Searching the Sand: Students Assist Researchers with Crab Count
On a recent sunny morning at Santa Cruz’s Natural Bridges State Beach, some 30 visitors to the beach were Mount Madonna School (MMS) students and parents taking part in LiMPETS (Long-term Monitoring Program and Experiential Training for Students), an environmental monitoring and education program that encourages participation by ‘citizen scientists.’
“I want the kids to see that they can do ‘real’ science,” says James “PD” Rohan, MMS middle school math and science teacher, “that they can contribute useful data and have fun doing it.” The event represented Mount Madonna’s third year participating in this long-term monitoring study (now in its tenth year).
Congratulations to Mount Madonna sophomore Carlo LeGan, whose Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills earned him first place gold in a 10-0 shut-out final match at the recent Rising Sun National Tournament in Daly City. This August 25 event marked Carlo’s fourth consecutive shut-out tournament (no points scored against him). 
Longtime MMS contributor and friend, Shmuel Thaler, will be showing exhibits of his photographs in downtown Santa Cruz in September and October.
MMS alumna Erika Rosendale (’05) is having an exhibition of her paintings at Cafe Gratitude in Santa Cruz. An opening reception is planned for Friday, August 3, from 5:00-9:00pm. 
Six Mount Madonna School students will perform as part of Steps Dance Studio’s summer recital series. The performances are planned for June 13-15 at the Henry Mello Center for the Performing Arts in Watsonville.
The poetry of six Mount Madonna School students, Arianna Morell-Haltom, Kabir Ahluwalia, Kavi Duvvoori, Rami Walker, Renata Massion, and Sophie Kamkar, has been selected and included in the 19th annual Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition and Anthology. The public is invited to listen to student readings at an awards ceremony on Thursday, May 17 at the Santa Cruz County Office of Education (400 Encinal St., Santa Cruz). The reception begins at 6:30pm, the readings start at 7:00pm.
Mount Madonna School is fortunate to have many talented and graceful dancers among its student and faculty body. Last week, Dancer and dance teacher Lorraine Kinnamon and several students participated in “Santa Cruz Dancing in the Street” in downtown Santa Cruz as part of the local activities surrounding National Dance Week (April 21-27).
“ Give A Hoot, Don’t Pollute: It’s Foul to Hurt the Burrowing Owl ,” a project of the fifth grade class at Mount Madonna School (MMS) won First Place in the environmental Class Challenge at the Santa Cruz Earth Day celebration on April 21.
