Dwyer dives into reading Surf City schools...

Dwyer dives into reading

Surf City schools are participating this week in the nationwide

program celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday, Read Across America.

“The school remains committed to reading across the campus, and is

interested in bringing in role models from the community to inspire

reading among our students,” Dwyer Middle School Principal Duane Cox

said.

In support for the new “Orange County Reads One Book” project,

volunteers at Dwyer will all be reading from Adeline Yen Mah’s book,

“Chinese Cinderella.”

The book was chosen for its multicultural and intergenerational

qualities. Cox said he hopes this will encourage the students to pick

up the book later and finish it.

Volunteers from the community spend about 20 minutes with students

in one classroom, reading aloud and talking about their profession.

This year, volunteers include Supt. Gary Rutherford, School Board

President Shirley Carey, Assistant Supt. Lynn Bogart, City Councilman

Gil Coerper, Councilwoman Debbie Cook, Fire Captain Eric Engberg,

Police Officer Rick Flynn, Assistant Supt. Kathy Kessler, trustee

Bill Wallace, Principal Cox’s father Russ Cox and many parent

volunteers.

“With all the parent volunteers, it helps to show that reading is

important and it can be fun, it’s not just for school,” said Viveca

Pirtle, the program coordinator.

This week’s program will also conclude Dwyer students’

participation in “Reading is Fundamental’s Read With Me: The 2003 RIF

Community Reading Challenge.” For the past two weeks, students have

been keeping track of the books they read, meeting time goals and

earning bonus points by completing various activities. In addition to

competing for top prizes for national winners such as a trip to

Washington, D.C., top classes within the school will be taken on a

class outing to nearby Lake Park in Huntington Beach for an

afternoon.

Students get a glimpse of college life

Golden West College held its annual College Preview Day on

Wednesday, designed to introduce high school students to career

programs and services offered at the college.

Fun and educational activities were planned for the day such as

campus tours, college and career information, multimedia

presentations, an introduction to clubs and student activities, as

well as food and t-shirt giveaways.

Opportunities at the college include more than 50 high technology

and vocational programs recognized nationally in addition to a

variety of majors and classes that can be used toward an associate’s

degree or transferred toward a bachelor’s degree.

The college was the first community college in Orange County to

offer 16-week fall and spring semesters, preparing students for

advanced studies at four-year colleges.

At $11 a unit, enrollment fees are among the lowest of any college

system in California.

Pegasus science fair tests students’ skills

The Pegasus School in Huntington Beach held its Middle School

Science Fair on Feb. 25 and 26.

The first-place winner was eighth-grader Carissa Cummings for her

project titled, “Color Fast or Color Slow. Which Color is Best in

Show?”

“The purpose of this experiment was to see if products we use in

our everyday life (such as traffic signals, car tail lights, and

emergency vehicles) could be improved if the color were changed,”

Carissa wrote on her project.

She confirmed her hypothesis that some colors have faster reaction

times than others.

The Middle School Science Fair and Invent Pegasus Projects filled

the Laura S. Hathaway Activities Center to capacity. Sixth through

eighth-grade students presented their work to judges. Projects were

scored for complexity, creativity and presentation.

The first through fourth-place winners from each grade will

compete at the Orange County Science Fair.

Pegasus student places ninth at bee

Kevin Chambers placed ninth out of 155 contestants in the 2003

Orange County Department of Education’s Oral Spelling Bee. Kevin is

an eighth-grade student and has been named a “Super Speller” at The

Pegasus School in Huntington Beach.