Foothills Sentry January 2021

Foothills Sentry Page 14 January 2021 OUSD approves safe rooms to promote mental health The Orange Unified School District has signed a Memoran- dum of Understanding (MOU) with CHOC Children’s Hospital to collaborate on student mental health services, the most tangible being “safe room” wellness cen- ters on middle and high school campuses. The safe spaces, allocated by OUSD and outfitted by CHOC, are intended to give students a place to decompress and relieve stress when facing a meltdown. OUSD nursing staff will have ac- cess to CHOC case managers and psychiatric consultants. The OUSD/CHOC collabora- tion recognizes that many stu- dents today are overwhelmed by demands for top tier grades, col- lege entrance requirements, and social/peer insecurity. Student’s stress-related mental, physical and academic issues may be ex- acerbated by COVID. CHOC has already teamed with other school districts in Or- ange County to devise programs addressing student mental health; the effort is funded by donations to the hospital. “This has been a top issue among parents,” OUSD Board President Kathy Moffatt reported at the Dec. 15 board meeting. “It’s also a priority among school superintendents. We’re fortunate to have CHOC right in our neigh- borhood.” Student board members tuning into the virtual meeting advised trustees that their classmates like the idea of safe spaces and that it is important for them to have more mental health resources during and after COVID. Trustee Kris Erickson pointed out that students were having mental health crises before CO- VID, and that suicide is the sec- ond leading cause of death among young people. Trustee John Ortega was skep- tical of the partnership’s value, asking what CHOC could pro- vide that OUSD couldn’t do it- self. “I’m all for mental health,” he said, “But how is this going to assist us further?” He was reminded by his col- leagues that CHOC would pro- vide resources that the district may not have access to, that CHOC would make someone available to talk to students and “enrich the conversation.” Trustee Rick Ledesma said he appreciated that CHOC wanted to collaborate and he supports mental health for students, but, he concluded, “staff is already do- ing a great job and I don’t think CHOC is the right organization to provide these services.” The board voted 5-2 to sign the MOU, with Ortega and Ledesma opposed. Nightlife on the Silverado Highway By Robert Detrano Welcome to the Silverado Highway and its travelers. These voyagers of the night are your neighbors. They are born, raised, and make families just like you do. And, on most evenings, you can find them on the highway. The highway enters Silverado from the national forest near the Maple Springs gate. It winds its way down the canyon next to Sil- verado Canyon Road and sneaks under the road, curling from left to right and right to left eight times before it passes behind the stables, then cuts through the underbrush, crosses Black Star Canyon Road and finally joins the Santiago Creek, which gently flows down to Irvine Lake. The highway is the Silverado Creek, and its travelers are the raccoons, foxes, deer, bobcats, possums, rabbits, pumas and countless other creatures that live and travel in the creek. They are our neighbors and share the can- yon with us. They respect you. They want and deserve your re- spect in return. For the past three months, I have been placing trail cameras in the streambed and under the bridges. In most locations, wild animals pass and trigger my cam- eras at least once every night. Most common are raccoons, rabbits and rodents. Upcanyon, I have found more foxes, and downcanyon, more coyotes. Deer like the more remote and quiet areas, such as Big Oak Canyon and the “Riviera.” Raccoons do better near human habitations where they can beg and forage in gardens. Others (bobcats, rabbits, squirrels, possums, wood rats, mice, voles) are distributed all along the stream, from the Maple Springs gate to the Black Star Canyon Road underpass. Let me introduce you to a few of your neighbors. Mrs. Raccoon and her chil- dren. Every evening since Sept. 1, this single mother and her brood of four have been travel- ing the highway between the Ha- zel Bell Bridge and my home on Shady Brook. She leads her chil- dren, searching for frogs, insects, mice and garden produce. She first checks out the menu before allowing her kits to dine. On one occasion, she passed in front of one of my cameras going down- stream with only three out of her four offspring in tow. Two min- utes later, the same camera caught her returning upstream to find her wayward child and bring him safely home. What an intelligent and loving mom. Lord Fox takes his privacy seriously. I learned this when he angrily capsized a trail camera, turning it upside down and urinat- ing on it. Here, in a better mood, he is enjoying a sip of sweet Sil- verado Creek water near Halfway Canyon. He usually travels the highway solo, but occasionally can be seen with a companion. Duchess Deer enjoys morning strolls in the streambed near Big Oak Canyon. The grass and tree leaves, that make up most of her diet, are green there. She uses her keen nose and large beauti- ful eyes to constantly check for her mortal enemies, His and Her Majesty Puma and gun-toting hunters. Here she is in a frantic gallop, after having scented dan- ger in the wind. King and Queen Puma are rarely seen. Their population in the Santa Ana Mountains is in danger of extinction, largely due to fatal attempts to cross high- ways and freeways. I was happy to get an image of them at a wet spot in the stream. Fortunately, they have some good friends in the canyons at the Earthroots Field School and the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. Despite what you might think, they rarely attack humans. Learn more about them at the Mountain Lion Founda- tion website, and there are great photos at orangcountyoutdoors. com. There is lots of information and an opportunity to donate at camountainlions.com. To browse videos of creek in- habitants, see detranophotos.com, or contact robert@chinacal.org . Robert Detrano is a retired car- diologist and missionary doctor who has returned from China and Burma to his cottage in Silverado Canyon. Detrano has fallen in love with his wild neighbors and is working to protect them and their habitat. He wrote this story prior to the canyon fire. Students learn life lessons El Rancho Charter Middle School students are learning to cook thanks to live classes from Home Ec teacher Marcy Hail. She shares a pre-recorded video while zooming with the students. The students are also learning life skills: how to sew a button, hem, fold a fitted sheet, write a resume, do laundry and more.