Taylor Simpson, a 14-year-old student at Aptos Junior High and Magic Apple alumni, was recently diagnosed with Good Pasture's Syndrome, an auto-immune disease that's caused irreparable damage to her kidneys.

While Simpson awaits a transplant, her mother Lori Vargas said, she's taking numerous medications and spends dozens of hours each week undergoing dialysis at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto. In fact, they were there on Thanksgiving, Taylor's 14th birthday Dec. 15, and on Christmas.

But they aren't forging through the ordeal alone. Staff and students at Magic Apple have rallied behind them, holding fundraisers that so far have raised more than $1,000, and are hard at work gathering prizes for a raffle to behold to raise funds for Taylor.  Those funds are being used to help pay for some of the costs associated with Taylor's care, including gas to get to and from the hospital - Vargas estimates they travel 500 miles each week - medication and food for Taylor's specialized diet.

If you know of any individual or business owner please contact them on Taylor's behalf.  We would like to congratulate and thank so many students who have worked so very hard to help us earn funds for Taylor.  For a terrific article about two creative Magic Apple students and their Treehouse Cafe read below  . . . 


See the article here:  http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/rss/ci_19994842?source=rss

There is new info, including important reminders, about this year's Western Town. 

We are excited to announce that we've just created a facebook page for Magic Apple!  Feel free to 'like' us and/or become a fan!

Clockwise:  1) Sebastian's radishes gave students a total view of plant development--thanks to a great greenhouse leader  2) Congrats to the Magic Apple I Have a Dream team for mastering the inspirational words of Dr. Martin Luther King (see more team members, photos, and information under poetry society tab)   3) Bacteria Busters (Evan's team) happy over their collection of possible bacteria during Dakota's experiment (see # 5)  4) Poetry Leader, Sophia, with her award for inspiring students by seeking out and memorizing poems immediately after their introduction  5)  Dakota, science leader, enjoying his exciting science presentation with nutrient agar, petri dishes, and his own saliva as he presented an experiment to test what happens when eaters "double dip".   Students were then divided into teams to search Magic Apple for possible bacteria and then await the upcoming growth--thanks Dakota!  6) Magic Apple Alumni, John Ross, visits Jan and Fran all the way from college in Iowa.  John shared many of his favorite childhood memories with the students at Magic Apple including science, music, and western town  7) & 8) Clown Art creations by our students produced creative, clever, and colorful results--come see.

Dear Magic Families,
     We want to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year! We also have a new January note posted on this site under our 'Notes Home' section detailing upcoming events at Magic this year.

Warmly,
Fran & Jan

Dear Magic Apple Families,
      We have a new note posted on the 'Notes Home' section of the website. Please be sure to check it out!

Science at Magic Apple