Staff-O-Gram · 2019. 10. 18. · Staff-O-Gram Glendale Unified School District | Glendale, California “Preparing our students for their future.” Page 3 16-17, Issue 4, November

Staff-O-GramGlendale Unified School District • Glendale, California

16-17, Issue 4, November 2016

“PREPARING OUR STUDENTS FOR THEIR FUTURE”

223 N. Jackson StreetGlendale, California 91206(818) 241-3111www.gusd.netBOARD OF EDUCATION

Dr. Armina GharpetianPresidentNayiri NahabedianVice PresidentGregory KrikorianClerkJennifer FreemonMemberChristine WaltersMemberSUPERINTENDENTOF SCHOOLS

Winfred B. Roberson, Jr.

Message from the Superintendent

Dear Esteemed Colleagues,

The future looks bright! As I enter my eighth month as GUSD’s superintendent, I am very pleased with the direction in which we’re headed. Whether you are a certifi cated or classifi ed staff member, I honor your professional work and con-tributions to GUSD’s success.

I thank you in advance for your ongoing student focus as we complete the last couple of weeks before the winter break. Today, parents have many options on where to send their students to school. With that in mind, we not only want our stakeholders to be satisfi ed with our educational services for their students, we also want to earn their loyalty. While we know that teaching and learning is GUSD’s business, our positive culture will be the competitive edge that makes us continue to stand out as the choice school district for parents and future employees.

For the past eight months my offi ce has paid close attention to creating our competitive educational edge by fostering a culture of caring, trust, and inquiry. Since the GUSD Board has made culture a top district priority, I would like your assistance in measuring it. In a few days, I’ll ask every certifi cated and classifi ed staff member to provide feedback by participating in an online culture survey. Your responses will be anonymous and will inform our future focus. The feedback results will be shared with all GUSD employees for refer-ence and planning.

I welcome your ideas and suggestions and look forward to engaging collab-oratively with you on behalf of GUSD students.

Your partner in education,

Winfred B. Roberson, Jr.Superintendent of Schools

Winfred B. Roberson, Jr.

On Wednesday, November 9, 2016, 30 Glendale Unifi ed School District (GUSD) administrators and California School Employees Association (CSEA) members participated in a special CSEA Shadow Day.

On this date, District administrators shadowed CSEA members for a minimum of two hours in order to allow administrators to learn what CSEA members do on a daily basis.

Administrators cooked food for snack, answered phones, cleaned campuses, and “assisted” in other activities throughout the District.

Human Resources assistant superintendent Dr. Maria Gandera said, “Thank you, CSEA, for the great opportunity to view fi rst hand how your daily

GUSD Administrators participate in annual CSEA Shadow Day

Glendale High School cook/baker Hilda Keshishian shows GUSD superin-tendent Winfred Roberson how to cook pasta for 2600 people! Mr. Roberson later worked in the cafeteria line.

Continued on page 2, Shadow Day

Human Resources (HR) assistant director John Gonzales, Nutrition Services director Jennifer Chin-Gonzales, Glendale High clerk Karin Bashian and receptionist Anjel Beshia, HR director Dr. Cynthia McCarty-Foley, Glendale High custodian José Ramos, and GUSD superintendent Winfred B. Roberson, Jr. (sitting).

Staff-O-GramGlendale Unified School District | Glendale, California “Preparing our students for their future.”

16-17, Issue 4, November 2016Page 2

contributions to our schools make student achievement possible. GUSD truly is a family comprised of teachers, classifi ed employees, and administrators.”

Our 2016 CSEA Shadow Day participants are:

Sharon Mark (Textbook Clerk) • with Jennifer Freemon (Board of Education Member)John Molano (Custodian I) with Dr. • Cynthia Livingston (Principal)Karin Bashian (Clerk) with Dr. • Cynthia Foley (Director)

Jimmy Muekay (Locksmith) with • Kelly Worley (Assistant Principal)Arturo De La Cruz (Electrical Tech) • with Kristina Provost (Principal)Valerie Burkhauser (Assistant, • Physically Handicapped) with Gioconda Padilla (Director)Richard Carroll (PM Leader) with • Rosa Alonso (Principal)Tommy Bashian (Heating & Air • Conditioning Mechanic) with John Eldred (Assistant Principal)Jose Ramos (Custodian) with • Jennifer Chin-Gonzalez (Director)

Anjel Besha (Receptionist) with John • Gonzales (Assistant Director)Hilda Keshishian (Cook/Baker) with • Winfred Roberson (Superintendent)Tim Gould (Custodian) with Dr. • Maria G. Gandera (Assistant Superintendent)Gerald Claxton (Glazier) with Dr. • Christin Molano (Principal)Luis Hernandez (Electrician) with • Paula Saavedra (Assistant Principal)Hilda Ginosian (Administrative • Secretary) with Rosabel Park (Assistant Principal).

Shadow Day, continued from page 1

Rosemont Middle School principal Dr. Cynthia Livingston delivered mail with custodian John Molano.

Left photo, Human Resources assistant director John Gonzales, 12th grade Glendale High student Meline Z a m a n y a n , Glendale High registrar Linda McReynolds, and Glendale High receptionist Anjel Besha.

Verdugo Woodlands Elementary assistant prin-cipal Rosabel Parks, Muir Elementary admin-istrative secretary Hilda Ginosian and Muir Elementary principal Juanita Shahijanian.

Wilson Middle School lead cus-todian Tim Gould and Human Resources assistant superinten-dent Dr. Maria Gandera.

Left photo, Glendale High custodian José Ramos (left) and Arturo Hernandez (right), with Nutrition Services director Jennifer C h i n - G o n z a l e s (center).

Human Resources director Dr. Cynthia McCarty-Foley and Glendale High Clerk Karin Bashian (seated) with Glendale HS assis-tant principal Dr. Alen Akhverdyan (standing).

Keppel Elementary School assistant principal Kelly Worley and locksmith Jimmy Mueckay.



Teachers are actively working on given assignments either with a partner or a group, just how student-centered learn-ing is supposed to look like, at the October Professional Development/Cluster training days for both Math and English Language Arts. The training revolved around instructional shifts that promote student-centered learning.

Dr. Sue Wheeler-Ayres (right) presents Monica C. Meyer of Jefferson Elementary School, her $100 California Retired Teacher's Association (CalRTA) Grant Award.

Dr. Wheeler-Ayres is president of local Division 11, Glendale

M a r s h a l l E l e m e n t a r y School teach-ers enjoyed a day of learning at the Educator S y m p o s i u m at the Autry Museum on November 5.

From left are: teachers Anna Yegiyants, Anita Jaeger, Jennifer Wick, Narine Hartonian and Kori Seaton with Marshall principal Carla Walker.

Teachers stay on top of the class

Foothill CalRTA which serves retired educators from Glendale, Burbank and La Cañada.

Three times each school year, 25 teachers are awarded $100 CalRTA Teacher Grants.

Teachers may visit the state CalRTA website at http://calrta.org/teachergrants/ to enter for a chance to win future grant awards.

Marshall cafeteria manager, Iman Kazimi (left), received a 100% score on the inspec-tion conducted by Los Angeles County. Principal Carla Walker recognizes her with a Paws for Praise!

Marshall Elementary custodians Mario Gonzales (left) and Mo Jones (right) received Paws for Praise from Principal Carla Walker recognizing their hard work and dedication to the Marshall campus.

Principal pause to praise deserving staffKeppel PTA cel-ebrated the winners, students, and all of the entries for the PTA Refl ections Contest. Keppel PTA set up all of the entries: photos, fi lm, literature, visual arts, and videos of music/dance entries. Along with the win-ners of each category, all of the students that entered the contest were recognized. PTA had a professional photographer to cap-ture all of the special

PTA Reflections celebration

moments. They also had parent volunteers set up the cafeteria with balloons, streamers, artwork, red carpet, and set up the dinner and cake. Keppel VAPA had a great evening celebrating the arts.

From left: District Council PTA president Neda Farid; PTA members and Refl ections chair-people Steve Kim and Lerna Amiryans; Keppel PTA president Alina Moradyan; and Keppel principal Kristine Siegal.



Turkeys invade Glendale Schools!Thanksgiving was celebrated across Glendale schools with feasts, projects and activities. Below are some of the ways students experienced this annual tradition.

The TK classes at Columbus Elementary School sang songs and enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast by the gen-erous donation of Conrad’s Family Restaurant.

Keppel kids celebrated in a fun but non-traditional way. They sat with actor Vince Vaughn on a segment of the Ellen Show which aired on November 18. Vaughn talked with the students about what they were thankful for this Thanksgiving. All the students were sent home with a $200 gift card. It was a fun fi lled afternoon with Vince Vaughn and spending time at Warner Bros. studios.

Monte Vista third graders’ Thanksgiving turkey.

Valley View's Educational Foundation (VVEF) held its fi rst annual Gratitude Gala to show its apprecia-tion to all the parents and community members who donated and support the VVEF during its Campaign of Excellence: Mission Possible. The gala was suc-cessful, as parents enjoyed a night full of food, dancing and fun at the La Cañada Country Club on Saturday, November 12. Auction items alone brought in over $5,000 and money was raised to help the Foundation meet its goal of purchasing the comput-ers. Appreciation was also expressed for people who donated items for the silent auction; free music by DJ Brandi Garcia and the photographer, James Hur.

The Foundation presented Dr. Reynolds and the Valley View staff a check on Tuesday, November 15, to purchase new computers for the Computer Lab/Media Center.

Clockwise, starting from right: Valley View parents sign up for the silent auction; Valley View principal Dr. and Mrs. Brook Reynolds starting out the evening with smiles; Valley View teachers Lisa Jenks, Cheryl Hamel, Elizabeth N e s k o v s k a , Emily Weller, Dr. Reynolds (prin-cipal), Christine Aroyan, Arus Boggs, and Vie Nazarian.

Kindergarten students at Mrs. Dana Coffi n’s class at Valley View Elementary show off the turkey heads they made for Thanksgiving.



Glendale Schools take every opportunity to use current events to help students learn. On November 8, schools created their own version of what voters do and what takes place at the polls.

At Fremont Elementary, the kindergarten students voted for president. This activity got the students excited about the election and a little insight into the process. The results were: Hillary Clinton (49 votes); Donald Trump (36 votes); and a write in... Duck (1 vote). They did read the book, Duck for President, so the write in made sense.

Valley View Elementary’s third, fourth, fi fth and sixth graders participated in a mock election, as well. The election was

From left: Iconic Uncle Sam, played by none other than Glenoaks principal Daniel DiMundo, helped to oversee the election at Glenoaks Elementary; Glenoaks students wait-ing to cast their vote; a Valley View student casts his vote; a ‘poll worker’ at Valley View collects the ballots.

The election scene at Fremont Elementary School.

conducted by Valley View’s Student Council with class repre-sentatives working as ‘poll work-ers’ to ensure that everyone had a chance to vote. The students lined up during recess and lunch and patiently waited for their turn to vote. The results were as follows: Hillary Clinton (49 %); Donald Trump (41 %); Jill Stein (5 %); and Gary Johnson (4 %).

Glenoaks Elementary shared pic-tures of their election scene.

The votes are in!

On October 27, the cast and crew of Crescenta Valley High School performed the play, Sleepy Hollow, to area elementary school students. Most of the cast and crew attended a CVHS perfor-mance when they were in elementary school, and they are now able to provide this same experience to a new generation.

After successfully present-ing an emotional produc-tion of The Diary of Anne Frank in the beginning of October, over 60 cast and

Crescenta Valley High presents a play to elementary school clusters

crew members working sound, lights, and stage presented another professional production of this spooky comedy that inspired many of the young audience members. CVHS presented two more performances of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on October 29 and 30 at the MacDonald Auditorium.

The elementary kids were awed and mesmerized, and the cast and crew enjoyed being the stars!

Left, the cast and crew of CV High’s ‘Sleepy Hollow.’ Right, a class from La Crescenta Elementary having their picture taken with the cast and crew of the show.



Parent volunteer Brandon Amann presented Meet the Masters to kindergarten and fi rst grad-ers at Monte Vista Elementary.

Students learn about a designated artist and then replicate his or her style and technique. This month’s artist is Andy Warhol.

Meet the MastersPsychologist Karla Walker, Teacher Specialist Chris Burt, Principal Rosa Alonso, Secretary Jo Anne Bell, in the back row, and Teacher Specialist Ana Tam and Clerk Lupe Orozco, in the front row, dress to stress the impor-tance of Scholarly Talk time to increase students' vocabu-lary skills as they engage in structured academic discus-sions. During this structured block, students are explicitly taught vocabulary, syntax, and grammar. Support staff reinforce how they are schol-ars at Mann!

‘Scholarly talkers’ proliferate Mann

Columbus Elementary Eagles have been named the 2016 OneGlendale Flag Football champions.

Columbus Elementary School fi fth grade teacher Collin Sasse proudly anounced, “We beat the (undefeated!) Edison Eagles 16-2 in the championship to take home the 2016 trophy!”

Meet the 2016 flag football championsValley View Elementary did it again! The school and its

very generous community collected a record 1704 items with only four days of collection. Last year Valley View col-lected over 1400 items, by far the most from any school before in our district. The Valley View Community is amaz-ing and so are the students.

Ryan Frankel, fi fth grader in Mrs. Briner's class, donated 91 items that he bought with his own money. He gave his mom 25% of his birthday money to buy food items for the food drive. Ryan said he knows he has so much and wanted to share with those who didn't have as much as him.

Alineh and Theodore Baghgedjian, fi fth graders in Mrs. Boggs class, donated 142 items. For the past 3 years, this sister and

Valley View's annual "Cans of Love"drive

Theodore (left) and Alineh (right) Baghgedjian donated 142 food item.

b r o t h e r team have brought in more than 100 items each Food Drive Valley View has had. Way to fi nish strong Valley View!

Monte Vista School third grader Caleb Burton displays neck-lace with beads he has earned for AR points. Caleb takes reading very seriously.

Accelerated reader

Keppel staff were “work-ing” a few extra shifts at McDonald’s in order to help raise money for the fi fth grade committee. The fi fth graders are raising money to go to science camp this year. The tip jar made over $100 dollars. McDonald’s is tallying up the sales from this night; they are donating a por-tion of the sales to the Keppel fi fth grade fund.

Keppel staff “working” a shift at McDonald’s



At the 8th hour of the 10th day of the 11th month, Lincoln Elementary students honored a dozen local veterans who served their country. Tears of pride by grandfathers, sons, and dads were shed with students as these heroes from the US Marines, US Navy, and US Army were recognized for their duty in campaigns during Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea, or World War II. Everyone in attendance learned why the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is a critical moment in world history and the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

Lincoln student council honors veterans

A student’s grandfather is honored.

A proud daughter with her vet-eran dad.

Lincoln education assistant Melinda Lanzafame and her son Nicholas Lanzafame.

Lincoln principal Stephen Williams with the student council who helped make this event possible.

Proud moment for father and son.Granddaughters’ shining moment with grandfather.

Lincoln Elementary honored their most important veteran, custodian Ronald Mortensen, who served in the Navy.

Another grandfather is honored by grandson.

Valley View Elementary was very fortunate to have a World War II veteran skype with their fourth, fi fth and sixth graders on November 10. Calvin Shepherd, 91, is the grand-father and great-grandfather of one of the families at Valley View. Nicci Bates (grand-daughter and Valley View Education Foundation President) organized the assembly and gave the students an opportunity to skype with her grandfather, who lives in Chicago.

Calvin C. Shepherd has been retired for a number of years now. He is a widower, father of fi ve, grandfather of nine, great grandfather of 14, and great, great-grand-father of two. Mr. Shepherd never spoke much of being in WWII until four years ago when President Barrack Obama and Congress decided to acknowledge the Montford Point Marines with the Congressional Gold Medal. Since then, he has spoken at sev-eral events and schools and appeared in several local newspapers. Of the 20,000 Montford Point Marines, there are less than 400 of the men living today.

Valley View’s Veteran’s Day assembly

Nicci Bates assists student J.J. Runnels with a question about Mr. Shepherd’s military service.

Students greet Calvin Shepherd as they began their Skype session.

This past August, there was a new memorial dedicated to the Montford Point Marines. The Marine Museum in Quantica, Virginia also has dedicated a portion of the museum to the Montford Point Marines and has Mr. Shepherd’s uniform on display at the museum, as well as some photos and a plaque about him.

Mr. Shepherd lives alone in his home in Inkster, MI that he and his wife Prynsetta raised their fi ve children. He is a savvy man who Skypes with his family often and keeps up with everyone on Facebook. He is also an active member of his local Model Railroad Club.



December3 Christmas Montrose

Parade7 Principals for A Day,

Admin. Bldg. Board Room, 12 noon

13 Board of Education Meeting, Admin. Bldg. Board Room, 6:30 P.M.

12/21/16 - 01/06/17 K-12 Students Winter Recess. Schools Closed.

12/23/16 - 01/-01/17 District Winter Recess. District Offi ces Closed.

January9 Poetry Out Loud

Contest, Admin. Bldg. Board Room, 4 P.M.


21 Clark Magnet HS Open House, 11 A.M.

February7 Board of Education

Meeting, Admin. Bldg. Board Room, 6:30 P.M.

15 Elementary Magnet and FLAG Random Student Selection, Board Room, 10 A.M.


23 Hoover High School Open House, 6 P.M.

Halloween pictures from all over the District

Columbus Elementary School. It’s good to see the adults are having fun.

Glenoaks Elementary School. Let’s all hope princi-pal Dan DiMundo’s okay.

Valley View Elementary School. Staff dressed as emojis, and their favorite characters (left photo). The school had its annual Halloween parade. On this day, Valley View concluded its yearly Campaign for Excellence: Mission Possible whereby the class with the most donations was given the opportunity to throw water balloons at principal Dr. Brook Reynolds (right photo). Mrs. Gonzalez’ fi rst grade class won.

Monte Vista Elementary School. The busy bees of Monte Vista.

Rosemont Middle School. Rosemont ROCKS! is their battlecry. Respect, Owenership, Cooperation, Kindness and Safety. The offi ce staff and administration dressed up in their best Rock n Roll looks! (Photos by Leonard Coutin)

Keppel Elementary School. Ellen DeGeneres invited Keppel students to star in her show’s Halloween Segment. Students ranging from grades K-5 spent the afternoon on Ellen’s set at Warner Bros. studios trying on different cos-tumes for the segment. All of the students went home with an XBOX.

Keppel Elementary & Hoover High Schools. Each month, Principal Siegal and Assistant Principal Worley have a Play-with-the-Principals time with two lucky students from each class. Keppel’s Halloween started off with the principals spending time with the lucky winners from each class. The day ended with Hoover’s principal, Dr. Earl, and support staff visiting the students at Keppel.

College View School.

Staff-O-Gram · 2019. 10. 18. · Staff-O-Gram Glendale Unified School District | Glendale, California “Preparing our students for their future.” Page 3 16-17, Issue 4, November

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