News
Mar Vista Students Raise Funds for Paradise Elementary
The students at Mar Vista Elementary School recently held a special Winter Benefit Concert to raise funds to help the children and families of Paradise Elementary School, which burned to the ground in 2018 during the devastating Camp fire.
Students in grades TK (Transitional Kindergarten) through 4th performed a wide range of songs, starting with It’s a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong and finishing up with I’ll be There by Bruno Mars. The first of two performances was held on a Thursday morning at 8:30 AM, but the hall was packed with parents excited to see their kids perform.
Students from the 5th and 6th grades ran the coffee and bake sale, which was the fundraising portion of the event. They had an ambitious goal of raising $4,000-$5,000 for the victims of the fire. The students of Mar Vista Elementary School ask you to please donate to the Camp Fire Relief Fund!
Schools is all about learning, and by putting on this benefit concert, the students have learned a very important lesson. They’ve learned that we’re all in this together, and that when people need help it’s important to step up and lend a hand to those in need.
Mar Vista Elementary Winter Benefit Concert Video
Mar Vista Elementary Winter Benefit Concert Photo Gallery
The school also put together a video showing how the idea of this special benefit concert came about, and can be seen below:
Take this Survey on Medicine Storage and Disposal
SafeRx Santa Cruz County and Community Prevention Partners (CPP) request that you please take this 2-3 minute survey about Medicine Storage and Disposal. In addition to other focus areas of SafeRx and CPP, this survey is designed to increase community attention to personal medication storage disposal.
In the 2016-2017 Seven Challenges Survey, 45% of Santa Cruz County youth reported getting prescription medicine not prescribed to them from friends, and 33% from home without parental knowledge.
To bring awareness to this issue, collect data, and to prevent youth and adult access to medicines not prescribed to them, SafeRx Santa Cruz County and CPP are conducting a three week long, county-wide survey. This survey invites parents, friends, and family members to learn more about safe medicine storage and disposal best practices, and reduce youth and adult access to medicines not prescribed to them.
Looking for a Home in Aptos?
Every home in Aptos is unique, and finding just the right home can be like finding that needle in a haystack. Fortunately, now there's SantaCruz.RealEstate, featuring the best search engine for Aptos homes and real estate available online today!
Survey Details
The survey link is available through February 19th. The survey is anonymous. All materials are in Spanish and English. People taking the survey will receive information on medicine (and substance) storage; a list of disposal locations; and links to more in-depth information on substance misuse and resources for those who may want additional information but don’t seek help because of the stigma around substance misuse.
Thank you, in advance, for taking the time to complete an individual survey. To help ensure a wide response in our community, please consider forwarding this message to any Santa Cruz County resident.
Read a good book lately?
If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! It's an easy read (just 110 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!
OK Send me a Copy!
Poll Predicts Higher Aptos Real Estate Prices in 2019
A poll was recently conducted on the neighborhood web site NextDoor, asking Aptos residents what they thought would happen to Aptos home prices in 2019. After a month, 42 responses to the survey were recorded. The results might surprise you: the NextDoor poll predicts higher real estate prices.
Of course, in no way should this poll be considered to be scientific. Online polls are notorious, in fact, for being unreliable. But given the fact that there appears to have been no
“poll-stuffing” with this particular poll, it may be a good barometer of sentiment among the Aptos community for home prices in 2019.
The Poll, open to all NextDoor users in zip code 95003, asked this question:
While California as a whole is expected to see lower home prices in 2019 compared to 2018, how do you think home prices in Aptos will change?
The #1 answer given, by 35% of respondents, was that Aptos real estate prices were expected to rise 2-5%. The second most popular response, given by 16% of survey participants, was that home prices would be lower by 2-5%.
The full survey responses are here:
- Flat – No Change in Home Prices: 14%
- Down 0-1%: 0%
- Down 2-5%: 16%
- Down 5-10%: 9%
- Down more than 10%: 4%
- Up 0-1%: 4%
- Up 2-5%: 35%
- Up 5-10%: 9%
- Up more than 10%: 4%
Overall it seems that the Aptos community feels confident that the real estate market will remain stable with gradual appreciation for the rest of 2019, with only 29% of respondents predicting that Aptos real estate and home prices will decrease even a small amount.
Read a good book lately?
If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! It's an easy read (just 110 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!
OK Send me a Copy!
Little League Night with the Pros
Join the good folks from Aptos Little League for an informative, fun questions-and-answers session with professional baseball players:
Mitch Haniger, Seattle Mariners, 2018 Major League All-Star
Clayton Andrews, Milwaukee Brewers
Bryson Brigman, Florida Marlins
Shane Carle, Atlanta Braves
Robbie Erlin, San Diego Padres
Dan Runzler, San Francisco Giants
Eric Thames, Milwaukee Brewers
Chris Viall, New York Mets
There will also be a Silent Auction benefit for District 39 Little League.
Read a good book lately?
If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! It's an easy read (just 110 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!
OK Send me a Copy!
Our Community Reads in 2019
A book is chosen by a committee and recommended as a community read. Last year’s themes were based around the book “Born a Crime”, by Trevor Noah which highlighted the issues of racism and “otherness” as they affect members of society. This year’s book choice, “The Death & Life of Monterey Bay: A Story of Revival” focuses on the tumultuous story from the bay’s disastrous past of over-fishing and pollution to becoming the most prized natural resource it is today.
Read a good book lately?
If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! It's an easy read (just 110 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!
OK Send me a Copy!
The Friends of the Aptos Library offers a vast array of events to the public to bring these themes to light and allows people to gather together for discussion and community engagement. This year’s offerings consist of 3 films (each presented by an expert in a field relating to the film’s topic) several speakers, a panel discussion, a conversation with the book’s two authors, a poetry slam/art event hosted by Aptos High & Delta School, and some outings to explore the Elkhorn Slough. All but two of these events are free, and all are open to the public.
Not only do we project that readers will learn a great deal about the Monterey Bay through this extensive program and gain an appreciation for the bay’s turbulent past, but participants will gain access to what they can do to secure the healthy future of our most precious natural resource.
Looking for a Home in Aptos?
Every home in Aptos is unique, and finding just the right home can be like finding that needle in a haystack. Fortunately, now there's SantaCruz.RealEstate, featuring the best search engine for Aptos homes and real estate available online today!
A major goal of Our Community Reads is to foster awareness, highlight literacy, and create a passion for engagement and activism. We believe that a well-informed and involved community is a healthy one!
To reach underserved communities, the Friends of the Aptos Library, through a California Humanities grant, will be purchasing Spanish-language educational materials relating to the ocean and conservation and environmental issues. They will be donated to the county library Book Mobile and taken along with volunteers who can facilitate learning to these grade school aged children.
Our Community Reads 2019 Events
- Lunch with Steinbeck @ Aptos St. BBQ (March 14, 2019)
- Elkhorn Slough Boat Safari (March 10, 2019)
- Art and Poetry at Aptos High School (March 7, 2019)
- Docent-led Walk at Elkhorn Slough (March 2, 2019)
- Film Series ~ Of the Sea (February 27, 2019)
- Authors Talk Monterey Bay (February 21, 2019)
- Trivia Night with Zach Friend (February 19, 2019)
- The Return of Elkhorn Slough (February 12, 2019)
- Save Our Shores Beach Clean-up at Rio Del Mar Beach (February 9, 2019)
- Sustainable Oceans: Coral Reef Management in the Western Pacific (February 7, 2019)
- La Selva Beach Library Film Night (February 6, 2019)
- Panel Discussion ~ Monterey Bay: Today’s Heroes (January 30, 2019)
- The Death & Life of Monterey Bay: A Story of Revival (January 26, 2019)
- Film Series ~ Saving Otter 501 (January 22, 2019)
Film Series ~ Saving Otter 501
Presented by Michelle Staedler, Otter Expert at the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA). The film follows the 501st otter pup to be rescued by the aquarium from the time she is found stranded on a beach through her rehabilitation and release into the wild. Learn about MBA’s otter rescue program and why otters are such an important species for Monterey Bay. Popcorn provided. Show your library card and get a free cookie!
The film will be shown at Monschke Hall, Room 7100 at Twin Lakes Church.
Counterculture, Capitalism, and the Grateful Dead
The newest exhibit featuring the Grateful Dead Archive explores how the band pioneered new ways of thinking about work, about being in business, and about the relationship between creators and their communities. Called Put Your Gold Money Where Your Love Is, Baby: Counterculture, Capitalism, and the Grateful Dead, the exhibit features documents, photographs, recordings, merchandise, and media clippings from newly processed business records of the band. Come and explore how the band’s DIY approach to being working artists helped to redefine business practices in the 20th century.
On view through December 20, 2019.
Open to the public during all normal McHenry Library hours.
Professional Development Courses at Cabrillo
Read a good book lately?
If you have some room on your reading list, I invite you to read my book Get It Sold! It's an easy read (just 110 pages!) and it tells you everything you need to know about selling your home quickly, easily, and at absolute peak pricing. I'll send it to you for free - no shipping charge either!
OK Send me a Copy!
Jennifer Mount has chosen to bring her global expertise to our local community. She is a mother and community member, raising her family in Felton. Jennifer has over 15 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, 3M, and Amgen, non-profit organizations, start-ups and entrepreneurs both globally and locally to enhance their business and professional performance. She has a B.A. from Providence College, M.B.A from the University of San Francisco, and a Coaching Certification.
Santa Cruz County now has the benefit of receiving this elite education for a very low cost through Cabrillo College Extension. Please join Jennifer and Cabrillo College in creating a win-win solution for educating our community with the best in leadership and professional development! Courses fill up fast so do not hesitate to register. You may register for Jennifer’s and other compelling courses at http://www.cabrillo.edu/services/extension/prof_dev.html
Looking for a Home in Aptos?
Every home in Aptos is unique, and finding just the right home can be like finding that needle in a haystack. Fortunately, now there's SantaCruz.RealEstate, featuring the best search engine for Aptos homes and real estate available online today!
Sushi Classes with Teen Kitchen Project
Led by Chef Sean and Miyki. Chef Sean has been doing kids classes with TKP for over a year. Sean is trained through Cabrillo College Culinary Program and also works in our commercial kitchens preparing meals for our clients. Kids love Sean’s fun-loving spirit. Chef Miyki joined our team in August! She is a local chef who has worked at the Kitchen at Discretion, Suda, and other tasty establishments. She enjoys sharing cooking classes with her 7 year old daughter, who is sometimes our trusty assistant. Other adults include Dan Hoppenfeld, former head of Santa Cruz Children’s School, who enjoys working with kids during his retirement from teaching. All adults in our program have a full background check before working at any of our facilities. Our kitchens are all insured.
What To Expect:
You will work with other students in groups of 2-4
Classes are limited to 10 students
You will be standing, cooking and working for most of the class
Please wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes and have long hair tied back
You will enjoy eating what you prepare