Tasting Week in Palo Alto

          Submitted by Rebecca Scholl 

Get your taste buds ready, Tasting Week is Coming to Palo Alto 

 

Here is a sneak preview of tasting activities going on in our community and at our school:

*   October 12: Launch of Bay Area Tasting Week in San Francisco at

the Metreon from 7PM to 12AM.  Click

here http://www.faccsf.com/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=346  to register.

*    October 22: A to Z salad bars and Cooking Demonstrations will be served at Gunn in the staff room at lunchtime. It is available to everyone who purchases hot lunch so remember to give your student money or put money in their hot lunch account by going to the websitehttp://www.sendmoneytoschool.com

* October 23:  Chef Jean-Yves Charron, executive chef at Galaxy Desserts (the makers of the famous "lava cake") will visit our school for tasting workshops in several of our classrooms. In addition 400 Rumbles whole grain baked crisp bags will be donated by Revolution Foods in the Student Activity Center in the afternoon.  Many thanks to Revolution Foods for their donation. At 3PM, Pinkberry will visit our campus to sell their famous frozen yogurt.

October 25: Pinkberry will visit our campus again.

*   November 11: Tasting Week opens up its doors to the public with a grand event for families from 10AM to 3PM at  the Presidio in San Francisco . Sign up here http://www.foodday.org/rebecca/bay_area_tasting_week. Many opportunities for Community Services hours if you like food and kids. Contact us for details.

 

Tasting Week is an association that invites chefs to schools to meet children and together discover, enjoy and share new tastes and food.

Tasting Week was created by a group of parents from Palo Alto who believe that educating children about taste is the best way to get them to love food and at the same time fight obesity. You can contribute to Tasting Week by donating herehttp://www.gofundme.com/17ucx0

 

More information on the Tasting Week website http://www.tastingweek.com or contact rebecca@tastingweek.com

Gunn Family Service Day, October 16, 2010

Diane Downend, diane@edenbridgehomes.com

com·mu·ni·ty // [kuh-myoo-ni-tee]
–noun, plural -ties.
a group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists. Example: the Gunn community

October 16th is a day for the Gunn community to reinforce its ties and to help the broader community in just a handful of hours. YCS is sponsoring Gunn Family Service Day. Students and their families are invited to select one of three venues to volunteer their morning. Let’s join together to make a difference to non-profit organizations that make a meaningful and beneficial impact close to home. Just click on the listed Jooners link to volunteer for the venue of your choice. Gunn students, parents and siblings are encouraged to attend!

• Resource Area for Teachers (9am to Noon) (www.raft.net)
  Sign Up: http://www.jooners.com/guest?t=help&p=none&l=-6b400945:12a5c7c6341:-685f
  RAFT has developed extensive community relationships and an innovative process for converting commonly discarded business materials into learning activity kits with the help of thousands of volunteers. This supports teachers and preserves the environment. RAFT serves as a professional organization for classroom teachers, and community-based organizations engaged in learning activities. Gunn Parents Community Service Boosters Volunteer Contact:
  Diane Downend diane@edenbridgehomes.com
  
  This is the venue for green motivated, creative-minded Gunn students and families!



• Save the Bay (9:30am to 1:00pm) (www.savesfbay.org)
  Sign Up: http://www.jooners.com/guest?t=help&p=none&l=77c78bbe:128e9048802:-2dc0
  Save The Bay is the largest regional organization working to protect, restore and celebrate the great natural treasure of our San Francisco Bay by advocating for strong policies that protect the Bay from pollution and inappropriate shoreline development and restoring habitat to re-establish 100,000 acres of wetlands. Gunn Parents Community Service Boosters Volunteer Contact:
  Estee Greif esteeg@stanford.edu
  
  This is the venue for environmentalists at heart!



• Ecumenical Hunger Program (9:30am to 1:00pm) (www.ehpcares.org)
  Sign Up: http://www.jooners.com/guest?t=help&p=none&l=-6b400945:12a5c7c6341:-67ac
  EHP provides food, clothing, household essentials, support and referral services to those in need.
  EHP is a sustainable resource within the community working to break the cycle of poverty. EHP distributes clothing, furniture, appliances, and household essentials, such as blankets, sheets, and dishes. Gunn Parents Community Service Boosters Volunteer Contact:
  Wendy Kandasamy wendyk@gmail.com
  
  This is the venue for those of you with a passion to fight hunger & homelessness.

Come together to meet all participants and celebrate the morning’s accomplishments…
All volunteers are invited to a barbecue at Robles Park, 4116 Park Avenue from 1-3:00pm
RSVP: http://www.jooners.com/guest?t=help&p=none&l=7191903:12a66ee70b0:-799a

350 Days of Action! Global Warming Awareness Event

Lisa Altieri, Coordinator for the Barron Park Green Team
Wook Lee, Coordinator for the Gunn High School Green Team

The Gunn High School Green Team and the Barron Park Green Team are partnering together for an event to raise awareness about Global Warming. This event is part of an international day of climate action awareness organized by 350.org. (For more information, visit the 350.org website.) The purpose of the event is to bring awareness to the number 350 - an internationally recognized number representing the highest level of carbon dioxide (ppm) in our atmosphere that we can maintain and still avoid serious climate change. We are currently at 387 so we have some work to do. The events are supposed to be visual, fun and creative! The event details:

When: Saturday, October 24th, 1-2pm
Where: Henry M. Gunn High School Football Field
Event: We will be gathering to spell out a big 350 with people on the field. If possible, wear Gunn High School colors (Red & Black) and Green to make the numbers stand out. We will also provide information flyers on the Global Warming goal of 350 (ppm CO2).

This will be a great fun event for everyone, children, families, etc. The event is open to everyone and free--we encourage all to bike or walk, if possible. Come join in the fun!

To help with the event, contact Lisa Altieri, Coordinator for the Barron Park Green Team at (650) 274-5171 (or laltieri@earthlink.net) or Wook Lee, Coordinator for the Gunn High School Green Team at sillywabbit92@gmail.com

Care to change the World: Start with the Gunn Community!

Gunn Green Team

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

Nothing is going to get better. It's not.
— Dr. Seuss, from The Lorax

Exciting new positions are now open in the Gunn Green Team including chair and co chair for the sophomores and freshman classes. Gunn Green Team’s Agenda for the year include the following:

• Data is now available on the Gunn’s usage of power, water and gas for the last couple of years. Here is an opportunity to find ways of reducing this usage and making Gunn more energy efficient
• Junior members are interested in surveying students on the means of transportation used to come to Gunn, and plan to use The Oracle to promote alternate ways of commuting to reduce their carbon footprint
• Acterra would like to help Gunn have an ecologically friendly landscape that reduces the use of water, fertilizer and pesticides
• Some Green Team members plan to investigate the implementation of composting at Gunn
• The Gunn Green Team will continue its on going projects of educating the students on sustainable living by a) avoiding plastics, b) use of sturdy water bottles, c) posters and videos to convince teens that it is cool to go green and, d) increase usage of biodegradable flatware and utensils at all Gunn functions.

Help us build a sustainable green culture. Gunn contributes to the community and society by training your students to be great leaders of the future.

• Encourage your students to join and take part in the Gunn Green Team projects.
• Give back to the school and community by mentoring in the Green Team and making Gunn families maintain a sustainable lifestyle.

A Green Team meeting to kick off sustainable activities for 2009-2010 school year will be held October 5th in the Staff Lounge from 3:15-4:00 pm. All parents, students and staff are welcome. Please mark your calendar for the following Green Team meeting dates: November 2nd, December 7th, (2009) January 4th, February 1st, March 1st, April 5th and May 3rd (2010). (December 7th and April 5th meetings will be held at the Attendance Conference Room.)

Green Friendly Back to School Tips:
Check out the following websites on products and general tips on how to make schools eco-friendly. http://www.newleafproducts.net/
Back to School with Less Plastic
PVC-Free Products (downloadable .pdf)

Email your suggestions or interest in joining to the Green Team. gunngreenteam@gmail.com

Experts say this global warming is serious, and they are predicting now that by the year 2050, we will be out of party ice.
— David Letterman