CVMS 2.0 Upgrade Our School

Photo Courtesy of CVMS

Do you have a student that is currently attending or will be attending Carmel Valley Middle School (CVMS)?  Upon entering my first year at CVMS, I was shocked to learn how outdated the schools technology is.  In fact, the computers are 13 years old!  Although they run Windows 7 software, the hardware is so old.  For example, it has a slot for 101/4 floppy disks which is way before my time! Ok, so easy to fix right?  Just get the parents to donate enough money to replace the old technology, right?  I’ve found out that’s not so easy and in fact the PTSA is way behind on their fundraising goals!

I sat down with PTSA President Teri Naftalin to ask her a few question about the “CVMS 2.0 Upgrade Our School” campaign and how it was going.  Mrs. Naftalin told me that of the $60,000 goal, only $20,000 has been raised so far and we are almost 2/3 along in the school year.  Each family was asked to donate $40.  This seems reasonable considering Solana Beach School District asked for $350 from each family, and Del Mar School District asked for $800!  Yet still, we have fallen well short of our goal to help get our school the technology it so desperately needs.  When I asked Mrs. Naftalin why she thought it has been so difficult so far, she stated that she thinks we are in a difficult economy and that because their students are only at CVMS for two years, parents may not see the long-term value in helping achieve this goal.  In my opinion, this couldn’t be farther from the truth since these computers would immediately benefit the current students and the future students at CVMS (this means even little brothers and sisters).

The fact that CVMS has not yet reached the $60,000 goal, is not due to a lack of effort by Mrs. Naftalin and the PTSA.  They have worked hard to raise awareness, and in October, an article was published by the “Carmel Valley News” to address the issue. In addition, on January 19th, 2012, the PTSA had a professional fundraiser come in to analyze the problem and give some suggestions on how to attain the goal.

With all that said, I’m still not sure if it’s an awareness issue, or if it’s a lack of resources problem, or if it’s simply because parents don’t see the value in giving to the school that their child will be in for only two years.  I find it hard to believe that with the right efforts and publicity, CVMS will not be able to raise the $40,000 by the school years end.  Maybe we should reach out to the parents of the incoming 7th graders since they could have this new technology in place by their first day of class?  Since CVMS is the only middle school in Carmel Valley, every student will eventually go through this middle school, and because of that I believe this is a community problem, not just a 7th grader’s problem.

If you would like to donate to “CVMS 2.0 Upgrade Our School,” please click HELP NOW.

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Jordan Friedman

Name:  Jordan Friedman, Junior Sports Editor and 858Teen Contributor

School:  Carmel Valley Middle School

Journey:  Born in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of four, he and his family moved to Carmel Valley San Diego.  Surprisingly, even after  living in Florida and San Diego, he is still not much of a beach person.  Jordan currently plays water polo at CCHS.  Every year, Jordan goes to a “sleep away” camp in Minnesota where he goes a full month without technology.  Jordan hopes to attend Standford for college.

Favorites:  Jordan is a huge New York Yankees, Raiders and San Francisco Giants fan.  His favorite book is Lone Survivor.  He admires his Dad and Derek Jeter.

Interests:  He loves to play and watch all kinds of sports.  Additionally, he enjoys reading, playing fantasy sports, and collecting old baseball cards.  Jordan loves to travel, and New York is his favorite vacation spot.