
Education Parents, Students, Alum Make Trek to Annual Conference
Parents, students, and administrators — even the Merced
County superintendent of schools — attended the 29th
Annual State Migrant Parent Conference in April.
Migrant Education coordinators from Region 3, which consists
of Merced, Madera and Stanislaus counties, loaded up a VIA
bus of 45 parents to attend the 3-day conference in Anaheim.
Honored from Region 3 at the conference, were student Luis
Ojeda; parent Alejandra Hernandez; and alumnus Martin Macias.
Ojeda will graduate this year from Chowchilla high school
with a GPA higher than 4.0 and aspires to become an attorney
or politician.
Hernandez is the Migrant PAC President in Alview-Dairyland
Elementary School in Chowchilla. She encourages other migrant
parents to get involved in school-related activities and is
seen as a role model to other parents.
Macias, who now works as an English Learner program specialist
for the Merced County Office of Education, started his scholastic
career much differently. He grew up working in the fields
alongside his parents, and continued until his second year
in college.
“Field work provided a positive foundation to build
from to focus on a college education,” said Macias.
After earning his bachelor’s degree, Macias worked as
a middle and high school teacher, and vice-principal and principal.
In addition to teaching during the traditional school year,
he spent eight summers working with high school students at
CVOC Migrant summer school. “In this country, we limit
ourselves to what we want to achieve. There are opportunities
everywhere you look,” said Macias, who eventually went
on to earn his Masters in Education.
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Alejandra Hernandez |

Luis Ojeda |

Martin Macias |
In addition, due to the Merced County Coordinator
for the Migrant Program friendship to Dr. Gerald Newmark,
author of the book, “How To Raise Emotionally Healthy
Children,” Newmark participated as a guest speaker in
the conference.
Newmark’s message was on the five critical emotional
needs all children must satisfy in order to be an emotionally
healthy person. Those needs are: to feel respected, important,
included, accepted, and secure.
For more information on Migrant Education in Merced County,
call Rosa Alejandre at 381-6654.
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April 18, 2008
Thanks to grant from
Target, Atwater VCS Students Embark on Trip to San Francisco
On April 4, students Tamika Evans, Justin
Barraza, Luis Rojas, Robert Rivas, Jesus Herrera and teacher
Dave Mosher departed Atwater on a journey to San Francisco.
The purpose of our mission was two-fold: Our first destination
was the de Young Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate
Park, where the students were exposed to cultures, art and
artifacts of various civilization and time periods.
Of particular interest was the collection from numerous Pacific
Islands and the Americas, including a Jade mask from the Mayan
Preclassic period (600BC.)
Upon leaving The de Young, we made a brief stop at the Japanese
Tea Garden for photographs. The students were interested to
know that the ending of “Memoirs of a Geisha”
was filmed there.
A 10-minute drive west brought us to the vast Pacific Ocean
at Ocean Beach. It was low tide so the students enjoyed walking
barefoot in the cool moist sand. Much to Tamika’s delight,
she found a sand dollar to take home.
From Ocean Beach we wound our way along the coast and side
streets past the Legion of Honor Museum and Baker Beach toward
the Presidio and Fort Point, underneath the Golden Gate Bridge.
We enjoyed the view of San Francisco Bay and snapped more
pictures before moving on.
No trip to San Francisco would be complete with out enjoying
the sights, sounds and smells of Fisherman’s Wharf.
And we did.
A short drive around the Embarcadero and across the Bay Bridge
brought our troop to its final destination and dinner at Quinn’s
lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1903 and guided ships
into the Oakland Estuary.
The lighthouse was moved and converted into a restaurant in
the mid 1960’s and has served the public since that
time. One of the features that caught the students by surprise
was the need to shuffle through discarded peanut shells on
the second floor of the lighthouse restaurant. Once our scholars
were used to the idea of eating free peanuts, they had a great
time adding to the peanut strewn floor while waiting for our
dinners.
Alas, all good things must come to an end so, we merged with
the rush hour traffic and drove back towards Atwater, where
the last student was safely delivered home at 9:00 p.m. |

From left, Atwater Valley Community School
students Jesus Herrera, Robert Rivas, Justin Barraza, Tamika
Evans and Luis Rojas spent the day in San Francisco, thanks
to a grant from Target.
We had embarked on this journey of discovery
with two goals in mind, one to get a better understanding
of the de Young Museum and all of the treasures of civilization
it contained. Second, we wanted to experience, and appreciate,
in even some small way, the culture that is inherent and embedded
in the city of San Francisco.
Listening to the students recount their adventures to one
another on the journey home convinced me that this trip has
been a success.
With that in mind I would like to thank the Target Stores
for their generous grant which made this and other cultural
field trips possible.
By Dave Mosher
Teacher - Valley Community School, Atwater |
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| Have
You Ever Thought About Homeschooling?
A workshop for parents who would like to know more
about homeschooling
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 6:30pm
Merced County Library, 2100 ‘O’ Street,
Gracey Room
Cost: Free
Presenters: Wendy & Stuart Spencer,
local homeschool parents
Have you ever thought about homeschooling, but just don’t
know enough about
how to do it? Well, come join us for an evening of questions
and answers.
Here are some that will be addressed:
* Why do people homeschool their children?
* I heard that homeschooling is now illegal in California?
Is that
true? What are the legal options for homeschooling?
* What if I don’t feel qualified to teach my own children
at home?
* What about socialization?
* How do I choose a curriculum?
* Do homeschoolers follow the California State Standards?
* What does a typical homeschool day look like?
* Do homeschoolers really stay at home all the time?
* Can homeschoolers get into colleges and universities? |
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MERCED
COLLEGE CUSTOMER SERVICE ACADEMY
GREATER MERCED CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE 2008 SCHEDULE
All Classes are held at the Merced
College Tri-College Board Room (TC-1)
Participants can choose a morning session
from 8:30am to 12:30pm or
an afternoon session from 1:00pm to 5:00pm Schedule
ATWATER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2008 SCHEDULE
Schedule
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The Merced
City School District's website is online and filled with information
concerning Merced's educational system. If you're interested when
the Board of Education meets you can view the Agenda
for the 2005-2006 year. Search the site for Board Members, Educational
Services, Administrative Services, the District Calendar or a list
of schools. Come see what the Merced City School District has to
offer!
UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
U C Merced
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Merced College
Merced College Los Banos Campus
California Charter Academy - CDIT
California State University Stanislaus
Chapman University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Potters Seminary Bible College
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Beverly Career Centers
Career Development & Technology Inc.
Career Development Training Center
Essential Health Massage Institute
Sierra College of Beauty
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Merced Adult School
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Adminstration Office
Atwater High School
Buhach Colony High School
East Campus Educational Center
Golden Valley High School
Independence High School
Livingston High School
Merced High School
Yosemite High School
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Elementary Program
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Jr High Program
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Minmum Day Care
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Hourly Drop-In
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Holiday Care
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Summer Camps
350 E. Yosemite Ave., Merced
For information call: 722-3988
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