Scholarships for Graduating Seniors
THE SOUTH COUNTY REALTORS ASSOCIATION is offering several scholarships to graduating high school seniors living in South County. Applications may be obtained at the counseling offices of Live Oak, Sobrato, Central, Gilroy and Mt Madonna high schools. Deadline to submit applications is April 6.
City Celebrates Earth Day with Annual Art and Science Fair
The fourth annual EARTH DAY ART AND SCIENCE FAIR will be held at the Community and Cultural Center on April 22. All Morgan Hill students (K-12) are invited to submit projects promoting recycling beverage containers or preventing storm water runoff pollution. Projects can win over $1,200 in cash and prizes for Morgan Hill students.
Ideas can be found on the fair’s Web site at www.EarthDayArt.com, or students can come up with one of their own. For example, students can:
Make a board game or a treasure hunt game that teaches children to recycle drink containers.
Recycle plastic bottles by cutting them in half and making them into small planters.
Decorate a recycling collection container in a way that gets attention.
Entry forms are available at Morgan Hill Schools, and can also be downloaded from www.EarthDayArt.com. “Intent To Enter” forms are being accepted through April 1.
Details: www.EarthDayArt.com or Articulate Solutions, (408) 852-3511 or in**@ea**********.com
Morgan Hill Kicks Off Poster Design Contest
Morgan Hill students are invited to participate in the city’s ninth annual ENVIRONMENTAL POSTER DESIGN CONTEST. Students can choose from two themes: “Use Less Water” or “Recycle That Paper!”
First-place winners in each grade category will win $100 and receive a certificate signed by Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate. Winning posters might also be used to promote water conservation and recycling throughout Morgan Hill. The deadline for entries is April 9 by 5pm. Entries must be submitted to Poster Contest, Morgan Hill City Hall, 17555 Peak Ave., Morgan Hill, CA 95037.
Entries will be judged in three categories: grades K-3, grades 4-6 and grades 7-12. Entries from each grade category will be selected as finalists and winners will be chosen by the public on April 22 from noon-4pm at the City of Morgan Hill Earth Day Art and Science Fair at the Community and Cultural Center. First-place, second-place, third-place, and honorable mention will be selected for each grade category. Other awards, such as “Editor’s Choice,” may also be given.
Students can use any material – 3-D art is allowed. Art must be dry when it is submitted. The student’s name, telephone number, address, age, school name, teacher’s name and grade level must be on the back of each entry. All entries must be original work. Clip art and copies of other work will be disqualified.
Winning entries become the property of the City of Morgan Hill. Other entries must be picked up between April 23 and April 27 at the Morgan Hill City Hall.
Details: The City of Morgan Hill Environmental Programs Division, (408) 779-7247.
ACT Podcast Provides Financial Aid Information
Parents and students who want to know more about financial aid can now listen to tips from a college financial-aid professional on ACT’s student Web site.
PREP TALK is a free Podcast that covers a number of college planning topics. Parents and students can listen online or download the program to computers or MP3 players. In the latest Podcast – on financial aid – Cathy Wilcox, senior associate director in the office of student financial aid at the University of Iowa, answers questions families want to know about filing for financial aid and working with a college financial aid office. Her advice will help guide students regardless of the college or university they’re considering.
Other editions of Prep Talk cover topics such as taking the right courses for college, preparing for the ACT, visiting a college campus and planning for college. To hear the Podcasts, go to http://www.actblog.org/podcasts.php.
ACT is a non-profit organization that serves millions of people in schools, colleges, professional associations, businesses, and government agencies with programs and services to help people achieve education and workplace success.
Morgan Hill Library Offers Online Tutoring Service
Homework may not be such a struggle for local students – and parents – this spring thanks to a free online tutoring service available through SANTA CLARA COUNTY LIBRARY.
A demonstration of how the service works will be presented at 6-6:30pm, March 1, at the Morgan Hill Library, 17575 Peak Ave.
Instead of going to mom or dad to ask for help in untangling the mysteries of long division, for example, a student can log onto a special Web site from a computer at home or at the library and have a virtual one-on-one session with an experienced tutor familiar with the subject matter taught at a particular grade level. The tutor and student use instant messaging and an interactive “white board” to work through homework problems and concepts together.
Tutoring can be done in either English or Spanish, and is accessed through the library’s Web site at www.santaclaracountylib.org. Students who log on from home computers will download free software to install the interactive white board tutoring tool.
The online homework help is available seven days a week, from 1-10pm.
“The tutors aren’t there to give students the answers, but to help them understand core academic subjects and build skills,” said Melinda Cervantes, Santa Clara County librarian. “Students can even submit drafts of essays and term papers for review and feedback. It’s a wonderful help to students, and it takes the pressure off of parents who may not have time, patience or knowledge of the subject.”
There are more than 1,000 tutors at the other end of the Web site, each a specialist in a subject taught in grades 3-12. The homework question is instantly matched up to the appropriate online tutor.
The service will be available through June as a pilot project funded by a grant from the California State Library. The online homework service is provided to Santa Clara County Library by Brainfuse, one of the nation’s leading online tutoring firms.
Details: Morgan Hill Community Librarian Rosanne M. Macek, (408) 779-3197, ext. 3700 or rm****@li*****.org
