Mrs. Kim Gerould of Greenhills School Receives Outstanding Teacher Award

Kim Gerould - Outstanding Teacher Award

Recently, Mrs. Kim Gerould, a much-admired 3rd grade teacher at Greenhills School, received an Outstanding Teacher Award and a grant by the Education Foundation. 

Unbeknownst to her, Mrs. Monika Stover, a Resource Specialist Program (RSP) aide at Greenhills nominated Kim Gerould for the award.  Mrs. Stover assists a special needs student for one hour in Kim Gerould’s math class each day, and over the year, observed  Kim’s infectious laugh and love of teaching (and learning) spill out on to her students. 

Monika Stover feels that students (and their parents) admire Mrs. Gerould because of her ability able to connect with each student to assess his or her difficulty – whether academic, social or emotional.  She works hard to remove those barriers to allow each child to receive the best quality of education and to develop a love of learning.   In typical Mrs. Gerould fashion, instead of using the grant money to do something fun for herself and her family, she plans to use the funds to purchase costumes for her students’ class play.

Along with many other parents, I agree with Monika Stover - my daughter had Kim Gerould as one of her two outstanding Kindergarten teachers in the MultiAge class.  Even though my daughter is no longer her student, Maya still raves about, and adores Mrs. Gerould.   

Kim Gerould also works hard behind the scenes.  She takes on many key responsibilities; she is a Grade Level leader in staff meetings and trainings, leads Reading Rocks! – a reading intervention group which is held after school hours, has leadership roles in the Professional Learning Communities held in the Eureka Union School District, and is trained as a lead staff person in Responsive Classroom.  Outside of Greenhills School and our school district, she belongs to the Professional Educator’s Association, Alpha Delta Kappa.  Kim Gerould also recently also earned her Master’s Degree.

Congratulations to Kim Gerould for receiving the Outsanding Teacher Award this year – she displays a shining example of the many phenomenal teachers in our school district.

The Education Foundation was established in 1992 by Prudential California Realty to honor exceptional K-12 public school teachers throughout Northern and Southern California.  Since it’s inception, the Education Foundation has awarded approximately $750,000 to the outstanding public school teachers in our communities.  This grant is funded by the generosity of Realtors, managers and staff of Prudential California Realty.  For more details on this award, please visit the press release section of www.prurealty.com.

Thank you, Mr. Peter Towne, for letting us know about this award, and for allowing us to use your photographs.

Tango Argentino at Quarry Ponds

Have you ever wanted to learn how to Tango? 

Luis Caceres and his partner, Kae Sable, offer free dance lessons every Wednesday from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Canopy Plaza (next to Toast) at Quarry Ponds.

 For more information, please contact Luis Caceres at 916.807.4210 or luiselsuave@comcast.net

 

Photographs courtesy of Kelly McMenamin Photography.  She can be reached at Kelly.McMenamin.Photography@granitebaybuzz.com.  Thank you, Kelly!

 

Spinach & Strawberry Salad

I love this fresh tasting spinach salad – I can throw it together quickly and my family chows it down!  

Ingredients:

1 bag of spinach leaves (or 1/3 of a box)
1-2 pints of strawberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup raspberry flavored vinegar (I used Kozlowski Farms, but you can use any brand)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup vegetable oil.

 

Assembling the Salad:

Toss the spinach leaves into a big bowl.  Even though the bag or box says that they are prewashed – I still give them a good rinse.

Quarter the yummy strawberries and add them to the spinach.

Throw in the toasted pecans.  Oops – I forgot to toast them!  The salad does taste better when they are toasted.

Add the crumbled feta cheese.  Refrigerate the salad.

Making the dressing:

In a jar, measure out the raspberry flavored vinegar.

Add in the sugar.

 Incorporate the dry mustard…

poppy seeds…

 and vegetable oil. 

This is how the dressing looks before you shake it.  Shake the jar well and refrigerate for at least an hour.  Yeah right – I’m usually running late, so I stick it in the freezer for as long as I can!

After it’s cold, shake the dressing very well again.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad (the dressing recipe makes enough dressing for 3-4 salads).  Toss salad.

Enjoy!

 

My recipe is a variation of this one from RecipeZaar.

 

Granite Bay High School Photography Display at Quarry Ponds

This week, when you swing by Peets for a quick caffeine fix, please take a moment to check out the fantastic photography displayed on the walls of the Market Hall.  These stunning images are shot by two Granite Bay High School students, Kandace Ries and Kelly Matheson. 

Their Granite Bay High School photography teacher, Steve Fischer, explained that the intention and reward of his class is that at the end, his students learn not only to photograph, but also to market and sell their pictures.  This class is run like a business – during the school year, students pay for their supplies and overhead (frames, mats, etc.).  At the end of the year, they are expected to create a gallery style showing of their work.  They, not the teachers, must make arrangements as to where their artwork can be shown, what type of advertising to do, and how to price their work.  The students then select and hang the pieces for sale, and when the photographs sell, students keep 100% of the profits.

Two very different styles are exhibited.  One of the photographers, Kandace Ries, prefers taking portraits.  She feels that a person communicates through his or her eyes.  I love her haunting black and white close-ups of eyes, with all the crinkles and wrinkles exposed.  As a child, Kandace loved looking at photos shot by her grandfather.  He enjoyed participating in quick draw, and would often photograph the action.  In the future, Kandace plans to be a professional photographer.  Her photographs were taken using a Nikon D40; Kandace’s showcased pieces range from $30-$220 unframed.

The second photographer, Kelly Matheson, favors photographing nature up close.  Even when she does portraits, she prefers to shoot them outdoors, in natural light.  Kelly strives to showcase very fine details that create a visually stunning and layered image.  I love the picture she is holding below - the colors are so sharp and vivid.  She wants to become a teacher, but Kelly knows that photography will be a part of her life – either as a hobby or as a side business.  Kelly used a Nikon D60 for her photographs, and her pictures range from $40-220 framed.

Please support the Granite Bay High School Photography class, and especially these two very talented young women.  Their impressive photographs would be gorgeous in any home! 

Kandace Ries and Kelly Matheson invite you to their showing and reception on Thursday, May 13th, from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the Market Place Hall at Quarry Ponds.  

See you there!

(Please excuse my terrible photos – I have a lot to learn!)