 Elsa Gomez, SVHS Senior. Photo: Rick Bolen. |
Elsa Gomez graduated from Sonoma Valley High School in the year of 2012. She will be attending Colgate University in upstate New York. Colgate University has a 33% acceptance rate, only taking under 2,000 freshmen students out of the 8,000 that apply. She will be double majoring in International Relations and Economics. She looks forward to the great new experience across the country. While she was still at the high school, Elsa would say SVHS "does a really good job of preparing students for the future." She was involved in Mrs Hawing's, the College and Career Center advisor, CAAT program that helped with the college application process. Elsa is very happy she took advantage the many resources available to SVHS students. |
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Layla Shoening is going to be a 7th grader at Altimira this
upcoming school year. She plays
soccer for the club Santa Rosa United when she is not in school. She is really excited to take her
favorite subject science again this year so she can learn more about the world
and do cool experiments. At school, she is hoping to learn Spanish and eventually become fluent. This year she will be taking a Spanish elective rather than the School Garden Project, but she encourages those who have not been involved with the Garden project to do so because it is a great experience working with the plants and is really fun! Her favorite part about the garden project was being able to learn by being in the garden with a hands on experience. |  Layla Schoeing, Altimira Student. Photo: Rick Bolen. |
 Sarah Summers, SVHS Senior. Photo: Rick Bolen. |
Sarah Summers recently graduated from Sonoma Valley High School in the class of 2012. She will be attending University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and will be studying World Arts and Cultures/Dance with a dance concentration. She is possibly going to double major in Macroeconomics as well. She gained a lot from taking AP English and Newspaper with Mrs. Manchester at the high school. She is a high achieving student with a 4.1 GPA and participated in many school sports. Because of Sarah's unique artistic major, she wishes that the high school offered more art courses and programs. "I feel like the high school definitely prepared me for college academics, but as far as music, dance, and art, I had to find other resources outside of school." Even though her high school experience was challenging with academics, she made the best of it and looks forward for what is next to come. |
| Carlos was never excited about school. Like other students, he needed to find a subject or class in school that would ignite his love of learning – that is, until he took the Horticulture class at Altimira Middle School. The School Gardens Project gave him a chance to break from the daily routines of desks, classrooms and chalkboards; he learned by doing. Carlos explains, “The Garden changed how I see the world. It’s hard to grow food. You have to plant the seeds at the right depth, with the right spacing and the right amount of water.” Over his 2 years in Horticulture, Calros helped build the new School Garden at Altimira. The result is a new set of goals for Carlos: “I am doing better in school. I want to go to college, and maybe work on computers.” |  Carlos Ortiz Valencia, Altimira Student. Photo: Rick Bolen. |
 Emily Madrigal, Altimira Student. Photo: Rick Bolen. | Emily didn’t know what to expect when she began her first Horticulture class at Altimira Middle School 2 years ago. She soon found that each day, she and her classmates spent only a short time in the classroom, and then head outdoors to build, dig, grow and learn in the School Garden (for which the SVEF is a key supporter). Emily now considers Horticulture her favorite class. “If it’s a day for being out on the garden, growing things and learning, it’s a good day!" Emily looks forward to the Agriculture Program at Sonoma Valley High School. In fact, she’s learned so much about growing food and taking care of a garden, that her grandmother is now asking her to come over and help in her garden! |
| Citalli was one of the first students in the Sonoma Valley to take part in the brand new Exploratorium Science Project. She didn’t know what to expect, because Science had always been her hardest subject. She often felt she just didn’t understand it. The Exploratorium Science Project – which is designed as a series of inquiries, in which students explore scientific concepts through hands-on projects – helped her understand. Today, Citalli is in Middle School and Science is her favorite class! “It got my grades up, and I am one of the best students in my 6th grade science class. I leaned to work in groups, and that way we help each other and learn from each other.” Right now Citalli has an A- in Science. She says the reason is simple: “In Exploratorium Science, you’re actually doing something, not just reading about it in a book!” |  Citalli Alvez, Altimira Student. Photo: Rick Bolen. |
 Lizbet Ruiz, Altimira Student. Photo: Rick Bolen. | Lizbet has a whole new view on nutrition since she began to take part in the School Garden Project at her middle school. Many students never consider eating vegetables like kale, chard, peppers and beets. But when they plant the seeds, tend to the plants and finally harvest the veggies, everything changes. Thanks to the School Garden Project, Lizbet is now something of a beet expert! “They have to be 4-5 inches apart from each other to grow properly,” she says. “And in the end, they taste great!” She also brings her lessons from the School Garden home to her family. “I ask my parents to buy beets and peppers now because I know all about them.” We see professional cooking in her future! |
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