SVUSD Schools to Send Troops Valentines

From elementary school students painting pictures to students writing letters during English class, the Saddleback Valley Unified school community is on a mission this month—sending Valentines to the men and women serving in the Armed Forces.

The outreach project—sponsored by the Saddleback Valley Parent Teacher Council—got an added boost Tuesday night, when the school board unanimously passed a resolution in support of the effort, called “Valentines for Soldiers.”

Watching in the audience was Trabuco Hills High School sophomore Nicole Peredo, who first proposed the idea of working as a district to support soldiers overseas.

“I know a lot of kids who want to go into the military,” she said at the meeting. “It was a little surprising that they took the idea of a student, but I’m so glad the whole district can participate.”

At Trabuco Hills, Peredo said, students will compete by grade levels to see which can make the most Valentines, which will be distributed to troops through Operation Gratitude.

The SVPTA Council President Suzann Gastreich said that the association does not plan to dictate how individual schools approach the project. Some are collecting gift cards and movies to package and send overseas, while others have student councils, teachers, and scouting troops pitching in to help.

At Linda Vista Elementary in Mission Viejo, for example, the school is collecting Valentines to give to one of its former students, Mission Viejo High School graduate Zachary Lambi. Lambi, now a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, plans to distribute the crafts to his unit, Gastreich said.

“We have reached out to everybody, all the parent organizations, student ASBs, girl scouts, and so on,” Gastreich said. “My goal would be for everybody to have a great experience this year and want to do it again next year.”

Technology Award Winners, Sports Honorees, Recycling Champs

Also at its Tuesday evening meeting, the school board heard a presentation from Saddleback Valley Educational Foundation President Pam Klister about a technology award it received from Microsoft. The foundation—a nonprofit that supports all district schools—held an event with Microsoft in November, and asked community members to attend and vote for the school of their choice. Microsoft and SVEF ponied up $20,000 worth of prizes to be split among the top three selections.

Top vote getter  in Lake Forest, will receive $5,000-worth of Microsoft software and a $5,000 in cash to spend on its technology needs, Klister said. in Lake Forest placed second, and will receive $3,000 worth of software and $3,000 cash, while Melinda Heights Elementary in Mission Viejo placed third, netting $2,000 in software and $2,000 in cash, she said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the board also honored coach Liam Clemons and the members of Trabuco Hills boys cross country team. The team won the Division 1 state championship this fall; Clemons was named CIF Southern Section coach of the year.

The board also feted Laguna Hills High School teacher Denise Hunt and her 10 special education students for their commitment to recycling. Their efforts to collect and recycle every can and bottle at the 2,000-student campus earned them a Recycling Champion Award from rePLANET, which operates more than 400 recycling centers statewide.