- Welcome to our board meeting! Thank you Principal Montaño and your Griffin staff for your preparation!
- We are part of an incredibly, giving community. Let me tell you why – yesterday there were two events where students, staff, and community shared a common goal, worked together to make it happen, and now we are celebrating the accomplishments. These events didn’t happen without the organization and planning of committed people who believe each person can make a difference in our world.
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- First, there was the 4th Annual Cristian’s Big Heart 5k Run in memory of Cristian Acosta Flores – an OLH graduate, who passed away one day before his 19th birthday of sudden cardiac arrest. Cristian was my nephew; our family organizes this run each year to raise funds to donate to the Eric Paredes Save a Life Foundation. Eric was a 17-year-old student athlete who also died of an undiagnosed heart condition. His parents created a foundation that now offers free heart screening for youth 12-25 years old in hopes of preventing an unnecessary tragedy. Over 400 participants gathered at Rohr Park to remember Cristian and celebrate his Big Heart. Sweetwater students and staff volunteered and they ran, too! Cheerleaders from OLH and ELH cheered on the runners! Our goal this year is to raise close to $30k that will help pay for ongoing free heart screenings.
- The second event, the Eric Paredes Save a Heart Foundation Screen Your Teen, occurred at Otay Ranch HS from 9am – 3pm. I dropped by in the afternoon and found out over 900 youth registered for the free heart screenings. Again, from our school nurses to our ASBs to our coaches and teachers who shared this opportunity with our students, we thank you! To the doctors, nurses, and other volunteers to make this happen for our youth, we are also grateful. And special appreciation to ORH staff and students who were excellent ambassadors for our guests.
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- Saturday evening, I attended the San Diego Symphony Bayside Summer Nights paying tribute to the Four Tops and the Temptations. There was a diverse group of 2000+ people present – different ethnicities, races, gender, generations – the music was still energizing and heartwarming for all of us who showed up. Even though there were a variety of people listening, there was a common experience and recollection of the great songs of that time in the music industry. Music has that special way of connecting people – all people – in appreciation of the creativity, the artists, the melody, and the lyrics. We don’t necessarily remember all the words, but enough to sing along and feel nostalgic.
- Experiencing that evening made me think of our work in education, our work in Sweetwater. We have a diverse group of educators, coming from a variety of backgrounds and experiences serving a diverse group of students coming from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. And yet, we have an agreed upon common approach to teaching and learning through a lens of equity and culture. We think and know it’s important to consider our beliefs and behaviors, our classroom and school culture, and the social emotional learning of each student before we even consider the curriculum. This is not the typical way educators plan the work. While this approach is foundational for us in Sweetwater, it is a unique approach for an entire district to undertake. We want to thank our Board for supporting us. We also appreciate all our stakeholders – teachers, counselors, nurses, librarians, support personnel, administrators – for being open to this approach to our work with each student. We believe no other district is undertaking this model and we believe this is what will make that difference for each student and each family we serve.
- Finally, I would like to remember and honor Senator John McCain who passed away this weekend. As we have heard through many media accounts, he served as a naval officer, prisoner of war, member of Congress and the Senate, and ran for President in 2008. Most notably he was known to choose principles over party or politics on many occasions in his service to our country because he believed in doing what he thought was the right thing to do for the good of our country. When he made mistakes, he owned them. Senator John McCain was a bridge builder and he lived his life as a lesson for all of us to follow – to serve a cause greater than ourselves. President Obama said, “Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own.”
- LCAP_Goal_3_Update_08.27 – PDF
- Q-2_Reso_4577_Patriot_Day – PDF
- Let’s follow his lead and be bridge builders one person at a time!