The Eagle Gazette
SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!
A YEAR IN REVIEW
Mountain Oaks School has had quite a few events this past school year! Each one was quite exciting. We had the opportunity to perform a Drama Showcase for the school and parents, showcasing Star Wars and Disney Characters.
We also had a handful of selected students who got to attend Dinner with the Scientist at the Angels Camp Fair Ground. At this annual dinner, students meet scientists from all over the state and learn about what they do.
In October, the school put on a Halloween Dance where students could dress up in cute costumes and dance and enjoy snacks. This dance encouraged people to socialize with different students at Mountain Oaks.
For Thanksgiving, Mountain Oaks hosted a Friendsgiving lunch for students to enjoy. Many students attended this gathering where they did crafts, played games and had an extraordinary lunch.
In December, Mountain Oaks put on a Holiday Craft Day and Potluck for families to come and enjoy a holiday craft. Many families came to enjoy food and make fun crafts.
Mountain Oaks also hosted the annual Science Fair. Students from 5-12 grade participated, The science fair also added carnival games that 7-9th graders created. Share Day was a day where students were able to share their talents. They could sing, dance, perform an act or revise the Gettysburg Address as well as showcase their art and craft work.
Mountain Oaks hosted Kindness Week where the students dressed up and more to show their kindness. Everyday was something different, Monday was superhero day, Tuesday was Crazy Hair Day, Wednesday was Pajama Day, Thursday was workout day and finally Friday was tie-dye day.
In addition, many students were able to go to Roseville to see the Newsies Production. They had a blast and learned a lot about back in the day. Another field trip that was offered was to Mercer Caverns where they got to explore caves and went to a park afterwards. In addition, PORTS had many virtual field trip offerings throughout the year.
The Celtic Faire also came to Angels Fair Grounds, and everyone there had gorgeous attire and exciting experiences, there was a Jousting tournament and a fire show. Many students were able to attend this event together.
The Little Green Environmental hosted the Earth Day Celebration. It brought people together to make tie-dye shirts, paper, crafts and buy seeds.
The Book Fair is a big thing all across the country because students can buy all kinds of different books. Everyone enjoys buying new books. It's very entertaining to read something new.
This spring, the Drama Club presented a production called The Enchanted Bookshop. It was a big success. They had a beautiful concession stand and a fantastic cast for the show.
This has been a year filled with Joy and spectacular events. We hope that next year will be filled with more fantastic memories.
Written by Savannah Vavzinack
May Events Review
Family Formal
This year's family formal was our schools dance for all ages. It had snacks, drinks, and music. Students were able to bring family and friends and the cost was only $5 for a ticket. It was a great time for all who attended.
The Enchanted Bookshop
The enchanted bookshop was our school drama production. It had book characters from books, and was a great success. Thank you for all who attended. Drama is a really cool class where you get to act and it has the best teachers and wonderful students.
Written by Emmet Waite
Summer gardens for beginners
Are you stuck at home bored on a spring day? One thing you can do is start a summer garden! My family and I love gardening because if you ever want to have a healthy snack, you can get it in your own backyard. Let me tell you about what plants you should start with, how to plant them, and some other basic facts about gardening.
First, let's discuss beginner crops. Some of the best plants to have and to start off with are tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. These crops don’t require a greenhouse and you don’t have to start them, which means to plant the seed in little trays and plant them when they sprout. For cucumbers, specifically lemon cucumbers, and zucchini, you direct sow, which means all you have to do is just plant them directly into your beds. You direct sow because they don’t like having their roots messed with. For tomatoes, on the other hand, are probably the easiest to just go to a nursery or some other plant store and buy the already started plants that they have. If you look very closely at the tomatoes, you will see fuzz on the stem, and what you want to do is pinch off all the leaves except the top bunch. You then plant it up so the dirt is barely touching the top bunch. Do this because the fuzz would then become roots. There are also plants that like to have a partner, called companion plants. Tomatoes, cilantro, and basil are great companion plants. Plus, basil and cilantro are really easy to grow.
Some good tips you should know when starting a garden for your first time is that it is best to water from below because the plants don’t really like to get their leaves wet. Some good insects that you really want in your garden are ladybugs and praying mantises. Some pests that you don’t want to have in your garden are slugs and aphids. Ladybugs in fact kill the aphids. It is a good idea to have your plants have something to climb on and it does not have to be complex, have fun with it. Lastly, it is a local tradition that you DO NOT plant before the Frog Jumps, but you do want to start your seeds in the spring, not summer. I hope you enjoyed this article and learned a lot about starting a garden.
Written by Adrien Wood
Making a Difference: Volunteering Opportunities
In high school, it is recommended that all students have volunteer hours, but finding an organization to volunteer that is close to you can be tricky. Volunteering is not only for high schoolers, other students can help too. In this article you will discover three amazing organizations that are always looking for a helping hand.
When volunteering you always want to try to pick an organization that follows the career path that you want to go into. If you want to work with animals you could volunteer at the Tri County Wildlife Center(TCWC). TCWC is a wildlife rehabilitation center where birds( songbirds, raptors, and game birds), mammals( anywhere from coyotes to mice), and reptiles ( snakes and lizards) are taken care of and released into the wild. You should be at least ten years old to volunteer here. New volunteers feed the baby song birds or work with the mammals that can not carry rabies ( such as squirrels or opossums). Younger students can help the organization by donating their art work to the TCWC to help them raise money.
If saving the environment could be your life calling you could volunteer in organizations like the Calaveras Hwy 4 Clean Up. This is a wonderful organization where volunteers go out to local streets and highways and pick up the trash on the side of the road. Hwy 4 Clean Up helps the world by cleaning one highway at a time.
If you love working with people and helping others you could volunteer at Hospice. At Hospice you can volunteer at your local thrift store which donates all of their proceeds to the hospice patients. This will give you a foothold to bigger volunteering when you're older like working with Hospice patients. It is suggested that you be at least 13 for this volunteer opportunity.
Volunteering not only benefits others but it also benefits you. Find organizations that connect to your career path. Whether you want to work with animals, the environment or people there are always volunteer opportunities for you. Make a difference for our future, today.
Written by Cecilia O'Geen
Summer Celebrations
There are many celebrations throughout the summer. From national holidays to Father’s Day to days of remembrance, the summer is fun filled and special.
The month of June is pride month. Pride month is where the LGBTQ community and people in general honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan which marked an important movement for the LGBTQ community. Pride parades and LGBTQ+ hangouts are super fun to go to and you can be super supportive of your local LGBTQ pals! The nice thing about pride parades and pride month is that anyone can participate! You can simply participate and show your support and acceptance of all humans.
On the 20 of June it's the summer solstice. This celebration marks the start of summer in the northern hemisphere, and is also the longest day of the year. On the opposite side of the world (the southern hemisphere) the summer solstice marks the beginning of winter, and the day when the sun is lowest in the sky. The timing of the June solstice is not based on a specific calendar date or time; it all depends on when the Sun reaches its northernmost point from the celestial equator. The timing of the June solstice is not based on a specific calendar date or time; it all depends on when the Sun reaches its northernmost point from the celestial equator. Therefore, the solstice won’t always occur on the same day. Currently, it shifts between June 20, 21, and 22.
Then of course there's Independence Day; or 4th of July. This holiday marks the birth of this nation and Independence day. It celebrates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by Congress on July 4, 1776. This is one of the biggest holidays in the U.S. We love and honor our country and I mean, who doesn't love a good barbeque and fireworks? This year the 4th of July falls on a Monday.
There are of course quite a few more holidays and festivals in the summer. I just chose the first three that happen after school gets out. There are dozens of different celebrations around the world in different cultures in summer like the Dragon Boat Festival in China, or the Bastille Day in France. Summer is the perfect time for any celebration and is always a fun time of the year. I hope everyone has a good summer holiday.
Written by Alma Oneto
Summer Fun Stuff
Summer is a very fun season and there is so much to do. There are water activities such as swimming and water sports, amusement parks, fishing, and of course things like 4th of July fireworks!
Some activities are:
Swimming
Water skiing
Water parks
Stargaze
Camping
Make ice cream
Go to the park
Have a picnic
Sidewalk chalk murals
Go to the beach
Play hide and seek in the dark (it's finally warm enough for it)
Go berry picking
Go hiking (don’t recommend for younger kiddos)
Plant a butterfly garden
Glow stick painting (I've done this it's so much fun and looks awesome but be careful of the small pieces of glass in the glow stick)
Written by Destiny McDaniel
STUDENT REVIEWS - LET'S HEAR THEIR TAKE ON IT!
A Long Way From Chicago By Richard Peck
Written by Cecilia O'Geen
What Events are going to take place in Summer 2022? What are some fun movies to watch and books to read for delight?
Summer is a very popular season for events and largely anticipated books and movies to watch and read. One reason is because students are on summer vacation. So what are some events that are going to occur, and movies and books that will be entertaining in summer 2022? Let's find out!
Movies
Movies are a great source of entertainment. I am going to start off with some movies I am excited to watch in the summer of 2022. These will all be PG through PG-13 movies.
One highly anticipated move that is coming out in July is Minions: The Rise Of Gru. This is a Sequel to the movie Minions. Others to look forward to are listed below.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness
Lightyear
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Top Gun: Maverick
Events
What are some events that are going to take place in the Summer of 2022? Here is a list:
July 4th: Independence Day
July 24th: Parents Day
September 5th: Labor Day
September 11th: Patriot Day
September 16th: Stepfamily Day
Books
There are a lot of books that have been released in 2022, so here is a list of some of them.
Cinder and Glass by Melissa de la Cruz, which is a retelling of Cinderella for teens.
Just Help! By Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and illustrated by Angela Dominguez. This book is for younger readers and focuses on helping people and the planet.
Why Not You? By Ciara and Russell Wilson, illustrated by Jessica Gibson. This book, made for ages 4-8, focuses on persuading kids to follow their dreams. This story is also a New York Times Bestseller.
Written By Tammus Johnson-McCartney
Mountain Oaks School
Email: togeen@mountainoaks.net
Website: mountainoaks.org
Phone: 888-686-6257