A team effort among LACOE units has led to the opening of a new resource library geared for local nonprofit organizations and school districts that operate preschool programs.

 

The library, located at the Head Start-State Preschool offices in Santa Fe Springs, offers reference and media materials, instructional kits and equipment, including laptop computers. It is designed to serve preschool administrators, teachers and others. 

 

"It's a dream realized," said Superintendent Arturo Delgado at the Jan. 9 ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house for the library, known formally as the Early Care & Education Resource Center. "We're hoping it will be something that will serve the community well. I'm very proud to be a part of this." 

 

In addition to Delgado, other LACOE leadership on hand at the open house to heartily welcome delegate agency representatives and other guests included Yolanda Benitez, interim assistant superintendent of Educational Services, and Keesha Woods, who was recently named the permanent division director.

 

The Resource Center, which encompasses 5,000 square feet on the first floor, features a light color scheme and an assortment of browsing areas, workstations and big-screen viewing cubicles. There is also a conference room featuring a smartboard and health screening area featuring an electronic body mass scanner.

 

"It's been truly a collaborative effort," said Luis Bautista, the division's manager of training and technical assistance, about the years-long effort to carefully bring the library project to fruition.

 

In addition to getting advice from its own steering committee, the division consulted with the CPIN and FLSN units in DSI on the materials that should be housed, and worked with community and corporate partners such as L.A. Universal Preschool and Lakeshore. The division also talked with the Communications Department on some of the design aspects and then worked extensively with Facilities and Construction as it was built.    

 

Jema Estrella, assistant director of Facilities and Construction, said the library, designed by Montalba Architects of Santa Monica, was built over a three-month period using a lot of low-cost materials such as plywood, plastic laminate and recycled carpet. Thrifty amenities like those helped keep the construction price tag for LACOE to only $183,000.

 

LACOE is one of the largest Head Start preschool grantees in the nation, annually administering $220 million in early education programs through 25 delegate agencies that serve 24,000 children and families around L.A. County. The funding is through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

 

As a grantee, LACOE is responsible for continually monitoring the program operations of the delegate agencies to make sure strict federal standards for accountability and quality are being met. New performance requirements from the Obama administration are calling for LACOE and other select grantees around the nation to re-apply for their funding that previously was automatically allocated.

 

The center is currently open for only limited hours during weekdays. But plans call for an expansion of hours and the addition of online reference services when the center swings into full operation sometime in February. 

 

For general information about the center, call 562/940-1770.

 

See stories about LACOE's Head Start program funding in the L.A. Times and on Fox11 News. 

 

Photos: Top - Cutting the ribbon for the new resource library are (l-r) Interim Asst. Supt. Yolanda Benitez, Supt. Arturo Delgado and Head Start Director Keesha Woods. Below - At the open house are (l-r) division administrators Luis Bautista, program manager of training and technical assistance; Keesha Woods, director; and Beverley Morgan-Sandoz, assistant director of program review and support.

Darren McDuffie joined LACOE on Jan. 17 as the new assistant superintendent of Human Resource Services.

 

His wide-ranging professional experience includes two years as executive director for Personnel Services at Capistrano USD and more than eight years as a principal in the Escondido Union High SD.

 

A doctoral graduate of USC's Rossier School of Education, McDuffie has an impressive background managing human resource services. He has completed the Association of California School Administrators' Personnel Academy and has extensive experience recruiting, retaining and evaluating personnel.

 

"I'm very excited to be a part of LACOE and help the organization move forward with a shared vision," McDuffie said.

 

Prior to becoming an administrator, McDuffie was a teacher for seven years in the Garden Grove and Menifee Valley school districts, teaching elementary and middle school students. He joined the U.S. Army in 1986 and served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. 

 

McDuffie obtained his bachelor's degree from Augsburg College, his master's degree from Central Michigan University and his doctorate in Educational Leadership from USC.

 

"He will be a great asset to the LACOE team," said Superintendent Arturo Delgado. "Please join me in welcoming Dr. McDuffie to LACOE."

 

McDuffie has been married more than 20 years and has two daughters. The McDuffie family resides in Murrieta.

Last November in Long Beach hundreds of educational professionals gathered for the 40th annual National Adapted Physical Education Conference. The founding ideal, according to Joanie Verderber, LACOE's project director of School Health and Physical Education Programs (CIS), was a shared "commitment for providing the best education for individuals with exceptional needs across their lifetime."

 

From the beginning in 1972, LACOE has been a leading player in these influential professional development conferences. Kathy Russell, coordinator, adapted/general physical education (DSE), pointed out that over the years "LACOE's Adapted PE Program has sponsored the conference, served on planning committees and presented numerous sessions."

 

Fittingly for this 40th Anniversary Conference, both Verderber and Russell were selected as co-program directors, and a sizable cohort of LACOE adapted PE teachers served in various capacities on the conference committee: Sharron Barton, Karen Bell-Smith, Charles Campos, Gary DiPierro, Sheri Fleckenstein, David Haiby, Tina Henges, Tonya Moore, Jeannie Robinson and Luvina Salazar, along with LACOE retirees Jerry Harris and Ken Hill.

 

"They worked very long hours and did whatever was needed," said Russell proudly. "Conference attendees were able to have a positive experience because of their teamwork."

 

With continuing contributions by LACOE's dedicated staff of adapted physical educators, the future of this important annual professional gathering seems assured.

 

Learn more about adapted physical education. 

 

Photo (l-r): NAPEC co-conference directors Kathy Russell and Joanie Verderber (LACOE) and co-program directors Barry Lavay (CSULB) and Margaret Weimer (ABCUSD).

Two LACOE CIS administrators recently had the honor of a personal visit with retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

 

The occasion for Yvonne Contreras, assistant division director, and Michelle Herczog, history-social science specialist, was a visit by O'Connor to The Ronald Reagan Library and Museum in Simi Valley.

 

The retired justice was there on Dec. 12 for a special presentation to several hundred local high school students about the importance of civic education. O'Connor's message to the teens and their teachers centered on the need for young Americans to develop into informed and skilled citizens who can fully participate in democracy.

 

"It was quite informative but also inspiring," said Herczog about the nearly two-hour presentation that featured an energetic question-and-answer session with students.

 

The event, which also featured a live Twitter feed, was sponsored by the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Presidential Learning Center.

 

Following the presentation, Contreras and Herczog took part in a small private luncheon with educators and other select invitees. 

 

At the luncheon, the guests shared their various views and perspectives with O'Connor, who was the first female on the high court. She was appointed by President Reagan in 1981 and retired from the bench in 2006.  

 

O'Connor helped to launch the educational website iCivics, and is involved with The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools.

 

Photo: At The Ronald Reagan Library and Museum are (l-r) ACSA President-elect David Gomez, Yvonne Contreras, Sandra Day O'Connor, ACSA President Alice Petrossian, Michelle Herczog and Constitutional Rights Foundation President Jonathan Estrin.

As a shy teenager, Mail Services Supervisor Eric Hass -- the grandson of the man who patented the Hass Avocado -- shared one of most people's worst fears: public speaking. 

 

While at Mount San Antonio College, he attended a public speaking class for extra credit. There, he lost his fear of public speaking and found his passion for forensics, which later led him on the path to volunteerism.

 

"Words are very powerful," said Hass, who won the silver medal at the California state collegiate forensics championships in 2000. "The power of words can bring positive changes in the world and in people's lives."

 

As a volunteer coordinator of the Student Worker Education and Employment Training (SWEET) program at LACOE, Hass uses his public speaking skills to mentor LACOE student workers. Under the program, students are brought in to work and learn office skills. The work experience empowers the students, boosting their self-esteem and "giving them a sense of purpose and belonging," Hass said.

 

"Mentoring these kids who don't have a good support system is the most important part of the program," he added. "I talk to the kids and persuade them to stay in school and take advantage of the opportunity to turn their lives around."

 

Hass also speaks at JCS workshops, where he tells incarcerated students "to put down the gun and pick up a book."

 

Since Hass joined LACOE in 1997, he has volunteered as an instructor in Staff Development and to run the debate portion of the JCS Academic Bowl each year. He has also trained speech judges for the L.A. County Academic Decathlon and has recently started to prepare for this role in the upcoming event, which starts on Jan. 28.

 

When asked what drives his passion to help young students, Hass said: "You can only keep what you have by giving it away."

 

Photo: Eric Hass moderates the debate segment of the 2011 Academic Bowl, LACOE's annual scholastic contest for incarcerated students in its Juvenile Court Schools. 

LACOE is offering eligible employees an early retirement incentive this year.

 

Known as a Supplementary Retirement Plan, this onetime offering is administered by Public Agency Retirement Services, a private company. PARS has provided similar incentive programs to LAUSD and more than 40 other county school districts. The PARS SRP does not impact any benefits that eligible employees have accrued to date and are entitled to receive in retirement.

 

After a careful review of the PARS proposal by LACOE management and presidents of the three employee bargaining units last December, the new incentive plan was announced in a letter to more than 1,400 eligible classified and certificated employees.

 

Finalized plan details, including payout options, were included in enrollment packets mailed this month. Packets also contained a schedule of orientation and individual counseling sessions to be conducted by PARS representatives.

 

To be eligible to participate, classified (and confidential) employees must be at least 50 years old, with five or more years of full-time LACOE service as of June 30, 2012.

 

Certificated employees must be at least 55, with five or more years of full-time service as of June 30, 2012. Certificated employees with 30 or more years of service by June 30 may also qualify as early as age 50.

 

Enrollees must submit a letter of resignation and required PARS enrollment forms by Feb. 24, 2012. These letters will not become official, however, until both LACOE management and plan administrators determine that there is a sufficient number of participants to go forward with the incentive offering. Assuming the plan is approved, resignations would become effective on June 30, 2012.

 

No employees should submit PERS or STRS retirement papers until such determination is made. In fact, employees who resign from LACOE to participate in the SRP do not have to retire, only separate from LACOE.

 

Those choosing not to retire can receive the PARS SRP payout while continuing to work elsewhere. And if their new employment is covered by PERS or STRS, they can continue to accrue PERS or STRS service credit.