 WE are happy to announce that Milpitas Unified School District has teamed up with the City of Milpitas to bring back the Milpitas Elementary Olympics! Please join us on Saturday, May 5 to witness students (explain a little bit about the event and what attendees can expect to see) at the Milpitas High School football field. To ensure sufficient time for parking, please plan to arrive early, as the opening ceremony will begin promptly at 10:30 a.m. Parking will be available at the following locations:
**Please note
For immediate release Contact: Shannon Carr,
Board Support & Communications Specialist (408) 635-2600, ext. 6031 Before Camp Everytown, Milpitas High School junior Eigen Edward Gacho was full of negativity and traumatic experiences. But attending the four-day residential, intensive leadership development program based on core values - respect, acceptance, and responsibility - allowed him to not only open up in a way he never has before but share his experiences about being bullied, and truly heal and grow. Gacho was one of 44 Milpitas High School and Calaveras Hills High School students, accompanied by six staff members, who headed up the hill March 28 to Camp Harmond in Boulder Creek. “The tenets of the program are for those attending to be willing to openly share their prejudices, views and beliefs surrounding race, religion, social position, gender, religion, culture, law enforcement,” said MHS Assistant Principal Cheryl Rivera, who has attended the camp since approximately 1999. “Those attending must be willing to ‘hear’ and ‘empathize’ with what's being shared and discuss strategies to ameliorate bullying, sexism, and other campus concerns.” Students participated in activities that identify opportunities, obstacles, and solutions to human relations issues specific to their school, according to Silicon Valley FACES, which runs the program. Seniors Tariq Bracy, Verenice Gomez, Lanazia Greene, and Brianna Williams; juniors Travis Lloyd and Gacho; sophomore Carlson Cabatotan and Josue Torres; and freshman Lailani Esparza recently met to discuss the camp, and the impact it made on them. “I just think it’s cool because it teaches you not to take life for granted, not to judge other people so quickly, ” Lloyd said. “…now I get to take into consideration and take the time to get to know a person to actually see what they’re like.” Williams said a highlight activity for her was the ability lunch. “We counted off numbers and when we went into the cafeteria, some people were blindfolded, representing the blind, some people had one arm, and people had no hands,” she explained. “So we had to adapt. It put us in other people’s shoes… seeing how they have to go through life.” She added that during another activity, specific people from different ethnic groups were asked to walk out. While they were gone, the remaining people in the room would say stereotypes about the ethnicities and write them down. Then those people would have to return, look at the posters, take them in, and express their feelings about what was shared. Gacho said he enjoyed hearing about different cultures and Lloyd said he enjoyed the gender exercise. “There are many highlights,” Rivera said. “The gender exercise is profound. With facilitation, both genders develop a deeper compassion and empathy for one another. Learning that you are ‘not alone’ is major. Students see that there are many feeling and/or encountering similar obstacles. This is for staff as well as students. Delegates (as students are called) form a close bond with their peers as well as the adult staff who attend. Truly ‘learning’ about another person's culture is enlightening and makes the attendees thirst for more.” Bracy said he didn’t know what to expect of the program, but is happy to have attended. “It opened my eyes to different stories being told, and knowing that I’m not the only one with problems going on in my life,” he said. Rivera said the school has participated in the program around 25 years, with every year being as valuable as the last. “I believe that I gain valuable experience every time I attend this camp,” she said. “I love seeing our students making lifelong connections and most importantly empathy for others. Each group that attends brings enthusiasm and positive energy back to campus. The smaller family coming back to campus can and does impact the attitudes and beliefs of not only their inner circle, their inner circle extends well beyond the 50. I've seen students turn their lives around and define purpose for their own next steps. I have also seen and heard students address racial slurs with a non-threatening positive demeanor. “ The group acknowledged just that, saying they are experiencing life differently upon their return, specifically in how they are with their friends. “It’s made me also realize to not be afraid to be a leader,” Bracy said. “Some people just like to run with the crowd. It’s made me feel like it’s alright to have your own platform, your own voice because people are going to follow what you do, especially if it’s good.” For Williams and Esparza, the name calling has completely stopped. “I think it’s made me put an impact on my friends,” Esparza said. “…It’s affected them because they watch what they say because they know I don’t like that.” The program has grown through the years, Rivera said, explaining the group has received additional financial support for students to attend. FACES has teamed Milpitas High with other schools and the experience is shared through the lens of "privilege versus non privilege." An example of this, she said, is when students attended with Palo Alto High School and Fremont High School. “Students have preconceived views about the ‘haves’ vs the ‘have nots,’” she explained. “Learning that the student experience is similar in many ways is profound. There are exercises that clearly negate many of the stereotypes our students believe about gender, disabilities, ethnicities.” When the students returned from the camp the following Monday morning, they returned with much more than new friends meeting around the MHS flagpole to welcome the new delegates back to campus. Any current or past camp attendees stood together for a "Welcome Home" morning "song fest." “The students attending, for the most part, are a mixed bag of jewels when they arrive,” Rivera said. “Coming back down the hill they are all ‘diamonds’ eternally connected.” For more information about Camp Everytown, visit the website.  We all know that the best solutions to the challenges we face come from the community—especially when we work together.
Please join the County of Santa Cara at its Community Summit on Firearms and Safety from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, 344 Tully Road, San Jose. Entry and parking are free, and a continental breakfast and boxed lunch will be provided. We will have translators for those who wish to participate in a language other than English. This is not a townhall meeting. Participants will be expected to roll up their sleeves and begin working together in professionally facilitated roundtable discussions from beginning to end. The event will be hosted by my office and the County of Santa Clara, with support from key partners from different perspectives on firearms and safety. We hope to draw a diverse array of participants, viewpoints and ideas in order to have a balanced dialogue. We’ll cover a broad spectrum of topics, from gang violence prevention to school safety, from suicide prevention to legal rights and duties of residents – wherever they stand on firearms related issues, and lots more. Participants will be asked to commit to engaging in civil discourse about difficult issues. A final report of the findings and recommendations may be shared with the Board of Supervisors at a later date, and will be shared with our community at large. We will be able to incorporate many ideas into the report, and all opinions will be shared with other communities throughout the County and beyond. All we need for you to do is to register. If you would like to volunteer the day of the summit, please click here to sign-up. For more information, please contact Mario B. Lopez at 408-299-5030 or at mario.lopez@bos.sccgov.org Milpitas High School hosted the Trojan Olympics Friday, March 23. During the event, classes battled it out by performing their prepared dance, pyramid, and competing in several games! In the end, the Senior Class of 2018 came out victorious as they took home the Trojan Olympics trophy. Juniors came in second followed by Sophomores in third place and Freshmen in fourth. Videos of the event can be found on Milpitas High ASB's Youtube channel at tinyurl.com/milpitasyt.
--Submitted by Angelie Hoang Milpitas High School teacher Kaila Schwartz's Theatre Workshop class has been working with guest artists from TheatreWorks Silicon Valley creating a 60-90 minute devised theatre performance. Her students have been writing to various prompts given by Meghan Hakes, the associate director of education outreach, and they have been working with other local theatre artists (Rebecca Longworth, a local director; and Kimberly Braun, a theater professional) with the integration of movement and music. Right now, the working title for their piece is My Own.... The performances are scheduled to coincide with the MHS Art Show on May 25 and 26. The project is fully funded by DonorsChoose and ArtsEd
Zanker Elementary's Parent Teacher Association hosted a Canvas and Cookies Night for approximately 215 students and their parents March 28 in the school's multipurpose room. Canvases were purchased from Michael's and easels were created by Milpitas High School students from Stuft Pizza pizza boxes.
Sixth grade teacher Rebeca Rios - who has provided art enrichment previously - led the instruction, with her work of a giraffe being displayed via Chromecast through a projector. Cookies were donated and gathered by the school's PTA, who also donated canvas aprons to the art enrichment program in conjunction with the night. All the paint and brushes were donated to the art program as well. |
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING:
The governing board of Milpitas Unified School District will hold a Public Hearing on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. Media ResourcesArchives
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