Visitors to the third grade classroom on a recent afternoon were greeted by an array of modern day and historical figures, including: former President Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, Pocahontas, Benjamin Banneker, Dr. Temple Grandin, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Each third grader chose an individual as a “moral hero” to study and later personify for the classroom presentation.
Peace activist and educator Dr. Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba, founder of the Creative Minds International Academy (CMIA) in Jos, Nigeria, will be a special guest at Mount Madonna School (MMS) on Monday, February 4.
Nine-year-olds Corey Mensinger and Ronan Lee each picked up the end of a short redwood log and carried it a
A glue stick in one hand, and a brightly-colored silk flower in the other, the dark-haired girl purses her lips in concentration and carefully applies glue to the flower bottom before placing it on the mask before her. The girl, a first grade student at Mount Madonna School, is working with her class on decorating skull masks as part of their Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) studies and celebration.
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With his dad nearby to lend assistance, Mount Madonna School fourth grader Sammy Caudill lines up the pieces of pre-cut wood and carefully hammers in a nail, successfully connecting the first two walls of the small house he is constructing. This action is repeated again and again – a symphony of hammers and light-hearted chatter – as 14 students around the classroom build their houses.
Student artwork and educational posters adorn the walls in the classroom next to the Farmhouse Office, alongside shelves filled with literature and non-fiction books and neatly-organized desks. This inviting space is where Mount Madonna School’s (MMS) first grade class spends time each school day, writing, reading, discovering and learning together. The curriculum is rich and varied, and recently involved lessons on the pilgrims, geography, politics, immigration and family heritage.
caisca.org, December 2012, “Mount Madonna School: Fifth Grade’s Owl Project Wins National Attention.” Read more: http://www.caisca.org/page/22499_Mount_Madonna_School.asp
Cabrillo engineering student, Eric Wells, met with Mount Madonna School (MMS) math and science teacher PD Rohan and MMS 6th grade students and their families at the Watsonville Wetlands Watch Open House on Sunday, Nov. 4. Wells shared with the MMS group about building burrowing owl nests as part of his Eagle Scout project.. The students who attended were reminded of the Western Burrowing Owl, a bird which their class focused on for their award-winning “Give A Hoot” project last year.
Mount Madonna School (MMS) students Milana Beck, 5th, Riley Butler, 6th, and Amelia Busenhart, 8th, will be dancing in Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre’s (SCBT) upcoming production of the “Nutcracker,” December 14, 15, and 16 at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium.
Gazing out from the stage in the school’s Assembly Room, thirteen second grade students stand together and collectively ask questions and share statistics with the assembled audience: “Don’t all people deserve enough food to be able to live with health and happiness?”
