mar vista elementary

Mar Vista Students Raise Funds for Paradise Elementary

February 22, 2019 by Seb Frey

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:

Marching in the 4th of July Parade

July 5, 2016 by Seb Frey

Marching in the World's Shortest Parade — Marching in the World’s Shortest Parade

The 4th of July has come and gone, and the 55th Anniversary Edition of the World’s Shortest parade is one for the history books. I’ve watched many of these parades roll by over the years, but I’d never actually been in the parade until this year – and many of you never have, either! So I’m sharing with you my experience of marching in the 4th of July parade.

I marched with the crew from Mar Vista Elementary School. We started the morning with the pancake breakfast – I’d never done that, either. It was about what you’d expect from a pancake breakfast, but with notably good orange juice, coffee, and lots of friendly smiling faces – some familiar, many not.

After breakfast, we headed up to the Wells Fargo bank parking lot to join up with the folks marching for Mar Vista. On the way up there, I ran into Steve Bennett who quickly gave me the low-down on the Mar Vista Cheer. One of our contingent – Gigi, who will be in 6th grade this year at Mar Vista, her last year – has quite a set of pipes on her, so she led us in the cheer, I recorded it with my iPhone, check it out:

Video of Mar Vista Marching in the 4th of July Parade

After we marched all the way down the parade route, we headed down to the Party at Aptos Village Park, and checked that out for a bit. Lots of great food, entertainment, and even a petting zoo for the kids.

It turns out that marching in the parade is a lot like watching the parade from the sidelines, except of course you don’t get to see much of the parade itself. But the experience is similar – it’s all about connecting with the community and being part of the whole. I expect I’ll be marching in the parade in the future, but next year, I think I’ll do something else I’ve never done before – set my chair out the day before in a prime spot to watch the Aptos world roll by, in all its kitschy glory. 🙂

Photos of Mar Vista Marching in the 4th of July Parade

Aptos Cares

May 13, 2016 by Seb Frey

A couple of weekends ago, Comcast Cares Day came to Mar Vista Elementary School, where my son is currently enrolled in first grade. Each year, the good folks at Comcast sponsor community service events throughout the country, enlisting thousands of volunteers to help make their communities a better place. Comcast provides tools and materials, and actually also donates $10 per volunteer who shows up to help.

Orlando Calderon, Mar Vista Student Parent and Comcast Employee

Mar Vista Elementary School was very fortunate to have been chosen this year, and we owe it to a Mar Vista Elementary school parent, Orlando Calderon, a Comcast employee, who nominated Mar Vista Elementary for the program this year. As it happens, Orlando came to my house and fixed an issue I was having with my high-speed Internet (the first issue I’d had in over 2 years of service) – and he doggedly stuck with it until the issue was resolved. It’s clear that Orlando really cares, about Comcast’s customers and our community as well.

It was great to see so many families from Mar Vista come out to participate in the event. Things got rolling around 7:30 AM, and a whole bunch of folks stayed for the entire day, with a break for lunch provided by Aptos Street BBQ. Lots of kids were out there working too. In an era of omnipresent iPads and other digital distractions, it was really refreshing to see so many kids happily and enthusiastically helping make their school a better place.

Comcast even got Supervisor Zach Friend out of bed early on a Saturday morning, leaving his wife and toddler son back at home, to come and give Principal Rich Determan a certificate from state senator Bill Monning, who, unsurprisingly, could not actually attend in person. I shot a little video of Zach’s remarks, which you can see below.

Zach Friend’s Remarks at Comcast Cares Day

This morning at the gym, I finished watching President Obama’s commencement speech for the 2016 class at Howard University. Say what you like about Obama’s politics, but the guy gives a good speech. What I took away from it is that your personal involvement in the community is really important. It’s not enough to sit and complain and refuse to participate because it’s futile or because the whole system is corrupt.

And I think this is what makes Aptos the amazing place that it is. People are engaged. People care. And you really saw that a couple of weeks ago at Comcast Cares Day. So thanks to Orlando Calderon, to Comcast, and to everyone who came out to help spiff up our school. You’ve helped make the world a better place, one shovel full of mulch and paint brush stroke at a time.

Mar Vista Harvest Festival this Sunday!

October 23, 2015 by Seb Frey

Come one, come all to the Mar Vista Harvest Festival this Sunday! The event will be held from 12 to 4 PM at Mar Vista Elementary School, and all members of the public are welcome and invited to attend this free event!

The organizers have really gone over the top this year – look what they have planned:

Dancers from the Performing Arts Center
El Cuarto Verde Band
SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics)
Fire Truck
Sheriff’s Canine Demonstration
Magician

There will be a number of food trucks at the festival too – including from Zameen, Carmona’s and Lucy’s Hot Dogs!, so come hungry!

While the event is free, attendees can purchase a $20 wrist band using this link which gives you:

Unlimited Bounce House Rides
Unlimited Games
Choice of 1 time visit to 5 of the following:
- Cookie Lab
- Glitter Tattoo
- PumpkinCupcake Walk
- Bracelet Making
- Frisbee Spin Art
- Face Painting

New this year is a special Wipeout styled bounce house – check it out:

This is going to be an amazing event and a great deal of fun for everyone – so please come on down and support Mar Vista Elementary School and our community!

Mar Vista Read-a-Thon 2014 Kickoff

October 29, 2014 by Seb Frey

My son Aiden is a kindergartner at Mar Vista Elementary School, and we’re doing a read-a-thon fundraiser, and it’s now time for the Mar Vista Read-a-Thon 2014 Kickoff. The Mar Vista library is in sad shape, and half the funds we raise will go to buy new books for the library. The other half of the money will go to the Mar Vista Parent’s Club general fund, which goes to support music, art, and technology, teacher training, and much more.

We will be starting on:
Monday Nov. 3rd

by www.read-a-thon.com

Donations are 100% tax deductible, because the Mar Vista Parents Club is an IRS 501c3 Non-Profit Organization.

Business Sponsorships

Do you have a business, or know someone who does that would like to market to the beautiful people who make up the Mar Vista Community? Consider sponsoring the Read-a-thon, check this out:

http://www.read-a-thon.com/school/donate.php?q=3051

Thank you so much for your support! And also (shameless plug) – Aiden would love your sponsorship!

Mar Vista Elementary Harvest Festival October 25th

October 13, 2014 by Seb Frey

The Mar Vista Elementary Harvest Festival is scheduled for October 25th, from 11 AM until 4 PM. This is a annual event is public and all are welcome to come and celebrate the harvest season and help feed those less fortunate in our community.

The organizers have lined up some amazing food, entertainment and events, including:

Law Enforcement K-9 Demonstrations
Costume Parade
Raffle
Surfing Magician
PAC Dance Performances
Mad Scientist Movie Special Effects Spectacular
Bounce Houses
Obstacle Courses
Face Painting
Glow in the Dark Scavenger Hunt
Aptos Fire Truck
Santa Cruz Sheriff Swat Truck and Robot
Photo Booth
Lots of Games, Music, Food, and the Sugar Shack!

This year they are partnering with the Santa Cruz County Deputy Sheriffs Association, along with Second Harvest Food Bank and Grind Out Hunger to kick off the Holiday Food Drive at the Harvest Festival! Please join us in supporting some amazing causes and Mar Vista Elementary! Bring a can of food to receive a raffle ticket and a chance to win some amazing prizes!

Mar Vista Read-a-Thon 2014

September 12, 2014 by Seb Frey

Mar Vista Elementary School is having its first-ever Read-a-Thon this year! This is a new fundraising initiative being organized by the Mar Vista Parent’s Club (the Mar Vista version of a PTA). Funds raised from the Read-a-Thon will go in large part to the Mar Vista Elementary library, which suffers from limited and outdated reading materials for Mar Vista students. The Read-a-Thon will run from November 3rd through the 14th.

As California seeks to reverse years of declines in academic performance, it has adopted the Common Core curriculum. With Common Core, academic basics such as reading and math are heavily emphasized. Mar Vista Elementary is a California Distinguished School, and aims to stay that way. It is hoped that by further encouraging students to read, academic performance will be further enhanced.

The Mar Vista Parents club is seeking local businesses who are willing to sponsor classrooms for $250 each – approximately $1 per student per day of the Read-a-Thon. Sponsoring businesses will receive:

Thanks on the Mar Vista Parent’s Club Facebook page
Logo placement on one flyer thanking everyone involved with the Read-A-Thon
Logo placement and thanks in an all-school email blast
Invitation to meet and greet with sponsored class
Placement on a banner outside the school thanking them for participation

In addition, the Mar Vista Parent’s Club is seeking “community readers” – members of the community who can come in to the school and read with the children, and perhaps spend some time talking with them about the reading material. The children would be thrilled to read with fire fighters, paramedics, life guards, law enforcement, doctors, lawyers – anyone with a good story to share and discuss!

If you have a local business and are interested in sponsoring the Read-a-Thon, or if you have a suggestion for someone who would be a good guest “community reader,” please contact Sebastian Frey via phone at (831) 704-6873.

Read-a-Thon Logo

First Day Back to School in Aptos

August 18, 2014 by Seb Frey

Today was the first day back to school for many Aptos students. For some – like my son Aiden – it was their first day of school ever. Sure, most of the kindergartners (Aiden included) had been to preschool…but today was their first “real” day of school. For me, it was the first day that I’d sent any kid to school – it was a milestone for both of us.

As with many milestones I suppose, this one is bittersweet…for me, anyway. I can’t believe that almost five and a half years have gone by since Aiden was born in dramatic fashion at Sutter Maternity Center. He and I have done so much living since then – him more than me, I think, but watching him grow has enriched my life immeasurably. As much as I’ve cherished his early years, time marches on. We can’t go backward, or stand still: our only option is to move on, and savor every moment.

My parents came down from their home in Berkeley to see their grandson off. We all walked from our house, just a couple of blocks away, over to Mar Vista Elementary. As it happens, my parents had also dropped their first child off at Mar Vista Elementary some 42 years ago, when the school was practically brand new. My dad commented that it looked pretty much the same as it did back then…although I imagine the paint wasn’t so badly flaking in the early 70’s like it is today.

Some three and a half hours after we dropped him off, school was over. My son reported that it was “awesome” but yet, also “boring.” It seems that they didn’t let him play like they did in preschool. He said they spent a lot of time reading books and working with “pattern blocks” – whatever those are. He says he’s looking forward to going back tomorrow, though – so that’s a good thing!

One of the hallmarks of Mar Vista – and all Aptos schools, I’m told – is that parents are really involved with the school. I want to do my part, too, which is why I myself am a member of the Mar Vista Parent’s Club – our version of the PTA. I’m really looking forward to helping to make our children’s Aptos school experience be the best it can be.

Mar Vista Elementary School

August 18, 2014 by Seb Frey

Valencia Elementary School is a California Distinguished School. It is part of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District. The school serves children between Kindergarten through sixth grade, and has about 500 students.

[show_posts_by_tag tags=”mar-vista-elementary”]

The Fight against Aptos Graffiti

June 27, 2014 by Seb Frey

For the past 2-3 months, I’ve been taking morning walks. It started out by just walking around my “block” a whole bunch of times, but I got bored of that after a while and started going on longer walks, way down Soquel, usually clear all the way to Aptos Village and ultimately to Norma Jean’s Coffee, which has become my favorite coffee shop in Aptos.

I walked 3.12 mi with @mapmywalk. Check out my route in Seacliff, CA, United States! http://t.co/FHm6BOXnvr #walk #walking

— sebfrey (@sebfrey) June 27, 2014

The other day, as I was taking my walk, I was horrified to see that some fencing out in front of Mar Vista Elementary had been all tagged up by graffiti “arists.” This is something I find really appalling. I live in the neighborhood, and in addition to this just being ugly, it’s expensive.

Later in the day, I saw on the Aptosia Facebook group that also a wall at the entrance to the Vienna Woods subdivision had been tagged as well. But then, some good people then took it upon themselves to actually go and paint over the graffiti. Just like that. So the next morning, I went and took my walk, and here’s what I saw:

"After" photo - Graffiti cleaned up — “After” photo – Graffiti cleaned up

Talk about fast acting! Thanks so much to Denise Elerick and everyone else who works tireless to keep Aptos beautiful. And tireless they need to be, because the very next morning, I saw this:

It’s amazing to me that whoever is doing this has such little consciousness for what an amazing place Aptos is, and how it doesn’t in any way deserve this kind of vandalism. This is a place where little kids walk every day, and where people really care what happens there.

Well, I care about what happens here. I’m going to figure out what kind of paint Denise & Co are using to cover up the graffiti, and then I’m going to stock up. Let’s keep Aptos beautiful!