Come help plan the 2013 Mountain Charlie Challenge. We are holding a meeting Monday February 11th at 7pm at Bruno’s BBQ in Kings Village Center. More the merrier! We have lots of little or big items to tackle. Plus, it is a really fun event.

The Mountain Charlie is a big event and we are looking for volunteers to help with the planning.  We have lots of jobs, large and small, that can be completed from home and in whatever spare time you have.  Please contact info@svef.net for more information, or visit out site to see the list of jobs.

SVEF is also kicking off its brand new Community Partner Program (replacing the Business Partner Program).  Our website outlines all the benefits of joining the program.  Our goal is to help local businesses by aggressively promoting their ongoing support of SVEF.  You’ll see our new banners highlighting our Platinum Sponsors hanging around town.  Just click on “Community Partners” on our home page (svef.net).

It’s not too late to donate to the Foundation in our bi-annual Ask campaign.  Simply visit our site to make a secure, tax-deductible donation or simply mail your check to SVEF, 245 Mt. Hermon Rd. Suite M #150, Scotts Valley, CA 95066.

We welcome all to our monthly meetings (the 4^th Thursday of every month, 7pm at Bruno’s BBQ).  Our January meeting will be on the 24^th.

The Scotts Valley Educational Foundation is honored to announced the Lynn Beebe College Counseling Grant, providing selected Scotts Valley High School students with financial assistance to obtain professional counseling and guidance as they plan for acceptance into college.

Lynn was a long-time and much loved SVUSD staff member. Her years of service to the students here included teaching, counseling, athletic coaching as well as athletic director. In her latter years she embarked on a new career as an independent, private college counselor. After her death in early 2012, SVEF collected donations in her honor and worked with her parents Jack and Jan Beebe to establish the grant and place it into an endowment fund. Lynn took great pride in connecting with students and helping them navigate the path to a successful future, and the endowment will ensure the grant’s perpetuity, keeping alive Lynn’s passion and dedication to students.

Applications for the Lynn Beebe College Counseling Grant will be available to SVHS students starting in March 2013, with the first recipients announced in May.  Continued donations will enable an increased number of SVHS students to be served. For more information on donating, click here.

The art show is a fundraiser event for the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter and will run from October 27th through December 8th on the 2nd floor of Bruno’s BBQ.

Click HERE to read the press release.

The new adaptive play area allows these students to stay within the district, smoothing their transition to kindergarten and above. The school district also saves approximately $80,000 per year in costs to secure outside-district facilities and transporting students. The adaptive playground area was funded by the Scotts Valley Educational Foundation.

In this photo, left to right, teacher aide Anna Sullivan of the Brook Knoll Eagle’s Nest special pre-K program, teacher Lisa Fenton, and SVEF president Allison Niday show Eagle’s Nest student Ava Reed the new play area.

The event is free of charge and open to the public. Senator Simitian will address issues related to public education funding and legislation in California, including information about the two tax initiatives slated for the June ballot, thoughts about the Governor’s May budget revision, local funding for schools through parcel taxes, and what community members can do to get involved in supporting public education.  There will be time for questions.

Everyone has a stake in public education. Please join us for this special opportunity to learn more about how these issues impact our neighborhood schools.

Please RSVP to Rose Filicetti rose.filicetti@sen.ca.gov , 831-425-0401 by May 8, 2012.

For more information, please visit the Santa Cruz Education Foundation website, the Scotts Valley Educational Foundation or the Santa Cruz County School Boards Association sites.

The Mt. Charlie Challenge is the Scotts Valley Educational Foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year.  Hundreds of bicyclists participate in 100-mile, 100K and 50K rides to raise money for our local public schools.  SVEF has funded critical services for our students, keeping our libraries open at all four schools, while also providing counseling services at each school.

We also need volunteers for the Mountain Charlie Challenge!!    Volunteers (particularly ADULTS) are needed in the following areas and MS and HS students can receive community service hours for their efforts:

• Rest Stop Staff – come cheer our riders along, provide water and snacks and log each rider as they go by!  Students and parents welcome here.
• Kids’ Races/Obstacle Course/Crafts table – volunteers here will help our younger riders learn about bike safety and go on bike rides in Skypark.
• BBQ – help our Kiwanis volunteers with food prep, serving and clean-up.

To sign up, simply use this link to go to MySignUp.com http://www1.mysignup.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi?datafile=mountain_charlie to choose your activity and time slots!

Volunteers are welcomed to purchase a meal and stay for the festivities.  Even if you’re not a rider, please join us to celebrate those who did ride and support our Educational Foundation.

Please contact Aura if you have questions at clendenen@earthlink.net or 247-4805.

The latest storm dumped over 40 inches of fresh powder up at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows…. and there’s more coming! There is no better time than now to get this ski season “started!”

Save 50% on tickets, rentals, and lessons at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows and help us raise funds for our organization.  In addition to the 50% you save, another 20% is donated to SVEF.

Click here for our Causera Spring Break Deal

Bring your friends, save money, support Scotts Valley Educational Foundation, and have the best Spring Break….ever