Happy Birthday Clovis Unified!
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NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
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FRESNO, CA
PERMIT NO. 220
Clovis Unified School District
December 2019

1450 Herndon Ave.
Clovis, CA 93611
Clovis Uniﬁed School District — WHERE CHARACTER COUNTS!	Volume 22, No. 5

			
	BEST OF THE BEST
		
30 to receive Clovis Unified’s Crystals

CUSD Today
A cafeteria worker creating a friendly curriculum on manners that she shares during
lunchtime, a special education teacher developing a mobile snack bar that allows her students to learn social and functional skills, a school police officer forming a club for students and running the meetings – these are just a sampling of what Clovis Unified’s 2019 Crystal Award recipients are doing in order to make a positive difference in the lives of students.
Thirty Clovis Unified employees learned re-cently they will receive a Crystal Award, the district’s highest award that celebrates those who are going far beyond their job descriptions in their innovation, commitment and passion for education.
Among those being honored are teachers, ad-ministrators, support staff, a librarian, custodian, mechanic, cafeteria worker and officer.
“We view every employee to be part of our collective educational team. It is vital that each individual looks at his or her job and the oppor-tunities it has to help students succeed. Our Crystals recipients are doing just that,” said Clovis Unified Superintendent Eimear O’Farrell, Ed.D. “These are amazing people who consistently

➤ Please see Crystals, Page 6

follow us on	TM               and at CUSD.COM

It’s a National Emmy for BHS student!

Buchanan High student David Angulo won a National Emmy in November for his news documentary on Freedom Ice, a military family’s snow-cone business. David had received an Emmy in the
spring by the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of     the     National Academy of Televi-sion Arts & Sciences, and his work was ad-vanced to the nation-al competition that featured 200 student productions and 24 competition cate-gories.
“The Foundation is pleased to highlight these aspiring television journalists and the outstanding work being done by them across the country,” said, Danielle Mannion, NATAS Foundation Education Chair. “The creativity, dedication to craft and passion exhibited by this year’s entries continues to inspire us as to the future of our great industry.
David’s production “More than a Business” won the top prize in the Video Essay Category. The senior is part of Buchanan News Network, a media class taught by David Pearce.     His     winning     work     can     be     viewed     at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=SddDR hp_Q1U&t=1s

Here comes Clovis Unified

IXTY years ago this month, local voters made a courageous decision that impacts every one of our students today.
With an 80 percent majority, voters overwhelm-ingly said yes on the election ballot to unifying Clovis Union High School and six elementary school districts. Born that day, Dec. 22, 1959, was what would soon become the Clovis Unified School Dis-trict. Unification was a bold move in a time when Clovis area schools were mostly viewed as country schoolhouses that did not offer top academics nor were the students expected to attend high school.
There would be challenges as the small districts merged together, but unifying would give the new district the enrollment needed to provide its governing board legal rights to have full instructional control for grades kindergarten through 12. It would have the ability to provide a single, continuous program of education for the children of Clovis directed by board policy and the leadership of a superintend-ent.
To lay the groundwork for the new school system, a seven-member governing board was created with one trustee from each of the original districts.
Clovis Unified became an official entity July 1, 1960 and had a fall enrollment of 5,037 students at its schools: Clovis High, Temperance-Kutner, Jef-ferson, Tarpey, Cole, SierraVista,
Fort Washing-ton-Lincoln, Pinedale, Nel-son and Dry Creek elemen-tary schools.
There would be plenty of work ahead for the new governing board and first superintendent Dr. Floyd Buchanan as they defined Clovis Unified, but the brave decision of voters had made the goal clear: to provide top-quality education for its students.
That directive has been a guiding principle ever since, and we can thank it for setting into motion the creation of the successful learning environments Clovis Unified students enjoy today.
And as for those once “cow-town” schools (as they were openly referred to by naysayers in the area) – they and the other CUSD schools that have since joined them to accommodate the now nearly 45,000 student population, are part of a destination school district that commonly tops local lists in state student achievement scores, sports titles and
academic competitions.
Happy Birthday Clovis Unified!

Transition Program wins Golden Bell

CUSD Today                                                                        members. Each high school area has a Transition Team that works in their area’s schools to provide services
Clovis Unified School District Transition	to increase students’ attendance rates, increase Program received the state’s leading educa-                                        academic performance, increase graduation tional honor, the Golden Bell Award, Dec. 5                                          rates and assist students with daily struggles. in San Diego. It was one of 57 public school                                               “Our program works as a bridge between recipients – recognized with the honor at                                         schools and families to help students reach the California School Boards Association                                       their potential,” said Associate Superintendent (CSBA) conference – for innovation, sustain-                                 of Schools Norm Anderson.
ability and best practices that facilitate positive	Receiving the Golden Bell brings affirmation to student outcomes.                                                               the innovative work the Transition Team is doing.
CUSD’s Transition Program was formed six years	“The validation comes from the state recommending ago to provide additional support to students identified to the other school districts in California that this is an as needing additional resources. The support areas could established program that should be replicated by others. include academic, social, emotional, student engagement This award validates the work the district’s Transition or behavioral. The program is funded from state LCAP Team is doing and shows that the efforts are appreciated dollars earmarked specifically for these students.
Clovis Unified has more than 70 Transition Team ➤ Please see Golden, Page 6

Inspiring Excellence

FOCUS ON:

see
ASIAN	For full AMERICANS	profile
Page 3.

Happy Holidays from Clovis Unified

Page 2	CUSD Today	December 2019

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Excellence

FOCUS ON: ASIAN AMERICANS

Students come together at Asian Student Success

and it tends to fill up fast.                                    forcement, doctors, psychologists, news and The vision for the conference is not only to media, and agriculture to come and share their
promote and educate students in higher edu- experiences and their road map to success. cation, but also to promote networking oppor-	For the past three years, the planning com-
2014, Clovis Unified educators had a tunities and make students aware of the financial mittee made up of CUSD faculty, parents and vision to educate and inspire the Asian student opportunities available to high school seniors. students decided to highlight a specific Asian population in the district. Clovis East High	“The forward thinking of promoting and cultural group at the leadership conference. was given the opportunity to initiate and make inspiring future generations through the edu- The celebration focused on Hmong culture in a movement in the Asian subgroup from all cational platform not only helps plant a seed 2017, Punjabi in 2018 and this year, the Japanese over the district at the intermediate and high in the young minds of our Asian student pop- culture was highlighted.
school levels to participate in a student confer- ulation to want better and do better, but it also         The conference topics included information ence.                                                                    allows students and community members to specific about the culture, its history and how
The result was the formation of the CUSD bridge the generational age gap as well as ac- the culture is celebrated in the United States. Asian Student Success Conference, which is culturation in the Western Society," said Clovis	“We want our students to learn about them-now an annual districtwide event held in De- West Deputy Principal May Moua, who is on selves, but most importantly learn about each cember at Clovis East. More than 600 students the planning committee for the conference.         other,” said CUSD Coordinator of Community gather for this event, which this year took place	The annual student conference invites com- Relations Saul Salinas.
Dec. 4. The conference is open to all Clovis munity leaders and professionals in a variety         The event included a keynote speaker and Unified intermediate and high school students, of areas such as: education, health, law en- three breakout sessions: College/Financial Aid workshop, team building/leadership, and this

year, the committee had a meet-the-mentors session where professionals from the community came together and shared and motivated stu-dents.
“CUSD is proud to host these events for our students with the goal of inspiring excel-lence,” Salinas said.

Future student success conferences will be held during the school year. They are:
■ Feb. 11: The African American Middle School Conference will be held at Clovis North Educational Center, which is open to in-termediate schools across Fresno County.
■ March 9: The CUSD High School Latino Student Success Conference will be held at Clovis Veterans Memorial Building.
■ March 20: The Latino Intermediate Student Success Conference will be held at Kastner Intermediate.
Photos special to CUSD Today by Ron Webb.
center to sign up.
Registration is now open, and interested Top:Clovis North junior Maheen Haseeb speaks during the Asian Student Success Conference.	students may contact their school counseling Above: Clovis High junior Nick Yang participates in a breakout session discussion.

C	O	N	F	E	R	E	N	C	E

Happy Hmong New Year

Local festivities Dec. 26 to Jan. 1

TheHmong New Year celebration has been a Hmong tradition for hundreds of years. It has been passed down from one generation to the next, therefore, the Hmong has a saying that goes “Poj ua cia, yawm ua tseg” meaning “Grandmothers have done it, and grandfathers have kept it.” Therefore, we will continue to carry on this tradition for years to come although it has evolved and changed a bit over time in the different parts of the world that the Hmong people live in.
Hmong people in the United States cele-brate the Hmong New Year between October
and December due to weather conditions	Photo courtesy of the Hmong Cultural New Year Celebration. in the different states across the United have been hosting multicultural events around month after all the crops from the field have States. The Fresno Hmong New Year is by the district and have also share bits and been harvested. Hmong families prepare far the biggest Hmong New Year in the pieces of information about the Hmong their biggest and best meal of the year for United States. It has been celebrated from New Year to their students.                               relatives to come and feast with and join in Dec. 26 to New Year’s Day every year for the         Senior Resource Teacher See Thao at on their successful year of farming as they past 35 years. The Fresno Hmong New Year Clovis Elementary said students there got a put an end to any misfortunes during the has also been celebrated at the Fresno Fair- taste of the Hmong New Year at her school old year and prepare to welcome the new grounds for the last 31 years.                            recently. She showed students how to play year ahead.
As it gets closer to the Hmong New Year “pov pob” during recess after learning about	Hmong mothers dress their teenage boys in the Fresno/Clovis area, students in some the Hmong New Year at their multicultural and girls in their best Hmong outfits to schools in the Central Valley will be cele- event.                                                                 enjoy the festivity and play ball tossing, spin-brating the Hmong New Year to share the	Red Bank Elementary Principal Pa Vue ning top game, and reef pipe or kheng (qeej) rich culture, language, food and the festivity. said at her school an informational table playing competitions, while older men will It is a way for Hmong students to introduce about the Hmong New Year is displayed at look forward to bullfighting as a means for their non-Hmong peers to their rich heritage. lunch and after school.At Tarpey Elementary, entertainment. Hmong women look on in
Students at Buchanan, Clovis, and Clovis Principal Tachua Vue said the Hmong New the village squares or compounds and admire East high schools who are taking Hmong Year is touched on a little bit during their their beautiful daughters and/or handsome classes will be celebrating the Hmong New multicultural show where they feature Hmong young sons playing the ball toss game (pov Year in the classrooms with food, dance rou- dancers.	pob), a courtship game played among the tines, arts and crafts, and the game of ball	Back in Laos, the Hmong New Year is youth as they seek out their future counter-tossing. Some CUSD elementary schools celebrated on the 30th day of the 12th lunar part.

“Who are Asian American figures everyone should know about?”

Students in Clovis Unified high school Asian clubs were asked this question.Thank you to all those who participated, including Keria Kang Chang and SaraYang (Buchanan); Amberlane Xiong and Elizabeth Thao (Clo-vis); Julie Vang, SkyeVang and Ted Vang (Clo-vis East); Heleina Ho, Cailyie Lo and Jason Sehkon (Clovis North); and Eric Ding, Alex Goto, Riley Hernandez, Christine Jen, Isak Knox and Catherine Nguyen (Clovis West). Here are their replies:

General Vang Pao. He worked with the U.S. govern-
ment and helped the Hmong people through the Mekong River to get to the U.S. during the Viet-nam War.
Fred Korematsu.
A civil rights activist, he went to court to prove Japanese internment camp was wrong.
Yo-Yo Ma. Musi-cian and child prodi-gy who began per-forming at 4 years old, has recorded nearly 100 albums, played for presidents
and has won several Grammy Awards.
Bruce Lee. Actor, martial artist and philosopher who is considered by many to be the most influential mar-tial artist of all time.
Michelle Kwan. Olympic medalist in figure skating who said,“Winning is not about how many medals you get, it’s about accomplishing goals and being the best you can be.”
Dr. David Ho. Breakthrough AIDS researcher who was Time Magazine’s “Medical Person of the Year.”
Aziz Ansari. Award-winning co-median, actor and writer who won two Emmys and a Golden Globe; he was the first actor of Asian descent to win a Golden Globe for his television work.
Daniel Inouye. U.S. Senator from Hawaii, he was the highest-ranking Asian-American politician in U.S. history as he served as the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate (third in the presidential line of succession).
I.M. Pei.World renown, award-winning architect whose designs in-cluded hotels, city halls, skyscrapers and the famous glass pyramid for the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Jeremy Lin. Professional basketball player who is the first of Chinese or Taiwanese descent in the NBA.
Awkwafina.Actress and rapper who advocates against the stereotyp-ing of Asians.
An Wang.An inventor and pioneer in technology who founded Wang Laboratories that employed 30,000 people.
Maya Lin. Artist who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Wash-ington D.C., which is considered one of the most influential war memorials post World War II.

CONTRIBUTORS Thank you to the following advisors and

teachers for contributing to this page: ■ Elizabeth Knapp, CNEC
■ May Moua, CW
■ Debbie Parra, CIA ■ Laura Quall, CNEC
■ Saul Salinas, Coordinator Community Relations
■ Lili Wong, CW ■ Boa Xiong, REC
■ Dr. Vicky Xiong, CHS, BHS

Clubs provide students with belonging, shared goals

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Every high school has different clubs that students can join to feel a sense of belonging or purpose and around some common goals. Asian Clubs are one of these. Asian Club is an actual club name at Buchanan High, Clovis High and Clovis East High. Other affinity clubs around the district are named after specific Asian groups such as Filipino Club, Korean Club, Chinese Club, K-Force Club, K-Pop Club, Anime Club, Japanese Club and Southeast Asian Club, just to name a few. The purposes of these clubs are to promote school spirit and provide social and leadership activities to take place as these students learn and mature into young adults. Students volunteer in the community and do outreach activities to promote the rich Asian cultures as they share about the arts, history, music, dance, and food and games with members and the school community. Students also come together to unify and learn about how similar we all are no matter what ethnicity we are.

There are many benefits for joining any clubs on campus, however, by joining Asian clubs, stu-dents will develop leadership skills and make an
impact on their school as well as the community. Be-coming an active club member also benefits you greatly and makes you stand out on your resume and college applications. It prepares you to be a leader in life. Club members also develop life-long friends and build net-work of like-minded people to support a unified vision.

Vicky Xiong, Buchanan and Clovis high school Hmong teacher and club advisor

Being both the Chinese teacher and advisor for Chinese Club, I have always wanted to bring awareness of Chinese history's rich cultural
heritages to the students and the community. To demonstrate these Chinese traditions, I have organ-ized students to perform various art dances such as the “Lion Dance,” “Ribbon Dance,” “Umbrella Dance,” “Peacock Dance,” and “Tai-Chi Fan Dance.” The stu-dent dancers put in countless hours of practice after school and on the weekends in addition to their busy schedules.”
Lili Wong, Clovis West High Chinese teacher, club advisor

Clovis North Educational Center Asian Club is unique. The members are comprised of students from both Granite Ridge Intermediate School
and Clovis High School. The purpose of the CNEC Asian Club is to focus on the beautiful cultures of all the Asian ethnicities. They embrace these cultures proudly and learn all about them. Everyone is invited to join the club. Some people might think that they cannot be in-volved if they are not Asian, but that is not true. Students feel more connected at school from being in such a posi-tive atmosphere.

Laura Quall, Clovis North Educational Center English teacher, club advisor

Page 4	CUSD Today	December 2019

One threatening post could change your life forever

CUSD Today

Clovis Unified has joined local law enforcement agen-cies and school districts to create a Public Service An-nouncement designed to raise awareness among teenagers about the impact and con-sequences of making or shar-ing a threatening post on so-cial media.
Last year, in the span of one week, five local high school students were arrested

after posting threatening im-ages to social media sites.
The lives of these students and their families were changed forever after a single post. It’s a situation that has unfortunately played out with too great of frequency across the Valley and nation in the past years.

The 30-second PSA is air-ing on local media and social media channels. It is spon-sored by Clovis, Fresno, Cen-tral and Sanger unified school districts, Fresno County Su-perintendent of Schools, Fres-no County Sheriff’s Depart-ment and Clovis Unified and Clovis police departments.

The agencies are commit-ted to continuing to educate students about the risks posed by irresponsible use of the Internet. Parents are encour-aged to join in raising aware-ness and to be a part of proac-tive efforts to help youth use their social media accounts in a safe and responsible way.

Board in process of updating policies

By Kelly Avants, A.P.R. Chief Communication Officer

Nov. 13
At the start of the Nov. 13 Clovis Unified Governing Board meeting, the board in-vited Judge Stan Boone to administer the Oath of Office to newly appointed board member Hugh Awtrey. Aw-trey was appointed by the board at their Oct. 23 meeting to fill the remainder of the term vacated by the resigna-tion of Area Four Trustee Brian Heryford who moved out of state.
Members had earlier in the day held a study session in an on-going review of the district’s Board Policies. The study session allowed mem-bers to discuss proposed re-visions and renumbering of six policies that will appear

➤ BOARD BRIEFS

for action at a future meeting related to the requirements of the Governing Board.          of the Williams Lawsuit Set-
In other action, the board: tlement.
■ Approved all conference	■ Authorized the purchase requests, fundraisers, student of musical instruments via trips, voluntary community piggyback from Fresno Uni-recreation programs, change fied RFP 19-24.
orders, notices of completion,         ■ Authorized an agree-and the sale or disposal of ment with Fresno State’s Kre-surplus equipment as sub- men School of Education to mitted.                                      provide support for Clovis ■ Authorized an agree- Unified classified employees ment with Goodfellow Oc- in attaining teaching creden-
cupational Therapy to pro- tials.
vide educationally related oc-	■ Authorized an agree-cupational therapy and serv- ment with TerraVerde for ices to students with special month-to-month services re-needs as described in their garding management and individualized education oversight of the district’s solar plans.                                        project.
■ Accepted the first quar-	■ Authorized the submis-ter report of zero complaints sion of an application for

grant funds to offset the cost of purchasing compressed natural gas buses to replace buses dating from the 1990s. ■ Approved a variable term waiver request for a cre-dentialed teacher in order to provide time to complete ad-ditional specialized course-
work.
■ Adopted New Board Policies No. 1000 – Concepts and Roles in Community Re-lations, 1150 – Commenda-tions and Awards, 4156.2 – Awards and Recognitions, and 5126 – Awards for Achievement.
q
The next regularly sched-uled meeting of the Governing Board is Dec. 18. The public portion of the meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. Complete minutes, agendas and videos of meetings are available online at www.cusd.com.

Clever from
(secondary)
VISION

December 2019	CUSD Today	Page 5

We’re aiming to be No. 1 in student math scores

By Eimear O’Farrell, Ed.D. Superintendent

FOR four years in a row we have been No. 2 in the state … and

we want to be No. 1!
And I’m not talking	about band or football. I’m talking about math scores.
Each year Cal-
ifornia assesses	Eimear O’Farrell, students on Eng-             Ed.D.
lish Language Arts
and mathematics in grades three through eight and 11. And since the state implemented its most recent assessment model, Clovis Unified’s results have landed us at the top of the list of California’s largest public school systems in English Language Arts (ELA), and second in mathematics. And we aren’t happy about it.
Why? Because we want to be first in both ELA and math.
I won’t apologize for wanting to be No. 1, especially when talking about the academic achievement of our students. Our kids need us to be focused and attentive to improv-ing their ability to achieve mastery of math, and it’s what our commu-nity (rightfully) expects. In fact, the first aim of our strategic plan is to Maximize Achievement for ALL students, and the word‘ALL’ is cap-italized for a reason.
If we are shooting for every child to be successful… and we are… then our goal is 100%. Even in Eng-lish Language Arts, where we are No. 1 of the state’s large public school systems, we still fall short of a perfect 100.
With this ambitious but justifi-able goal in mind, our educational team is laser focused on math in-struction, and building fundamental skills and understanding of math much earlier in the educational process than ever before. (You can read more about this work in the column by Geoffrey Dean also on this page.)

In addition to our students, we students move beyond simply mem- Cedarwood Elementary.While talk-have been exploring many ways to orizing steps of addition and sub- ing with a group of excited (and educate our parent community traction problems (like “carrying excitable) kindergarten students, I about this shift. For example, our the one” in a multi-digit addition asked them what was their ‘favorite parent math education nights, like problem) to understanding the math thing about school.’ I was thrilled the one hosted by the second-grade fundamentals driving those steps. to hear over half the class reply with teaching team at Gettysburg Ele-	We’ve also started using new di- an enthusiastic “My favorite thing mentary earlier this fall. The event agnostic and assessment tools to about school is math!”
was designed to help parents increase help our students get excited about	Specifically, the kids were talking their understanding of how class- math. I recently saw this in action about iReady Math, an online di-room activities and homework as- while on one of my school sites agnostic tool that we are using in signments have changed to help visits in a kindergarten class at elementary classrooms this year. The

Lessons

,
INSPIRATIONS BY FOR AND FROM OUR CUSD STUDENTS

Photo special to CUSD Today by Ron Webb. Across the district, there is a concentrated effort to grow students’ confidence in math skills by creating a pos-itive learning environment and providing a deeper level of understanding and reason. Here Jefferson Ele-mentary GIS Aman Athwal uses string and tiles as manipulatives to help explain fractions.

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

ALBERT EINSTEIN, PHYSICIST

program, piloted by several of our schools over the past 18 months with great success, supports the classroom teacher by providing an individualized series of reinforce-ments and assessments for students based on their individual areas of weakness (identified through diag-nostic assessments in class). iReady, as the name implies, is delivered using an iPad and games designed to reinforce math concepts and re-port to the teacher the areas where students may need re-teaching or additional instruction. In our schools where iReady was piloted, we saw significant gains in students’ per-formance on math assessments, and we saw students far less intimidated by what can sometimes be a con-fusing and frustrating part of learn-ing.
As students spend time working in iReady, teachers can evaluate their progress, while continuing to move forward with whole class instruction. Teachers are also able to see if a student continues to struggle with a math concept, and as a result adjust their small group or one-on-one teaching to ensure students achieve mastery. The beauty of this instructional tool is that it engages the students in all these critical learning experiences through en-tertaining game-like activities that the students LOVE, and are enthu-siastic to continue at home, where parents can readily see their children learning the fundamental concepts of math.
I’m positive that’s why my little kindergarten friends at Cedarwood were so excited about math, and as the leader of a group of educators seeking to elevate mathematics, it is extremely gratifying to see our youngest students so enthusiastic and motivated around this subject. I left Cedarwood Elementary ex-cited for all our students, whom I believe are on track to see even more success in their own knowledge of math.And, I left excited thinking that the No. 1 spot that has been elusive the last four years may soon be within our grasp, for all the right
reasons!

Parents are an important part of equation for math success

Editor’s note: This month’s 2 Minutes Today, the video blog emailed to Clovis Unified parents and guardians, discusses strategies on how parents can help students with math. The following is an excerpt from comments in the video by Geoffrey Dean, the guidance instruction specialist from Temperance-Kutner Elementary who spent 15 years as a teacher at Clovis High and six years as a teacher on special assignment working with math curriculum.

By Geoffrey Dean Temperance-Kutner Elementary

Helping your student with math can seem like a daunting task.With evolving strategies designed to help students have a deeper understanding of math, math instruction may look a little different than what parents experienced growing up.
Teaching strategies now go beyond memorization and math facts to develop a deeper understanding of the principles
of math. Here are some suggestions for parents to help their students tackle their math homework today.

Stay positive
Think about what you’re doing and saying when you’re helping your student, not always whether you know the math that they’re learning.
Your kids are going to pick up on your enthusiasm or lack of enthusiasm when it comes to math.You really have two options. You can either say, “Well, this isn’t the way that I learned it,” or you can say, “Huh, that’s interesting. It’s new.” If you dread math time, your student may grow to as well. So instead of saying, “That’s not how I learned it,” try saying “Show me the cool, new thing that you learned.” Kids get excited that they know something their parents don’t know, and they get excited about sharing. When they know you are interested in the math they learn, they’re more likely to start coming home saying, “Hey guess what we did today? Did you know that you could do math this way?”

Don’t rush
Faster isn’t always better. Memorizing something isn’t the same as understanding it. If I don’t understand concepts, and all I have is memorized facts or steps, I will get stuck the moment I forget one of the things I thought I had memorized. Understanding allows me to find an alternate approach or problem solve my way around where I got stuck. Breaking down what’s going on, slowing things down a little bit, making sure your student has a good understanding of what’s happening will allow your child to have a better understanding of math.

Who is holding the pencil?
When working with your student be aware of who holds that pencil. The person holding the pencil, is typically the one doing the work, which means they’re the one doing the thinking, and therefore the one doing the learning. That should be your student. Let them explore and work it out as you ask questions or suggest strategies or approaches.

Class participation
As parents, encourage your students to be brave about sharing their ideas in class.As they’re sharing, their under-standing is going to grow. It’s similar to holding the pencil. As they ask questions and share their thinking, they are more likely trying to process and understand on a much deeper level.

Connect online
In Clovis Unified, there are online resources that have been developed to help students understand concepts and explore math instructions. Help
➤
ONLINE
RESOURCES:
your student use these valuable tools by going online together to see what is available. These are
designed to be easy to navigate.	nAccess through For elementary school level,

the student tab
on CUSD.com
(elementary)
n
Mathhelp.
cusd.com
math resources can be accessed through Clever. Go to cusd.com and you will find Clever under the student tab on the homepage. In addition to parent newsletters that inform you of what your
child is working on, students and
parents can check out several	nMath.cusd.com

grade-level resources. There are
opportunities for instruction and opportunities to play learning games that help solidify understanding.
At our secondary level, Clovis Unified has a website that we’ve created at mathhelp.cusd.com. We have a variety of math resources, where we’ve put together videos by teachers and other resources to support students and parents.
Math plays an important role in learning, and it is im-portant parents join with teachers in being positive and supportive about it.
Today, we’re preparing kids for jobs and positions that don’t even exist yet. What we do know is that the benefits of math – problem solving, coming up with new ways of doing things, and working together – are going to be very important. Together, we can equip our kids with the skills they need for that type of world.

— ABOUT US —

CUSD Today, Clovis Unified’s good news publication, is published each month except for July and is sent directly to the homes of all CUSD parents and staff, as well as district supporters. In an effort to unify the CUSD community, the newspaper highlights the achieve-ments of Clovis Unified students and staff; profiles new and updated Governing Board policies; and shares general news and information happening within the district.
Circulation: 34,000.
Funding:Costs associated with producing, printing and mailing CUSD Todayare funded by our advertisers. To show your appreciation of their support, we ask you to consider patronizing these businesses and services as the need arises.
Story submissions: Please submit all ideas to the Site Coordinator at your school. Please contact your school to find out who your Site Coordinator is. Edi-torial deadlines are two weeks before the publication date.We do our best to include as many submissions in each issue as our editorial space will allow.

CUSD Today Staff

Publishing & Editorial Clovis Unified School District 1450 Herndon Avenue Clovis, CA 93611 Telephone (559) 327-9094 Fax (559) 327-9109 cusdtoday@cusd.com Kelly Avants, APR
Chief Communication Officer
327-9092 Patti J. Lippert Managing Editor
327-9094 Sara Almaraz
Advertising Specialist 327-9095 Verna Garcia
Graphic Designer 224-9711

CUSD Governing Board

D
Christopher Casado                 Steven G. Fogg, M. .                    Hugh H.Awtrey Vice-President                                 Clerk                                     437-6580
908-9953	269-7000

Susan Hatmaker	Ginny L. Hovsepian Elizabeth J. Sandoval Tiffany Stoker Madsen 288-2743                          434-8272	291-7564	392-1014

CUSD Administration

Eimear O’Farrell, Ed.D.	Don Ulrich, Ed.D. Superintendent                                               Deputy Superintendent
327-9100	327-9107

Norm Anderson                        Barry Jager                         Michael Johnston Associate Superintendent,          Associate Superintendent,            Associate Superintendent,
School Leadership	Human Resources and	Administrative Services 327-9350                             Employee Relations                              327-9110
327-9308

EMPLOYEE CONNECTION

Page 6	CUSD Today	December 2019

Crystals: The awards program will be held on Feb. 26

FROM PAGE ONE
go above what is expected and have a passion for helping kids. They are innovative and resourceful, and often quite humble. They are beyond deserving of this award, and we are excited to celebrate them for inspiring all of us to achieve excellence.”
The recipients were nominated by their peers and found by a panel of judges com-prised of CUSD employees to be the best among the best in terms of modeling Clovis Unified’s core values and aims. Throughout November and December the winners were surprised at their work sites with the cele-bratory news as co-workers and family offered cheers, flowers, balloons and hugs. Each winner will receive a $500 grant that can be used for something of their choosing at their school or work site. They will also have their name added on a brick in the Employee Walk of Fame located in the courtyard by the Governing Board-
room.

The Crystals will be held Feb. 26 at the Performing Arts Center and is open to the public.
Tickets are not required and there is no charge.A reception begins at 6:30 p.m. with the awards program starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall.
Congratulations to the following Crystal Award recipients!
■ Sandy Baty, Library Tech, Century El-ementary
■ Kelly Bettencourt, Teacher, Buchanan High
■ Karen Boone, Learning Director, Clovis West High
■ Jesse Ceron, School Resource Officer I, Kastner Intermediate
■ Derrick Davis, Teacher, Clovis East High
■ Kathleen DeLuca, Teacher, Fancher Creek Elementary
■ Dina Emerzian, Teacher SDC, Pinedale Elementary

■ Gary Foster,Building Automation Sys-tems (BAS) Analyst II, Facilities De-partment
■ Heather Fullbright, Campus Catering Supervisor I, Miramonte Elementary ■ Karen Gonzales, Teacher, Fort Wash-
ington Elementary
■ Jennifer Johnson, School Office Su-pervisor, Red Bank Elementary
■ Sherri Johnson, Teacher, Cole Elemen-tary
■ Kevin Kerney, Principal, Reagan Edu-cational Center
■ Ray Lassor,Vehicle Mechanic II, Sierra Outdoor School
■ Kristy LeBoeuf, Campus Catering Su-pervisor II, Clovis West High
■ Jennifer Mau, Senior GIS/Resource Teacher, Nelson Elementary
■ Andrea Melton, Campus Club Lead Instructor II, Child Development
■ Danny Munster, Transition Specialist, Clovis West High

■ Jeri Olson, Teacher, Clovis East High ■ Sally Palermo, Senior Administrative Assistant, Curriculum, Instruction and
Accountability
■ Stephanie Patterson, Teacher, Liberty Elementary
■ Crystal Rodriguez,Guidance Learning Specialist, Clovis Adult Education
■ Ella Shasky, Resource Specialist, Dry Creek Elementary
■ Jose Vargas,Assistant Director of Bands, Clovis North Educational Center
■ Manuel Vigil, Lead Custodian, Clovis East High
■ Erin Waer, Principal, Boris Elemen-tary
■ Steve Ward, Legislative Analyst, Su-perintendent's Office
■ Erika Whitney, Preschool Program Su-pervisor, Child Development
■ Christine Williams,Teacher, Mountain View Elementary
■ David Williams, Teacher, Gateway High

➤ EMPLOYEE BRIEFS

SDC teacher wins award
Clovis Unified special education teacher Christian Parra was named as the 2019 Ed-ucator of the Year by the Down Syndrome Association of Central California. The award was presented at the “Step Up for Down Syndrome” event held in October at the Clovis Rodeo Grounds. Parra teaches the Functional Life Skills class in the Clovis Adult Transition Program.
He was nominated by a member of the DSACC and chosen by a panel of judges as this year’s recipient.
“A major part of my job is to help my student’s develop independent living skills. This is something many of us take for grant-ed. Each student has different needs and goals, but when I see one of them accomplish something they haven’t been able to do in the past, I feel a sense of accomplishment,” Parra said.
The award is especially meaningful, Parra said because his brother-in-law has Down Syndrome and the two are very close.“It is pretty cool to receive an award from such a great organization that supports him and many other wonderful individuals.”
Parra is in his third year teaching and said he is grateful for the support of his fellow teachers, program specialists and ad-ministrators.“I can’t imagine working any-where else,” he said.“Sic ‘em!”

BHS art teacher honored Buchanan High art teacher Jeff Nichols

earned recognition by U.S. Congressman Devin Nunes for Nichols’ work with student artists. Nichols, who has taught for more than 20 years, has had numerous students become Congressional Art winners whose works were then displayed in Congress’

Cannon Tunnel of the the U.S. Capitol for one year in Washington, D.C. The tunnel is a highly traveled access point to the Capitol by members of Congress and thousands of tourists each day.
Nunes said many of his district winners have come from Nichols’ class.“I congratulate [him] for his students’ success and for his efforts to provide Central Valley students with the opportunity to have their hard work celebrated.”

CUSD teachers honored
Clovis Unified has several Region 7 finalists for the California League of Schools Educator
of the Year award. Congratulations to: Elementary finalists:
■ Dora Briseno, Tarpey
■ Christina Foster, Red Bank
■ Stephanie Macias, Mickey Cox ■ Stephanie Patterson, Liberty
■ Amy Rios, Mountain View ■ Kristi Vincent, Valley Oak Intermediate finalists:
■ Kim Blasingame, Reyburn ■ Rick Eoff, Clark
■ Anukina Garrison, Kastner ■ Robin Ingram,Alta Sierra
■ Brianna Moreno, Granite Ridge High School finalists:
■ Alexandra Gilroy-Golden, Clovis East ■ Derek Kisling, Clovis West
■ Lisa Martucci, Gateway ■ Dan Pearce, Buchanan ■ Cassidy Salinas, Clovis
■ Lavinia Terra, Clovis North
Liberty Elementary teacher Stephanie Patterson and Clovis West teacher Derek Kisling were announced as regional winners advancing to the state competition. The middle school winner had not yet been an-nounced by press time.

Photo special to CUSD Today. CUSD Plant Operations Director Chris Petty congratulates employees recognized for their out-standing work during the previous school year.

Plant Operations recognizes top employees with excellence award

Clovis Unified Plant Op-     who take pride in their work, East; Dione Magnanao, Cus-erations recognized two top     are helpful in working with todial Utility Worker; Lee employees for the 2018-19     others and are willing to do Chang, Custodian 1; Rick school year with the David     what is needed to get a job Sinor, Building Maintenance E. Cook Award of Excellence. done.                                        Mechanic II- Plumber; and Mickey Cox Plant Super-          Additional awards pre- Matt Wittenborn, Building visor Bob Fox and Clovis     sented were:                              Maintenance Mechanic II-
North Plant Supervisor Jose	Golden Key Award – “Un- Electrician.
Sanchez – who have both     sung Hero Award” (selected	Team Player Award (Se-worked for the district for     by supervisors)                       lected by peers)
32 years – received the honor         Charlene Pimentel, Ele-         Cheng Vang, Elementary at a recent event.                       mentary Custodian 2; Juan Custodial Small equipment Employees are nominated     Zavala, Elementary Plant Su- mechanic; Zoua Xiong, Cus-
for the award based upon     pervisor at Riverview Ele- todian 1- Secondary Division; their outstanding effort, at-     mentary; Demetrio Cisneros, Lacey Wolf, Work Con -titude, attendance and per-     Skilled Groundskeeper- Ar- trol/Grounds Secretary 1; and formance. Fox and Sanchez     borist;	Joshua	Cooke, Harold Ikuma, Maintenance both are seen as employees     Groundskeeper 2 at Clovis Procurement Clerk.

NowOpeninOldTownClovis

Photo special to CUSD Today. The 70-plus member Transition Team won a CSBA Golden Bell Award, which was presented in December at a conference in San Diego.

Golden: Award promotes excellence

FROM PAGE ONE                   offices of education through- the recipients were an-     address students’ changing by both Clovis Unified and     out California. The panel re- nounced.                                   needs and offer an opportu-the entire state.”                        viewed written entries and         The award promotes ex- nity for other districts to The Golden Bell Award is     made the initial recommen- cellence in education and     learn from and replicate in
decided by a judging panel     dations for the awards. On- school board governance by     some form.
made up of experts from     site validators then assessed recognizing those innovative	Details: https: //gb.csba. school districts and county     the programs in action before programs that successfully     org/.

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AROUND

December 2019

THE DISTRICT

CUSD Today	Page 7

Photo special to CUSD Today. A local fitness group donated clothes and shoes to Temperance-Kutner, delivering them by putting the items in rucksacks and jogging to the school.
Donations march to TK
Temperance-Kutner Elementary received a special gift to“Cathy’s Closet,” which is a closet on campus filled with donated clothing items handed out to students and families as needed.
The donors were a group of local adventurers – a part of Team Jab – who have a heart to help others while also getting an intense workout. They met in Old Town Clovis, packed rucksacks heavy with donated shoes and clothes they had collected, and then jogged the roughly 7 miles to Temperance-Kutner Elementary.
Temperance-Kutner first-grade teacher Kari Smith is part of the group that has been doing “Giveback Rucks” since 2010 as part of a bootcamp fitness program, and the tradition has carried on.
“Every year we keep our eyes and ears open for oppor-tunities to help, we collect funds, go shopping and reach out to those in our network to donate items,” Smith said.
“We get up before the sun, find a place to meet, pack as much as we can on our bodies and ruck the items to the re-cipients. We like to think of ourselves as just a bunch of ‘crazies,’ often wearing boots and camouflage, walking around delivering holiday joy.”

CE student gets medal
Clovis East High sophomore Alexander Degen was pre-sented the Congressional Bronze Medal of Service and Vol-unteerism recently for his work fundraising with Toys for Tots and the NC Hospitality House. Also acknowledged was his membership in the Junior Western Regional Honors Orchestra in North Carolina and his geology expedition of Mount St. Helens.

CN student promotes STEM
Clovis North High senior Aimee Xu was selected by the Society of Women engineers as one of five young women to receive the Global Innovator Award for her work in pro-moting STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) principles in the community. The award recognizes young women helping to share the future of STEM.

Medical interest celebrated

Photo special to CUSD Today. Students in honors science classes as Clark Intermediate take part in a mapping scavenger hunt during an event at Clovis City Hall in November.

Clark science classes attend geography awareness event at Clovis City Hall

Clark Intermediate teacher Elizabeth Davidson took firefighters and garbage collection service providers. To two of her honors science classes to Geography Awareness engage participants, a “Mapquest” or scavenger hunt Week in November held at the Clovis Civic Center and was held, tasking students to answer questions about Clovis Police and Fire Departments. The goal of the different maps of the city and surrounding area.
event was to educate attendees about Geographic Infor-         “I learned that GIS is a mapping system that a whle mation Systems or GIS.                                                         lot of people that work in the city use,” said student Students saw how the GIS system was used by many Alise Dodd. The school plans to make the field trip an
city workers including city planners, law enforcement, annual event as part of its science curriculum.

minute to move through the bleachers collecting donations	by the amphitheater where they were treated to a variety of for the Susan G. Komen Foundation; more than $250 was	entertainment and foods from different cultures. collected.                                                                                        Multicultural performances were performed by Clovis
Cougar strong
East Percussion and Color Guard, Freedom Folklorico Dancers, Hmong Dancers, Polynesian Dancrs and Line Dancers.
Ethnic food, including Mexican, Chinese and Indian, were available from food trucks as well as traditional foods such as corn dogs, ice cream, lemonade and garlic fries.
“It was a great evening of celebrating and having fun,” said Freedom teacher Patricia Bernardi.

Clovis North High sophomore student Mannat Gillearned the Congress of Future Medical Leaders Award of Excellence re-cently. The award celebrates her accom-plishments in the pre-medical field.

CW goes pink
Clovis West held its annual Pink Out Game to support the fight against breast cancer. The event featured an ap-pearance by Fresno Acura’s #PinkCar that makes donations for every signature placed on the car. There was also the Miracle Minute in which leadership students had one

Patriots Day

Photo special to CUSD Today. On the anniversary of 9/11, Tarpey Elementary leadership students brought treats to Clovis Fire Station No. 2 – lo-cated a few blocks downVilla Avenue from the Clovis Uni-fied school – as a way to thank first responders for all that they do. The student body also held a special salute in the morning in which members of the school community who are in the military or are first responders were invited to attend and be recognized.

Photo special to CUSD Today. The Clovis High Area Transition Program hosted 51 sixth-grade students from its feeder schools to attend the Clovis High homecoming game. Students enjoyed dinner, a team-building activity and walked in the pre-game parade, representing their school. The event, designed to connect the students and build Cougar pride, has become a beloved tradition of the Clovis HighArea Transition Program.

Military donation drive at Buchanan Buchanan High is hosting a donation drive this month

for local U.S. military members who will be deployed over the holidays. The Activities Office is collecting non-perishable foods, card games, movies and puzzle books.

Photo special to CUSD Today. Freedom Elementary held Taste of Freedom, a multicultural evening event attended by students and families that included entertainment and food.

Taste of Freedom
Freedom Elementary began a new tradition when it hosted its first Taste of Freedom multicultural event during an October evening. Students, families and friends gathered

Photo special to CUSD Today by Gary Simmons. Reyburn choir joins ‘Masters’
In November, Reyburn Intermediate’s Chamber Choir sang with the Fresno Master Chorale in a concert featuring Dan Forrest’s “Jubilate Deo” and Ola Gjeilo’s “Sunrise Mass” at the Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall.
The two pieces of work are by contemporary composers, both born in 1978, who are making their mark in the music world by composing pieces that moves listeners with sonorities that inspire hope, joy, consolation and peace. Reyburn’s Chamber Choir is under the direction of Allison Crose.

Cedarwood succeeds at Socktober
Fifth-graders in Room 21 at Cedarwood Elementary recently had a lesson on finding ways to give back to the community and organized “Socktober” in which they held a drive for donations of socks, blankets, jackets, beanies, scarves and gloves to be donated to those in need through the Fresno Poverello House. More than 600 items were collected.
Teacher Katelyn Peterson was proud of her students’ giving spirit.
“In doing this event, I have witnessed firsthand evidence of children working together for a cause that is much bigger than themselves. This event empowers them to create change and the students realize that even a small act of kindness can have a lasting impact,” Peterson said.

Page 8	CUSD Today	December 2019

Clovis West teacher writes inspiring children’s book

By Joy Manion Special to CUSD Today

A little girl stands in front of a mirror wearing an orange and black striped jacket. In her reflection, she doesn’t see
her stretch marks or imper-fections, but a strong and fierce tiger.
The girl is the main char-acter of the children’s book “Tiger Livy,” written by Clovis West High English teacher Erin Garcia and illustrated by Clovis North High student Ivreese Tong. It was released earlier this year and follows the story of a young girl who tackles living with an autoimmune disease.
The book is inspired by Garcia’s
niece, Livy, who was diagnosed at 5 years old with a rare autoimmune disease called juvenile dermatomyositis. Known as JM, the disease causes skin rashes and muscle inflammation that results in weak muscles. It can be mild or life threatening.
The real-life Livy loves being Tiger-Livy and has become a celebrity in the JM com-munity. She identifies with a tiger because her stretch marks caused by her medication remind her of tiger stripes. The character Livy in the book can be seen with these same stretch marks while wearing her sig-nature tiger-striped jacket.
“Tiger Livy” is thought to be the first children’s book to feature a main character with JM, and it explores the mental, physical and emotional challenge that comes along with the disease.
Garcia and Tong worked with Livy’s family and doctors to accurately depict the

life of a child living with JM. These same doctors and family members even make an appearance in the book. The story deals not only with the pain of the disease, but also empathy by others and
how this leads to the path of healing.
The book took about nine months to create from start to finish. Garcia came up with the idea of the book in the summer of 2018 and began writing when school started in the fall. Tong joined the part-nership in November after she went through an in-terview process to be se-
lected as the illustrator. Garcia said she’s always loved writing
but thought that calling herself an author was a far-fetched idea. Reading and writing are her passions that ultimately drove her to write her first book.
The idea for “Tiger Livy” emerged from the many memories of hospital trips she had to take for her older brother’s medical needs.When her niece Livy began treatments for JM, these memories resurfaced and she wanted to use her experience to help Livy and all the children like her. During the initial development of the book, Garcia said it was the JM community’s “enthusiasm that drowned out that little voice of doubt that sometimes creeps in and told [me] negative things.”
Just as the character Livy wanders through the lush jungle of her imagination gaining strength as she pretends to be a tiger, Garcia said it takes strength and perseverance of others to support those who aren’t as for-

Photo special to CUSD Today by Ron Webb. Clovis West High teacher Erin Garcia, right, wrote a book in honor of her niece Livy, center, and illustrated by Clovis North High student Ivereese Tong, left. The book is about the courage a young girl finds as she navigates juvenile dermatomyositis, a rare autoimmune disease.

tunate to have good health.                               spiration from the artistic styles of other “Everyone has a role in helping people     animation. She said she felt supported heal from illness. If you’re blessed enough     through the project and gained a sharper to have your health, make sure you are     eye for consistency in her artwork and always kind to your neighbors. I just hope     insight into the professional world of illus-
that we can all be patient with people who	tration.
are undergoing the process of healing.”                 “Tiger Livy” is available locally at Petunia’s For Tong, who in her early teenage years     Place,Vivily Vintage & Handmade or online has now created illustrations for a book,     through Amazon. The Spanish translation called the project exciting.                                will become available this month, in time “It’s amazing knowing that this book     for the holidays. More than 800 books have may be a source of encouragement to many     been ordered and proceeds raised from the people,” she said. Tong used photos of Livy     book will go toward Cure JM Foundation, and her family and friends to be inspired     a non-profit group dedicated to JM research
for her artwork, as well as looking for in-	and education.

➤ ANNOUNCEMENTS

each event.
The workshops are 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
CUSD holiday closures	Dinner and childcare are offered for Clovis Unified schools will be closed

and include the following:
■
“Parenting in Paradise,” Jan. 14
Dec. 23 through Jan. 6 for Winter Break. The CUSD District Office at Herndon
24, 25 and Jan. 1.
Songs of the Season
and Sunnyside avenues will be closed Dec.		For more information or to RSVP, con-tact Krista Cortez in CUSD Supplemental Services at 327-0667 or kristacortez
The Clovis Community Band will team	@cusd.com.
up with the Clovis Community Choir to	Get involved!
Concert at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 15 at the Paul
perform Songs of the Season Holiday	CUSD’s Supplemental Services Depart-

Shaghoian Concert Hall, located on the
Clovis North Educational Center campus.
ment implements various categorical pro-grams and has meetings supporting those
Upcoming student
All meetings are held at the Clovis Unified
The concert is free. Details: www.clovis-	efforts. The public is invited to participate. Photo special to CUSD Today.	communityed.com.	Professional Learning Center, 362 N. Clovis
productions
CUSD Instructional Technology Coach Melissa Culver works with students, from left, Luke                                                                               Ave., #101, in Clovis. (Southwest corner Hartman,Amelia Hafen, Mckae Amundsen and Alina Khan using the new 3D printer.                                                                                        of Herndon and Clovis avenues, behind
Copper Hills receives STEM grant
ing productions that are open to the
■
“District English Learner Advisory
Clovis Unified’s students of the visual	In-N-Out.). Upcoming events include: and performing arts have various upcom-	Committee (DELAC), 9 to 11 a.m. Jan. 14

n
3D learning
project involves
“
This project has the
com/Events/Tickets.aspx.
“Matilda” – 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16-18 and
For more information, contact the De-
public. Tickets/details: https://www.cusd.     partment of Supplemental Services: Tam Tran, 327-0762 (for English); Rebecca Ro-
ed students
potential to impact students
Vang, 327-0673 (for Hmong).
Special Education
general and special	23-25 at the Mercedes Edwards Theatre.	driguez, 327-0668 (for Spanish); and Mary Buchanan High students will perform the

CUSD Today
for a liftime.
”
musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic
“CUSD World Cultures Dance Concert
Do you know of an individual in Clovis
children’s book of the same name. Tickets	Nominations accepted for Exceptional Copper Hills Elementary	— Melissa Culver	are $10 for students and $12 for adults.        Person Award
from the Toshiba America
High. Several dance groups within the
Nominations are being accepted Jan. 1
received a $2,000 STEM grant	CUSD Instructional Technology Coach	Dance Festival”– 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18 at the	Unified School District who is exceptional Foundation that will support     of the projects that have been power them to seek careers	Shaghoian Concert Hall at Clovis North	at helping students with special needs?
district will perform a variety of cultural
dances.
“Women and War” – 7:30 p.m. Jan.
30, 31, Feb. 1 and 6-8 at Dan Pessano
to March 6 for the Exceptional Person
Award presented by CUSD’s Special Edu-
cation Department. Families, students,
staff and volunteers may nominate a CUSD
a cross-collaborative learning     designed by their peers.	that utilize the skills housed project between general and	This cross-collaborative in these STEM lessons.” special ed students involving     learning environment is de-         Said Copper Hills Princi-3D design.                                 signed to build community pal Tami Graham, “Copper
ys.	this grant w ll have for our
Theater. Clovis West High students will
perform a collection of fictional narratives
based on historical facts of women’s en-
counter with war. Tickets are $8 for students
and $10 for adults.
Parent academies give
tools to help students
employee or volunteer in general education
or special education. Winners will be no-
tified by March 27 and an awards reception
will be held April 29.
Details: CUSD Family Resource Center
at 327-8455. The nomination can be ac-
cessed	online	at	https://tinyurl.c
om/ExPer19-20.
Called “3D GATE Collab-     and provides a true peer-rich Hills is thrilled to have this oration Serving Special Ed:     learning model of students opportunity to enhance Building Language Skills     teaching students.	STEM education with equip-Through Tactile Analysis and	“This project has the po- ment that inspires critical Peer Teaching,” the project     tential to impact students for thinking and imagination, grows sixth-grade students’ a lifetime. As we look at the which is needed for the com-understanding of 3D online     news today, we find that 3D plex 3D projects. We look design tools that lead to qual-     printers are used in so many forward to the positive impact
ity 3D prints. Participating
Academy workshops throughout the 2019-
20 school year at no cost to attendees.
The following upcoming workshop will
students will learn the process     waFor example, a surgeon students andithe potential to	Clovis Unified will offer four Parent	Upcoming Workshop of forming a 3D design that     just replaced the middle ear foster the interest of becom-
projects will print successfully.
that was constructed with a ventor.”
understanding and resources to support
Fore more information or to inquire about
is printable, as not all 3D     of a patient with a design ing a, next generation, in-        The workshops are designed to inform     be offered by the CUSD Special Education When the 3D prints are     3D printer. In the years to         Toshiba America Foun-        and empower parents with information,     Department’s Family Resource Center.
their student at home and at school.
All workshops are held at the Clovis
Unified Professional Learning Center, 362
N. Clovis Ave., #101, in Clovis. (Southwest
corner of Herndon and Clovis avenues,
behind In-N-Out.).
an interpreter, please call 327-8455.
■
“Autism Spectrum Disorder – Parent
Implemented Interventions,” 6:30 to 8:30
p.m. Jan 21, PDB, 1680 David E. Cook
Way, Clovis. Free. RSVP: https://tiny
url.com/CUSDautism.
complete, they will be shared     come kidneys and hearts will dation’s grants fund projects with Clovis Unified’s Special     be printed via 3D printers,” designed by individual class-Education Department. Spe-     said CUSD Instructional room teachers and supports cial education students will     Technology Coach Melissa equipment for hands-on ex-then have the opportunity     Culver. “Building curiosity periments and inquiry-based to explore science-rich lan-     and possibility in the minds approaches to the curricu-
Sounds
guage through tactile analysis     of small children could em- lum. of CUSD Band Night

Photos by Ron Webb All Clovis Unified high school and intermediate school bands recently came together to share their talent at CUSD Band Night.

December 2019	CUSD Today	Page 9

Page 10	CUSD Today	December 2019

®

December 2019	CUSD Today	Page 11

CAE holds annual Multicultural Fair By Jo-Ann Beshansky
Clovis Adult Education

Clovis Adult Education’s English as a Second Language (ESL) Department of Clovis Adult Education hosted a Multi-cultural Fair recently. Staff, students and guests experienced a three-hour tour around the world, highlighted with an international buffet and a variety of mu-sical numbers from different countries. Special guests to the event were Assem-blyman Jim Patterson, his advisor and Clovis City Council Member Vong Mouanoutoua.Weldon Elementary Prin-cipal Ray Lozano attended with teacher Joann Barry and student leaders. Former CAE director Kevin Cookingham also attended.
While perusing the various displays and sampling the cuisine, high school students had a scavenger hunt activity where they had to ask students from participating countries questions about their culture. On that day, guests would call their friends, and their conversation would sound like this. “I am in Taiwan right now. I will meet you in India in about five minutes.” Or,“I am in El Sal-vador eating pupusas. I can see you in the Middle East. Please save me some Yemen tea and dolmas. Then, I’m headed to Ukraine for some olivier salad.”
These situations are only possible dur-ing CAE’s Multicultural Fair.
ESL students laid out their tables with historical artifacts and homemade cuisine. They represented the countries of Ar-menia, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, China, Tai-wan, the Philippines, Laos,Vietnam, Laos, India, Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Columbia, Spain, Guatemala,Venezuela, Lebanon,Yemen,Afghanistan, Syria and Egypt.
CAE Principal Ed Schmalzel emceed the event dressed in the traditional Ger-man lederhosen. He had everyone’s un-divided attention. He started with the Flag Salute, to the colorful performances including a flash mob dance from CAE staff and ESL students, until the finale where he invited everyone to join the group dance “We Are Family.”
The last number of the ESL Depart-ment encapsulated the theme of the Mul-ticultural Fair. Representing different cul-tures, the students and teachers sang and danced to “It’s a Small World.” It is, indeed, a small world, where everyone respects and accepts each other, regardless of race, culture, skin color, and religion. As one high school student said, “All these countries are just names in your head. Today, I feel like I’ve been there and experienced these countries. They are not just names in my head anymore. They’re real places.”And this was achieved in just three hours by all cultures coming together for a common goal.

Page 12	CUSD Today	December 2019