The Celebration Corner will be used to highlight and celebrate our students, staff, and positive ideas at any opportunity that we can! If you would like your student acknowledged for something we may not be aware of, please feel free to contact me (include a picture if possible): alexander.salazar-arbelaez@sweetwaterschools.org

Take a couple of minutes to celebrate our winning team of students and staff at BVM! You won't regret taking the time to read the following section!

On May 8, 2023, our Flag Football Team took on Rancho Del Rey for the 2023 Mesa League Championship. Although it was always a competitive game, our team came out on top with a 28-6 victory! Great job to all members of the team and to the awesome coaching staff!

We want to celebrate not only the team's success, but the close bonds between team members and the team spirit exhibited throughout the entire game. This team won as a team and competed with character! Excellent job, we are all very proud of you!

Mr. Sias and his students were at it again! Producing beautiful art pieces that we are now proudly presenting in our main office.

As we pivot to the 23-24 school year, please remember that we are now offering an Advanced Art class. If you are interested, please make sure to see one of your counselors!

Our very own 7th grader, Elias Silva-De Guzman, performed in yet another musical for the San Diego Junior Theater! This time around, Elias performed in Matilda.

Elias is another shining example of many, of how our Crusaders make use of their time away from campus. Our mission statement encourages our students to make positive contributions to the world--Elias, thank you for supporting our Mission Statement!

On Wednesday, May 11, 2023, The Office of State and Federal Programs proudly presented the Excellence Awards to staff, students, and parents for their contributions to biliteracy and student academic improvements.

From Bonita Vista Middle School, we recognized the following:

DELAC: Sonia Arballo, Paula Benitez, Irene Gastelum

Students: Netanya Munoz, Jocelyn Gonzalez

Staff: Sophia Heredia, Lucy Ugarte

May is Asian Pacific Heritage Month. Efforts in Congress to celebrate the contributions of Asian Pacific Americans began in 1977 but in 1992 President George H. W. Bush formally designated May as the month to publicly recognized the efforts and contributions of Asian Pacific Americans to America. One Filipino whose contributions to organized labor groups have often been shadowed by the great Cesar Chavez is Larry Itliong who immigrated to the United States in 1929 and at the age of 15, he began as a laborer up and down the west coast. His efforts to gain higher wages began in 1930 when he joined the striking lettuce pickers in Washington. This began decades of working as a labor organizer and eventually formed the Filipino Farm Labor Union in 1956. In 1965, along with his union members, Itliong organized the Delano Grape Strike where 1,500 Filipino grape-pickers walked out and demanded higher wages and improved working conditions.

This was the initial grassroots movement that compelled Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez of the National Farm Workers Association to join Itliong which led the two union groups to form the United Farm Workers. In 1970, the strike that began with Itliong ended 1970; this led to the first efforts to improve agricultural practices regardless of race; this included higher wages, clinics, daycare, medical plans for workers, and a school for their children. Yes, it took that long! Falcons, as you finish out the year, it is important to look at efforts by Itliong, Huerta, and Chavez and learn from how they persevered and fought for a better life. As we finish out the year, let's remind our students to not give up. Use the perseverance and persistence of the work of Itliong, Huerta, and Chavez to demonstrate how they stayed the course to see their goals through the hardships they endured. Itliong was our students' ages when he began working the fields in the San Joaquin Valley of California. He saw injustice and sought to seek solutions to make life better for his fellow farm workers. The strike alone continued for five years. Let's remind our students to never give up when they are experiencing helplessness in their situations. Teach them to stay in the fight and stay the course. That is where you and I became mentally strong. Let's teach our students to do just that.

This month, we celebrate the enduring heritage of Jewish Americans, whose values, culture, and contributions have shaped our character as a Nation. For generations, the story of the Jewish people — one of resilience, faith, and hope in the face of adversity, prejudice, and persecution — has been woven into the fabric of our Nation’s story. It has driven us forward in our ongoing march for justice, equality, and freedom as we recommit to upholding the principles of our Nation’s founding and realizing the promise of America for all Americans.

For centuries, Jewish refugees fleeing oppression and discrimination abroad have sailed to our shores in search of sanctuary. Early on, they fought for religious freedom, helping define one of the bedrock principles upon which America was built. Union soldiers celebrated Passover in the midst of the Civil War. Jewish suffragists fought to expand freedom and justice. And Jewish faith leaders linked arms with giants of the Civil Rights Movement to demand equal rights for all.

Jewish Americans continue to enrich every part of American life as educators and entrepreneurs, athletes and artists, scientists and entertainers, public officials and activists, labor and community leaders, diplomats and military service members, public health heroes, and more. Last year, I was proud to host the White House’s first-ever Jewish New Year reception. During our Hanukkah celebration, I was also proud to unveil the first-ever permanent menorah at the White House — reinforcing the permanency of Jewish culture in America. In my own life, the Jewish community has been a tremendous source of friendship, guidance, and strength through seasons of pain and seasons of joy.

BVM Community,

Good morning community! First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers that make up our BVM Learning Community! We celebrate and appreciate all of you!

We are excited to finish on a positive note this year! This Wednesday, we will be holding our Spring Sports Banquet! Remember, we always cater our Sports Banquets to celebrate and recognize our students' positive contributions on and off the field! Thank you Crusaders for another successful Spring Season.

Also, this Friday, we will be hosting our 1st Student-Led Conferences for students enrolled in our DLI program. More specific information can be located at the bottom of this newsletter!

Crusaders, let's carry the best of momentum into your 9th and 8th-grade years by finishing up this semester with diligence, integrity, and kindness!

Let's stay positive this week and let's continue to keep our focus on being kind, our academics, and having a strong finish to our academic school year.

The 8th-grade promotion is right around the corner--May 31st at 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm at Bonita Vista High School. You should have received a save-the-date flyer via Jupiter Grades announcing our 8th-grade promotion. Students with last names A-L will promote at 3:30 pm, while students with last names M-Z will promote at 5:30 pm. As of now, there have been no changes to the participation requirement. Remember 8th graders, you will have to pass all of your classes this semester to participate in 8th-grade graduation. To clarify, passing all of your classes means earning either an A, B, C, or D in all of your 6 classes this semester.

Lastly, please remember to review the 4 Essential Rules at Bonita Vista Middle School that allow us to not only promote our safety on campus, but it allows us to ensure that our students are fully present and ready to learn:

1. No Cell Phones on Campus: We ask that all students placed their cell phones in their backpacks once they are at school and on our campus. We not only enforce this rule during class time but especially during nutrition breaks and lunchtime. We want our students to interact with each other as much as possible as opposed to being on their screens/phones.

2. No IPAD Misuse: Every student is issued an IPAD for educational purposes only. We ask students to use their devices strictly as implements of learning.

3. No Earbuds: Similar to our cell phone rule, we ask that once students are at school and on our campus, they place their earbuds in their backpacks. We have noticed that students are less distracted in class and engage more with each other when they are not using earbuds.

4. No Hoodie (worn on head): Students can wear hooded sweatshirts but in order to be able to identify our students at all times, we ask students not to wear their hoods over their heads. This rule is in place for student safety. Should a non-student sneak onto our campus, we would want to identify them immediately. Also, we need to ensure during class and outside of class that students do not have their earbuds. We prioritize making sure that students are paying attention in class and our fully engaged with each other at all times.

If you ever need to report a disciplinary or safety concern, please make sure to report any and all concerns to our administrative team. Our assistant principal, Mr. Robert Bonilla roberto.bonilla@sweetwaterschools.org oversees students with last names between A-L and Ms. Estephany Conlon Estephany.conlon@sweetwaterschools.org oversees all students between M-Z. Please visit this link to contact any other staff you wish to communicate with: https://bvm.sweetwaterschools.org/staff-directory-2/.

Thank you

Dr. Salazar

At BVM we have made it easy by allowing parents to clear attendance using the following link: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScNUTCCLYdAXHyCVPQqoWHDBmBIfFJsVKOhFfB1ep0Qm5iKXg/viewform

You have access to your student's attendance through Infinite Campus. Please log in and check your student's attendance. We have a number of students with uncleared absences. After a time period, those absences roll over into Absent Unexcused (red). When students are marked absent you receive a call at the end of the day to inform you.

Thank you. Have a good day.

Ms. Ugarte

Please click on the following link to view this week's Week-at-a-Glance:

Below you will find valuable information about our school!

BVM DLI families,
We are inviting parents/guardians of DLI students to come to campus next Friday, May 19 to see their student share their DLI experience via a presentation on one of two topics. Seventh graders will focus on the impact of scientific development while eighth graders will share their experience and learning from a design and engineering project for each semester. We realize that this is last minute, but we decided not to wait until next year for us to have the first DLI Student Led Conference event at BVM.

Participation in this event is optional. Students' grades will not be impacted if they are not able to attend.
This event will begin at 1:15 pm. The location of the presentations will be determined based on the number of participants. For planning purposes, please click on the following link and let us know if you and your student will be participating in this event: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScFxNesclKJe-QH_DHW0YfeRw4ylYOU0fTMvNQkF3FiLiizNQ/viewform

Thank you in advance for your time and we look forward to seeing you!

Bonita Vista Middle School

The Sweetwater Union High School District will hold its 7th Annual Solar Sprint Competition on Saturday, May 27 at Otay Ranch High School. This is a program that promotes science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM). Students work in teams to design, build and test solar-powered model cars. A car race is the culmination of the student’s work. At the competition, students race their solar-powered inventions against other teams for the fastest, more reliable, and good-looking car titles!

If you are interested in participating stop by room IA1 and let Mrs. Velosa know.