18 • Valley Voice
16 July, 2015
Education New Principals Lead VUSD High Schools Craig Wheaton, Superintendent T h e principal of a Visalia high school is an important leader in our comm u n i t y. We have concluded a busy recruitment and hiring season, and Visalia Unified welcomes four brand new high school principals to its ranks for the start of the school year. In addition, one principal will take on the challenge of a different school this next year. Principal – El Diamante High School Angela Sanchez was selected as the principal of El Diamante High School. She will fill the position vacated by Mike Waters, who retired at the end of the school year. Since 2010, Sanchez has served as the principal of Green Acres Middle School. Prior to Green Acres, she worked at Redwood High School, where she held various assistant principal positions in the areas of curriculum and instruction, student services, assessment, facilities and attendance for 16 years. Sanchez was a Spanish teacher at Redwood High School for eight years and the Foreign Language Department chair for three of those years. Principal – Golden West High School José Fregoso was selected as the principal for Golden West High School. Fregoso recently served six
years as the principal of Weston Ranch High School in Stockton. Prior to his principal position, he served for four years as the assistant principal of Lindhurst High School in Olivehurst, CA, and for three years as the prevention and intervention specialist at Herman Leimbach Elementary School in Sacramento. He also worked as a counselor for middle school students in Sacramento. Fregoso and his family are excited to make Visalia their home. Principal – Mt. Whitney High School Rick Hamilton will begin his new assignment as principal of Mount Whitney High School after serving as the Golden West principal for three years. Current principal Jeff Hohne has moved to a District Office position. Principal – Redwood High School Matt Shin was most recently the principal of Divisadero Middle School and will now begin his new assignment as principal of Redwood High School. Shin is looking forward to becoming a Redwood Ranger. Principal – Visalia Charter Independent Study School Michele Reid was selected as the principal for VCIS. Reid currently serves as the assistant principal for VCIS, a position she has held for two years. Prior to serving as the assistant principal, she was the learning director for four years at VCIS and was an elementary school teacher for seven years in Farmersville Unified School District. A change in the principal offers an exciting opportunity for students, staff and members of each school community; and we welcome each of these new faces to our schools.
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RAP & Tiny Tots Now Registering Registration for the Recreation Afterschool Program (RAP) and Tiny Tots is now underway in Porterville. RAP is an afterschool program offered in the Burton School District for K–6th grades. RAP is designed to offer help with homework, teach arts and crafts, lead indoor and outdoor games and provide a fun and safe place to be. It operates Monday-Friday, concurrent with school calendar days. Tiny Tots is a specialized program
Agriculture Career Camp Coming to West Hills College Coalinga Farm of the Future Middle school students from Avenal and Kettleman City will soon have the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of agricultural careers at the West Hills College Coalinga Farm of the Future as part of a camp sponsored by Wonderful Education, formally known as Paramount Education Program, part of the Wonderful Company. The free agriculture career camp will run from Sunday, July 19 to Friday, July 24 and will allow 50 7th to 8th grade students to explore four different career tracks, including agriculture production and manufacturing, design and fabrication, equipment operation and geospatial agriculture. Each career track will also expose students to a specific job such as agriculture economist, pest control advisor, irrigation consultant and certified crop advisor. “We’re really trying to excite and motivate the next generation of students to understand what ag is in the modern era and we’re also trying to achieve one of the missions of the Farm of the Future: to create an educated, well trained workforce for our region,” said Clint
Cowden, Farm of the Future director. “That starts now. If we don’t give them this training, they might not otherwise have selected agriculture as a career path.” The students, who were selected from the Reef-Sunset United School District, will be able to engage in an array of hands-on activities as they cycle through the four career tracks. They will learn how to utilize GPS to create maps, how to put together an irrigation schedule, how to analyze soil fertility, collect and identify insects, and work with heavy equipment. Students will also learn about educational planning and choosing the right school or program for the career they want to pursue. Many of the students involved are part of a program at Avenal High School which will allow them to graduate from West Hills College Coalinga with an associate’s degree at the same time as they graduate from high school. “They’re getting a 10-year plan for their future from this,” Cowden said. “They’re going to start out with a career they want and get to know what university offers that or if they can go directly into the workforce.”
West Hills College Lemoore Paramedic Program Seeking Students West Hills College Lemoore’s Paramedic Program is now accepting applications for new students for its August, 2015 start date. The yearlong program offers students the opportunity to earn an Associate of Science Degree or a certificate of completion. To qualify for the program, students must have pre-requisite classes in anatomy, physiology and English and
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must also have their EMT1 state issued license or National EMT license. An application for the program is available in the Health Careers office on the WHCL campus. The application deadline is Friday, Aug. 7 by 3 pm. For more information, call 559-9253000 or visit http://www.westhillscollege. com/lemoore/academics/health/paramedic.asp.
559-734-7079
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for children ages 3-5 years old. This pre-school program takes place weekdays at the Heritage Center, from 9 am – 12 pm, throughout the school year. The program features academic instruction called “Classroom Magic.” All learning is taught through arts and crafts, music, sharing and playing. To enroll your child in either of these programs go by the Heritage Center, 256 E. Orange Ave., Porterville.
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