Mono Matters
April 2024
Change is the end result of all true learning. Leo Buscaglia
2024 School Staff of the Year
The Mono County Office of Education is pleased to announce this year's winners of the 2024 Teacher of the Year, Matthew Brock and Classified Employee of the Year, Jose (Pepe) Perez. Congratulations to Matthew Brock and Pepe Perez for the much deserved recognition from their colleagues for being chosen for this year's award. Matthew is a Math teacher at Mammoth High School and also coaches mountain bike teams in the area. Mr. Brock's nomination highlighted his ability to "make real connections with students and provide them with problem solving and financial literacy skills that will help them manage life after highschool, a goal that MHS seeks to unlock in each student's potential." Pepe Perez from Antelope Valley Elementary School in Coleville was selected as the Classified Employee of the Year. Pepe works in maintenance and custodial duties and coaches soccer, the most popular sport on campus. Mr. Perez consistently demonstrates "a positive attitude. Pepe is great with staff and students. He always has a smile on his face, which instantly puts everyone in a good mood. He models hard work and dedication, integrity and reliance." "Pepe is the heart of the community...the gift Pepe's presence brings to ESUSD is essential in maintaining our core values." Mono County winners are eligible to participate in the State award programs, the 2025 Teacher of the Year and the 2024 Classified School Employee of the Year.
Best Practices for Supporting Educators to Address Children’s Behaviors that Challenge Adults.
Universal Prekindergarten Implementation and P-3 Alignment Educational Partners,
The California Department of Education wishes to invite you to register for the next installment of the Opportunities for All Branch Preschool through Third Grade (P-3) webinar series, “Best Practices for Supporting Educators to Address Children’s Behaviors that Challenge Adults.”
As part of our P-3 alignment series, this webinar is intended to support local educational agencies, community-based organizations, and their partners to understand the meaning behind children’s behavior and increase educators’ knowledge of positive behavioral supports to address behaviors that challenge them. Participants will understand that children’s behavior is a form of communication and learn developmentally appropriate strategies to support inclusion of all children. This webinar will emphasize the importance of establishing relationships with students and their peers and discuss how to support all children’s behavior and promote inclusion. Finally, the webinar will elevate the voices of practitioners, who will share best practices they use to support California’s youngest learners from preschool through third grade and avoid exclusionary discipline practices.
Join the webinar here
Tuesday, Apr 30, 2024, 03:30 PM
Do You Know What Zyn Is? Your Students Do!
One of the newest and most popular tobacco products for youth and young adults is a product called Zyn, an odorless, smokeless, vape-less innovation from the tobacco industry. Zyn and other similar products are nicotine pouches that are placed in the mouth, between the lips and gums like chewing tobacco. These products don't require a spittoon and come in many delicious flavors to entice young users! These pouches may be tobacco-free, but they still pack the nicotine punch that is shown to "alter brain development, increase stress, and amplify feelings of depression and anxiety." Click on the picture to the right to read more about this new, harmful fad or read this article from the New York Times. opinion section.
Ideas on Consistent, Impactful Communication with Parents
Do you send weekly emails to parents? Here is a quick guide from Turning the Tide Teachables with some easy tips on how to efficiently and effectively communicate with parents.
Scaffolding for All Students
Often times when we think about using scaffolding in the classroom, we immediately think of our second language learns (ELs, MLs); however, these techniques support all of our students. The benefits of scaffolding are numerous and easy to implement. Research indicates that scaffolding helps students to become more independent learners while providing them with the more individualized supports. Check out these 7 Scaffolding Strategies from the University of San Diego Professional and Continuation Department or click on the picture to the right for more information and other scaffolding ideas.
2024 Spelling Bee Winners
The Mono County Office of Education is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Mono County Spelling Bee. The first place winner of the elementary division was Todd Hall, a fifth grader from Mammoth Elementary. 2nd place went to Gael Medina, a fifth grader from Lee Vining. Dylan Dohm from Antelope Elementary was the first place winner in the junior high competition and Lorali Hampton from Bridgeport Elementary was the 2nd place winner. A special thanks to Jeanne Sassin and her staff for hosting the Bee at the Lee Vining Elementary School; Caroline Sanderson from the Mammoth Lakes Fire Department for being the pronouncer; and Ted Carleton from The Sheet and Stacy Corless for judging. Also many thanks to the team coaches Lisa Bytheway; Rebecca Clayton, Yvette Garcia and Tatum Sandvigen.
Let's Talk Spanish
Just like in English, the Spanish language has many words that sound similar but have very different meanings. For example la cereza and la cerveza. Which one would you choose at happy hour? How about el carro versus caro? El vehículo, el carro, el automovil, and el coche are all ways to say the car. Caro, the opposite of barato means expensive. How about the difference that one letter can make in these examples: el caballo (horse) & el cabello (hair); hola (hello) & ola (wave); honda (deep) & onda (wave). In Spanish the masculinity and femininity of a noun can simply refer to the different sexes or it can change the meaning, for example la puerta (the door) versus el puerto (the port) or el cero (zero) versus la cera (wax). Check out more examples in the picture to the left.