The California Department of Education (CDE) has selected Castaic High School and 11 other schools throughout the state to receive mini-grants, totaling more than $240,000, to help address equity and opportunity gaps, announced State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
Castaic High School will receive $20,000 to pay for district buses to pick up students from a central location in an underserved neighborhood.
Since the applications were announced in December 2020 as part of CDE’s ongoing efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic’s continued impact on students, more than 400 schools and districts across California applied for the grants, which are funded by contributions from philanthropic partners.
Top r-l: Molly Wahl, Madera Elementary; Christina Ferry, Lovonya DeJean Middle; bottom r-l: Carlo Juntilla, Richmond High; and Laura Garriguez, Richmond High. (All photos credited to the Ed Fund)
With the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest challenging classroom environments nationwide in 2020, teachers across the West Contra Costa Unified School District stepped up their game to ensure educational and inclusive learning environments.
Particularly these four all stars. This week, the West Contra Costa Ed Fund announced the four West Contra Costa Unified School District finalists for the 2021 Teaching Excellence Awards on its Facebook page. The awards have recognized the county’s best teachers for nearly four decades.
Antioch, West Contra Costa School Districts Receive Grants To Address Inequities
Bay City News Service
FacebookTwitterEmail
Bay City News Foundation
Two East Bay school districts will each receive $20,000 grants to address education inequalities that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, state Superintendent Tony Thurmond said Thursday.
The Antioch Unified School District will use its grant to create teams of educators that will visit the homes of students and families that are not showing high engagement and class attendance and provide them with support.
The other district receiving a grant, the West Contra Costa Unified School District, will use the funding to hire a full-time mentor through the federal government s Peacemaker program, which encourages students to manage conflicts through negotiation and mediation rather than violence.
By Kathy Chouteau
In February, local nonprofit The Practice Space partnered with the El Cerrito High School Speech and Debate Team to host the Berman Speech Invitational, an online speech and debate tournament featuring middle and high school students from 20 schools throughout the Bay Area the majority of which were from the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD).
About 70 to 80 students ranging from ages 12 to 18 participated, along with 30 to 40 judges, according to AnnMarie Baines, PhD., executive director of The Practice Space who served as the invitational’s tournament director. WCCUSD participants originated from schools including El Cerrito High School, Kennedy High School, Pinole High School and Korematsu Middle School. Schools outside of the local district included Analy High School in Sebastopol, American Canyon High School and a few others.
By Kathy Chouteau
Did you know Tupac Shakur recorded music at Richmond’s Starlight Recording Studio early in his career? Or how about that Henry J. Kaiser offered healthcare to his workers on the Richmond Home Front during WWII before it was a thing? These revelations and more about Richmond’s history can be seen in a captivating new educational film series recently launched by the Richmond Museum of History and Culture.
Produced by Doug Harris and funded through the Economic and Community Investment Agreement (ECIA) grant between Chevron Richmond and the City, the museum’s five films pack a ton of hyper-local history into a very short timeframe on average, five minutes each. The films, which include commentary from local historians, include the following topics: Rancho San Pablo, the Spanish Flu in Richmond, the SS Red Oak Victory (WWII in Richmond), the Richmond Black Panthers and Starlight Recording Studio.