June 5, 2008

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Ann Gregg Skeet named new president of Notre Dame San Jose

Ann Gregg Skeet joins Notre Dame High School San Jose as president of the school, following her position as CEO of the American Leadership Forum – Silicon Valley.

As president, Gregg Skeet assumes responsibilities of strategic planning, board development, fund development, alumnae relations, marketing and overall school operations.

Ann Skeet

“Notre Dame allows me the opportunity to be part of a faith-filled community that promotes women’s education and leadership,” said Skeet. “The school’s wonderful diversity, exceptional academics, commitment to community service and vibrant downtown location offer unlimited potential.”

A product of an all-girls Catholic high school in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Skeet is a magna cum laude graduate of Bucknell University and holds a master of business administration degree from Harvard Business School. She is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

“My own experience attending an all-girls, Catholic high school remains among the most positive and influential experiences of my life. It offered me the opportunity to try things and take on leadership roles I might not have had otherwise,” she said.

“We are confident that Ann’s passion for and commitment to faith-based education that develops the minds and hearts of young women leaders for the world today will guide her leadership in serving the mission of Notre Dame High School San Jose,” says Kathryn Kennan, Sister of Notre Dame de Namur.

Skeet will begin her role in mid-August. She departs ALF after eight years as CEO. ALF is a nonprofit dedicated to building a better Silicon Valley community by joining and strengthening leaders to serve the common good. Prior to ALF, Skeet was vice president of marketing for the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Newspapers.

"Thanks to the work of Ann Gregg Skeet, ALF today enjoys the highest level of Senior Fellow engagement in its 20-year history, is in a strong financial position and is well-poised to advance its mission of building a stronger Silicon Valley community by joining and strengthening leaders to serve the common good,” said Connie Martinez, ALF board chair and managing director and CEO of 1stACT Silicon Valley.

Skeet was a founder of 1stACT (Arts, Creativity & Technology) and held leadership roles on the boards of United Way Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County Partnership for School Readiness, Harvard Business School Association of Northern California, the American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Silicon Valley Conference for Community & Justice, Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, Stanford Daily and the Nonprofit Development Center, which is now CompassPoint Nonprofit Services. She currently serves on the Silicon Valley advisory board for The Commonwealth Club of California and the board for the national American Leadership Forum.

Established in 1851, Notre Dame High School is a Catholic secondary school that educates young women in the tradition of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, founded by St. Julie Billiart. The school provides a challenging, college-preparatory curriculum.

Local students win international art contest

Ten gifted, young artists from Cindy Art Studio in Almaden snagged top honors from the 2008 Pentel 38th International Children Art Exhibition, an art competition founded in Osaka, Japan and sponsored by the Foundation for Art Education of Japan with the corporation of Pentel Co., Ltd.

Judged by age groups, 200,000 students from 36 countries from around the world turned in personal creations to this year’s competition. Only 253 from the United States were presented with awards. All entries were sent to Japan for judging. The winning entries remain in Japan, or are shipped to other countries for international exhibition tours.

Kaitlin Kwong’s Maiko, a beautiful acrylic painting of a Geisha-maiko dressed in a detailed, red kimono, won the gold award. Kaitlin is an eighth grader from Challenger School. She has won several international and local art awards. Since the age of 6, she has always expressed a love for art and Asian culture. Her passions helped inspire her to create this painting, an artful blending of colorful patterns and oriental beauty. Kaitlin is still working on her drawing and painting skills with Cindy Art Studio, and hopes to be a great artist someday.

Calvin Le, a talented 11 year-old, received a silver award for his painting, A Sunset on the Atlantic. Le started taking art lessons at age 5. He has created many delightful artworks and won several international and local awards.

Six Cindy Art Studio students won bronze awards. Sixth grader Alysia Wang was one of them with her oil pastel, Happy Halloween. She thanked her parents “… for driving me these long distances so I could learn drawing and painting.”

Diane Hoang, who also won a bronze, is also driven to Almaden for art lessons from her Fremont home. Diane’s oil pastel painting, Puppy in a Basket, also took home a bronze award.

Another bronze award winner is Michelle Huang’s for Picnic Time. The 12-year-old from Sunnyvale Middle School never thought her painting would win anything, so she was very surprised to receive this accolade.

Wendy Nguyen from Leland High School , Mikaela Elardo from Bret Harte Middle School, and Diana Koo from Graystone Elementary also won bronze awards. Diana Koo got the inspiration for her tiger painting from her love of wild cats, adding that she enjoys doing art because she can express her feelings in her artwork, and in art there are no mistakes or limitations.

Eleven-year-olds David Zhang and Sonia Ruiz also won awards. Sonia is a fifth grader from Graystone Elementary and David a sixth grader at R.J. Fisher Middle School. David says he loves art because art is a way to release the artist’s mind, and art can tell a story without the use of words.

The artworks of these students and many more talented, young artists are on display for public viewing at Cindy Art Studio, 6952 Almaden Expressway. Visit www.cindyartstudio.net for business hours and/or driving directions. The students’ paintings will also be featured at the annual Almaden Valley Art and Wine Festival held in September at Almaden Lake Park.

Almaden Country School students celebrate Pioneer Day

Mrs. Griffith and Ms. Kuehn smile with their second grade classes after an event-filled "Pioneer Day" at Almaden Country School.

Almaden Country School second graders spared no detail when they got together to experience a day in life as pioneers.

From costumes to food to a history lesson taught by a strict, disciplinary teacher (pioneer-style), the children had a wonderful, educational insight into the “good-old pioneer days.” This culminating activity signaled the end of their social studies unit on our country and the life of pioneers as well as a great school year.

With their flying bandanas, aprons and bonnets, the children square-danced to build up a healthy appetite for the pioneer lunch. They learned how to shuck corn, make butter and bake bread which all went into the tasty meal. They topped it all off with watermelon and homemade lemonade made by hand. There was even a chuck-style wagon to grill their corn and hamburgers, with the help of parents. What better way to bring the classroom to life?

One of the highlights at the ACS Pioneer Day, second graders Ryan and Evan use the old-fashioned ice cream maker to make their own desserts.

The children participated in various activities, hosted by parent volunteers, based on the pioneer lifestyle. Their favorite was the ice-cream making event, where they got to make their own ice cream in an old fashioned ice-cream maker. That’s right, we’re talking about the old wooden bucket and churner! Sindhu and Marissa, two happy-faced second graders who were licking their sticky fingers, had only one thing to say; “This beats Ben & Jerrys and Haagen’Daz® any day!”

The students had a fun-filled afternoon playing games, shopping at a general store, cross-stitching and making leather crafts. They washed clothes and dishes by hand and even experienced how classes at school were taught in those days, including the dunce cap! The children were in awe and eager to touch the old fashioned tools used for every day things like ironing, hair clippers, kitchen tools and appliances.

With their gazillion questions, the most popular and frequently asked one was, “How in the world did they manage to live like that?” We still wonder that even today, especially without those dandy cell phones.

Seeking School News

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