Community News/Events

Menchaca Revitalizes Outdoor Learning Environment with Community Help

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Longer days and warmer weather give us the chance to get outside and focus on creative ways to bond with loved ones and selflessly serve others. Menchaca Staff, students, family members, and other volunteers helped put together raised garden beds, cleaned and painted tires, moved soil, and planted bare root plants, seeds, and bulbs. We’re so grateful to Nurse Heather Siebert for spearheading this outdoor learning environment update and gardening opportunity for students. Help was provided by Nurse Stephanie Guerra, Receptionist Meranda Zapata and her daughter MECC student Arya, Receptionist Rebecca Llamas, Principal’s Secretary Veronica Davalos, Pre-K teacher Adrienne Ortiz, student Jonah Huerta and his mom. Dual Language teacher, Mrs. Vanessa Guerra-Ledesma and her husband spent the day carefully sanding and then painting the wooden spools to become tables.

 

The goal of the area is to enhance the outdoor learning environment for our students. Students will still be allowed and encouraged to play in the area, but are learning to be mindful and respect the gardens and plants. Menchaca ECC will have vegetables, grapes, raspberries (thornless), blackberries (thornless), and all kinds, colors, shapes, and sizes of flowers. Phase 1 was just completed. There’s a dinosaur garden, a pollinator’s garden, a Dr. Seuss garden, and Gabby Del Angel‘s garden are all underway.
Additionally, just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes many to help maintain our outdoor learning area. ECSE teacher Katrisha Arocha and para Wendy Villarreal took out their students to help water and tend to the garden beds. Experiential learning in a garden teaches children memorable and valuable lessons as they learn how to plant, tend to, harvest, and taste their very own fruits and vegetables. This opportunity equips our students with the very skills they can then take home to help their parents learn. The opportunity for our students to learn and then teach others about it is an opportunity many their age do not receive.
This wouldn’t be such a success without the generosity of many! The Bexar County Extension Office provided several plants. Burning Bush Landscaping provided soil. Menchaca students, Alessandro and Xenovia Hernandez (and family) donated tires. Robert’s Tree Service provided tree stump stools. The family of MECC student Ivan Martinez Villeda and Head Start Monitor and MECC parent, Laura Turrubiates, also gave wooden spools for outdoor tables. The San Antonio Chapter of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association generously volunteered their time and gardening tools.

MECC’s 2nd Annual Fiesta Food Drive

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Menchaca Early Childhood Center is hosting our 2nd annual Fiesta Food Drive from March 27th to April 25th.  We are collecting food for the San Antonio Food Bank. The top boy and girl in each grade level (PK-3, PK-4, & Kinder) will be crowned El Rey de Comida and La Reina de Comida and lead our Fiesta parade Thursday, April 27th at 9:30am. Students take their donations to their teachers to be counted before being placed in bins.

Viva Science SA: A Free & Family-Friendly Event

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Viva Science SA is a free and family-friendly event that features a distinguished speaker, interactive science booths with fun activities for all ages, a science fair with posters by local scientists, science-themed artwork, delicious food trucks, and much more.
Saturday, April 1, 2023 from 9am – 3pm
Viva Science SA is designed to enlighten, engage, and excite people of all ages in the San Antonio community by displaying science in an entertaining fashion. The event is being led by The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UT Health San Antonio and graduate student leaders with the support of all schools at UT Health San Antonio and our partners in the community.
The goal of this initiative is to foster engagement between our (and your) scientists and the general public while showcasing the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) to San Antonio’s economic and cultural development.

KLRN Workshop at SHS on February 8, 2023

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On Wednesday, February 8, 2023, Southside Education Association/TSTA will be co-hosting a KRLN Workshop at Southside High School.
Building healthy eating habits in kids takes time, patience, and persistence but there are simple ways to help make food preparation and mealtime more fun for everyone. Using Sesame Street’s Communities resources will make Healthy Eating Fun! We will review videos, articles, and handouts that will make healthy eating fun for all.
We are asking anyone who is interested in attending to RSVP using the QR code on the flyer. Please contact mariaq@nulltsta.org or 210-862-7488 if you have any questions.

Menchaca Nurse, Heather Siebert, Receives SISD Education Foundation Grant

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After hearing about a similar program in a district near Houston, Nurse Heather Siebert, RN, BSN, NBCSN knew she had to bring something similar to Southside Independent School District and the young Cardinals at Menchaca Early Childhood Center. She applied for an innovation grant to have a teddy bear clinic. This teddy bear clinic will help our littlest Cardinals learn more about their bodies, how to keep their bodies safe and healthy, and what to do in case they (or a friend or family member) gets hurt. Remaining calm is key to responding to potential emergencies and the best way to keep calm is to have the knowledge and tools needed to respond.

Nurse Siebert says, “Emergency response in the Southside area can take precious minutes and anyone at any age can do something to help in those situations. Just because our students are young does not mean that they should be discounted to help themself or someone else. Age appropriate first aid can be the difference for our families.”

Superintendent Rolando Ramirez and Director of Communications and SISD Educational Foundation Executive Director Sylvia Rincon, presented Nurse Siebert with the check for $1,837! We are immensely proud of Nurse Siebert and all she does for MECC!