#EducationMatters

Two years ago, a then five-year-old Autumn Tognotti, who had just started kindergarten at
Chester Elementary, asked her mom Nicholle Crowther (Tognotti), a Chester Elementary
4th-grade Teacher, “When is the school’s birthday?”. When Nicholle realized she could not
answer her daughter, this simple but insightful question sparked a curiosity in Nicholle to
investigate the history of Chester Elementary School. In the process, she discovered that in the 2017/18 school year Chester Elementary would turn 70 years old.

Published on 5-31-18
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The Pupil Services and SELPA Department, headed by Laura Blesse, at Plumas Unified School District, is developing a new Parent Resource Center and is currently offering parent workshops in Quincy, Portola, and Chester to aid in meeting the needs of students and their families within Plumas County. Jennifer Kimball, the PUSD Special Education Instructional Coach, and Patty Llamas, the Bilingual Parent Liaison, are helping put this resource center together by creating a network and database of knowledge and resources for parents to tap into to get support.

Published on 5-10-18
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A huge congratulations to the Quincy High School Service Club - for winning the First Place Sierra Nevada Region - Outstanding Service-Club Award of $500 from the Soroptimist International-Sierra Nevada Region. There are 14 Service Clubs in the Sierra Nevada Region who had an opportunity to submit a 12-page application highlighting one larger service activity that the club organizes, along with other information about their S-club, and recommendation letters. The QHS S-Club officers this year decided to take on the endeavor and split up the application. Each officer completed a different section over a 6-week period. The club officers this year are Emily Walmer, President; Brayden McAllister, Vice President; Sylvia Wood, Secretary; Joan Frank, Treasurer; Benjamin Heaney, Public Relations.

Published on 5-03-18.
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The Plumas Unified School District 6th-grade theme is the Year of the Watershed. Both literally and figuratively, 6th-grade is a rite of passage year for PUSD students as they earn their stripes as true mountain kids and explore the many tributaries that create the Feather River Watershed.
Throughout the year, 6th-graders are immersed in the environments that they are learning about to fully explore the scientific principles they are studying, connect to their home, and foster a deep appreciation for and stewardship of the abundant natural resources surrounding them.

Published 4-25-18
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The Kindergarten Roundup is an annual collaborative effort of Plumas Unified School District and many county organizations to help incoming kindergartners and transitional kindergartners register for school, obtain their mandated physical and dental exams and have fun doing it! The roundups are orchestrated by the PUSD school nurses who work with local agencies to make the event a success.

Published 4-25-18
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On Monday, March 26th, Chester Jr./Sr. High School hosted its first World Cafe, organized by Chester’s Club Live, Friday Night Live students, and the Plumas County Tobacco Use Reduction Program. The World Cafe is an event on school campuses that brings together student leaders and diverse peer groups with adult leaders, to discuss a variety of important topics, including ways to decrease tobacco use and underage drinking, contribute to a positive school climate, and increase positive peer relationships on campus.

Published on 4-11-17
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Every year, Plumas Unified Schools welcome foreign exchange students from all over the world. Historically, Rotary is the host organization that facilitates these exchanges. Rotary both organizes the international students exchange and host families here in Plumas County, as well as offers students opportunities for summer and yearlong exchanges abroad. This year we have two foreign exchange students hosted by the Rotary Club, one at Chester Jr./Sr. High School and one at Portola Jr./Sr. High, as well as one student at Quincy Jr./Sr. High School hosted by a private company.

Published on 3-28-18
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Chester Jr./Sr. High School’s Almanor Research Institute and 6,000 gallon capacity hatchery was started by retired Chester High science teacher, Dave Bradley, in 2000. Now 18 years later, the High School’s Aquaculture program and Research Institute continue to create innovative, motivated, and forward-thinking scientists in environmental and fisheries science.

Published 3-21-18
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The path to career discovery and passion is different for every person. Some people are born knowing what they want to do, some people think they know what they want, only to find their calling is elsewhere; and still, others find that, in one way or another, their careers find them. Bianca Ruiz-Hernandez, a Quincy local, never planned on being where she is now, but as life would have it, she found her calling working with students with special needs and is currently working as the Special Day Education teacher at Quincy Elementary. The Special Day Class is for K-6th students with moderate to severe disabilities.

Published 3-14-18
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