California Continuation Education Association Newsletter:

President's Letter

Happy 2000! Following all the hype with the Y2K bug, which turned out to be the non-event of the century (whichever one you choose), it is time to return to the real issues with which we are all concerned. This seems to be both and exciting and a challenging time to be in education. Exciting, because we have the opportunity to impact so many young lives and show them the pathway to success! Challenging, because we are faced with having to meet newer and more rigorous standards, have our students perform at a predetermined level on the SAT-9 and prepare them for a high school exit exam which may not really determine just how much our students have learned!

Just how did all of this happen, you may ask. Education, throughout the state, country and the world, has changed dramatically over the last century! We no longer live in an industrial society. We have entered a technology society where distance learning is the wave of the future. We can no longer think of ourselves from an isolationist perspective. We must take on the global mentality as we face the challenges of education in the 21^st Century. Society no longer places value on the same things they did 100 years ago. Therefore, people outside of education, who are frustrated with the seeming lack of performance, the apparent "dumbing down" of education and the total disregard for education by many in the population, have made decisions for us. We must now live with these decisions. Politicians say we are not doing the job. They say teachers are not well prepared and don't care. They say many things, only, a fraction of which may be true.

Let's examine just what we do. In the continuation high school setting we have students who come to us following somewhere between 6 and 10 years of failure. Then, in two or three years, we are expected to teach them everything they have not learned in all those years, graduate them and send them into the world ready to be successful! This is an awesome responsibility, but because we are who we are, we are successful in doing just that with a great percentage of those students who enter our schools. We are told that we are nothing more than a diploma mill and that it is easier to earn a diploma from a continuation high school than the traditional high school! If this were true, our students would not be as successful as they are once they leave our schools. The large majority of us are WASC accredited. Many are, or have been, designated Model Schools. Several have Exemplary Programs. The California League of High School's Teacher of the Year is a Continuation High School Educator! These are not awards given just because we are "good people." We have had to earn all of these honors, just as the traditional high schools must do. We have had to meet the same standards as the traditional high schools in order to earn these rewards. As our districts increase requirements to meet the state standards and prepare the students to pass the high school exit exams, we are being held to the same increase in requirements. There was a time when any course in math would meet the graduation requirement for mathematics. Now we are raising the bar and requiring algebra and geometry, just as our feeder schools have done. We are addressing the issues of increasing the science and social science requirements. We are meeting the challenges with which we are faced. How? Because we are flexible and creative and will find a way to do just that.

All of you in continuation have learned that anything can be solved with the use of flexibility and creativity. It is now time to put those hats on and develop a way to help our students show the necessary performance on the SAT-9. Next will the high school exit exam. It will not be an easy task. But, somehow we will succeed. After all, isn't that our whole purpose? We want our students to be successful; therefore we must show them the road to success. And once you have shown them that road, let your communities know of your successes. Celebrate student success in a big way! There are many of us who have referred to Continuation Education as the "best kept secret in education." Well, it is time to let the cat out of the bag! Good luck as you meet the coming challenges on a daily basis. I know you will succeed!

Missing Persons

We need your help in finding some of our Life Members whom we have not been able to contact. If you know the address or phone number of any of the following people please forward that information to CCEA President Janet Knoeppel at Argus High School, P.O. Box 307, Ceres, CA 95307 or by e-mail at JanetWK@aol.com.

State Conference Workshops

As you are aware, the California Continuation Education Association's annual state conference will be held at the Glendale Hilton (formally the Red Lion Inn) from April 7 through April 9, 2000. Many activities occur during the three-day event. The main objectives of the conference however, are professional growth and fostering collegiality.

Many professional growth workshops are scheduled for the conference. Following are the titles and brief descriptions of some of the workshops. The descriptions are listed in no particular order.

Two Guys Teaming is a workshop given by a science teacher and an art teacher. You will be exposed to cross-curricular activities and strategies.

Earth Day is Everyday: An inter-disciplinary unit on the environment is a unit which focuses on the importance of saving the environment. The lesson integrates ideas and philosophies from social science, language arts, science, math and technology.

Keeping in Touch with Youth: Yours and Your Students focuses on how to understand the "here and now" reality of our students. Techniques will be discussed for understanding how to bridge the generation gap and open better lines of communication between students and adults.

Geometric Art is a hands-on workshop designed to combine geometry and art. Participants will work on various projects focusing on design, patterning, repetition and tessellations.

Movement for the Millennium will provide participants easy and fun ways to get students exercising to their favorite music. Participants must be prepared to move!

At Risk Students: Hard Decisions in Tough Times will share an integrated humanities curriculum that encourages students to analyze important decisions made in the past. Students explore literature and history and reflect on ethical decisions made during tough times.

Personal Treasure Map teaches students to graph a personal journey through life. Students will use drawing, labeling and planning to cover their life's journey from birth to old age.

Argus High School's Young Parents Program will provide an overview of the infant care and toddler program at Argus High School in Ceres. The workshop will include information about the parenting class and community support services.

Portfolios for Our Students focuses on the development of a school site student-use academic, social, and work-skills portfolio.

Are You Reaching All of Your Students? Members of the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Speakers Bureau present an interactive, thought-provoking workshop to help you to reach a largely invisible segment of your school's population. Find out what you can do to help lesbian and gay students feel safe and included.

Incredibly Cheap, Incredibly Interesting Units in Social Studies and Science is a workshop containing hundreds of activities and units that you may purchase for $2.00 with permission to duplicate.

2001: An Options Odyssey This is an instructional reform model which emphasizes standards, test preparation and increased student accountability.

Empowering Discipline is presented by Vicki Phillips who authored the material. This workshop helps to reduce power struggles in the classroom.

Building Respect, Responsibility, and Resiliency in At-Risk Adolescents Learn how to teach new pro-social attitudes, behaviors and skills to at-risk you in a way that they will accept.

Able to Leap Buildings in a Single Bound creates hands-on projects which use an opaque projector to make super heroes.

Dating and Domestic Violence: What Teachers, Counselors, and Administrators Need to Know Participants will learn the importance of early intervention in stemming the epidemic of domestic violence. Participants also will learn successful techniques for education of teens on domestic violence and where to fine help for young people who need to break the cycle of violence.

A New Look at Teaching Vocabulary If your students forget their vocabulary words a week after they learned them, you're ready for some practical research-based ideas for helping students learn and use new words.

Yoga A workshop designed to utilize yoga to assist you and your students to learn how to relax.

Intervention Learn about what is meant by the Extended Learning Program that is now being implemented in the elementary and middle schools of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Think Smart, Do Your Part, Think Safety A frank discussion about the common safety concerns including fire, lead, asbestos and indoor air quality.

Behavior Interventions/Student Success Teams Learn about successful strategies to cope with acting our behavior in the classroom. Learn what works and what doesn't.

Section 504 and Your Schools is an overview of Section 504 students. It includes historical background, terms, definitions, school responsibility and how best to serve identified 504 students.

Issues in Educating Gang-oriented Students will help you to develop interventions, counseling, and safety techniques in handling students exhibiting gang-oriented behaviors.

Take Me To Your Leader focuses on creating a leadership class for your school.

A Pathway to Accountability is designed to assist school district employees in establishing and maintaining better control over school district resources. Participants will benefit from real-world cases on mismanaged resources, receive practical tips on how to develop an effective fraud-awareness program and learn how to use Internet audit resources to assist in decision making.

Do the Write Thing: Teaching Film as Literature is a multi-media presentation on how to use the modern film to engage at-risk students in writing, discussing and thinking.

The City-as-School: Learning Through Experience will introduce participants to the nation's premier external learning model.

Tolerance Talks, Discrimination Walks will teach participants how to teach students to be respectful of gay and lesbian students. It will include such issues such as zero tolerance for harassment, legal liabilities, and the implications of the newly signed AB 537, the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000.

Getty Museum Trip

On Friday, April 7, a trip to the Getty Museum will be available for attendees of the California Continuation Education Association's annual state conference. The bus to the museum will leave the Glendale Hilton at 12:30. The bus will arrive at the museum at approximately 1:30. An architectural tour will begin at 3:00. The return bus leaves the museum at 4:00 and will arrive back at the hotel around 5:00.

The new J. Paul Getty Museum has been designed to show works of art to their best advantage and to make visits rewarding and fun. The museum contains five two-story pavilions, set around an open courtyard, which house a permanent collection as well as changing exhibitions. Each gallery is specially designed to suit the particular works on display. The painting galleries, for example, have skylights that let you see pictures in the same kind of light in which they were created.

As you move between the pavilions, walkways and balconies offer changing views of the city and the inner courtyard with its trees, fountains, and reflecting pools. Off the courtyard is the Museum Cafe, where you can stop for a cup of coffee or a snack.

Among the highlights of the art collections are many masterpieces. Included among them are the Adoration of the Magi by Andrea Mantegna; four paintings and the best group of drawings by Rembrandt; Van Gogh's Irises; paintings by Monet, Renoir and Cezanne. There are drawings by Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael, among other great artists.

C.C.E.A. Awards

A variety of awards are available from the California Continuation Education Association. These awards include: The Distinguished Service Award given to a person who has dedicated many years of service at the district level. The Jerry Dean Medallion Award which was created to recognize teachers and classified staff who have given their time and talent above and beyond their jobs. The Proclamation Award is given to anyone who has given exemplary service to the California Continuation Education Association or an individual school. The Life Membership Award is given to individuals who have served the C.C.E.A. and any level for most of their career. This award is usually given to someone close to retirement.

Perhaps the most recognized award is the Teacher of the Year Award. This award is given to a teacher for exemplary service and instructional practices. It is the obligation of each district to establish a selection process. All Teacher of the Year applications must be sent to Lee Newman by March 1, 2000. It is important to follow the noted deadlines. The selection process takes place between March 1 and March 18. The Teacher of the Year will be presented at the CCEA state conference in Glendale on Saturday, April 8, 2000.

Fourth Annual Star Quiz

In addition to the Getty trip, District VII will be sponsoring a friendly competition. The event will take place from 1:00 PM until 4:30 PM at the Glendale Hilton. The format consists of five-member teams from area continuation schools. During the competition, three team members will be asked a question by a moderator. The team then has ten seconds to formulate an answer. At the end of ten seconds, the moderator asks one team member for an answer. Each team has an opportunity to miss three questions in each category. The categories include: history, geography, English novels (Tom Sawyer and Red Badge of Courage), general knowledge, and science & technology. At the end of the round, all five team members will be asked a series of six questions, each having a different point value.

DeWolf High Teacher is CLHS Teacher of the Year.

DeWolf High School (Fresno) teacher, Jodie Garabedian, is the California League of High Schools (CLHS) State teacher of the Year. Garabedian won the regional competition last March in Selma. In November at the CLHS State Conference in Monterey, Jodie won the final competition and was chosen as state teacher of the year. She was selected from all high school educators in the State for her dedication to students and her teaching career. She will represent CLHS at the 2000 National High School Conference.

Jodie is a math teacher who is known for kindly welcoming each student to her class each day. Three years ago she began teaching algebra to all students at DeWolf, and has enjoyed considerable success. She also co-developed the Algebra/Construction class with Ron Zito, CCEA State Teacher of the Year. In this class, students design and construct buildings while learning both algebra and construction skills.

DISTRICT XI FALL 1999 COLLOQUIUM
Robert Meier Past President, District Xl

On Wednesday, November 24,1999, CCEA District Xl, the LAUSD Educational Options Office, and the Senior High Schools Options Principal's Organization sponsored the 4th Annual Educational Options Colloquium held at the Los Angeles Westside Radisson Hotel in Culver City. The conference focus was on Interventions. The conference was attended by over 330 Options staff members. Throughout the day, time was allotted for discussion and social interaction among staff members. As our district's programs consist of over 100 separate sites, teachers, office managers and administrators welcome the opportunity for interaction with staff from other sites.

Attendees were greeted in the morning at the general session by words of welcome from Dr. Robert Barner, Assistant Superintendent for Student Intervention, Dan lsaacs, Assistant Superintendent for School Operations, and Eileen Banta, Director of Educational Options. Dr. Richard Vladovic, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, who as our keynote speaker spoke positively about his experiences as a continuation principal and his experiences currently working with Options schools. He identified the strengths that he sees in our programs and our philosophy, and gave us suggestions for how we may continue to provide the best possible instructional intervention program for the students that we serve. His dynamic talk was followed by two workshops sessions in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Attendees were able to choose from 36 different workshops. Workshop topics ranged from domestic violence to educating gang oriented students, and from special education procedures to issues affecting our gay and lesbian students. There were workshops on teaching vocabulary and reading skills. Attendees were able to learn about yoga and how to teach various art projects to their students.

We were joined at lunch by LAUSD board member, David Tokofsky, who gave words of greetings from the Board of Education. He was able to sit in on some of the workshop sessions and was impressed with their content. We also were introduced to William Panos, head of the Environmental Health & Safety Branch, who shared with us the importance of environmental health and safety during this current state of district affairs.

Colloquium attendees were able to interact with over 14 Exhibitors of textbooks and educational supplies who showcased their materials in the exhibit area throughout the day. Teachers left the Colloquium with many textbook and educational supply samples provided by the Exhibitors. The companies represented included Glencoe, Steck-Vaugh, Globe Fearon, Saddleback and Scholastic publishers. Door prizes were also donated by various local companies. Everyone left the conference with something tangible; either door prizes, educational supplies or ideas for the classroom.