Holiday Spirit

Eighth-grade students at St. Elizabeth Seton School, from left, Anayeli Lopez, Briana Diaz, Aaron Andrade, Jocelyn Galvan (center), Jimmy Paine and Angel Garcia, read about the physical sciences while doing classwork with their new textbooks in class on Dec. 7, 2017. Photo by Veronica Weber.

Posted December 8, 2017

Students given the gift of knowledge
Holiday Fund grant provides students with much-needed new science textbooks

By Alexandria Cavallaro

The classroom sat in captivated silence in late November as science teacher Scott Bell explained the day's lesson, lecturing from a pristine textbook. Each of the 27 eighth-grade students at St. Elizabeth Seton School, dressed in navy and red uniforms, had his or her own copy open and followed along. Extra science textbooks were stacked neatly in rows on countertops in the back corner of the room.

Eighth-grader Ashley Magallon, who has attended the nonprofit Palo Alto school since kindergarten, received her brand-new textbook this fall. Previously, students like Ashley and Aaron Andrade, who has also been enrolled for nine years, struggled to learn from books published in 2008 that were not only worn from years of use but were also on the brink of inaccuracy. Because the textbooks no longer met Next Generation Science Standards, a set of national educational guidelines written and finalized by 26 states in 2013 and revised periodically, science teachers had to seek out or create supplemental materials to adhere to the requirements.

"We had very outdated texts before, so it was imperative that we update the series," Principal Evelyn Rosa said.

With the support of a $10,000 grant from The Palo Alto Weekly's Holiday Fund and $5,000 from The Thomas Merton Center, St. Elizabeth Seton School was able to provide new Glencoe Series science textbooks and additional LearnSmart software for all 90 of its sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.

St. Elizabeth Seton School eighth-graders from left, Yamarie Martinez, Anayeli Lopez, Briana Diaz and Victoria Mora, talk with science teacher Scott Bell while they study about the states of matter while working from their textbooks on Dec. 7, 2017. The school purchased the new textbooks with grants from the Holiday Fund.
The textbooks fulfill the requirements for sixth-grade Earth and Space, seventh-grade Life Science and eighth-grade Physical Science curricula. Bell noted, however, that the Life Science books are also a great supplemental resource for his fifth-grade students.

The new books' detailed diagrams and the accompanying interactive software are especially helpful for English-as-a-second-language learners like Ashley, Aaron and their classmates, school staff said. The interactive software provides videos, review questions calibrated to the learning needs of students and the opportunity for teachers to include their own notes for their students.

Though students arrive at the school speaking English, the majority come from low-income homes in East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park, where English is not the first spoken language. The adaptive and visual elements of the new science textbooks and software are particularly key to helping this population of students learn effectively.

"Right now we're reading about atoms, and it showed a picture of what atoms are made of," Aaron said. The diagrams, and the way the book simplifies concepts, make the material feel more accessible to him, he added.

"The old ones, they would just have an excessive amount of information and wouldn't simplify it with how it is relevant to your life," Aaron said.

Ashley agreed that the shorter sections of the new textbooks make it easier for her to study.

"Some textbooks are way too busy, but these kind of hit the sweet spot," Bell said. He's glad that the new books are largely concept-based, presenting the core concept and then breaking the matter down into smaller, more digestible components.

After familiarizing students with the structure of the new textbooks, Bell said, "The next step (will) be to integrate the software without diluting the reading process we've established."

Bell said that the vocabulary of the books is slightly above students' reading level, but he isn't concerned. He prefers to "teach up," he said.

"It's above," he said, "but it's accessible."

To help students grasp the concepts and language, teachers take the time to work with students in small groups so that each can have individualized attention when working through more difficult grammatical concepts.

The population of students at Seton School is 80 percent Hispanic, with just under 10 percent of students from the Pacific Islands, and, according to Carmel Caligaris, the school's advancement director, the majority of students will be first generation high school and college students.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that, in 2015, about 50 percent of Hispanic East Palo Alto teens graduated high school and a mere 10 percent continued to higher education. In contrast, 95 percent of students from the Seton School graduate high school and 75 percent continue on to some form of higher education. The graduation rates among school alumni are a source of pride, not just for the accomplished students, but for their parents and the whole Seton community.

"We want to prepare our students to share in the prosperity that Silicon Valley offers," Caligaris wrote in the school's application to the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund earlier this year.

Apply for a Holiday Fund Grant

Nonprofits serving children and families may apply for funds by downloading our Grant Application Guidelines and Grant Application Form. Application deadline: 11:59 p.m. on Friday, January 12, 2023.

Make a donation
2023 Recipient Agency
Able Works$10,000

Acterra$15,000

Ada's Cafe$25,000

Adolescent Counseling Services$7,500

Art in Action$10,000

Art of Yoga Project$5,000

Aspire East Palo Alto
Charter School
$5,000

Bay Area Friendship Circle$5,000

Beyond Barriers
Athletic Foundation
$5,000

Big Brothers Big Sisters
of the Bay Area
$5,000

Blossom Birth and Family$5,000

Canopy$5,000

CASA of San Mateo County$5,000

Christmas Bureau of Palo Alto$7,500

Community Legal Services
in East Palo Alto
$10,000

Counseling and Support
Services for Youth (CASSY)
$15,000

Downtown Streets Team$15,000

DreamCatchers$15,000

East Palo Alto Academy
Foundation
$10,000

East Palo Alto Kids Foundation$15,000

East Palo Alto Razorhawks
Rugby Football Club
$5,000

Eastside College
Preparatory School
$7,500

Ecumenical Hunger
Program
$10,000

Environmental Volunteers $7,500

EPACENTER$25,000

EPATT (East Palo Alto
Tennis and Tutoring)
$20,000

Family Connections$7,500

Fit Kids Foundation$5,000

Foundation for a
College Education
$15,000

FRESH APPROACH$5,000

Fresh Lifelines for Youth$5,000

Friends for Youth$5,000

Friends of the Palo Alto
Junior Museum & Zoo
$10,000

Heart and Home Collaborative$10,000

Hidden Villa$10,000

Hope Horizon East Palo Alto$7,500

Jasper Ridge Farm$5,000

Kara$15,000

Lauren's House 4 Positive
Change
$5,000

Learning Home Volunteers$10,000

Mannakin Theater & Dance$5,000

Music in the Schools Foundation$7,500

My New Red Shoes$5,000

Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto$10,000

Palo Alto Art Center Foundation$10,000

Palo Alto Community
Child Care (PACCC)
$20,000

Palo Alto Players$10,000

Peninsula Bridge$10,000

Peninsula College Fund$10,000

Peninsula Healthcare Connection $10,000

Peninsula Volunteers$15,000

Pursuit of Excellence
Scholarship Foundation
$20,000

Ravenswood Classroom Partners$20,000

Ravenswood Education
Foundation
$10,000

Rebuilding Together
Peninsula
$7,500

REEL2e$5,000

Rich May Foundation$5,000

Riekes Center$5,000

Rise Together Education$15,000

Rosalie Rendu Center$5,000

Sager Family Farm$5,000

Science is Elementary$5,000

Silicon Valley Urban
Debate League
$7,500

StreetCode Academy$10,000

The Circuit EPA$5,000

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley$5,000

UNAFF (United Nations Association
Film Festival)
$10,000

Vista Center for the Blind
and Visually Impaired
$10,000

WeHOPE$15,000

WomenSV$7,500

Youth Community Service $25,000

Child Care Grants

AbilityPath$10,000

All Five$10,000

Children's Center of the
Stanford Community
$5,000

Children's Preschool Center$5,000

Covenant Children's Center$10,000

Grace Lutheran Preschool$10,000

Palo Alto Community
Child Care (PACCC)
$10,000

Palo Alto Friends Nursery School$10,000

Parents Nursery School$10,000

The Learning Center$10,000


As of December 7th, 161 donors have contributed $161,437 to the Holiday Fund.
* indicates amount withheld at donor's request

22 Anonymous3,820
Jerry & Linda Elkind250
Eileen & Rick Brooks1,000
Carol & Mahlon Hubenthal*
Peter & Beth Rosenthal 1,000
Linda & Steve Boxer*
Kate & Marvin Feinstein2,000
Nina & Norman Kulgein250
Alicia Newman50
Laurie Hunter & Jonathan MacQuitty1,000
The Havern Family10,000
Trish Mulvey100
Delle Maxwell1,000
Richard Johnsson5,000
Chris Logan100
Bruce & Jane Gee500
Ann and Don Rothblatt500
Lynn and Andrew Newman*
Robert & Micki Cardelli*
Boyce & Peggy Nute*
Diana Diamond500
Jean MacDonell100
The Ely Family1,000
Charles Smith & Ann Burrell*
Sally & Craig Nordlund500
Chris & Anne Saccheri5,000
Donna Bohling & Doug Kalish100
Margo Sensenbrenner*
David Kalkbrenner*
Daniel & Janis Tuerk*
Alan Cooper100
Roy & Carol Blitzer*
Barbara & Charles Stevens*
Susan Perry*
Elizabeth Salzer & Richard Baumbartner500
Betsy & George Bechtel200
Karen and Dick Olson500
Thomas Rindfleisch*
Bruce & Mary Beth Train500
Fran Codispoti250
Desmond Lee & Carl Jukkola150
Jane Paulson3,000
Michelle and Omar Baldonado100
Larry Hyde*
Jeanne Ware*
Judy Ousterhout*
Faith Braff500
Keith and Linda Clarke*
Tess & Eric Byler100
Bonnie and Bryan Street*
Kroymann Family250
Martha Shirk1,300
Charles Williams200
Jesse Dorogusker and Jennifer DiBrienza1,000
Arthur Keller500
Jean Dawes1,000
Marjorie Bridges25
Sallie and Jay Whaley*
Joyce & Gerry Barker*
Ed & Linda DeMeo500
Julie & Jon Jerome*
Leif and Sharon Erickson500
Cynthia Costell150
Veronica Tincher*
Chris Kenrick1,000
R Zuanich200
Judy & Tony Kramer*
Paul & Sarah Donahue2,000
Barbara Riper*
A.C. & Kathryn Johnston250
Steven Feinberg10,000
Bonnie Packer & Robert Raymakers1,000
Ellen Turbow500
Dan Pappas250
J. W. Morton100
Barbara Klein*
William Debord2,000
Bruce & Jane Gee1,000
Richard Johnsson500
Ken Bencala & Sally O'Neil100
Ted & Ginny Chu*
Dixie Storkman100
Greg & Penny Gallo500
Andrea B. Smith100
Andrea B. Smith100
Scott and Jan Kilner500
Ted and Ginny Chu*
Penny Barrett*
Kay Remsen*
Jody Maxmin*
Roger V. Smith500
Marcia & Michael Katz*
In Memory Of

August L. King*
Lew Silvers*
Arden Down250
Michele Wilson50
Hannah & Helen Peterson100
Paul Seaver*
Rich Hlava*
Walter Dean345
Bob Donald300
Jim and Dottie Mellberg*
Andre Jones*
Ray Bacchetti300
Jackie Boner*
Leo and Sylvia Breidenbach*
Thomas and Louise Phinney*
Jack Sutorius750
Jenna Hilleary750
E Yanosh ALT20
Werner Graf*
Aaron O'Neill*
Dan Logan100
Darla Tupper3,922
Bob Kirkwood*
Kathy Morris*
Bob Donald*
Nancy & Robert Lobdell*
Ruth & Chet Johnson*
In Honor Of

Brian Chancellor.*
Mandy Lowell*
Jill and Brian Bicknell*
The Liggett Family*
Marilyn Sutorius750
Bill Johnson*
As a Gift for

Sally Werling100
Businesses & Organizations

Judd Properties*
Agile Physical Therapy1,500
Harker School1,500
Bank of the West1,500
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative5,000
Kaiser Permanente5,000
Stanford Federal Credit Union5,000
Stanford Medicine10,000
Wealth Architects5,000
DeLeon Realty5,000
Wilson Sonsini Foundation5,000
Delores Eberhart DDS*
Peery Foundation 10,000
Arrillaga Foundation10,000

Past Holiday Fund Grant Recipients

2018-2019 | 2017-2018 | 2016-2017 | 2015-2016 | 2014-2015 | 2013-2014 | 2012-2013 | 2011-2012 | 2010-2011 | 2009-2010 | 2008-2009 | 2007-2008 | 2006-2007 | 2005-2006 | 2004-2005 | 2003-2004 | 2002-2003 | 2001-2002 | 2000-2001 | 1999-2000