May 2, 2008

River Glen Elementary’s Camineta draws huge crowd

By Carol Rosen
Editor

For at least 20 years, River Glen Elementary School has held a Camineta in the spring. This year was no exception. But this year, the school crowned a king and queen.

The coronation of the king and queen took place on the bridge on the playground. Queen Suzanne Wolf, second from the right, waves after the crowning of Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio. Also helping are principal Mildred Arellano, left, event chair Anne Wilcox and Erin Wilcox, far right. Photo by Carol Rosen

The queen was parent Suzanne Wolf who also works for the city’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department. The king was District 6 Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio, who delivered a speech in Spanish thanking the students, teachers, administrators and volunteers for their work and the honor of being chosen king as well as offering his support when needed.

Once the two were crowned they led a couple of games and Oliverio graciously took a turn in the time-out booth and the dunk tank.

Both of the latter booths are part of the Camineta’s fundraising efforts. Students use a ticket to put their parents or friends in jail for five minutes. They drop off the ticket with a name and the person called must spend his time there. The dunk tank drenches teachers, parents and guests. It was a warm day, and there were some that offered their services to the dunk tank numerous times.

The Camineta fundraiser offers a day of fun for the students, their parents and friends. This year included the typical walk-a-thon from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., an activity or game per grade—from kindergarten through eighth grades—raffles, a silent auction as well as food.

At River Glen, which is San Jose Unified School District’s only Spanish immersion school, everything is done in Spanish and English. Besides learning both languages throughout the nine grades in the school, every announcement at the fundraiser was in both languages. The food booth served tamales, Caesar salad and agua fresca.

Parents hoped to raise $50,000, and although the volunteers were still counting at press time, school officials indicated that their goal appeared to be on target. The silent auction, which offered more than 40 items, from gift baskets to homemade quilts and from jewelry to various works of art as well as activity baskets and different forms of entertainment, brought in about $10,000. The quilts were made by the kindergarten students and the bidding on these unique handmade pieces ranged upwards of several hundred dollars.

The money goes to pay for things that the school can’t afford on its own such as after-school programs, field trips and classroom books and materials.

“The future leaders of San Jose are here,” Principal Mildred Arellano said. “This school is a living example of our global economy. We are preparing our children for that world. Every year we have more than 100 children on our waiting list. We’ve had several kindergarten orientations with 40 to 50 families at each, even though we only have 60 spots open for kindergartners per year.”

Camineta King Pierluigi Oliverio spent five minutes in the timeout booth and the dunk tank. Photo courtesy of Michele Bertolone

A nearby parent noted that when their children made it into the school, she felt “like we’d won the lottery!”

School siblings are chosen first and then others are added. Once students make it into the school, few will leave, added Arellano. “We have a very small attrition rate among both our students and our staff adding a huge value to the learning we offer the children.”

Erin Wilcox, a former student, now a sophomore Willow Glen High School, noted that a lot of her friends from River Glen were at the Camineta. “Everyone keeps coming back because it’s like our home,” the young teen said.
It’s obvious the neighborhood and community also support the school, with a number of sponsors and members of the community helping to make the event successful. More than 300 parents volunteered to help put the event together and run the booths, collecting money or helping the kids.

In addition, Puerto Azul and Flores Construction serviced as the event’s major sponsors and the Willow Glen (Middle and High School) Foundation and Goosetown served as event sponsors. The school offers special thanks to West Coast Designz, Rivera Signs, SDS NexGen Partners LP, Oliverio, Tina West, the school’s room parents and a multitude of parent volunteers too numerous to list.

Anne Wilcox, chair of the event, noted a number of donors to the silent auction including, Anne’s Flowers, Ballet San Jose, Bill’s Restaurant, California Sports Center KIDS, Casa Casa, Children’s Discovery Museum, Elite Cleaners, Fitness Group, Fleurish, Friends of Hearst Castle, Great America, Happy Hollow, La Concha Spa, Let’s Play in Spanish, Lucia’s House Cleaning, Noah’s Bagels, the Oakland A’s, Out of the Envelope, Peets Coffee and Teas, Rosicrucian Museum, Rystand’s Limited Additions, Sam’s Downtown Feed, Sharks Ice at San Jose, Summerwinds Nursery, The Tech Museum of Innovation, Tutoring Club of Willow Glen, Urban Sports, Willow Glen High School, Willow Glen Home and Garden, Winchester Mystery House and World Centric.

The following people and families also helped to raiser funds: the Eisips, Davidson, McNeil, Martin, Soule, Schaller, Wilcox, Stearms, Ezalde, Kubota/Stromberg, Bertolone/Shebanow, Kuler, Luthard, Blitz, Chock and Martin families as well as Gemma Barozzii, Lita Kurth, Rebecca Mason and Alex Vargas.

The Camineta was still going strong when it ended at 3 p.m. Throughout the day, families and children came and went with a large crowd of at least 400 chomping on tamales during lunchtime.