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Student Exchange to Loreto, Baja California Sur Mexico

April 3rd, 2013

Have any fun plans for Spring Break? Well, some students from the South Bay are going on a trip of a lifetime to Loreto, Baja California Sur Mexico tomorrow, which is not only educational but a life changing experience.

Tomorrow, 14 students from the South Bay will be going to Loreto, Baja California Sur for the week for a Student Exchange Program that was started in 1967.

Loreto was the first Spanish settlement on the Baja California Peninsula. It served as the capital of Las Californias from 1697 to 1777. The city of 14,724 people (2010 census) is located on the coast of the Sea of Cortez, about 350 km (220 mi) north of the state capital, La Paz.

The town was founded in 1697 by Jesuit  missionaries, who found a steady spring of fresh water on this site, as the Mision Nuestra Senora De Loreto. The town served as the capital of the province of Las Californias from its founding until the capital was moved to Monterey on February 3, 1777. The town then became the headquarters for the Lieutenant Governor of California Viejo (later the province of Baja California).

The city is now a tourist resort, catering mostly to U.S. travelers, with daily flights from California to the Loreto International Airport (LTO). Many American tourists enjoy fishing in “pangas” for “dorado”. Local restaurants will willingly prepare the daily catch of the tourists. Loreto has a museum that coexists alongside the historic, but still active, parish. Loreto has active sister city relationships with Hermosa Beach and Cerritos California, USA.

There are 9 girls and 5 boys going. The students are from Manhattan Beach Middle School, Paris Middle School, and Adams Middle School – Manhattan and Redondo schools.

Join the fun and excitement of a lifetime in our delightful sister city Loreto , Mexico ! For over 30 years, the Hermosa Beach Sister City Association has sponsored Hermosa Valley School  7th & 8th grade students as well as students from Manhattan and Redondo in the past few years –  in a cultural exchange program between Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico and the Beach Cities of Hermosa, Manhattan and Redondo.

Students will live with a Loreto 7th or 8th grader and his/her family for 7 days and build a lifetime of memories with chaperoned daily activities and organized field trips. After all the fun, Beach Cities students will host their Loreto 7th or 8th grader for one week in July and show them our way of life here.

Loreto , Mexico is a safe and beautiful town on the Sea of Cortez. Chaperones will escort students to and from Mexico , match students to host families, and participate in the organized activities.

The students from Loreto will come to the South Bay during the week of July 12 – 19, 2013 and experience what life is like in the South Bay. The students will go to different cultural places, including museums, aquariums, theme parks, just to name a few.

 

The great thing about the Loreto program is that both Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach both have sister cities in Baja California Sur Mexico. Manhattan’s sister city is Santa Rosalia and Redondo Beach’s sister city has 2: La Paz and Ensenada. Both Mira Costa High School and Redondo Union High School have Baja Clubs and the high school students spend the week in Santa Rosalia or La Paz/Ensenada during the February Break or Spring Break. Therefore,  the Hermosa Beach program prepares the 7th and 8th grade students incase they want to continue with the exchange programs in High School.

The HBSCA Cultural Exchange Program was certified by the United States Congress, and entered into the congressional record of the 110th congress session. 

 

Free Tutoring at MBMS on Wednesday Mornings!

March 5th, 2013

Every Wednesday at 8 a.m. – Study Hut Co-Owner SP, MB Officer Manager Sam, and Nicole go to Manhattan Beach Middle School to tutor students for an hour for free during the school’s late start. They have been going to the Manhattan Beach Middle School since the middle of January and each week more students attend the one hour free tutor hour. The tutoring takes place in Mr. Lub’s Classroom (Room 103). One of the Study Hut tutors made a sign to put at the middle school on Wednesday mornings letting students know where the tutoring will take place so hopefully each week more students will attend.

We started the first week with a small turn out, but each week a few more students show up. This past week they had 15 students – the most students they’ve had yet. The tutors bring doughnuts with them – which all the students look forward to. Along with the tutors, the school supplies a cart of books so you can work on any subject you need. Many of the same students come consistently every week, allowing the tutors to get to know the students on a more personal basis.

The tutors have had students come in for help in every subject including but not limited to Spanish, English, Math, Reading, and Science. The tutors have worked on many assignments with students including book reports, homework, studying for tests, organizational skills, arranging classes for High School, and many others. Usually during the hour, a few students work on the same assignments which makes it easier to  help more students at one time.

Along with the tutors, MBMS also sends in classroom aids to help during the hour and make sure that everything is running smoothly.

Again, the tutoring takes place in Mr. Lubs Room (103) from 8 – 9 a.m. during the late start hour! We hope to see you there!

 

 

Back to School Shopping

August 17th, 2012

As a kid, one of my favorite times of the year was when my parents would fork out money for me to go back to school shopping. I would go with my mom to pick out the newest styles. Requirements were new shoes, a new backpack, and at least three new outfits, one for each day of the first week of school. My brother and I would always want to wear our new shoes right away, but were forced to wait until the first day of school.

Along with the back to school shopping came orientation. Mira Costa has their orientation this week as well as Manhattan Beach Middle School. This was always exciting because the students got to see which teachers they had, and also,more importantly, which friends made it in the same class.

Now that I am no longer in school I see more of an importance on the preparation academically rather than the outfits and classes. Students are starting to trickle into The Manhattan Beach Study Hut to get their mind in gear and ready for the whirl wind to begin. Most students need refreshers on math and Spanish. It is extremely important for the seventh graders to come in and review their foreign language. Spanish, French, Latin, and even Chinese are subjects the middle school offers. These are such new topics to the students that they often forget how to conjugate a verb. However, after a simple refresher they are ready for the school year. Moral of the story, don’t forget about tutoring when you are shopping for back to school. The Hut is open for appointments!

New Tutor Mena

May 23rd, 2012

My name is Mena Hanna and I am a new tutor at Study Hut in Manhattan Beach. My employment here has not yet exceeded two weeks and already I have been able to connect with the staff as well as the students that come through here. The staff is composed of college graduate and undergraduate students who are buzzing with knowledge and enthusiasm. Everyday here is a new experience and every encounter with a staff member is warm and friendly with just the right amount of cheerful comedy.

The students that come through here are bright, delightful kids who are incredibly outgoing. Students come from all around Manhattan Beach including Redondo Union High School and Mira Costa and that’s only high school! Elementary school students come from Pennekamp, Pacific, Grandview, and Robinson. Middle schooler from Manhattan Beach Middle School, American Martyrs, and Hermosa Valley. With all those mentioned, there are still others. What’s great about students all coming from one district is that many of the kids are familiar with each other and that adds to the incredible environment that is evident as soon as you step into the door.

With the combination of friendly staff and outgoing kids the atmosphere is awesome! Kids come to get tutored and have a great time doing it. They have the opportunity to create friendships with some very amazing people. Just the other day I walked in and was greeted by a student who I had only tutored once before. The greatest thing is that no one here can be considered an outsider. As soon as you walk in you have officially joined the Manhattan Beach Study Hut family, a family with strong values and character. I believe that this will be an extraordinary experience and I have no doubt that I will love every minute of it!

Do Not be Fooled by Manhattan Beach Middle School students

January 4th, 2012

Dont let these Manhattan Beach middle school students fool you. Please stay active with them and keep them engaged.

Go through his “edline” acct with him and talk to him about each of his grades. He could use practice quizzes and he can make them himself.

He needs to focus on his daily planner too, as do ALL of our middle schoolers, and even most of our high schoolers, and have all his tests written on the day they will be given, and have a detailed study plan written out for the days leading up to his test(s).

The study tasks should say, “Make 20 flashcards for spanish verbs” and that would be on Monday for example, even if his test isnt until friday. The next day should read, “review flashcards for 2 [20min] chunks”…. you can make him difficult practice quizzes where you will be able to see if he is not only comprehending the material, but retaining it.

You’re def going to want to make mini quizzes (they can be as small as 3-5 questions based on the material he just covered). If no practice quiz is given, there is no real way to ensure comprehension.

He can work on HW, but that shouldnt be his number 1 or even number 2 priority, unless the difficulty of the assignment is a pressing concern. He needs some management help, and probably a little conceptual help, you can evaluate the needs of all this at the beginning with an interview process. You will be able to gauge and feel more comfortable after working with him a second time…that kind of thing builds as you get to know your student.

Study Tips and Strategies from Study Hut Tutoring

November 8th, 2011

While the key to doing well on any exam at Mira Costa High School, Manhattan Beach Middle School, Pacific School or American Martyrs school is to conceptually understand the material backwards and forwards, there are some tips you can employ to give you
an edge and make your time spent studying as efficient and effective as possible.

What kind of learner are you? Everyone is different in the way they learn and
absorb information so its best to identify what kind of learner you are when
deciding on what study strategies to use.

Cramming doesn’t pay! Don’t wait until the night before a test to review all your
materials. Space out your studying up to several days or weeks before your exam
which will keep you from getting overwhelmed and increase the likelihood you will
understand and recall the information you need to.

See, Write, Say! – Experts maintain that your chances of recalling information
increases greatly when you look at a given piece of information, write it out again in
your own words or way, and then say it aloud to yourself.

Summarize information, concepts, and big picture ideas in concise charts, graphs,
or outlines. This will make the information easier to recall and extrapolate upon to
answer critical thinking type questions.

Study actively! It is best to study during daylight hours. Don’t study in your bed to
avoid being tempted to fall asleep. Also ask yourself questions as you go through the
material to keep yourself actively engaged in the material at hand.

Avoid distractions! Find a place away from things you’re easily distracted by. A quiet
room away from the computer, television, and disruptive friends or siblings is an
ideal study location. Sometimes music such as jazz or classical may help keep you
more interested and stimulated if complete silence is unappealing to you.

Take a break! It’s good to periodically take a short break from long periods of
studying. Get up and walk around to get your blood flowing or go and make yourself
a nutritious snack. Your brain may only account for 2% of your overall bodyweight,
but it consumes 20% of your calorie intake. While studying, this figure can increase
to nearly 40%! Snacks rich in nutrients such as nuts or fruits are great to munch on
while studying to keep your brain working at full capacity.

LOCAL STUDENT SAVED FROM DROWNING!! …Study Hut to the Rescue

April 14th, 2010

After missing a few consecutive days of school due to illness, a local Manhattan Beach Middle School Student (who shall go unnamed) was inundated by a surge of school work. Having missed many critical days of instruction, his class left him behind and he didn’t have the study skills to catch up on his own. He failed his first quiz after returning and wrestled with hopelessness and despair.

He met his teacher after school, but still couldn’t quite understand the lessons completely. Lacking confidence in his understanding of the material, he turned the tv on…and yes, mom was well aware. Stressed and working a full schedule herself, his mom was unable to help him understand his math concepts and therefore she couldn’t help him catch up. Struggling to keep his head above water, the student was desperate to find help. After talking to some teachers and parents, Mom heard about the Study Hut… and not a moment too soon!

After only two hour-long visits, the student caught up on all his school work, and felt confident working with the material. After two more visits, he was able to get ahead of the curve by mastering the math concepts from the chapter that his class had yet to cover!

Working with the same tutor each session, the student was able to master his homework as well as develop concrete study skills that he will use for the rest of his student career. Today, his scores and self-esteem are on the rise his and new study skills have given him the confidence to study on his own.

After a month of working with a personal tutor at Study Hut, he’s come from teetering on the brink of failure to blossoming. His scores have risen steadily and now he is a leader in class.

…Study Hut to the Rescue!