Community

The holiday season is a busy one for Holly Horner, the Vice President of Operations for the local family-run toy store, Thinker Toys.

Former San Francisco 49er Randy Kirk will host his annual Kirk’s Kids Christmas Wish Drive from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 12 at The Box Seat, located at 15650 Vineyard Blvd.

The South Bay Regional Public Safety Training Consortium, which has been training public safety students and working professionals for more than two decades, will open at Gavilan College’s new Coyote Valley Educational Center at the start of the new year.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District’s board of directors laid the groundwork to sell off 60 acres of surplus land after unanimously following two of three recommendations introduced by its Homeless Encampment Ad Hoc Committee Nov. 22.

The season of giving is upon us and there are few better at spreading the holiday spirit that the “I Love Morgan Hill” outreach group headquartered through the local congregation Cathedral of Faith.

The 31st annual 2016 downtown Morgan Hill holiday parade and tree lighting attracted hundreds of visitors who helped welcome the Christmas season Dec. 3. The festivities were sponsored by the Kiwanis Club and the City of Morgan Hill.  

Two Morgan Hill Unified School District educators took to the video waves this week, producing a Youtube silent clip that depicted their plights as teachers trying to make due in one of the most expensive parts of the country.The video comes on the heels of the local teachers’ union’s ongoing contract negotiations with district leadership that have stalled to a point where a mediator has been brought in.A married couple and veteran teachers, Britton Middle School’s Tony Goble and Nordstrom Elementary School’s Anna Goble, held up cards telling their story from living with their parents to save money for a home, to using grandparents for free day care that they would otherwise not be able to afford.MHUSD and the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers have a scheduled meeting in January with the mediator to attempt to work out a fair compensation agreement before the current contract expires at the end of the 2017-18 school year.

In an effort to award the community’s future leaders and give kids a chance to experience positive interactions with law enforcement, Morgan Hill Police will host the second annual Shop With A Cop event Dec. 13.Shop With A Cop awards local fourth graders from Morgan Hill Unified School District a $100 gift certificate to Target, and pairs them with a uniformed MHPD officer for a Dec. 13 shopping spree, which starts at 9 a.m. at the store at 1066 Cochrane Road.The event is hosted by the Morgan Hill Police Officers Association, and is funded by the organization’s annual golf tournament.Fourth grade teachers were asked to pick children to shop with a cop based on the following criteria: the student is an example to others and is a leader, self-motivated, self-disciplined and socially responsible.“This is an opportunity for the future leaders of our community to be awarded for their hard work and dedication to being role models,” the MHPOA’s statement reads. “More importantly, this is an opportunity for these children to have a positive interaction with a local police officer in order to foster better relations and change perceptions.”About 125 children will participate in the MHPOA Shop With A Cop event.

In an effort to combine Silicon Valley’s growing need for skilled tech workers and the unique ability for local libraries to provide classes in a safe learning environment, County Supervisor Mike Wasserman is spearheading the effort to offer free youth coding programs throughout the Santa Clara County Library District’s seven community libraries.

Morgan Hill-based South Valley Dance Arts will present live performances of the holiday classic “The Nutcracker” over the next two weekends.Audiences will be treated to Tchaikovsky’s original score, intricate scenery and vibrant theatrical staging that will combine to create one of “the most visually stunning productions of ‘The Nutcracker,’” according to the show’s producers. Youth and adult students of SVDA will make up the cast.Performances will take place at the Sobrato High School auditorium, located at 401 Burnett Ave. Three shows are scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 2-3, and for Dec. 9-10.SVDA is a non-competitive dance arts studio and performing company that uses a “holistic and modest approach” to the instruction of various dance forms. The group offers classes for men, women, boys and girls, in classical ballet, contemporary dance, Ukrainian Folk Dance, Pilates and musical theater. Classes are available for students age 3 and up.Tickets for “The Nutcracker” and more information about SVDA are available on the group’s website, southvalleydance.com. Tickets can also be purchased at BookSmart, 1295 East Dunne Ave., Suite 120.