Category: Student Life

Arts and Culture, News, Student Life

Poetry for You and Me

thelighthousetve

by Olive Pea

First off, Happy New Year everyone! Our Staff hopes all of you had a wonderful holiday season. Now that a new year has started we should all look back to see how far we have come and give ourselves a high-five for all we have accomplished! Don’t just look back, look to the future! The new year hosts many great and exciting opportunities for all of us. This article contains three poems that were submitted for our poetry challenge, so read on!

About the poetry challenge

Last month, our Staff posted a non-competitive poetry challenge. Submissions were to be sent to us by the 20th of December, and we got three fantastic poems! The submitted poems were to be posted in this very article, and never fear, we will not disappoint you!

Here are the three poems that were submitted by three kids from the TVE community! It’s not just poems that were submitted, actually, some art was submitted as well!

Christmastime

By Livi Skikos – 14 years old

Ornaments on every tree, some homemade of clay

People shovel snowy paths while candles light the way

Christmas cheer floods the homes of every girl and boy

Writing letters to the one who’ll bring them a new toy

Families gather ‘round to place a star on the tree

Children sled through the snow, feeling bright and free

Candy canes and silver bells remind you of the day

When Christmastime will come again, with Santa on his sleigh

HOPE

by Aleena Haimor

Hope is the bright flame

Like sunshine in the shadows

That I long to touch

Made by Max Yang

Sunfish

by Max Yang – 8 years old 

Sunfish, sunfish,

you remind me of a wish.

You are like the sun drifting away.

You remind me of the sun on most sunny days.

Oh oh, sunfish,

In my dreams,

you keep me company.

In the Monterey Bay Aquarium,

you wait for me.

Congratulations to all three of you! Give yourself a nice pat on the back for your hard work. These three poems are a joy to read!

These poems were read by our Staff, and were given these titles in the following categories:

Christmastime – Best Rhymes and Most Joyful

Hope – Best Topic

Sunfish – Brightest and Most Creative

We hope that all those who read these poems enjoyed them as much as we did. And a big virtual high-five to the participants. Once again, Happy New Year!

News, Student Life

The Terrific Train of Lights

thelighthousetve

by Lydia Martinov

Winter time? Check! Cars? Check! Hot Cocoa? Check! Thousands of lights? Check!  With holiday decorations inside and out, the Train of Lights is ready to choo-choo down the tracks. The antique coaches are quite a sight, especially in the open cars which feature wonderful views of the train. This one and a half hour ride is a truly fun activity, surrounded by a mesmerizing holiday atmosphere. The journey offers a “rare opportunity to experience a train ride through Niles Canyon at night,” as described on the Niles Canyon Railway website. It goes round trip through the Niles Canyon. With Santa Claus hitching a ride too, children of all ages can enjoy his company and the beautiful sights. The Train of Lights comes every year to take people on a Christmas-approved journey during November and December evenings.

The tickets to the train sell out very quickly, so it is recommended to purchase them months in advance. They go on sale on the Niles Canyon Railway website on October 1st, and sell out within the first couple of hours on the same day. First class tickets are sold at a higher price, and sell out even faster. These tickets come with extra perks, such as unlimited free hot chocolate, cookies, other snacks, and access to the exclusive first class cars. After the tickets are purchased, people arrive at the Niles Canyon Railway at the appointed time. The crew on the Train of Lights is made up of very knowledgeable and kind volunteers. Once everybody gets on and takes their seats, the conductor starts the train. You can walk through all the cars, which include the gift shop, a snack car (with snacks for purchase), a couple of open-air cars and uniquely decorated coach cars. Maybe, while you walk through the cars, you’ll find Santa Claus! You can take a picture with him, or ask him a question. 

I took a ride on the Train of Lights to take pictures for you to see. As one of my fellow passengers said, “The beauty of the train doesn’t show as well through photos, as it would in person.”  Here are some of them:

The train turning past a train crossing through the dome car window:

Photo by Lydia Martinov

Inside of one of the cars:

Photo by Lydia Martinov

Some fun Christmas decor

Photo by Lydia Martinov

Enjoying the view in an open car:

Photo by Lydia Martinov

Beautifully decorated open car:

Photo by Lydia Martinov

Some of the cars get pretty busy:

Photo by Lydia Martinov

The outside of the train:

Photo by Lydia Martinov

According to Jaqcuez Verdier, a first-class Dome car volunteer, “There are over a million Christmas lights on the train.” The reason it is called the Train of Lights is because each car is decorated by many lights, which in turn, are powered by 2 generators. 

When Santa came to the car we were in, my sister asked what he would like for Christmas. He said “I would like for all of the boys and girls to get what they wanted for Christmas this year.”

Santa!!!:

Photo by Lydia Martinov

The Train of Lights is a truly magical thing. Maybe you can take a ride someday, and see Santa in person. Don’t forget to have a cup of hot cocoa, and ask the volunteers about the train. They are very knowledgeable. Have a wonderful 2023!

More information at:

Train of Lights

Arts and Culture, News, Student Life

Poetry Submission Competition!

thelighthousetve

by The Lighthouse Staff

Hello TVE Kids and Teens!

Time for a poetry challenge! The staff of The Lighthouse (TVE’s own student-led newspaper) invites one and all to take part in our first ever poetry competition! Don’t be afraid to let your creative ideas run wild and why not show them off? We look forward to reading your submissions and getting inspired by your beautiful words! You could even share your poems with your parkday friends. Here are the rules. First off, YOUR POETRY MUST COME OUT OF YOUR OWN CREATIVE MIND. No quoting Edger Allen Poe, people! Second off, NO EXPLICIT LANGUAGE OR CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS. We will not accept any foul poetry submissions. Third off, WE ACCEPT ALL TYPES OF POETRY! We don’t hold grudges against haikus or anything.

POETRY IS TO BE SUBMITTED BY THE 20th OF DECEMBER.

You can SUBMIT YOUR POEM AT: thelighthousetve@gmail.com

Our staff will decide who wins in each category, then we will email everyone to congratulate them for their hard work and receive an online certificate! ALL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE POSTED IN THE LIGHTHOUSE NEWSPAPER ON THE 5th OF JANUARY. (Unless you instruct us not to.)

HAVE FUN HAIKU

WE WISH YOU GOOD LUCK

HAVE FUN BEING CREATIVE

YOU CREATIVE KIDS!

Sincerely,

-The Lighthouse staff

Home, Student Life

The Lighthouse is Back from Summer!

thelighthousetve

by Olive Pea

What’s that smell? Wow! It sure smells good. Is that the smell of new paper, new pencils, and new notebooks with spines yet to be broken? Wait just a second! That means… (Drum roll) The beginning of the homeschool year has started! (Thunderous applause) And that means that the TVE Lighthouse is up and running again! The Lighthouse staff have put together a fun poetry challenge for all you TVE kids, to kick off this new and fantastic school year! But before I give you the poetry challenge guidelines, let me introduce you to The Lighthouse staff!

THE LIGHTHOUSE STAFF

The Lighthouse newspaper has been up and running, going on two years now, and as of last year, the lighthouse has welcomed new staff members into the group! Here is our new staff thus far!

Ava Salado – Editor-In-Chief

Meru S. – Fiction Section Editor / A&E Editor

Lydia I. Martinov – Science Editor

Liam P. – Photographer & Videographer

Olive Pea – Student Life Editor

Don’t forget to check for new articles! Our staff writes up awesome articles that are edited and uploaded to the Lighthouse Newspaper for you to read every other Thursday of the month.

Wait! Hold your horses! Don’t get too excited yet, I will tell you all about the poetry challenge in just a moment, I just need to give you a list of the upcoming events first. Ok, here it is.

UPCOMING EVENTS

All year long – Weekly Parkdays

October 2022 – The Harvest Dance 

Spring 2023 – Knowledge Fair

Spring 2023 -The Teen Formal

May 2023 -Graduation and Promotion Ceremony

May 2023 – Not End of the School Year Picnic (NETSY)

TVE Leaders have also organized a fundraiser for the TVE events. The ID Fundraiser runs now through the end of September. You can participate by going onto the TVE Facebook page, where you can get the student and teacher ID form and instructions.

POETRY CHALLENGE TIME!

Alright. Time for the poetry challenge. First off, YOUR POETRY MUST COME OUT OF YOUR OWN CREATIVE MIND. No quoting Edger Allen Poe, people! Second off, NO EXPLICIT LANGUAGE. We will not accept any foul poetry submissions. Third off, WE ACCEPT ALL TYPES OF POETRY! We don’t hold grudges against haikus or anything. POETRY IS TO BE SUBMITTED ON THE 23rd OF SEPTEMBER. You can SUBMIT YOUR POEM AT: thelighthousetve@gmail.com. Our staff will decide who wins first place, and whoever gets first place will be messaged personally by a member of our staff to congratulate you for your hard work! ALL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE POSTED IN THE LIGHTHOUSE NEWSPAPER ON THE 29th OF SEPTEMBER.

Our staff is hoping to see some truly creative poetry pieces on the 23rd of September. Until then:

HAVE FUN HAIKU

WE WISH YOU GOOD LUCK

HAVE FUN BEING CREATIVE

YOU CREATIVE KIDS!

Home, News, Student Life

We invite you to join us at The Lighthouse

thelighthousetve

by Ava Salado

Hello future journalists! Have you ever wanted to write? Let me elaborate, not just write short ‘thank you’ notes for those gifts your friends gave you at your birthday party or long, drawn out essays about George Washington for school. I mean writing stuff that you are interested in! From Leaping Blennies, flatulence facts, to on-site coverage of Tri-Valley Explorers events. We pride ourselves on being a pretty versatile newspaper. Now, being back from summer break, we are inviting you to be a part of our staff! We accept students from ages 11-18 with a love, passion, and drive for creative writing. Contact us to find out where our bi-weekly meetings are located, when they start and end, and all those other lovely details! At these meeting we will discuss:  

First, how to write interesting, engaging, and proper articles.

Second, our upcoming publishing. Are there any TVE events, world events, or just… cool stuff you would like to write about?

And sometimes we just mess around and play fun writing related games and activities! 

These are the jobs we have open:

Copy Editor

In addition to writing for the publication, this person is responsible for editing all copies in the newspaper. This staff member is responsible for checking grammar, spelling (including names), and mechanics. Additionally, the copy editor will also be responsible for fact checking..

News Editor

In addition to writing for the publication, this person is responsible for making sure that all news stories are assigned and written on time. Each section editor is also responsible for keeping their section populated with new stories and properly updated with current events. 

Sports Editor

In addition to writing for the publication, this person is responsible for making sure that all sports stories are assigned and written on time. Each section editor is also responsible for keeping their section populated with new stories and properly updated with current events.

Op/Ed Editor

In addition to writing for the publication, this person is responsible for making sure that all opinion and editorial stories are assigned and written on time. Each section editor is also responsible for keeping their section populated with new stories and properly updated with current events. 

Just because you have a specific title like, let’s say “Op/Ed Editor” does not mean you can’t write something in the “Sports Section”. Your interests are the most important thing! For all jobs what we ask is that you:

  1. Try your absolute hardest to produce good and clean work. Yes, we do have Copy Editors, but it is our job to do our best and reach our amazing potential.
  1. Make sure you have at least one piece of work every month. We publish twice a month. This is not necessarily a “rule”, but we highly encourage it to keep your author juices flowing. 
  1. Stay respectful in all you say and do. Let’s always keep in mind that not everyone’s passion comes with immediate perfection, we are doing our best and no one will ever be put down, mocked, made fun of, or scrutinized. Also, we promise that we will never be asked to read, spell, or do anything on the spot. I know how hard it can be when you are asked a question you are not comfortable answering. This is a comfortable space! 
  1. In your writings, we ask to stay away from political or ethical “touchy” topics and, of course, refrain from using any profanities, inappropriate subjects, gory pictures and so on. But to be honest, I know you all are too cool for that!

We invite anyone who has any questions or who would like to join to come — and see a meeting in action! This club will be in session until June 1st, 2023. From the Lighthouse staff to you, “we hope to see you there!”

If you are interested, feel free to email us at thelighthousetve@gmail.com.

Student Life

HOW Does TVE Leadership DO IT?

thelighthousetve

by Olive Pea

What is it like to run a homeschool support group with over 700 homeschooling families? 

I interviewed Rose Killion, a home educator, who joined the Tri Valley Explorers (TVE) homeschool Leadership Team in 2016.

Killion said her favorite part of being on the TVE Leadership Team is creating all the amazing events for the community. She also said her least favorite thing is missing part of the dances while she is sitting at the registration table. “But the benefit is that I get to say ‘Hi’ to every person that walks in the door,” she said.

Killion was recruited to the Leadership Team because they thought she would be a good addition. Killion said, “I decided to join TVE Leadership because I wanted to contribute to this amazing community.”

She also said that she has enjoyed being a part of TVE’s Leadership for the past 6 years, and will “miss being a part of this team as our homeschooling journey ends for my family in June.” 

Killion isn’t the only Leadership member retiring from the team, nearly HALF of the leadership team will be retiring this summer as their children age out of homeschooling and venture on to the next chapters in their lives. That will leave all the work to the few people who will remain. Nicole Pate, who has worked side by side with Killion for the past 3 school years said “I think TVE will have big shoes to fill when Rose and the other retiring Leadership Members depart.” Imagine! Only a few people running a community with over 700 homeschooling families! Leadership is looking for recruits, if you are a homeschooling parent in the TVE community now’s your chance to volunteer. Helping the TVE Leadership host even one event brings joy to the families and friends in the community. Here are the events hosted by TVE in order:

  1. NBTSY (Not Back to School Year Picnic)
  2. The Harvest Dance
  3. The Winter Holiday Party
  4. The Spring Fling
  5. The Teen Formal
  6. The Graduation and Promotion Ceremony
  7. NETSY (Not End of the School Year Picnic)
  8. Weekly park days in various locations
Photo by T. Salado

You can volunteer to help with an event today! If you are interested, please contact Nicole Pate on the Tri-Valley Explorers Homeschool Support (TVE) Facebook group admin page. The TVE Leadership Team hopes to hear from you soon!