Happy Holidays!
We would like to wish everyone in the Natomas Community the happiest of holiday seasons.  In particular, we thank our many supporters such as OPUS, The River Cats and Pardee Homes.  We are also most thankful for the support of the Natomas School District.  We truly thank the district for their collaboration to enable us to perform community outreach, opportunities for educational innovation and continued enrichment of Natomas students. 

District-Wide Parent Symposium
The Natomas Schools Foundation co-sponsored the first annual District-Wide Parent Symposium with the Natomas School District.  This event evolved through the ongoing PTA Forums that are held with the involvement of all PTA and PTO organizations from all schools, both district and charter, within Natomas.  The purpose of this event was to unite parents as they seek more knowledge about fostering educational success for their children from Cradle to Career.  Over 500 parents came to take advantage of these classes and resources to make them better equipped to guide their children along their path.

As parents arrived, there were 30 different tables in the Inderkum High School Atrium hosted by local PTAs and PTOs, Girl and Boy Scouts, local dentists and doctors, with free food provided by local businesses like Straw Hat Pizza and Dinners My Way.  There was an hour before the classes began so parents could peruse the tables, enjoy a bite and meet each other.
After an hour, everyone was called into the gym where Ruthie Bolton, an Olympic Gold Medalist and former Sacramento Monarch gave a motivational speech.  Then everyone broke out into the classes of their choice.  There were twenty different classes available for parents with subjects ranging from Working With Preschoolers to Dealing With Autism to How To Talk To Your Child’s Teachers.  These classes were led by teachers, counselors, doctors and other experts in their field.  There were three 20 minute sessions, so each parent was given the opportunity to attend three different classes.
Due to the success of this event, we are already planning for next year.  The Symposium will be held in early October 2009 and, by popular demand, we are changing the format to allow parents to attend even MORE classes that evening.

You Can Help
If your business is interested in supporting the students of Natomas through a donation, please contact Lisa Rojas at lrojas@natomasfoundation.org. 

These are tough times for everyone, but we want our children to continue to benefit from the work that we do.  So please remember that donations of time and talent are welcomed as well!  We invite you to join us in transforming the community of Natomas into a premiere locale for educational excellence and innovation.  For more information about our Foundation and the work that we do, please visit our website!

Natomas Schools Foundation
1500 West El Camino Avenue #329
Sacramento, CA  95833
www.natomasfoundation.org

We Brought Music Back!
Natomas families gathered together on the last sunny Sunday of September to mark the official kick-off of our "Bring Music Back" program. Before the show, children were invited to an "Instrument Petting Zoo" where musicians from the Camellia Symphony Orchestra helped them explore different instruments. It was a magical experience for everyone...just look at the pictures above! Once seated inside the Natomas High School theater, the symphony performed beautiful works from Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" and Prokofiev's "Peter and The Wolf" acted out with wonderfully expressive puppets. Children were dancing in the aisles!
The Natomas Schools Foundation is committed to this project for so many reasons. Research studies have shown that music in education improves school attendance, self-esteem, self-discipline, early cognitive development, creativity and spatial reasoning skills. In addition, students who play an instrument have also demonstrated accelerated math and reading abilities, higher SAT scores, and builds overall brainpower. As if these weren't reasons enough, studies go further to show that students involved in music are less likely to be involved in gangs, drugs or use of alcohol. Moreover, children ENJOY it!

Integra Telecom

Integra Telecom donated a whole host of school supplies to the Foundation.  Goodie bags were filled with construction paper, calculators, pencils, markers…everything a student would need.  American Lakes was the lucky school to receive this round of supplies and we would all like to extend a big THANK YOU to Integra!

You Can Help

If your business is interested in supporting the students of Natomas through a donation of much-needed school supplies, please contact Lisa Rojas at lrojas@natomasfoundation.org. 

Remember, donations of time and talent are welcomed as well!  We invite you to join us in transforming the community of Natomas into a premiere locale for educational excellence and innovation.  For more information about our Foundation and the work that we do, please visit our website!

Natomas Schools Foundation
1500 West El Camino Avenue #329
Sacramento, CA  95833
www.natomasfoundation.org

Annual Meeting
The Natomas Schools Foundation held its annual meeting on August 28th at the Natomas Unified School District offices.  Greg Pruitt, from the Hip Hop Congress and Urban Arts League, came to report the successful roll-out of the after school tutoring program he sponsors at Natomas High School.

In addition, our President, Monty Maxwell, spoke about our accomplishments and goals for the coming year. 

We are wrapping up September with a free performance on the 28th by the Camellia City Orchestra.  This event marks the kick-off to our “Bring Music Back” program.  The Natomas Schools Foundation is purchasing recorders for Natomas third graders to re-introduce music back into our elementary school classrooms.

We are very focused on finding new programs to develop and support to reach out to Natomas students. 

Two Rivers Clean-Up Day
On September 6th the Natomas Schools Foundation sponsored a community clean-up day at Two Rivers Elementary.  Teachers, students and community residents came out to lend a hand a do a little maintenance and beautification around the campus.

Proud helpers were given custom t-shirts designed and made by our own Natomas High School students with their new equipment on campus!  They have started their own student-run business and can make t-shirts for YOUR organization as well!  For more information, contact the Nighthawk Nation at (916)641-4960, extension 2209 or e-mail ckuhlman@natomas.k12.ca.us.
Celebrate Natomas
The Natomas Schools Foundation came out to Celebrate Natomas with the rest of the community at large.  We created a lot of excitement about our volunteer opportunities for student mentors and after school programs.  In addition, we held a raffle for a brand-new Wii gaming system donated by Best Buy.  The lucky winner was Stacy Gould.  Congratulations, Stacy! 

You Can Help
There are so many opportunities to help and support Natomas students!  Just this month, Sam’s Club presented the Foundation with their annual donation of $1,000!  Thank you!

Remember, donations of time and talent are welcomed as well!  We invite you to join us in transforming the community of Natomas into a premiere locale for educational excellence and innovation.  For more information about our Foundation and the work that we do, please visit our website!

Natomas Schools Foundation
1500 West El Camino Avenue #329
Sacramento, CA  95833
www.natomasfoundation.org

After School Program Kicks Off At Natomas High School
On August 21st, the Natomas Schools Foundation celebrated the grand opening of the new “Fong Library Media and Resource Center” and the kick-off of a new after school program, everyday of the week.  Thanks to tutors provided by “The Foundation of Urban Arts League – Hip Hop Congress” and “No Youth Left Behind of America Group”, there will be a full afternoon of homework, study, arts, mural painting, music, poetry and writing workshops, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Homework and study time begins at 3:00 and the fun and creativity continues from 4:00 to 6:00 once the student’s homework is complete.

This highly anticipated program comes at a perfect time for Natomas students.  Last spring, during preliminary sign-ups, we had 143 students express their interest and we look forward to seeing that many become regular attendees.  This type of program helps students feel more comfortable about learning, encourages them to raise their grades and gives them more self-confidence.  We are thrilled to be able to help the committee with this program!

Free Family Concert Series
Join us for this fun family outing with a live concert performance by the Camellia City Orchestra!  This concert is designed to introduce people of all ages to the world of classical music.  For the kids, there will be an “Instrument Petting Zoo” before the performance that gives kids the opportunity to get some hands-on time with these orchestral instruments.  There will also be puppeteers to entertain throughout the day.

This event also marks the kick-off to our “Bring Music Back” program!  The Natomas Schools Foundation is purchasing recorders for Natomas third graders to re-introduce music back into our elementary school classrooms. 

Mentors Always Needed
Not only is the HOSTS program rewarding and enriching for our students, it is also a VERY fulfilling experience for the volunteer mentors who work with these students.  If you can spare just an hour a week at a Natomas school of your choice, you will make an enormous impact on the life of a student and bring joy into your own heart as well.  No teaching experience is required and the lesson plans are all mapped out for you.  To sign up, just visit our website and download the Mentor Sign-Up Form.  You’ll be SO glad you did! 

You Can Help
There are so many opportunities to help and support our growing Natomas students!  We invite you to join us in transforming the community of Natomas into a premiere locale for educational excellence and innovation.  For more information about our Foundation and the work that we do, please visit our website!

Natomas Schools Foundation
1500 West El Camino Avenue #329
Sacramento, CA  95833
www.natomasfoundation.org

SUSHI FEST FUNDRAISER AT OSHIMA SUSHI
What a wonderful evening we had at our fundraiser held at Oshima Sushi! Oshima Sushi did a great job bringing the event together in high style.  The food was amazing, the music rocked and their newly expanded bar area, called the Fugu Lounge, was very swank.  What a fabulous nighttime destination this is for Natomas! 

We raised funds for many important programs for our Natomas students such as Every 15 Minutes, Bring Music Back, a District Wide Science Fair and Donate 2 Educate.  Thanks to all of you who gave your support and especially to our sponsors:

MORE FUNDRAISERS AND COMMUNITY EVENTS
We have some big events planned in the Natomas community over the next few months!  A fundraiser at Tuk Tuk Restaurant, hosted by the Natomas Journal, is coming up on September 5th.  This promises to be an exciting event featuring great food AND a fashion show, so stay tuned for more details!  We also have a big surprise for the Natomas Community Festival on September 20th.  Through our partnership with Best Buy we will hold a raffle to win one of the newest crazes in gaming technology…we’re keeping it a secret until September!  We’re wrapping up September with a FREE concert at Natomas High School provided by the Camellia City Orchestra on the 28th. This concert kicks off our Bring Music Back program to get music back into the elementary schools!

DONATE TO EDUCATE
We have some new donation requests for local Natomas students and programs on our website.  Take a moment to visit our website, read through the proposals and choose the projects and causes that mean the most to YOU to donate to!  If you don’t see a specific program you’d like to sponsor, you can also make an open donation to the Natomas Schools Foundation itself and rest assured that your monies will be put to good use by funding the many programs we sponsor for Natomas students.

AUGUST MEANS “BACK TO SCHOOL”
Natomas students head back to the classroom this month!  That means that our HOSTS program will be in full swing and students will be chosen to participate.  Not only is the HOSTS program rewarding and enriching for our students, it is also a VERY fulfilling experience for the volunteer mentors who work with these students.  If you can spare just an hour a week at the Natomas school of your choice, you will make an enormous impact on the life of a student and bring joy into your own heart as well.  No teaching experience is required and the lesson plans are all mapped out for you.  To sign up, just visit  our website and download the Mentor Sign Up Form.  You’ll be SO glad you did! 

YOU CAN HELP
There are so many opportunities to help and support our growing Natomas students!  We invite you to join us in transforming the community of Natomas into a premiere locale for educational excellence and innovation.  For more information about our Foundation and the work that we do, please visit our website!

Natomas Schools Foundation
1500 West El Camino Avenue #329
Sacramento, CA  95833
www.natomasfoundation.org

HOSTS MENTOR BARBECUE A HUGE SUCCESS!
The Natomas Unified School District joined with the Natomas Schools Foundation and said “THANKS!” to its HOSTS mentors in a big way!  On May 29th, we held our second annual Mentor Appreciation BBQ. The good food, great folks, nice weather and an infectious sense of camaraderie made this an event to remember.  With mouths watering at the smell of grilled chicken wafting through the air, thanks to District Superintendent Dr. Steve Farrar and Assistant Superintendent John Christ, the stories started to circulate.
Through the HOSTS Program, lives are changed forever for both students and mentors.  We are doing more than just mentoring kids…we are building a sense of caring and sharing while building a more cohesive school district and a more cohesive community.
In attendance were school district personnel, HOSTS Coordinators, the Natomas Schools Foundation, Mayor Heather Fargo, local business supporters, teachers, students, mentors and their families.  Mentors and Coordinators were honored with personal thanks, gifts and special certificates.  What a great opportunity for all to celebrate the results of this program!

DISTRICT-WIDE SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR
The Sacramento River Cats has given our foundation a grant to fund this event and to purchase new science equipment for our students to explore with. This Science and Engineering Fair is being held to foster a spirit of innovation among students and educators and will hope to include a Science Olympiad program. We will be including grades 6-12, which includes all middle schools, high schools and our two secondary Charter schools. Students draw from established information to discover something exciting and new, and to identify and choose the tools that they need to conduct and finish their project. The science fair process yields mature, self-confident, skilled, and competitive young leaders who have career goals and the preparation, discipline, and drive to attain them. Every school can motivate students to apply creativity and critical thought to the solution of scientific, engineering and mathematical problems. They can encourage the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and career information and foster school community cooperation, and have fun doing it.  

BRINGING MUSIC BACK
This is a new program where the foundation is providing standards-based, flute-like recorders to all 3rd grade students in every elementary school in our district. This will help students learn how to read music and inspire them to try a musical instrument in 4th and 5th grades, which the foundation hopes to provide. We also want to help finance our current music programs, with instrument repairs, new instruments, and music books. We are kicking off this program on September 28th, 2008, with a FREE full symphony concert, from the Camellia Symphony Orchestra, at Natomas High School. We will be encouraging all parents from our schools to attend this very special concert, and Musical Petting Zoo where students will get a hands-on introduction to a variety of musical instruments.

DONATE TO EDUCATE
Our new donation program is an easy, simple, and direct way to help our schools, teachers, and students. You donate directly to our CLASSROOMS, through our web site.  This is so easy, because all you do is visit web site at www.natomasfoundation.org and click on DONATE TO EDUCATE. Take a few minutes to read and review the letters from our schools. These are written requests directly from our classrooms, schools, clubs, and school organizations. Small or large, we post them on our web site for the community to be able reach out and give a helping hand to these requests, needs, and wish list items. There will be a variety of needs and you pick those that appeal to you. These items will help enrich our students’ classrooms. We all know with budget cuts and the lack of funds our schools are losing their resources. This was one of our ways to help connect YOU to our schools, and help our students become the best they can be in our community.  This is EASY, SIMPLE and DIRECT!

YOU CAN HELP
There are so many opportunities to help and support our growing Natomas students!  We invite you to join us in transforming the community of Natomas into a premiere locale for educational excellence and innovation.  For more information about our Foundation and the work that we do, please visit our website!

Natomas Schools Foundation
1500 West El Camino Avenue #329
Sacramento, CA  95833
www.natomasfoundation.org

SCHOOL’S OUT
School may be out in a few short weeks, but our work doesn’t stop when the last bell rings!  The Natomas Schools Foundation looks forward to a busy summer season organizing events, enrichment programs and fundraisers.  We are very excited about the programs we are developing for the 2008-2009 school year.  These programs include “Donate 2 Educate” that allows district teachers to request donations for specific classroom projects; “Bring Music Back” that will kick off with a live symphony performance to help introduce music back to our elementary school students; “Hoop-It-Up For Education”, a fun-filled basketball fundraiser; a district-wide Science Fair; and, of course, the HOSTS Learning Program.

EVERY 15 MINUTES
In addition, at the May 14th Natomas Unified School District board meeting, we announced that the Natomas Schools Foundation would be sponsoring the “Every 15 Minutes” program at our local high schools.  This emotionally charged program is an event designed to dramatically instill teenagers with the potentially dangerous consequences of drinking, driving and alcohol-related accidents.  In the past, Inderkum and Natomas High Schools have had to heavily fundraise to pay the $20,000 program fee, so this takes a big burden off the high schools and provides an even BIGGER benefit to our students!

HOSTS LEARNING PROGRAM
The HOSTS Learning Program continues to grow and touch the lives of students and community members alike.  Their one-on-one support of the students makes this program the success that it has become. As they wrap up the school year, several of our HOSTS Coordinators wanted to recognize the mentors who are the cornerstone of this program.

TWO RIVERS ELEMENTARY
HOSTS Coordinator - Ann Bruce
Two Rivers is proud to recognize two senior citizens who have been faithful HOSTS mentors this year. Mr. Paul Clark is a retired engineer who has lived in the Middle East and Europe.  He loves giving back to the community and says,   “Anytime you help kids learn, it’s rewarding.”   Clark mentors two mornings a week and seems to enjoy being around the third and fourth grade students he helps. 
Ms. Jean Findlay is a retired electrologist who enjoys tennis, music and mentoring at Two Rivers.  In her second year of mentoring, Jean came to Two Rivers because of the school’s response to her grandson.  She wanted to give back to the school community and she serves faithfully every week. 

NATOMAS MIDDLE SCHOOL
HOSTS Coordinator – Susan Pokorny
There are more than 90 Natomas Middle School students who are served by the HOSTS program and these kids KNOW their mentors are dedicated, caring people.  They work with over 40 adult and student mentors each week to sharpen their reading and math skills, but along the way, they are also influenced by the strong character of these volunteers.

Several adult mentors have volunteered for two years in the Natomas Middle School HOSTS program.  Their efforts were recently acknowledged when Natomas Middle School received the HOSTS Mentoring and Intervention Best Practices Exemplary Program Award for 2006-2007.

These outstanding role models include pastors, retired teachers, NMS parents, software developers, small business owners, city employees, counselors and principals, a foster grandparent, a high school senior, and many eighth grade graduates of the HOSTS program.  Together they rejoice in the amazing results of the HOSTS program—improved reading and math skills, higher STAR scores, improved attendance, and better grades.  More than anything, however, increased self-esteem results when caring mentors give their time to improve the lives of HOSTS students.

DISCOVERY HIGH SCHOOL
HOSTS Coordinator – Marco Farias
Discovery High School HOSTS mentor, Darryl McGuire is a marketing and advertising executive and a BoardMember of the Sacramento Opera.  He has this to say about the program:
“Joining the HOSTS Program at Discovery High School was the perfect solution I had been seeking in order to help young folks succeed in life.  Not only have I been able to bond with a couple of fine young people that I ordinarily would not have met, but I have had the great satisfaction of their sharing their own hopes and dreams for the future with me.  I enthusiastically recommend the program. I plan to continue to participate for years to come.”

YOU CAN HELP
There are so many opportunities to help and support our growing Natomas students!  For more information about our Foundation and the work that we do, please visit our website!

Natomas Schools Foundation
1500 West El Camino Avenue #329
Sacramento, CA  95833
www.natomasfoundation.org