A Pie in the Face for Jog-A-Thon

As a reward for meeting the goals of the fund raiser, students enjoy watching Marcus Lam, Principal, and Clinton Puckett, Vice Principal, get a pie in the face. The students actually exceeded their goal of $25,000. Make sure you watch the video all the way to the end as it really gets wild at the end. This video was prepared by the students in Mr. Guernseys 5th grade class.

Welcome Back to School 2012-2013

There are always going to be changes in schools. Some good and some more challenging, but let's see what's happened to those coming back to school this fall. The staff will be happy to see Sonia Wong back from her year long tour. She took a sabbatical to learn more about Asian world. Sonia visited Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea and more.

Taiwan

     
Cathy Hampton is back from her summer "Great Americana"  train trip to see some of the US National Parks. Visiting every national park is on her bucket list.  She went to Tucson, Saguaro National Park; San Antonio, the Alamo; New Orleans; and Monticello, Shenandoah National Park. Shenandoah was her 31st national park to visit.  She also visited Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and in Maine, Acadia National Park. Going on she went to Niagara Falls, Lake Michigan, and in Montana, Glacier National Park.

Liberty Bell

Brooklyn Bridge

These staff members took a short but fabulous vacation.  Here is Maureen Tecson, Vince Lindain, and Letty Munoz-Gonzales snorkeling on their holiday in Bermuda.

Maureen, Vince, Letty

Greg Snelling has returned from his first family backpacking trip in the Eastern Sierras, Inyo National Forest, John Muir Wilderness, enduring mosquito bites and rain, but enjoying the beautiful lakes and valleys.

Greg Snelling and family

Betty Silva is ready to go back to work after returning from her Yosemite trip with her grandson, Michael.  They had a great time enjoying the beauty of the park.

Sukhy Gill spent a wonderful family vacation in India and visited some of India's famous landmarks.

Suhky Gill and family

Dave Trier and Rachel Saucedo Jones both had babies. Dave's wife actually had the baby. Dave's son, Luke, was born on June 27th and Rachel's son, Xavier, was born on Aug. 12th. Congratulations to both of you!

Someone reminded me that AE's 4th grade teacher, Laurie Koehler, got married in Hawaii at the beginning of the summer. How could I forget?  What a lovely bride! Best wishes to you and your new husband.

Now its back to work. School begins on Wednesday August 29th.  The Alvarado Family Potluck is on Monday, the 27th of August. 

Wonder Women -Teacher And Staff 2011

Two remarkable Wonder Women have been honored for their service to staff and students at Alvarado Elementary. Although this award is for 2011, it is their long and diligent service over a period of years that is recognized. Maureen Tecson is the 2011 Teacher of the Year and Betty Silva is the Classified Staff Person of the Year.

Maureen Tecson, a second grade teacher, is a member of the ILT the Instructional Leadership Team. She is a skilled, collaborative, dedicated, hardworking teacher warrior who cares greatly about every one of her students. In this time of great economic need she has provided direction for many teachers on grants and possible financial resources. She also teaches an after school dance class. She has received grants from the New Haven Schools foundation for her dance class and grants from DonorsChoose for her own classroom. At the end of each year she teaches the staff a dance which is performed in front of the entire school. This event is greatly loved by the students. She is also in charge of the Facebook page for the Alvarado Elementary Parent Teachers Club. Maureen epitomizes the term school spirit by uplifting parents, staff, and students. Congratulations Maureen for Teacher of the Year 2011.

Maureen Tecson

Betty Silva has been a part of the Alvarado family for over 20 years. She has been an aide in almost every grade. During the last few years, Betty began working with special needs students including those with autism. She brings her many years of experience and skill to those students who need it most. She is kind, hardworking, and fun loving. When something needs to be done, Miss Silva offers to help. She has provided after school and before school reading intervention classes and homework help for students. Congratulations Betty on this well deserved award.

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The Fun Faces of Betty Silva

Late 1980's

Hector Caraballo retired and Julia Strong (Yoho) became the principal of Alvarado Elementary in 1989. Hector had been a strong principal who basically made most of the decisions. Julia had long experience in education. It was a change for the staff when Julia asked for input. The staff was used to Hector making the decisions without much input. Around 1985 Rhonda Neagle became the media specialist/librarian. Nancy Mumm was a volunteer parent and a noon supervisor. Betty Silva became aide in 1986. At that time there were 4 other aides. They were Diane Angelo, Irene Galvan, Elenore Yip, and Jackie Lomax.

Rhonda Neagle was hired by Hector Caraballo as the media specialist in 1987. According to Rhonda, Roger Hoyer, the technology director at the district office, and Guy decided to move the district in the direction of the dot com revolution and worked hard to make it happen from the mid-1980s on. Part of Rhonda's job was to help them do this. Teachers did not have computers in their room. The school had a few Commodore Pets and a few Apple IIgs in the staff room.

Rhonda recalls, "I first met Stephen Politzer at AE. He was a Curriculum Leader then (I think that's what they were called) and he taught me how to use the Commodore Pets that I had in the media center (two or three of them). He and I also ran the site Technology Team. The software titles that were available for the Macs were few and far between. I do remember Dazzle Draw and all of the MECC stuff though like Oregon Trail. Those were fun times."

Julia Strong-Yoho Principal
Tess Melendez Assistant Principal
1989-1990
Click on the photo to enlarge.