We invite you to enjoy the two videos created by members of the Making Movies that Matter grant program.  This program is sponsored by Councilman Mitch Englander. The grant provided an artist-in-residence from Cal Arts to work with 24 students and along with Mrs. Buck, a 4th grade teacher and Mrs. Stone, our computer lab tech, training them in movie making.  This is Vintage's third year participating in this program.  This year we learned a lot about animation videos.

The program culminated in a film festival held at CSUN at the Valley Performing Arts Center. There were about 150 videos submitted to the Making Movies that Matter Festival that was held Wednesday, May 30th, 2018.  The competition was stiff so it was with great pride that Vintage took home a trophy for their public service announcement animated video called Burning Information.  They also submitted an action video featuring called Please Say It is  Fiction!  To learn more Councilman Mitch Englander's Making Movies that Matter program clicking here. 

Fourth graders: Tesza, Janice, Jayla, Nadia, Jungah, Kassandra, Keira, Nia, Bianka Joshia, Mateo, Riziel and fifth graders: Angel, Bethany, Colton, Francisco, Lillie, Mark, Mia, Rebekah, Sebastian, Enrique, Jasmine, Natalia should be very proud of all their hard work and time they put into writing scripts, making props, videoing, editing, sound effects, voice overs, and paying careful attention to the lessons of the artist in residence. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Below, are links to the two videos and a slideshow featuring photos from the program and the festival.

Bring the whole family for a fun evening of STEM activities!  Veronica Garcia, the Program Manager for Medtronic Diabetes will be our keynote speaker.  She will speak about her work at Medtronic,  her past as a Performance Analyst for the Space Shuttle Main Engines, and the education that made it all possible.  She will also speak about being a co-founder of the Latinas in STEM Foundation.   

We will also have a presentation from Ingrid Daubar, from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  She will share information about her work and studies of Mars.

There will be refreshments sold and lots of activities, so come and join the fun!

NASA STEM Family Night
Friday, June 1, 2018
6:00-8:00

Vintage's library opened early Tuesday, May 15th at 7:15AM, for students to bring their parents, grandparents, or other adult with them to do some book fair shopping.  Krispy Kreme Donuts, coffee, and orange juice fueled these  early morning shoppers.  A raffle was held for a $20 gift card.  Congratulations to Vic R. in room 9 for winning the raffle.   It's not too late to come out and get your "paws" on a good book or two for summer reading!  The book fair will run from May 14th to May 18th.  Stop by during Open House on May 17th.  All proceeds will benefit out school library.

Keep your eyes out for Monarch Butterflies. Two of Vintage's students, Emma A. and Nadia W. assisted by Nadia's mother, Ms. Silvia, are Citizen Scientist with the Project Monarch Alert at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo that helps nurture future scientists at Vintage Magnet.  Read more below to learn how these students are helping to provide data for the University of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Have you seen Monarch Butterflies 80103, 80105, and 80106?

If you see a Monarch Butterfly take a moment to observe. Look at its flight. And see if under the wing there is a small yellow decal with numbers. If you see girls 80103, 80105 or boy 80106, please let us know! And take a picture!

Oh, the places they go …..
Where do our Monarch butterflies go? Do the wintering ones in Los Angeles still live longer than the other generations?

To answer these questions and to help understand the Western Monarch, Ms. Silvia, a scientist, joined the Citizen Scientist team at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Monarch Alert and earned the privilege to tag Monarch butterflies. She is now mentoring future scientists at Vintage as they become Monarch experts and develop their scientific curiosity in the process.

What is Citizen Science:
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife requires those wishing to tag Monarch butterflies to become permitted.
Ms. Silvia went through the process to get a sub-permit and help the kids at Vintage tag their butterflies. To get our 25 tags Silvia had to complete a training about the Western Monarch, Danaus plexippus and take a test. She also had to learn about the Roles and Responsibilities of working with the Monarch. We registered our garden with Monarch Alert because we have milkweed for Monarch caterpillars and have flowers for the butterflies.

For each Monarch we tag, we have to record when the number of the tag, when it eclosed (emerge as an adult), the gender, measure wing size and make notes about appearance. Once we have more practice working with Monarchs we can learn to test them for parasite OE (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha), and even look for the parasite under the microscope. We have to send all the data we accumulate to Monarch Alert, which is headed by Biology Professor Francis Villablanca at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The tag is a sticker the size of a pencil eraser. It has a phone number to call and a tag number. The place to put it is on the underside of the hind wing of the Monarch in the space that looks like a mitten. It needs to be put 2-3 hours after the Monarch ecloses. It is very light and it doesn’t bother the butterfly.

Report a Monarch Sightings
We place tags on the underside of monarch wings. These tags allow us to individually identify butterflies that are later re-sighted. Re-sighting information provides data on movement between overwintering sites, persistence at individual sites, population estimates per site, and migration patterns in spring.

If you locate a tagged monarch, please call the number on the tag and report the details about your sighting to Monarch Alert. Please provide the location, date, and tag number:” 

Thank you, Ms. Silvia, with your help with this article.

Vintage Magnet School is please to invite you to our OPEN HOUSE on Thursday, May 17, from 5:30 to 7:30PM. Classroom visitations will be conducted from 6:00 to 7:30PM. This is an opportunity to learn more about the educational programs at our school, visit your child's classroom, and see your child's work. Children are welcome to come.  Food and drinks will be available for purchase.  More details are below.

The Vintage PTA loves me so much they kinda gave me a day off Friday, by auctioning off my job at their silent auction! My job was taken over by an enthusiastic  7 year old, Daniel! He decided on a repeat performance (he took over my library last year! ) He says he choose the library job because, “The Principal for the Day job was already taken, and the Janitor job is a dirty job!” (sorry Mr. Alton).

It’s great to ‘kick back’ and allow your replacement to run the show! He gave directions like a pro (once he got over his nervousness), “shelved books” because he “knows where most everything goes”, and loved reading to the kids and telling them about our book fair. My favorite comment of the day was when he saw me first thing, without my glasses and commented, “I didn’t know you wore mascara! You always have your glasses on! (Great librarian discovery!)

​What a joy! I appreciated  the laughter, energy and fun of this awesome student! What a great day and THANK YOU to mom, who paid the BIG BUCKS to make it happen and for supporting our school!! ​

Article submitted by Mrs. Forbes, Vintage Librarian.