UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal visits Seaside High School

UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal visited Seaside High School on Wednesday as part of Achieve UC, a series of events designed to inspire students to apply and attend college.

Blumenthal shared some personal history with about 200 students from all grades. He told them how he and his sister were the first to attend college, how college taught him about the world, and how he dreaded his English classes but ended up loving writing, according to Raul Ebio, interim director for early academic outreach at UC Santa Cruz.

Deciding whether to go to college "isn't really about jobs and money, but it is true that college graduates make a lot more money over the course of their lives than than students who stop after high school," Blumenthal said.

Chancellor Blumenthal also bragged about UC Santa Cruz's marine sciences, astronomy, and genome programs on campus. President Barack Obama awarded Professor Sandra Faber the National Medal of Science. Professor David Haussler was one of the first to crack the genomic code.

Blumenthal also made a deal with Seaside: if the school can pay for transportation to UCSC, the university will pay for dinner before attending the Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation, a favorite event on the City on a Hill.

Chancellor Blumenthal ended his intervention by urging students to go to college, regardless of which one they attend.

"Yes, I'm biased. I think UC Santa Cruz is a great school. But my message today is un-biased: Go to college, wherever you choose. What matters is that you go to college. If you choose a UC campus, we will help you in every way we can. So, work hard, keep your grades up, and realize your dreams!"

I hear the students were not the only ones impressed. The administrators were swooning. It's not every day that a university chancellor visits a high school, they said.

Pretty cool, huh?

The School Success Express Tour's coming to Salinas

California schools are undergoing tremendous changes.

Not only are they in the midst of implementing new learning goals, they will also have more money to do it in the upcoming years.

The money will be particularly important to schools that serve students whose first language is Spanish -- also called English learners -- and students in low income families.

In an effort to get input from the public, the California Endowment is bringing a bus across the state called the School Success Express Tour,a tour of 12 cities where parents and students are invited to help shape implementation of the Fair School Funding law.

The forum will take place at Los Padres Elementary School, 1130 John Street in Salinas. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the forum will begin at 6:00 p.m.

Fair School Funding is expected to increase money per student in most low-income schools. At Alisal Union, for example, there will be an almost 87 percent increase in funding over the next seven years. Other low-income districts are projected to receive a similar increase.

Debbie Aguilar needs help

Debbie Aguilar is the face of comfort in Salinas. After losing her son Stephen to gang violence more than a decade ago, Debbie took on a crusade to try to stop young Latino males from killing one another.

She's a frequent speaker in schools, she organizes vigils, and lobbies legislators to get funds to combat violence.

Debbie's usually the first supporter when a young man gets killed in Salinas. She's there to embrace family members and offer support through her group "A Time for Grieving."

Now, Debbie desperately needs some comfort of her own.

In the span of two weeks, Debbie's lost her mother and her husband. Her mother Carmen died about two weeks ago, and her husband Oscar Sergio Clam Aguilar  died just this week. Debbie now has to deal not just with the impact to her family but the financial burden two funerals are taking on her.

She's not being shy about needing help. There will be a car wash/bake sale starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday at 44 John St. in Salinas.

She's also taking donations on Rabobank account 501954746.

Debbie's helped a lot of people throughout the years, and now that she support, hopefully a lot will step up to comfort her.