Sonoma Valley school notes
Link Crew is an innovative and successful program at Sonoma Valley High School that pairs selected juniors and seniors, called Link Leaders, with freshmen. The aim is to help the new Dragons get oriented during the first weeks, and to help them navigate their first year of high school. An international program, it was adopted at SVHS nine years ago.
Thanks to the three teachers who are heading up the program – Veronica Gray, Tammy Rivara, and Anna LeSage – Leaders recently underwent their orientation and training, but this year it was all online. While the lack of physical contact between Link Leaders and their freshmen has its disadvantages, Senior Meg Jernigan, now in her second year as a Leader, pointed out that in some ways “it will force us to try harder” to connect with freshmen, “and be even more outgoing than before.”
Link Leader Wendy Eusebio, a junior, said she and her partner share 10 freshmen. On the weekend before classes started, she called her five, letting them know she was excited to meet them. She hopes to stay in touch with them throughout the year, remembering their birthdays, checking in to see how they’re doing, and to see if they need help. “I’ll be their upper class friend,” she said.
College classes for high schoolers
SVHS senior Gavin Blanusa and his mom, Selma Blanusa, recently announced the formation of SOAR, for Student Outside Academic Resource, a non-profit group they founded this summer to help Sonoma teens take college classes online. SOAR offers both guidance and financial support.
Blanusa described the program: “SOAR Sonoma provides navigation to students and parents to leverage outside programs available to our high school students. Our hope is to broaden students’ awareness of potential college and career paths and areas of study, and for students to explore new areas. We cover any and all fees and will buy textbooks. We hope our program will be impactful and meaningful for kids’ lives.”
Says her son Gavin, “As a high school senior, I am often thinking about future growth and opportunity. We created this program to encourage all students to look to their future and explore new pathways. I’m excited to help other Sonoma High students to achieve more and more as they expand their options. Starting this program together has allowed me to grow, and we hope it will be here for many years.”
For details and contact information visit soarsonoma.com.
Free library resources
This is a challenging time for our community and our schools, and Sonoma County Library is there to help with your back-to-school needs. Are you a parent of a school-age child or children? A student yourself? Maybe you want to enrich your self-learning. They’ve put together an extensive list of resources that you may find useful during the school year… and beyond! https://sonomalibrary.org/eresources
–Sarah Ford
