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Focus on Success
December 2012 Vol 4, No. 2  
 Partnering and Promoting Education
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In This Issue
Safe School Symposium
eLearning
ROP Culinary Arts
Watsonville High School Video Academy
One Childhood - Once Chance
Emanuel Martinez Mural Project
Alt Ed Programs Partner with Habitat for Humanity
ROP Graphic Design
Music Studio Class
Summer Arts Institute 2012
Michael Paynter Honored
SCCOE Links
Superintendent
Board of Education
Business Services
Educational Services 
Human Resources
SC County Schools
Student Services
Technology Services
SCCOE Mission

The Mission of the Santa Cruz County Office of Education is

to provide quality educational leadership, programs, services, and support

to the children, school

districts, and the diverse community

that makes up Santa

Cruz County.

Santa Cruz County Board of Education 
The Santa Cruz County Board of Education is comprised of seven trustees each of whom represents a designated trustee area within the County.
Mr. Jack Dilles
Mr. Aaron Hinde
Mr. Arnold Levine
Ms. Gina Locatelli
Mr. Vic Marani
Mr. Dana M. Sales
Mr. George "Bud" Winslow

Santa Cruz County Office of Education
400 Encinal Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 466-5600
(831) 466-5607 (FAX)
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Superintendent's Message 

 

The end of the year and the beginning of the holiday season are times for reflection and gratitude. As I look back on this year it is clear that California and Santa Cruz County understand the importance of investing in public education. In November, voters passed both bond and parcel tax measures that will allow for the long overdue rebuilding of school facilities, as well as strengthening and stabilizing services and programs. The result of that confidence will be a stronger and healthier community. The resiliency, creativity and tenacity that schools have demonstrated during these past few years can be seen in this issue of Focus on Success as we highlight the importance of partnerships and the diversity in student centered programs. As we move forward we understand that along with new revenue comes accountability and heightened expectations. Our county schools are up to that challenge.

Our newsletter is sent out quarterly. If you would like more frequent updates, follow me on Twitter, or like the SCCOE on Facebook.

 

Michael Watkins
Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools

Read past messages from the Superintendent.

Safe School Symposium: Creating a Bully-Free School

 

 Safe School Symposium  

On December 4, 2012, over ninety Santa Cruz County teachers, staff, administrators, students, parents and community members came together to focus on anti-bullying strategies. The purpose of this Safe School Symposium was to inform stakeholders about the bullying issues affecting county youth and the collaborative solutions required to transform school communities from bullying to belonging. 

Find out more about the Safe School Symposium.

Transforming Teaching and Learning--Through eLearning

 

 LEC Certification class 

What do online discussions, collaborative presentations, online quizzes, virtual mindmaps, closed captioned videos, and digital portfolios have in common? They are all effective strategies to assist students in learning in an online environment. They also happen to be the significant components and artifacts of learning in a new, online and blended (includes both online and face-to-face) teacher certification. Leading Edge Certification (LEC) is a national certification program in educational technology and curriculum innovation. 
  

Learn more about LEC Certification at the Santa Cruz County Office of Education.

ROP Culinary Arts Students Participate in Edible Monterey Bay First Anniversary Celebration

 

 Edible Monterey Anniversary 

ROP student chefs and servers, under the direction of instructor and chef Andrea Mollenauer, who teaches culinary arts, participated in the first anniversary celebration of Edible Monterey Bay. 
  

 "The only way that the kids are going to become our future is if we let them and get them working," Mollenauer said. "Let's give the students an opportunity to be our future."

 

Learn more about the celebration of Edible Monterey Bay.

Watsonville High School Video Academy 2012 - "The New Deal" Project

 

Watsonville High School Video AcademyFranklin Delano Roosevelt entered the White House in 1932 at the darkest hour of the Great Depression, promising "a new deal for the American people." The package of legislative reforms that came to be known as the New Deal permanently and dramatically transformed the politics and economy of the United States.

In the Spring of 2012, students of the Watsonville High School's (WHS) Video Academy were assigned the task of answering the question of "How could the policies of the New Deal be brought to our small community?" The effort by the Video Academy was a collaboration of US History, English, Chemistry and ROP Video Production teachers that integrated their curriculum to help students explore this challenge. 

 

Learn more about this project.

One Childhood - One Chance - Quality Early Education Matters

 

Child Care Planning Council web site

Against the backdrop of warm, sunny skies and the newly remodeled Cabrillo College Campus, two hundred and seventy early childhood educators attended the Central Coast Early Care and Education's Annual Conference. Sponsored by the Child Care Planning Council, early childhood educators were offered twenty-nine bilingual workshops ranging from challenging behaviors, arts and mathematics to cooking healthy for young children. The conference aspires to ensure that all children get a quality early learning experience and those attending understand the criticality of early brain development. They know that high-quality programs improve children's readiness for school and therefore life. 

 

Find out more information about the Early Care and Education Conference.

Colorado artist Emanuel Martinez helps Santa Cruz Juvenile Hall teens create murals

 

Emanuel Martinez works on mural at Juvenile Hall

FELTON -- Desperate to draw, award-winning Colorado artist Emanuel Martinez once smuggled charcoal-tipped matchsticks into his Juvenile Hall cell, after pens and pencils were banned as possible weapons.

Those detained in Santa Cruz County Juvenile Hall are more fortunate in that regard, as Martinez is in the midst of a two-week stay with them, working side-by-side to paint two large murals.

 

One painting is in an interior courtyard, where a series of large faces have been painted, with the facility's windows serving as eyes. It is called "Seek New Visions." The other, brightening up the cafeteria, is called "Achieve Higher Education."

 

Find out more about the Emanuel Martinez mural project at Juvenile Hall. 

 
Two Alternative Education Programs Partner with Habitat for Humanity

 

Ponderosa and Natural Bridges High School students at Habitat for HumanityNatural Bridges High School and Ponderosa High School, which both have Green Careers Training Programs, have begun a partnership with Habitat for Humanity to perform community service helping build homes for low-income families. Students from the ROP Construction Technology courses at both schools joined forces to work at the Blake Lane site in September and will continue to work on these homes through next spring. 
 
 

Find out more about the partnership with Habitat for Humanity.

ROP Graphic Design Students Participate in Real-World Market Research

 

Inside Out Project WatsonvilleROP students participated in real-world market research on Thursday, October 4th. A national market research consultant, working on an educational project funded by The Gates Foundation and The Monterey Institute for Technology and Education (MITE) interviewed twenty-one students in Pam Falke-Krueger's ROP graphic design courses at Harbor High School. 
 

Find out more about this project.

Music studio class launches in Scotts Valley

 music studio students  

A month into the school year, the 24 students of Beth Hollenbeck's music production and recording arts class are diving into the technical world of the recording industry.

 

The class, which includes students from Scotts Valley, Soquel, San Lorenzo Valley, and Santa Cruz high schools, meets in Scotts Valley High's one-of-a-kind recording studio and introduces students to what a career in the music industry entails.

Read the rest of the Scotts Valley Press Banner article.

Summer Arts Institute 2012

 

summer arts instituteAfter the success of the 2011 Arts Institute for K-8 teachers, the County Office of Education held a second Arts Institute this past summer. Over 30 teachers and teaching artists attended a week that was full of hands-on art activities led by master arts teachers, as well as seminar-style discussions. Participants took classes in one or two disciplines from a menu of: performing arts (dance and theater), visual art (at two levels, beginners and more experienced), music, and integrated arts. In the integrated arts class, participants created both the illustrations and text to make an original book. 

Read more about the Summer Arts Institute.

COE Alternative Education Manager receives 2012 Gary Proctor Excellence Award

 

Judge Stephen Siegel and Michael PaynterMichael Paynter ensures youth have equal access to educational opportunities. Michael Paynter, Manager of Alternative Education and Foster Youth Services at the County Office of Education, has been honored by members of the judicial community and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for his outstanding service to youth in foster care.
  

Paynter was presented with The Gary Proctor Excellence Award by Superior Court Judge Stephen Siegel at CASA's annual auction fundraiser Imagine!, held at Chaminade September 9th.  "Michael is a passionate advocate in ensuring foster children receive the educational support they need during a very difficult time in their lives," Siegel said.

 

Read the rest of the article in the Santa Cruz Patch

The Santa Cruz County Office of Education publishes news to the community several times a year, highlighting programs that support student achievement.