Founded by award winning principal, motivational speaker and activist, Theresa Everett the Speak Rivers Youth Outreach Project is meant to give to our community, our kids, and our families by sending messages of positivity.

The free event will be held this Saturday, August 5 from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 p.m. at Williamson Ranch Park, corner of Lone Tree Way and Hillcrest Avenue in Antioch.

There will be a backpack giveaway, jumper, food, music featuring the premiere of Come & Spy, and fun activities for the kids.

Theresa Everett

Everett, principal of Skyview Elementary School in Riverside County, CA, was honored in 2016 as Elementary Principal of the Year by the Western Riverside County Association of School Managers. 

Her school was awarded a California Gold Ribbon in 2016 by State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Antioch’s own Tom Torlakson.

The Gold Ribbon Awards recognize California schools that have made gains in implementing the academic content and performance standards adopted by the State Board of Education. These include the California Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics, California English Language Development Standards, and Next Generation Science Standards.

“These schools shine as bright beacons for others, putting forth an exemplary effort to ensure that every student is ready for 21st century college and careers…California teachers are developing an education model for the nation, training the students of today to be the problem-solvers, inventors, and pioneers of tomorrow,” said Torlakson.

Learn more about Everett, here. 

Connect with Speak Rivers online at www.speakriversyouth.com, Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/SpeakRivers/ or Instagram: speakrivers.

The new Antioch High School cafeteria is under construction. Photos from AUSD.

Antioch High’s modernization and renovation continues. Construction of the new cafeteria (where the original office was located) and the 1100 wing (former library and classrooms) is in progress.

The 1100 wing (the back of the school) is being transformed into a state-of-the-art Media Technology Center, and on target for a fall reveal. The area will feature green screen audio/video capability and modern technology classrooms.

In addition to a spacious cafeteria, this area (right before the 400 hall) will sport a wide open quad area with lush landscape. It is scheduled to be complete in the spring of 2018. The last phase of our Measure B Bond update includes the aquatic swim center, and updating the final three hallways and classrooms in the 300, 400 and 500 wings.

Artist’s rendering of what the new Antioch High cafeteria and quad will look like once completed.

Proud to announce that the Educational Results Partnership has named Deer Valley High School and Dozier-Libbey Medical High School as Star Honor Roll Schools. This distinction was given to 21 of the 287 schools in Contra Costa County.

Through the Honor Roll School program, the Educational Results Partnership identifies and recognizes higher performing schools in the state, particularly higher poverty schools that are closing achievement gaps and those with a focus on STEM proficiency. The Star Honor Roll is the only school recognition program in the state using only student achievement outcomes as the criteria and is a growing resource for all schools to learn about best practices that increase student achievement.

The Educational Results Partnership utilizes data from the largest longitudinally-linked, actionable school data system in the country. http://www.edresults.org/

SALT LAKE CITY (Grassroots Newswire) July 24, 2017 – The following local residents have received their degree from Western Governors University (WGU). The university held its 33rd semi-annual commencement ceremony at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on July 15 and celebrated the graduation of more than 10,000 graduates.

• Manjit Sooch of Antioch (94531) has received her MBA in IT Management
• Ritche Martija of Pittsburg (94565) has received his MBA in IT Management

At the commencement, the online, nonprofit university recognized 6,348 undergraduates and 4,140 graduates who have completed their degrees in business, information technology, K-12 teacher education, and healthcare, including nursing. Clayton M. Christensen, the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Founder of The Christensen Institute, delivered the commencement address, and joined President Scott D. Pulsipher in honoring the more than 1,000 new alumni participating in the ceremony. Students who were not able to attend the ceremony in person were able to watch the event via live video stream on WGU’s website.

WGU has made convenient and affordable higher education available to busy adults. Demand for its competency-based programs can be seen in the year-over-year growth of WGU’s national impact.

Forty percent of this year’s graduates represent the first generation in their family to complete college. The average time to graduation for bachelor’s degrees was two years, three months and the average time to graduation for graduate programs was one year, eight months.

Since WGU’s founding in 1997, the online, competency-based university has awarded more than 87,000 degrees; 20,000 of them in just the past year. Designed to meet the needs of working adults, WGU’s competency-based learning model makes it possible for students to fit studying into their busy lives. Students complete courses as soon as they demonstrate that they have mastered the subject matter, enabling them to move quickly through material they already know and spend more time on focusing on what they still need to learn. As a result, many students are able to accelerate their studies, finishing faster and saving money.

About WGU

Established in 1997 by 19 U.S. governors with a mission to expand access to high-quality, affordable higher education, online, nonprofit WGU now serves 82,000 students and 87,000 graduates in all 50 states. Driving innovation as the nation’s leading competency-based university, WGU has been recognized by the White House, state leaders, employers, and students as a model that works in postsecondary education. In just 20 years, the university has become a leading force in changing lives of through education. WGU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, has been featured on NPR, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and in The New York Times. Learn more at www.wgu.edu.

Tickets available until Tuesday, Aug. 1

Enjoy some Saturday night fever at the Antioch High School Class of 1977 40 Year Reunion, on September 16. The reunion will be held at the Antioch Community Center, 4703 Lone Tree Way from 6-11 p.m.

Cost is $60/person and the deadline for ticket purchases is Tuesday, August 1. Tickets will NOT be available at the door.

All information can be found at https://www.ahs77reunion.com/.  Classmates are also welcome to join the reunion Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AHS77reunion40/.

To be honored at annual dinner, Sept. 19

The Antioch Schools Education Foundation has announced the winners, finalists and nominees in Antioch’s 2017 Mary Allan Fellows awards.

Fellows: Tammy Ely-Kofford, 11th Grade Social Science, Deer Valley High School

Jacey Renfroe, 5th Grade, Marsh Elementary

Italo Rossi, 11th/12th Grade Human Anatomy & Physiology AP Biology, Antioch High School

Frank Zrinski, Seventh Grade Science, Antioch Middle School

Finalists: Connie Azevedo, 1st Grade, Belshaw Elementary

Sara Buckley-Carson, 8th Grade Science, Park Middle School

Christine Graves, 6th Grade, Park Middle School

Patrick Green, 6th-8th Physical Education, Antioch Middle

Lorie Guinard, 6th-8th Grade Severely Handicapped, Park Middle School

DarVisa Marshall, 6th Grade English and History, Park Middle School

Nominees: Megan Benson, Kindergarten, Orchard Park K-8 School

Tricia Campbell, English Language Development (ELD), Park Middle School

Marlein Jeans, 1st Grade, Jack London Elementary

Shawna Lucey, 3rd Grade, Grant Elementary

Michele White, 4th Grade, Mission Elementary

10th Annual Mary Allan Fellow’s Awards Dinner

The four winners will be honored at the 10th Annual Mary Allan Fellows Awards Dinner on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Lone Tree Golf & Event Center, 4800 Golf Course Road, Antioch. The dinner will feature 2017 National Counselor of the Year Terri Tchorzynski and a special guest. Tickets are $75 per person, go on sale August 16 and can be purchased at Umpqua Bank, from 3:00-7:00 p.m.

To learn more visit www.Facebook.com/AntiochSchools.

Concord Councilman Ron Leone. Photo from his council campaign website RonaldLeone.net

Concord Councilman, former teacher and A.U.S.D. Director of Student Services

By John Crowder

Concord City Councilman and one-time mayor Ron Leone, a former vice principal at Antioch’s Deer Valley High School, confirmed today that he is running for the position of Contra Costa County School Superintendent in the June 2018 election. Incumbent Karen Sakata, serving in her first term, has not yet indicated if she will seek re-election.

Leone, who is also a former Teacher of the Year and was the Director of Student Services for the Antioch Unified School District (AUSD), has been involved in education for over forty years.  In an interview with this reporter, Leone said he is running because, “education is my passion.  Everything I’ve done over my career has led me to this point, and I want to use my experience to ensure our students achieve academic success.”

According to his bio on the City of Concord’s website, “Ron Leone, a resident of Concord since 1978, was elected to the City Council in 2010, re-elected in 2014. He served as Mayor in 2012 and Vice Mayor in 2014 and 2016. Leone served 35 years in education as a high school teacher and principal. He was the teacher of the year in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District and teachers’ association president. He coached high school baseball, and several championship mock trial and constitutional academic teams.”

“I believe that I have the vision our schools need now,” he continued.  “In many ways, our schools throughout the county need help.  For example, last year the Grand Jury delivered a report on truancy that was very troubling.  Our county is one of the worst in the state for truancy, but I know first-hand that we can turn this around.  I served as the Director of Child Welfare and Attendance in Antioch some years ago, and was the first to conduct truancy sweeps, coordinating with local law enforcement.  Students who were truant were given Saturday school, and phone calls went home to parents.  In subsequent sweeps, we found that, by having real consequences for the students who skipped school, we dramatically reduced the number of repeat offenders.”

Leone also mentioned the financial challenges he plans to address.

“Another potentially serious problem is the County Office of Education’s unfunded liabilities,” he stated. “They continue to grow, and this will undoubtedly impact our ability to keep dollars in the classroom, if it continues.  We faced the same issue in Concord, but by exercising the leadership needed to tackle the matter, we were able to pay down the debt and create a $30 million reserve.”

Vocational training is strongly advocated by Leone. He described a Regional Occupation Program (ROP) his students used during his tenure in Fremont.

“The Mission Valley ROP Center that was developed was part of a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) with three school districts,” he said.  “I believe this approach would work for our County, as well.  I’m proposing a vocational training center in Central Contra Costa County.  Students from several school districts would be able to attend after school hours.”

Leone wants to work closely with the local school districts in the County. As of today, he’s already met with twelve of the County’s local school district superintendents.

“One of the things that I’m seeing is that the County Office of Education can help our local districts through expanded support of teacher training,” he said. “In addition, we want to encourage school districts to implement programs that advance academic achievement, and to help engage parents in their students’ success.”

Prior to being elected to the Concord City Council, Leone served for 16 years as an elected member of the Mt. Diablo Hospital District Board, as well as Chairman of the Board of the John Muir Hospitals, and the City’s Planning Commission.

Leone invites anyone interested in learning more to contact him at RonaldLeone@comcast.net.