Meet Mrs. Mai, The Kid Magnet!

Meet Mrs. Mai, The Kid Magnet!

Article By: Julia and Ava - The School News Team

Do you remember your years in preschool? Well let’s take you back. On Tuesday August 26, 2015, we had an opportunity to speak to the newest face to the preschool team, the amazing Mrs. Mai! Before coming to Design39Campus, Mrs. Mai taught preschool at Highland Ranch for the past four years, and before that she was at Rolling Hills.  Before that she was at Stone Ranch, such dedication! After being at all of those amazing schools, why did she choose to come to Design39Campus? Well, she had heard a lot of great things about D39 and she feels like, “A lot of the philosophy that Design39 follows, I did the same in my class before and I felt like if I had a group of children that I can help and challenge them to think the way Design39 is set up to do, then I can really really help them.” Wow, Mrs. Mai really cares about her kids!

Her favorite thing about Design 39 Campus is, “ All the people here. Everyone is just so happy and friendly all the time!”

Mrs. Mai is especially ecstatic about working with all of the preschoolers! She just loves the “little ones” and says that they are a joy and a new, fresh person everyday, and they just love to come and learn. The thing that they love most is playing with Mrs. Mai! The biggest difference is she went from 24 kids at the other schools to 48 students that are shared between teachers here at D39. It is very busy so that the kids are always learning and moving around!

We asked two kids that were playing with Mrs. Mai what there favorite things about her were. We asked a girl what her favorite thing about Mrs. Mai was and she said that Mrs. Mai jokes around with her and that it's funny and she loves it! Next, we asked a boy and he said that he loves to play with her!

We are so happy that Mrs. Mai joined the preschool team at Design39Campus. All of the preschoolers are very lucky to have her along with our other amazing preschool teachers.Thank You Mrs. Mai!

New staff member! Meet Mrs. Heald

New staff member! Meet Mrs. Heald

Article by: Eurielle and Kate

School News Team

On Friday, August 21, we interviewed Mrs. Heald, a new staff member working in the Welcome Center always there to help. We asked a few questions about her and her opinion about Design39Campus. She seems super excited about this school year.

Since Mrs. Heald is excited for this year for multiple things, we wanted to know what she is most excited about. “I am most excited to meet everyone here. You guys have a great community and I am very excited to be part of it.” She says, “I am also excited for all the exciting teachers and families I get to meet this year.”  Mrs. Heald has not had experience in working at a school before. This is going to be a great year for her.

We asked her what she thought was going to happen this school year. “I think that there’s going to be a lot of exciting things. I think that the students are going to do so many great things with technology and deep dives. I think that the community is going to grow, and come together even more now that there are new families here, and more grade levels. I think that it’s going to become a stronger community.”

Since our school is high tech and we use more technology, we thought there might be some differences between Mrs. Heald’s children’s school and Design39Campus.  Mrs Heald responded, “They of course have teachers and students and families and principals, but they don’t have the chance to use as much technology as you do, and they don’t get the chance to move around that much and get to know different teachers and LEDs and students as often as you do.”

Mrs. Heald knew some information on Design39Campus before she came. “Did you expect this school to be this way?”  She answered, “I did some research about this school and I knew a bit about it before I got here. The things I was pleasantly surprised about as I got to know Mrs.Wrisley more and see how she and the assistant principal like to run the school and see how engaging they are with everybody and what a warm, happy environment it is.”

Thank you Mrs. Heald! Have a wonderful year at Design39Campus!  

New Year, New People

New Year, New People

Article By Tamara & Lauren

School News Reporters

On August 21st, 2015, we had a chance to sit down with Mrs. Hildreth, Michael, and Smriti, two of her students. This is Michael’s first year at Design 39 while Smriti has come for another year.

Q: Why did you want to teach at Design 39?

A: There are so many reasons, but one of the main reasons is that I just love the learning environment in the school.

Q: How long have you been teaching for?

A: This is my 100th year teaching (she jokes and laughs), no this is my 19th year teaching. I previously taught at Morning Creek School in Poway Unified School District. I taught all of elementary school.

Q: Do you like the idea of using devices at school or would you rather have them use pencil and paper?

A: I like the idea of my students being able to access different things on their devices, but I also like them to use their imagination and creativity using materials such as pencil and paper.

Next up, is Smriti. She’s been at Design 39 since 2014. She is always seen smiling, not to mention, she has a great vocabulary for her age!

Q: What is the number one reason you came back to Design 39 for another year?

A: Because it's super fun. We get to do lots of learning and collaborations, and lot and lots of designing and projects.

Q: Do you have confidence when you're learning in class?

A: Yeah, because the teachers help me when I am struggling with something.

Q: What are your favorite guiding principles of the school?

A: Design thinking and collaboration and communication because it's super fun to use these things.

Q: Lastly what's your favorite thing about your teacher(s)?

A: They help me a lot and they are super fun and funny. They make me love learning, especially Mrs. Hildreth.

Last but certainly not least, we interviewed Michael.  Like we said earlier, this is his first year at Design 39 which was super exciting for us! This gave us a chance to get a perspective from someone new.

Q: Do you like having your Chromebook in class?

A: Yeah, I like it because it's much better than having worksheets. Typing is more comfortable for me.

Q: When your parents told you that you're going to Design 39 were you happy?

A: Yeah, because Chromebooks are better than everything!

Q: It seems that you like typing, why do you like typing so much?

A: Because typing doesn't hurt my hands, but writing does.

We thank Mrs. Hildreth, Smriti, and Michael for taking time out of their break! Once again, we welcome all three of them!

Ms. Richardson - The People Person

The People Person

By Grace & Lauren, School News Reporters

 

Ms. Richardson… Ms. Richardson is our Design Faciliator, also known as Assistant Principal. She has come to Design39Campus very recently and is warming up to our futuristic school.

During an interview with her, she said that our ways of learning are “...spreading like wildfire” and before the school even opened, a principal all the way from Australia came to look at our school. He learned about it on Twitter! There are many ways that others are finding out about our school, this excites Ms. Richardson that we can share how we are learning here at Design39Campus.

One of Ms. Richardson’s favorite thing is people. She is “such a people person.” She said that she loves watching people think and evolve around this new school.

We are very lucky to have Ms. Richardson as one of our principals. She has brought many excellent  qualities and hopes to use her people personality to make  a difference here on campus.

A Little Bit of Hawaii at Design39

A Little Bit of Hawaii at Design39

by Nitya and Angelyn, School News Reporters

There are many students and teachers here at our wonderful school. Some are new to the program.  Others can consider themselves to be experts of Design39. But does everyone know all the people that makes this school so great?  Does everyone know about one great teacher named Mrs. Cotton?

Mrs. Cotton is a teacher from Hawaii. With a passion for early childhood, she taught preschool in Hawaii for 11 years before coming to California, because her husband’s work shifted to a new area. When she came to California, she became a substitute for our school district, PUSD.  Once Design39 was built, she came to teach preschool at Design39, and in her second year here, she is now teaching kindergarten.

Mrs. Cotton has taught in many places, but out of all the schools there were, she choose Design39 as the best.  Why did she choose PUSD? Why Design39?

 

She started teaching as a substitute in PUSD, because it was the school district that her children went to.  But then the question still remains.  Why Design39?  She said, “For as long as I can remember, I have ALWAYS wanted to be a teacher. Not just any teacher, a teacher that will make a difference. And now at D39C, I can and I will!”

From a preschool in Hawaii to a substitute in PUSD. From the Design39 Preschool to Design39 Kindergarten. Ms. Cotton is one of the many teachers that make Design39 so great.

Guess Who’s Back?

Guess Who’s Back?

Article by Ella M. & Fiona M.

After spending almost a year of student teaching at Design39Campus, Mrs. Duggan has finally joined the Design39 teaching staff! “I loved her as a student teacher, I'm so excited so see what talent she brings to Design39Campus,” says Fiona McKenna, a 7th grade student.

Currently teaching in the 4-5 span, Mrs. Duggin has been enjoying her time at D39. “I love my homeroom and all the kids in this grade,” says Mrs. Duggin. She also has some exciting plans for her class! Right now, they are working on a design project, which was been really fun, and they are all ready to dive into the curriculum.

 “I wanted to become a teacher to make a change in my students’ lives, just like my teachers did,” she says. So far she and her students have been having a lot fun in class! “She's really nice and fun to be around!” says Clara, one of the students.

We are so happy Mrs. Duggin joined the D39 staff and we can't wait to see what fun and exciting things she has in store. It’s so cool that we  knew her while she was student teaching and now we know her as a D39C LED. It's going to be a great year, now that we have the help of Mrs. Duggin!

Mrs. Hawkins: New to the Crew

Mrs. Hawkins: New to the Crew

Article by Bella and Fiona

School News Team

For many of the students here at Design39Campus, this is their second year. For others, this is their first trimester. But have they all heard about the new Administrative Specialist, Mrs.Connie Hawkins? Mrs. Hawkins is new to the D39C team, and deserves a warm welcome.                                 

On the 21st of August, we sat down with Mrs. Hawkins as she expressed her opinions on the school. “My job position requires me to work in the Welcome Center, and I will be meeting parents and students as they come into the lobby area, directing them to where they need to go. I’ll also be working on ordering supplies and computers, everything the school may need to run,” Mrs. Hawkins explains.  Mrs. Hawkins works alongside Mrs. Wrisley, our principal, and our assistant principals daily. She has quite the important job to do!

“I love that the school uses so much technology,” said Mrs. Hawkins. “I love seeing students walk up to me with different means of technology, like laptops, ipads, or tablets, and that they’re using them for learning.”

Mrs. Hawkins strongly supports the school’s values, “...I really am a believer in the school’s mission and guiding principles… I like the belief that everyone is a learner and you continue to learn throughout your whole life, so you’re just starting out with your education in elementary school and middle school. I firmly believe that the Growth mindset promotes learning till your later years. I really like that, and also that you’re not just stuck, you’re open to new ideas and learning new things. I [also] love the Design Thinking concept ... and thought that it would be a great place to work.”

Mrs. Hawkins has worked at other schools for more than ten years. During the interview, she expressed her thoughts about the many schools she’s worked at, versus Design39Campus. “There are a lot of differences...the fact that you have homeroom and then after homeroom you can go to many different locations on campus for learning, the fact that you don’t have bells, [instead] you have music that plays when it’s time to go to your classrooms. You don’t have scheduled recesses, so class gets to go to recess when ever you and the... LEDs decide to go, that’s different. [Also] the fact that you have Minds in Motion so often, you get a lot of physical activity into your school day…”  There sure are many differences between standard public schools and Design39Campus!

Mrs. Hawkins loves D39C. “I think this is a perfect position for me. I like doing this. I like being right out in front [of the Welcome Center]… I can meet the parents and the students every day, but then I also get to do some challenging work that provides for the school… I’m going to say that I like working here better, just because it’s a new way of learning and I really enjoy what I see here.” As you can see, Mrs. Connie Hawkins really likes this unique school. The only thing she doesn’t especially like about the school is that it’s a bit far away from her house! Mrs. Hawkins is going to be a great member of our team this year. Come and visit her sometime down at the Welcome Center!

D39'er Student Headliner - "The Bikers"

A special congratulations to our very last D39'er Student Headliners of the school year! 

CLAIRE MEDLEY (10), TRAVIS MEDLEY (10), DYLAN KELLY (11) and AGUSTIN MARTINEZ (11) are a lively group of friends in Ms. Eveleth’s 5th grade who spent much of the spring arriving early to school and staying in at lunchtime to carefully plan and execute D39C’s first annual Bike To School Day! They volunteered their leadership and organizational skills to bring our school a wonderfully successful event that also provided a great learning opportunity. Thank you guys!

Read about their inspiring story at the D39'er Student Headliner blog (http://d39erstudentheadliner.tumblr.com)

D39'er Student Headliner - The Buddies!

A special congratulations to our latest D39'er Student Headliners! 

ISABELLE MARZANO, ALYSSA FOUSEK, LIA TARIN, MOLLY TSANG, and PAYTON SHIMANSKY, otherwise known as “The Buddies”, are 4th graders with Ms. Collins, Ms. Rader, and Ms. Lamb, and are known around campus for volunteering their friday lunchtime helping out in the preschool. They focus their time reading to children, explaining instructions, demonstrating how to make good choices, and giving hugs when needed. They assist the teachers with projects, organization, and spending individual time with the students. For their inspiring story and more about this fun, energetic, and creative group of BFF’s, check out the D39'er Student Headliner blog (http://d39erstudentheadliner.tumblr.com).

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands: one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” - Audrey Hepburn

D39'er Student Headliners - Tyler Hickman and Anisha Jarang

A special congratulations and thank you to our latest D39'er Student Headliners, TYLER HICKMAN & ANISHA JARANG! Tyler and Anisha were nominated for not just standing by, but STANDING UP to do the right thing. In two separate incidences, within minutes of one another, they each displayed instinctual bravery by sticking up for fellow students being harassed. We recently sat down with these guys to learn a little about them in their own words … 

               

Read their inspiring story here or at the D39'er Student Headliner blog - http://d39erstudentheadliner.tumblr.com. And don't forget to email (givens.erika@gmail.com) anytime to submit YOUR student nomination!