News Of By and For The People of Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa College, Diablo Valley College, Los Medanos College, and centers at Brentwood and San Ramon, will be closed tomorrow, Thursday, October 12, due to poor air quality as a result of the fires in Solano and Sonoma counties.
The District will evaluate the situation and provide an update as new information becomes available. We encourage students and staff to continue monitoring email, website and social media.
Adds instruction on adolescent relationship abuse and intimate partner violence to sexual health education
SACRAMENTO – Middle and high school students in California public schools will receive education on how to spot the early warning signs of abusive relationships under a bill authored by Assemblymember Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay) that Gov. Jerry Brown signed on Saturday.
Frazier’s bill, AB 643, adds instruction on how to recognize early warning signs of adolescent relationship abuse and intimate partner violence to sexual health education at California public schools, for grades 7-12.
“Domestic violence invariably leads to tragedy – broken families, long periods of incarceration and far too often homicide,” Frazier said. “It leaves untold suffering in its aftermath. It consumes law enforcement and other emergency resources. AB 643 gives our children the knowledge they need to help stop this destructive behavior before it becomes tragic. I thank the governor for recognizing the importance of this early education and its potential to prevent future suffering.”
Frazier authored AB 643 after a constituent, Sonia McClellin, came forward to relate the story of her sister’s murder at age 24 by an abusive boyfriend. Ms. McClellin asked Frazier to find a way to help educate youth to recognize the type of behavior that led to the tragedy that took her sister’s life.
“On behalf of my sister Deborah and my entire family, I would like to thank Assemblymember Frazier and his staff, who tirelessly saw this process through to the end,” McClellin said. “If any good can come of my sister’s tragic death, it would be that we now having something in place to educate our youth in an effort to prevent domestic violence from happening in the first place.”
Assemblymember Frazier represents the 11th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Antioch, Bethel Island, Birds Landing, Brentwood, Byron, Collinsville, Discovery Bay, Fairfield, Isleton, Knightsen, Locke, Oakley, Pittsburg (partial), Rio Vista, Suisun City, Travis AFB, Vacaville and Walnut Grove.
2017-18 Contra Costa County Teachers of the Year: Marissa Ware, San Ramon Valley USD & Paula Raj, West Contra USD. Photo by CoCo Office of Education
Close to 500 friends, family and colleagues attended the annual Contra Costa County Teacher of the Year (TOY) Dinner Gala at the Concord Hilton Hotel, on Thursday evening, Sept. 28 to see Marissa Ware and Paula Raj awarded with the 2017-18 honor. Ware teaches in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District and Raj teaches in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. The county TOY program is produced by the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE).
After being named TOY by their respective Contra Costa County school districts, then passing a rigorous application screening, followed by a panel classroom observation and interview, and concluding with a speech presentation, the two winners will represent Contra Costa County as its 2017-2018 Teachers of the Year. Ware and Raj will then participate in the California State Teacher of the Year Program.
The festive evening included the 22 celebrated TOYs from throughout the county (see this year’s Class of 2017-2018), along with their families and friends, as well as numerous educators (K-college), business executives representing the sponsors, local government, and local political representatives. The El Cerrito High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Keith Johnson, provided the evening’s musical entertainment and Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Karen Sakata served as master of ceremonies.
Each of the four finalists, including Kari Stewart of the Walnut Creek School District and Tom Trowbridge of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District, were introduced by a former student, with an inspiring five-minute speech – the same speeches given at the TOY Speech Presentations in early August.
This year’s two Contra Costa County TOYs join the long list of other finalists, dating back to the 1972-1973 school year.
Central County high school students get first-hand experience of modern manufacturing
WHAT:
This Friday morning, close to 250 Contra Costa County Career Technical Education/Regional Occupational Program (CTE/ROP) high school students will be visiting local modern industrial businesses, in observation of Manufacturing Day.
National Manufacturing Day, started in 2012, is an annual celebration of modern manufacturing, during which manufacturers invite their communities — including students, educators, business people, media, and politicians — to their facilities in a collective effort to educate visitors about manufacturing career opportunities and improve public perceptions of manufacturing. By working together during and after Manufacturing Day, manufacturers will begin to address the skilled labor shortage they face, connect with future generations, strengthen the public image of manufacturing, and ensure the ongoing prosperity of the whole industry.
WHO:
More than 250 students, currently attending CTA/ROP engineering/industrial-related courses at Antioch High, Mt. Diablo High, Concord High, and Ygnacio Valley High will be visiting local modern manufacturing businesses to get a first-hand look at their hosts’ operations, and possible career opportunities.
The Contra Costa County CTE/ROP serves nearly 12,000 students annually with classes in 34 high schools throughout Contra Costa and Alameda counties. Currently, there are 399 state-of-the-art career development classes in this program. CTE/ROP focuses on career preparation and exploration, hands-on experience, and academic excellence to prepare students for success in college and future careers. CTE/ROP provides students with the newest equipment, rigorous academic standards, and classes in emerging technologies. All of the CTE/ROP classes and programs are directed by and funded through the CCCOE. For more information about CTE/ROP classes, visit their website.
WHEN:
Friday, October 6, 2017; primarily between 9:00-11:00 a.m.
WHERE:
Fresenius (dialysis equipment manufacturer), 4040 Nelson Ave. Concord
Dow (Dow Chemical operations), 901 Loveridge Rd. Pittsburg
Bishop-Wisecarver (producers of custom complex assemblies, linear motion solutions and optimal embedded intelligence systems), 2104 Martin St., Pittsburg
QuickMount (solar roof mounts), 2700 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek
Granberg (chain saw mills and accessories), 1051 Los Medanos St. Pittsburg
Starting on September 14, 2017, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office Sexual Assault Unit, in conjunction with the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, expanded an outreach program directed at parents, teachers and students on the topics of cyber-bullying, campus sexual assault awareness and online safety for kids. The presentations are aimed at educating parents and teachers on new trends involving social media, as well as providing students with information and tools to improve campus safety and prevent online exploitation.
“The effort was started last year, first at DVC,” according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Paul Graves. “The first presentation in a high school was at Campolindo in Moraga.”
“Since then we’ve been working with police officers and those in our office on the task force,” he continued. “Campus sexual assault awareness is geared toward high school seniors and community colleges, due to the content. The cyberbullying and online safety for kids is for everyone, but mainly targeted to middle school students and parents, with presentations for both,”
“We’ve been working to have somewhere for schools to call to have presentations made for students and parents,” Graves added.
Schools, community organizations and parent/teacher groups who are interested in learning more can call Deputy District Attorney Lauren Whalen at 925-957-8603.
25 high schools to hold registration drives
The Contra Costa County Elections Division is coordinating a large-scale registration campaign with 25 Contra Costa County high schools as part of National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, September 26th.
The Elections Division is providing ready-made registration kits to facilitate on-campus events, which contain everything needed to conduct a registration drive.
In addition to registering 18-year-old students, those who are 16 and 17 years old can also “pre-register” to vote.
“We’re happy to partner with schools across Contra Costa County and help register eligible voters and pre-register soon-to-be-voters,” said Joe Canciamilla, Contra Costa Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters. “As someone who first ran for office at age 17, I can personally attest to the value of registering and becoming involved in the electoral process as soon as one becomes eligible.”
National Voter Registration Day is an annual event to create awareness of voter registration opportunities and to reach those who may not otherwise register.
The Elections Division joins 2,500 organizations across the country in promoting voter registration and celebrating democracy on National Voter Registration Day.
This is the third year Contra Costa Elections has organized National Voter Registration Day efforts with county high schools, and over 1,000 students have registered or pre-registered to vote as a result.
Concord High School civics teacher Andrew Shetterly expressed his excitement, noting that very few of his students are currently registered to vote. “I think it will be powerful to have them all register together. The kits help turn the act of registering into a life event that students can share and it feels official,” Shetterly said.
The Elections Division urges all eligible voters to register or update their registration, which can be done online at www.registertovote.ca.gov.
Interested groups are encouraged to hold their own voter registration events on September 26th. Contact our office at 925-335-7805 for information or visit www.NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org for ideas and details.
National Voter Registration Day is celebrated annually on the 4th Tuesday in September and has been endorsed by the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors.
Each kit contains:
Constitution Day is September 17 – Take the Preamble Challenge
PHILADELPHIA –– Many Americans are poorly informed about basic constitutional provisions, according to a new national survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center.
The annual Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey finds that:
“Protecting the rights guaranteed by the Constitution presupposes that we know what they are.
The fact that many don’t is worrisome,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania. “These results emphasize the need for high-quality civics education in the schools and for press reporting that underscores the existence of constitutional protections.”
Illegal immigration and constitutional rights
The APPC survey, conducted Aug. 9-13 among 1,013 adults in the United States, finds that 53 percent think that people who are here illegally do not have any rights under the Constitution. That incorrect belief is especially strong among self-identified political conservatives – 67 percent think it is accurate, compared with 48 percent of moderates and 46 percent of liberals.
In fact, immigrants who are in the United States illegally share some constitutional protections with U.S. citizens. More than a century ago, in Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886), a case involving an undocumented Chinese immigrant, the Supreme Court ruled that non-citizens were entitled to due process rights under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. Other cases have expanded upon those rights. (For more on Yick Wo, see this video on Annenberg Classroom’s website.)
Most respondents, though not all, know that under the Constitution, U.S. citizens who are atheists or Muslim have the same rights as all other citizens. Seventy-nine percent of respondents know it is accurate to say that U.S. citizens who are atheists have the same rights as other citizens, and 76 percent know it is accurate to say that citizens who are Muslim have the same rights as other citizens.
What does the First Amendment say?
Nearly half of those surveyed (48 percent) say that freedom of speech is a right guaranteed by the First Amendment. But, unprompted, 37 percent could not name any First Amendment rights. And far fewer people could name the other First Amendment rights: 15 percent of respondents say freedom of religion; 14 percent say freedom of the press; 10 percent say the right of assembly; and only 3 percent say the right to petition the government.
The First Amendment reads:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Contrary to the First Amendment, 39 percent of Americans support allowing Congress to stop the news media from reporting on any issue of national security without government approval. That was essentially unchanged from last year. But the survey, which followed a year of attacks on the news media, found less opposition to prior restraint (49 percent) than in 2016 (55 percent).
Many don’t know the branches of government
Only 26 percent of respondents can name the three branches of government (executive, judicial, and legislative), the same as last year. People who identified themselves as conservatives were significantly more likely to name all three branches correctly than liberals and moderates. The 26 percent total was down significantly from APPC’s first survey on this question, in 2011, when 38 percent could name all three.
In the current survey, 33 percent could not name any of the three branches, the same as in 2011.
The phone survey, conducted for APPC by the research firm SSRS, has a margin of error of ±3.7 percent. For more on the methodology and questions click here.
Constitution Day and the Civics Renewal Network
APPC’s Annenberg Classroom, presented by the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics, has created a series of free, award-winning videos for educators and the public, including Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause, The Role of the Courts, and Freedom of the Press: New York Times v. United States.
Annenberg Classroom has joined with 30 other nonpartisan organizations to create the Civics Renewal Network, which offers free, high-quality educational materials online. Among CRN’s partners are the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the National Constitution Center, the U.S. Courts, the NEH’s EDSITEment Project and iCivics.
Constitution Day (Sept. 17) will be observed Monday, Sept. 18. To mark it, the U.S. Courts are holding naturalization ceremonies nationwide and educators will lead students in the “Preamble Challenge,” celebrating the Preamble to the Constitution.
The Annenberg Public Policy Center was established in 1994 to educate the public and policy makers about the media’s role in advancing public understanding of political, health and science issues at the local, state and federal levels. Find APPC on Facebook and Twitter: @APPCPenn. Follow the Civics Renewal Network: @CivicsRenewal.
Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) announced he will host two upcoming “Service Academy Nights” in Pleasant Hill and Richmond. All students living in the Eleventh Congressional District of California who would like to apply to one of the nation’s premier service academies are invited to attend.
At each of the events, service academy representatives will be on hand to speak with interested students, including members from the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Military Academy (aka West Point). Service academy representatives will give presentations, and Congressman DeSaulnier’s staff will provide a briefing on the nomination process.
Students who wish apply to a service academy must ensure a completed application is received by Congressman DeSaulnier’s office no later than October 31, 2017.
Richmond Service Academy Night Thursday, September 14, 2017 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Richmond City Council Chambers 440 Civic Center Plaza First Floor Richmond, CA 94804
Pleasant Hill Service Academy Night Thursday, September 28, 2017 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Diablo Valley College The Diablo Room, 3rd Floor HFS Building 321 Golf Club Road Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 Details: A map of DVC’s campus can be found here.
For more information on applying to any of the service academies or to RSVP, please contact Congressman DeSaulnier’s office at ca11.rsvp@mail.house.gov or (925) 933-2660.
Michelle Obama. from her Twitter account
By Allen Payton
Rumors circulating through Antioch over the weekend have been confirmed, today that former First Lady Michelle Obama has been invited to speak at the Mary Allan Fellows Awards Dinner in Antioch on Sept. 19. The annual event hosted by the Antioch Schools Education Foundation will be held at the Lone Tree Golf & Event Center. Tickets are completely sold out.
In an email from Antioch School Board President Walter Ruehlig, he wrote that he had “heard from one other person that Michelle was invited by keynote guest speaker (National Counselor of the Year), who apparently knows her.”
The ad for the event states that it features “2017 National Counselor of the Year Terry Tchorzynski and Special Guest.” That special guest is presumed to be Mrs. Obama.
Ruehlig also wrote, “Incidentally, still unconfirmed that Michelle is actually coming; nothing yet in writing.”
Although the ad for the event has the Antioch Unified School District’s logo on it, they are not a sponsor of the event. They are a recipient of funds raised by the foundation, Ruehlig explained.
However, none of the board members of the foundation are allowed to speak about it, due to security concerns, according to someone else who did not want to be identified. That person said to call Antioch Police Chief Tammany Brooks.
It was also rumored that President Barack Obama was also invited, but that was not confirmed.
The four teachers who will be honored as Fellows the event are Tammy Ely-Kofford, 11th Grade Social Science teacher at Deer Valley High School; Jacey Renfroe, 5th Grade teacher at Marsh Elementary; Italo Rossi, 11th/12th Grade Human Anatomy & Physiology and AP Biology teacher at Antioch High School; and Frank Zrinski, Seventh Grade Science teacher at Antioch Middle School.
When reached for comment, Velma Wilson, chairman of the foundation board said about Tchorzynski’s connection to Obama, “She was awarded by Michelle as First Lady at her last speech.”
According to a Time Magazine article, “In 2015, Obama began a tradition of honoring the school counselor of the year as part of her Reach Higher initiative to encourage post-secondary education—an issue she has said she will continue to work on after leaving the White House.”
Regarding the tickets which sell out early every year, Wilson said, “The tickets have been sold out for two weeks. We give teachers first priority, every year.”
“We will be honoring all 35 counselors in the district for the first time ever,” she added as another reason the tickets sold out so quickly.
Attempts to reach Chief Brooks for this article were also unsuccessful.
Please check back later for any updates.
Lynn Mackey. From campaign website.
Cites her experience as an educator; supported by incumbent Karen Sakata
Lynn Mackey, Senior Director of Educational Services for the Contra Costa County Office of Education, announced Tuesday her candidacy for Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools in the June 2018 primary election.
Mackey, a lifelong resident of Contra Costa County and 21-year educator/administrator, has worked closely with the Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools for 21 years, and says that this experience is unique and will serve her well as County Superintendent.
“During my 21 years as a teacher and educator for the Contra Costa County Office of Education, teaching in our county detention facilities, serving as principal in our alternative education schools, and as a Senior Director, I have developed a clear understanding of the distinct role that the County Superintendent plays in terms of providing direct-service programs for students, as well as oversight and support for the 18 school districts in Contra Costa,” said Mackey. “This office needs someone with deep and current experience in education and a clear understanding of the daily work of the County Office of Education in order to effectively serve our students, schools and school districts.”
“Lynn Mackey truly understands the importance of a good education,” said Contra Costa County Superintendent Karen Sakata. “Lynn’s passion is providing access to a great education to the most vulnerable students in our county, whether they have special needs, have faced trauma, or have been involved in the criminal justice system. Lynn knows we cannot let these students fall through the cracks. I am proud to support her for Contra Costa County Superintendent.”
As part of her announcement to run for the office of County Superintendent of Schools, Mackey outlined her areas of focus for when she assumes the role:
The Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools administers all County Office of Education programs and facilitates cooperation among schools, colleges, universities, government and community organizations. She is responsible for monitoring and approving all school district budgets. In addition, she serves as an advocate for education with the legislature and the public.
For more information about Lynn Mackey, visit her website at Lynnmackey.org or email her directly at Lynnforstudents@gmail.com.