Congratulations to all of Vintage Magnet's culminating students - both 5th graders and kindergarten.  Thursday, June 8, 2017, the campus was filled with proud families celebrating the completion of one step in their child's education.  Vintage Science, Technology, Engineering, Math Magnet thanks our families for choosing our school to begin this journey in the education of their student.  We wish all of the students continued success in life.  Below is Principal Nancy Mourao's speech given at the 5th grade culmination and photos of both the 5th grade and Kindergarten culmination.  Enjoy and have a wonderful summer!

2017 Culminating 5th Grade Celebration
2017 Culminating Kindergarten Celebration

Each year, our Librarian, Mrs. Forbes, chooses one student to receive the Phyllis Bennett Library Award. This award is named in the memory of an amazing librarian named Phyllis Bennett who worked in LAUSD for 35 years. One student is chosen for improvement in reading and stellar library behavior.

This year the award went to fifth grader, Gideon K. According to Mrs. Forbes, Gideon showed great improvement in his reading skills. He was exemplary in behavior while using the library and proved to be a great role model to the other students. Gideon received a certificate and a Barnes and Noble Gift Card to buy books with. He also received a special gift from Mrs. Forbes; a two book set of Wonder and Mr. Brown's Precepts, as well as a picture companion book called, "We are all Wonders". Gideon has been a truly "Wonder-ful" example and was very deserving of this award.

As we wrap up our year, we want to thank all the students who donated to the Endangered Animal Club. All donations are sent to the World Wildlife Fund to be used in the saving efforts of endangered animals. This year, the club decided to help the Rhino, Fennec Fox and Red Wolf. Books are purchased about these animals so that the students can learn more about them and a stuffed animal of each is raffled off at the end of the school year.

The proud winner of the baby Rhino was Emily R. and the adult Rhino was Serena J. The Fennec Fox went home with Martin M. and the Red Wolf was won by John T. Congratulations to our winners. All students who donate, put a ticket in a jar and at the end of the year Mrs. Forbes, our librarian pulls the names of the winners.

Let's all do our part to continue to help the amazing wildlife that faces life threatening circumstances.

Friday, June 2nd, 2017, on a warm, spring night, Vintage's families gathered for an evening filled with fun STEM activities.  The evening began with our keynote speaker, Ms. Judy Lai-Norling, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.  She shared with us how her love for math led her to her exciting job as an engineer and manager for the Airborne Snow Observation Team.  After this well received presentation, students and families took off to participate in some of the many fun STEM activities.

Early in the evening, a reception was held for the Science Fair Finalists.  Congratulations to all the finalists.  There were many, many wonderful science fair projects this year.  Everyone keep up the good work!

To all the STEM professionals who came out and participated such Del Air Rockhounds, Southwest Herpetologist Society, MAD Science, San Fernando Valley Flyers, Sierra Club,  Steve Silverman the Magician/Planetary Imaging, Sylvan Learning, Anwar Alroomi, and Elvis Merida, we wish you a big thank-you.  We couldn't have done it without you.

Another big thank you also goes out to the organizers of the event, Mrs. Wakefield and Mrs. Betts.  We would also like to thank all the administrators, staff, and volunteers who pitched in with their time and STEM events to make the night a success  The evening came together as a result of their dedication and school spirit.  Thanks also to Fratelli's Pizza and Kona Ice for refreshments.

Photos from this event:

Click here for photos of the 2017 Spring NASA Night
Click here for the "Out of this World" portraits using green screen magic.

Thank you to Mr. Brown of Valley Flyers for sharing photos taken with his drone of the Vintage Magnet playground (see below).

It was an amazing night for the students who participated in 2017 Councilman Mitchel Englander's "Making Movies that Matter" grant program on Wednesday, May 24th, 2017.  The program culminated with a red-carpet film festival at the Valley Performing Arts Center at California State University of Northridge. This was our second year to participate in the MMtM grant program and our first year to win for one of our student created movies. This year the video titled, "OMG, Is that a Tornado?", won for Outstanding Public Service Announcement by Elementary School Students.  All the students climbed up on stage before the audience to receive their medals and the award trophy.  We were also thrilled that all of our five submitted movies made it to the final run-off for outstanding movies in their category: two for Public Service Announcements, one for Animated Sort, and two for Fictional Short.

The MMtM program met for two days after school allowing students to learn about movie production with the aid of a professional in the industry.  Vintage was fortunate to have Mrs. Molly Hansen Pritts as our artist-in-residence.  Students learned about formulating script ideas, framing shots, using an iPhone to video their movies, doing voice overs, editing,  using iMovie, and much more.  Mrs. Pritts was assisted by staff members, Mrs. Stone from the Computer Lab and Mrs. Buck, a 4th grade teacher. 

Click here to learn more about Councilman Mitchell Englander's "Making Movies that Matter" program.  Eventually, all the videos submitted should be available on this website for viewing.  We also would like to thank Mrs. Pritts and Mr. Rubine (District Director for Council District 12 in Councilman Englander's office) for all their hard work, patience,  and support with the Making Movies that Matter program.

Click here for photos of the evening (thanks for Vintage parents for sharing).