Mark Highlights April 2018 issue 1

MARK Highlights

Manteca Unified School Board

April 2018, Issue 1

the

Why?

Making a positive difference to each and every student daily.

All Star Olympics See page 14

Contents

APR IL 2018, ISSUE 1

At Our Schools

MUSD School Board

Excited For Science

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be.tech’s Reverse Job Fair

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Pennies for Patients

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Pinwheels for Prevention

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Eric Duncan, Area 1

School Daze Musical

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Kathy Howe, Area 2

MHS Literacy Night Success

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Rachelle Fast Presents at Get Focused Stay Focused

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Next to Normal

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President Stephen J. Schluer, Area 6 Vice President Bob Wallace, Area 7 Board Clerk Evelyn Moore, Area 5

Michael Seelye, Area 3 Nancy Teicheira, Area 4

MUSD Superintendents Superintendent Jason Messer

Community Outreach Cougars Host Spotlight on the Arts

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MHS and the ASB Lunch of Love

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Sierra High Unity and Diversity

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SHS Hosts All Star Olympics

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Ozobots and the Human Body

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Senioritis: An Epidemic

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Department, Community, and Local News Proposition 39 Update

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Beijing Teacher Exchange

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HOSA Admin of the Year

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MUSD Promotes Child Abuse Awareness

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GECAC After School Farmer’s Markets

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Helping Homeless Students

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MUSD New Hire Social

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The Mark Highlights is published twice per month, on average. It is a publication of the MUSD Superintendent’s Office Community Outreach team. Highlights content is contributed on a rotating basis by every school site in the district.

The Mark Highlights Team are:

Highlights is intended to be a reflection of the MUSD Vision and Mission, because above all, we value making a positive difference to each and every student daily.

Lindsay Stayner Content Coordination and Editor lstayner@musd.net

Victoria Brunn Director and Executive Editor vbrunn@musd.net

Deputy Superintendents Dr. Clark Burke Roger Goatcher

Vision Manteca Unified School District will ensure every school day is relevant, rigorous, and leads students to become productive and engaged members of a global society while residing in the central valley.

Mission Manteca Unified School District is committed to providing a safe environment where all students will thrive with the tools, resources and support needed to achieve their academic and personal potentials.

On the cover: Students run their modified hurdles at the All Star Olympics hosted at Sierra High School.

Photo by Peter Gale.

Peter Gale Design, Reporting, and Editing Erica McCullough: Design & Photography Contributor Wendy King: Photography Contributor Community Outreach Interns

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Excited For Science Lathrop Elementary Karen Leshner, the founder and president of the Intrepid Philanthropy Foundation that awarded a team of our Lathrop teachers a $30,000 LIGHT Awards grant, visited our school on Wednesday.

Mrs. Prado’s class showed off their power point presentations.

Karen admired the positive energy at our school and is impressed by all that we are doing to integrate STEAM into our curriculum.

Lisa Snyder, our District Science Coordinator, recently hosted a training with our teachers on integration.

Our staff was highly engaged with standards and cross-curricular planning utilizing the Wonders curriculum and Mystery Science.

Lathrop’s STEAM Lab gets a Collaboration Zone thanks to the Lowe’s $50,000 grant!

We can’t wait for our ribbon cutting on April 24th to start using our lab.

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be.tech’s Reverse Job Fair BE.Tech invited the community to attend their first Senior Reverse Job Fair on Friday April 13th, 2018 between 9:00am- 11:00am in rooms 102 & 103 at the MUSD District Office.

Students, staff, and community members stopped by to listen to be.tech seniors showcase their portfolios, resumes, and visual aids.

Students answered questions and shared their future goals.

Some community employers also stopped by and were impressed by what they saw as they extended job offers to students.

April is:

Manteca Unified Safe Driving Month

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Pennies for Patients Neil Hafley Elementary

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Classes that raised $150 or more for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Pennies for Patients fund raiser.

by the student leadership club. This included the classic race with an egg on a spoon.

These successful fund raising students were rewarded with activities run

Five classrooms qualified for the rewards!

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Pinwheels for Prevention Brock Elliott Elementary

On March 23rd, The Child Abuse Prevention Council of San Joaquin County came to Brock Elliott Elementary to speak to our students about personal safety.

They discussed the importance of children being aware of their surroundings, understanding who a stranger is, and to know how to reach a safe adult.

The presentation specific for the 6th-8th graders included computer safety and the risks of sharing personal information on social media.

After the assembly the students received a pinwheel, the symbol of a

carefree childhood that every child deserves. These pinwheels were “planted� in the courtyard for all to see.

Students collected change from March 23rd through April 6th to help support children in need in San Joaquin County.

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School Daze Musical

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The Stella Brockman after school theater club produced the musical School Daze, performed by 4th-8th grade students.

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MHS Literacy Night Success

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Manteca High School

Manteca High School hosted their first Annual Literacy Night for English Language Learners (ELL) and their families.

All English Language Learners from MHS and its feeder schools were invited to attend this event. Students and their families enjoyed Spanish and English guest readers, a light snack, and younger siblings had fun creating their own book.

That evening, families shopped the book fair for five books to take home. $2,000 worth of books were given away that night, and an additional $3,000 worth of books will be given out over the remainder of the school year.

This is part of a continuing effort to promote foundational and ongoing literacy with the ELL population. The event initiated the Latino Family Literacy Project, a ten-week course designed to promote early childhood literacy with our ELLs and their families.

A special thank you to Ms. Elyce Ruble, Mrs. Michaela Reyes, and Mrs. Anna Wooten for putting this event together!

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Rachelle Fast Presents at Get Focused Stay Focused Sierra High School

Sierra High’s Success 101 Coordinator, Rachelle Fast, was a keynote speaker at the Get Focused Stay Focused Conference hosted at Santa Barbara City College.

She presented on three topics: Leading the Vision: The Role of the Lead Teacher, Whole School Buy In: Changing the School Culture Through Family and Community Involvement, and Meet the Pros: A Conversation With Mentor Teachers.

East Union High School Presents:

Next to Normal

The Playbox Ensemble at East Union High School announces its production of the rock musical Next to Normal, which runs April 12, 13, 19, 20, 21 at 7pm and April 21 at 2pm in the black box theatre.

category. This is precisely why we love it so much,” said Mrs. Taser.

Music Director Gary Fritzen and Director Annette Taser chose the play in part because of the powerful impact it had on both of them. “There are some musicals – most in fact- that depict life as we wish it would be.

Then there are other musicals that show life as it really is. Next to Normal is in the latter

Next to Normal contains scenes with drug use, stylized suicide, strong language and is recommended for well-prepared teenagers and mature audiences. This production is not recommended for children under 14.

Just nine musicals have won the Pulitzer Prize for drama; Next to Normal won in 2010. The show also won three Tony Next to Normal, with music by Tom Kitt and Awards, including the award for best score. lyrics by Brian Yorkey, focuses on the lives Purchase your tickets for Next to Normal at and relationships of the Goodman family as the Box Office at East Union High School. they struggle to find healing and hope in the Seating for the performances is limited. face of grief, depression and mental illness.

Tickets are $10.00 for general admission the Raw, gritty and intense, Next to Normal 7pm showing. You can also purchase tickets takes audiences on a dark journey and ends in advance by contacting ataser@musd.net. with a powerful message of redemption and There are no student, senior citizen or group hope. discounts.

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Cougars Host Spotlight on the Arts

by Judit Zamora Community Outreach Intern

“We also get to show off the many other student talents that sometimes go unnoticed.”

Spotlight on the Arts is a way for WRHS to highlight some of the students’ amazing artwork. Art, ceramics, and digital photography students featured their creations in the WRHS theater for the community.

“It’s important for us to acknowledge student achievements,” said art teacher Kira Eadington. “The artwork in the show represents our student’s efforts to learn new and challenging skills.

Some of the artwork shown are a culmination of multiple years of hard work to gain expertise in their chosen techniques.”

Everyone has the opportunity to vote for their favorite art piece, so some students can take home a prize. It’s a wonderful time for staff and students, even parents, to come out and support one another.

“Just like in math or sports, students need daily and extensive practice to improve their skills and abilities,” said Eadington. “Being able to show the end result of that effort to other students, parents, and community members makes the students feel proud of what they have accomplished.”

“Every year I look forward to it because it’s a time where the arts are finally given the attention it deserves,” said art student Jella Mae Batac. “It’s a great experience because there’s so many things people can do, and I never find myself bored. We also get to show off the many other student talents that sometimes go unnoticed.”

Besides displaying artwork, clubs hosted mini activities or sold items.

The art club was hosting a table for small children to paint a masterpiece themselves.

Additionally, WRHS’s outstanding drama and choir students previewed a portion of High School Musical, which will be performed April 26, 27 and some days in May.

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MHS and the ASB Lunch of Love

by Fernanda Almaguer Community Outreach Intern

“Lunch of Love is a good opportunity for our students to see their friends and make them feel involved.”

Manteca High School encourages their students to become well-rounded and involved in any way possible. They motivate students to get active and partake in any of their sports teams, in theater or in the arts, or mentoring fellow students.

That’s exactly what MHS’s Leadership class does. Leadership is a freshman to senior class that plans, organizes, executes, and evaluates the variety of student activities that take place on campus from pep rallies to prom, from sports games to lunch time activities.

Their overall goal is to encourage MHS students to become involved at school and making their four years of high school memorable. We want them to feel proud to be a buffalo.

Manteca High School’s Leadership class has dedicated a day to hang out and play games with Mrs. Corinna Guerrero’s special education class known as Lunch of Love. Every Thursday, a few leadership students participate in

Lunch of Love during 3rd period.

Lunch of Love is an amazing way for students, part of the special education class, to make friends and have fun doing it. They play learning games, read, draw, or just have a conversation with the leadership students.

According to Mrs. Corinna Guerrero, “Lunch of Love is a good opportunity for our students to see their friends and make them feel involved. They are the center of attention and they love it.”

Lunch of Love is more than students getting involved on campus.

When asked why it’s important for Leadership students to take part in Lunch of Love, Senior class secretary Gino Campiotti said, “The bond that is created is what’s most important, knowing that they have so much trust in me is why I do it.”

Manteca High will continue to encourage their students to get involved and create a diverse learning environment for everyone, even if it’s just the small act of making friends in class.

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Sierra High Unity and Diversity

by Yasmin Ballew Community Outreach Intern

The week before spring break was Sierra High’s multi-cultural week, an annual event at Sierra intended to promote unity among the diverse cultures on campus.

Monday, members from the Punjabi Club danced to cultural songs and performed the Bhangra—a carefully coordinated group dance originating from the Majha area of Punjab, India. This was a captivating display of the powerful impact Indian culture has brought to Sierra High.

“It was a good way to expand our club and share our spirit with the rest of the school.”

Punjabi Club member Bupinder Khar explained, “We enjoy sharing our culture with the school through the performance of the Bhangra—a dance we all love.

This was

an amazing opportunity to showcase our heritage to other students so they could fall in love, too.”

Tuesday, the Hispanic Youth Leadership Club (HYLC) shared their culture with posters of different Hispanic countries and their music, ending with a dance to the El Payaso del Rodeo where all students were encouraged to participate. Many students of different backgrounds joined in the dance—smiling and laughing all the way through it. The event was a perfect opportunity for student engagement and participation.

“We all had so much fun dancing to El

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Payaso del Rodeo and telling tales of our countries,” said HYLC sophomore Anna Martinez. “It was a good way to expand our club and share our spirit

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with the rest of the school.”

Wednesday, the Cambodian Club performed a fan dance with vibrant color, sharing their art and heritage.

The fan dance combines wellchoreographed group movements with intricate movements of hand held fans. This was certainly the most intricate of the events and wonderful to observe.

Thursday, the newly formed Black Student Union lead an all-inclusive sing off in the quad with rap music.

Multiple students jumped in to demonstrate their skills— sharing personal interpretations of popular

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songs in a spontaneous expression of individual musical ability.

For the week’s finale, music from all the cultures was played in the quad to represent unity and diversity followed by a nacho faculty lunch for teacher appreciation.

Sierra demonstrates tremendous strength in its capacity to encourage students from widely different cultures to peacefully coexist. It is this diversity that makes us so beautiful as a student body.

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SHS Hosts All Star Olympics

by Peter Gale Community Outreach

“This is about giving them options and letting them be successful at their level.”

Sometimes, it is not just the Sierra High School (SHS) Football team who gets to run through the giant inflatable Wolf.

Over 120 students from all MUSD high schools, and some students from the county classes at East Union and Sierra, converged on the SHS football field for the second annual All Star Olympics.

“This is about giving them options and letting them be successful at their level, so they may not be able to run hurdles at the height that the track team does,

but we have hurdles here that they can jump over,” explained Sierra High School SDC teacher Matt Tate, “It’s about getting them active, getting them involved, to helping them develop and grow socially.”

Before they entered the field of competition, students ran through the giant SHS wolf and stood for a group photo.

After the singing of the National Anthem, and a brief opening ceremony, they took to the field. The event began with a warm up of a 25

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yard run, with groups of athletes running in shifts.

The students were so excited to begin, that some of them wouldn’t stop at the 25 yard mark, and ran a full lap of the track as their warm up—or 440 yards!

“These students eventually become active members of the communities when they attend The Adult Transition Programs or Regional Centers,” said Tate. “This can help build a positive culture in the community.”

As the running events continued on, with a 50 meter dash, 50 meter hurdles, a 100 meter dash, and even some relay races, other contestants took to the field to try out modified versions of the javelin, discus, hammer throw, and long jump.

“My favorite part of the All Star Olympics is that students have the opportunity to participate in athletic events that they may not be able to on an actual team,” said Tate. “The students enjoy seeing their friends, playing new games, and competing.”

When asked what she was most excited about, Sierra HS student named Elizabeth said, “I’m going to throw and I’m going to run!”

As they were getting ready to run the hurdles, school mascots from each of the high schools ran first—in costume! Although the race was close, the Weston Ranch Cougar mascot won the 50 yard hurdle mascot competition.

To close the day, they held contests with school vs school four-way tug of war and were invited to play GAGA, a modified form of dodge ball where students roll balls at each other’s feet inside a small inflatable arena.

Lunch was followed by closing ceremonies to end the day.

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Above: The LHS team walks through the inflated wolf tunnel. All the teams took a moment to pose in front of the tunnel.

At Right, the mascots run the hurdle race in costume. The WRHS Cougar mascot won the hurdle race.

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“It is important that the community become familiar with this event because it would be a great opportunity for them to sponsor or advertise,” said Tate. “I am planning to write letters to local businesses to bring awareness to the event and to see if any would like to participate as a sponsor or donate to help support our student population.”

Tate further explained that many local businesses, like Save Mart for example, have a work program. A business choosing to sponsor would be another way to promote their work program to our students.

Tate also commented about how these students connect with each other.

“Having something like this is an alternative for the part of being on a team or something like that, or like the MHS Valentine’s Dance,” said Tate. “If they don’t want to go to homecoming, they can go to that valentine’s dance.”

Above: Senior Director of Secondary Education Clara Schmiedt takes a moment to pose with the high school mascots.

At Right: Nearlyl every student participated in at least one race during the day.

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Ozobots and the Human Body

Special Education Students combine programming and health.

by Peter Gale Community Outreach

“They are learning the whole idea of coding logically using colors rather than language.”

Working as a collaborative partnership at Sierra High School, Matt Tate invited Stephan Unterholzner to spend some time in his classroom helping to teach Tate’s students how to code with Ozobots.

Ozobots are line following robots who respond to color sequences on paper to perform different tricks. Tate’s students learned how to code these tricks by drawing the different color combinations first in small diagrams, and eventually onto something much larger.

“Matt and I had talked about bringing some STEM into his classroom,” said Stephan Unterholzner, Sierra High School chemistry teacher.

“We met to see what would work in the classroom because we had to modify it for students to be successful,” said Tate.

“Because Steve has the science mind,

he gave me some options.”

This dynamic teaching duo invited me to come and witness the final product.

I entered a room where students were excited to see me, to be on camera, and to share what they had done.

On a table in the back of the room was an outline of a person, with color coded bones and organs drawn inside this life-size body.

After demonstrating for the camera how well their Ozobots performed, students took an opportunity to make a statement to the camera.

First up was Elias, who said,“The heart beats and pumps blood through the body. The heart is the strong muscle.

As the Ozobots go through the heart, they will follow the code turbo and red.”

Following his performance, Marcus

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put the little robot on the drawing’s femur area where it had to navigate an area where the bone was broken. “The bones help us walk and bend easy.

The bones can break, so be careful. As the Ozobots travel through the bones, they will code zig zag backwards,” said Marcus.

To wrap up the demonstration, Monet said, “The brain helps us learn. It is in

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the head and it helps you move. As the Ozobots travel through the brain, they will code spin and tornado.”

how it reacts with the body and they need to learn what the brain does, and what the lungs do.

Commenting on the process of learning to code, Unterholzner said, “They are learning the whole idea of coding logically using colors rather than language.”

Tate also explained that they had a student lay down and traced their body. When they had some coding errors, they learned how to patch them and recode it so that it would actually work better.

Tate explained that in his class, they are talking about health and fitness and the five major body parts.

They covered

“We wanted them to use the robots in more of a curricular area where they could show the parts of the body,” said Unterholzner. That way the robots became a tool and not just a toy.”

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Senioritis: An Epidemic Submitted by Jessika McCuaig Community Outreach Intern

As the academic school year comes to an end, there is one thing almost all seniors have in common: senioritis.

Turning in assignments late, sleeping in class, and not showing up to school on time (or even at all) are symptoms of senioritis. If you suffer from any of these symptoms—and are a senior— you probably have senioritis.

Even worse, nothing says “you’re growing up, kid” like paying for GradNite, caps and gowns, prom tickets, prom outfits, planning for graduation parties, and even putting that hefty down payment on the next chapter of your life.

With all these things going on, we seniors start to lack in our school work. And it’s not that we aren’t trying.

We lack motivation, which is understandable because motivation is an emotion that we can’t control.

But how can seniors get through the home stretch? A few simple things can keep your head above water before the end of May comes around.

The first thing: don’t wait for motivation to strike. It is a fleeting emotion, one that isn’t reliable. To

get past this, set small goals that would add up to a big goal. Such as getting small portions of your homework done at a time, instead of trying to finish it all at once. That way you don’t feel too overwhelmed with your agenda.

Another thing: do things that make you happy. It’s your senior year! Take a road trip with your buddies during the weekend, go out to eat, or even play Xbox a little bit longer.

But do things in moderation; use these things you like doing as a reward for things you don’t necessarily want to do, like homework or

paying for things.

Invest your time in the senior activities! Everyone will be spread out by the end of the year, attending schools across the country or enlisting in the military, so it is a must to just enjoy the time you have left with them.

Last thing: even though you are a senior doesn’t mean you have seniority.

In other words, don’t be a jerk. People will remember you for how you treated them, not what you accomplished.

Senior year is something you’ll reflect on for the rest of your life and you don’t want to constantly regret the way you treated others.

Good luck to the class of 2018!

Though you are a senior, doesn’t mean you have seniority.

On Saturday, April 21st, Comcast California will be partnering with Lathrop Elementary School for a campus clean-up and beautification day, and you’re invited to join us! It’s all part of Comcast Cares Day, the company’s annual day of service, when Comcast employees, families, and friends partner with local organizations nationwide on projects that benefit the communities where they live and work.

Last year, more than 5,000 California volunteers logged 24,000 hours cleaning, painting, planting, and making repairs at 16 multiple project sites, using more than 150 gallons of paint, and planting over 500 new flowers, plants and trees. All supplies needed for our projects are donated by Comcast, as is a continental breakfast, lunch, and t-shirt.

This year, Comcast will be working on a variety of projects to clean, repair, and

beautify 18 California project sites— and our school is one of them! We will be performing beautification projects to clean and brighten our campus!

We will begin the day at 7:30am with registration and a continental breakfast, with work beginning around 8:00am.

Lunch will be served later in the day.

We anticipate finishing up between 1:00pm and 2:00pm.

We hope you’ll join us for this special day of volunteer work with Comcast, when we’ll be cleaning up and beautifying our school!

Please contact Principal, David Silveira at: dsilveira@musd.net or via phone: 209-858-7250 if your group or family would like to join us!!!

Great family event and a great way to give back to our community! Please join us!!

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Proposition 39 Update The Proposition 39 California Clean Energy Jobs Act is a state program that funds local educational agencies to make improvements in energy efficiency to school facilities. With this available funding, Manteca Unified School District contracted with IEC Corporation to implement Prop 39 compliant solutions throughout the District.

This program includes: Lighting control measures, LED Lighting retrofit solutions, HVAC upgrades as well as the installation of vending machine controls.

This update is provided by the Facilities and Operations Department, courtesy of Director Aaron Bowers and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Clark Burke.

Manteca Unified School District

Governing Board – Project Update Highlight

Prop 39 Energy Conservation Measures – Phase 2 Date: March 19th, 2018 | Facilities & Operations – Aaron Bowers, Director

Project Info:    

Project Technician: Installing Contractor: Design Engineer: Funding Source:

Justin Geer Jason Davis Electric IEC Corporation Proposition 39

General Project Description: The Proposition 39 California Clean Energy Jobs Act is a state program that funds local educational agencies to make improvements to energy efficiency in local jurisdictions and create clean energy jobs. Manteca Unified School District contracted with IEC Corporation to determine opportunities for clean energy improvements and implement Prop 39 compliant solutions throughout the various district sites. Phase 2 scope includes: interior lighting upgrades, exterior lighting control upgrades and the installation of vending misers at various district sites.

Currently, the project is implementing Phase 2 of the program which includes: interior lighting upgrades, exterior lighting control upgrades and the installation of vending misers at various sites throughout the District.

Attached is a project update from the Facilities and Operations department which highlights the work included within phase 2 of the program.

Phase 3 of the program is scheduled for implementation this summer and includes additional lighting retrofits as well as the bulk of the heating, ventilation and Air-conditioning upgrades included within the program.

Construction Update: The interior lighting scope has been completed at 15 of the 17 sites and the contractor will finish ahead of the May 18th project deadline.

34 vending machine misers were installed at 18 sites. These vending machine misers will reduce the energy required to power the vending machines.

26 Intermatic 365-day astronomical electronic clocks were installed for exterior lighting control at 11 sites.

Figure 1.0 – Example of the 365‐day astronomical clocks installed.

Figure 2.0 – Contractor upgrading the interior lighting.

Figure 3.0 – Example of the vending machine misers installed.

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Beijing Teacher Exchange

Sierra High School will participate in a Teacher Exchange Program with Experimental School Affiliated to Beijing Niulanshan First Secondary School as part of the sister-school agreement in place that was approved by the board on June 10, 2014. MUSD teachers, Elizabeth Tjomsland and Amber Talcott, were selected through a rotational list of interested teachers from Sierra High to teach English courses in China during the summer of 2018 i.e., May 31th through June 22nd.

The purpose, as referenced in the Memorandum of Understanding between MUSD and the Beijing schools: Create educational opportunities through combining American and Chinese curricula, and thus it could set a firm foundation for American and Chinese students to further their education in world class universities in their future.

Goals of the partnership: •

Assess for learning opportunities to better prepare MUSD students in a dynamically diverse, academically prepared and digitally trained competitive work environment that are in support of the Board approved objective “provide programs and resources designed to improve the academic performance of unduplicated students as defined

by LCAP.”

•

Broaden MUSD’s academic model through international partnerships: What are they learning, How are they learning, Facilities to support learning, Resource available to aid students and staff.

•

Create opportunities for staff to teach abroad to broaden MUSD’s learning model to include

digital resources from both countries and scheduled field trips for MUSD students to China.

With the premise that the cooperation goes smoothly, both sides will cooperate and exchange in many fields, such as teacher-exchange and student-swapping in order to make a contribution to the education of both countries. The District served as host to visiting teachers during January/ February 2018 at Sierra High School and its feeder elementary schools.

These MUSD schools were selected based on their past experience and desire to participate in the pilot for the sister-school partnership before consideration is given to broaden the number of participating schools within MUSD and in China.

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MUSD Promotes Child Abuse Awareness The Board of Trustees have adopted April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. #ProudtobeMUSD was encouraged to wear blue April 13 to acknowledge the importance of families and communities working together to contribute to a child’s physical and emotional environment.

HOSA Admin of the Year

HOSA, a student professional group with goals of becoming future health professionals, has named Kathy Ruble, the Director of CTE / STEM, as their Cal HOSA Administrator of the year.

She was awarded at the annual Anaheim state competition.

HOSA is a Career Technical Education Program. MUSD sends over 60 students each year.

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GECAC After School Farmer’s Markets This year Give Every Child A Chance has been lucky to partner with the San Joaquin Office of Education (SJCOE) in Project REACH (Running to Embrace Attitudes, Confidence and Health). Project REACH is designed to help students learn about nutrition and build healthy lifestyle habits.

Program REACH is funded through a $75,000 grant to the SJCOE from Kaiser Permanente, Northern California Community Benefit Programs.

The SJCOE contracts with a Stockton-based nonprofit named PUENTES to provide produce from community farms for MUSD students to sell in their Farmers Markets. Students learn about the nutrition of the products they are selling, prepare meals using the fresh produce, and learn retail skills by managing the market.

The Farmers Markets are operated by Golden West and August Knodt GECAC After School Program’s running clubs.

They will continue to hold their markets twice a month for the remainder of the school year. All money raised will go back to fund their club. We hope to see the community pay them a visit in the weeks to come!

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Lo c a l New s

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Helping Homeless Students

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L o cal N ews

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by Jason Campbell As published in the Manteca Bulletin on March 16, 2018.

Manteca Unified Health Services Coordinator Leslie Agostini, right, accepts a $7,200 check from Marybeth Saari of Women of Woodbridge Tuesday night at a meeting of the Manteca Unified Board of Education.

The money will be used to help fund the district’s homeless student outreach program.

The Women of Woodbridge want to make a difference in the lives of students that need the most help.

And on Tuesday, when Marybeth Saari of the Del Webb women’s group presented the Manteca Unified School District Health Services Department with a check for $7,200 to aid the district’s ongoing homeless student outreach programs, the group quite literally put its money where its mouth is.

According to Saari, the decision to support Manteca Unified’s homeless student outreach with the proceeds of the group’s annual two-day tea event was made several years ago when it came to the attention of the women that the number of students who don’t have a permanent home was larger than what many had realized.

“It’s important to us to be able to give back to the community and to get involved, and we learned that the school district had a lot of needs and this was one that was ongoing.”

With community involvement being one of the missions of the group – which holds several fund raiser events throughout the year and supports other community non-profits and organizations through those events as well – it seemed like a natural fit to offer something to those who need it more than most.

“It’s important to us to be able to give back to the community and to get involved, and we learned that the school district had a lot of needs and this was one that was ongoing,” Saari said. “So, we wanted to make our support ongoing as well, and each year we’ve been able to raise a little bit more each time.”

The district has more than 600 students that are

considered homeless based on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act that defines homelessness as lacking a fixed, regular, adequate night-time residence and includes students living in the following situations: • Sharing housing with family/friends due to loss of housing or economic hardship.

• Emergency or transitional shelters such as domestic violence or homeless shelters.

• Transitional housing.

• Motels or hotels.

• Campgrounds and inadequate trailer homes.

• Cars, abandoned buildings, parks, the streets or public places.

• Runaway/ homeless youth shelters.

In addition to the high school scholarships that the Women of Woodbridge present every year to qualified students, the homeless student program support has the full support of the district, its board and the department personnel who make sure that the money goes to where it is needed most.

According to Leslie Agostini, the coordinator of the district health services department and the homeless and foster student liaison, the money donated through groups like Women of Woodbridge and Soroptimist International of Manteca assists with providing students ongoing support throughout the school year.

Outfitting students with backpacks and the school supplies necessary to be successful in the classroom is always a priority at the beginning of the year, and making sure that every student has a warm jacket and suitable winter clothes when the season changes becomes equally important.

“I can’t emphasize the importance of the support of groups like Women of Woodbridge when it comes to these students enough,” Agostini said. “It provides a much-needed service, and it’s huge to the effort that we try to make to assist all of our students.”

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D e p a r t m e n t N ew s

MUSD New Hire Social Where teachers hired at the job fair meet principals with open positions.

Several new MUSD teachers were interviewed and hired at the job fair on January 27th.

At the New Hire Social, these future MUSD teachers get to mingle and chat with administrators of our MUSD schools to find their best fit.

It is a chance for all to get to know each other as they look forward to the next school year.

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