11-8-13

VETERAN’S DAY - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11 - SCHOOL CLOSED

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15 - SCHOOL PICTURE MAKE-UP DAY

If you are having your photos re-done - you must bring the complete photo package back (except for the class photo)

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Dear SMASH Families,

The other secondary principals and I have been participating in Math “Learning Walks” this Fall at each of the middle and high school campuses in SMMUSD (JAMS, Lincoln, Malibu, Samo, Olympic, SMASH).  During these “Learning Walks,” the team of principals has been spending time in classrooms listening to students and teachers and looking at classroom artifacts.  We are collecting input about student math learning and how the teacher’s work impacts student learning.  Next Wednesday, November 13 and Thursday, November 14, the SMASH staff and I will be conducting our own SMASH Math “Learning Walks” K-8.

Here are some key points from readings some teachers and I have been doing in preparation for the “Learning Walks:”

We want students to ask themselves questions about the problems they are working on.  In Chapter 2 of the book What Successful Math Teachers Do by Posamentier, Germain-Williams, and Jaye, the authors suggest the following bank of questions for students to start using:

            Does this make sense?

            What technique did I use to solve a similar problem in the past?

            What is the problem asking for?

            What information am I given?

            Is there anything I don’t understand?

            Am I headed in the right direction?

            What could someone do with the answer once I get it?

            Is there any information given in the problem that is not immediately obvious?

            Have I made any careless mistakes?

“Students who consider a few problem-solving strategies before beginning are more likely to adopt an alternative   strategy should their initial approach not succeed (page 31). We want students to understand their own mathematician thought process.  

As we conduct our “Learning Walks” at school, we look for patterns and develop next steps for our own professional development.  We try to agree upon questions we want to use within our math lessons.  We encourage you to try out the questions above as you are supporting your mathematicians at home as well.

Enthusiastically yours,

Jessica

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SMASH COMEDY NIGHT
HOSTED BY JAKE JOHANNSEN

SUNDAY * NOV 17 * 7pm

MAGICOPOLIS THEATER * 1418 4^TH ST.

$40

Don’t miss this great night of comedy benefitting SMASH.  Featuring Derek Hughes, Laurie Kilmartin,

Owen Smith & Greg Behrendt.

www.smashcomedynight.eventbrite.com

for tickets and more info.  Adults only  - 21 and over

Enjoy dinner and drinks at one of these restaurants

near the venue and they will “Give Back” 20% to Smash.

West 4^th & Jane, Border Grill – 4^th St.

Pizza Antica – 3^rd Fl, SM Place

The Lobster – Colorado & Ocean Ave.

Open to all, even if you aren’t attending the show.

Please bring this flyer with you!!

RAFFLE!!!

Restaurant Gift Cards, Groundlings Tickets, Dogeared Jewelry and more. 

All prizes valued at $100 or more.

Tickets at the event only - $5 each, 5 for $20, 11 for $40, 15 for $50

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DATES TO REMEMBER

November:

Mon, Nov 11 - Veteran’s Day - SCHOOL CLOSED

Wed, Nov 13 - 3:30pm - Site Council Mtg

Wed, Nov 13 - 6:00pm - Yosemite Trip Parent Mtg

Fri, Nov 15 - School Picture Make-up Day

Sun, Nov 17 - 7:00pm - Comedy Night at Magicopolis   -  1418 4th Street, downtown Santa Monica

                                                                                                           Tickets are available at www.smashcomedynight.eventbrite.com

Mon, Nov 18 - 9:00am - SMASH School Tour

Wed, Nov 20 - SMASH restaurant fundraiser night at El Cholo’s Restaurant –details to come

Fri, Nov 22 - 6:00 - 7:30pm - Family Dance.  This year’s theme is SUPERHEROS!

Wed, Nov 27 - 1:30pm - EARLY DISMISSAL

Thurs, Fri, Nov 28 & 29 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SCHOOL CLOSED

December:

WINTER BREAK - December 23 - January 6.  School resumes on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. 

                                 Monday, January 6 is a pupil free day for SMASH

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Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Jr.             

Santa Monica Morgan-Wixson Theatre

November 9 - December 14     -  Saturdays & Sundays at 2pm

    Adults $20  Children 12 and under $15         310-828-7519  -  www.morgan-wixson.org

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Areté Preparatory Academy and Accelerated/High Ability Program

Areté Saturday Seminar Series

For High Ability/Highly Curious Middle Schoolers

Seminars are free and open to all middle schoolers.  
For directions and to RSVP, please call 310-478-9900

All Classes are on Saturdays from 10am to 1pm

11/9 -  Film & Philosophy, Jason Cruze, director of Areté Great Ideas Program

11/16 - Neuroscience is Sweet!, Raina Pang, Director of Areté Neuroscience Program

11/23 - Inventors’ Workshop Session I (Mechanical), AJ Cressman, Areté Physics & Inventors’ Workshop Instructor

12/7 -  The Art & Craft of Problem Solving, Bob Dietz, Areté Mathematics Instructor

12/14 - Inventors’ Workshop Session 2 (Electrical), AJ Cressman, Areté Physics & Inventors’ Workshop Instructor

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SAMOHI Theatre’s NOISES OFF!

November 8, 15 & 16   7:00pm only   -    November 9 2:00pm and 7:00pm

      Ever wanted to know what happens backstage? Noises Off! Follows a dysfunctional cast as they prepare for the show within a show, Nothing On. This hilarious comedy features axe-wielding actors, backstage stabbing, and lots of….sardines.

     Performed in the Humanities Center Theatre on the second floor of the English Building  (H-House), on the east side of the Samohi campus at Michigan and 7th. To purchase tickets: http://samohitheatre.org/tickets.html

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Tidbits From SMASH PTSA

THIS IS A GREAT DEAL! Donate your gently used clothing and make money for SMASH.

Just visit our dedicated SMASH LA Stitch Page (below) , request a bag and fill it up. UPS will come pick it up when you are ready. SMASH makes 40% of the sales from your gently used clothing.

http://www.schoola.com/stitch/santa-monica-alternative-k-8-santa-monica-ca

SMASH can EARN UP TO $5,000 from Santa Monica Place and Westside Pavilion,
 but we need your help.

Every time you shop at Santa Monica Place and Westside Pavilion now until May 15, 2014 you can support SMASH by bringing your receipts to the Concierge at Santa Monica Place, or Guest Services at Westside Pavilion. Each dollar spent is worth five points. Be sure to turn in your receipts within 7 days of purchase! The schools that earn the most points, will receive up to $5,000 in gift cards!

Are you up to the Challenge?  Take the D&B Matching Gift Challenge!

Now through December 20, Dun & Bradstreet will match, dollar for dollar up to $150,000, your donation to the Education Foundation in support of the SMMUSD Vision for Student Success.  Every gift, no matter the size, will   double the impact at your Child’s school and every school in our district, $50 becomes $100, $500 becomes $1,000!

Make your gift online at www.smmef.org/donate

Or mail your donation to: Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation; 1645 16th St; Santa Monica, CA 90404

SMASH is So Sweet!

THANK YOU to everyone who donated to Operation Gratitude! SMASH brought in LOTS of candy for a great cause.

A note about AMAZON

We are no longer running an affiliate program with AMAZON. Thank you to all of you who participated and raised money for SMASH. Stay tuned for more opportunities to help SMASH earn $ through other vendors.

Cirque du Soleil's TOTEM - January 24

See Cirque's new show, Totem, and support the Vision for Student Success at the same time! 100% of your ticket     purchase goes to VSS. Pre-show reception included. Call 310-396-4557 for tickets.

The PTSA wants to hear from you!

Please feel free to email questions, thoughts and ideas: Jamee Tenzer, Co-President jameetenzer@gmail.com,

Common Core State Standards Webinars

If you are interested in viewing the common Core State Standards Webinars, which were co-sponsored by  the PTA Council and Santa Monica Ed Services, they are archived in the Common Core Corner for easy and convenient      viewing.  The webinars are filed under the “Tips for Parents” drop down menu.

www.smmusd.org/edservices/commoncore/webinars.html  

SCIENCE AND FUN ON THE SANTA MONICA PIER

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9    11:30AM - 5:00PM

S-T-E-A-M MACHINES  -  A CONTEST OF CURIOUS CONTRAPTIONS

Introducing the first ever S.T.E.A.M. event at the pier 

a celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - With an infusion of ART throughout.

www.SteamMachinesLA.com

RUBE GOLDBURG CONTEST - Come marvel at the complicated contraptions at LA’s inaugural competitions!

TWO-BIT CIRCUS - Art meets Physics and craftsmanship with these amazing hand-crafted carnival games.

BICYCLE POWERED ICE CREAM - You can make ice cream with a bike?  Mind  =  blown! 

WHALE FALL VIDEO SCREENING - Heal The Bay hosts and lets you spend one-on-one time with sea life.

ULTIMATE RECYCLING INVENTION - Challenge: Design a machine that transports a bottle to a recycling bin.

Materials and coaching by Trash for Teaching.

SMASH 8TH GRADE STUDENTS ARE SELLING $20 ICE TICKETS

FRIDAYS, BEFORE & AFTER SCHOOL

AT THE MAIN GATE AND IN THE SMALL YARD

Dear SMASH Families,

Every year we eagerly await the return of the Downtown Santa Monica ICE skating rink.  This year, the season runs November 1 through January 20, and we have an amazing  opportunity to have fun and raise funds for SMASH trips scholarships. 

ICE will create a SMASH punch card that you can purchase for $20.  It can be used like cash for Admission, Skate Rental and/or Concessions. Admission and skate rental at ICE is $12, and the additional $8 left over can be used at the concession/food stand or 'saved' for the next trip to ice where it can again be used toward admission or for food and beverage.  The cards can be used all season long (except New Year’s Eve) so stock up!  

For every $20 card sold, the SMASH Trips Scholarship fund will earn $8.      

ICE cards can also be purchased in the SMASH office (check or exact cash amount only).

Questions?  Contact Lori Nafshun at gettalife1@gmail.com

Thank you for supporting our students!

ICE:  November 1- January 20

           Mon-Thurs  2:00-10:00pm

           Fri  2:00-Midnight

           Sat  10am - Midnight

           Sun  10am - 10pm

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Dun & Bradstreet (located in Malibu) has generously offered to match all donations that are made to the SMMUSD Vision for Student Success program by December 20, 2013 (up to $150,000).

You can take advantage of the matching grant two ways:

1) Make your tax-deductible SMASH Annual Family Investment (AFI) donation (payable to SMASH PTSA) before Dec 20th and 50% will automatically be allocated to the Vision for Student Success program (as a collective gift from the SMASH Community) and that amount will be doubled by the Dun & Bradstreet Grant. You can pay by check or online at: www.ptsasmash.blogspot.com

2) Make a separate, tax-deductible donation (in your own name or anonymously) to the SMMUSD Vision for Student Success directly and 100% will go toward the program and 100% will be doubled (up to $150,000) if your donation is made by December 20th. Please see the flyer in today's Friday Letter for more details. Direct donations may be mailed to the address listed on the flyer or made online at: www.smmef.org/donate

Either way, please make your donation BEFORE December 20th to maximize your contribution.

Sincerely,

Jessica

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DOWNTOWN SANTA MONICA HOLIDAY EVENTS

ICE AT SANTA MONICA SKATING RINK

November 1—January 20   5th Street at Arizona

RANDY GARDNER’S SCHOOL OF SKATING

Daves vary beginning November 13.  Details at ICESanta Monica.com

POLICE ACTIVITIES LEAGUE GIFT DRIVE

November 1 - December 11.  Drop unwrapped gifts at ICE

SANTA MONICA PLACE HOLIDAY KICK OFF WITH HGTV

November 23 - 6pm.  Santa Monica Place, Center Plaza

MENORAH LIGHTING

November 27 - December 5 at Sundown.  3rd Street Promenade at Arizona

SANTA’S GOODIE BOOTH:  WIN ICE BUCKS, GIFTS, DISCOUNTS AND CASH

November 27, 2:00 - 5:00pm or until the machine is empty.  3rd Street Promenade, Center Plaza

FREE KIDS CRAFT:  HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS

November 30, noon to 3:00pm.  3rd Street Promenade, Center Court

HOCKEY CLINICS WITH THE LOS ANGELES KINGS

Dates vary beginning December 1.  Details at ICESantaMonica.com

CITY OF SANTA MONICA’S OFFICIAL TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY

December 12, 7:00pm.  3rd Street Promenade at Wilshire

FREE KIDS CRAFT:  HOLIDAY PUZZLES

December 21, noon to 3:00pm.  3rd Street Promenade, Center Court

SANTA’S LITTLE SAVERS SUPRISING SHOPPERS IN DOWNTOWN SANTA MONICA

December 21 - 24, 3rd Street Promenade and Santa Monica Place

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CORE 1 NEWS

Core 1 Language

Linguistic anthropologists have studied “motherese” or  “parentese” and its effects on socializing children.  Core 1 parents have asked us Core 1 teachers how we say things at school. I guess you can say that we’ve developed our own Core One “teacherese” without realizing it!  After paying attention to our language this week, we’ve come up with a limited list of common Core 1 phrases and starters.  We’ve also listed common phrases children use to communicate with us and with each other.  We’re curious to know if you hear “coreoneese” spoken in your home.

Language to encourage independence

Give it a try.

Try that again.

Watch how I ____. Now you try it.

Do you need my help or can you take care of it yourself?

Do you need _____ or do you need ______?

Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

You did that yourself.

I only helped you by ______.

Language to encourage cooperation

Let’s make a plan to _________.

What does _______ think about that? Ask him/her.

You worked out a plan together.

Check in with ______ before you ______.

Make a plan with ______ and decide how you will _______.

Let’s do 10 nice things for the room before we ...

Language to encourage empathy

Check in with _____ and find out what she/he needs.

_______ is crying.  What do you think s/he might need?

I know you didn’t mean to hurt ____. Make sure he/she knows that, too.

Did your apology land on his/her heart?  How can you tell?

Try saying the same words with a different tone.

Look at ____’s face.  How do you think it must feel to ______.

How does it feel when ______ happens to you?

Magic Circle Words or “Core 1 Studentese”

I like you as a friend, but I didn’t like it when…

I like playing next to you on the monkey bars, but I need…

I felt ____ when _____ and I need_____...

I have a shout-out for ____ because…

When ________ happened, I felt ______.

I am hearing that ______.  I will try to ______.

I’m sorry I _____.  I will _____ from now on.

Thanks for helping me when …

November Birthday Bash–

Save the date!  We will be celebrating November birthdays on Friday, November 15 from 9:45-10:30 AM in The Magic Garden (Graciela’s room) and Small Yard. 

Have a great long weekend!

Remember—NO SCHOOL on Monday!

Graciela (gbarba-castro@smmusd.org                                                          Chrysta (cpowell@smmusd.org)                                                      Christian (ccarter@smmus.og)  Nadja

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CORE 2 NEWS

So much going on in Core 2 right now!  We have enjoyed our time together in the current advisories, but it’s now time to SWITCH it up!  Minecraft Mobs will be in Tamara’s advisory and #YOLOSwag will be in Jayme’s advisory beginning next Tuesday, November 12.  Math groups will remain the same throughout the year.  

What’s happening around Core 2: 

In Tamara’s advisory, students are exploring a chosen animal and discovering their habitat and place within the food chain.  They have added so much new knowledge into the Animal Book writing piece and published their final work to be shared in December.  Throughout this project, students have incorporated reading, writing, read aloud, and science learning!  They practiced techniques to gather information, determine importance, and clearly organize and show, in their own writing, what they’ve learned.

In Jayme’s advisory, students are busily finishing and publishing their Realistic Fiction stories that focus on a character learning a lesson.  Some of the students took inspiration from their own life stories, while others chose to take their character on a journey that they have never been on themselves.  We practiced noticing “show not tell” techniques that published authors use and explored ways that we can use that writing strategy in our own writing.  For example, students are not just writing, “Tom was nervous,” when they could write,  “Tom was shaking as he grasped his hands together.  His heart was pounding.”  We had to think what actions our characters are doing and how their body language can show a lot.

Have you been thinking about the weather lately?  Well, Minecraft Mobs have!  We have been talking all about the  water cycle, air masses/fronts, and different cloud types.  Students are practicing their hand at weather forecasting in different areas of the United States.  They are looking at temperatures around the country and determining what types  of cloud coverage might be present, as well as what kind of front is causing the storms in those areas.  So far, we are finding that Southern California has some pretty great weather while the Northeast and Midwest are getting some very cold storms coming through. 

Math:

3^rd graders have just completed their Data unit!  They are able to gather and represent data on bar graphs and line plots.  Outliers, mode, data concentration/clusters, and range are just a few observations that we can make about different types of data.  Next week, we are getting back into our Addition and Subtraction unit and we’ll be looking at the 1,000 chart!  Get those digit cards out and ready because Close to 100 is back in our game rotation and should be at home too!  Please read the math unit packet that is being sent home to know what the new unit is all about and ways that you can practice the math work at home.

 4^th graders are deeply engaged in their data unit right now!  They are investigating data collection/representation and thinking critically about what the data means and what we can learn from it.  Sound similar to what the 3^rd graders   have been doing?  Well, it is!  That is the beauty of the TERC math curriculum.  Each concept is addressed again and becomes more complex as the students grow in their mathematical development. 

We love having parent chaperones on our field trips! 

If you can attend our upcoming trip, please let Jayme or Tamara know.  Thanks!

UPCOMING DATES

Natural History Museum Trip              Monday, November 18

FAMILY DANCE!                               Friday, November 22

                       

Have a great extra-long weekend!

Jayme: jwoldflorian@smmusd.org            Tamara, Jayme, & Malaika            Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org

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CORE 3 NEWS

Thanks Daniel Kanan and Naren Desai and John Lusitania for getting the beautiful book shelves from Leslie Zuczek's client to Core 3!  Our books now have a fantastic home!  Thanks for all who helped to coordinate!

Not too late to register and sign up to walk with Team SMASH next Saturday, 16th (Genie will be there!) or donate to the Collective Voices Foundation who is providing SMASH with a grant! We want to keep our connections alive and show our support to organizations that provide so much to our education.  Please visit: http://walkforeducation.collectivevoices.org/teamsmash

~Astrocamp is Feb 19-21, 2014 for 5^th graders. If you have a balance on your payment it will be due in January. If you are unsure about what is left on your balance, please email Genie (ghwang@smmusd.org).

6th gr Math with Erin: This week the sixth grade mathematicians continued their study of fractions. Students continued to figure how to use fractions to represent part-whole relationships. Students also thought about the need to        consider the size of the whole when comparing fraction amounts. If one class raised 3/4 of $200.00 and another class raised 1/4 of $1000, which class raised more money? What if the second class raised $1200 and their goal was $1000? What fraction of the money did they raise? Please discuss these questions with your child if you have the chance.

5^th gr Math with Genie: We are learning how to play Close to 7,500!  So we've been using cards to play Close to 20, 100, and 1000 over the years and now 7,500.  If you had these 10 cards, 3, 2, 0, 1, 1, 7, 8, 9, 6, 1 how would you lay  out 4 digits + 4 digits to equal exactly 7,500?  __,__ __ __ + __,__ __ __ = 7,500  It is possible and you can share your strategy with your child and have your child share their strategy with you.  Keep talking about large numbers and how to add and subtract them!

Social Studies/Science with Erin: Students are really getting into the meat of their projects. Most groups have completed their preliminary research and are beginning to work on their presentations. Many groups are choosing to use the computer program, "Pages." Students are being asked to create an informational book and are being asked to choose from a host of other presentation options. If you have time to drop by and help out in the classroom, additional adult guidance is always appreciated as students put their project together. Please see the Tuesday email blast for specific times that your child is in Social Studies.

Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We started The Giver and realize beginnings of books can be confusing and science fiction can also be a challenge when figuring out what is happening.  We are taking notes and writing  questions down.  We know Jonas is the main character and he has a little sister Lily and a mom and a dad who share a community ritual to share their feelings every day after their evening meal.  Sounds pretty normal?  But they don't really know what an animal is.  Jonas has only seen an airplane once which was a mistake.  Babies are raised by Nurturers and given to families.  And there is something mysterious called 'being released' which is something of a punishment except babies and elders are sometimes 'released' not as a punishment.  And Jonas has light eyes while most people in their community have dark eyes.  We have to read on to find out what is going on!  Final Debate Performances will take place on Tues 11/19 from 1:10-3:00 for Green and Fri 11/22 from 8:40-10:30 for Pink.  

Word Study: Once a week on Mondays we have a quick 15 min word study lesson. Up until now, we've been looking at vowel digraphs, two vowels that make a sound.  For example we know that ei can make the 'e' (as in seize, receive) or the 'a' sound (as in vein, neighbor). We realized it's hard to know which vowel digraphs are the right one sometimes and the best way is to look at a word or to ask someone who knows. Spelling is hard! It helps to take time sometimes   to choose a word we misspell and think of ways to remember how to spell it correctly. Taking teachable moments to help your child with spelling by talking about how words are spelled will help your child's spelling.  We will move to syllables and how they help us think through how to spell words.

Homework:

5G math: packet #11. Due 11/15/13

RW: read every day for 30-40 minutes (around 100 pages a week)

Nonfiction reading sheet—complete front and back by Wednesday (11/13)

WW: collect 3 entries (full pages) in writing notebook each week. Will be checked on Wednesdays. Entries can be  writing about anything—fiction, reflections, book reviews, memoirs, articles, debates, essays, etc.

Remember—NO SCHOOL on Monday!

Genie:ghwang@smmusd.org                                                                              Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org

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CORE 4 NEWS

Social Studies: Students have two more weeks to work on their world region project in preparation for our travel      fair  to be held on November 22 at 10:30. Parents are invited to join us.  The students are in their final stages of their group project about a specific region of the world and they are currently working on designing their individual service learning abroad trip. 

Science: Students have been learning about photosynthesis.

7th Grade Math: Students should be finishing up chapter completing chapter 4. 

8th Grade Math

Group Fire - They are currently working on Chapter 4 and the benchmark assessment for chapter 4 is on Nov. 20.  The Chapter 3 Assessment results will be available next week.

Group Ice - They are currently working on Chapter 5 and the benchmark assessment for chapter 5 is on Nov. 20.  Please check in with your child about the Chapter 4 Assessment.

Book Club: We had a great day of presentations this past Wednesday from skits, talk shows, and tableaux.  We also had a gallery walk to view posters, timelines, comics, and character books.  Congratulations to your child’s hard work and perseverance on this project.

Reminders

We are having our Yosemite general meeting is on Wednesday, November 13 at 6 p.m.  Please plan on joining us for this meeting.

Letter of Recommendations for private school -  Please get any letters to us as soon as possible.  We will write them between now and Thanksgiving.  Please provide a envelope with a stamp and school address.

Important Dates

Fridays, November 15,  - All Core Swimming at the Santa Monica Swim Center

Monday, November 11 - No School (Veteran’s Day)

Wednesday, November 13 - Yosemite Parent Meeting at 6 p.m.

Friday, November 15 - School Picture Make-ups

Fridays, November 22,  - Geography Travel Fair (No Swimming)

Thursday & Friday, November 28 & 29 - No School (Thanksgiving Holiday)

Darwin Mendinueto - dmendinueto@smmusd.org                               Pam Dresher - pdresher@smmusd.org

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