Blue Ribbon Award and Ceremonies
On September 20th, we learned that we were one of 41 schools in California and 295 schools in the United States to be selected for the Blue Ribbon award. Mr. Sweet and Mr. Heffner received a plaque and flag in a ceremony in Washington D.C., November 10-11, 2005.
Letter sent home regarding Blue Ribbon
California State Superintendant Announcement about Blue Ribbon Schools
Sentinel Article 9/21/05
The first week of December was very special at Rio del Mar. On Wednesday evening, December 7th, our Student of the Year, Kacey Johnson, was recognized at the School Board Meeting. Mr. Heffner introduced her to the School Board, and Mrs. Sharon Gray presented her with a special plaque.That was not all that was special that night! The School Board honored our school for being one of 290 schools nation-wide, that have received the Blue Ribbon Honor. The Board provided a beautiful cake in our honor. Mr. Heffner invited staff, students, and parents to attend this special event. It was a great occasion!!
On Friday, December 9th, we celebrated the official flag raising ceremony of our new Blue Ribbon School flag! We had an assembly with the entire student body, School Board members, PVUSD officials, and several important people from Santa Cruz County offices (Office of Education and Board of Supervisors). It was a beautiful, clear morning. Everyone was very excited about this event.We started off with the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, led by Student of the Year, Kacey Johnson.
Mr. Heffner received a special proclamation from Assemblyman John Laird's office.Mrs. Rhea deHart, recent president of the School Board, greeted everyone and let us know how special this award is. Mrs. Sharon Gray, Rio del Mar's School Board Trustee and new president of the School Board, told us how proud she's been of our school for more than a decade! Dr. Gary Woods, the North Zone Assistant Superintendent of Schools, brought greetings from Dr. Maryanne Mays, our District Superintendent, who was unable to attend. Mr. Rowland Baker, former teacher at Rio del Mar, but currently assistant to Dr. Diane Siri, Superintendent of the County Schools, brought greetings from the County Office of Education and told everyone what a great education his daughter received when she attended Rio del Mar many years ago.
Mrs. Ellen Pirie, County Supervisor for Aptos, brought greetings from the Board of Supervisors. She mentioned that her daughters attended Rio del Mar when they were in elementary school. Mr. Heffner then thanked everyone for coming and asked the three most senior teachers( who've taught longest at Rio del Mar) to come forward to raise the new American flag and the Blue Ribbon School flag.The American flag has flown over the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. in honor of Rio del Mar School. It was sent to us by Senator Barbara Boxer.
Those teachers, Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Cooper, and Ms. Landmann, then led the student body in singing, "You're a Grand Old Flag." Afterwards there was a reception in the cafeteria for the parents and many guests. Here's a picture of the cake that they enjoyed. In the meanwhile, each student was enjoying blue donuts back in the classroom!
Saturday morning's Santa Cruz Sentinel had a nice story on page two about this celebration. It was written by business editor Tom Dunlap with the assistance of his son Paul. Here's a picture of them in the crowd with Tom taking notes for the newspaper article. Paul, a third grader in Ms. Jenkyn's class, got his first byline in the Sentinel! Here he is writing his notes for the article.
Santa Cruz Sentinel Article December 10, 2006 by Tom & Paul DunlapPajaronian Article