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By Anonymous — Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
Camarillo, CA. - For the second year CSU Channel Islands (CI) is hosting the STEM EXPO, entitled “Exploration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Careers”, at the Ventura County Science Fair on Wednesday, April 6, 2011. The Science Expo will run from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Agricultural Building at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. The growing list of local science/technology companies and other guests currently includes: Aera Energy; Amgen; Associates Insectary; California Oil Museum; Channel Islands National Park; CREEC Network Ventura County/VCCRD; Department of Conservation Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources; Lockheed Martin; Santa Barbara Botanical Garden and Solar World, who will offer hands-on opportunities for middle and high school students to learn about the science that each one is involved in. There will also be a portable planetarium from the Discovery Center with 30-minute rotations available to students in grades 6 – 12 who are attending the fair. Students will participate in a treasure hunt to locate answers for questions supplied by participating companies and incorporated into a treasure hunt list. Sample questions from last year were: “What does Aera inject into the ground in Ventura to help produce oil?”; “Why is your Direct TV dish pointed to the south?” and “Find the deepest spot in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.” For additional information about this event please contact Dr. Philip Hampton, Professor of Chemistry at CSU Channel Islands, 805-437-8869 or at philip.hampton@csuci.edu. About California State University Channel Islands |
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By Anonymous — Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
Soroptimist Int’l of Fillmore with Fillmore Friends of the Library present four events for school age children promoting reading
Wed. March 23 Wed. April 13 Wed. May 4 Wed. June 15 All events will start at 3:30pm and end at 4:00pm |
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By Ventura County Sheriff Department — Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
 Ventura County Sheriff's Department The Ventura County Emergency Planning Council is continuing its commitment to community disaster preparedness education by partnering with Ventura County Office of Education. All Ventura County public school children have been invited to accept the challenge in preparing for emergencies and participate in two contests being held throughout Ventura County. “Knowing what to do in an emergency is an important part of being prepared and may make all the difference when seconds count,” said Laura Hernandez, Assistant Director of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services. The art and video contests focus on the importance of having an emergency supply kit, developing a family communications plan, and being informed about the local hazards in our community. Contest flyers were distributed to all of the schools and students should submit their entries to their school office by April 15, 2011. Awards will be given to the best individual, best school, and best district for each division and contest. Questions regarding the contests may be directed to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services at (805) 654-2551. For more information on disaster preparedness, please visit the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s website at www.ready.gov. Date of Release: March 14, 2011 |
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By Kimberly Rivers — Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
Recently on PBS I saw an excerpt about a man who who created You Tube videos to tutor his cousin in math. These are wonderful, and cover a variety of areas, from word problems to complex calculus. It is FREE, students can watch it over and over and over if they need to. Talk about building confidence. Some schools are even using his videos. Check it out. You can go to the website and see the HUGE list of videos available for FREE !!!! here is the link: http://www.khanacademy.org/#browse Here is an example of "Converting fractions into Decimals"... these are so wonderful I just wanted to share a few more: |
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By Kimberly Rivers — Friday, March 11th, 2011
Services Reduction, Budget Planning
Here is a link to the video for the School Board's special meeting on March 8, 2011. Some items of interest: Services Reduction Actions: (time 12:00 starts) Superintendent Jeff Sweeney comments on the decisions being made now to create flexibility based on "Fiduciary Responsibility". Many staff members, teachers, admin will receive notices as required by the March 15 deadline. Board Members express their apologies regarding presenting notices. As I listen to this, there is not one question asked by Board members. Not one. Again I wonder if they are having conversation away from the dias, but they should be reporting on their fact/information finding efforts. The public is not seeing any of the process that the Board goes through to decide what programs services and therefore what staff members are being noticed. And again I heard no discussion about how these decisions will affect students and classrooms. And notice the dynamic between the Board members and staff. Who is in charge of deciding the agenda for meetings? |
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By Anonymous — Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
 Fillmore Middle School’s Living History Civil War Presentation was held Friday morning March 4, 2011. Did you hear the cannon being fired? It was an impressive sight. Photos courtesy Scott Klittich. Enlarge Photo  Seven students were privileged to help operate the 2,100 pound cannon to demonstrate artillery used during the Civil War period. The yearly event is organized by FMS teacher Ms. Beal. Enlarge Photo |
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By Anonymous — Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
On Monday, March 7, 2011, San Cayetano School recognized good citizenship and character at their Peacebuilder Assembly for the month of March. Todd Schieferle, Director of Human Resources for Fillmore Unified School District, came to speak to the students about what a good citizen is and how being a good citizen can help not only the students, but others around them in their community. ASB President, Cali Wyand,and Vice President, Lizzie Castaneda assisted Mr.Schieferle in handing out the Peacebuilder certificates. The Peacebuilders for March are: Andrea Laureano, Nathan Delgadillo, David Vaca, Amber Cervantez, Aleena Castaneda, David Linares, Jesus Carrillo, Joseline Galindo, Bailey Dietz, Christopher Cisneros, Alexis Rosales, Aiyanna Simental, Jose Gallegos, Adilene Garcia, Jose Salgado, Anissa Rhodes, Jesus Zamora, Bryanna Rivas, Ilene Gil, and Sissy Valencia. At the lower grade assembly, Lizzie then announced to the students that John Paul Pet sponsors the San Cayetano Character Counts Award of a $100.00 savings bond. Emma Ocegueda, a second grade student from Mrs. Capra and Mrs. Mitchell’s class, was chosen by the second grade teachers as a model of outstanding behavior, responsibility, and kindness to the other students. She was recognized with a certificate and the savings bond. To conclude the assembly, Cali reminded the students to turn in their Perfect Attendance tickets. Each month all students who come to school, each day, on time, are given a raffle ticket. The students place their tickets in a box and one ticket is drawn. The student whose ticket is drawn is given a backpack full of supplies. Each month, the tickets will be put into a larger box that will be kept until the end of the year. In June, Mrs. Marholin, the principal, will draw from the tickets to give away two new bicycles. Pedro Aceves from Ms. Dewey’s class won the Perfect Attendance Award for March. |
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By Anonymous — Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
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By Anonymous — Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
Camarillo, CA. - Two California State University Channel Islands (CI) faculty, Kathryn Leonard, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, and Brad Monsma, Professor of English, have received a $250,000 grant from the Keck Foundation for CI’s Center for Integrative Studies. The grant will be used to develop an innovative program for CI students to begin developing research and presentation skills from their freshman through senior years. The program offers an increasingly demanding stepladder of interdisciplinary research courses, allowing students to begin original research projects from their first moment on campus. By the time they reach the upper levels, CI students will have the problem solving skills and experience to participate in research opportunities that will lead to presentations at national conferences or to publishing in research journals prior to graduation. A student who has accomplished this type of scholarship will have an advantage when applying to graduate school or interviewing with a future employer. “This is the most recent example of the innovative and forward-thinking projects that CI faculty are involved in,” stated Provost Dawn Neuman. “CI is a frontrunner with its development of undergraduate research. Such opportunities will give our students a competitive advantage whether they choose to pursue graduate studies or go directly into the workforce.” The first part of the program will begin in the next academic year with two courses offered at the sophomore level. As an example, “Interfaces: Ocean, Earth, Whale, Human” involves the academic disciplines of chemistry, biology and literary studies to examine whale behavior in relation to representations of whales in literature and history. These interdisciplinary courses are student-centered. Students, in a collaborative learning experience, share academic research and work under the guidance of faculty. Sub-topics within a freshman or sophomore course may provide a student with a more focused research project at the junior or senior levels. These courses also CONTINUED » |
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By Anonymous — Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
Applications are now available for the FILLMORE WOMEN'S SERVICE CLUB Educational Scholarships. Any graduating High School Senior who RESIDES with the Fillmore Unified School District and is continuing on to a College, University or Trade School can apply. Application are available at Fillmore High School or by telephoning Susan Banks at 524-1470. Deadline is April 6th, 2011. |
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By Kimberly Rivers — Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Watch this short video clip here: http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/02/09/020911-news-education-day1-3-6/ What do you think? |
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By Anonymous — Monday, March 7th, 2011
 Fillmore Unified School District FILLMORE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2011 AGENDA 5:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. |
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By Kimberly Rivers — Sunday, March 6th, 2011
How Does Your Neighborhood School Score?
SARC (School Accountability Report Cards) are available for the 2009-2010 school year. According to the California Department of Education (http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/) " California public schools annually provide information about themselves to the community allowing the public to evaluate and compare schools for student achievement, environment, resources and demographics" Each District is required to have the reports available for parents. Here is a link to the reports online: http://www.fillmore.k12.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=216 What do you think? What grade would you give your local school? Post your comment here? Folks can request a print out of their schools report from the District. Forms should be available at each school, although according to recent information from the District attorney (see information this week in the Gazette) the District must respond to any written request that is presented. I would assume that the written request must be clear and legible so that the District knows what is being requested. But they must respond to an email request, and a particular form is not necessary. Although it might make it easier for District staff to respond to the request. |
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By Anonymous — Friday, March 4th, 2011
Architect helped design Third Street Promenade
 Johannes Van Tilburg THOUSAND OAKS, CA. - Los Angeles architect and planner Johannes Van Tilburg will discuss his work related to the slowly developing Light-Rail and Subway Transportation System at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, at California Lutheran University. The free Artists and Speakers Series presentation on “Building Along the Boulevards in Our City: Transportation as a Catalyst for Development” will be held in the Roth Nelson Room. Van Tilburg was one of the first to design for, and invest in, Santa Monica’s fledgling Third Street Promenade, now a landmark of urban renewal and a redevelopment model for cities nationwide. He is a member of the board of directors of the Bayside District, a volunteer organization overseeing the Third Street Promenade. An 11th generation architect/builder, Van Tilburg was born in the Netherlands and graduated from the College of Arts and Architecture in The Hague. He immigrated to the United States in 1965 and founded Johannes Van Tilburg and Partners, Architects, AIA, in Westwood in 1971. The success of the firm led to the 1992 founding of Van Tilburg, Banvard and Soderbergh, Architects (VTBS Architects). In the same year, Van Tilburg was elected to the College of Fellows, American Institute of Architects. A nationally recognized pioneer in mixed-use urban design, land planning, and the creation of livable communities, VTBS Architects has won design, planning and beautification awards from the AIA, building associations, and local and state civic agencies. VTBS is based in Santa Monica with offices in San Jose and Denver. Van Tilburg is strongly committed to the greater Los Angeles community, to education and to the arts. Among other initiatives, his firm designed the first AIDS Hospice in the City of Los Angeles, pro bono, for Barlow Hospital. Van Tilburg continues to teach as a visiting lecturer in the architectural departments of USC, UCLA, Harvard University Graduate School of Design and the Southern California Institute of Architecture. He recently was appointed as Honorary Consul of The Netherlands for the Los Angeles office. The Roth Nelson Room is located on Mountclef Boulevard between Olsen Road and Memorial Parkway on the Thousand Oaks campus. For more information, e-mail Christine Sellin at csellin@callutheran.edu |
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By Kimberly Rivers — Friday, March 4th, 2011
Here is an excerpt from this blog post on the Students First website, click the link to see the full post http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/teachers-bear-the-brunt-of-uncer... by Ma'ayan Weinberg "Teachers bear the brunt of uncertainty" All across the country, from California to Rhode Island to New York, budget cuts threaten the jobs of tens of thousands of teachers in the worst round of potential layoffs in decades. Just last week, it was announced that Providence, Rhode Island, for example, would send termination notices to each of the district's 2,000 teachers—a preemptive measure against a $40 million budget deficit. Meanwhile, Cleveland, Ohio projects laying off 20 percent of its teachers. Meet Ma'ayan Weinberg, a third year high school teacher in Los Angeles, who has become accustomed to the annual spring ritual of budget cuts. Since stepping foot into the classroom three years ago, she has received a pink slip every single year. She managed to avoid losing her job because she teaches math, a difficult to staff subject. Here, she describes the threat of layoffs that are predicted for this year in not only in Los Angeles, but in districts nationwide. During my first year as a teacher, I received a Reduction in Force (RIF) notice. As our school district faces budget shortfalls, they have turned to laying off teachers in the past years to cut spending. RIFs are used to notify teachers that they may not have a position in the coming school year. As a secondary math teacher, my RIF was later rescinded because the position is difficult to staff, but not before I saw the devastating effects of RIFs on not only my school, but my students. I work in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) at a particularly challenging school, which suffers from high teacher turnover and a very young staff. As a result, more than half of our teachers received a RIF notice in any given year; meanwhile, other schools in the same district lost only one or two. The first effect came with the first round of RIFs. We explained to our students what was happening, that we might not be able to return to the school next year. Our kids do not understand the seniority system. They could not understand why we would be let go when other teachers that did not teach were allowed to stay. In their minds, you are fired for not doing your job, not for being the last to get the job. The confusion was heartbreaking. The second blow came the following year when teachers who did not want to be in our school were pushed in to fill the vacant positions. These were sometimes teachers who had made a conscious decision to no longer work in the classroom. After the RIFs, our open positions were their only option. At our school, you have to want to be here. You have to love the kids. That second year, students came to me upset because their teacher had no interest in them, did not want to teach them, and at times did not even show up to school for weeks or months at a time. .. continued on: http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/teachers-bear-the-brunt-of-uncer... |
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By Anonymous — Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
 Students Chloe Stines, Leslie Garcia, Lindsay Brown, and Sydney Isom show off fossils from the Santa Paula Oil Museum. Seneca Resources sponsored a fieldtrip to the San Paula Oil Museum and provided lunch to all 4th and 5th grade students. Thank you Seneca Resources for supporting our school! Enlarge Photo  Mountain Vista students, Noe Magana, Jayden Brandt, Angela Perez, and Alix Tirado show off their art projects. The Mountain Vista Art program is fully funded through a donation from Owens and Minor. Enlarge Photo  On Wednesday, February 23, Mountain Vista Elementary held a parent involvement night. The principal provided an overview of the instructional day and gave parents suggestions on how to support their children at home and ways to get involved at Mountain Vista School. At the end of the night, the Mrs. Schieferle raffled off two Los Angeles Laker tickets. The lucky parent was Maria Martinez. Mrs. Martinez will be headed to the Staple Center on April 12th to see the Lakers play against the San Antonio Spurs! Enlarge Photo |
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By Kimberly Rivers — Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
"We are at a point where the Superintendent needs to start thinking about a different way of operating the District"---Asst. Superintendent Mike Bush
I was unable to attend this study session but luckily the Gazette was able to send the big camera to record it. I"m still waiting for the new Board members to request a review and evaluation of District Administrative compensation packages. Here are some items in the video that I think are highlights: In this video we hear Assistant Superintendent Mike Bush state for the worst case Budget scenario it would mean "hardly any cabinet, hardly any District Office staff, hardly any site administration, very high class [size], probably every third or fourth night clean, once every two weeks cutting grass, it's radical." Later in his presentation he states that the District needs to evaluate it's Administrator to Student ratio at the High School, which is now (due to declining enrollment, many at 11th & 12th grade) at 325 students per administrator. "That is at Piru levels" he states. The middle school is at about 800 students per admin. "It's something we need to look at" he suggests. After Bush completes his presentation, Board Member Tony Prado asks "What are the other Districts doing to raid other Districts?" Here Prado is referring to those families who choose to leave FUSD for other Districts. Some we know leave because their children require special services that they struggle to get in Fillmore but are welcomed in Moorpark or other districts with space. Some families are concerned with the low academic performance of FUSD schools and exercise their legal right to leave the District to attend a better school. Bush correctly responded "The main thing to attract people from other Districts is to have a quality program." He hit the nail on the head with that one. Can you imagine? Students leaving a district to go to a better program? It's pretty hard to imagine that. I do apologize for my sarcasm there. But this is what many parents have been saying for several years. It is likely to take more than a brand new track to lure students to Fillmore, or convince them to stay. It may actually take a budget crisis for FUSD to realize the importance of having a quality program to attract students. A big issue with District run schools across the country is that they have always had an automatic stream of students. The quality of their program didn't matter. Student would come to their schools because they were the only option. Now parents are waking up. They have school choice. District of choice. They can take their child out of district, or out of their service area to other public schools that are better for their child. It seems that there may be a silver lining to this budget crisis, that Districts, including FUSD will get improve their programs and will work harder to provide the quality education that is a legal (and I think human) right of every child. I wish I would have been there because I would have applauded Bush's statement. Some other items of interest: I wonder about the resources that are going elsewhere, for example, according to District reports provided during school Board meetings, the District paid $22,162.23 in legal fees just for the month of January 2011. How do those attorney's serve the students in the District? How are those legal services vital to a quality education? What kind of environment is being created that requires a district to pay such high legal fees? Just asking. |
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By Anonymous — Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
Fillmore Unified School District FILLMORE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2011 5:30 p.m. |
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By Kimberly Rivers — Monday, February 28th, 2011
CNN "Why America's Teachers are enraged"
Here is a short post regarding the events in Wisconsin and America's teachers. This posting received over 40,000 comments on facebook. What a hot topic. What do you think? Here is a link to the posting on CNN's page: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-20/opinion/ravitch.teachers.blamed_1_bad... And here is a link to that posts Author Diane Ravitch being interviewed on NPR: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/28/134134735/Op-Ed-Rage-Simmering-Among-Ameri... And one more link to an older story with Ravitch, who was an advocate now turned critic of No Child Left Behind: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124209100 |
 (l-r) President Richard R. Rush, Hank Lacayo, Tim McCallion, President of the West Region for Verizon and Jesus Torres, Director of Strategic Programs for Verizon. Enlarge Photo By Anonymous — Monday, February 28th, 2011
Camarillo, Calif., Feb. 25, 2011 – CSU Channel Islands (CI) President Richard R. Rush today announced a $100,000 grant from Verizon to the Henry L. “Hank” Lacayo Institute for Workforce & Community Studies (HLI). Verizon’s contribution will fund HLI programs that will enable CI students to directly contribute to the growth of small businesses throughout the region through consulting assignments – applying, in a real-world setting, the business and technology skills learned through their entrepreneurial studies coursework. Students will assist small-business owners by analyzing their business plans, management, and technology needs. The grant will also provide scholarship assistance to underserved students pursuing business and social science degrees. “We are pleased to have an opportunity to collaborate with Verizon in developing these types of vital partnerships that will benefit both our local business community and CI students through scholarships, said President Rush. “Verizon’s support of the HLI will enable faculty and students to research and provide valuable information to local small businesses.” Additionally, the grant will help to establish the Verizon Telecommunications & Conservation Lab (TCL), which will serve as a green operations model to aid small businesses in implementing eco-friendly practices. It will advance Verizon’s commitments to environmental sustainability through energy conservation, hardware recycling, and emphasis of new technologies aimed at more efficient and environmentally sound practices. “Verizon’s intent is to challenge students to find new ways to foster economic growth and instill a sense of environmental stewardship throughout the region,” said Tim McCallion, president of the West Region for Verizon. “We consider this grant from Verizon to be an investment in our community’s economic vitality and the development of its future leaders.” About California State University Channel Islands About Verizon |