Tiny house project bringing big lessons to life for students
at Blue Ridge High School
 The tiny house movement is laying the foundation for big lessons at Blue Ridge High School in Morgan Hill. About 40 students are at the court school, operated through the Santa Clara County Office of Education's Alternative Education Department. Since January, they have been building their first tiny house as part of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes there."I think the thing that I find most rewarding is watching the students enjoy building something," CTE teacher Ralph Wigginton said.  He and CTE teacher Marty Bajda have been leading the construction project of a 176-squarefoot house, through materials and floor plans purchased by Sonoma-based Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. Once complete, the house will include a bathroom, bedroom, great room with a sink and stove, and queen-size sleeping loft within a two-story self-contained unit, all placed atop a trailer. "It turns out a lot of these kids have never built anything before," Wigginton said. "That's a life experience to say, 'I put this together.'" The Blue Ridge program is located at William F. James Boys Ranch, where minors serve six to 12 months. They are assigned to pods that rotate through different classrooms, including Wigginton's, throughout the day. "The tiny house project is not exclusive to the CTE classrooms, but has expanded and blossomed in all classes, especially math and science," Principal Tara Strong said. "The students are using their math and science skills in measurement, slope and roof design, and expanding their understanding of energy and environmental issues." Student Saul said the project has been fun for many reasons, including learning the different tools and seeing the house's progress. "It looks pretty cool, starting from a simple piece of wood like that to something like this," he said, pointing to the second story they had framed so far. Once that part of the build is assembled, Wigginton said it will be forklifted atop the first story that has been constructed so far.
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Families Learning Together puts parents center stage
 Nearly 400 moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents, guardians and kids of all ages turned out March 12 for the Santa Clara County Office of Education's first Families Learning Together STEAM Event, a one-of-a-kind day of learning featuring parent leaders as the main event facilitators.
 Throughout the day-long conference, parents teamed up with content-level experts in the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math to deliver fun, hands-on sessions in both English and Spanish designed to illustrate how parents can reinforce student learning at home. Topics included simple technology and engineering activities for early learners; a math and physics "race car" activity for middle school students; and an "Engineering your own 'fridge" experiment for high school students. In the afternoon, families participated in "Tinkerlab" projects to foster creative thinking, which were then displayed at a STEAM showcase closing out the day.
"What I really like about the STEAM event is all of the inspiration my son got for new ideas at home, even new things to make with his Legos," said Maureen, a parent participant with a son in kindergarten. "I liked working in groups because he got to see from the older kids how their thought process worked to solve problems, and he was getting taught by other kids, which was really nice."
 Families Learning Together is a signature event of the SCCOE's Parent Engagement Initiative, which empowers parents to improve student achievement by addressing the academic, discipline, nutrition and safety needs of their children. Participants learn specific strategies to support their children, and then later practice their new skills and improve their strategies through collaboration with other parents.
"Our impressive turnout demonstrates that families in our community are eager for opportunities to engage in authentic learning with their children, and with one another," said Melissa Christie, Director of Curriculum and Instruction. "We're extremely proud of what our parent leaders have accomplished and are committed to ensuring all families have the skills and mindsets necessary to advocate for their child's education."
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County Committee on School District Organization seeks new member
The Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools will make an appointment to fill a vacancy on the Committee from Supervisorial District 3. The appointees will serve until the term of office of the vacant seat expires in November 2017.
Applicants must be registered voters and must reside within the Supervisorial District in which they would like to represent. District 3 contains all or parts of Alum Rock Union Elementary, Berryessa Union, Cupertino Union, Evergreen, Milpitas Unified, Mount Pleasant, Mountain View Whisman, Oak Grove, Orchard, San Jose Unified, Santa Clara Unified, and Sunnyvale, and corresponding portions of East Side, Fremont Union, and Mountain-View Los Altos.
The candidate selected cannot be employed by the Santa Clara County Office of Education or any school district while serving on the County Committee. School district board members are eligible to serve.
The primary responsibilities of the County Committee are the reorganization of school districts and the establishment and rearrangement of governing board trustee areas in the school districts. For more information on responsibilities and activities, visit the County Committee website.
Interested individuals should submit a letter that includes interests and qualifications for the position, a minimum of three references, and a resume. Submit materials to Jon R. Gundry, Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools, care of Suzanne Carrig, 1290 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95131-2304 or fax to (408) 453-6601. For further information or to verify residency, contact Suzanne Carrig at (408) 453-6869.
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Since 1852, the Santa Clara County Office of Education has provided vital services and resources to the county's 31 K-12 public school districts and more than 250,000 students. The SCCOE strives to provide advocacy and leadership on education issues, student programs that are models of excellence and indispensable services to schools and community partners. The SCCOE is committed to serving, inspiring and promoting student and public school success.
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Teachers, districts find perfect fit
at Annual Teacher Recruitment Fair
 More than 600 job-seeking teachers and 300 school district and charter school administrators met at the Santa Clara County Office of Education's Ridder Park office March 19 for the annual Teacher Recruitment Fair.  The annual event is an opportunity for those seeking certificated positions to meet with representatives from school districts across the county at a centralized location for a day of focused interaction. The event features on-site interviews, recruiters from multiple districts, credential specialists and a resource guide on Santa Clara County school districts and charter schools.  "The fact that the Teacher Recruitment Fair is one of the SCCOE's biggest events of the year speaks to how valuable a service this is for both districts and teacher candidates," said Philip Gordillo, Chief Human Resources Officer. "It's a win-win for both parties and ultimately ensures that our community's classrooms will be staffed with educators of the highest caliber when schools open next fall." Typically, about 300 countywide positions are filled each year as a result of the fair. To attend, candidates must have a California preliminary, clear or professional clear teaching credential; have a credential by fall 2016; have a credential from outside California; or have at least one year of experience in a teaching intern program.
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SCCOE receives national award for promoting biliteracy
 The Santa Clara County Office of Education's Multilingual Education Services team received the National Association for Bilingual Association's (NABE) "President's Award: Advancing Biliteracy and Global Education" March 3 during a recognition ceremony at the NABE Conference in Chicago, Illinois.
This award recognizes organizations that have made significant contributions to advancing NABE's vision for promoting biliteracy for all students. The SCCOE was chosen as this year's recipient "for its leadership in creating a respectful and inclusive culture in our global communities that value diversity and biliteracy," according to NABE.
"I am extremely proud of our Multilingual Education Services staff and Director Dr. Yee Wan, whose work has supported our schools, districts and, above all else, the students we serve," County Superintendent Jon Gundry said. "Because we're located in the heart of Silicon Valley, the economic vitality of our community depends on the ability of our schools to prepare young people to be successful in an increasingly global economy."
 The SCCOE launched the My Name, My Identity campaign in February during the California Department of Education's Global Education Summit at the Ridder Park office as one of many steps to build a caring school environment.
"In the context of global education, we talk about how important it is for students to feel proud of who they are and to have the ability and feel comfortable to connect with people from different languages and backgrounds locally, and also around the world," Dr. Wan said. "Employees from the Santa Clara County Office of Education lead with a vision of mobilizing our community in creating a respectful culture for all of our students."
The campaign - a collaboration between the SCCOE, NABE and McGraw-Hill Education, a learning science company - asks educators and community members to make a pledge honoring students, neighbors and coworkers by promising to learn how to pronounce their names correctly. They have a goal of securing one million pledges by February 2017.
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Board of Education resolution commemorates National Women's History Month
The Santa Clara County Board of Education formally recognized March as Women's History Month by adopting a resolution during its meeting on March 2.
The Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) "recognizes the significant contributions and considerable advances that women have made, and continue to make in our community, state and the world, in such areas as education, medicine, art, culture, public service, economics and development, politics and human rights," states the resolution, which was adopted under consent action items tonight. This year's theme is "Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public Service and Government."
About 80 percent of the SCCOE's staff of 1,652 employees are women, in roles ranging from frontline educators to support staff to top-level administrators.
"As an organization rich with women leaders in all areas of expertise, it is important that we take time to reflect on the women whose work paved the way for us, and to celebrate the accomplishments of the many excellent women educators doing amazing things for students and families here in Santa Clara County every single day," said Dr. Mary Ann Dewan, Deputy Superintendent.
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| | Harriet Beecher Stowe |
During the Santa Clara County National History Day Competition on February 27, the winning Junior Division Historical Paper, authored by 8th grader Marisol Meier of Castilleja School, explored how Harriet Beecher Stowe's writing exposed people to ideas that would eventually precipitate conflicts leading up to the Civil War. Other standout projects exploring women's history included exhibits on journalist Nellie Bly, who famously faked insanity to write an expose about the treatment of the mentally ill; suffragist leader Victoria Woodhull and the women's suffrage movement broadly; and a performance about Ida Laura Pfeiffer, one the first woman explorers to travel "round the world."
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Updates from the County Board of Education
Here's a summary of actions taken by the Board at its recent meetings.
The Board of Education is the elected governing body of the SCCOE. Its seven members serve four-year terms and are elected by different regions of the county. Learn more about the members, and view their meeting schedule, agendas and minutes.
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