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Youth of the Year, reading tutors needed, survey, Latin

Education Roundup

The Boys & Girls Club’s fourth annual Youth of the Year celebration is Thursday, Dec. 6, at 6:30 p.m. This year’s candidates are Eric Gonzalez, Pio Valenzula, Raquel Paz and Yencia Vargas. Each of these students has an inspiring story to tell about the challenges they overcame during high school and the important role that the Boys & Girls Club played in their ability to believe in themselves and to follow their dreams. Youth of the Year is an initiative designed to promote and recognize teens who have developed sound character, leadership abilities and the willingness to give back to their community. Last year, when Gene Truong was honored, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house after he read his essay about his path to redemption at the Club. Each of the four candidates receives a $4,000 scholarship and the Youth of the Year also receives a laptop computer. To attend on Dec. 6, reserve a spot at kholden@bgcsonoma.org.

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Currently in Sonoma County 54 percent of third-grade students are reading below proficiency levels and studies show that one in six children who are not reading proficiently in the third grade do not graduate high school on time. United Way of Wine Country’s education goal is to raise the third-grade reading proficiency to 90 percent by 2020 through one-on-one tutoring by trained community volunteers. Its Schools of Hope program has a goal of serving 700 students at 20 schools this school year alone. It is currently seeking 800 volunteer tutors. The commitment includes: tutoring 30 minutes weekly (or more) during the school year; attending one training session on literacy skills; and completing a tutor log following each session. The next volunteer orientations will held at the Sonoma Valley Unified School District (located at 17850 Railroad Ave., Sonoma) on Thursday, Dec. 13. Contact Tina Luther at 935-9566 or at tina@svgreatschools.org for more information.

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Would you like to take a survey and share your opinions on technology in our schools? Speak Up is a national initiative that has collected and reported on the views of more than 2.6-million K-12 students, teachers, administrators and parents representing more than 30,000 schools in all 50 states over the past 10 years. The organization claims to provide the largest collection of authentic, unfiltered stakeholder input on education, technology and science and math instruction, tomorrow/org/speakupcalifornia.html. Parents are invited to complete a survey that is confidential, free and takes about 10 minutes. Each participating school will receive a free online report that compares local data with national data that can be used for local advocacy. The survey topics this year include online learning, education technology funding, social media and technology desires for the ultimate school and more.

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A group of teachers has submitted paperwork to start a new K-8 charter school called Gateway Collaborative in Napa that would blend home schooling and a bricks and mortar campus. The campus would enable parents to home school (three days a week) but also afford their children for the chance for socialization and group projects under the guidance of a credentialed teacher (two days a week). The target is for the school to open for the 2013-14 school year with 100 to 125 students. As a charter public school, there would be no tuition.

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Flowery School is having its winter gala fundraiser on Saturday, Dec. 1, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Moose Lodge. The night will feature a silent auction, bar, food and music. Tickets are on sale in the school office for $25 or at flowerygala.eventbrite.com.

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ArtEscape is offering a free Sunday Play Day gourd-making workshop for all ages from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 2. Open to ages 2 and up, children can create holiday decorations and all materials and instruction are provided free of charge. No registration required. ArtEscape is located 17474-A Sonoma Highway in Boyes Hot Springs. The center offers a different art program for children every weekend. To be added to its email list, contact artescape@vom.com.

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A new study out last week says that a lack of parental encouragement/support and teen pregnancy are the main factors that cause students to drop out of high school. Twenty-three percent of high school dropouts surveyed cited lack of family support and encouragement as the reason they quit school, according to researchers at Harris Interactive. The responses were weighted by age, gender, and location in order to be nationally representative. Only 17 percent of the drop-outs surveyed had full-time jobs, and those who did have jobs, almost half said that they had little to no opportunity to advance in those positions.

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There is trouble brewing up north because this fall, more than half of the freshman at the University of Oregon hail from out-of-state and almost half of those are from California. (1,329 out of 5,131 freshman). In-state students are angry about the numbers from out-of-state but UO administration loves students from California because out-of-state students pay three times as much tuition. A recent snide article in the Oregon Register-Guard claims that the California students are derided by their peers for being lower performing and living by the mantra “Cs get degrees.” Ouch.

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Joel Klein, the former NYC Schools chancellor, and Randi Weingarten, head of the American teachers union, are longtime adversaries on most topics but they recently agreed on the need for a bar exam for teachers (similar to the bar exam that lawyers pass). Weingarten has been quoted as saying that having aspiring teachers pass a rigorous exam would help ensure professional standards across the education system. According to a story in The Atlantic, Klein agrees and says that a criteria of that type would help ensure that the best and the brightest are going into teaching.

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News from St. Francis: The school’s fifth- through eighth-grade students recently enjoyed (and some even participated) in an on-campus performance by the San Francisco Opera Guild of “Pirates of Penzance.” The Opera a la Carte music program has been an on-going event at St. Francis for more than 25 years. St. Francis eighth-graders Ava Castro, Campbell Martin and Hanna Maillard, and seventh-graders Amy Stanfield and Cian Marin recently represented St. Francis in the annual Justin Siena Speech Contest. Congratulations to Campbell Martin who finished first in humorous and serious categories, Cian Martin who finished second in his impromptu category and Amy Stanfield who finished second in her serious category. 

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Would you like to receive updates about Sonoma schools on your cell phone with Sonoma Valley Education Foundation’s new text messaging service? Text SVEF to 55411.

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Disney’s Beauty and the Beast will be performed by the Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts Department at 1501 Mendocino Ave. from Nov. 23 to Dec. 8. Tickets are $18 ($12 for students and seniors/$10 for 12 and under) and can be purchased online at santarosa.edu/theatrearts/tickets.html. The full-length production is recommended for ages 7 and up.

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I took Latin for two years in high school and while I don’t remember much of it, it likely helped me considerably on the verbal section of the SAT college entrance test. Latin instruction was out of vogue for many years but it is making a comeback. It is considered to be a great option for students who are scared of the embarrassment of speaking a new language in front of others. In addition to SAT prep, Latin has the added benefit of helping teach science terms. I think the private schools in town have dabbled in offering Latin as an elective, is anyone offering it now?