Principal Chrissy Schieferlie and 4Th grader Nathan Granados.

As students arrived for school at the drop of area Thursday morning they noticed something special had arrived for picture day. A mommy wildcat had moved her family of three little kittens into a dry drain just under the sidewalk. The wild kittens appeared to be about 5 or 6 weeks old and looked liked "little gray tigers". After the students settled into class the wildcat family was rescued from the drain and were placed in loving homes. Mountain Vista's school mascot is the "Wildcat", how perfect that cats showed up for picture day.

3rd grade student Jake Saviers and Custodian Jorge Negrette.
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Mountain Vista Elementary School would like to thank Moon Valley Nurseries of Piru for their shade tree donation and our custodian for coordinating the contribution. We are so grateful for the shade and beauty the trees have brought to our school. The students are enjoying the birds that the trees have brought and watching the trees leafs change with the seasons.

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On Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Mountain Vista Elementary School kicked off the Fillmore Library’s Summer Reading Program with a field trip of Mrs. Carolyn Diaz’s and Mrs. Diane Grants’ Second Grade Classes.

The two Second Grade classes comprised of approximately 45 teachers, students, and volunteer parents walked 1 ½ miles from Mountain Vista Elementary School to the Fillmore Library. In addition to the 1 ½ challenging mile walk the classes climbed 84 steps leading from the North Fillmore area to the top near the Fillmore Middle School. After the program, put on by the Fillmore Library, the classes had a sack lunch picnic in Shiells Park before returning to class and the rest of their studies.

Of note is that this will be the last field trip for Mrs. Diaz who is retiring on June 5, 2009 after 33 years of teaching in the Orange, Norwalk and Anaheim School Districts. Mrs. Diaz has taught the last twenty-four years in the Fillmore Unified School District at the school sites of; Piru Elementary, Sespe Elementary and finally Mountain Vista Elementary. Mrs. Diaz received her education from Chapman University, in Orange, California, where she earned a Batchelor of Arts and Master of Science in Communicative Disorders Speech and Language and from California Lutheran University where she received her Professional Clear Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. Mrs. Diaz also is credentialed as a Preliminary Resource Specialist and is a licensed Speech Pathologist.

Mrs. Diaz will be celebrating her retirement on May 15th at the home of Mrs. Priscilla Anderson who is also a friend and co-worker at Mountain Vista Elementary School. Mrs. Diaz states she will miss all of her students, colleagues and the special “Ah Ha Moments” she has been privileged to be a part of when that one student really gets it! Mrs. Diaz, in her retirement, will spend more time reading and directing the “honey-do’s” she has planned for her husband Dick. In addition there will now be more time to spend visiting with her family. There could there also be some “substitute teaching” in her future? Good luck Mrs. Diaz in your retirement!

Anahi and Pepper the Reading Dog enjoy each other’s company.
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Gloria and Mariah with the baby chicks at The Painted Pony.
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Pepper, the Reading Dog, and her owner, Sharon Clarke (who volunteers at Santa Paula Library), visited Miss Berrington’s first grade class at Mountain Vista School. The children had an opportunity to pick their favorite book and read to Pepper. Sharon also showed different tricks that Pepper could do.

Recently, Mrs. Potter’s class, Mrs. Henrey’s class and Miss Berrington’s class went on a field trip to The Painted Pony in Santa Paula. At the farm, the children milked a goat, made ice cream with goats milk, fed the farm animals and pet the chicks. They also had the opportunity to ride on the tractor. It was a fun and hands-on trip. Painted Pony also has summer camps. The day was enjoyed by the children, teachers, and parents.

Luke Myers
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The Area 5 spelling bee included schools from Santa Paula, Fillmore, Briggs, Mupu, and Santa Clara districts. Luke Myers along with Sabrina Vasquez, a 13 year-old student from Mupu, were both declared the winners after spelling all of their words correctly. Dillon Galarza, a fourth grade student from Sespe Elementary, is the alternate for the county bee. The county bee is on March 9 at 6:00 p.m. at California State University Channel Islands. There will be representatives from 10 area bees competing. The winner of that competition will be heading to Washington, D.C. for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Fillmore is proud of both Luke Myers and Dillon Galarza for all their hard work and for representing Fillmore so well! Please come out and show your community support at the county bee!

Mrs. Myers' 2nd grade class at Mountain Vista celebrated Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and the presidential inauguration by creating "Dream" t-shirts. Some of their dreams for the world are: no more wars, houses for all, money for the poor, no more drugs or smoking, everyone will have friends, and that everyone will recycle.

“The Marble Lady” (Cathy Runyan) helps Luke Myers bag over 13,000 marbles for the fundraiser.
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Marbles have been very popular at our school since it opened. Kids can be seen before school, during their recesses, and after school out in the yard playing “Poison” a marble game that is played in the dirt. They are so popular that there are school rules just for marbles.
On Tuesday, October 21, Mountain Vista had a special visitor. Her name is “The Marble Lady.” Her other name is Cathy Runyan. She is known throughout the country. She came to our school to share her love of marbles with us. She gave 7 assemblies about the history of marbles, her interview from the Today Show, inventions made with marbles, and taught us the National Marble Tournament game called Ringer. She set up mats with hula hoops and let every child play the game Ringer during the assemblies! It was truly one of the best interactive assemblies. She even tied in positive character traits, which is a high priority here at Mountain Vista, by using “Kindness Marbles” to remind us to do at least one kind thing for another person each day.
During the same week, we had a marble fundraiser to raise money for the classrooms. We have sold over 425 bags of marbles! The students are so very excited and the classrooms will benefit, also!
Marbles are amazing little balls of glass. They are so simple in structure, but can be used to do mighty things. Many inventions included marbles, they teach kindness, bring together children who may not normally get together, teach patience, perseverance, and just bring joy to a child…or an adult. If you have not tried marbles, give it a shot! You may find like many of us that even a teacher, a parent, or a grandparent can enjoy the game. Marbles do not discriminate based on age, sex, size, athletic ability, or race. So knuckle down and have fun!
*We want to thank Cathy Runyan, “The Marble Lady” for all of her excitement and for her love of children and marbles. If you would like to contact her, she can be reached at themarblelady.com. We would also like to thank Peter Caperelli at landofmarbles.com for selling us all of the amazing marbles and sharing discounts with all of the students.