Excellence in Education and Teacher of the Year Award Night

I want to share with you how great this year's Teacher of the Year and Excellence in Education Award Program was this past Saturday. Many fine educators were recognized and the program was masterfully organized by Shelly Mascari and Laurie Allen. Stories of educators and the impact on their students have always been inspiring to me. We all can be proud of the hard working, dedicated, compassionate people who serve our children every day. Thank you for all you do.

Mr. "Y"

I also wanted to share with you a wonderful surprise visit that I received about two weeks ago.  Mr. "Y" stopped by to say hi. Who is Mr. "Y" you ask? Mr. "Y" was, and still is, my favorite teacher. Mr. Yamamoto AKA, Mr. "Y", was my mechanical drawing teacher and club advisor at Pinole Valley High School (class of 69). I had not seen him in over 40 years!

I walked around the corner into the lobby and recognized him immediately, same eyes, and same smile. Wow! Mr. "Y" what a surprise! What are you doing? Mr. "Y" shakes my hand and I instantly revert back to my 17 year old clumsiness. "I thought I would come by and check in on you" he says, "and you can call me Howard."

Howard, who's Howard? Oh yeah, it's Mr. "Y"'s first name, I never knew that all this time. Of course in my high school days, you would never call a teacher by their first name! I try but it just doesn't come out right so I stick with Mr. "Y".

We sit down and share pleasantries, as a flood of memories of high school come rushing back to my mind. We talk about the good old days when Pinole Valley High School was a brand new high school and the excitement of being the first students to graduate from PVHS and he being one of the first teachers at the "New School". We laugh about how things have changed and how now we are in the same age group, "old".  He seemed so much older than me when I was in high school, and now the gap has closed. How did that happen?

I shared with Mr. "Y" what an impact he had on me and many of my friends. I wanted him to know that I started my teaching career in mechanical drawing (drafting) just like him. I joined the "Key Club" because he was the Advisor, and what fun it was to serve and help others.

I told him he was my favorite teacher, not because of what he taught, but how he taught.

My only regret was that it took me forty years to express appreciation to a man who had done so much for me. My lesson learned...... don't wait 40 years to thank your teacher(s)!

Next time the conversation shifts to "Who was your favorite teacher?" don't wait, pick up the phone, check out facebook and find your Mr. "Y". Thank you Mr. "Y"!

Have a good week!

Wally

Lake County Teacher of the Year, and Upper Lake Union High School District Teacher of the Year, Erica Boomer, pictured with Sandy Coatney, Vice Principal, Upper Lake High School.

Lake County Office of Education hosted the 19th Annual Excellence in Education and Teacher of the Year Award Program, held November 2 at the Soper-Reese Theatre in Lakeport.  This event honored the county teacher of the year, district teachers of the year, as well as others who have positively impacted education in Lake County.

Wally Holbrook, Lake County Superintendent of Schools, says, "Stories of educators and the impact on their students is inspiring.  We can all be proud of the hard working, dedicated, compassionate people who serve our children every day."

This year's honorees include:

Teachers of the Year

Erica Boomer, Lake County Teacher of the Year and Upper Lake Union High School District Teacher of the Year

Travis Lyons, Konocti Unified School District Teacher of the Year

Hank Smith, Upper Lake Elementary School District Teacher of the Year

Tresa Thorley, Lakeport Unified School District Teacher of the Year

Sharon Olson, Kelseyville Unified School District Teacher of the Year

Doreen Walstad, Lucerne Elementary School District Teacher of the Year

Louise Owens, Middletown Unified School District Teacher of the Year

Classified Employees of the Year

Tracey Newell, Middletown Unified School District Classified Employee of the Year

Tami Carley, Lakeport Unified School District Classified Employee of the Year

Cathy Balsiger, Upper Lake Union High School District Classified Employee of the Year

Linda Longwith, Kelseyville Unified School District Classified Employee of the Year

Cathy Wilder, Konocti Unified School District Classified Employee of the Year

Additional Honorees

Danielle Bruns, Championship Coach for the 2012/13 Mock Trial Competition, Middletown High School

Heather Koschik and Eric Larsen, Championship Coaches for the 2012/13 Academic Decathlon Competition, Kelseyville High School

Cassandra Johnson, Leading the Field Award Recipient, 2013 Early Childhood Educator of the Year Award Program

Ed Zander, Administrator of the Year, Association of California School Administrators, Lake County Chapter

Dr. Mark Cooper, Lake County Champion for Education Award Recipient

To view photos from the event, visit www.lakecoe.org, and click on the Current News highlight.

For more information, contact Shelly Mascari at smascari@lakecoe.org or 707-262-4162

Be prepared for Google Apps for Educators!  This workshop is designed for Lake County school administrators, teachers, support staff and IT staff. 

Bring your own device - laptop, iPad or Chrome Book and learn about:

• Shared Calendars
• Email
• Google Docs
• Hangouts
• Collaboration

This workshop is free to all Lake County educators and support staff.

The Lakeport workshops are full, but there are few spaces left at the Lower Lake location. 

November 18, 2013  1:30PM - 3:30PM  |  Kesey Room, Lake COE  Closed

November 18, 2013  4:00PM - 6:00PM  |  Kesey Room, Lake COE  Closed

Academic Decathlon students tested their knowledge of World War I on Saturday in a scrimmage event.

Eleven students from Kelseyville High and six students from Upper Lake High were early risers as they arrived at the Lake County Office of Education Clearlake Office to take seven subject exams.

Students challenged themselves in mathematics, art, economics, social science, music, science and language/literature.

Although no medals are awarded for their performance at this scrimmage, results are given to the coaches and students.

These students - along with the rest of their teams and schools from around the lake - will meet again on Jan. 25 for the speech and interview portion of the completion and then for the last part of the county competition on Feb. 1.

For more information about the Academic Decathlon, please contact Tammy Serpa at tserpa@lakecoe.org or 707-350-3116.

Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Marymount California University have officially joined forces with The Hub, which serves the communities of Upper Lake, Nice and Lucerne and aims to serve as a place of integration where students can find access to resources outside of school.

The Hub is a pilot project in Upper Lake to develop the Community School Model specific to rural areas such as Lake County. The long-term goal will be to develop The Hub in each community in Lake County and serve as a model for the rural counties, according to Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook. Read More

Author Carolyn Wing Greenlee speaks during a Lake County Big Read program at Mendocino College Lake Center on Sunday, October 27, 2013. Photo by Christina Basor.

Author Carolyn Wing Greenlee was featured in a Lake County Big Read program sponsored by the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College and the Friends of the Mendocino College Library, affiliates of the Mendocino College Foundation.

Held last Sunday, Oct. 27, at the Mendocino College Lake Center in Lakeport, the event was one of many offered during October through the auspices of the National Endowment for the Arts and Arts Midwest in cooperation with the Lake County Office of Education and the Literacy Task Force.

Greenlee discussed the power of books to change lives and how everyone's story is important.

Read complete Lake Co News story here

Burns Valley School Red Ribbon Week took place Oct. 21-25.

The National Campaign chose this year's theme as "A Healthy Me is Drug Free."

Burns Valley students commemorated this theme with a door decorating contest, dress-up days, lunchtime learning and presentations.

A "smoothie bike," on loan from North Coast Opportunities, helped students to get activity while choosing healthy snacks.

Lake County Public Health Department hosted a booth on campus to show students the dangers of smoking.

Burns Valley 7th and 8th graders participated in presentations from Team DUI, a local organization tasked with getting the word out about the dangers of drinking and driving and the ongoing effects such choices can have. The students witnessed a video that depicted the stories of one accident and the effect it had on the victims, the perpetrator, the victim's family and the perpetrator's family. The inter-connectedness of the loss experience was palpable as the in-person presenters followed the video with stories of loss experienced locally and the lasting effects it has had on our community. The speakers consisted of family members, first responders and law enforcement. In this case, one of these stories rang personal to me, as I had been a member of the close-knit community that suffered the loss of young people so many years ago. As the stories were shared, students responded with grief, anger, disbelief and eventually gained an understanding that they held the power to make the choices that could effect, either positively or negatively, an entire community. They were asked, "Would you want that to be your mom?"  They were informed that, "One bad decision, can often lead to another bad decision. Some bad decisions don't get a do over." They were encouraged to "take the time to make a plan to stay safe. They brainstormed together some of the ways to stay safe when faced with the decisions around drinking and driving. I think the empowering discussion really struck a chord with the teachers and they assured students that there would be more time to talk about these options back in class. 

Burns Valley Students and Staff would like to reiterate a big thank you to Team DUI for your continued efforts to keep the community safe and free from the detrimental effects of drinking and driving. You can also look them up on facebook, LAKE County TEAM DUI.