America's Children

The America's Children is working to ensure that your children have access to affordable, quality afterschool programs. Afterschool programs are critical to your children and families today, yet the need for programs is far from being met. Show you how we all can come together!! Learn more

Beaumont Unified announces recipients of Teacher of the Year

The 2014 Teachers of the Year were recognized May 14, at the Beaumont Unified School District board meeting.

Each teacher was introduced by their principal. Superintendent Maureen Latham substituted for Glen View High School principal Matt Russo.

The district winners are: Yesenia Casillas, Palm Elementary, and Delia Sandoval, Brookside Elementary.

Casillas was recognized for her creativity as a teacher and her positive energy and belief that any child can learn. She is a master teacher who is open to trying new ideas and strategies and is always looking to improve student academic progress. She completed her master’s program and has served on Palm Elementary’s site and the district in various capacities. She is currently the English Learner Coordinator,a Positive Behavior Intervention Support Committee member and the third grade representative for the English Language Arts Instructional Leadership Council. She also is a Dual Language Program advocate and has led a Family Literacy Project class for parents and was part of the Dual Language Models of Excellence presentation in Palm Springs. Casillas also has been involved with Palm Elementary’s Ballet Folklorico Dance Troupe.

Sandoval co-coordinates the English Learner program at Brookside Elementary and has hosted and run the Latino Literacy Nights. She is the third grade coordinator at Brookside Elementary and ensures that her grade level team has an open line of communication with the school’s administration as well as bringing pertinent concerns and issues to light. She devotes time in the mornings for early morning tutoring for a student who needs extra help. Sandoval always is very approachable and has time for students, parents and colleagues.

Site teachers of the Year include:

Paula Corcoran, Anna Hause Elementary School. Corcoran has organized and led the drama club and collaborated to present the school’s first talent show. She is a third grade teacher and the majority of her students perform at proficient or advanced levels in Language Arts and Math. She serves the school with determination and passion.

Christina Dickinson, Sundance Elementary School. Dickinson is on the District Instructional Leadership Committee, the Sundance Social Committee and is co-leader of the world-famous Sundance Singers. The group is comprised of between 100 to 200 kindergartenders through fifth-graders who practice weekly from October to March. She directs several annual performances that have been called extraordinary.

Katie Hollingsworth, Tournament Hills Elementary School. Hollingsworth is the grade level coordinator for her grade level collaboration team and collaborates weekly with her members and demonstrates a willingness to try new things. She is knowledgeable about all areas of the profession: curriculum, instruction, assessment, parent involvement, community connection, rapport and student engagement. She works tirelessly to create a student-focused classroom that challenges and supports each student.

Cesar Lopez, Alternative Education. Lopez has been a teacher at Glen View High School for three yeas. He teaches Odyssey courses and Social Studies courses. He has been an integral part of the development of programs at the high school, which has helped increase graduation numbers. Lopez is currently developing and articulating Career Technical Education courses with Mt. San Jacinto Community College to broaden the offerings at the high school. He also is developing online courses to allow students to access curriculum in a flipped classroom format.

Kathleen Martin, Beaumont Adult School. Martin is the adult school’s GED Preparation and Citizenship instructor. She provides instructional materials and engages the learners in the instructional content, regardless of a student’s entry level of skills or literacy. Martin has shown she can organize instructional materials and subject matter to meet every student’s needs.

Tammi Medlen, Three Rings Ranch Elementary School. Medlen has well-thought out strategies for classroom procedures, student engagement and learning accountability. She offers students multiple opportunities during the school year to be a collaborative team that supports each others’ learning by using Learning Groups/Teams and Classroom Speakers. Medlen is well-respected by her colleagues, who go to her for her opinion, feedback or guidance for an idea they have or an experience they have had in the classroom or with a parent.

Catalina Quintero, Beaumont High School. Quintero believes in the possibilities within each student. She develops a strong rapport with her students and establishes trusting relationships with them while holding high expectations for achievement and behavior. She was recognized in the school’s yearbook as the most inspirational teacher. She helps students realize that they want to learn and understand new ideas, explore new interests and develop positive relationships.

Lisa Wilson, San Gorgonio Middle School. Wilson is the Special Education department chair and a teacher at San Gorgonio Middle School. She brings passion, dedication and a top notch work ethic to both positions. She is respected and admired by colleagues for her calm demeanor and ability to organize. Wilson also is a team player and works with every staff member at the middle school.

Jennifer Wright, Mountain View Middle School. Wright teaches music at the middle schol and teaches three levels of concert band, including a 52-member advanced band. She also teaches two classes of choir featuring 85 students and a Music Appreciation class. Wright is the music club advisor and department chair for the school’s elective classes. Her strong management skills are evident behind the scenes at concerts and on field trips, with the largest being the music program’s annual trip to Disneyland.

Article source: http://www.recordgazette.net/articles/2013/05/18/news/doc51956636a35f3667200456.txt

Schools Test New Ways to Deploy Teachers

Two years ago Romain Bertrand was a middle school math teacher, finishing his fifth year teaching in North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenberg district and thinking he needed a way to reach more teachers and students.

He moved to a new position mentoring and coaching teachers, but professionally, he felt stuck.

“This wasn’t going to give my career the next steps I was looking for in terms of advancement and salary,” Bertrand said. “I felt the only possibility for me was leadership roles, like principals, but I didn’t have as much passion [for that].”

In fall 2013, Bertrand will be one of 26 teachers in the district to manage several classrooms at once, in a program piloting one of several models from consulting firm Public Impact to expand excellent teachers’ reach.

Paying Great Teachers More
“We were trying to achieve two goals,” said Bryan Hassel, Public Impact’s co-director. “How could you reach every child with an excellent teacher instead of just a fraction? And how could you pay teachers more, ideally a lot more, within existing budgets?”

Teachers in the Opportunity Culture pilot see a $4,500 to $23,000 salary increase. Less active or far-reaching teachers receive less pay.

All pilot sites decided to combine several options, which include bigger classes for excellent teachers, remote or online learning under top teachers’ instruction, subject specialization, and multi-classroom leaders who coach and support teachers.

Remote learning options include parent- and community-supervised classes.

Pilot Sites
Four low-performing Charlotte-Mecklenberg schools will pilot the program this year. Charlotte-Mecklenberg has a strong evaluation for leadership capability, Hassel said, which is especially important for teachers who will lead several classrooms.

“What drew me to actual Public Impact’s work around Opportunity Culture was the question that they posed: Will we ever in our nation be able to hire, fire, and develop teachers at a fast enough rate to ensure that every student has a quality teacher?” said Denise Watts, a superintendent overseeing those schools.

Three Nashville schools are also piloting Opportunity Culture models this fall.

“MNPS [Metro Nashville Public Schools] embraced the Opportunity Culture framework as a reform strategy to sustainably address the persistent underperformance of participating schools,” said Derek Richey, MNPS’s director of Operational Innovation. “The three participating schools all have new leaders, so the Public Impact partnership creates a method for them to capture and implement their instructional vision.”

Each of the schools has created positions for multi-classroom leaders (MCLs).

“In some cases, the MCL will be responsible for one or more grade level and, in other cases, they will be responsible for a subject area,” Richey said. “In year one, there will be 11 MCLs across the three schools.”

The schools have also designed a position for 30 “aspiring teachers” from local teacher preparation programs, who tutor students, work with small groups, and so forth, like teacher’s aides.

In early May, Clark County, Nevada also signed on to pilot Opportunity Culture. It’s the fifth-largest school district in the country. Charter schools in Chicago, DC, Newark, and Minneapolis have put the models into place, too.

Teachers on Board
The declining academic quality of people becoming teachers and their declining relative wages lend urgency to efforts such as Public Impact’s to improve the teaching workforce, said John Chubb, a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

“So we’re not attracting [top talent] and we’re not doing a very good job of retaining—half of teachers wash out in the first five years,” Chubb said. “Wages are one issue, and the other is working conditions: A seniority system that doesn’t allow schools to reward teachers for service beyond time served… training and professional development systems are very weak.”

This is a huge problem, he said, because studies show teachers are the most important in-school influence on academic achievement.

The four Charlotte-Mecklenberg schools received more than 700 applications for 26 positions.

“It wasn’t expected because the only people who knew about it were the nine schools and only four were deeply immersed. We hadn’t done broad-range communication,” Watts said. “To me, it speaks to the interest. It gives people the opportunity to do something different.”

Teachers also wanted to have a say in school policies, she said.

“For the first time I have seen teachers having a voice in what reform and innovation looks like,” Watts said. “A lot of times that conversation happens at the central office, state level, federal level.”

Because many teachers love teaching, removing annoying things about the job and offering them career advancement prospects and higher salaries would keep many more of the best in the profession, Bertrand said.

Measuring Success
The Public Impact team will judge how well the program has worked by measuring how much students learn academically, parent satisfaction, and how well schools implemented the new ideas, Hassel said.

Key indicators of first-year success would include higher student achievement, better teacher retention, and spreading the models to other schools, Watts said.

“We won’t see the fruits of our labor until May 2013, but we’ve already hit on some of the things I would have hoped to be able to do,” Watts said. “[We’ve] created a zone that people are eager and excited to go to.”

Image by the Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt University.

Article source: http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2013/05/18/schools-test-new-ways-deploy-teachers

Girls’ after-school program seeking volunteers

You don’t have to be a runner to be a Girls on the Run volunteer because the volunteers don’t always run with the girls. Volunteers can be women or men.

Girls on the Run workers train you how to be a coach and how to lead the daily lessons about values, leading a healthy lifestyle, how the media portrays women, girls bullying other girls, how to be a true friend, and a girl’s place in the larger community.

You can work with girls grades 3-5 or grades 6-8. It’s a 10-week program that runs from mid-September through the first week of December. Volunteers must be able to spend two days after school a week with the girls, for about an hour and a half.

The teams also do occasional community service projects.

Girls on the Run is a national non-profit. After creating a Terrebonne chapter, organizers are starting a Lafourche chapter this fall.

For information, contact program coordinator Laura Ramirez at 855-2100. Girls On the Run also has a website at www.girlsontherunht.org and a Facebook page.

Article source: http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20130517/HURBLOG/130519673/1026/NEWS01?Title=Girls-running-club-seeking-volunteers

Cameron says coalition will find ‘a way forward’ on childcare ratios

Last week, Nick Clegg waded into the debate, saying that he remained unconvinced that the changes would help to cut childcare costs and raised concerns about the impact of the plans on quality.

Now David Cameron has stepped in to say that he is hopeful of finding ‘a way forward’ over the childcare ratio proposals.

In New York, the Prime Minister told reporters, ‘On the ratios, look, I think trying to get quality affordable childcare is a very important priority for the Government. I think that the proposals that we put forward about both qualifications and ratios had a lot of merit. Clearly there needs to be a discussion in the coalition about how best to go forward and respond to the consultation.

‘But I’m confident, as with all these things, we will find a way forward. There’s no point getting too frustrated about these things. We’ll find a way forward that I hope will be good for people who want affordable childcare, which is a very, very major priority for people.’

Responding to the Prime Minister’s comments, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, said, ‘We are glad to hear that the substantial opposition to these ill-considered plans is being taken into consideration.

‘However, we urge the Government to take decisive action on this matter and not to put forward a half-hearted compromise that does not address the issues at hand. ‘Parents, practitioners and academics are united in their opposition to these plans and will accept nothing less than the Government scrapping the current proposal and consulting properly with the childcare sector about how to raise the quality and status of the sector while making childcare more affordable to parents.’

The Alliance’s campaign against childcare ratio changes with its Rewind on Ratios petition on the Government’s e-petition website now has more than 12,800 signatures, as well as a paper petition with 16,000 parent signatures.

Catherine Farrell, joint chief executive, Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY), said, ‘While PACEY is pleased that the Prime Minister has said he will hold further discussions within Government on proposed changes to ratios, we remain concerned that the views of parents and childcare professionals on these and other proposals are not being heard.

‘Ratio change is just one aspect of what appears to be a Government with no joined up strategy for quality improvement in childcare or for tackling childcare costs. Rather a random set of proposals that have in recent weeks only served to conflict and confuse parents and professionals.’

Ms Farrell highlighted as an example that while Ofsted was going to focus inspection on providers ‘requiring improvement’, the Government was proposing to remove local authority training and support.

She added, ‘Government says it will only allow providers with higher qualifications to operate its proposed higher ratios. But, for childminders, it is not proposing any qualification requirement, only the option of joining a childminder agency, which childminders themselves have rejected as a bad idea. All these changes come despite the sector time and time again saying higher ratios will reduce quality and make no savings to pass on to parents. Finally, in the same week that one part of Government announces new start-up grants to help childcare providers set up in business, another part increases the financial burden on providers, by removing their current subsidy for DBS checks.’

Ms Farrell called for ‘a full and open discussion’, starting with the Government ‘finally publishing its response to the evidence it gathered via it’s Childcare Commission last year. The Commission’s goal was to consider how best to improve access to affordable quality childcare, including after-school care. PACEY hopes Mr Cameron will start his discussions, by returning to the wealth of evidence and ideas many organisations offered the Commission last year.’

Article source: http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/1182800/Cameron-says-coalition-will-find-a-forward-childcare-ratios/

Mark Guandolo, Twan Russell among OBIEs honorees – Sun

Last December, Mark Guandolo helped Cypress Bay make history.

The veteran football coach led the Lightning football team to its first state championship berth, and in the process became the first coach in Florida to lead three separate schools to a state title game.

But those weren’t the accomplishments celebrated Friday at the Orange Bowl Impact and Excellence Awards.

Instead, Guandolo and nearly a dozen other honorees, including former St. Thomas Aquinas and University of Miami standout Twan Russell, were recognized for their contributions to the South Florida community.

Guandolo, who has coached for nearly 30 years, was named the Orange Bowl’s Amateur Sports Leadership Award winner, while Russell, who played for seven seasons in the NFL with the Dolphins, Redskins and Falcons, was honored as the Orange Bowl Keith Tribble Impact Award winner.

“It’s humbling,” Guandolo said before he was honored at the OBIEs, the Orange Bowl Committee’s annual gala event at the Broward County Convention Center. “Being a football coach, especially today, is a tough deal. You put in a lot of work and wonder if it’s worthwhile. But then you see those guys go on to become good husbands, good fathers and be successful. That’s what you get back from it. That’s what keeps me going.”

For Russell, helping eliminate illiteracy has been a passion.

In 1998, he and his mother, Corliss, a middle school teacher, established the Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation, which helps children reinforce reading skills. Currently, more than 1,000 children in Broward and Miami-Dade counties are served by the foundation, which helps provide free after-school reading and homework help programs.

“To be a South Florida guy, born and raised, to be mentioned in the same sentence with Keith Tribble is an honor,” said Russell, who is currently the Director of Youth and Community Programs for the Dolphins. “For everyone that’s here, it’s our responsibility to give back to this community. I challenge and encourage everyone to give to a point to where it hurts.”

Also honored Friday was 12-year-old Nay’quan Wright, who received the Orange Bowl Jr. Courage Award after helping lead his Miami Gardens Bulldogs 125-pound team to a win in the Orange Bowl Youth Football Alliance Championship.

A little over a year ago, that kind of success on the football field almost seemed unimaginable after Wright and several of his teammates were the victims of a drive-by shooting while practicing at Bunche Park in Miami.

But Wright recovered, returned to football and was named MVP of his league.

Marc Buoniconti accepted the Orange Bowl Community Service Excellence Award on behalf of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, which was also recognized Friday.

Finally, the Orange Bowl Committee awarded six $2,500 scholarships to high school seniors from across South Florida, including McArthur’s Marisa Fisher, South Broward’s Nathaniel Delevoe, Boca Raton‘s Kathryn LaPorte, John I. Leonard’s Daniel Deschommes, Miami High’s Carlos Moncada and Taquavia Gullett of Miami Booker T. Washington.

“I’m pretty happy because the money is going to go toward helping me with school, and any money toward school makes me happy,” said Delevoe, who is headed to Florida Atlantic University after playing football and wrestling for the Bulldogs while maintaining a 4.2 GPA.

Article source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/highschool/football/broward/fl-obies-orange-bowl-awards-0518-20130517,0,1861755.story

What’s Happening From May 17

Announce public, nonprofit activities here, 75 words or less. E-mail to

tdchron@thedalleschro

nicle.com or fax to 541-298-1365 or drop off at the Chronicle, 315 Federal St., PO Box 1910, The Dalles OR 97058.

New Entries

BRAIN TEASERS: The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center teams up with OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) for Brain Teasers 2, beginning May 25. From mathematical conundrums to mind-boggling block puzzles, hands-on problem-solving is the theme of this popular exhibit for kids of all ages. Each puzzle stimulates active participation, creative thinking and innovative strategies to solve the challenges.

This brightly colored exhibit encourages parent-child interaction as families team up to solve the brain teasers. The exhibit will be offered for three months.

Museum members get a sneak preview of Brain Teasers 2 on Friday, May 24 at 6 p.m. during a members-only opening reception. Light refreshments will be provided.

May 17

CHOIR FESTIVAL: The first annual “Elementary School Choir Festival” featuring the choirs from Dry Hollow, Colonel Wright, and Chenowith Elementary Schools. It is on May 17, at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria at the Wahtonka Campus. It is free and open to the public. These students would love to share their music with you. If you have any questions, please contact Corin Parker at parkerc@nwasco.k12.or.us or 541-506-3350 ext. 5058.

May 18

VOLUNTEER MENTORS: Mentor for Success will hold a training class for new volunteer mentors Saturday, May 18, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at The Next Door Inc. office, 965 Tucker Rd., in Hood River. A mentor can make a big difference in the life of a struggling teen, and have fun doing it.

For more information: www.mentor4success.org ; or call 541-490-9919; bonnien@nextdoorinc.org

CAR WASH: The Dalles Babe Ruth Baseball will be holding a car wash Saturday, May 18 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Carwash will be held at the CH Urness lot by Cup of Mud coffee shop. Donations will be kindly accepted. Funds will be used for League operations and Tournament play.

GRAND OPENING: One Community Health (formerly La Clínica del Cariño Family Health Care Center, Inc.), will celebrate the grand opening of its brand-new health care facility Saturday, May 18, at 1040 Webber Street, The Dalles, Ore.

The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. with the building open for tours until noon. The public is invited to attend.

POKER FUNDRAISER: The Dalles Wahtonka High School student Mary McIntosh is fundraising to earn money for an AFS exchange state to Norway. Her family will host a poker night Saturday, May 18, at the Hi-Way House in The Dalles. Registration is at 9:30 p.m., with the game starting at 10.

Buy-in is $50, or buy a ticket to sponsor a player. Tickets are on sale at Klindt’s Booksellers in The Dalles, or contact Tina at 541-561-3234 or email marymcintosh100@gmail.com. For more information, contact Steve at the Hi-Way House.

CHILDREN’S FAIR: The Dalles City Park will be the site of a free Children’s Fair Saturday, May 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Follow the Growing Path to discover activities for every age and stage, meet community partners, fill out a Fair Passport to win prizes.

The event stage will feature music by Victor Johnson at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and community drumming with Dr. Steve McLennon at 11:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. A light lunch will be available for purchase.

May 19

HABITAT DEDICATION: The Dalles Area Habitat for Humanity home dedication for the Macleod family will be Sunday, May 19, at 1 p.m.

The home is located at 2409 E. 16th Street and will be open for viewing. For more information, call 541-296-8817.

TEA PARTY: Opportunity Connections and Columbia Gorge Hotel are presenting the Mad Hatter Tea Party, Sunday, May 19, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. There will be Pink Flamingo Croquet and a Cake Walk for the kids and an auction of garden art and treasures for the adults. Vintage clothing and hat contests with beautiful bouquets for prizes. Tickets are on sale at Klindts and Waucoma Bookstores. Seating is limited.

AFS FAREWELL: A potluck supper is planned as a send-off for exchange students Ben (Tunisia) and Alex (Germany) Sunday, May 19, at 5 p.m. at the Ian and Jennifer Weller home in The Dalles. Bring a dish to share. Beverage and utensils will be provided. Ben and Alex will share about their home country and about their exchange highlights.

Call Rymmel at 541-296-6546 or Jen at 541-300-0864 for directions or other information.

May 22

SCIENCE PRESENTATION: “Complexity: A Guided Tour” looks at the complexity science is finding as it probes the nature of life, society and technology, in a presentation Wednesday, May 22, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Springhouse Cellar Winery, 13 Railroad Ave., Hood River.

Melanie Mitchell, professor at Portland State and Santa Fe Institute, will share examples of how complex systems science is discovering common principles underlying different natural and technological systems. A $10 entry fee applies for non-Gorge Tech Alliance members. Everyone is welcome. Appetizers will be provided.

For more information contact Jessica Metta at jessica@crgta.org or 541-296-2266.

May 23

KIWANIS MEETING: Spooky’s Restaurant is the site for weekly The Dalles Kiwanis meeting Thursdays at noon.

May 23, is a Ft. Dalles Museum presentation by the “floozies.”

May 30, is the monthly club business meeting.

For more information go to www.thedalleskiwanis.org/.

May 26

COUNTRY BREAKFAST: ABC Huskies Day Care will sponsor the 30th annual Wasco Memorial Day Country Breakfast, Sunday and Monday, May 26 and 27, from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. at North Sherman Rural Fire Hall, 411 Yates Street in Wasco. The menu includes ham, eggs, hotcakes and choice of drink for $7. Proceeds will be dedicated to facility improvements at the day care site.

May 27

ROLLER HOCKEY: Players ages 4 to 8 and 8 and above are being sought to form balanced roller hockey teams. This year team supporters will be renovating the rink by adding new wall panels and new seal coat and paint. We need your support in finding more 4 to 8 year olds and 8 and above to form balanced teams.

The league begins May 27, with the first game June 8. Cost to register is $45. Players need a pair of roller blades. All other gear is provided.

Organizers also want to start an sdult division this year, please email programs@nwprd.org if you are interested in participating. Volunteer coaches are needed. Paid referee positions available too.

Contact the parks district at 414 Washington St. Suite 1D, The Dalles, 541-296-9533, or email programs@nwprd.org for more information.

May 29

INTUITIVE WISDOM: Developing and Following Your Intuitive Wisdom, May 29, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Hood River Coe Building; 1009 Eugene Ave., with Beth Welton-Miller, 503-680-5810. www.vibrant-living.com/www.hoodriver.k12.or.us/coe

In this experiential class, we will build inner awareness skills by paying attention and following the body and mind. We will explore the inner landscape through guided meditation leading to the answers to our questions. Receive clarity and relaxation.

May 31

SPRING CONCERT: “Music from Movies and Musicals” is the title of the Cascade Singers’ 2013 spring concert.

Performances are Friday, May 31 and Saturday June 1 at 7 p.m. at St. Peter’s Landmark, W. 3rd and Lincoln Streets, The Dalles.

Choral selections from “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Godspell” are featured, with many other Hollywood and Broadway favorites by the choir, ensemble, and children’s choir. Tickets at the door are $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and children 12 and under free.

Contact Director Lloyd Walworth for program sponsorship or further information at 541-340-9858.

June 1

GARDENING CLASS: Columbia Gorge Community College is offering an Urban Gardening class Saturday, June 1.Topics will include soils, composting, pollination, irrigation and crop rotation. Optional visits throughout the growing and harvesting season are included in fee. Class meets outdoors at a local working garden. Bring a lunch and dress for cold weather. Location provided upon registration.

Class meets from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Cost is $99 and advanced registration is required. Discounts and tuition waivers do not apply. Call Student Services at 541-506-6011 or online at www.cgcc.cc.or.us.

SHRED DAY: Griffith Motors is having a Shred day at the dealership Saturday, June 1, from 9 a.m. to noon. This is a community event partnering with Opportunity Connections in The Dalles.

June 2

HAVEN RIDE: Breakaway promotions is organizing the first Gorge-us Gals Ride all-women’s bike ride to benefit HAVEN, serving victims of domestic violence and sexual assault Sunday, June 2, starting at 7 a.m. at Riverfront Park in The Dalles.

This fully supported ride was created by those passionate about cycling, friendship, fitness and the desire to “brake the cycle” of violence. It includes 13-mile, 20-mile, 40-mile and 60-mile route options.

Registration is $50 online at www.gorge-usgalsride.com.

June 8

POOL OPENING: Ted Walker Memorial Swimming Pool opens for its full summer season starting June 8 through Labor Day and will offer a number of water-related programs.

Activities will include: swim lessons (group, semi-private, or private), lap swim, open swim sessions, and the new splash and slam pool basketball. The pool is also available for party rental.

For more information, call Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation at 541-296-9533, after June 8, call Ted-Walker Memorial Pool at 541-298-2020.

June 11

LEADERSHIP SEMINARS: Beginning in April, Columbia Gorge Community College will offer a series of leadership seminars. Participants may choose the entire nine-month series or take individual seminars. Class dates are June 11, July 9, August 13, Sept. 10, Oct. 8, Nov. 12, and Dec. 10.

All classes will be at the Hood River Indian Creek Campus, 8:30 a.m. to12:30 p.m. The cost is $659 for the series or $89 per seminar. Pre registration is required by calling the college at 541-506-6011or online at www.cgcc.cc.or.us

July 26

CLASS REUNION: The Dalles Wahtonka High School Class of 1983 Reunion will be held July 26 and 27. Contact Mike Urness 541-296-2284 or email: mjurness@hotmail.com for more information.

September 6

HUCKLEBERRY FESTIVAL: The 51st Huckleberry Festival will be held Sept. 6, at 5 pm. through Sept. 8. Bingen, WA. Contact Marsha Holliston at 509-493-2961. marshaholliston@gmail.com.

Ongoing

ZUMBA PROGRAM: Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation along with Licensed Zumba Instructor’s Marsha Morrison and Brenda Green are offering Zumba to the community at the Muscle and Fitness Center, 915 Garrison St., Mondays at 9 a.m., Tuesdays 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., and Thursdays 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Drop-in fee is $5. A punch card is available.

Contact the Parks District at 414 Washington St. Suite 1D, The Dalles, 541-296-9533, or email programs@nwprd.org for more information.

EXCHANGE FAMILIES: AFS is seeking host families for exchange students. Students arrive in August and stay for 10 months.

The sooner applications are completed, the more students host families have to choose from and the better chance to find a student who best fits with family habits, interests and activities.

The Dalles Wahtonka accepts up to three exchange students, while Hood River Valley High School accepts one. Dufur would also like to have an exchange student.

To apply, go to wwwafsusa.org, click on “hosting” and fill in the information to request a full application.

SOIL TESTING: OSU Wasco County Master Gardeners now offer soil testing every week through October 2013. Garden soil will be tested for nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, pH, humus, and texture.

The cost is $25 for each sample tested. For information on how to collect a sample, contact the OSU Wasco County Extension Service at 541-296-5494, or find out online at www.extension.oregonstate.edu/wasco. This service is available to home gardeners only.

AFTER SCHOOL: Thursday afternoons at Sherman Elementary in Grass Valley, a kids’ cooking class was recently added as part of the afterschool program, “Sherman Kids on the Road to Excellence” (SKORE).

Led by OSU Sherman County Extension staff and teen 4-H members, and assisted by a teen employee of the afterschool program, the opportunity to cook has been well-received by enthusiastic youngsters.

The goal of the cooking program is to focus on basic skills to inspire self-sufficiency and self-confidence in the kitchen.

GENEALOGY MEETS: The Columbia Gorge Genealogical Society meets the second Saturday of each month at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center. The public and guests are welcome. A no-host lunch starts at noon in the Basalt Cafe.

For more information, call Sandra Bisset at 541-298-1240 or email wildflowers@gorge.net. Get a membership application or more information online at http://community.gorge.net/genealogy/about.html Blog: http://cggsblog.blogspot.com. The society is also on Facebook.

MOBILE LIBRARY: The Dalles-Wasco County Library now offers a mobile app for patrons.

The new app, WascoCoLib, allows patrons to check their account, renew books, review requests and holds, search the library catalog, log onto LibraryToGo for e-books and e-audio, get library locations and directions and connect with the library on Facebook using their mobile devices.

For more information call 541-296-2815 or visit wasco.plinkit.org.

AWANA CLUB: Children 3 years old to sixth grade are invited to Awana Club Wednesday nights, from 6:05 to 8:05 p.m. at Emmanuel Baptist Church, 2819 W. 10th Street, The Dalles. Call Nate at 208-255-6397 or 541-296-2631 for more details.

RELAY DATES: The year-long annual fundraiser to fight cancer, Relay for Life The Dalles area, has been set for Saturday, June 22, and Sunday, June 23, as the dates for their signature main event for 2013, Sid White Field at The Dalles Wahtonka High School West Campus, 3601 West 10th St.

Volunteers are needed this year. Contact Don Wimberly 541-296-1007 or dgwimberly@charter.net for more information.

SUPPORT GROUP: Reach support group meetings are on the last Monday of the month, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Spooky’s Pizza Parlor. Contact Lori Carter 541-980-9464 or www.reachthedalles.org.

Article source: http://www.thedalleschronicle.com/news/2013/may/17/whats-happening-may-17/

A Father and His Love for Basketball Change Bed-Stuy One Dribble at a Time

By Tanay Warerkar

Kids filling out an attendance sheet at the afterschool Baskteball session at P.S. 256 (Tanay Warerkar/The Brooklyn Ink

At PS 256 in Bed-Stuy on a recent Saturday morning, about 20 children were trying to grab a basketball at the center of the court, and dunk it on the opposite end. The kids were divided into two groups, one wearing blue belts, and the other red.

A few minutes earlier four boys, two from each team, had made a beeline for the ball. Each pair tried to wrench the ball from the other’s hands. Soon everyone was running to the middle. An inevitable pile-up followed.

“Just get the ball, don’t try to kill each other for it,” screamed the group’s coach, Tony Fonville, dressed in baggy faded white jeans, a white t-shirt, and a blue turban.

In the ensuing chaos, a member of the red team snuck the ball, and scored. They instantly erupted in cheers. Samantha Mebane, 8, one of the two girls in the program, and a member of the blue team, shrugged her shoulders and began walking towards the benches at the side of the court.

“I’m done with this,” she said.

Fonville came racing across the room, and put his hand on Samantha’s shoulder. “Don’t be sad,” he said. “Remember, it is not just about winning together, but it is about losing together as well.”

When Samantha rejoined the blue team, she was smiling.

It was a typical moment for Fonville, an otherwise unemployed dad who started this basketball program last September with four other fathers as a labor of love to provide neighborhood kids aged 8 to 10 with some activity and exercise. The school provided the group with some basketballs, and Fonville purchased the rest with his own money.

The basketball program, which meets every Saturday for four hours, is unique in an underdeveloped neighborhood like Bed-Stuy, which also has one of the lowest-performing school districts in the city. An average after-school program in such a Brooklyn neighborhood can cost anywhere between $2,000 to $6,000 a year, according to the Wallace Foundation, a New York City-based organization that works towards providing after school programs in underdeveloped neighborhoods. A quarter of students citywide are not enrolled in any kind of afterschool program, according to the Afterschool Alliance, a non-profit organization created to ensure equal access to afterschool programs. Of these, 46 percent have indicated that they would participate if there were a program available in their area, also according to the Alliance. Elementary school students enrolled in afterschool programs are more likely to attend school regularly, and have higher aspirations for college, according to a 2007 UCLA National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing report.

“With this program they’re going to learn to have a direct conversation without cursing or to get into a violent motion,” said Fonville. “They’re going to learn to fight back if they need to protect themselves. If there’s anything I’m teaching, that is what I’m teaching.”

Fonville first met the group of fathers at a Parent Teacher Association Meeting before school began in September. Parents agreed that the school was in dire need of an afterschool program, and some expressed concerns over increased gang recruitment and violence in the neighborhood.

Shortly after the meeting Fonville, and four other fathers asked the principal of the school, Sharyn Hemphill, for help with the program. She told them she was unable to provide any funding. But she did find them time to use the gym, which is usually reserved for PTA meetings.

“This program has been amazing segue for other parents to get involved in the school,” said Hemphill. “It’s been a big help to the school. It’s a wonderful program to keep the kids focused. It’s a wonderful thing that everyone is able to work together.”

The program comes as a welcome relief for the school, which was on the verge of shutdown after it received an ‘F,” in the 2010-2011 academic year, according to Inside Schools, an independent research guide to schools in New York City. Basketball is another sign of the school’s changing fortunes, which was able to pull itself to an overall “B,” last year, largely due to the addition of a $400,000 science lab, Hemphill said.

Keeping children focused was the impetus for Fonville to start the program. He said he was concerned about local problems such as increasing obesity and underemployment, and especially by the escalating gang violence and deaths in his neighborhood.

Nationwide, homicide is the leading cause of death for teenagers aged 15 to 19, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In Bed-Stuy, 49 per 100,000 teenagers lose their lives to murder, compared to the citywide average of 20 per 100,000, also according to the Department. Fonville said he didn’t want to see his four boys become statistics.

“Mind you, some of these kids are going to rob a liquor store when they get to a certain age,” he said of the basketball group. “I can’t constantly keep watch on these kids, and if they’re not disciplined someone else will try to watch over them. Either the drug dealer will or the gangbanger will.”

“But a lot of them might actually do something,” he added. “And with this program they are starting to respect each other a lot more.”

In March, Fonville and the fathers took a group of 20 kids to watch some of the NBA’s international all-stars, public and private high schoolers from across the country, and American college students face-off in separate matches. The fathers pooled their money to purchase all-day passes for the kids.

“It was inspiring for them to see students from prestigious sports schools like Duke and Indiana play each other at that level,” said Fonville. “Our kids see them playing and can aspire to be in their shoes one day.

Fonville is the lead coach of the basketball group. The four other fathers alternate weekly shifts to attend the coaching sessions. Marquese Paige, one of the four, said he has been involved with school for more than seven years, but he said he had never seen parent involvement on such a level. As a student, Paige played football on the Canarsie High School team. He said he wished PS 256 had done something similar when his high-school aged son was a student there. His daughter now participates in the basketball group.

“Being able to coach these kids has been one of the greatest experiences,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to change it for anything in the world.”

Fonville’s wife, Natalie Fonville, is part of the group’s management. She handles the paperwork, which includes maintaining a blue binder with the attendance and health records of all their students. She also interacts with other parents and updates them on their kids’ progress, and maintains a website where the kids are updated about practice sessions.

“At first I didn’t think I’d get so involved,” said Natalie Fonville. “But my boys say they want to be NBA players, so of course I thought they need a basketball program for that. You do whatever it takes for your child to achieve their goal.”

Kids run to score a dunk at the afterschool basketball program at P.S. 256 in Bed-Stuy (Photo by Tanay Warerkar/The Brooklyn Ink)

The Saturday practice session meanwhile was nearing its end. The last exercise was an obstacle course. Natalie Fonville, who was wearing a black headscarf, a gray t-shirt, and black track-bottoms, and her husband had placed orange cones in a triangular pattern on both sides of the court. The objective for a player on each team was to run and touch all cones in the triangle, grab the ball placed in front of the hoop, and shoot. And then repeat it again. And like before, the team, which had all its members, complete the exercise first would win.

Shouts of “hustle,” “rebound,” and “run,” echoed across the room.

Once again it was down to the wire. The red team had taken a narrow lead. But the last player on the blue team was catching up. The red team was one shot away from victory. But their last player, Tyshawn Williams, 9, and barely four feet off the ground, was struggling to score. He had already missed three shots. He missed a couple more, and began looking anxiously toward his teammates.

“I’m trying,” he muttered out in exasperation.

Some members on his team began to boo him. Ankhier Parker, 16, one of the high schoolers that occasionally helps out with program, and a fellow team member, stepped to the front, and bellowed, “Shut up and don’t say anything.”

“Just let him calm down and shoot,” he added.

He did. And the red team was victorious again. They jumped in the air, chest-bumped, and slapped each other’s hands. Basketballs were flying furiously around the room.

Fonville stepped in and yelled for everyone to calm down, get some food, and assemble in the center of the gym. Within seconds, most of the balls were put away. Some kids lined up to get plates of pasta that Natalie had prepared at home. Others cleared out the cones placed all over the gym. Soon everyone began to gather in the center of the room. A couple of kids continued to dribble their basketballs.

Antonio Fonville, the couple’s son and a fourth grader, grabbed his plate, kept it to the side and dropped to the floor.

“I know it’s always been my dream to be a professional basketball player,” said Antonio. “But, phew! I gotta take a break.”

Fonville’s next step is to obtain a Department of Education vendor’s license, which would allow him to get paid about $5,000 a month to run the program, as well as to take it to other schools. And he wants the kids to be good enough to participate in a junior league.

“I just want them to have fun,” he said. “That’s what they’re here for.”

Article source: http://thebrooklynink.com/2013/05/16/52534-a-father-and-his-love-for-basketball-change-bed-stuy-one-dribble-at-a-time/

Fontana school board dismisses its attorney

FONTANA — By a 3-2 vote, the school board has dismissed its attorney, Maribel S. Medina of the Los Angeles law office of Meyers/Nave.

The action, taken late Wednesday night, was effective immediately.

Fontana Unified school board member Leticia Garcia called the action irresponsible given the fact that the process to find a replacement has not begun and the district has large holes in its upper management.

Superintendent Cali Olsen-Binks has accepted the top job at the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District and will start working there on July 1.

Late last year, the Fontana district lost its top financial executive and earlier this year its top personnel executive took a job with another district.

Board member Lorena Corona said the dismissal of Medina could not wait until a replacement is found.

“I continue to see behavior that does not meet expectations,” Corona said. “It is much more risky to have the contract ongoing,”

Corona said the legal advice given to her by Medina was causing her to make poor decisions that could potentially “compromise the welfare of our children. “

Garcia asked Corona to give examples of where Medina’s work was unsatisfactory.

Corona replied that the board meeting was not the appropriate occasion to have that discussion.

“If there is a conversation to be had,” Garcia said,

“it needs to be done here.”

Medina defended her performance. “I believe that I provided the board with effective legal counsel, as I have provided school districts and other public entities throughout the state of California for the past 17 years.

“Other members of the board indicated that they appreciated the legal guidance I provided all members of the board…,” she said.

Board member Sophia Green noted that in late 2011, when the school board ended its 10-year relationship with Rialto attorney Tom Sawyer, he was kept on until a replacement was chosen. After receiving proposals from 11 law firms, the board voted to hire Meyers/Nave.

Oakland-based Meyers/Nave has offices in Santa Rosa, Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Medina chairs the firm’s education law practice.

Before joining Meyers/Nave, she was general counsel to the San Francisco Unified School District and special counsel to the Los Angeles Unified School District board.

Green noted that at recent education conference, Medina conducted seminars for other attorneys in the field of education law.

“A lawyer (for a school board) plays a key role in advising the board,” Corona said in a telephone interview Thursday. “And when that advice compromises the outcomes … then we are talking about problems.

I cannot go over details out of respect to the lawyer, but the quality of service was not what I expected,” Corona said. “This has nothing to do with personalities. I am as objective as anyone can be and it is all related to work. “

School board President Gus Hawthorn and BarBara Chavez, board vice president, voted with Corona to terminate the contract with Meyers/Nave. Green and Garcia cast the dissenting votes.

The board also heard a presentation from THINK Together, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit that runs after-school programs for over 30 school districts at more than 300 schools in the state.

Randy Barth, founder and chief executive officer, said his firm was large enough to take over Fontana Unified’s after-school program with just a few weeks’ notice, although a couple months’ notice would be better.

The new school year starts in August.

On a 2-2 vote, the school board decided not to renew its contract with the city of Fontana to run the after-school program, which serves 3,500 children.

Garcia and Green voted against renewing the contact while Hawthorn and Corona voted in favor of it. Chavez, who works for the after-school program, could not vote.

By the same vote last month, the board failed to pass a motion seeking requests for proposals for vendors seeking to administer an after-school program for the district.

Green and Garcia wanted to get proposals while Hawthorn and Corona voted against that effort.

The future of the after-school program is expected to be discussed again at the June 5 board meeting.

Article source: http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_23270716/fontana-school-board-dismisses-its-attorney

Camp means community service for many young people

NEW YORK — At 14, Tyler Cohen had never been out of the country or traveled without his Long Island family when he found himself in Costa Rica on a monthlong service trip for teens.

There, he worked on a coffee plantation, made signs for a rainforest restoration project, built bunk beds for shantytown kids and helped fix up an orphanage, where a wily 5-year-old named Fernando snatched the white baseball cap off his head and ran away one afternoon.

“He thought he was so cool when he put it on. I told him he could keep it and his jaw literally hit the floor,” Tyler recalled. “He was so surprised that somebody would do that for him. That really stuck with me, that something as simple as a hat could mean so much.”

Tyler, now 17, turned the encounter into a homegrown charity, Caps Count, which has distributed about 7,000 donated caps to poor kids in the U.S. and orphanages around the world.

Count him among thousands of teens and younger kids who do more than the usual crafts, sports and swimming at day and overnight camps, and through special summer programs every year. More camps have built in community service over the last decade or so, from nursing home visits to raising money for cancer research, and dozens of programs like the one Tyler did through Westcoast Connection offer give-back travel for teens.

A survey done by the American Camp Association found that 48 percent of responding resident camps include some type of community service. An ACA survey this year found 16 percent added new options in the past two years.

Peg Smith, the association’s chief executive officer, said the value of such experiences to kids between the ages of 12 and 17 is great as they sharpen leadership and problem-solving skills while “creativity is at an all-time high.”

But not all service opportunities are created equal. With a few key questions, she said, parents can help ensure a quality experience for their kids:

- Is it really teaching volunteerism, responsibility and community? “It really should be a social enterprise, when they’re out there doing something with others.”

- Does it allow them to work in a new and diverse environment? “Will they get to engage with people that they might not normally have had an opportunity to engage with?”

- Does it have a significant impact? Will they be volunteering at local soup kitchens, painting public or park buildings, visiting nursing homes, doing special events to raise money for good causes?

Perhaps most important, Smith said: “What does the camp think is being taught? The camp should be able to articulate the value of the experience.”

“Sometimes parents say, ‘Oh, the camp does community service, but they don’t ask what the projects are,” she said. “Parents may want to look for something their kids can take into the school year, not just add to that resume.”

When her son was 12, for example, his camp raised money for poor kids in Africa. Counselors from Africa spoke to campers about their own experiences, video and photos were circulated and letters were exchanged.

“When he came home he could articulate why it was important,” Smith said.

Some camps offer full-focus community service programs for teens along with activities that take a day or a week for other campers. Many camps incorporate service into training programs for older teens as a run-up to becoming counselors.

But there’s plenty younger kids can do, too, said Smith and several camp directors, even if it’s just collecting pennies for a cause.

“What’s most important to us is that this become not just an adult-driven enterprise that is a requirement but rather that it’s something that is internalized by our young people, who then want to do something more,” said Stephen Wallace, a director at Cape Cod Sea Camps in Brewster, Mass.

Every summer the camp fields a team of staff and older teens who ride in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, a three-day bike-a-thon that crosses the commonwealth to raise money for cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The camp raised $130,000 for the cause last summer, he said.

“Despite what you hear about adolescence being this time of dysfunction, when you really look at it many young people are immersed in paying something forward. That’s how we talk about it,” said Wallace.

Junior counselors can also complete camp requirements through service the rest of the year via peer counseling, coaching youth sports, tutoring younger kids or assisting the elderly, the homeless or others in need.

At Camp Towanda in Honesdale, Pa., director Mitch Reiter also extends summer service through the year.

During the seven-week summer session for 400 girls and boys, campers find sponsors for a swim-a-thon that benefits Project Morry, which hosts a camp for poor kids who would not otherwise be able to afford camp.

Towanda campers find sponsors and swim laps for money, which is matched dollar-for-dollar by Reiter and his wife. They have raised between $7,000 and $14,000 a year for Project Morry for the last 10 years or so, Reiter said.

“What I tell the kids is that every dollar makes a difference,” he said.

Not all camps talk up service, but provide opportunities nevertheless.

Cheley Colorado Camps in Estes Park doesn’t actively market itself as service-focused, said Jeff Cheley, the fourth generation in his family to run the camp.

“It’s not an overriding theme, but we use community service as a vehicle. Our mission talks about building character and resiliency and it helps foster those skills,” he said.

Cheley partners with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, which teaches people of all ages how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly, to provide service days for campers to help maintain trail heads, do landscape work or participate in cleanup projects in the national park, he said.

“Are all our campers lining up to do it? Probably not,” Cheley acknowledged. Still, he said, today’s kids are more focused on service, “especially because a lot of high schools are making them do it.”

Tyler, the Caps Count founder, was nervous about leaving home on his 2010 trip to Costa Rica, but he actively went in search of a service opportunity when he found Westcoast Connection and it’s 360 Student Travel Program.

He plans to turn over his charity to his younger brother, soon to be 14, when he heads to college in the fall. He hopes to study business and continue as an entrepreneur.

“I really wanted to do community service,” Tyler said. “It felt like a more productive way to spend a summer. A lot of times when you travel you really only get to see the touristy towns. I wanted to see how people really live.”

Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie

Article source: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2013/05/17/3491438/camp-means-community-service-for.html

page 1 of 1279»

Email:		*
First:
Last:
Verify:

Aviation and Aerospace Foundation gives top honours to six Canadian women

Friday May 17th 2013 – NLAF Press Release