Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "students"

Letter to Sac State: Cuts Punish Students Seeking Higher Education

2011-12-07T08:06:40Z

Disappointment and frustration were the only feelings that came to mind when registering for classes this year.

December 1, the first day I could begin enrolling, remained the chaotic race and hunt for available classes it has been every year.

As fourth-year students, we generally (and understandably) have high expectations that we can get into the classes we need to graduate.

In prior semesters, those classes seemed to fill up days before we ever had the chance to enroll.

This semester, we won’t even have the “opportunity” to be waitlisted for many of these classes – as they are not being offered this semester (and likely the next.)

I realize Sacramento State University is not the only one taking a financial hit.

Student sit-ins, Occupy protests, numerous letters and phone-calls later, it still seems students of higher education are at the forefront of these budget cuts.

While students continue to languish, the question one asks, “Who is there, with influence to affect real change, to stand up and defend our education?” Certainly not the CSU Board of Trustees.

Recently, Trustee Herbert Carter attempted to justify a $100,000 salary increase.

That increase alone could pay for 15 years of undergraduate college education at Sac State.

Decision making like this supports the notion that student education is not the true priority of our CSU administrators.

The lack of quality education in public colleges will certainly have a trickle-down effect.

When a prospective employer sees a student from a California State University, the stigma will likely be that the students are less capable and not prepared or provided with the same number of classes or same quality of resources as other students.

They will likely consider that the students have been instructed by overwhelmed part-time faculty in a department that has diminished greatly as a whole. All of this equates to a hindrance of our career prospects after college.

Slightly over 54 percent of the journalism classes offered in the Sac State University Catalog are being taught this semester.

Moreover, several of those classes are not even taught by faculty members; they are internships or “related work experience.”

I am not saying internships are not useful, I currently have one myself; but I am saying they provide the experience and not the academia.

My point is, a multitude of interesting and important information will be missed out on because Sacramento State continues to offer a major that it does not have the resources to fund.

I eagerly waited to register for 'Women in Media' and 'Writing for Broadcast News,' a class taught only in the spring, to find out that neither would be offered, along with another 13 other electives.

Over 200 journalism students will have just three full-time journalism professors at Sac State in the Spring 2012 semester.

Because there are few elective classes being offered by the journalism department, students are forced to scrounge for classes in other areas of Communications.

As electives are shaved off the curriculum, I cannot feel confident in the level of education I am receiving as a student at this university.

Registering for classes, I realized how unfair it was to continually ask low-income students to pay more for less.

Undoubtedly, it is unfair to sell students an education in a subject that the CSU system can no longer follow through on.

Barring scheduling overlaps, closed classes, long waitlists and classes simply not being offered, we are forced to maintain hope that those classes will be available next semester, or atleast before we graduate.

Disclosure: As a Sac State journalism student, I have a personal connection to this story. This letter is a condensed version of one sent to the Communications Director at Sac State, voicing the consequences of cuts to students of higher education.

Looking for a 'win–win' for West Campus and Sac High

2011-12-06T04:07:37Z

The Sacramento City Unified School District board is considering a potential campus “swap” for two central city schools – a move that has stirred up a storm of criticism from parents, students and education advocates in the city.

The proposed swap would move the West Campus High School program from its current 58th Street location to the old Sacramento High School facility and replace it with the Sacramento Charter High School program, which is currently at the old Sac High campus.

Proponents of the swap say the move will allow the popular West Campus program to expand and will create an opportunity to establish a non-college preparatory high school program for students in central city neighborhoods.

Opponents of the swap say the current programs are doing just fine as they are – and where they are – and they have the high graduation rates to prove it.

Ultimately, the final decision rests with the seven-member SCUSD board.

A comprehensive high school is one that offers both general academic courses and specialized trade, and technical subjects but does not necessarily have a college prep emphasis.

If a comprehensive program is established on the Sac High campus along with the West Campus program, the two schools would be independent of each other, yet share the same campus facility.

Proponents of the swap say if the West Campus program – which is currently at capacity and has a long waiting list – is moved to a larger facility, the program will be able to expand. That will give more students an opportunity to take advantage of amenities at the Sac High campus, such as a newly refurbished swimming pool, athletic fields and state-of-the-art science labs.

The current West Campus High facility has 863 ninth-12th grade students enrolled, according to Gabe Ross, spokesman for SCUSD.

The Sac High facility has capacity for more than 2,000 students, Ross said Friday, and currently the charter school has just over 900 students – not quite half full.

“Everyone says (the central city neighborhoods) need a high school,” said Phil Pluckebaum, a project manager for the Public Health Institute and a member of the Sacramento Comprehensive High School Coalition.

“The dilemma has always been, where do you put the school?” Pluckebaum said.

The Sacramento Comprehensive High School Coalition, founded in January, is a group dedicated to establishing a high school to serve the central city area.

The proposal of a campus swap is not a new one – the College Glen Neighborhood Association brought it up in 2003 – but, with recent recommendations from the SCUSD Facilities Reuse and Consolidation Committee, the swap idea was revived and has since been getting a lot of attention.

“The question has been persistent for years,” Pluckebaum said. “It just wasn’t fully vetted before.”

The Committee’s recommendation was not initially a “swap,” board member Patrick Kennedy said Friday, because the district doesn’t have jurisdiction over the charter school program – the board is not responsible for how the charter program expands or if it has a waiting list.

The district does have a legal responsibility through Prop. 39 to provide an “equivalent” facility for the charter school as it would make available for a district school of the same enrollment size.

The West Campus facility appears to satisfy this requirement, Ross said, and that is why it is under consideration as a replacement facility for Sacramento Charter High School, if the SCUSD board decides to move the expanding West Campus program onto the Sac High site.

Pluckebaum said Thursday that the coalition’s focus is on providing a “pedestrian-friendly,” neighborhood comprehensive high school.

“We want a high school fed by neighborhood middle schools to be a place where people can walk and ride their bikes to,” Pluckebaum said.

Mayor Kevin Johnson, who was involved in starting the St. Hope Public Schools at the old Sacramento High School facility in 2003, said at a press conference in November that a campus swap would be a mistake by the school board.

“I don’t think any community wants it to happen,” Johnson said. “The West Campus community doesn’t want to move. Obviously, (the) Sac High campus doesn’t want to move – this is just politics.”

For those who oppose a campus swap, the limited number of neighborhood schools is not the issue – a disruption of two successful education programs is the greater problem.

Keiona Williamson, 17, a senior at Sacramento Charter High, appealed to the City Council Nov. 22 to oppose a campus swap.

“(Sacramento Charter High) has cultivated me and my peers into successful young adults,” Williamson said. “Switching the campuses is not only unnecessary, it disturbs the culture that we have worked so hard to build up. Please don’t mess with success.”

Parents of students told the City Council that they are happy with the schools as they are – and where they are.

“My family purchased a home in Sacramento specifically for the schools we would access,” said Debra Larson, a social worker and parent of a West Campus student.

“I am told that West Campus needs to be relocated to the Sac High campus because West is too old and lacks modern amenities,” Larson, 50, said. “We urge you not to believe that our children want a better school. They love their campus.”

Larson said the idea of swapping campuses because one may be inferior in some way would send the wrong message to students and their families.

“I’m horrified that one group of kids would be forced to move into a space vacated because it isn’t good enough for another group of kids,” Larson said. “I am concerned about the message we are sending to both groups of kids and their families if this happens. It is just wrong.”

Members of the SCUSD board have been working on this and other proposals for increasing efficiency within the district for months, Kennedy said Friday – and the work is far from ended.

“I understand the anxiety these things cause,” Kennedy said. “It’s hard on the schools, and on the community at large. But these are conversations that have to take place to make sure we are doing the right things for our students.”

Still, there is no need to rush to any conclusion about what action the board may take, Kennedy said.

“We are just at the data gathering point,” Kennedy said. “There is a lot of work to be done before we can make a decision.”

Ross said that “design teams” – appointed by the principals of each school and comprised of staff, parents, students and neighbors – are studying the potential benefits and drawbacks of a campus swap.

“The superintendent felt the most prudent effort was to get input from all kinds of affected communities about the prospect (of a swap),” Ross said.

When the design teams send their findings to the school board, Ross said, the board will take a closer look at all options.

“I’m not in favor of moving schools and programs just for the sake of moving them,” Kennedy said. “If you can’t prove to me that we are improving things, then I wouldn’t be in support of it.”

Kennedy said that, whatever decision is made, isn’t going to be made in the next month – but he couldn’t estimate a time frame for a decision.

When the SCUSD board meets Thursday, it will hear an update from staff on all the consolidations under consideration, but the board will not vote on anything.

Ross said that, because there is no specific time frame, the soonest the board could be in a position to vote on the situation is Dec. 14.

“Ultimately it’s an advisory recommendation for the board,” Ross said. “Ultimately it’s the board’s decision.”

Melissa Corker is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on twitter @MelisaCorker.

Editorial Note: A spelling correction has been made to this story after it was published.

Sacramento State arson attack.

2011-10-14T04:34:08Z

Photo essay by Dan ward

Today on the Sacramento State campus two buildings were caught on fire. The first building was Mendocino hall. The building recorded the fire to start around 2:58pm.

The fire took place on the 4th floor. Reports show that it started in a chair and the faculty and students were to be evacuated quickly. A professor and floor Marshall Matthew Mills helped a good majority of the students and faculty evacuate the premises while the fire engines arrived at the scene. There were no injuries however was student was caught in the fire but was quickly rescued.

Shortly followed by the first fire another fire was broke out in Mariposa hall. The fire started from the interior design classroom. From the damage, two windows were broken in order to release the smoke. The fire in Mariposa happen roughly 10-15 mins after the first fire.

Officials are examining the sights overnight. For the moment, there is no evidence to display of who might have started this. The arsonist also might have started a garbage can fire over by the tennis courts. No stories are shown yet about how big that fire was.

Also stated classes held in these buildings have strong chances of not being held due to the fire. Sac State officials said there are no intentions of relocating any classes at this moment. The buildings are suppose to reopen at 8am on Friday morning, but further news with be disclosed on whether classes will be held.

The photo taken was off my cell phone. Check back for more photos through out this weekend and updates on this current story.

Check out the statehornet.com for more details about today’s fire.

Disclosure: This a very brief summary of what I saw and read. check out statehornet.com or CBS 13 for further details

Students rally to confront harsh school discipline

2011-10-06T04:55:53Z

Students and advisers from five Sacramento area high schools joined in a virtual rally Wednesday – with kids from Los Angeles, Fresno and Oakland schools – as part of the National Week of Action to raise awareness about the overuse of extreme school discipline.

The rally connected more than 100 students, parents and community activists via live video feed to discuss recent trends in suspensions, expulsions and other harsh punishments in California schools.

According to data from the California Department of Education, there were 235,033 students enrolled in public schools in Sacramento county in the 2010-11 school year.

There were 47,678 suspensions and expulsions issued that same year – a 20.2 percent suspension/expulsion rate by enrollment, which is about a third higher than the state average of 11.7 percent.

Students from Grant High School, Sacramento High School and New Tech High School also attended the rally to share experiences of harsh discipline at their schools with other students and parents who have had similar experiences.

“It’s time to stop the criminalization of students and start looking at ways to help students,” said Lea Luellen, a senior at Inderkum High School in Natomas.

Luellen is the president of the Black Student Union at Inderkum, a student organization that encourages students to take leadership roles in their school and in their community.

“I was expelled for getting in a fight at school,” said Darrell Brown, a 19-year-old former Sacramento High School student.

Brown said he was defending his sister against another boy who was touching her inappropriately – but no one in the school administration took that into consideration before expelling him from school.

By the time he returned to classes after his expulsion, he was so far behind that his grades plummeted. Brown ended up dropping out of school.

The greatest impact of such harsh discipline policies has been on African American students, Darryl White, Black Parallel School Board Chairman, said Wednesday.

According to Carl Pinkston, secretary for the Black Parallel School Board, data for Sacramento City Unified School District schools shows that 38 percent of all suspensions in the district in the 2010-11 school year were African American students. The second highest percentage was Latino students at 35 percent. White students make up 11 percent of the total.

“This is a nationwide trend, and it is the same trend we are seeing here in Sacramento,” White said.

The school shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 made the nation look at school kids in a new way, White said.

The response to the Columbine tragedy was a new policy aimed at preventing any weapon from ever reaching a school campus.

At the time, schools were reluctant to change the way they did things, White said, so the government found a way to encourage schools to go to a zero tolerance policy: they sent money to support new zero tolerance policies in the schools.

A zero tolerance policy gives school administrators and teachers authority to set strict discipline policies for infractions related to weapons, drugs or disruptive school behavior that creates a danger to others.

White said that, although the zero tolerance policy program was well-intended, the implementation was inconsistent. Each school district handled the policy in a different way – some more strictly than others, White said.

Schools took the new zero tolerance policy to new levels and started suspending students for a variety of reasons, most of them unrelated to guns.

White, a former high school principal, said his administration experience is full of examples of overuse and even abuse of the policy.

“Some of the incidents that we hear about are amazing,” White said. “Some teachers would suspend a kid for drawing a picture of a gun in class, or for not turning in medicine to the office that they brought to school.”

White recalled one student who had been suspended for pointing a fish stick at a teacher and saying “bang.”

“Zero tolerance has gotten crazy,” White said. “It’s gotten stupid. Zero tolerance policies take all the gray area of what’s best for students, or giving any thought to what kind of student the kid is overall.”

According to The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, California schools average more than 720,000 suspensions and expulsions each year – an amount nearly double the rate in Texas, which has recently come under fire for it’s suspension rate statistics.

Recent data shows that extreme discipline policies are common even for nonviolent offenses like tardiness, which historically would have warranted little more than a trip to the principal’s office.

“Twenty years later,” White said, “we discovered that suspensions had doubled. More than that, we found that only 2 percent of those suspensions were related to weapons.”

White said there is a perception among teachers that African American students will be more difficult, so to ensure they don’t have to deal with behavior problems in the classroom, teachers are a little more heavy-handed with those students.

“I don’t think a lot people realize its an issue,” said Spenser Bradley, a senior at Inderkum High School. “People just think that this is the way school is.”

“I was walking down the hall one time and a teacher stopped me, saying she thought I smelled like weed,” said Jonathan Harvey, a senior at Inderkum. “She smelled my hands and took me to the principal’s office and I was expelled. It was ridiculous – who gets expelled for smelling bad?”

Once a student is expelled, it’s almost impossible to overturn the decision.

“The school has almost absolute authority,” White said. “There is generally nothing a parent can do short of going to court, and a lot of parents can’t afford to do that.”

Gabriel Brower, a senior at Grant High School, said stereotypes can be misleading. Characterizing individual students based on a broader stereotype is not only unfair but – more often than not – it’s going to be a mistake.

“People say that, because my uncles were in jail or my cousins were in gangs that I’ll end up that way too,” Brower said. “But I’m my own person. I can rise above my environment. If no one looks at me as an individual, they aren’t seeing the real me, they’re seeing what they expect me to be.”

Brower said that, after two years in high school making 3.5 to 4.0 grade point average, teachers finally started to realize his potential.

Brower gives credit for his success to “powerful programs” at his school that encourage kids to excel.

Pinkston recommends a “proactive” approach to school discipline, including a “restorative process” aimed at reintegrating kids into schools instead of leaving them outside of the walls of education.

“In Sacramento, this effort is about starting a conversation about the issue,” White said. “Hopefully we can start getting adults involved in the conversation.”

Pinkston said he hopes events like Wednesday’s rally will encourage a major movement to change government policies to help schools address the issue of zero tolerance.

White and Pinkston are compiling a full report on suspension and expulsion trends specific to Sacramento school districts, White said, and the report will be available later in the year.

Suspension and expulsion rates by school district and by individual school can be looked up at the California Dept of Education website here.

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelisaCorker.

The ESM Group and the Sacramento Kings team-up for Leadership Academy.

2011-07-07T16:26:37Z

SACRAMENTO, CA -- The ESM Group announced today a partnership with the NBA’s Sacramento Kings for the inaugural Kings Leadership Academy. The Academy gives 11th and 12th grade students the opportunity to get an insiders’ perspective on how a sports business is run and to become an active participant in this unique process. It will run from August 8th - 12th at Kings Headquarters in Sacramento.

“The Sacramento Kings have a long-standing history of giving back to the community and are excited to partner with The ESM Group for this unique opportunity” said Matina Kolokotronis, Kings President of Business Operations.

This interactive academy will afford students the chance to work with other students, hone their social, academic and communications skills, to see how an NBA Franchise is operated on a daily basis, hear and learn from members of the Sacramento Kings Management Team as well as the opportunity to work on a team project during the academy. “We are thrilled to offer the young people of our community the chance to develop their skills in this area by partnering with the Sacramento Kings on such a meaningful learning and growing experience,” said ESM Chief Communications Officer Ron Hyde.

The ESM Group has a long-standing reputation as a leader in the educational services industry. For years, ESM has been getting students into the right-fit college and helping them navigate the college admissions process.

For more information, cost of the program and to register for the Kings Leadership Academy, please visit: kings.esmleadership.com or kings.com

Disclosure: Ron Hyde is the Chief Communications Officer for The ESM Group and covered the Kings as a TV Anchor for 15 years with KCRA-TV Sacramento.

City Council supports safe routes to school

2011-06-16T03:03:03Z

The City Council authorized the transfer of $100,000 of the city’s transportation funds to help support the Robla Elementary Safe Schools Project at a City Council meeting Tuesday to ensure the safety of students using of pedestrian routes in the Robla Elementary District.

The $100,000 is coming from the city’s transportation funding for the Major Streets Improvement project to complete the design phase of the project and cover staff costs.

The Major Streets Improvement Project was implemented “to close gaps in the city’s circulation network, relieve congestion, improve safety and provide for the efficient movement of people, services, and goods,” according to a consent report from the city of Sacramento.

The Robla Elementary Safe Schools Project was given an initial $650,000 from a State Safe Routes to School (SRTS) grant to make school routes safer and accessible for the community as a whole.

Robla School District Superintendent Ruben Reyes said the school, which is located at the northern city limits, lacks much-needed crosswalks, sidewalks and pedestrian accessibility.

“Currently, many streets around our schools do not have sidewalks. Children and parents walking to school must walk in the street, and the situation has long caused concern,” Reyes said.

“This area is on a busy corner. Our district does provide busing, but many families live very close, and walking is more convenient,” he said.

Department of Transportation spokeswoman Linda Tucker said the engineering design phase, which has been under way for the past year, details the layout of the project area, the necessary improvements and any facilities or equipment needed to complete the task.

“(The) total project cost includes the engineering design, purchasing any necessary additional property to add sidewalks, contractors to install concrete sidewalks, curbs and gutters, street markings of the crosswalks, curb ramps, pavement access to trail and overhead flashers,” Tucker said.

The Robla Elementary School District will use the funds of the SRTS grant to add new pedestrian crosswalks at the Rio Linda Boulevard at the Pinedale and Santa Ana intersections, improving access to the Sacramento Northern Bike Trail, and redoing the sidewalk, gutters and curbs in front of the school, according to Tucker.

Many students in the community take the Northern Sacramento Bike Trail, which intersects with Rio Linda Boulevard and leads to Robla Elemenatry School.

Tucker said the safety of the students taking the Rio Linda Boulevard intersection route to get to school is the primary concern, especially in an area that has 10,000 - 12,000 cars going through at the posted 45 mph speed limit.

“The primary concern comes from the high-speed volume of motor vehicle traffic on both Rio Linda and Marysville boulevards,” Tucker said. “Coupled with the narrow roadway widths without curbs, gutters and sidewalks throughout the area, students walking and bicycling to school have a high degree of exposure to motor vehicles.”

Reyes said the city, who applied for the grant, has been working collaboratively with the Robla School District to make the safety of students a high priority.

He said the engineers often meet with Robla School District staff for input and suggestions in the design of the project.

Reyes said he sees this as a positive project in the community and is grateful to the city staff for their work in helping make traveling to school safer for the students in the community.

Not only will it be more safe, but Tucker said more alternatives and access will encourage more students and parents to walk or bike, which overall is better for their health and the environment.

“A sidewalk adjacent to the street is something many communities take for granted,” Reyes said.

“We are in a part of the city where many neighborhoods were built without sidewalks. This may have been allowable at some point, but now it is an unsafe situation that the city of Sacramento is working to remedy,” he added.

Tucker said final design will be completed by the end of June. The project as a whole is set to be completed at the end of October.

Dirty Pool: SCTA Style

2011-06-02T19:54:38Z

By Henrietta Cisneros, freelance correspondent.
June 2, 2011
12:00 p.m., PST

Dirty Pool: SCTA Style

Members of the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) and a faction of teachers at Hiram Johnson high school are waging a new kind of warfare. Children at Hiram Johnson High School and throughout the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) are being misguided and manipulated by a group of teachers and union bullies as a means of ousting seasoned principal, Felisberto Cedros.

Conflict erupted on the Hiram Johnson campus between Cedros and a group of teachers shortly after he was appointed principal last year. Cedros implemented new policies at the school ranging from a dress code for teachers (teachers were wearing flip flops and shorts to work), no pets at school, no food or drink in the classrooms, to ensuring that best teaching practices were being utilized in each classroom. Cedros also initiated a summer long cleaning spree in which many teachers were told to remove their personal belongings from their classrooms. During the summer cleaning phase a school employee noted that she observed custodial staff remove six beds, old and outdated textbooks from the 1960’s, and open food items that had been expired for nearly three years. It was also suggested that many classrooms were infested with rat and dog feces.

Some teachers on the campus have resisted the changes almost from the beginning. Now, in a retaliatory effort, many of these teachers have resorted to drafting students on the campus to do their dirty work. That’s right; kids are being recruited and manipulated as a means of assisting SCTA in “dirty pool” tactics. This plan comes to fruition this evening at 6:30 p.m. at the SCUSD Board of Education meeting. Tonight, school aged children that have been taken advantage of and unduly influenced will be marched in front of the School Board in an effort to do away with a principal that has fought valiantly to eradicate an atmosphere of low standards and poor teaching on the campus. Why? Simply put, there are some teachers on the Johnson campus that want things to go back to the way it used to be. How did it used to be? Student expectations were low. Teacher standards were nearly unheard of. Teachers rested comfortably in their poor performances while the union approved former principal treaded quietly until he could retire.

It is apparent that Cedros and his administrative team have created a climate of new expectations at Johnson high school. Many teachers and students on the campus enjoy the new expectations and challenges. Some students have exclaimed that they feel “more prepared for the world after high school.” It is evident that the new leadership is making a difference.

Tonight’s board meeting will be important. Tonight can be a defining moment in the direction we want to take our schools. Do we want “old guard” union lackeys with a track record of failure and low expectations running our schools or do we want leaders with intestinal fortitude that are willing to do what it takes to get the job done? Our children are certainly worth the debate.

The public is encouraged to attend and speak at tonight’s school board meeting. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Serna center located at 5735 47th Avenue, Sacramento, C.A. 95820.

School superintendents urge lawmakers to put tax extensions on June ballot

2011-03-29T01:39:38Z

School superintendents from across the state convened on the west steps of the Capitol on Monday to urge lawmakers to get tax extensions on the ballot in a June special election, which they said is necessary to avoid a $4.6 billion reduction in public school funding.

Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Johnathan Raymond said time has run out and that legislators need to get the tax extensions put on the ballot this week, since county clerks need 88 days to prepare for an election.

“We are here because we represent children in California, and that, I think, is a point getting missed in our message,” said Raymond.

“I look right in front of me and I see two yellow school buses. We all know what that means, a field trip to the state Capitol. Well, what's the most important civic lesson that we can possibly tell them? That a government for the people, by the people is truly representative,” Raymond said.

He urged legislators to put the measure on the ballot and let the people of California decide the future.

“It's not a Republican issue. It's not a Democrat issue. It's a basic issue of representation and democracy,” Raymond said.

If the tax extensions don't make it on the ballot, Gov. Jerry Brown has said he will move to an “all cuts” budget to address the state’s $26 billion shortfall.

An “all cuts” budget would devastate K-12 funding, triggering massive layoffs, a loss of programs such as sports, summer school and bus transportation and hurt schools in low-income areas,

“This is not a new tax. It is one we already pay, and a successful ballot measure would not increase it, only allow us to pay a bit longer with the belief that we will exit from this budget chaos,” said Riverside Unified School District Superintendent Rick Miller.

Extensions placed on a November election rather than June, don’t hold any water said Fresno Unified School District Superintendent Mike Hanson.

“Frankly, November does us very little good,” he said. Hanson said districts will spend the 2011-12 school year decimating programs for students across the entire state. To imagine a November election with tax extensions passed, districts would then have to attempt to rebuild what they tore down.

Moreover, Hanson said districts have exhausted the one-time money that has been kept in reserves to get them through tough times.

Some districts have eliminated home-to-school transportation, summer school programs, adult education and programs such as: sports, drama, yearbook, and speech and debate. Moreover, it's common to see class sizes of 40 students or more.

In addition, school years have become shorter, where students aren't guaranteed 180 school days a year anymore. Some districts have not been able to adopt new textbooks at the time when standards have been updated.

The worst-case scenario budgets will trigger massive layoffs, and districts have been taking those steps already. Thousands of teachers were pink-slipped earlier this month. About 300 (of the nearly 1,100) statewide districts have reported a total of 19,000 teacher pink slips.

In the past, districts have used pink slips for temporary teachers and then hired some back, but superintendents now are saying these pink slips are basically to keep the balanced budget in place they’re required to have by law, Hanson said.

Earlier this year, the Natomas Unified School District announced that a state takeover would be imminent if concessions weren't made by unions and if the tax extensions weren't passed. (http://sacramentopress.com/headline/46012/Assemblyman_Pan_leads_Natomas_Unified_town_hall_meeting)

Meanwhile the SCUSD board voted to balance the district's projected “worst-case” budget shortfall of $22.35 million by eliminating financial support for extracurricular activities and reducing the district’s counseling staff by 37 percent, eliminating one assistant principal position at each high school and raising K-3 class sizes at two grade levels. They previously approved raising class sizes for all other grades – including 40 students per teacher at the high school level.

At a glance (courtesy of the Education Coalition, www.protectourstudents.org):
-California has cut $18 billion from K-12 public schools in the last three years
-A reduction of $1,900 per student has occurred over the last three years
-If taxes are not extended, Brown has said he will ask for an “all cuts” budget
-An “all cuts” budget could lead to $4.6 billion reduction in public school funding
-That amounts to an additional $754 cut per student in 2011-12
-A $19,492 cut per classroom
-Statewide teacher layoffs of 52,874
-Class size increase of 18.2 percent
-California already ranks 43 in the nation in per-pupil spending
-California ranks 50 in staff-to-student ratios

High school students participate in peace week

2011-03-19T02:43:43Z

Hundreds of teens from several regional high schools staged a “Peace Rally” on Friday inside the City Council Chambers to bring attention to rising gang violence and an increase in teen crime victims. Hosted by the Sacramento Youth Commission, the rally culminated a week of peace-related activities on various campuses throughout Sacramento.

Some of the schools had assemblies and some held a “Challenge Day” where students tried to make new friends between various cliques on campus, explained Lyndsy Gholson, staff assistant with the Sacramento Youth Commission.

“Students thought it was time for change … There's a lot going on in terms of gang-affiliated violence. There's youth violence. There's fighting. They thought there needs to be peace at their schools, so they established a peace week. They don't want no more of their fellow students to die,” Gholson said.

During the rally students heard from an array of supporters: Sacramento City Councilman Jay Schenirer, City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy, Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna, the E-Legal Tag Team (spoken word duo), nuclear weapons disarmament activist Matt Taylor and peer Adrian Gutierrez.

Sheedy said she was impressed with the turnout. “You all came together for one cause. Well, I am right there with you.” She said that while she doesn't have a singing voice, like that of E-Legal, she has her own tag-team, the eight members of the city council.

She said she is sick of the violence and sick of mothers losing their children. “We don't need that in our community. We need peace. We need friendship. We need coming together.”

Echoing her support, Schenirer said while he's only been on the council for four months, Friday's event was the best thing to happen inside that room.

Taylor said he first heard about Peace Week about a month ago and he didn't know how to take it. He said he works with “some of the best peace makers” in the world: Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, doctors, children. “But when I came here today,” he said, “I am speechless. I am amazed.”

Before the rally, William Schmidt, 14, said he has seen gang fights at Luther Burbank High School, and after witnessing those he wanted to become involved in Peace Week. Schmidt said he's been made fun of because of the way he looks.

“It hurts but you have to know how to take care of it and get past it.” He said he doesn't think students visit counselors enough. “We have counselors but some people are just afraid. They find it embarrassing, so they hide. That's when stuff goes wrong,” he said.

Evelyn Ramos, Luther Burbank High School Leadership Advisor, said she is available to students who are bullied and that students tend come to approach her more than other teachers she works with. She wants other teachers to commit to stopping youth violence.

“We (as teachers) need to make it a point at the beginning and say, 'This is not OK.' ”

Ramos said cyber-bullying and phone harassment have been problems that have come to her attention. She's heard of burn pages, where students devote entire web pages that are meant to insult or hurt someone. While they get disabled fairly quickly, Ramos said, they happen.

She said the whole concept of peace works for her since there is a range of issues stemming from minor heckling to gang violence.

Schmidt added, “I know (Peace Week) is not going stop violence and fighting all together. But I know at least it will raise awareness until gradually violence will go down.”

Students march for higher public ed funding/tax extensions

2011-03-15T00:31:30Z

The rain didn't stop an estimated 13,000 college students and faculty from marching on the State Capitol Monday to demand legislators work out their differences and put tax extensions on the ballot, which educators have said would make next year's cuts more bearable.

Students were bused from all over the state to the Towe Auto Museum, where the march officially began. Called the “March in March,” Monday's protest was the fourth year in a row that the same group came out to the Capitol in such large numbers.

As it stands now, Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 assesses a $1.4 billion cut to higher education, including $500 million to University of California schools and the California State University system and $400 million to community colleges.

Over the past few years, California's public post-secondary systems have experienced unpredictable fee increases, employee furloughs, layoffs and, for the first time, enrollment reductions prevented access to qualified California residents state the offices of the California State Student Association and Student Senate for California Community Colleges.

In reaction to Brown's budget proposal, California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott said the proposed cuts hurt colleges' ability to serve students and will harm California's economic recovery.

“These are difficult times for California, and there's no way to avoid the pain of budget cuts,” he said. “However, if our community colleges sustain reductions of this magnitude, we anticipate up to 350,000 students will be turned away next year.”

Scott said if just 2 percent more of California's population earned associate degrees and 1 percent more earned bachelor's degrees, the state's economy would grow by $20 billion.

“Those educated workers would generate state and local taxes of $1.2 billion a year, and 174,000 new jobs would be created in California,” he said.

“The UC, CSU and California Community Colleges can get our state headed back in the right direction,” he added, “but we cannot do it with continually shrinking budgets. Remember, higher education is not a cost to California, but an investment.”

Sacramento City Community College Student Body President Justin Turner said the number of students from his campus nearly doubled from last year, and nonetheless, many classes have been eliminated from the schedule.

“This put the students in a situation which may prolong their transfer, AA degree, or certificate program at city college,” Turner said. “As the cuts increase, the classes will, too, which will also turn students away and may push some students away from getting a education.” he said.

If the proposed budget passes, with all the cuts hitting higher education, classes may further disappear and double in size.

“It's a scary thought. To think when Gov. Brown was in office the first time, you could go to a community college nearly free ... Wow, have times changed,” Turner said.

Organizers said that the protests have helped higher education funding in the past. According to Community College Student Senate President Alex Pader ~~Lee Fuller~~ , at this time last year, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget asked for a $60 per unit hit at the two-year schools. “We rebelled against them and got them down to $26,” Fuller said.

Fuller, 48, is a returning student at Coastline College. He lost his job when the economy tanked and said he now sees more and more older students.

Cutbacks to classes and student services, including counselors, has been one of the biggest obstacles this year.

“The counselors are there to help the students, and if students are there to figure it out on their own, they take wrong classes, they take too many classes, too few classes – it just delays the process over and over,” Fuller said, adding that there are some counseling departments that have been reduced to one or two people, and they're dealing with 60,000 students.

Shortly after the noontime rally, students filled the Capitol rotunda and chanted, “Save our schools,” for a few minutes while other students sent postcards to their legislators asking for more funding.

Monica Stark can be reached at monica.stark@sacramentopress.com

Editorial Note: A correction has been made to this story after it was published. The incorrect information has been struck out and the correct information has been added.

Grant's 4th Annual Hmong Club New Year Celebration

2010-11-23T05:45:27Z

It’s afterschool at Grant Union High School and the crowd goes wild!
No it is not Grant’s Friday night football game and no the crowd is not at Grant’s football field either.

Just before the thanksgiving break Grant’s auditorium is packed with not just any students of Grant but the Hmong students of Grant and their family, friends and other Hmong within the community.

In celebrations to Hmong New Year, Grant’s Hmong Club hosted their 4th annual Hmong New Year event which was opened to the community at Grant’s soccer field and in the auditorium Nov. 17.

Grant Union High School is well-known for their football team, but what you may not realize is that Grant is a really diverse public school and one of its major diversities is Hmong students and Hmong club is based on anybody and everybody who wants to enjoy the culture, support the culture and take part in the culture. Although mainly Hmong students, everyone volunteered to help out and support the club and the culture.

Grant’s Hmong Club is a minority club that has been around for quite some time. There are about 40 members this year and five available officers: the president, the vice president, the secretary, the treasurer and the public relations. Every year the officers change. Hmong Club advisors help supervise and advise; this year the three advisors are English teachers Mr. Xavier Young and Ms. Julie Lee and Mr. Thai Yang who works in the special education department.

According to Yang, Hmong club can be a place for Hmong students to meet and greet either because they are new to the school, returning or just wanting to make more Hmong friends. It is also to familiarize themselves with their culture and to express themselves.

The first half of the event took place on Grant’s soccer field. The club invited two people in the community with their family or friends to be venders at the event. Rio Linda High School Hmong Club had a booth and Grant’s Student Council joined in as well. Members of Hmong Club provided tables for the venders and booths and helped set up.

School ended at 2:30p.m and the outside event was schedule to open at 2:45p.m. Other Grant students came by the soccer field to check out what’s going on. Some bought food and drinks and stayed to watch performances by Foothill High School’s dance team, Grant’s cheerleading squad, Grant’s Drum Line and the Aztec dancers. Even a few teachers stopped by.

“They kind of help bring in more attention to the event,” said Diane Lee, treasurer of Hmong Club, who was happy that a lot of other students that weren’t Hmong came.

A volleyball net was provided and set up in the middle of the soccer field. Couples and friends toss tennis balls back and forth, a traditional custom during Hmong New Years. Venders sold food and drinks such as eggrolls, papaya salad, and meat balls with sauce and orange chicken. There was even speakers and music provided by a volunteer.

The majority of Grant’s Hmong club and Hmong students all wore their best traditional Hmong clothes. Most of them even wore the outfits the whole day! Grant teachers and other students did not mind at all. In fact, they enjoyed it.

“We reached out into the community a little bit more,” said Panhoia Lee, vice president of Hmong Club, who thought that this year’s event was better than last year’s because more people attended.

The event inside the auditorium started around 5:30p.m. with introductions from the advisors, the officers and then given to the hosts. The first show was a fashion show, where members and students in their Hmong outfits walk down the aisles and up to the stage. The crowd cheered and clapped excitedly throughout the whole event.

There were a lot of volunteered performers. The performances included Hmong traditional dancers, Hmong singers and bands from all over Sacramento. Some Hmong students and Hmong Club members even participated in performing. Every performance received rounds of applauses until the very end.

This whole event was based on doing culture activities such as meeting and greeting new friends, old friends, the community, and being able to toss ball, eat and perform traditional dances, sing, and dress up in the most beautiful traditional outfits and showing it off by wearing it proudly.

“I feel that we did a wonderful job, everyone came out together and threw out there a wonderful event; we never thought how good it all worked out,” said Mr. Yang who is very proud of his Hmong Club students because the show was scheduled to end at the latest 10p.m. but because of the student’s good work, it all ended before 9p.m.

Nancy Lo, Hmong Club’s PR thought the event was a great idea and said, “The Hmong community isn’t really big and the event was to kind of let others know about our culture and that we exist here at Grant.”

Construction Management Students Awarded Scholarships

2010-11-18T21:13:29Z

The Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange -the region's oldest and largest building industry related association - awarded scholarships to seven students enrolled in the Construction Management Programs at Sacramento and Chico State this week. These students represent some of the brightest and most committed students in their programs and will make outstanding additions to the construction workforce.

The students were awarded scholarships after a process which involved written applications and oral interviews before a panel of industry experts. These experts included representatives from: local general and subcontractors, architects, engineers, suppliers, and other industry related professions. Criteria which made the basis for awarding the scholarship included: community involvement, academic achievement, school involvement, future goals, letters of reference, and industry knowledge.

The Construction Management Scholarship Program of the Builders Exchange was launched in 1982. In the last decade, $100,000 has been awarded to Construction Management students to help further their careers in the construction industry. The students receiving scholarships this year were: Christina Pantera, Jeremy Walson, Stephen Berruzo, Nikki Kantor, Nick Parker, Jose Buenrostro, and Ruslan Bachinsky.

Past awardees of the scholarship have gone on to work in high profile positions within the greater Sacramento construction industry. "We have a proud history of supporting the future leaders of our industry. We strongly believe, based upon the quality of the candidates that our committee interviewed, that the future is very promising.", said Jim Lambert, the Executive Vice President of the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange.

Latest Board Update from the desk of Superintendent Jonathan P Raymond

2010-10-19T15:10:40Z

Teaching and Learning

Priority School Professional Development: Staffs of the six Superintendent’s Priority Schools gathered at the Serna Center this week for training with Rochelle Herring-Peniston, president of Transformation By Design. Faculty learned the use of Data Wise inquiry protocols, which assist in analyzing student work, and learned how to identify learning goals and teacher learning needs. The sessions used the teachings of Harvard researchers such as Kathryn Boudette, Richard Elmore and Brent Stephens as well as the work of Nancy Love, Linda Darling-Hammond and Walter Doyle.

Every Day Counts: Charlotte Chadwick, principal at John Bidwell School, is throwing down the gauntlet —on October 7, her school had nearly 100 percent attendance for both staff and students. All staff members were present and only three students out of 381 were absent, which equated to 99.993 percent. Almost exactly the same occurred on October 13, she notes, with the exception of one staff illness. Chadwick’s announcement kicks off a competition – can any school achieve 100 percent attendance this year?

CORE Launch: Superintendent Raymond was in Los Angeles on Monday for the launch of CORE (California Office to Reform Education), a nonprofit organization founded by the seven superintendents (including Superintendent Raymond) who authored California’s Race to the Top application. The group’s intention is to leverage the collective energy of these seven districts – which together serve more than a million students – to continue moving forward with reforms developed for RTTT despite the federal government’s denial of California’s bid. CORE aims to engage public school communities at the grassroots level in changes that will improve teaching and learning. Those change initiatives include implementation of the Common Core State Standards in math and English (which were approved by the state Board of Education in August); development of formative student assessments aligned to the new standards; and developing tools and processes to better serve teachers and principals.

Standards Discussed: Cesar Chavez Intermediate School’s fourth- and sixth-grade teachers held a “Standards Night” for parents last week in which they shared the results of the first benchmark tests in English and math and explained the purpose of real-time learning assessment and discussed learning expectations for students.

Cougars Hit the Right Note: The John F. Kennedy High School Marching Band competed in the Oakmont High School Invitational Marching Band Tournament and came in second place within their class. Individual student Chris Chin won first place in the Drum Major category.

LEED-ing the Way: Fifty businesses/organizations from throughout the area participated in “Career GPS,” a LEED (Linking Education and Economic Development)-sponsored event held Thursday at Luther Burbank High School and attended by Rosa Parks Middle School students. The event featured interactive exhibits by regional employers and a talk-show format panel presentation with industry experts.

Operations

Grant Money Received: SCUSD’s Planning and Construction department received word last week that the State Allocation Board approved the district’s joint-use grant application of $572,374 for the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library at the School of Engineering and Sciences. The project is funded by Proposition 55.

Community Engagement

Community Meeting/Back-to-School Night at Hiram Johnson: Hiram Johnson High School held a community meeting on Thursday night prior to the school’s Back-to-School night. At the meeting, district staff presented an overview of plans to engage the school community in developing a shared vision for the school. A few parents in attendance expressed concerns about the changes at the school and the meeting format. The Back-to-School Night, which followed the community meeting, was very well attended by parents and staff.

Healthy Competition: Students from Pacific Elementary and Maple Elementary met on the soccer field on October 8, where they “kicked” up a lot of school spirit. The event (pictured below) was a joint effort between Pacific and Pacific Enrichment Program (PEP), the campus after-school program.

Safety Meeting: Maple Elementary School held a Community Meeting with staff from the district’s Safe Schools Office and representatives of the Sacramento Police Department on Wednesday, October 13. Community and parents learned how to be the eyes and ears of the neighborhood, the importance of reporting unusual activity and information on gang prevention. The officer in attendance also addressed issues of traffic around the school.

‘Target’-ing Literacy: Parkway Elementary School won a $2,000 grant from Target stores for an Early Literacy Program for grades K-3.

Upcoming Events

C.K. McClatchy Homecoming Saturday, October 16 – 10 a.m.

The school’s 74th annual homecoming parade, themed “Party at the Pyramids,” begins at 10 a.m. in the CKM parking lot, 3066 Freeport Blvd. From there, the floats, marching band and “royalty” cars head south as they wind through the Land Park neighborhood. The homecoming football games against the Hiram Johnson High School follow: JV at 11 a.m. and varsity at 1 p.m.

Author Dave Eggers at JFK Wednesday, October 20 – 1 p.m.

Dave Eggers, Pulitzer Prize finalist for his memoir “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” will speak with 450 John F. Kennedy High School students about his latest book, “Zeitoun,” a Los Angeles Times Book Award winner. Eggers’ appearance is sponsored by One Book Sacramento, a Sacramento Public Library program.

Health Fair Thursday, October 21 – 5 p.m.

Families will get free dental and vision screenings and other medical services and get an opportunity to sign up for health insurance or connect with health care providers. City of Sacramento Parks and Recreation will be providing entertainment. The fair is jointly sponsored by the City of Sacramento, Kaiser Medical Foundation and The Effort, a mental health and social services organization. The fair will be held at McClatchy.

Make a Difference Day Saturday, October 23 – 8:30 a.m.

Volunteer construction crews will be digging post holes, shoveling dirt and stacking cement blocks to create a brand new school garden at Bret Harte Elementary in Curtis Park, on Saturday – national Make a Difference Day. The work day will be organized like an old-fashioned barn-raising: Volunteers who participate will then take their newfound knowledge of garden installation to Luther Burbank High School, where they will rehabilitate a school garden there. The garden installation is a joint effort of several partners, including Bret Harte teachers and PTA, the Healthy Food Task Force, Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition, Sierra Health and AmeriCorps.

Fall Graduation Tuesday, October 26 – 6 p.m.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell will be at the district’s annual Fall Graduation ceremony for students who completed all the requirements to earn a diploma last summer. Forty-nine students from throughout the district have been invited to attend with their families. The event will be held at the Charles A. Jones Skills Center, 5451 Lemon Hill Ave.

Hate Crimes Forum Thursday, October 28 – 3:30 p.m.

The 2nd Annual “Youth Against the Hate” forum, sponsored by SCUSD, Asian Resources and YouthRISE, will be held from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at McClatchy. The afternoon program will include a keynote address by Basim Elkarra, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, workshops for teens and their parents and spoken word poetry by members of Sacramento Youth Speaks.

Ethel I. Baker Library Makeover Friday, October 29 – 1 p.m.

More than 150 volunteers will put finishing touches on a new school library at Ethel I. Baker Elementary School before an official ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2:45 p.m. The library makeover – one of 32 nationwide – is being made possible by Target and The Heart of America Foundation. The new library will have thousands of new books, new furniture, paint, carpet and technology. Additionally each student and their siblings will receive seven new books to take home to their personal library.

SCUSD Web Site http://www.scusd.edu/Pages/default.aspx

SPOTLIGHT SHINES ON YOUNG AUTHORS/WRITERS AT UPCOMING CAPITOL CITY YOUNG WRITERS MEET THE AUTHOR EVENT

2010-08-26T17:06:34Z

SACRAMENTO, CA (Sept 11) – The publishing world always seeks new, young authors, songwriters, poets and journalists. On Sept 11, young writers, in grades 6-12, from throughout Sacramento, surrounding counties and potentially the bay area (if they’d like to make the drive) will gather with published authors, book industry professionals, and university professors at an innovative workshop specifically designed to help young writers fulfill their dreams and launch their careers.

Capitol City Young Writers Writers “Meet the Author” workshop takes place Saturday, September 11 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at The Sacramento Bee’s small auditorium, 2131 Q St., in Sacramento, CA. Aspiring young writers and avid readers from grades 6 thru 12, will mingle with peers, published authors and book industry professionals on a morning featuring several guest speakers and a writing workshops. (www.capitolcityyoungwriters.org/meetings)

The Sept 11, “Meet the Author” event will feature writing for the young reader. Guest speakers will include Dawn Lairamore and Rachel Dillon

DAWN LAIRAMORE

Dawn’s first novel, Ivy’s Ever After, published by Holiday House in May 2010, is a middle-grade fractured fairy tale about a princess and a dragon who team up against the handsome prince. Visit www.IvysEverAfter. com to read Chapter 1.
Dawn earned a B.A. in English from the University of California, Davis. She has worked as an editorial assistant for a small publishing house, as a technical writer for a giant software conglomerate, and currently spends her days as a civil litigation paralegal. From time to time, she enjoys leaving the real world behind and hanging out in kingdoms of long ago and far away.

RACHEL DILLON
Rachel graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1994, with a Bachelor of Science in Art, emphasizing in Graphic Design. Rachel is the author and artist of a nonfiction children's book, "Through Endangered Eyes - a poetic journey into the wild." It was published by Windward Publishing in 2009. Rachel combined her passion for animals, teaching children, and creative expression, to write and illustrate her first book. Rachel is currently working on her second endangered species book with Windward Publishing, "Through Desert Eyes." Rachel is a signature member of Artists for Conservation.

WORKSHOP: WRITING THAT CONNECTS WITH CHILDREN by RACHEL DILLON
Learn how to write stories and poems that keep a child interested, inspire them to ask questions, and make them want to hear it again. The focus will be writing for children 4-7 years old. Learn where children are developmentally at that age to help you determine the type of messages they understand. We will also discuss readability levels, and the power of repetition.

Membership and attendance for the five annual “Meet the Author” events are free. Space permitting, parents of the young writers are welcome to attend. Educators are also invited. Become a member via the website or at the door on the day of the event.

Capitol City Young Writers is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to the education and inspiration of aspiring writers. The goal of the organization is to educate today’s youth on the art and craft of writing, a skill necessary for success in any field of work. Members will gain exposure in the genres of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, screenplay and more as they meet professionals in the industry ranging from published authors, editors, educators, journalists, songwriters and broadcasters. Through this exposure, young writers will discover the many different career paths in the world of writing. Opportunities will be presented for writers to improve their own writing by participating in readings, workshops, writing contests and conferences. Leadership and internship opportunities will also be available.

The sponsor for Capitol City Young Writers meeting space is The Sacramento Bee. If you would like to be a sponsor and support the organization, please contact Verna Dreisbach at verna@capitolcityyoungwriters.org.

For more information, call 877-816-7659, 916-804-5016, or go to www.capitolcityyoungwriters.org

St. Francis Fembots in International Robotics Competition

2010-05-20T06:22:56Z

The all-girl robotics team of St. Francis High School, the Fembots, competed at the high school level in a robotics international championship April 15-17. It was the only team from Sacramento in the competition this year.

The championship was held in Atlanta, Ga., by the organization For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST). The Fembots received the Engineering Inspiration Award at the Sacramento regional competition held at University of California, Davis, March 31-April 1. The award qualified them to compete at the championship where they placed 71st in their division.

"It's a lot of hard work and takes a lot of time," freshman Lana Myerson said. "But it really pays off when you get to competition because it's so big and so exciting. The other first-year participants and I had heard about it from those who had been to championships before, but you get there and you're just blown away. It looks like a professional sport, and there's so many teams and people."

According to FIRST's website, its mission is to "inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication and leadership."

FIRST was founded in 1989. Its inaugural competition in 1992 consisted of 28 teams gathered in a New Hampshire high school gym. The international championships this year hosted 344 registered teams.

Every year, FIRST holds a global webcast for its participants stating the competition's game challenge, which the teams build robots for. The teams compete at the regional level, and winners continue to the international championships. FIRST holds different competitions and challenges for its programs.

FIRST programs are broken into age groups. The Robotics Competition and Tech Challenge are for high school students. LEGO League is for fourth through eighth graders. Junior LEGO League is for kindergarten through third graders. FIRST Place is a program for ages 6 to adult.

The Fembots competed in the FIRST Robotics Competition.

"We have six weeks to build the robot to play the game," said Marian Styer, senior and fourth-year Fembot. "This year, the game was called Breakaway, which was basically like soccer.

"It had a twist because it was three robots versus three robots, and there were four goals on the field. The field was separated into three zones by big bumps. Two of the bumps had big towers coming out of them. So besides scoring points by kicking balls into the goals, you could score points by getting your robot to hang off that tower. Our robot has a kicker with pistons, and an arm to hang off the tower."

The game challenge presented to the teams each year is the same for both regional competition and championships. The challenge was broadcast on Jan. 9, called Kickoff. Teams around the world had to ship their robots on Feb. 23. Regional competitions were held over the course of one month in different states. The Sacramento regional had 38 registered teams.

"Even though there's multiple weeks for regionals, everyone has to send their robots off at the same time for fairness purposes," Styer said. "So the people in week one regionals have just as good a chance as people in week four regionals."

Teams had six weeks to design, build, program and test their robots.

The matches last two minutes, 15 seconds. The robots must operate alone, on autonomous mode, based on programming for the first 15 seconds. The robot is controlled remotely by joystick the remaining two minutes.

The fields for competition are 54 feet by 27 feet.

To create their robot, named "Lucky," The Fembots met every school day for three hours. On days they didn't have school, they worked from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The Fembots are broken up into sub-teams. During their build season, there are builders, programmers, a web team for their website and public relations for their newsletter. During competition, the team breaks into pit crew and drive team.

"Usually half the pit crew comes from the build team because they know how it was built," Styer said. "The drive team can come from anyone. A lot of times, they are builders and programmers because they spent the late hours working so they know how it works."

Though Myerson is a first-year Fembot, she received enough training to be on the drive team as an operator and driver.

"A driver moves the robot around the field, and as an operator, I was controlling the kicker and this little mechanism that traps balls," Myerson said. "Marian was the coach, and she was letting us know what was going on. Then there's human players that put the balls back into play when they get kicked into goals."

The two sets of three teams in each match were called alliances.

"When you're on an alliance with other teams, you strategize," Myerson said. "The field is split into thirds, so each team of your alliance would take a portion, and we would work out where to pass balls and work together. They were really cooperative and fun to work with, and they were really on your team."

"The thing about FIRST is that as much as you want to succeed, you want the other team to succeed too," Styer said. "So what's really exciting is matches that are high scoring on both ends."

Only 13 of the 25 members attended in Atlanta due to finances. The Sacramento regional was held two weeks before championships, making airfare prices unaffordable for the team.

"We say our biggest sponsor is our school, they allow us to go to competition," Styer said. "But things like helping with LEGO League, and housing at competition sometimes, or going to Atlanta, we get our funding through other sponsors. That's why we do presentations in the community to various businesses to educate them. We've been fortunate with sponsors."

Some of the Fembots' sponsors include ACE Clearwater, Dos Coyotes, The Boeing Company, Optimist International and the Society of Women Engineers, Sacramento Valley Section.

The Fembots were created in 2000 to participate in FIRST competitions. The Fembots membership grows and falls -- last year they had 13 members.

"Going to regionals and competing is the icing on the cake. It's a special honor to go," Coach Galo Grau said. "They're busy throughout the year involved in outreach programs."

The Fembots remain busy in the off-season with presentations, finding new sponsors, holding demonstrations at the California State Fair and volunteering with FIRST LEGO League.

"Especially with how much outreach we've been doing, we're pretty much active all year round," Styer said. "Build time is January through March. The fall is when we're doing outreach and trying to get ready for build season and train our rookies."

The team had a booth on the weekends at the California State Fair last year. They had two robots present at their booth in the technology building, one that was working and people could test. They plan on attending again in July and August.

The Fembots' reach extends to FIRST's LEGO League as well. The team mentored the robotics team of Sacramento's Sam Brannan Middle School, The Robowolves, through the fall.

"The cool thing about our team is that, sure our members are really dedicated, but they're also really involved on campus in all sorts of other activities," Styer said. "We have girls in choir, sports, mock trial, and it's cool because we have a diverse background in diverse interests. Not everyone goes into engineering, but they still learn valuable skills."

Photos:

1) Members of the Fembots at championships in Atlanta. Photo courtesy of the Fembots.

2) "Lucky," this year's robot.

3) Sacramento regional competition at UC Davis. Photo courtesy of the Fembots.

4) "Lucky" at regional competition. Photo courtesy of the Fembots.

5) The Fembots' drive team and "Lucky" at regional competition. Photo courtesy of the Fembots.

Agnus-Dei Farrant is an intern for The Sacramento Press.

150-Mile Non-Stop Education Run Culminates on State Capitol Steps

2010-05-18T16:03:42Z

150-Mile Non-Stop Education Run Culminates on State Capitol Steps

Students, parents, teachers and supporters who ran a 150-mile non-stop day-and-night relay from San Carlos to Sacramento to invite lawmakers to spend a day in a public school finished their journey yesterday, Monday, May 17, with a rally on the steps of the California State Capitol Building. Event participants included Assemblymember Ira Ruskin, State Senator Gloria Romero, and Assemblymember Tom Torlakson; the latter two are candidates for California Superintendent of Public Instruction. Following the rally, the group fanned out to deliver their invitation letters to the state’s lawmakers. Participants in the “Spend 1 Day” project came from the San Carlos Charter Learning Center, which is California’s founding public charter school, and the John Gill School, a public school in Redwood City. The youngsters are asking politicians to visit a public school for one day to see the impact of their spending choices on education. The relay run began on Saturday, May 15, on the grounds of the San Carlos Charter Learning Center.

Local student filmmakers tackle variety of issues

2010-05-18T02:17:24Z

With family and friends in attendance, 40 aspiring high school filmmakers debuted their documentary shorts at the second annual Documentary Foundation Film Festival Sunday. The Sacramento student filmmakers covered a multitude of issues including racism in high school, legalization of marijuana, pink-slipped teachers and prisoner work programs in Folsom Prison.

The program is taught by Sacramento native documentary filmmakers Keith Ochwat and Christopher Rufo and sponsored by KVIE. The duo created the Documentary Foundation student program as a means to inspire future generations of documentary filmmakers.

"There are so many issues that affect peoples' lives," Ochwat said. He spoke of the importance for the students participating to think critically about social issues. "It's (also) about the journalism (and) the storytelling," he said.

With nine documentaries on the program, the event kicked off with a look at the Sacramento Zoo's lovable red pandas. The short film highlighted the environment the pandas live in at the zoo and their current state of endangerment. The film elicited many "aww"s at the sight of the pandas.

There were less fuzzy feelings during "Nestle Waters," about the debate over a Nestle Corporation Plant coming to Sacramento. The film covered both sides, interviewing both Nestle management about plans to use the American River and an opposing resident concerned about environmental protection.

Two films struck close to home for the students, spotlighting the racism felt and witnessed on high school campuses. "Racism in High Schools" had a clear and powerful message, never disconnect with who you are. The second film, "He Said, She Said" gives insight to the rules of attraction from high school students' perspectives.

"K-9 Angels" showed the benefits of pet therapy for one young patient at the Shriner's Hospital, while "CA in Smoke" touched on the debate over legalizing marijuana, incorporating what appeared to be actual footage of high school students using the drug. Later in the evening, "Folsom Prison" debuted, shadowing one prisoner in a carpentry work program. This was the first time in history Folsom Prison has allowed minors to film inside.

Winning the impromptu Audience Award for sparking the most laughter, "The Last Battle" followed a group of participants during Carmichael's Amtguard games. The game's role-players dress in medieval garb, arming themselves with padded weaponry and duked it out for ultimate Amtguard supremacy. The audience was hysteric over one new young participant, whose goal was to take down the elder, most feared member. Neither side would admit defeat, let alone acknowledge their counterparts' skill level, much to the delight of the crowd.

But it was the last film in the lineup that proved most powerful, winning the Best Picture Award. "Sorry to Inform You" gave a student's view of the current situation involving California teachers and pink slips. Following one beloved teacher from Natomas High School, whose 31-year career had never landed her a pink slip before, the film gave an inside look, showing the effects on the teacher, her students, and the school's principal. Ironically, the same teacher had won the Teacher of the Year Award three days prior to being laid off.

AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) teacher Nancy Kidd was in attendance for the film and accompanied the students on stage for their award. Afterward, many students took pictures with Kidd, giving hugs and offering final condolences.

"This is why I'm a teacher, this is what makes it (worth it)," Kidd said. "'I just wish all the students continued success. With a little hard work (they) will get there."

Each student in the program wins a framed plaque, and groups that won awards for Best Picture, Cinematography, Editing and Producing received prizes such as gift cards to Best Buy and Dimple Records, weekend passes to the French Film Festival, and annual subscriptions to Filmmaker Magazine.

The Documentary Foundation will offer a third session coming this fall, dates to be announced, as well as a special summer workshop that will pair returning documentary student filmmakers with local nonprofit organizations.

The goal of the workshop is to "teach (the students) how to apply their skills," said Ochwat, "(enhancing) career skills and taking it to the next level."

The program is offered to all Sacramento area high school students. To sign up, or for more information, visit documentaryfoundation.org. Classes for the workshop are held once a week, on Saturdays, during the 10-week program.

Photos courtesy of Keith Ochwat of the Documentary Foundation

150-Mile Citizen Run to Invite CA Lawmakers to Schools Culminates in Sacramento May 17

2010-05-14T17:52:55Z

150-Mile Citizen Run to Invite Calif. Lawmakers to Schools

Culminates in Sacramento May 17

Students, teachers, parents and supporters who are running a 150-mile relay day and night to Sacramento to invite state lawmakers to spend a day in a public school will finish their journey with a rally at 12 p.m., Monday, May 17, at the California State Capitol Building. The runners are carrying letters written by the youngsters, who are asking that politicians visit a school for a day to see the impact of their spending choices on education. Speakers at the rally will include Don Shalvey, senior program officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Assemblymember and candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, and California State Assemblymember Ira Ruskin.

The runners are with the San Carlos Charter Learning Center, which is California’s founding public charter school, and the John Gill School, a public school in Redwood City. They will go down Capitol Ave at about 11:45 a.m. and run along 15thSt. and N St. to 10th St. The rally will take place near the fishpond outside of the east entrance of the Capitol Building.

Photo below: Second-graders at the San Carlos Charter Learning Center with letters they’ve written asking California’s lawmakers to spend a day in a public school.

San Carlos Charter Learning Center. The Longest Running Charter School in America

Students and Faculty Discuss Local Governance at Sac State

2010-05-14T03:20:46Z

Students and faculty discussed the state of Sacramento's local governance today at the Sacramento State University Union.

The event was a panel discussion led by three Sacramento State professors: Communications Professor Barbara O’Connor, Professor Tim Hodson from the Center for California Studies, and Public Policy Professor Ted Lascher.

The discussion focused on the historical context and rationale for updating the city charter, which dates back 80 years.

Professors O’Connor and Hodson opened the discussion by explaining Sacramento’s roots as a progressive city that emphasized a “collegial” form of government. But as the city grows, O’Connor explained, this system becomes harder. “In the last ten years, it has not served the city well.”

Professor Lascher discussed how Sacramento’s council-manager system compares to cities. “Many larger cities trend to mayor-council systems,” he explained. “But, it’s more a continuum than either/or situation– there are cities all over the map.”

Panelists discussed two recent attempts to change the charter: a ballot initiative from supporters of Mayor Kevin Johnson, and a Charter Review Committee created by the City Council.

“Both of these had too much political spin,” Hodson said.

Panelists said that Mayor Johnson has proposed a new plan that addresses criticisms of the earlier initiative. “It’s a good plan,” Hodson said. “The Mayor deserves kudos for coming up with a good compromise.”

The plan proposes an “executive mayor” form of government, term limits and an ethics commission.

Questions covered a range of topics, including the impact of changes on public safety and the college campus.

Term limits became an interesting topic, with the professors noting mixed reviews of other term limit plans.

Prof. Hodson warned term limits are sometimes installed to remove one specific politician, such as former State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. Prof. Lascher said most municipal elected officials in California don’t serve more than two terms even without term limits. “You lose expertise,’ O’Connor said.

Students asked how to bemore active in local government. The professors advised the students to organize according to common interests and said people don’t realize how much power they have to change government.

“Go to Council Meetings, and start online communities,” suggested O’Connor.

A Chorus Line to Highlight Harvey Milk Day Rally Entertainment

2010-05-10T21:15:00Z

To commemorate Harvey Milk Day, on his birthday, May 22, 2010 Equality Action Now will host a fun and historic Rally and March on the West steps of the State Capitol. Invited guests include adult and youth speakers from the community as well as entertainment. Highlighting the entertainment will be the cast of Broadway’s hit, A Chorus Line.

The road tour of A Chorus Line will be playing at the Sacramento Community Theatre May 19-23. According to their tour manager the cast will perform their matinee show then head over to the Capitol to perform a musical number from A Chorus Line, “What I Did For Love”.

A Chorus Line, one of the most recognized Broadway musicals, won nine Tony Awards, including “Best Musical” and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. This singular sensation is the longest-running American Broadway musical ever.

Additional entertainers at the Harvey Milk Day Rally will include:

Small Difference Women's Choral Ensemble is a group of women of all orientations who are dedicated to performing music that has a message. It is one way the members have channeled their activism to change this world for the better. We sing songs for peace & justice, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender equality, women's liberation, the environment, and human rights for all. We are a proud member of Sister Singers Network and GALA (the Gay & Lesbian Association of Choruses).

Irina Rivkin is an Outmusic Awards Recipient for OutSong of the Year 2003, & Nominee for Outstanding Debut Recording 2005, Rose Street House of Music founder and singer-songwriter Irina Rivkin has performed for 25 years, from her childhood singing Russian folk and American Jazz in a family band, to performing her own songs for the last 12 years. She expresses insightful, gutsy, vocal world-folk originals, journeying into the personal and political, with occasional travels into Russian and Spanish language lyrics. Irina layers her poetic lyrics with rich textured harmonies, swirling with vocal percussive beats, all created live on-the-spot using her loop station instrument.

Cooper Rae, a performance artist from Midtown Sacramento. Rae is committed to creating music and art that effects a social change, Her performance is inclusive and combines a variety of styles into her music – jazz, blues, alternative, neo-soul, r&b, funk, even country. Rae’s original songs touch on a multiple subjects: politics, love, sex, heartbreak, and personal strength. She says that her music is very reflective of her life; therefore it’s very lesbian.

Jovi Ratke and C. Foster “Spoken Word” artists:

Jovi Ratke is a new face on the spoken word scene, but this up and comer has been throwin down words since she learned how to speak them. Over the past few years, she has been a strong and inspiring voice at rallies for marriage equality, events to benefit our homeless communities, and everywhere she can find a mic. Jovi is compact fluorescent lighting meets the energizer bunny with more heart than she can contain folded in. She writes like pen to the page creates oxygen and she possesses a voice that begs to be heard.

All the world’s a stage for performance poet, C.Foster. She can be found reciting lines while shifting gears and pounding pavements. Foster’s work centers on the complexity of love and all the unusual places it exists. With a cracked rearview and a rusty heart, she finds beauty in the breakdown.

Eric Baldwin, an accomplished actor/director has performed across the United States as well as Europe will be playing Harvey Milk, reciting from two of Milk’s speeches, including his inspiring “Hope” speech. Eric as Harvey Milk will then lead the grand finale march around the State Capitol Building.

Harvey Milk Day Rally and March May 22, 2010 at the California State Capitol Building, 10th and L Streets, from 4-6pm is sponsored by Equality Action Now, Outword Magazine, Uptown Studios, Stephan’s Auto Haus, Rainbow Chamber, SIGLFF, EQCA, Faces, B’nai Israel, and Badlands and Depot. For more information on this free, family-friendly event: www.EqualityActionNow.org or call (916) 446-1082.

Can a simple strawberry be a catalyst for change?

2010-05-03T18:36:18Z

Can a simple strawberry be a catalyst for change?

This week, as our students take the California Standards Test, I want to once again thank our dedicated employees for all you do to put children first. These tests are a crucial component in the federal and state accountability models by which we are judged as a district. Test scores are used to track student achievement, and therefore are vital to assessing our services. But we cannot forget that the tests are just one measurement of our work with children. We should also be assessing ourselves on our much larger goal: To take a holistic approach to education.

Which brings me to the strawberry.

Starting May 10, our nutrition services staff will begin giving fresh, locally grown strawberries to elementary school children at lunch, courtesy of a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant. While that may seem minor, it represents an important step toward thinking about children in terms of serving their needs on many fronts so they can grow as learners.

Research shows that healthy kids perform better academically. Eating nutritious food is essential to staying healthy, one reason we are excited to offer our children – especially those who rely on our lunch program every day -- fresh strawberries. In addition, the district has launched a Healthy Food Task Force, co-chaired by Board of Education member Patrick Kennedy, my wife, Julie Raymond as parent liaison, and George Washington Carver High School Principal Allegra Alessandri, to find creative ways we can provide healthier, locally produced food for the children in our district. The district has an obligation to teach our children about food, nutrition and the environment. It’s the right thing to do as we work to put kids on a college- and careerbound trajectory, which is one of the foundational pillars of our overall approach to educating our kids. If eating better helps them learn, we must improve the meals they get from us.

Exercise can also improve a child’s academic performance, as well as teach life-long lessons about self-discipline and perseverance. Competitive sports, too, give children a sense of identity and purpose. Sometimes, being on a team is the hook that keeps an otherwise wayward teen in school. Perhaps most importantly in these times of financial crisis is this: Healthy kids spend fewer days at home sick. At a time when every dollar counts, improving the health of our students will impact the bottom line.

With that in mind, I am proud that our district is one of only seven in California to win the 2010 Governor’s Fitness Challenge, a contest among the state’s K-12 schools that encourages students, parents and staff to get active, healthy and fit. Participants register with the program then record their “active days” – days spent exercising for at least 30minutes – on a spreadsheet. As the weather warms, now is the perfect time to begin or step up a regimen of regular exercise. I urge every employee to be a health-conscious role model for our children by staying fit and healthy. In our district, 40,402 students are signed up for the Governor’s Fitness Challenge. Each school has a designated Fitness Challenge coordinator who works with students to help them keep track of their activity levels. These timesheets and calendars are being filled out now and will be turned into the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports at the end of May. By winning this competition, we will receive a Live Positively Fitness Center with a retail value of more than $100,000. The school to receive this fitness center will be announced later in the year.

No matter which campus gets the equipment, everyone inspired by this program to exercise more regularly wins the gift of health and soaring self-esteem. Can a strawberry change the way we do business? Maybe not. But seeing each child as a whole human being – not just a mind for testing – will get us closer to the transformation we seek.

Sincerely,

Jonathan P. Raymond

Superintendent

CSUS STUDENTS UNITE WITH BLOODSOURCE TO SAVE LIVES

2010-05-01T06:54:07Z

Public Relations students from CSUS are putting everything that they have learned to the test with a project that will touch lives beyond their campus. BloodSource, a community based blood bank in Sacramento has given them the opportunity to help organize a campaign for its on-campus blood drive on May 3rd and 4th.

Throughout the process of their campaign, “Unite to Save Lives,” Sac State students have learned the miracle that a blood donation can do through personal testimonies of people whose lives have been saved by receiving blood. The driving force behind their campaign is the unfortunate reality that of people who are eligible to donate, less than ten percent actually do.

A lot of time and effort has been put forth on their part in hopes of getting their message across campus and turning the blood drive into an event that will attract the attention of their peers. Specifically, they have planned a health fair that will take place during the blood drive, appointed a stand-up comedian to emcee the event and have even organized live entertainment by 107.9 The End, 98 Rock and 106.5 The Buzz to come out and represent them, as well as BloodSource, in support of their cause. Their goal is to make an everlasting impact on the Sac State community by showing them that there is no better reward than the feeling of knowing that your donation brought someone life.

Sacramento State Students: Campaign to Unite

2010-04-30T03:16:16Z

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (04/29/2010). Despite budget cuts, raising tuition, and an increase of furlough days, one group of students from the California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) hopes to unite the community within and around the campus through a single event on May 3rd and 4th.

The Unite to Save Lives Health Fair (The Fair), featuring the BloodSource blood drive and bone marrow registry is an event planned and to be executed almost entirely by a group of students from the Communications Studies Program at CSUS. The goal for The Fair is to educate and attract a large number of potential volunteers who will make the choice to become lifetime donors.

The featured organization, BloodSource, is a nonprofit organization based in Sacramento. It plays a crucial role in saving lives, by providing the majority of blood donations to Northern California hospitals. By teaming up with Communications Studies students at CSUS, the BloodSource hopes to generate a high number of donors from the community.

The BloodSource stresses the importance of learning the facts about blood and marrow donation. The truth is that both the blood and marrow donations are virtually painless. The marrow donation does not even take place on the day of the blood drive, as the marrow donor only swabs his or her cheek for a DNA sample. This sample is entered into the bone marrow registry and donors are only called upon if an exact match is found.

The Fair will be held on the CSUS campus on May 3rd and 4th from 10am-5pm. The goal of the drive is to obtain 450 pints of blood and 150 marrow registrants by the end of the second day.

By attacking a lack of “community” on the campus, as the critics claim, these students hope to raise the importance of banding together during tough times, and to promote the quality of community-based relationships when not much else is possible.

Recycle Yourself

2010-04-22T21:56:47Z

Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and Sacramento State Public Relations students are celebrating in an unconventional way,bringing awareness to a different kind of cause, organ and tissue donation.

On April 1, Sacramento State Public Relation students teamed up with Donate Life California, launching the “What’s Your Legacy?” campaign. The mission of the students’ campaign is to educate the community, increase the number of people on California’s organ and tissue donor registry and ultimately save lives.

Across the country, more than 100,000 men, women and children are in need of life-saving transplants and 21,000 of them reside in California. Sadly, one-third of the individuals on the list will die waiting to receive a transplant.

April is National Organ and Donor Tissue Awareness month and the Public Relation students, lead by Professor Timothy Howard are applying the public relation skills and knowledge they have learned in the classroom to a real cause. This topic brings on an extra challenge to the students because it is a controversial topic and personal decision. For many of the students the campaign has become more than just a class assignment, it has provided an opportunity to help save lives.

Today, when you are celebrating Earth Day, think beyond just recycling bottles, cans and newspapers. Recycle yourself and continue your legacy. What greater way to enhance our environment than by helping save the lives of your fellow neighbors whom you share this planet.

Your choice can save 8 lives and enhance or affect 50 others. Continue your legacy today, by making the choice to join the 6 million other Californians on the donor registry.

The non-profit campaign is run by Sacramento State public relation students in support of Donate Life California. If you are open to becoming a donor and giving hope to someone waiting, you can do so at: www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org/sacstate.

Diana Whitcomb and Heather Philpott

Sacramento State University

"What's Your Legacy?" Campaign

csuslegacycampaign@gmail.com

McClatchy High Students Experience Dangers of Driving Under Influence

2010-04-09T04:07:18Z

Students at C.K. McClatchy High School experienced the dangers of driving under the influence during a two-day event earlier this week.

The event is part of the "Every 15 Minutes" program, which happens at high schools nationwide and aims to inform high schoolers about the dangers of drunken driving as well as texting while driving. The name is a reference to the fact that every 15 minutes someone in the United States dies from an alcohol-related traffic collision. The two-day program begins with a staged car crash and ends the next day with an assembly that focuses on the events of the previous day.

The program started on Tuesday, when students witnessed a staged car crash on campus. The staged crash involved students from McClatchy, who played different parts including a drunken driver, a dead passenger and an injured person. The juniors and seniors watched as firefighters and officers from the Sacramento Fire Department and California Highway Patrol worked the scene like they would in a real collision, and students who played the parts of the people in the crash were treated as they would be in a real collision.

"The police department came, and they took the drunk driver away in a cop car, and they took the people to the hospital," said student Janna Langhi, a junior. "They even had the coroner come and take away the dead person."

Throughout the day, a different student was pulled from class every 15 minutes, representing one person who will die from an alcohol-related collision. The students are led to a private retreat where all communication to friends and family is cut off for the rest of the day. Parents of those students also receive death notifications from officers at their work.

Aaron Dean, who coordinates the "Every 15 Minutes" program for the Sacramento Fire Department, said that even though the parents know what is happening beforehand, it is a very powerful moment.

"Those notifications are pretty heart-wrenching," he said. "Many parents have quite a significant emotional event."

The next day's school assembly allows everyone to share in those emotional events when the students and parents are reunited. While separated, both the students and the parents write letters to each other as if the student had actually died. During the assembly, those letters are read out loud, which many students in attendance said was very impacting.

"When they read the letters and stuff, it made you see how the parents would feel and how you would be affecting everyone in your whole life if you did something like that," said junior Roshena, who declined to give a last name. "It was very emotional. It had a huge impact on me."

The assembly also featured a segment by motivational speaker Dee Sova, who lost a 13-year-old daughter when she was hit by a drunken driver more than six years ago. Sova said that she takes the students through the events of the weekend before her daughter was killed and shares the details of her daughter's death. Sova said that she knew students were impacted by her story.

"When I tell the details, it gets pretty silent," she said. "You can hear a pin drop."

Senior Andrew Chao said that Sova was moving with her story.

"She was, like, wow. Her story about her daughter was crazy," he said. "I understood what she was going through, and it's really sad."

The students said that the assembly made a difference.

"The assembly really influenced people," said Langhi, adding that the student's letters made an impact. "That, I think, got a lot of people."

"There were tears rolling out of my eyes," Chao said. "Some other guys were crying too, even if they were ashamed to say it."

Dean said that the program, which happens three to eight times a year throughout the area, changes many lives.

"The kids that are involved in the planning especially take a big impact with them," he said. "It's definitely working, and our message is getting out there."

Chao said that he knew students who drink and drive, and that the event definitely impacted them.

"It was deep," he said. "This stuff happens, you know. It's real life."

All Photos by Kati Garner

Local students participate in Mayoral Fellows Program

2010-04-07T04:08:45Z

The spring 2010 Mayoral Fellows Program will feature local students for the first time. In its inaugural session, Mayor Kevin Johnson worked closely with students from Harvard Business School for a five-week period. This time, however, the mayor hopes to foster local talent by teaming with California State University, Sacramento, and the University of California, Davis.

Johnson talked about the importance of being creative in tough times and cultivating young talent. "To create opportunity and give practical field experience," Johnson said, "Get them involved with the public sector and retain them."

Dean Steven Currall of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management spoke of his university's desire to become a global business school while Charles Gossett, the dean of social sciences and interdisciplinary studies at CSUS, said the program was "open to all students" as a means to "provide opportunity."

The Sacramento State students include Hafiza Arikat, working closely with Johnson on the education initiative STAND UP, and Brittany Purdy, whose focus will be Volunteer Sacramento.

Courtney Sweetin from UC Davis will also focus on STAND UP while Fellow Tre Borden will work on the mayor's green initiative. UC Davis School of Management student Rani Chu will focus on the art initiative, For Art's Sake, and Jacqueline Jaszka will center her attention on Sacramento Steps Forward, the homelessness initiative.

While the program does not have corporate sponsors, the mayor hopes to "learn from the L.A. program, use the tactics that work."

When asked about the appeal of working for Sacramento as opposed to a bigger city such as Los Angeles the Fellows' responses varied.

"I think Sacramento has a competitive advantage (in green technology)," Borden said. He noted the collaboration between the public and private sectors. For others it was about "the experience to learn about Sacramento" or simply, "hometown public service."

The Mayoral Fellows Program will run 12 weeks. The program is currently accepting applications for the Summer 2010 cohort. Both undergraduate and graduate applications can be found on the City of Sacramento website.

Students compete for National Poetry Recitation Contest

2010-03-12T03:37:22Z

Thousands of students across the country are bringing poetry to life by competing in this year's Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest.

This is the contest's fifth year, and it is growing rapidly, influencing thousands of high school students to learn and perform poetry.

Kristin Margolis, the California state contact from the California Arts Council, said that "there is an incredible demand for the program, with 300,000 participants nationwide this year."

"California has the most competing in the nation," Margolis said. "We will have 40,000 students from 27 counties, which is a big jump from the 24 counties that competed last year and 20 counties the year before that."

The program itself was founded to inspire high school students to read poetry and learn, not just from today's poets, but from many poets before the 20th century.

"It is really important to encourage students to pick the poem and find something that has meaning for them," Margolis said.

The National Recitation Contest begins in the classroom, where students memorize poems and compete within their schools through their ability to remember, connect and perform their chosen poems.

Winners from each school continue on to compete in county contests and then state and national finals, where a single winner is chosen.

Margolis explained that it is such a great program because it can start by a parent, student or teacher hearing about it and deciding to get an entire school involved. There are no boundaries to who can participate because, as Margolis said, it is open to all students, whether home-schooled or in overcrowded classrooms.

"What is unique is that the program can run completely paperless," Margolis said.

Though she did say that supplies and poems are given to many of the schools, the Poetry Out Loud website has all 600 poems from which students can choose, making the contest accessible to every student.

This allows for a wide variety of students, some with very little resources and others who are in every available advanced class to compete on the same footing, Margolis said.

The competition is composed of a very diverse group of people, Margolis said, many of whom relate to poetry through hip hop and slam poetry.

The students gain more than just the knowledge of poetry - they gain confidence, public speaking practice and, as Margolis pointed out, "the feeling they have done something that they never thought they could do."

"All of the students really get the poems in their hearts, and we hear that they remember them years later," Margolis said.

The California finals will be held fro 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday in the Senate Chambers of the Capitol. This will be the second year of the finals being held at the Capitol.

Competitors will arrive at the Capitol the night before, allowing students to meet one another and bond through their poetry. Margolis said this "really allows them to root for each other."

The 27 winners from this year's competing counties will be reciting three poems for the California state finals. One has to be pre-20th century, one 25 lines or less, and the last is the student's choice. Students will be judged on their physical presence, voice and articulation, appropriateness of dramatization, level of difficulty, evidence of understanding, overall performance and accuracy. The overall score will determine a winner, and in the case of a tie like last year, Margolis said that the students must recite one of their poems again.

One state winner will move on to the national finals, which will be held at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium in Washington, D.C. Semifinal rounds will begin April 26, and the finals will be held the following evening. The event is free and open to the public.

This year's competition is being sponsored by Target, which is donating gift cards and books to state finals participants to accompany their Poetry Out Loud certificates of participation.

Each state winner will receive $200 and a paid trip to compete in Washington, D.C., as well as a $500 stipend for the winner's school to purchase poetry books. The runners-up will receive $100 and a $200 stipend for their schools' library.

The winner of the national finals will take home $50,000 in awards and school stipends.

Monday's competition is open to the public, though space is limited. Since it will take place in the Senate Chamber, there are seats, but Margolis said she expects the chamber to fill up to standing room only.

The good news is that the competition will also be aired live on the Cal Channel, and a link can be found at calchannel.com.

Photo:
2009 California State Champion Spencer Klavan

Students help harvest fruit from neighbors to supply area food banks

2010-02-20T05:36:15Z

Students help harvest fruit from neighbors to supply area food banks
Gleaning effort facing possible shut down

By Maria L. Lopez & Randy Stannard
Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.

More than 50 students from Theodore Judah Elementary School and community volunteers will walk from their McKinley Park area campus to harvest fruit from their neighbors’ yards for local food banks on Saturday, Feb.20. Volunteers will receive an orientation at 9 a.m. and expect to begin walking to residences by 9:30. Judah is located at 3919 McKinley Blvd.

Last weekend, volunteers walked to neighbors’ homes to ask for permission to gather the fruit. Randy Stannard of Harvest Sacramento, and a coordinator for the project, said the young harvesters will gather the fresh fruit, mostly citrus, from 70 homes. Stannard said the effort will slow down in March as the citrus season ends, but future efforts could be jeopardy due to funding.

Stannard said the project has been a victim of its own success in that the overwhelming response from volunteers and residents with fruit has diverted time from other responsibilities. “We are trying to raise money so we can hire a staff person to help continue this effort,” Stannard said. “We want to keep this going, but we need some help.”

Harvest Sacramento is a collaborative effort of Soil Born Farms, Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, area residents, community groups and businesses. It organizes volunteers to harvest fruits and vegetables from backyards and small orchards that might go unused. The harvests are then donated to local food agencies.

Weather permitting, the students and adults will work until 1 p.m.
Reporters may call Randy Stannard at (530) 204-8082 if they want to report or film the gleaners after the 9:30 a.m. start time.

Visit the Sacramento City Unified School District Web Site.

Visit the Theodore Judah Elementary School Web Site.

Budget priorities hit home at Sac State

2009-09-03T04:44:45Z

As California’s deep budget cuts smash Sacramento State professors and students with furlough days, fee increases and terminated classes, money woes are also slamming a non-profit firm on campus.

University Enterprises, Inc. reported an estimated $8.79 million shortfall in its projected and actual revenue for the fiscal year which ended June 30. This is UEI’s account of last year’s reductions: lease revenue, $3 million; investments, $4.1 million; retail sales, $1 million; copy and graphic, $.12 million and contracts, $.57 million. UEI operates the campus bookstore, copy and food services, administers contracts, provides grants and acquires and renovates properties.

According to executive director Jim Reinhart, the taxpayer-supported state general fund is not allowed to provide the auxiliary services that UEI does.

In 2004, UEI established "Destination 2010," a business and development agenda for on and off campus. One of these projects was the American River Courtyard, student housing near the J Street entry, which opened Aug. 28. UEI also leases off-campus apartments at a student housing complex, the Upper EastSide Lofts, near the light rail station on Folsom Boulevard and 65th Street.

Additionally, UEI buys commercial property off campus. The non-profit spent $35 million to buy the former California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) building on 7667 Folsom Blvd. by Hornet Drive in the summer of 2007. UEI’s plan was straightforward, to lease office space and use the rent to help pay for the loan to buy the building. Half of the rent would come from Sac State academic divisions such as nursing and speech pathology -- part of a “mini campus” plan in motion for next fall, Reinhart said -- and the other half from the rent that non-campus tenants paid.

The housing market crash struck in the summer of 2007, just as UEI bought the CalSTRS building. UEI partly dodged that residential crash market which spread to commercial real estate activity. CalSTRS leased back its former building from UEI for $3.5 million annually, until CalSTRS moved into its new West Sacramento headquarters in July.

Currently, there is one tenant in the CalSTRS building, the University Transportation & Parking Services. A prospective non-campus tenant, which Reinhart would not name, is negotiating with UEI to lease space in this off-campus site.

Meanwhile, the 23-campus California State University system faces a $564 million shortfall as a result of the Legislature’s actions in the face of $24 billion budget deficit, the gap between spending and sales and tax revenue. In response to the state Legislature’s spending cuts for the CSU campuses, the California State University Board of Trustees has increased student fees twice for a total of 32 percent this year.

Patricia Mata is a senior and sociology major from Watsonville, slated to graduate from Sac State next May. She is paying $2,400 for classes this semester, double the price since arriving three years ago. Mata is part of Students for Quality Education, a statewide organization. She wants CSU chancellor Charles Reed, and Sac State president Alexander Gonzalez, to improve their support of CSU students in the current budget climate of fee hikes and fewer classes.

“They are not doing much for us,” Mata said. “Students are not getting back what we paid for.”

In terms of financial support for UEI, however, Sac State is stepping up its support of the non-profit. In fact, $5.12 million is flowing from the school to UEI in the 2009-2010 fiscal year, according to an Aug. 10 report by the University Budget Advisory Committee. It makes budget recommendations (the sources and uses of funds) to Gonzalez.

The UBAC budget report details how Sac State is providing $4.8 million to UEI for its CalSTRS building. That figure is 91 percent of the $5.12 million streaming from the school to the non-profit for the current fiscal year. Further, Reed’s office is providing $1.5 million to UEI for the CalSTRS building for the same year.

Additionally, the UBAC report outlines Sac State’s $9.5 million budget hole in 2009-2010, a reduction of 6.31 percent in spending campus-wide. More such cuts are on tap for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Much hangs in the balance for many Sac State students, given current budget priorities.

Source: University Budget Advisory Committee

Seth Sandronsky lives and writes in Sacramento. He can be reached at ssandronsky@yahoo.com.

Video by Adam Christy

2nd annual California Children's Rally

2009-06-24T21:53:25Z

A swarm of children took over the Capitol Tuesday to defend education in the face of massive budget cuts.

Ranging in age from eight years old to 18 years old, students from all over California sought to answer the question, "What is the purpose of public schools?"

The Children's Rally, coordinated by Sandra Tsing Loh, an author and member of the Burning Moms organization, is a congregation of young students as participatory citizens in the political dialogue of their state legislature.

The Burning Moms originated as a group of parents, fathers included, who had frustrations about the education system in California. “I'm a Proposition 13 baby, and my children continue to be affected by the way funding is done in California,” said Loh.

The purpose of the event was to, “Get our children in the habit of coming to the Capitol and meeting with their legislature,” Loh added.

The style of activism is “more hands-on, more creative, and uses what we know about the Internet,” she said. The Burning Moms work in a Burning Man spirit, the week-long annual event in the Black Rock desert of Nevada that celebrates art and community, and commissioned students to install a giant, interpretive art piece on the Capitol steps.

This year the Children’s Rally coincided with Senator Gloria Romero’s informational hearing on SB 604, which would obtain input from students, parents, teachers, and members of the public about the mission of public education in California, and include a preamble to the Education Code.

Senator Romero, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, highlighted the purpose of the hearing in an interview, “We want to hear from students; they are rarely represented in California.”

In the span of an hour and a half, several elementary, middle and high school students took the stand to testify on their school experiences and to provide feedback for reform measures. Almost every student addressed increasing sizes in classrooms and a general lack of funding.

“It is important that a classroom has proper equipment, but equipment is nothing if there isn’t a teacher who has a good salary,” said 11-year-old Amira Telloch.

Telloch continued to express her hopes for the future of education, “It is also important to have a fun, nice, clean and safe school system that celebrates diversity, encourages ideas, is open to change, listens to all ideas from adults and children, and provides a good education for all children who seek one.”

Heather Wiley Cox, a soon-to-be fifth grader in Burbank County, was deeply concerned about the trouble students will have as a result of bigger classrooms. “There will be more children that will have trouble focusing and will be getting less assistance from their teachers,” she said.

She touched on Proposition 13 and addressed the legislative body saying the proposition, “corrupted your inability to balance our state’s budget,” and she demanded, “Roll up your sleeves, drop your agenda, and take a good look at what our state needs.”

The audience was taken aback by the passion and eloquence in her speech, as with many other young students, hearing the word "wow," circulate the room quickly.

After the hearing the children and their parents convened on the West Steps of the Capitol for a kazoo parade. State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell, led the tune, "Saints go Marching In," for the kazoo parade and expressed his gratitude for student participation in the day’s events.

Assembly woman Julia Brownley also made an appearance at the event. Sandra Tsing Loh led her to the interactive art installation equipped with a spinning wheel to see what will be cut next from the budget. The installation was political in nature, commenting on legislation that “goes nowhere” at times, said Assembly woman Brownley.

Senator Romero said she is trying to combat this by focusing the Education Code with a mission statement, “If we had a clear direction and purpose, I think we could begin to answer the question and to provide for stronger certitude as to what we expect from our public school system.”

This direction begins with the students themselves. The diversity in their backgrounds, coming from magnet, public, and technology specific schools showed the solidarity among young people in regards to the future of education. “You talk about how if you do this you will be saving the future of the state, but you are cutting the education of the children that are the future of the state,” said Wiley Cox.

Students from Los Angeles to San Francisco were able to mingle with important state figures yesterday, and their voices were heard. In these trying times, young students are recognizing the difficulty of looking to the future of education, and they are doing something about it.

For more information, click the following links:
California Children's Rally
The Burning Moms
Senate Bill Number 604

SCUSD Board of Education approves drastic reduction of summer school

2009-06-12T15:09:40Z

The SCUSD Board of Education voted 5 – 1, with 1 abstention, to drastically reduce summer school programs for the next two years - effective immediately. The decision eliminates all programs for elementary and middle school students, and reduces summer school for high school students. In addition, special education programs will be reduced and adult school programs will either be reduced or converted to a fee based system. The decision will also impact almost 300 district employees, some of whom planned to report to work as early as today.

In her opening statements, Interim Superintendent Susan Miller stressed that the budget for this and next fiscal year was balanced as of May 14th, but then “the bottom fell out” and the district was forced to use stimulus funds. She added that they were leaving “no stone unturned” but that after years of “cutting to the core of instruction” vital services including employee contracts, support staff and transportation were being considered for cuts.

Ellyne Bell (Area 1), the only member to vote against the decision, asked what resources the district would provide to schools who will now be charged with the difficult task of bringing students up to grade level without summer school programs. Miller had no clear solutions to offer and stated only that it would be “reasonable to expect that (schools) will have to lead the charge to work (extra instruction) into the school year” and that the district would make “assisting them a high priority.”

Bell expressed deep reservations regarding the suggestion and reminded the board that they “made a commitment to keep cuts as far away from kids as possible.”

Board Member Diana Rodriguez (Area 5) raised questions regarding alternative options, such as charging a small fee for summer school. While SCUSD counsel suggested this might violate the K-12 constitution for California, district staff admitted the matter had not been researched. No other alternative options were presented to the board. The proposal also contained no information on the long-term impact of eliminating summer school programs for below grade level students.

With most summer schools slated to begin on June 22 and some beginning as early as today, the board had little time to consider researching other options.

Nine members of the community spoke publicly against further reduction of summer school programs, urging the board to “just say no, for a change” and expressing frustrations about the lateness of the proposal.

Supt. Miller addressed the crowd directly, urging them to understand that there were no ulterior motives behind the lateness of the special meeting. Current budget conditions left the district with no choice but to take immediate action.

Donald Terry (Area 3) also spoke frankly to the audience. He applauded his colleagues for making tough decisions in a difficult budget year and encouraged attendees to “pick up a newspaper and look at what other districts are doing.”

Jerry Houseman (Area 2) was the last to address the crowd. He admitted making the suggestion to Supt. Miller after he discovered that the Los Angeles Unified School District, which “represents ¼ of the students in the state,” was forced to cut summer school. “We need to join them,” he added. Houseman also stressed the importance or renegotiating union contracts and pointed out that salaries comprised 88% of the existing budget.

Roy Grimes (Area 6), Patrick Kennedy (Area 7), Houseman and Terry voted for the reductions. Gustavo Arroyo (Area 4) abstained from voting and Bell was the only “no” vote.

Program Reductions Defined (taken from the SCUSD proposal)

Eliminate Summer School Programs

Elementary and Middle Schools (for 2 years)
Adult Education (ESL, GEB, ABE, Distance Learning, Older Adults)

Convert Adult Education CTE Classes to Fee Based

Shift Cost of PACE/HISP/IB to Site & Grant Funds

Maintain Special Populations Programs to Close the Achievement Gap

Culturally & Linguistically Reponsive Pedagogy Programs
Hmong, Mien, Lao Program
Refugee Student Assistance Program
CSUS Math/ELA Academy

Maintain High School Programs with Modifications

Eliminate On-line Credit Recovery
Concurrent Enrollment with Adult Ed.

Game Plan Academy (GPA) students 'GoDoGood' & serve at Sacramento Food Bank

2009-04-29T07:14:24Z

One of the keys to serving local communities effectively is supporting existing institutions that already provide valuable services. The Sacramento Food Bank is one such institution.

This past Saturday, Game Plan Academy (GPA) students assembled alongside GPA mentors, Jesuit High School alumni, teachers, students, parents, and staff as part of a GoDoGood project. The mission of GoDoGood is to capture people's energy to 'do good' and put these passions into action in local communities. The Sacramento Food Bank provides an excellent outlet for Sacramentans who want to 'do good' for those in need in a well-organized, structured, and warm, supportive environment. GoDoGood brought a talented, diverse, and motivated group of Sacramento residents together to give back to the community that has given them so many blessings. Staff members and leaders at the Sacramento Food Bank, a long-standing Sacramento organization that does a tremendous amount of 'good', remarked that our energetic group of volunteers accomplished a significant amount of helpful work -- remarks like "Where have you been all my life?" and "This is tremendous; you guys are awesome" were made.

Then, on Sunday, building on momentum from Saturday, Game Plan Academy (GPA) participants and coaches assembled for another high impact session. Spirits were high both on the football field and in the classroom, and Dr. Rich Callahan from the University of Southern California (USC) capped off the day remarkably well with a powerful presentation on the importance of practice, self-confidence and determination, and making progress in life 'inch-by-inch' -- we should all keep our eyes open for those 'inches', the little opportunities and openings, that we can take advantage of throughout our lives.

Game Plan Academy (GPA) and the Sacramento Food Bank represent two manifestations of Sacramento natives' continuous efforts to GoDoGood, but there are many other wonderful people, groups, and organizations throughout the region 'doing good' each and every day -- that's what makes Sacramento a kindred community of 'people helping people'.

GoDoGoodSacramento.

Good.

Game Plan Academy (GPA): In Their Words

2009-03-19T22:28:13Z

On Sunday, March 15th, Game Plan Academy (GPA) launched at Hiram Johnson High School. Thanks to the generous sponsorships from Positive Coaching Alliance (www.positivecoach.org), Wells Fargo, and Avanti Restaurant Solutions, what was five months ago a clear vision with a windy path ahead, is now printed logo-wear, yard-markers, test-prep materials, and a group of forty student-athletes working to improve their performances on the field and in the classroom.

A local, grassroots initiative, GPA attempts to equip students with a "game plan" for life. Spanning eight Sundays, students receive structured SAT preparation, focused college counseling, and rigorous athletic training. Working with former NFL athletes, academic mentors from Academic Impact, and two local business owners, students benefit from continuous personal mentorship and learn to achieve an effective balance of academics and athletics.

GPA will succeed as much as it focuses on the needs of the student-athletes. It is easy to set metrics for SAT scores, define the proper angle for a wide receiver's route, or outline the college application process; what is difficult is being perceptive of student needs and adapting curriculum, philosophy, and activities to address them. The GPA team is committed to listening to students and providing support that is practical, meaningful, and transformational.

The students have already guided our plans through their reflections on Day One at GPA:

Student Reflection #1
"Today was a good day. Its only the first day and Ive learned things and found out things that I'm doing wrong. I hope I can fix these problems and become a better quarterback. Coach Gio and Coach Alex are very good and nice people. Coach Gio has helped me a lot and I look forward to learning from him and working with him throughout the couple of weeks here at Game Plan Academy."

This is mentor-based education in action. The effects are immediate.

Student Reflection #2
"Well today at the Game Plan Academy I had a realy bad day. I wasn't 100% on anything today. I caught about 5 balls out of 100 thats not good at all and my coach wants me to start next year. Im going to have to step my game up next week. Now after catching ball segment I had to go inside a class room and take some test on the two subjects I hate the most math and English. The math part was O.K. but the english was boring and hard. Im not even sure so of the words are in English."

This player's determination is evident despite his frustration. Self-motivation as a result of a challenging situation could be the necessary spark to get things on track.

Student Reflection #3
"Today was a good experience at G.P.A. I felt that the agility activities i got a little better and will continue to improve. I think that all the coaches and helpers at G.P.A are nice and seem to know what they are talking about. I also enjoyed running routes."

Here's to seven more weeks of two-way learning: mentors teaching students, and students teaching mentors.

Students Speak Up

2009-03-17T01:54:01Z

Look out, Governor Schwarzenegger! Thousands of angry students are yelling at your front door.

Today at the Capitol, college students from all over California gathered to speak up about their frustrations in this year’s ‘March in March’.

At 10:00 am, a crowd of thousands from all over the state started marching from Raley Field towards the Capitol. The passion of the students could be felt in the air during the walk.

“What do we want? EDUCATION! When do we want it? NOW!” “You say cut that, we say fight back!”

These were just a couple of the many chants that could be heard throughout the crowd. Anybody with functioning ears within a ten-block radius could probably hear the screams.

As the swarm of people kept growing at the steps of the Capitol, it became very cramped and very loud. Thousands were eventually gathered, showing the true enthusiasm of the people in California’s higher education system. Many carried signs that said 'Stop Education Cuts', 'Schools not War', and 'Tax the Rich'. Some, though, were not as serious. I came across one that said 'Chuck Norris supports education' and one that had a person looking at a dog and saying 'cat' showing why we need education. The people had a serious agenda, but the mood remained light for most of the crowd.

The first speaker to the stage was SSCCC President Richael Young, who was very engaging to the crowd, especially the many from community colleges around the state.

Next up, was SSCCC Vice President Troy Carter, followed by quite a few other speakers from colleges around California. They were from different areas, but shared the same message: Keep colleges effective, open, and affordable.

One of the speakers who was full of charisma, who is also candidate for governor for the 2010 election, was Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, who criticized the state for trying to cut its most valuable asset: its students. There was an uproar of screams and applause during all of the speeches given at the Capitol.

Seeing the crowd from the steps of the Capitol stretching out to Tower Bridge gave a sense of awe. To see that there were that many people passionate about education gave me some hope. During this time where everything seems to be getting worse, hope was a very welcome feeling. You could see it on the faces of all of the people. People who traveled from all over the state just to be there for a few hours (some from as far away as San Diego) didn’t care about the long ride they had ahead of them. They knew what they were there for, and they were going to get it. The students of California colleges are the future of the state. Having affordable education for all is a basic American right and there should never be any governmental move that would stop people from getting it.

Hopefully, legislators will recognize this march and react accordingly. If they don’t, I have no doubt that even more students will come to the Capitol to show them who they’re hurting.

Sacramento's GPA Provides Positive Role Models

2009-02-25T08:16:11Z

Sacramento has produced a number of world class athletes - Dusty Baker, Bill Cartwright, Debbie Meyer, and of course Mayor Kevin Johnson to name a few. But what's to be said about young athletes who have talent, but not the means to be successful?

A group of seven successful Sacramento athletes, including former NFL players Gio Carmazzi and Alex Van Dyke are now back in Sacramento to help steward underprivileged high school athletes to succeed not only in sports but also in life.

Their organization, Game Plan Academy (GPA), will be holding an eight-week camp on Sundays from March 15 through May 10 at Hiram Johnson High School. It will focus on recruiting from schools with low Academic Performance Index (API) ratings and schools from low-income areas.

Says Academic Mentor Brent Pottenger, who will be teaching math and SAT preparation, "We are trying to have an academy style camp so we can bond with the kids and mentor them over a longer period of time. This is one way we thought we could operationalize our love for community involvement, plus we were all student athletes, so it relates closely to what we did as students."

GPA, which is a nonprofit, relies on corporate sponsorship so students who would not usually be able to afford a mentoring program will be able to learn positive new skills. Besides working on math, English, college and career preparation, the program would like to address the question: what do these high school students want to do beyond college?

Pottenger added, "I have a health background, so one of the things we're trying to promote is the development of a whole person. Sports just provides a healthy outlet for people, but we're also working on an explicit health, nutrition, and fitness part of the program. Where there are monetary and learning disparities, there are also health disparities."

GPA has already contacted coaches in low API schools to nominate students who have potential to succeed but need a little encouragement. Then students who are nominated must submit an essay where they write about the challenges they face in their lives. Though there are only fifteen submissions so far, there are 40 spots in the camp, so what it comes down to is: students who write the best essays will be chosen to participate.

For now, only football players who are wide receivers, running backs and quarterbacks can apply, because those are the positions Carmazzi and Van Dyke, the camp's two sports teachers, can teach.

GPA would love to expand into other sports such as baseball, golf, and perhaps basketball, and get more professional athletes to coach.

Pottenger says, "Sacramento is a hotbed for baseball, and we want to make baseball our next sport. We would like to approach J.P. Howell of the Tampa Devil Rays, or Greg Vaughn and begin our baseball camp in August or early fall."

After the high school athletes graduate from the camp, they will have a sense of accomplishment, and according to Pottenger, Mayor Kevin Johnson may even speak at the graduation ceremony.

*Images credited to Gameplanacademy.com

No plans this weekend?

2009-02-20T03:28:37Z

If you are at a loss for what to do this weekend you may be interested in knowing that Sacramento State is putting on a show for a reasonable price.

The Vagina Monologues will be performed in the University Union at 7pm on the 19th, 20th and 21st.

Tickets are $8 for students and $15 for general admission. They are available at the Sac State ticket office or at tickets.com

The proceeds will benefit the Sac State Violence and Sexual Assault Support Services Program and the SHARE Institute.

I was able to experience the fun last year and the performances were incredible. Word around Sac State is that this year’s show is the best they’ve ever had.

So please, if you are looking for a good laugh, or a monologue you can relate to, stop by and check out the students of Sacramento State performing at their best!