2016 Teachers of the Year and STEM Teaching Award Winners
 The Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) is proud to reveal Santa Clara County's 2016 Teachers of the Year, along with the recipients of the 2016 Texas Instruments STEM Teaching Awards. View the list of this year's accomplished educators, who will be recognized at the 47th annual Teacher Recognition Celebration presented by the SCCOE on Thursday, Sept. 29 at the Heritage Theatre in Campbell.
The annual Teacher Recognition Celebration is co-sponsored by Texas Instruments and the Santa Clara County Federal Credit Union, with support from the San Jose Mercury News, Santa Clara County School Boards Association, Sixth District PTA, and other local businesses.
Visit the Teacher Recognition Celebration website to learn more about the event's history, view videos and photographs of previous ceremonies, and get to know past teacher honorees.
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County Office of Education celebrates the class of 2016
 Educators, families, and friends recently gathered to celebrate the Alternative Education Department Graduation and the Special Education Department Completion Ceremony from the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE).
"Graduations are a moment for educators, families, and friends to gather and celebrate student achievements," County Superintendent of Schools Jon R. Gundry said. "Students from both the Alternative Education and Special Education programs have persevered to arrive at this moment. Their accomplishments are to be applauded and are significant milestones on their path toward future opportunities."
The AED Graduation was held May 31 at the SCCOE's Ridder Park location. This year, 70 students were honored from Blue Ridge, EDGE/PEAK, Odyssey, Osborne, Snell, Terra Bella, Opportunity Youth Academy (OYA), and Independent Study. This ceremony included the first 13 OYA graduates for the program that launched last November. With now four sites around the county, OYA is a high school diploma completion opportunity for 16- to 24-year-olds, which focuses on paths to college or career training.
 A completion ceremony was held for students served through the SCCOE's Special Education program on June 1 at the Robert W. Quinlan Community Center in Cupertino. The evening's festivities honored 37 students, including valedictorians Kaelyn Silva, Jennifer Susan Grant, and Holden Pence. Diplomas were awarded by Norma Del Rio, Director of Special Education, and Nancy Guerrero, Director of Special Projects.
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Communications staff honored with NSPRA, Telly awards
The Santa Clara County Office of Education's (SCCOE) Media and Communications department recently received four awards for excellence for video productions, a marketing campaign, and a publication.
 In conjunction with Human Resources, the department received a Golden Achievement Award from the National School Public Relations Association for the inaugural Santa Clara County School Job Fair. NSPRA's Golden Achievement Award "recognizes exemplary work in all aspects of school public relations, communication, marketing, and engagement." The department also received an Award of Merit for the entry: "Children's Agenda Data Book."
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J. Paul Getty Museum showcases SCCOE for arts integration
 The J. Paul Getty Museum invited representatives from the Santa Clara County Office of Education's STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) team to share their new approach to professional development as one of six case studies during "Arts Integration+California: A Convening" June 13-14.
"We were honored to be recognized for our work in Northern California by the Getty Center," said former Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator Esther Tokihiro; she was recently appointed the new STEAM Director. During the two-day summit, approximately 75 arts integration stakeholders from academia, advocacy, cultural institutions, education, journalism, philanthropy, and policy gathered for an exploration of arts integration across California.
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Jennifer Rosales and Nadine Rambeau from the CalArts Community Arts Partnership take a picture with Esther Tokihiro, Director of the SCCOE STEAM Program, Jeff Schmidt, SCCOE's Career Technical Education Coordinator, and Kristy Esparza, former Manager of Education Programs at the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
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On June 13, Tokihiro alongside Jeff Schmidt, SCCOE's Career Technical Education Coordinator, and Kristy Esparza, former Manager of Education Programs at the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, presented "Connecting Through Digital Storytelling: Innovative Professional Development Practices for the 21st Century." The talk focused on a yearlong " Digital Storytelling Certificate" opportunity launched in 2015 through a partnership with the SCCOE and the Smithsonian Institution.
"The emphasis was on arts integration and how we provide professional development that results in effective classroom practices," Tokihiro said of the presentation. "The model itself has proven to provide the support that teachers are looking for, a professional learning community amongst themselves, and it's also given way to innovative practices and interdisciplinary integration with the arts."
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Updates from the Santa Clara County Board of Education
Here's a summary of actions taken by the Board at its recent meetings.
- Debbie Benham from the Special Education Department was recognized as the Employee of the Month for her outstanding skills and accomplishments on the job, dedication to exceptional service, and commitment to excellence; and
- The board approved the renewal of the Bullis Charter School Petition for the period of July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2022.
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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County Superintendent of Schools shines a light on early learning
County Superintendent of Schools Jon R. Gundry is  shining a light on the importance of early learning in the latest episode of "Spotlight on the SCCOE," a monthly television series recently launched by the Santa Clara County Office of Education.
"This is a topic that has been on my mind for a number of years, especially when I was Principal of an elementary school where I had a significant number of English learners and children living in poverty, many of whom came to school unprepared to learn," Mr. Gundry shares as host of the show. "I noticed anecdotally, even before I knew anything about the research in early education, that those who came to us from preschool... were more successful than those who didn't."
 The second episode, " The Importance of Early Learning," features Mr. Gundry, Avo Makdessian, director of Silicon Valley Community Foundation's Center for Early Learning, and Dr. Lisa Kaufman, Executive Director of Educare California at Silicon Valley. Together they comment on the many ongoing efforts to improve local early childhood education programs.
"Spotlight on the SCCOE," hosted by Mr. Gundry, was created to help inform the local community about the latest happenings in K-12 education. It features Mr. Gundry and different guests each month discussing important issues affecting education.
In addition to being available on the SCCOE YouTube page, "Spotlight on the SCCOE" will air at 6:30 p.m. on Sundays on CreaTV Classrooms, Cable Channel 28 in San Jose and Campbell, and at 6:30 p.m. on Mondays on Bay Voice TV. Bay Voice TV airs on Cable Channel 27 in Atherton, Campbell, Cupertino, East Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Menlo Park, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Stanford University, and Sunnyvale. New episodes will air each month.
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PSA series highlights 'Why I Teach'
 The school year has come to a close, but the Santa Clara County County Office of Education (SCCOE) continues to highlight the work of teachers from around the county with the release of the ninth volume of its Teacher PSA series.
 The series is part of a wider countywide initiative to address the teacher shortage.
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Students complete pilot STEM and Work Readiness Training program
 A pilot program with Opportunity Youth Academy (OYA) is firsthand proof of the power of cross-agency collaboration. Three OYA students from Gilroy and another five from San Jose joined a total of 32 students from Santa Clara County who successfully completed the STEM and Work Readiness Training program, celebrating with a ceremony at The Tech Museum of Innovation on Saturday, May 28.
"I think it was a good opportunity to try new things," said 22-year-old Geovane Alonso, who was a part of the Gilroy program. "I'm a little sad because I'm not going to get to attend anymore."
 As part of completing the nine-week Saturday program, Alonso and 44 foster youth from the San Jose and South County cohorts will be placed in internships this summer with employers including Symantec and QuantumScape Corporation. This is an increase from the 16 youth that were placed last year through the training program, a collaboration between Silicon Valley Children's Fund and TeenForce.
When they were searching for a facility to pilot to South County youth, TeenForce found the OYA site in Gilroy. Launched in November 2015, OYA is a high school diploma completion opportunity for 16- to 24-year-olds which focuses on paths to college or career training.
OYA Principal Gerry Lopez said he is thankful for the collaboration to bring more opportunities to those students they serve.
"The partnership with SVCF and TeenForce is a perfect example of 'collective impact,'" he said. "Separately, our organizations would have found a way to carry out our individual program pursuits: credit accrual, STEM focus, services to foster youth, and workforce development. However, collectively, our pertinent goals are met, our resources are better utilized, and our collaboration acts as a force multiplier."
For more information about the program, view the brochure.
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Upcoming Events
Below are some of the many upcoming events supported by the Santa Clara County Office of Education. Check the "Events" column of our website for regular updates:
 Please join us from July 28-30 at the SCCOE for an exciting three-day institute that will focus on arts learning and California State Standards. Hear from educational leaders, teaching artists, art specialists, and inspirational speakers from across the state as they provide hands-on learning opportunities focused on a suite of CCSESA's new professional learning modules developed by County Offices of Education and Arts Partner Organization Leaders. For information or to register, click here.
 2016 Inclusion Collaborative State Conference [October 27-28]: The SCCOE will host the Inclusion Collaborative State Conference, sponsored by the California Department of Education-Special Education Division and First 5 Santa Clara County, from October 27-28. Meet with other education professionals and learn, create, and enhance inclusive practices for from birth to 12th grade with and without disabilities. Participants can obtain two CEUs through the University of the Pacific and received a certificate of completion. Registration for the conference closes October 7, or when filled. Don't delay! Register here.
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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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