Dear CSDR family,
This month, I have decided to highlight a student from each of our instructional departments throughout the CSDR campus. As you read these short stories, I hope that they will once again remind you of why you have chosen to be a part of the CSDR family. Remember that the work you do each day impacts the lives of our students and will make a difference in their lives forever!
Early Childhood Education: Janae Mixon is a Kindergarten student who has it all together. She practices the six pillars of Character Counts on a daily basis. She shows responsibility by completing her homework and brings it back to school everyday. She is a student who can be trusted to follow directions and school rules. Janae is respectful of all staff and peers and she shows this in her caring way of helping others. She loves to play the “How Tall am I” game and she is good about taking turns and being fair to all players. Janae is an all around good citizen and she is a pleasure to have in the classroom.
Elementary: Edgar Estrada is a 10 year old boy who is a 4th grade student in Room 204. He is a very good student who has excellent attendance, completes all of his classroom assignments, helps others who need assistance with their assignments after he is done, is a cooperative learner, and consistently completes his homework on a weekly basis. He has earned Cub Honor awards for academic success in his class this year. He is a very hard worker who tries his best to do well in school. Edgar is also the recipient of the Character Counts awards for his class. He is kind and helpful to other students and to his classroom teacher. He gets along well with other staff here at school as well. He is well liked and has many friends in the Elementary Department. He cooperates well with other children, teachers, and the dorm counselors at lunch time, during recess periods, and at the bus areas. He is a very dependable boy that you can count on to do the right thing. He knows how to ask for help with difficult situations that he isn’t sure how to handle. He is an all around great kid!
Middle School: Jessica Avila entered the middle school as a quiet young lady who had challenges with reading, but had the desire to keep trying. Over the past two years, she has blossomed and is out-going and motivated to improve her skills. Now, she is at the top in her class and ready to move into our Academic program for 8th grade! Three cheers for Jessica and kudos for all of her teachers she’s had up until now!
High School: Brianna Matthews is currently a senior student. She has grown tremendously over the past few years. This year, she has demonstrated good leadership skills and strong work ethics. Brianna is involved in a variety of curricular activities and has maintained a high GPA. She works in the HS office everyday during her 5th period. Both the principal and secretary can depend on her to do her office duties and complete them in a very professional way.
Career and Technology Education: Congratulations to the two candidates that have been selected for RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) this year. The two students selected are Melinda Murphy and Nathan Yoo. They will go to the RYLA event next month. This is a wonderful honor for these students! They are both very good students and demonstrate strong leadership skills.
Special Needs: This month SN is highlighting a Special Needs High School student named Gustavo Garcia. Gustavo works at a workshop in Corona called Ability Counts. The students there are encouraged to talk to their Ability Counts supervisor and not to rely on the teacher or aide for help. This has been difficult for Gustavo. Recently, however, Gustavo felt confident enough to go up to his Ability Counts supervisor and inform the supervisor what was happening with his peers and ask for assistance. He did this without the teacher’s help. This is a big accomplishment for Gustavo. Hurray for Gustavo.
Physical Education: This month Amanda Conde has been selected as the Physical Education student of the month. Amanda is currently in the 6th grade and participates in Adapted Physical Education on a daily basis. Amanda changes into her P.E. uniform every day and she never complains if the weather is cold or wet. She just “dresses out!” Amanda had a very difficult back surgery over a year ago and regardless of her limitations, she attempts every activity. When her class was practicing roller skating, she was nervous but she didn’t give up and practiced skating with her peers. Amanda is very patient with her classmates. Whenever any one of them is having a difficult time, Amanda will jump right in and help that student; whether it is understanding a concept, filling out a paper, performing a skill, giving praise, or even tying a shoe, Amanda is always willing to help out her peers. Amanda sets goals for herself and tries to meet those goals. A perfect example is maintaining a push up position – Amanda had a very difficult time in the fall holding this position but every day in class she tries to maintain the position a little bit longer. She has increased her ability to do this skill by over a minute! Congratulations Amanda – CSDR PE is lucky to have such a dedicated CSDR Cub in their program!
Curriculum: Brittany and Nicole Castle have graciously offered to help the departments of Curriculum, Educational Support, and Library for their daily work experience under the supervision of Erika Thompson. The twins have done an amazing job on all of their projects with the writing binder folders, shelving books, polishing up the website/ web blog content, and sorting through student work posters for teachers’ loan.
Athletic Department: Riverside’s Jessica Ensign is always involved in some kind of sports! She played varsity volleyball in the fall, and then she went right into basketball and right into softball and track. She has kept herself very busy throughout the school year, keeping out of trouble and playing sports. She is playing with her team because she loves the girls and the coaches. She loves her school and she loves the community. Besides the four sports she participates in, Jessica, a senior, maintains a 3.43 GPA. She strives to be successful in every sport. The coaches can see how dedicated and committed she can be for the team. She sets herself as an example for others to follow. We know that Jessica is the kind of player that will come back and say, “I was on that team,” or “I remember that game, I was there.” Jessica, on behalf of the CSDR Athletic Department, thank you for everything you do for RIVERSIDE!
Closing Comments: I hope that these stories have given you a bird’s eye view into the heart of CSDR. The greatest gift is watching our students succeed. For some students, success means earning a perfect score on a test. For others, it means making a small step towards an IEP goal. Let’s all remember to try to catch our students doing something good, and let them know we’re proud of them! A little praise can make a big difference for many of our Cubbies! In closing, thank you to everyone for the tremendous job that you do each day here at CSDR! Keep up the great work!
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Alyce Berard
Director of Instruction
