-Jean Luigi

On Monday, March 30, CJUSD will host its seventh annual St. Baldrick’s event. The event will be held at Spinelli Elementary, and is scheduled to begin at 1:20PM and will run until 3:00PM (or until all heads are shorn). Over the past seven years, the CJUSD students, staff, and families have helped to raise over $68,000 for childhood cancer research. An amazing accomplishment!

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a volunteer and donor powered charity committed to supporting the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives. Since 2005, St Baldrick’s has granted more than $282 million to support the development of childhood cancer treatments that are as unique as each child.

We invite all CJUSD students, staff, and families to join us in this worthy cause. There are several ways to get involved: You can shave your head in solidarity with kids fighting cancer, you can donate to the cause, or you can sign up to volunteer. Let’s do this! Grab your friends, make a team, donate, and get involved! If you have any questions, please contact Jean Luigi - jluigi@centerusd.org.

To join our event or to donate to a participant, go to https://www.stbaldricks.org/events/Spinelli.

~Jeannene Jew

Our CJUSD cafeteria staff understand that children with exposure to a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables can lead to an increased intake of fruits and vegetables; important for maintaining good health. Akiko, our Cafeteria Lead at Oak Hill Elementary, enjoys providing students the opportunity to see and taste healthy produce that they might not be familiar with or have access to at home. Every month, our Nutrition Department features a new fruit or vegetable for the Harvest of the Month. January's Harvest of the Month was "Cabbage". Akiko created a beautiful display containing a bounty of different produce in the cabbage family, each food item clearly labeled for student inspection! All of our cafeterias made coleslaw with fresh cabbage which they served on their salad bars for students. Thank you Akiko for sharing your creation and a huge thank you to all our cafeteria staff who work hard everyday to ensure our students eat a nutritious meal. For more healthy eating ideas and recipes please visit our Nutrition Services Department website at www.centerusd.org and click on Nutrition Education.

-Erica Olmstead

A new year has begun at Spinelli Elementary! We have a lot of events to announce as we are so excited to get this year going. Change and renewal mark the beginning of things to come.

February 3rd will kick off our “Fired Up for Reading” event. The Antelope Lions Club provides a Kindle Fire for one student in each grade level who reads the most in a 6 week period! It is an event our students look forward to each year. Who will be the lucky winners?

Spinelli 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in partnership with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera are learning to play recorders. They have been practicing several pieces of music since October for a culminating concert in March. At that time, these students will travel to the Memorial Auditorium and play their recorders with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera players! What a fantastic opportunity!

The Center Joint Unified School District is committed to equal opportunity for all individuals in education. School and district programs, activities and services shall be free from unlawful discrimination based on actual or perceived sex, race, color, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, ancestry, ethnic group identification, gender, physical or mental disability, or on the basis of a person’s association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, or sexual harassment in any district service, program and/or activity that receives or benefits from state financial assistance. The district shall promote programs, which ensure that unlawful discriminatory practices are eliminated in all school and district activities.