Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

Park Middle School Cheerleaders take first at national competition

Sunday, March 17th, 2024
Park Middle School cheerleaders following their win on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Photos: Marie West

By Marie West, Head Cheer Coach, Park Middle School

Congratulations to the Park Middle School Cheerleaders for winning first place at the Rockstar-Justice League National Cheer and Dance Competition in Sacramento on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Over 50 teams participated in the national competition. Over 50 teams participated in the competition, one of six different cheerleading and dance events held across the country.

This is the first official cheer team at Park Middle School and the first middle school in Antioch Unified School District history to compete at a national cheer competition.

Way to make your school and AUSD proud! Go Spartans!

CCC College District Ward 5 Trustee Sandoval issues report on the district

Thursday, March 14th, 2024
Ward 5 Trustee Fernando Sandoval official photo. Source: 4CD

I thought I would update our communities. In this day and age it’s so important that we continue to provide accessible quality education for our communities so we can build and sustain a skilled and educated workforce.

Heading into 2024 and final year of my term as a Trustee for Ward 5 in Contra Costa Community College District I would like to underscore my role and the successes of the District. 

Coming onto the board I brought my experiences as a positive collaborator, consensus builder, positions in Technology and Finance and understanding the issues in the communities we serve. Coming out of  the pandemic my role is to contribute to support increasing enrollment, oversight of policies, helping set priorities, educational quality, financial review’s for approval of budget, selection of our Chancellor  and approve key leadership positions. 

Education is a key to helping our communities improve as valued members of our workforce. Beyond Associate Degree Transfer programs we continue to support pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs as part of our wide array of CTE programs with valuable skills certifications.

Some of our priorities included Leadership Stability, Educational Quality and Equity, Workforce Development and Community Partnerships. I am sharing the results of these efforts as the recent President of the Governing Board of Trustees and overall, as a key member of the board.

I worked to create a respectful approach in building relationships with fellow board members and restoring the trust of the 3 Academic Senate bodies as we together moved forward in a shared governance model.

Our faculty and staff are the heart of the District and we worked closely with United Faculty and Local 1 on new contract agreements to ensure the needs of its members were addressed and aligned with our priorities and ensuring financial stability for the future.

Leadership Stability: Having a transformative leadership team drives our mission, prepares us to meet the challenges of the future and provides stability for our faculty, staff and for student success.  Approvals completed for the following key positions:

Chancellor – Mojdeh Mehdizadh

Executive Vice Chancellor – Micaela Ochoa

Chief Finance Officer – Tony Wold

Director of Human Resources – Dan Cueva

President Los Medanos College – Pamela Ralston

President Contra Costa College – Kimberly Rogers

Educational Quality and Equity:  Our Colleges continue to receive recognition and here is a snapshot of these recognitions. The commitment of our faculty and classified professionals are underscored in the way students thrive and rise to succeed.

Los Medanos College – Aspen Institute Award – Recognized as 1 of the top 150 colleges for Community College excellence. The 6 critical areas reviewed for this award are teaching and learning, transfer and bachelor’s attainment, workforce success, access, and equity for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. Received 2021 Equity Champion Award for transferring students.

Diablo Valley College – Ranked as #1 in the state in transfers to UC Berkeley, Saint Mary’s College, and Cal State Maritime Academy.

Additionally, DVC ranked in the top 5 for large schools Community Colleges in California based on graduation and transfer rates.

Contra Costa College – Chosen as one of the 10 US Colleges to participate in Achieving the Dream (ATD), a program that uses high-level coaching and other resources to help community colleges collect and analyze data, then use those findings to help students succeed.

Recognized for their Center for Science Excellence and Green Energy Programs and also offering the only Hybrid Technician Certification in the Bay Area. CCC continues to be a leader in Culinary Arts and Journalism.

Equity– The District was awarded a grant by the State Chancellor’s office to research and create the framework for a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging framework as part of an Institutional Effective Plan to improve our culture of belonging and improve student success. 

Los Medanos College and Contra Costa College are recognized as Hispanic Serving Institutions with robust STEM programs. The Puente, Umoja, and African American Male Leadership programs thrive in the District and lead to a unique experience for students and faculty. 

Partnerships and Community Engagement: I diligently provided the details needed to have Diablo Valley College partner with United Latino Voices and the Mount DIablo School District to increase enrollment and pilot an augment outreach and enrollment through culturally and linguistically diverse approaches.

The pilot may lead to DVC submitting and receiving a Hispanic Service Institution (HSI) designation allowing for additional grant proposals. LMC and CCC are existing HSI colleges in our District.

Working on partnerships with the East Bay Leadership Council, Contra Costa School Board Association, Dual Enrollment, Concurrent Enrollment and Non-profits continue to reap benefits.

Workforce Development: The Colleges offer unique leadership opportunities and continue to innovate in the area of workforce development for future jobs to support the growing needs of the county. Our new Learning Aligned Education Program (LAEP) offers for-profit employers 50% reimbursement and non-profits 90% reimbursement for the cost of internships if they invest in our students. Our advanced robotics program in which we partner with Tesla provides the skills for immediate employment.

Certifications for Firefighting, Process Power Technology, Nursing, Early Childhood Education and Police Services continue to provide valuable skills.

Graduates and Certificates: The most recent graduating class in 2023 conferred completions for 7,702 degrees and certificates, including 2,133 Associates in Science,2,204Associates of Arts and 3,365Certifications across our District. 

Enrollment: The efforts of the colleges to regain students as part of outreach and enrollment associated with the pandemic and economy continues to show results. Year to year enrollment has continued to increase FTE’s enrollment is up by 9.3% across the district prior year point in time. 

Our work is not done. We need to keep our bar raised to improve enrollment and provide educational services for our communities to support our labor needs. 

Financial Stability: The recent audit just completed showed strength in our finances and no issues with our Bond Oversight continuing to ensure that our expenditures are in alignment with policies and practices and align with the voters expectations as we invest in our facilities and as we review future needs.  

Modernization: Bonds passed by our residents resulting in a new Science Building at Contra Costa College, a new Student Union and Kinesiology Building at Los Medanos College as well as modernizing facilities at Diablo Valley College. This investment will support the future needs of our students.

Advocacy: We continue to work with our legislators to aid in support and this resulted in a $1,000,000 grant by Congressman DeSaulner and Senator Padilla to the District for driving our Open Educational Resources program to reduce the cost of books for our students.

Thank you, again for support in my role

Fernando Sandoval

Ward 5 Trustee

Past President- Governing Board of Trustees

Contra Costa Community College District

Tickets available for S.T.E.A.M. Fest at the Santa Cruz Warriors game March 10

Tuesday, March 5th, 2024

Receive a free Kevon Looney Bobblehead!

The Warriors are hosting a day of fun, excitement and education focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (S.T.E.A.M.) in addition to cheering on the Santa Cruz Warriors, their G-league team as they take on the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The game is LIVE at the Chase Center this Sunday, March 10th, tipoff is 12:30pm.

Seats are in sections 126, 127, 128 starting at row 6. This is a great opportunity to engage your kids in S.T.E.A.M.-related activities throughout the Main concourse and enjoy an afternoon of some great basketball.

Everyone will receive a Kevon Looney Bobblehead.

Deer Valley High sophomore wins AUSD annual Martin Luther King, Jr. essay contest

Tuesday, March 5th, 2024
DVHS sophomore Jaelyn Wilkins with her winning MLK essay contest check and certificate from AUSD. All photos courtesy of Shar’ron Johnson-Wilkins

Wolverines’ student athlete Jaelyn Wilkins recognized by state, federal representatives

12 other students win essay, art contests; Dozier Libbey senior honored with Reggie Moore Memorial Community Service Award

Carmen Dragon students win all 3 for both Elementary School essay and art contests

By Allen D. Payton

(Publisher’s Note: Apologies for the delay in publishing this article, but the information was not provided to the Herald until last week.)

During this year’s Antioch Unified School District Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration held in January, awards and checks were presented to a variety of elementary, middle and high school students who won the contests for the best essay and art. The submission topic for this year was, “Shifting the Culture Climate through the Study and Practice of Dr. King’s Nonviolence.” Students were invited to submit either a written entry of a poem or essay, short story, etc. or a visual entry including a story told through video, photographs, music, drawings, paintings, collages, etc.

Jaelyn was honored by congressional and state representatives for her winning essay.

Deer Valley High School sophomore scholar athlete, Jaelyn Wilkins, won first place in the high school essay contest and received a check for $250.00, as well as certificates of recognition by Congressman Mark DeSaulnier and Assemblyman Tim Grayson.

Jaelyn during track competitions and with all of her medals.

Wilkins also runs on the cross country and track teams for the Wolverines. In 2022 she was honored to be part of the Cross Country Second Team All-League by the coaches of the Bay Valley Athlete. Wilkins was also honored as the 2022-23 Deer Valley cross country team’s Freshman Phenom and the track team’s Most Valuable Player with the Most Points.

Jaelyn Wilkins’ 2022-23 DVHS Cross Country Freshman Phenom and Track and Field Most Points – MVP plaques, and 2022 BVAL Cross Country 2nd Team All-League certificate.

Following is Jaelyn’s winning 2024 MLK contest essay:

“Dr. King’s incredible legacy has a profound impact on me, even at the age of 15. 

Embracing the 2024 theme, I am determined to make a difference in my own unique way. Through acts of kindness, understanding, and empathy, I strive to create a world where everyone is treated with respect and equality. 

Inspired by Dr. King’s unwavering dedication, I am committed to standing up for what is right, even in the face of adversity. 

Whether it’s advocating for social justice, promoting inclusivity in my school and community, or raising awareness about important issues, I believe that every action, no matter how small, can contribute to a brighter future. 

As a young person, I recognize the power of my voice and the impact I can have on those around me. By educating myself and others, fostering dialogue, and encouraging empathy, I hope to inspire my peers to join me in creating positive change. Together, we can break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and build a more equitable society. Dr. King’s dream of equality and justice serves as a guiding light for me and my generation. 

We carry his message in our hearts and are committed to continuing his work. With passion, determination, and a belief in the power of unity, we can make a lasting impact and create a world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. 

Let’s continue to honor Dr. King’s legacy and work towards a future filled with love, compassion, and equality.”

The following AUSD students were the winners in each contest category and the prize money amounts they received:

High School-Essay:

1st place: Jaelyn Wilkins, 10th grade, Deer Valley High School – $250.00

2nd place: Daniela Edeh, 10th grade, Dozier Libby High School – $150.00

3rd place: Jae’la Falls, 10th grade, Deer Valley High School – $100.00

Middle School-Essay:

1st place: Airabella Clark, 7th grade, Dallas Ranch – $150.00

Elementary School-Essay:

1st place: Annabella He, 5th grade, Carmen Dragon – $50.00

2nd place: Alijah Jones, 3rd grade, Carmen Dragon – $40.00

3rd place: Yesenia Gonzales, 3rd grade, Carmen Dragon – $25.00

High School-ART:

1st place: Andelia Melgar-Portillo, 9th grade, Dozier Libby – $250.00

2nd place: Iris Zhang, 10th grade, Deer Valley High School – $150.00

3rd place: Mckeyla Feliciano, 10th grade, Antioch High School – $100.00

Elementary School-ART:

1st place: Aviya Gaetos, 5th grade, Carmen Dragon – $50.00

2nd place: Milena Palumbo, 5th grade, Carmen Dragon – $40.00

3rd place: Ryuu Clarke, 5th grade, Carmen Dragon – $25.00

There were no winners in the Middle School Art contest, according to Velma Wilson, the district’s Parent & Student Engagement Liaison.

Reggie Moore Memorial Community Service Award: 

Matilda McCarthy, 12th grade, Dozier Libby Medical High School – $300.00

“Congratulations to this year’s winners of the Annual Dr. King Art & Essay Contest,” Wilson shared.

Go for the Gold Banquet Park Middle School PTSA fundraiser March 15

Sunday, March 3rd, 2024

Get ready for a night filled with fun, food, and friends at the Go for the Gold Park Middle School PTSA Banquet! Join us Friday, March 15 from 5 to 9 PM at the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Fulton Shipyard Road in Antioch.

It’s going to be an event to remember! Join us for a fabulous evening where we’ll celebrate, dine and have a blast together!

Come and celebrate with us as we recognize the hard work and dedication of our amazing PTSA members. Enjoy a delicious meal, engaging activities, and exciting surprises. This is your chance to connect with other parents, teachers, and students in our community. Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to celebrate and support our school. See you there! Must be 21 years of age and up.

Tickets are $40 and available at Eventbrite.

Veterans of Foreign Wars is located at 815 Fulton Shipyard Road in Antioch.

CTA-sponsored legislation would remove one of state’s last required tests for teachers

Monday, February 26th, 2024
First grade teacher Sandra Morales discusses sentences with a student. Credit: Zaidee Stavely / EdSource

State could retain unpopular written literacy test

By Dana Lambert, EdSource.org – republished with permission

Newly proposed legislation sponsored by the California Teachers Association would eliminate all performance assessments teachers are required to pass, including one for literacy that it supported three years ago. The result could leave in place an unpopular written test that the literacy performance assessment was designed to replace.

Senate Bill 1263, authored by state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, would do away with the California Teaching Performance Assessment, known as the CalTPA, through which teachers demonstrate their competence via video clips of instruction and written reflections on their practice. 

Eliminating the assessment will increase the number of effective teachers in classrooms, as the state continues to contend with a teacher shortage, said Newman, chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

“One key to improving the educator pipeline is removing barriers that may be dissuading otherwise talented and qualified prospective people from pursuing a career as an educator,” Newman said in a statement to EdSource.

The bill also would do away with a literacy performance assessment of teachers and oversight of literacy instruction in teacher preparation programs mandated by Senate Bill 488, authored by Sen. Susan Rubio, D-West Covina, in 2021.

The literacy performance assessment is scheduled to be piloted in the next few months. It is meant to replace the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA) set to be scrapped in 2025. 

New law could leave RICA in place

The proposed legislation appears to leave in place a requirement that candidates for a preliminary multiple-subject or education specialist credential pass a reading instruction competence assessment, said David DeGuire, a director at the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

“At this time, it is unclear what that assessment would look like, but it could be that the state continues to use the current version of the RICA,” he said.

Newman will present the legislation to the Senate Education Committee in the next few months. Discussions about whether the RICA remains in use are likely to take place during the legislative process.

Rubio recently became aware of the new legislation and had not yet discussed it with Newman.

“For three years, I worked arduously and collaboratively with a broad range of education leaders, including parent groups, teacher associations and other stakeholders to modernize a key component of our educational system that in my 17 years as a classroom teacher and school administrator I saw as counterproductive to our students’ learning,” Rubio said of Senate Bill 488.

Teachers union changes course 

The California Teachers Association, which originally supported Senate Bill 488, now wants all performance assessments, including the literacy performance assessment, eliminated.

“We are all scratching our heads,” said Yolie Flores, of Families in Schools, a Los Angeles-based education advocacy organization. “We were really blindsided by this (legislation), given the momentum around strengthening our teacher prep programs.”

The results of a survey of almost 1,300 CTA members last year convinced the state teachers union to push for the elimination of the CalTPA, said Leslie Littman, vice president of the union. Teachers who took the survey said the test caused stress, took away time that could have been used to collaborate with mentors and for teaching, and did not prepare them to meet the needs of students, she said.

“I think what we were probably not cognizant of at that time, and it really has become very clear of late, is just how much of a burden these assessments have placed on these teacher candidates,” Littman said. 

Teacher candidates would be better served if they were observed over longer periods of time, during student teaching, apprenticeships, residencies and mentorship programs, to determine if they were ready to teach, Littman said. This would also allow a mentor to counsel and support the candidate to ensure they have the required skills.

California joins science of reading movement

California has joined a national effort to change how reading is being taught in schools. States nationwide are rethinking balanced literacy, which has its roots in whole language instruction or teaching children to recognize words by sight, and replacing it with a method that teaches them to decode words by sounding them out, a process known as phonics. 

Smarter Balanced test scores, released last fall, show that only 46.6% of the state’s students who were tested met academic standards in English.

Last week Assemblymember Blanca Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, introduced Assembly Bill 2222, which would mandate that schools use evidence-based reading instruction. California, a “local control” state, currently only encourages school districts to incorporate fundamental reading skills, including phonics, into instruction.

 “It (Newman’s SB 1263) goes against not only the movement, but everything we know from best practices, evidence, research, science, of how we need to equip new teachers and existing teachers, frankly, to teach literacy,” Flores said. “And that we would wipe it away at this very moment where we’re finally getting some traction is just very concerning.”

Lori DePole, co-director of DeCoding Dyslexia California, said the proposed legislation would cut any progress the state has made “off at the knees.” 

Among her concerns is the elimination of the requirement, also authorized by Senate Bill 488, that the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing certify that teacher preparation programs are teaching literacy aligned to state standards and a provision that requires the commission to report to the state Legislature annually on how stakeholders are meeting the requirements of the law.

“It would be going away,” DePole said. “Everyone agreed with SB 488, all the supporters agreed, this was the direction California needed to go to strengthen teacher prep with respect to literacy. And before it can even be fully implemented, we’re going to do a 180 with this legislation. It makes no sense.”

Flores said teachers want to be equipped to teach reading using evidence-based techniques, but many don’t know how.

“We know that reading is the gateway, and if kids can’t read, it’s practically game over, right?” said Flores. “And we are saying with this bill that it doesn’t matter, that we don’t really need to teach and show that teachers know how to teach reading.”

Teacher tests replaced by coursework, degrees

California has been moving away from standardized testing for teacher candidates for several years as the teacher shortage worsened. In July 2021, legislation gave teacher candidates the option to take approved coursework instead of the California Basic Education Skills Test, or CBEST, or the California Subject Examinations for Teachers, or CSET. In January’s tentative budget, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed eliminating the CBEST and allowing the completion of a bachelor’s degree to satisfy the state’s basic skills requirement.

Littman disagrees with the idea that there will be no accountability for teachers if the legislation passes. “There’s always been, and will continue to be, an evaluation component for all of our teachers in this state,” she said. “It just depends on what your district does and how they implement that. There’s always been a system of accountability for folks.”

DeSaulnier announces 2024 Congressional Art Competition for high school students

Tuesday, February 20th, 2024
2022 District CA-11 Congressional Art Competition winner, “Growing Up” by Menglin Cai of Danville. Source: Office of Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (when he represented the 11th District)

Deadline for submittals is April 5th

Walnut Creek, CA – Today, Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (D, CA-10) announced he will participate in the nationwide 2024 Congressional Art Competition. High school artists living in California’s 10th Congressional District may begin submitting original artwork to his office virtually from now through Friday, April 5th. The winning piece will be selected by a panel of local judges who will view all artwork electronically and announced at a reception to celebrate all participants following the submission deadline.

Participants may submit one photograph or scan of their artwork, taken in the highest possible resolution, to kaylee.deland@mail.house.gov. Submissions must include the Student Release Form. Artwork entered in the contest may be up to 26 inches by 26 inches, may be up to 4 inches in depth, and not weigh more than 15 pounds. If your artwork is selected as the winning piece, it must arrive framed and must still measure no larger than the above maximum dimensions.

  • Paintings – including oil, acrylics, and watercolor
  • Drawings – including pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink, and markers (It is recommended that charcoal and pastel drawings be fixed.)
  • Collages – must be two dimensional
  • Prints – including lithographs, silkscreen, and block prints
  • Mixed Media – use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.
  • Computer-generated art
  • Photography

All entries must be original in concept, design and execution and may not violate any U.S. copyright laws. Any entry that has been copied from an existing photo or image (including a painting, graphic, or advertisement) that was created by someone other than the student is a violation of the competition rules and will not be accepted. Work entered must be in the original medium (that is, not a scanned reproduction of a painting or drawing).

The rules for the 2024 competition are available here or on House.gov.

“Every year I am so impressed by the talent of the students in our district who participate in the Congressional Art Competition,” said DeSaulnier. “I am pleased to again host this event as an opportunity for young artists to showcase and be recognized for their creativity.”

The competition is open to all high school students living in California’s 10th Congressional District. The winning piece will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol and the winner will be invited to Washington D.C. to attend a national reception honoring winners from around the country. All submissions must be emailed to Kaylee.deland@mail.house.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. PT on April 5, 2024.

The Congressional Art Competition is a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Since the Competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated. Complete contest guidelines and submissions forms are available on the Congressman’s website here. For more information or help submitting artwork, please contact DeSaulnier’s office at 925-933-2660.

Antioch School District to hold Black History Month Celebration Feb. 21

Thursday, February 15th, 2024

Will honor Historical Black Colleges & Universities and the Divine Nine Black sororities and fraternities

By Allen D. Payton

During Antioch Unified School District’s Black History Month Celebration on Wednesday, Feb. 21, they will honor the Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) and the D9 or Divine Nine Black sororities and fraternities. The event will include music, spoken word, special guests and more, and will be held in the Beede Auditorium at Antioch High School from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The community is welcome.

The HBCU’s were established before 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the Black community. According to HBCUConnect.com, there are 105 schools on the official list.

According to BlackEnterprise.com, the D9 consists of the nine pioneering black Greek-letter organizations: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Antioch High is located at 700 W. 18th Street. For more information about the event visit www.antiochschools.net or email velmawilson@antiochschools.net.