College 4 Kidz packs students in at Mt. SAC in Walnut

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Trapezoid prisons? That sort of makes sense, but it’s certainly a novel way to learn about geometry.
Welcome to the College 4 Kidz at Mt. San Antonio College, where learning is a fun way to spend part of the summer vacation.
The students in Laura Johnson’s geometry class were busy laying out imaginary cities. The sixth to eighth graders were using different geometric shapes for their buildings.
“Physically working with the shapes helps them remember them,” said Johnson, a former teacher’s aide at Rowland High School.
They joined 686 other fourth- to eighth-graders at the Walnut campus. Students could choose from many classes, ranging from physics and math to forensic investigator and computer animation.
“These enrichment programs help Mt. SAC meet the needs of the community. Many parents are interested in these summer courses,” explained Donna Burns, the dean of continuing education.
Read all about the fascinating classes in the Walnut Highlander.

Girl Scouts earn Gold Awards by helping Walnut students

Five Walnut Girl Scouts helped local schools and other organizations to earn their Gold Awards: Christina Dobson, Kelley Lu, Stephanie Lui, Queenie Ma and Laura Wong. To earn the coveted award, the Scouts had to plan a challenging, large-scale project to help their community.

Christina Dobson’s Gold Award project was a three-day camp for children. She used her experience in performing arts at Walnut High School to teach the children about drama and improvisation skills.

Kelley Lu’s Gold Award Project, titled “Cooking Crafts,” became a program at Westhoff Elementary School in Walnut.  Lu taught nutrition, food preparation and kitchen safety. She was the president and founder of the Culinary Arts Club at Walnut High School.

Stephanie Lui made Christmas decorations and displayed them for the Walnut Senior Center in a project titled “Movement Through Music.” She sang songs and performed for the First Chinese Baptist Church congregation with three other girls.

Queenie Ma’s Gold Award project “Learning Literacy” helped children learn about environmental awareness and helped their reading comprehension. She taught at Vejar Elementary School in Walnut, making origami creations from recycled newspapers and playing bingo about the reuse-reduce-recycle way of living.

Laura Wong’s project was “Best Friends Pet Care,” a program to teach 5- to 12-year-olds and their parents about pet care. She introduced them to a wide range of animals that would make good pets.

Rowland seeks members for bond oversight committee

Rowland Unified School District is looking for residents to serve on the oversight committee for the Measure R Bond.

The Board of Education appoints seven members of the community to the committee. The committee is responsible for overseeing the expenditure of funds raised by the $118 million Measure R Bond that was approved by voters for the continued modernization of classrooms and schools in the district.
 
The committee reviews expenditures of bond proceeds, including district personnel construction management costs. They also make sure that no bond proceeds are used for any teacher or administrative salaries or other operating expenses.
 
The panel will serve for one or two-year terms and by law, members must be representative of the community in specific areas: (business community, senior citizen’s organization, parent/guardian of child enrolled in the District, taxpayers association, parent/guardian of a child in the District and active in a parent-teacher organization, and two community members appointed by Board). The committee meets quarterly.
 
The application deadline is Aug.12. Download an application at the <a href=”http://www.rowlandschools.org/apps/bbmessages/show_bbm.jsp?REC_ID=27769&rn=1385639″>Rowland Unified Web site. </a>