News from MCP Middle and High School

April 2012 Press Release: 

A VERY DIFFERENT SPRING “BREAK” FOR LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT

Student Goes to Washington, D.C. to Campaign for Epilepsy Education

Thursday, April 19, 2012. (Santa Cruz, CA)  Spring break wasn’t a lazy week off, or a stint at a warm beach for Santa Cruz local and MCP Middle & High School student Samantha H. She was selected from hundreds of Northern California students to represent the Epilepsy Foundation’s Kids Speak Up conference, so she spent her break in Washington, D.C. She visited California’s congressional offices to advocate for research and support for children with epilepsy and the struggles they face.

Samantha was in DC for four days, which included visits with staff for Representative Sam Farr and Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. “I didn’t mind missing my spring break,” Samantha says. “It was a great opportunity, and I was impressed with how supportive the staffs were. I tried to tell them what it’s like living with epilepsy and learning differences.” Upon her return from her visit, she shared her experiences with her schoolmates at MCP Middle & High School.

Samantha’s own struggles and successes at keeping up with school, despite the memory-erasing effects and time lost from frequent seizures are some of the topics she shared with Congressional staffers. Samantha has an amazing and positive spirit about the difficulty of going to school while never knowing when a seizure will hit her. She says, “An average day for me with seizures is just riding out my day–and then it’s like a normal day for anyone with ADD and dyslexia.” She notes: “Every day is a challenge, but I can get past it, because I’ve done that every day for almost 16 years!”

This year, Samantha has been able to achieve honor roll grades and the best scores she has ever received in mathematics.

 

March 2012 Media Advisory: 

MCP MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CHOSEN TO REPRESENT NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AS “KIDS SPEAK UP!” REPRESENTATIVE TO U.S. CONGRESS NEXT WEEK

(April 1st-3rd, 2012) MCP Middle & High School student Samantha H. has been selected as the Northern California representative for the epilepsy community’s annual visit to petition Congress. She’ll be in Washington D.C. next week as part of the Kids Speak Up! program of the Epilepsy Foundation. Samantha is scheduled to speak to California’s congressional leaders to advocate for better access to care, improved public education, and more research toward a cure for epilepsy. Her own struggles and successes at keeping up with school, despite being home frequently due to seizures, along with the memory-erasing effects of seizures, are some of the topics she’ll share with Congressional members.

 

January 2012 Press Release:

Small School Outweighs Everyone To Benefit Local Food Bank

 

January 10, 2012 (Santa Cruz, CA) The students of MCP Middle & High School of Santa Cruz, a unique school for gifted & talented students, including those with learning disabilities, donated 7,013 pounds of food–or over 350 pounds per student–to “Grind Out Hunger,” a program designed to help kids fight hunger. For their 5th year in a row, MCP students raised more “pounds of food per student than any other school in the area,” said Danny Keith, “showing that even small groups of people can make a big difference.” The students were out on Pacific Avenue downtown Santa Cruz in December, wrapping presents and collecting donations for their work–all of which went to “Grind Out Hunger,” a project of Second Harvest Food Bank, who use the money to purchase much needed food for distribution to the hungry in our community. The small school raised one of the top dollar amounts for Santa Cruz, competing quite handily against schools with hundreds of students.

The students of MCP Middle & High School of Santa Cruz, along with all of the local schools and organizations who collected food and donations, will be recognized at Second Harvest’s annual recognition dinner, to be held in Watsonville this March.

For more information, contact:
MCP Middle & High School (831) 458.9800
www.exploremcp.org

Danny Keith, Chief Development Officer, Second Harvest Food Bank (831)
722.2110, x217
www.thefoodbank.com