Country singer Lizzie Sider brings anti-bullying message to Pacific Grove

Lizzie Sider, a 15-year-old budding country artist, made a stop in Pacific Grove last week during her California tour to promote bullying prevention.

Sider is collaborating with PACER, a parent training and information center for families of children and youth with all disabilities. October’s National Bullying Prevention Month, and the singer is performing her song “Butterfly,” which is partially based on how she overcame being teased.

Judging by the photos I received, looks like Sider fired up the students in Pacific Grove. Why didn't you go to Monterey? Scuttlebutt tells me the bullying over can get ugly...

Salinas City Elementary celebrates Donna Alonzo Vaughan

The community of the Salinas City Elementary School District threw a big party last week to celebrate the grand opening of the multipurpose room at Los Padres Elementary School district.

Community members with the Salinas City district decided to name the room after Superintendent Donna Alonzo Vaughan to honor her unwavering and passionate dedication to children.

Everyone was there, including the ubiquitous green scissors of the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce. Donna's husband, William Vaughan, used them for the ceremonial ribbon cutting.
 Donna died in June and left a huge void in the district and in people's hearts. Now there's a place that will properly honor her memory for many years to come.

Wherever she is, she's giddy with happiness.

I miss you too, Donna.

Monterey Peninsula students, here's a chance to earn $10,000

Applications for the $10,000 Investment in Community Graduate Fellowship by the Willis W. and Ethel M. Clark Foundation will be accepted through Jan. 31.

The Investment in Community Fellowship is awarded each year to a deserving graduate student who was born, raised or lived on the Monterey Peninsula and who intends to return to the area and be of service to the local community after completing his/her graduate degree.

The award can be used to cover the ordinary costs of graduate school including tuition, books, room, and board.

Students have to be enrolled full-time in an advanced program of study. They have to prove they are receiving above average grades. They have to demonstrate commitment to volunteerism and public service. They need to have intention to remain connected to the Monterey Peninsula through work or residence.

Fellowship to be awarded Spring 2014. For more information about the Clark Foundation and the fellowship click here.

Greenfield Union also looking for a new superintendent

Greenfield students performed remarkably well under Trevor McDonald, and trustees want to capitalize in past years' gains with another good superintendent.

I've covered education long enough to know leadership makes a HUGE difference. And leadership not only comes from the superintendent: it also comes from trustees, principals, and teachers themselves.

"We are so proud of our students, teachers, and staff for what we have been able to collectively accomplish over the past few years, but we have much more to accomplish in the years to come,"  Greenfield Union Board President Art Salvagno said in a statement. “Having already generated so much positive momentum, I am confident we will receive interest from a number of strong candidates.”

District officials began advertising the position regionally earlier this month. Deadline to apply is November 8. The district’s Board of Trustees (which could be very different after the Nov. 5 election) anticipates interviewing a select number of candidates in January 2014 and announcing their final selection soon thereafter.

Ah, so many stories to cover in a 7.5 hour day....

More on the MPUSD transcripts

My good friend Scuttlebutt is abuzz about the transcripts issue at MPUSD. Apparently, the story I wrote about the topic last week struck a raw nerve with some folks at the administration. If you didn't have a chance to read it, here it is.

Scuttlebutt tells me some administrators are challenging the accuracy of the story. Some are saying I did not get the story quite right.

Weird. Usually, when my stories are incorrect, my phone's ringing off the hook and my email bulges with demands to set the record straight. Always happy to oblige, by the way.

In case you don't know that about me, I'm always willing to admit when I'm wrong -- as painful and embarrassing as that is.

What's also really weird about this, is that Ruben Zepeda himself was reading the story as it was posted in the web late Tuesday, and had a chance to correct some minor errors before they actually were memorialized in the print edition. He correctly pointed it it was 92 students whose records were changed, not the number that originally posted in the web. There was a quote he didn't quite agree with, so I took it down.

Thank you, Dr. Zepeda, for catching those before going to press.

If Dr. Zepeda was able to read the story and point out minor details before it went to press, I'm sure other administrators could have done the exact same thing. So what happened?

So, if anybody has any other quibbles with my story, I'll be happy to listen and run a correction if appropriately. You all know how to reach me.

In the meantime, Scuttlebutt has me on the hunt for more juicy information. Ah, so much to investigate in a 7.5-hour day....

Stay tuned.

The Literacy Summit: the first step on a long road ahead

If you attended the Literacy Summit, thank you!

If you didn't, you missed a very informative event. Although we heard from people who are near and dear to Monterey County -- Sylvia Panetta and CSUMB President Eduardo Ochoa, for instance -- there were also newcomers to the community and great experts in the issue of demographics and literacy.

The aim of the Literacy Campaign of Monterey County was to bring speakers who would discuss the issues of low-levels of literacy in Monterey County -- and the nation for that matter. As many of you already know, we face great challenges in our community as we try to educate our young and prepare them for an economically productive future. Only about a third of third graders in Monterey County score proficient or above in English language arts, and experts believe students start falling behind after the third grade if they don't read proficiently.

Francine Rodd, executive director of First Five Monterey County, made a presentation about how the learning has to start even earlier: as soon as babies are born, or when they're still in the womb. The first few years of a child's life are critical for brain development, and if mothers don't read to their children or don't engage with them, the children will have a hard time catching up later, according to a video presented by Rodd.

But the most compelling presentation -- in my opinion -- came from USC Demographer Dowell Myers: today's babies are tomorrow's taxpayers. If these children don't grow up to be educated adults, they won't be able to hold productive lifestyles, and they won't be able to support the retiring generation. They won't be able to pay into Medicare and Social Security to support the older generations, they won't earn enough to buy the homes, the "nest eggs" of retiring boomers.

Helping the next generation is not altruism. It's self-interest.

In order for the next generation to be productive, we need to help our children now. Better child care needs to be available. More programs for young parents to help them raise their children. A movement to make literacy Monterey County's first priority.

Friday's even was a great first step. At the end of the day, attendants chatted in small groups about what they're willing to do to promote literacy. There was a lot of enthusiasm and energy in the group, so it'll be interesting to see what ideas come to life.

Here's a snippet from Dowell Myers presentation. Enjoy!

Alisal, being sued by teachers left and right

This is another one of the stories I'll get to eventually.

Alisal Union School District employee Liz Nájera Ramirez has filed a claim against the district alleging sexual harassment by Jesus Lepe, principal at Frank Paul Elementary. A few days ago, before the Alisal Board went into closed session, Nájera Ramirez accused Trustee Lilia Cortez Garza of lying to a newspaper by saying she didn't know anything about her claim.

Like all trustees, Cortez Garza is informed during closed session of all legal claims against the district.

Nájera Ramirez goes on to make pretty severe accusations against Lepe, who's also running for school board in Greenfield Union Elementary School District. This is not the first time I hear of these allegations, and apparently, there are two claims against Lepe filed with the district.

My editor filed a public records request to obtain the claims, but so far, we have not received response from the Alisal.

You can watch Nájera Ramirez make her accusations here.

It's not surprising to see the Alisal once again return to the spotlight, given its history. But I think the elections have ratcheted up the overall level of nastiness. 

It'll be interesting to see who wins the election. Stay tuned.

Millennium charter's looking for a new home?

The paint hasn't probably dried in the new, state of the art studios of the Millennium High School Charter, but administrators could be looking for another site for the brand new high school.

According to the Salinas City Council minutes, Salinas administrators are in discussion with Millennium officials to rent Sherwood Hall, the gathering place in North Salinas. Sherwood Hall has meeting rooms and a theater, and until recently was being administered by the Steinbeck Center.

From the get go, it looked like the 93 or so students in Millennium's inaugural class were under really tight quarters at the school, which is on the same campus as the Monterey County Office of Education. And next year, the charter's expected to receive at least another freshman class of about 50 students.

Stay tuned.

All sorts of fun stuff happening at MPUSD

Rarely are MPUSD board meetings boring. Monday's was particularly fascinating.

Judging by the students reports to the board, things are peachy at the high schools.

The district bid farewell to military liaison Luis Villegas, and said hello to new liaison Elaine Vrolyks.

The most fascinating part was the unscripted one: Monterey High student Darrick Jory pleaded with trustees to do away with the district's current grading system. The system, which mirrors the grading on California Standarized Testing of Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Below Basic and Far Below Basic, allows students who get a 45 percentage point a passing grade, something that's rubbed people the wrong way for a while.

Robert Purcell, a Seaside High freshman who previously attended Stevenson, made a passionate plea against eliminating the current block schedule. Robert is articulate and thorough, a teacher's dream.

Apparently, he's not the only one against eliminating block scheduling, a proposal that's going around the district's halls.

Then came the former teachers. Nobody told them the district was changing health care coverage, so they were surprised to receive an email from CalPers telling them they would no longer be in their plan. They were particularly upset with the Union, whom they felt had abandoned them.

Then there was the euphoria of the Dual Language Folks. A new, dependent charter will be formed at Marshall Elementary to host the Dual Language program, and Monday was the formal presentation of the charter petition.

Ah, so much to cover in a 7.5 hour day. Eventually, I'll get to these stories. Or so I hope.

A personal plea for literacy

If you did not read the story I wrote for Sunday's edition of The Herald, I urge you to do so.

It's called "Third-Grade Literacy is Key for Later Success," and it tackles the thorny issue of our literacy shortcomings in Monterey County -- and nationwide. You can find it here.

Here's where my plea comes in: please join us this Friday for an important event. The Literacy Summit will gather Monterey County folks interested in seeing literacy levels go up as a way to help everyone improve our standards of living. Increased literacy is linked to better health outcomes, higher incomes, and better lifestyles over all. Children who enjoy reading enjoy school have a higher chance to stay in it for the long run. Communities where children attend school regularly and find healthy after school activities -- like reading a book -- have less crime.

But promoting literacy is something we should all embrace, and that's why I'd love to see you at Friday's event. The event is designed for all of us to learn more about why this is important and how we can become more involved and help.

If you've already signed up, thank you. If not, please consider attending.

For more information about the Literacy Campaign, or to sign up for the summit, click here. 

A perilous situation in Greenfield

Drive around the streets of Greenfield in the afternoon, after school's over and before parents come home from the fields.

You'll see them by the dozens, maybe the hundreds. Children roaming the streets unsupervised, ready to cause some trouble.

It's not the children's fault. They have nobody to look after them, nothing to do. So they seek refuge in the library (I've heard reports of staff describing their facilities as the "town's babysitter"). 

Yesterday, when the TechMobile from the Media Center for Art, Education & Technology showed up, about 40 children happily overwhelmed the teacher with their demands for attention.

So, what happens when there's no TechMobile? When the library closes? The children are still there, playing ball by themselves.

Or getting recruited by older, more street savvy kids. Being instructed in the arts of causing trouble.

Folks, our unsupervised children in Greenfield today are our gang problem tomorrow. And I say "our problem" because this needs to be tackled collectively. Their parents, they're in the fields making money for their families and creating wealth for Monterey County. Specially these days of a reduced workforce (yes, all those reports of fewer immigrants crossing the border are true) harvesters are being asked to work longer hours so vegetables don't rot in the fields. By the time parents make it home, they've been away from their homes for 16 or 17 hours. Plenty of time for the kids to get in trouble.

Something needs to be done, and soon. We've already seen crime levels in the Salinas Valley spike in recent years, and if this amount of unsupervised children continues, it's only going to get worse.

Let's hear some ideas. Let's see somebody step into action. Keep me posted.

Matsiko's baaaaaaack!

If you missed your chance to see the Matsiko World Orphan Choir when they came to the Monterey Peninsula earlier this year, you're in luck.

The talented youngsters are coming back, and will perform from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 19 at the Cypress Community Church, 681 Monterey/Salinas Highway 68.

The group of 17 children represent the International Children's Network, an organization that helps orphaned and poor children from several regions of the world. Through the network, families in the U.S. can "adopt" a child and help him/her get an education.

RSVP is required. Admission to the event includes a donation for the children to Matsiko. For more information or to RSVP contact Vanessa Howard, 277-2796 or vanessa@marchowardphoto.com.

Family day for charity and scholarships at Carmel High School

The Carmel High School Foundation and the students of Carmel High School are sponsoring a race and a family day  to raise funds for scholarships and to benefit the community as a whole.

The event will take place Oct. 27, and will feature:

A 5K race,
A 2K fun run/walk
Family day for charity

Registration starts at 8 a.m. at Carmel High School. The race begins at 10 a.m.

Race entry fees are $35 for adults, $10 for students, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and $65 for families. For more information, or to register, click here.

Race fee includes a student-designed T-shirt. Race proceeds benefit student scholarships.

Family Day for Charity is a free community event and it will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Organizers ask community members to bring donations of  non-perishable food, new socks and cash.

All contributions for Family Day for Charity will go to local charities, including MEarth, The Carmel Valley Angel Project, Hope Center Food Pantry, Big Sur Health Clinic and Legal Aid for Seniors. Family Day is sponsored by Carmel High School student clubs and organizations.

For more information regarding the 5k/2k run, or to donate, contact Kelli Foy at Carmel High School Foundation, 915-9831. For information about Family Day for Charity, or to donate, contact Diana Vita at Carmel High School, 624-1821.

CSUMB students shine at SACNAS

Thirteen CSUMB students took part in the annual conference of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, which this year took place in San Antonio, Texas.

Three of them took top honors: Timothy Fuller, a senior marine science major, received the top prize in the general ecology category. He studies thermal adaptation in the European green crab.



Sean Windell and Mary McCormick, graduate students in the Applied Marine and Watershed Science program, were awarded first- and second-place honors, respectively, for their oral presentations in marine science. Windell’s work examined the value of habitat diversity in marine reserves; McCormick studied intertidal foraging habits of fished and protected spiny lobsters.

For more information, click here.

The science department at CSUMB has been growing some amazing talent, and they continue to impress. Go Otters! 

Teachers and union leaders convene in Pacific Grove

Ahh. Asilomar. It always bring out the best in all of us, and among all of us.

 This past weekend, about 400 teachers and members of California Teachers Association gathered in our beautiful corner of the world to listen to Dean Vogel, president of the association, Yvonne Walker, president of Service Employees International Union Local 1000, the state employee union, and about current issues in the schools such economic justice and school funding, the history of unions, state budget updates, the Common Core State Standards, labor law rights, and the new Local Control Funding Formula.

 Here's Dean Vogel chatting with some teachers.

And here Yvonne Walker talks to John Colombo of MPUSD. (Both photos courtesy of Mike Myslinski of CTA)

If you're curious about what Vogel had to say, here's a link to a portion of his speech. And here a link to a portion of Walker's as well.

Enjoy!

Alisal students earn accolades

Last week, the Alisal Union Board of Trustees recognized 71 students who obtained a perfect score in the California Standard Tests.

Sixty-eight of them got a perfect score in Math

Two earned a perfect score in English

One received a perfect score in Spanish.

The students names were read, then they shook hands with administrators and officials, had their pictures taken, then they had cake. It's good to see schools celebrating their students!

MPUSD listening forums worth attending

Two community listening forums took place today, and from what I was told and from what I observed, they are really worth attending.

The community forums are the first step in the district's search for a new superintendent. 

K-12 Consulting is doing a good job putting together sessions that bring people together in a way that's conducive to real listening. They start by asking everyone to think about the district's mission statement. Then about its values. Then participants are asked to split into small groups and discuss what the district is doing well, what can be improved, and what does the future of MPUSD look like.

Tonight I heard some of the most substantive, heartfelt, honest conversations about the district in the four years I've covered it.

And there's more listening sessions coming up.

Tuesday: 
From 9-11 am – King Elementary School(Cafeteria), 1713 Broadway Ave., Seaside.
From 2-4 pm – Monterey High School (Cafeteria) 101 Herrmann Dr., Monterey.
From 6-8 pm – Los Arboles Middle School (Cafeteria), 294 Hillcrest Ave., Marina.

Participation was a bit low at the first two forums, so I hope to see more out there tomorrow. You won't be disappointed. 

The ghost of Marilyn Shepherd still roams

A gentle reader alerted me to a document produced by former MPUSD Superintendent Marilyn Shepherd dated June 2013. It's a review of the special education department of the Oakland Unified School District. You can find it here.

The reader fumes: how come she didn't do that for MPUSD?

Another reader retorts: how long was Shepherd employed at Oakland? While she was at MPUSD?

To be sure, I contacted the Oakland Unified District and I received this document. Shepherd appears to have been hired to produce the special education report in April. As you probably remember, she begun her leave of absence in January. 

What's more interesting to me, is that the agency who hired her, Strategies for Success, had many contracts with MPUSD up until the time Shepherd left.  Kathryn Catania, I'm told, was very good friends with Shepherd.

I find all of this fascinating. Stay tuned.

MPUSD students learn the "cowboy way"

About 200 students from La Mesa, Monte Vista, and King elementaries spent a day in the sun, learning the "cowboy way" during the annual Cowboys in the School event at the Carmel Valley Trail and Saddle Club on Thursday, October 3rd.

Students caught a glimse of the vaquero life through music, roping stations, hat shaping stations, and several other demonstrations that make our past come alive. It is during the fourth grade when California students learn about the Mission period, a crucial time in the state's history. These type of events no doubt make the lessons in the classroom feel more relevant.

During the school year, volunteers with the Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival work with local educators to introduce the concept of Cowboy Culture and the influence of the vaquero to a diverse group of elementary school students. This "Cowboy Way of Life" program helps to teach youth self-esteem, ethics, values, writing, art and history. Young people also participate in the "Open Mic" event during the festival weekend. Monterey County has a long historic cowboy tradition that is celebrated at the Festival events.

Photos courtesy of Wendy Brickman.

Carmel's Kai Garren completes swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco

Regardless of how beautiful the weather was on Sept. 28 -- and it was a gorgeous day -- the waters of the San Francisco Bay are always cold.

No matter. All Saints’ 4th grader Kai Garren took part in the 11th Annual ‘Swim with the Centurions’ and completed the swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco in 48:22 minutes. He finished 159 in a field of 316 swimmers throughout the world as the event’s youngest swimmer. He swam with his teammate Samantha Albano from Monterey Bay Swim Club and Greg Knowles from Monterey’s ‘Kelp Krawlers.’

In the morning, Kai joined his fellow swimmers on a ferry that took them to Alcatraz. They jumped into the choppy waters and battled the currents on their swim toward San Francisco. They swam in a large arc in order to get to the landing site at Aquatic Park, as with a straight-line swim they would have been swept out toward the Golden Gate Bridge.

The water was slightly warmer than Monterey Bay. Kai and Samantha practiced open ocean swimming with Greg for a month in Monterey Bay prior to the Alcatraz race.

‘Swim with the Centurions’ is organized by Water World Swim, which has offered open-water swimming events and training programs over 15 years. You can find them here.

Congratulations, Kai! We can't wait to see what your next adventure will be.

Ciclovía: the price to pay for peace. Is it worth it?

For a few months now, all I hear coming from youth circles in Salinas is the efforts being made to put together this free, fun day for the entire family. In a city with few options for youth to have outdoor recreational activities, Ciclovía has been the shining beacon on a foggy Central Coast day.

Since I knew all about it, I'm sure SUBA folks also knew about it. And as my colleague at The Californian Jeff Mitchell wrote in his column, the organization heartily endorsed it a few months ago.

Now they want to backpedal. Business owners along East Alisal Street, one of the most congested in Salinas, fear they'll lose money because Sundays are their busiest days.

To make sure you all know what I'm talking about: Ciclovía Salinas will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  this Sunday. To make it a safe event for everyone to walk, skate, and bike along East Alisal Street, the busy thoroughfare will be closed to traffic from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. This has riled some businesses along the corridor, who say they'll lose customers in one of their most profitable days.

I'm thinking they're not the same business owners who complain about violence in the streets. Or those who say nobody comes to Salinas to patronize them because the city's bad reputation is keeping potential customers away.

Let's get one thing straight folks: desperate problems demand desperate measures, and if violence is to be eradicated from Salinas, everyone needs to do his or her part.

And be willing to sacrifice a little.

No, Ciclovía won't be the magic solution that will suddenly wipe out crime from Salinas. But magic solutions don't exist. It will take a lot of tiny efforts and creative ideas to combat this scourge.

I applaud the young people of Salinas for putting this effort together. They've done their due diligence, asked permission from the proper authorities, and now you want to shut them down?

No wonder sometimes young people in this town find no hope. There's little to do, they come up with a solution, they take the proper steps, and now you want to tell them "Never mind."??????

Really?????

How much is peace worth to you, guys?????

Let's us all do our part to make this a better place to live. I for one will volunteer this Sunday to help control traffic and make it a safe event.

And if you want to volunteer, you still can. Contact Irma Guerrero at the Monterey County Health Department, 831-386-6890 or email: guerreroi@co.monterey.ca.us. You can also contact Natalie Oliver, 831-262-1110 or Andrea Manzo, 831-717-1384.


What are you willing to do to make Salinas a better place to live?

MPUSD kicking superintendent search into high gear

The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District will officially launch anew its superintendent search with a series of community forums intended to discern preferences for the district's top leader.

Here's your chance to express your views on what a new superintendent should have. Speak now or forever hold your peace.
Or not.

There will be five forums over two days.

Monday, Oct. 14
From 2-4 pm – King Elementary School (Library), 1713 Broadway Ave., Seaside.
From 6-8 pm – Monterey High School (Cafeteria), 101 Herrmann Dr., Monterey.

Tuesday, Oct. 15
From  9-11 am – King Elementary School (Cafeteria),
From 2-4 pm – Monterey High School (Cafeteria)
From 6-8 pm – Los Arboles Middle School (Cafeteria), 294 Hillcrest Ave., Marina.

For more information, and to register for a forum, click here.

MPUSD is also seeking volunteers for its Superintendent’s Search Community Committee. For more information and to register, please attend one of the Community Forums click here.

Marshall West presents Dual Language Charter Plan

It will be a double hitter: parents and supporter of the Dual Language school at Marshall West will host a celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 2 at Marshall West Elementary cafeteria, 225 Normandy Dr., Seaside

There will also present their plans to transform the school into a charter. There will be a potluck, music, and entertainment. Come meet the school's dedicated families, learn about the 2014-2015 charter school plan, and celebrate Hispanic Heritage month.

Come meet the first ever Salinas Youth Poet Laureate

As part of First Friday Art Walk, the city of Salinas will host a poetry reading for youth featuring Miguel Angel Frias, the first Salinas Youth Poet Laureate.

I'm sure he'll be signing autographs.

Come listen to his poems and meet some of the other inspiring youth poets in Salinas. These youth poets are between the ages of 13 and 19 years. They will be reciting their original art work.

The City Art Exhibit area also has the famous Lester D. Boronda paintings on display. The event is free.

From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 4, at the Salinas City Hall, 200 Lincoln Ave.

For more information call: 758-7476

It's International Walk to School Month, and schools in Seaside are celebrating.

Martin Luther King Jr., Ord Terrace and Del Rey Woods elementary schools in Seaside will join schools from around the world to celebrate International Walk to School Month in October.

Students from Del Rey Woods will be walking to school on Wednesday, October 3 along with parents, teachers and community leaders.

The Del Rey Woods event will begin at 7:15 am with students, parents and community leaders walking from Mal’s Market on Noche Buena to Del Rey Woods Elementary.

On October 16, King Elementary will celebrate International Walk to School Month by walking from the Monterey County Social Services Department on the corner of Broadway and Noche Buena starting at 7:20 am and walking with leaders to the school.

Ord Terrace will have their event on October 23, and will meet at the Boys and Girls Club on La Salle at 7:20 am and will walk to the school with parents, teachers, and Monterey County Health Department employees.

All students who walked at the events will receive a healthy snack, a small prize, and will be able to sample strawberry or cucumber infused water.

International Walk to School Month was celebrated at more than 4,000 school events across the United States in 2012, along with children and adults in 40 countries around the world.

These events raise awareness of the need to create safer routes for walking and bicycling and emphasize the importance of increasing physical activity among children, improving pedestrian safety, reducing traffic congestion and protecting the environment. Also, they build connections between families, schools and the broader community.

This is the third Walk to School Day in Seaside organized by the Monterey County Health Department in collaboration with the CA4Health community transformation grant and the Network for a Healthy California.

You can find more information about Walk to School Day in the USA here, the National Center for Safe Routes to School here,  and International Walk to School Day here.