NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
FRESNO, CA
PERMIT NO. 220
Clovis Unified School District
1450 Herndon Ave.
Clovis, CA 93611
to school cafeterias

By Kellie Feramisco and P.J. Lippert CUSD Today

A robotics team that in-cludes several Clovis Unified students from Granite Ridge Intermediate and Clovis North High has been working on a secret project. They are one of four teams from around

Clovis Unified School District — WHERE CHARACTER COUNTS!

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November 2021 Volume 24, No. 4
TM               and at CUSD.COM

Bell schedule, dress code feedback guides proposals

Greatt Sportts!

Proposals regarding changes to two Clovis Unified policies will be available for the com-munity to review after Nov. 19 online at cusd.com.
Revised school start and stop times as well as adjustments to the district’s dress code will be the focus of a Governing Board workshop later
this	month. The board will receive a full re-port of the par-ent, student and staff feed-back gathered at     meetings held     at	all school sites this
fall, as well as comments submitted online. An internal task force of 50+ members has been processing the information along with the state requirements that prompted the need to change Clovis Unified’s bell schedule. State legislators passed a law to have later start times for intermediate and high schools effective fall 2022. A change to

secondary schools’ times, however, means changes to elementary schools since the dis-trict’s operational supports and transportation are connected.
Feedback from the community regarding elementary start time changes overwhelmingly indicated they preferred them moved earlier, before high schools start, rather than later.
Similar feedback and processing has also been occurring for the dress code, which was reviewed this year after students with Clovis Unified’s InterSchool Council asked for it to be looked at, especially in terms of leggings and enforcement. In the 117 school site meet-ings held this fall on the topic, stakeholders asked that some modifications be made to reflect current clothing styles available, in particular with leggings, frayed clothing and shorts.
Following the board’s study session work-shop, the findings and recommendations will be posted on cusd.com for review; an online comment form will also be available. The proposals are planned to be on the board’s agenda Dec. 10 for information and voted upon at its meeting in January.

CUSD wins Farm to Fork $272k grant

n Student-grown food coming

Clovis Unified student-grown produce, dried fruit and nut snacks may be served in cafeteria meals around the district this year thanks to a grant that allows Campus Catering and Clovis East High’s McFarlane-Coffman Ag Center to join forces.
Clovis Unified is a recipient of the 2021 California Farm to School Incubator Grants awarded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Office of Farm to Fork. The $272,580 award will fund training, equipment and materials needed to pave the way for the partnership.
“We’re thrilled for our kids having ‘farm to school’ foods to eat. You can’t get much fresher than this,” said Campus Catering Director Robert Schram. “We might get fruit picked in the morning from the ag farm that’s served for lunchtime that very same day.”
Steve Gambril, an ag teacher at Clovis East, pursued the grant as a way to continue enhancing his young farmers’ education. “The whole purpose of the Ag Center is to

teach everyone where our food comes from. This grant will allow our ag students the opportunity to see the final step in the process, where our food goes,” he said.“We’re really excited.”
To support this partnership, the district is developing a master procurement calendar and yearly farming schedule, investing in reusable crates to transfer fresh produce from the school farm to Campus Catering, and pursuing Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification for the Ag Center and safe food handlers’ certification for staff and students.
The district is also rebuilding the academic plant science pathway to facilitate student production and packaging of produce; pur-chase accompanying food production and packaging equipment for the Ag Center; and developing a new course in plant science and food safety.
Additionally, the district is creating an Ag Center marketing plan for direct sales from the school farm to an onsite farmers market and Community Supported Agri-culture program, and will educate students

➤ Please see Grant, Page 9

Photo special to CUSD Today by Kellie Feramisco. GIVING THEIR ALL: Hundreds of elementary school athletes competed in the Fall Elemen-tary School Championships for fall sports. Co-champions for football are Riverview, Dry Creek and Cedarwood elementary schools. Taking the volleyball championships was Woods Elementary. In cross country, Dry Creek runners dominated, earning team championships for 5th/6th grade girls, 4th grade boys and 4th grade girls; and Bud Rank Elementary won for 5th/6th grade boys. Congratulations to all participating athletes.We are so proud of your hard work and efforts!

SOCK IT TO DRUGS!

CUSD kids part of world robotics team nCan they move 100-ton truck using LEGOs?

Clovis Unified students and educators joined forces dur-ing the Red Ribbon Week anti-drug campaign to edu-cate and celebrate being drug, alcohol and nicotine free. This year’s theme was “Drug Free Looks Like Me,” and activities around the district included Liberty Ele-mentary’s “Be your Creative Self – Crazy Sock Day,” pic-tured, to Clovis North Edu-cational Center students in cowboy gear making a Tik-Tok video “giving drugs the boot!”Also during Red Rib-bon Week, all district high schools showed students a documentary about the local street fentanyl crisis that has taken the lives of several youth.See Page 5for more information and resources on this important topic.

Photo special to CUSD Today

the world selected by LEGO
and Volvo to collectively solve a mind-blowing challenge, and their story has been turned into a short film documentary.
LEGO recently released the film that features local robotics team Chaos Crew working virtually with robotics teams from Sweden, Nigeria and Japan.
The four teams’ challenge was to collaborate and design a prototype using only LEGO bricks and LEGO motors that could move a heavy equip-ment construction hauler – a Volvo A60H nick-named “The Beast” that weighs 43 tons – a distance of 50 meters. But to make it even more interesting, the bed of the huge truck was to be filled with

rocks, making for a total weight of 100 tons!
Together the teams had 35 students and it took them about four months to suc-cessfully achieve the results. They had to get creative not just with their ideas, but also on how to work together considering the members lived in different time zones.
“It was a fun project,” said Chaos Crew Coach Amal Alhadi.
Chaos Crew formed at Fugman Elementary when the students were in fourth and fifth grade. The students are now eighth- and ninth-graders at Granite Ridge Intermediate and Clovis North High. Team members are Ali Alhadi, Hamzah Ahmed, Devin Alacron, Kevin Chen, Maya Eldadah, Tyler Hankins, Ishween Kaur, Milla Lucido,Yousef Rahman.
In 2019, Chaos Crew won Runner Up at the FLL Global Innovation Awards, which is where the students caught the attention of LEGO head-

➤ Please see Robotics, Page 9

INSIDE:

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Conferences available for students Clovis Unified has opportunities for students to
r
participate in student leadership conferences each yea . Page 3

PATRIOTS DAY IN CUSD
Clark students make 9/11 connection Clark Intermediate leadership and drama teacher Jill Mele shared a film about one of the FDNY
firefighters who died that day. Page 6

SUPERINTENDENT’S MESSAGE
Beauty, life returning to campuses
The heartbeat of our district lies in our students, and in particular, the experiences that they have inside AND outside of our classrooms.Page 5

Page 2	CUSD Today	November 2021

November 2021	CUSD Today	Page 3 ‰ Announcements

Cultural presenta-tions that may in-clude dance and music have been part of Clovis Unified’s student leadership conferences.

CUSD Today file photo.

Conferences available for students

Clovis Unified has opportunities for	Leadership Middle School Conference, Feb. students to participate in student leadership	8, at the Clovis North Educational Center conferences each year. The district partners          ■ Officer Jesus Ceron Latino Student with the community in creating these cul-	Success Middle School Conference, March tural events where students can learn about	11, at Kastner Intermediate
themselves and one another.                               ■ CUSD Latino High School Student Conferences include keynote speakers     Success Conference, March 21, Clovis North
and professionals in the community dis-	Educational Center
cussing their experiences, answering ques-	Clovis Unified’s leadership conferences tions and providing information about     are open to all students regardless of race college and careers.                                        and ethnicity.
Upcoming conferences are:                             “Knowing each other’s culture and di-■ CUSD Asian Student Success Confer-     versity is important and can lead to better
ence, Dec. 1, at the Reagan Educational     understanding between students and our Center                                                           community,” CUSD Coordinator of Com-■ CUSD Transition Student Conference,     munity Relations Saul Salinas said. “It’s Jan. 25, at the Clovis Veterans Memorial     also vital students learn about paths to District                                                          success as they consider their futures after
■ Fresno County Superintendent of	high school.”
Schools African American High School	More information about conferences Student Leadership Conference, Feb. 1, on-     or how to sign up is available through the line                                                                district’s intermediate and high schools’
■ CUSD African American Student	counseling offices.

CUSD Today file photo. Keynote speakers address students, discussing their experiences growing up and sharing inspiring messages about the future.

Awards televised Nov. 21 Clovis Unified’s three

nominees for the annual Fresno County Superin-tendent of Schools Edu-cator of the Year Awards will be among those cel-ebrated in a televised event this month.
Sherri Johnson
Richard Delgado
Congratulations to Cole Elementary teacher Sherri Johnson (Teacher of the Year) and Clovis West High student rela-tions liaison Richard Del-gado (Employee of the Year) who are among the top-three finalists in their respective categories, and to former Clovis High Learning Director and new Principal of Boris Elementary Demetra Vin-cent-Walker for her nom-ination as Administrator of the Year.
During non-COVID
times, FCSS holds an
award gala, but this year	Demetra and last, the event was Vincent-Walker
moved to the half-hour television broad-cast.
The winners of each category for Fresno County will be announced during the FCSS Awards Ceremony that airs at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 21 on ABC30.

College financial aid window opens, workshops offered

Seniors planning on attending college in the fall of 2022 can submit their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and CADAA (California Dream Act Appli-cation) online. The application window opened in October and closes on March 2, 2022. Through these documents, students can learn if they are eligible for financial aid.
The FAFSA is not just for low income students and should be completed by ALL students planning to attend a community college for either a career certificate or transfer degree and by all students planning to attend a four-year university. The appli-cation will also be used for college scholarship information and many student athletes are asked to complete the application.
Schools have been holding online work-shops to assist families in completing the

FAFSA. Upcoming workshops are on the following dates: Buchanan High, Dec. 1 and Feb. 15; Clovis East High, Nov. 16; Clovis High, Nov. 17 and Dec. 13; Clovis North High, Feb. 22; Clovis West High, Dec. 9 and Feb. 15. Workshops begin at 6 p.m. and links are available through school counseling centers.
The FAFSA online application is available at https://fafsa.ed.gov.

‘Sound of Music’ at MET
Clovis East High’sWolfpack Drama pres-ents “The Sound of Music” on stage this month. The musical will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11-13 and 18-20 at Mercedes Edwards Theatre, 902 Fifth St., Clovis. All health and safety protocols will be followed.
Details and tickets: cloviseastwolfpackdrama.com

‘Christmas Carol’ in December Buchanan High’s Bear Stage Production will bring the holiday season to life as they perform “A Christmas Carol” in December. The play will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2-4 and 9-11 at the Dan Pessano Theater, 2770 E. International Ave., Fresno, located on the Clovis North High campus.All health

and safety protocols will be followed. Details: bearstage.org

CUSD holiday closures
Clovis Unified schools will be closed the week of Nov. 22 through 26 for Thanksgiving Break; and Dec. 20 through Jan. 3 for Winter Break. The CUSD District Office at Herndon and Sunnyside avenues will be closed Nov. 25 and 26, Dec. 24, 25 and Jan. 1.

SPECIAL EDUCATION Online webinar, Nov. 17

The following will be offered by the CUSD Special Education Department’s Fam-ily Resource Center. For more information or to inquire about an interpreter, 327-8455 or email familyresourcecenter@cusd.com. ■ “Sibling Support: Understanding the Sibling’s Perspective,” 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Nov. 17, online webinar. Free. This workshop is for parents of children with special needs and siblings ages 12 and older and will be presented by specialists with the California Sibling Leadership Network. The discussion will focus on what it means to be a sibling to someone with disabilities and special needs across the lifespan from early childhood to retirement. Register at: https://
tinyurl.com/FRCSibs11-17-21.

Page 4	CUSD Today	November 2021

Clovis Unified athletic greats enter CUSD Hall of Fame

CUSD Today

A three-time World Series baseball cham-pion, an Olympic gold medalist water polo coach and a national track record holder are among the Fifth Class of Inductees who recently entered Clovis Unified’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Seven individuals and two Clovis Unified teams were selected for the honor in 2020 from among hundreds of nominations profiling highly accomplished dis-trict athletes. But with the
COVID pandemic, the induction ceremony events were postponed and instead held last month. Inductees attended their home-town football game the night before the big event, and they were then celebrated at the Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Oct. 30 at the Shaghoian Concert Hall with on-stage interviews and video profiles of each honoree.
“Each inductee has an incredible story of hard work, determination and discipline as they pushed themselves to be the best they could be,” said Assistant Superintendent Steve France who oversees the event.“From their days attending our Clovis Unified schools to their rise as athletic greats, they have had amazing journeys. We are proud to be a part of their story.”
The athletes are part of the foundational sports legends upon which Clovis Unified has built and grown its athletic dynasty. The CUSD Athletic Hall of Fame serves to preserve the inductees’ important contri-butions to the district’s history and to inspire current student athletes to dream big.
Mark Gardner - Baseball Representing: 1980s
(Clovis High) Baseball sensation. Had a 24-5 record at Fresno State over two years as a starting pitcher. Drafted in the 8th round by the Montreal Expos. Played 13 seasons in the MLB. Won 11 or more games for the Giants four times and won the
World Series with the Giants three times. Terry Giffen - Water Polo
Representing: 1970s/80s/90s/2000s (Clovis High) Water Polo coach extra-

ordinaire. Played water polo at Clovis High. Coached 36 years at the high school level, includ-ing two at Clovis West High and 20 at Clovis High. Nine CIF Central Section Championships. 18 Conference Champi-
onships. Overall coaching record of 746-266-1.
Latrese Johnson-Moffitt - Track and Field Representing: 1980s
(Clovis High) Track standout.At Clovis High, was the 1985 National and State high jump champion, setting the Nation-
al record (6-2 ¾). 1984 and 1985 All-Amer-ican. Six-time NAIA National Champion at Azusa Pacific University. Her NAIA National record for outdoor high jump still stands (6-2 ¾).
Daniel Klatt - Water Polo Representing: 1990s
(Clovis West High) Water Polo player and coach. Was a two-time All-American at Clovis West. 1995 CIF MVP. AnAll-American at UC Irvine. Olympic gold medalist coach in 2012, 2016 and 2020.As coach
of UC Irvine’s women’s water polo team, has won 7 Big West regular season titles, made 6 NCAA appearances, and has been named Big West Coach of the Year 6 times. Rick Merlo - Water Polo Representing: 2000s
(Buchanan High) Water Polo Olympian. CIF	Champion	at Buchanan in 1997 and 2000. All League, All Section and All-Amer-ican in high school. Earned All-Conference and All-American hon-ors at UC Irvine. Mem-
ber of the 2008 Olympic Team that won the silver medal. Played professionally in Europe for three seasons.

➤ Please see Hall of Fame, Page 8

VISION

November 2021	CUSD Today	Page 5

Kids remain the heartbeat of our district

By Eimear O’Brien, Ed.D. Superintendent

THIS PAST week I was re-minded again that the heartbeat of our district lies

in our students, and in particular, the experiences that they have in-side AND out-side of our class-rooms.

Yes, the pan-
Ed.D.
demic continues	Eimear O’Brien, to present chal-
lenges unlike any we had seen be-fore March of 2020. Solutions for learning and behavioral interven-tions, staffing shortages, supply chain disruptions and the work associated with quarantines and contact tracing demand the wis-dom of Solomon. But, layered with these mountains to be climbed is the beauty and life that have re-turned to our school campuses.
The last week of October is All Clovis Week in our district. This weeklong celebration of high school rivalry harkens back to the days when there were only two high schools in CUSD, and the battle over – well, everything, be-tween the Clovis West Golden Ea-gles and the Clovis High Cougars was spirited and intense.
In addition to school-based ral-lies and competitions on campus that hype up end of the week-games, it is tradition at our district support complex to have each high school decorate the parking lot with blowups of their mascots and bring their drum lines, spirit teams or cheerleaders by to deliver a dis-play of school pride. Their absence last year was one of the painfully stark reminders of all that we worked hard to provide to students in virtual or drive-thru format that couldn’t quite compare (no

matter how hard our team worked)	Surrounded by their fellow musi-	tion of the value of connecting to the live, in-person version of	cians, wearing vibrant uniforms,	learning to students’ passions. education.	and drawing from their instrument          I see this truth again and again
To watch the face of a drummer	a sound that can be felt from your	around our campuses, whether in the midst of a “drum off” is to	head to your toes, our visiting	during a math or reading lesson see intensity and joy in action.	drumlines are a vivid demonstra-	in which a teacher taps into stu-

LESSONS

Inspirations by, for and from our CUSD students

Special to CUSD Today Dry Creek Elementary K-3 SDC student Damien adores his bus driver, Marty Streeter, pictured here, who inspired Damien’s recent Halloween costume choice. Damien’s mom, Nina Fimbres, says Streeter and Damien’s previous bus drivers have been so kind to him and that makes a big difference. Streeter greets Damien with a big smile and always play the music Damien likes.“Riding the bus is his favorite part of the day.” Fimbres says she is grateful for the trust the drivers have established with her son and feels their inter-actions with Damien are essential.“Bus drivers are very important,” she says.

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”

MOTHER TERESA

dents’ interest in hobbies or pop-ular movies to bring learning to life; or in our student athletes and performers who take seriously their responsibility to meet aca-demic goals to maintain eligibility for their favorite co-curricular.
A culminating event ofAll Clo-vis Week since 2016 has been our Clovis Unified Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony, where graduates, coaches and teams from our history are recognized for their feats on and off the competition field. The stories highlight again the value of lessons learned in and out of the classroom, and the heights to which the human spirit can soar when passion pairs with inspiration and talent.
At this year’s event, we honored record-holders,	multi-medal Olympians, 16-season champi-onship teams, and individuals whose dedication to a standard of excellence helped shape the dis-trict’s educational philosophies that are at the core of everything we do on a daily basis. If you didn’t join us at the Performing Arts Center on Oct. 30, you can still see their stories in our video archive at https://www.cusd. com/AthleticHallofFame.aspx.I’d highly recommend finding a few minutes to watch these stories that are part of the fabric of our com-munity.
As our final drumline of All Clovis Week hit its last rim note and the thrum of their syncopated beats resonated in the air, I was reminded once again: this is Clovis Unified, this is why we exist, and this – our students’ joy and learning – will always be at the center of everything we do in this district. Editor’s Note: After keeping her married name throughout her daughters’ childhood, Superintendent O’Farrell announced in October that she had taken steps after 20 years as a single parent to return to
her family name of O’Brien.

Help available for behavior, wellness concerns

CUSD Today

Compiled from CUSD lead psychologists and the CUSD Comprehensive Wellness Project

Two years of pandemic conditions in the world have left everyone suffering the aftereffects, and our students are no different.Whether it is simply adjusting to changed routines or relationships at home or school, struggling with the impact to families of changed work and/or economic cir-cumstances, or differences in friend groups following two atypical years, many students are struggling.
Reports from families, county-wide mental health pro-fessionals and educators are that the adjustment process is a challenging one, and at schools we’re seeing the effects in an increased number of student behavioral issues, high-risk lifestyle choices, anxiety/depression and social challenges. In response the district is layering even more resources into our current comprehensive wellness and behavioral support structures and taking steps to emphasize resources available to students and their families through our local schools.
The Clovis Unified Comprehensive Wellness Project is the cornerstone of this effort, which began in 2017 and continues to be expanded and refined in response to needs identified on campuses around the district. Wide-ranging resources are coordinated in complement to each other through this work, led by Lead Psychologists David Weber and Jonathan Logan, and supported by hundreds of coun-selors, Transition Team members, teachers, school psychol-ogists, mental health support providers, attendance and student services liaisons, and others spread across the district’s campuses. In addition to building coping skills and total health, the project is also directed at developing resilience and problem-solving capabilities in youth.
You     can     learn     more     about     the     project     at https://www.cusd.com/ComprehensiveWellnessProject.aspx. Layered into our project are intentional structures and

programs at every school site in addition to the valuable one-on-one relationship of a classroom teacher and individual student that includes:
■ Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) – a three tiered system to support social-emotional and behavioral needs of students at the school site
■ Mental Health Support Providers – located at every 7-12 school site
■ Social-Emotional Learning –programs like the Positivity Project, Character Strong and Second Step in place at every school site in the district
■ Clovis Support and Intervention (CSI) Groups – trained educators leading student support groups around a number of topics
■ Equity and Advocacy Groups – working across the district to identify needs around equity and advocacy for minority groups
■ All-4-Youth Mental Health Clinicians – a district-wide community partnership to support those experiencing dif-ficulties at school and at home
■ Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) – school-based program focusing campus systems promoting positive behavior intervention before a challenge exists. Twenty schools in CUSD have been recognized for model PBIS programs.
■ Behavior Consultation Team – specially trained behavior consultants work onsite to support students and families experiencing extreme behavioral challenges that interfere with a student’s ability to succeed in school.
■ Suicide Prevention Training – all educational employees have been trained in signs of suicide risk and resources available if a student appears in need, along with additional in-depth training for employees with specialties in counseling, psychology and intervention including ASIST and SafeTALK courses. The district also has an intentional re-entry process for students who have been hospitalized for mental health

issues to ensure a positive transition back to school.
■ Peer Counseling – trained students who meet with peers to support them around a number of social-emotional issues facing young people
Parents interested in learning more about these resources or tapping into them for challenges students are facing at home, can contact your local school.
In addition to the above elements of the district’s Com-prehensiveWellness Project, we take advantage of opportu-nities like the recent Red Ribbon Week in late October, to facilitate conversations with students and families around societal issues like substance use.As Fresno County continues to see a rising number of deaths related to the synthetic drug fentanyl, our high school teams used this year’s Red Ribbon Week to screen the ABC30 documentary “Killer High” with all students.
In addition to watching the video, schools encouraged parents to also screen the piece and have conversations at home about the extreme effects of opiate drugs. School staff was prepared with facilitated student conversations along with school and community resources at the ready given the serious subject matter.
Families concerned about a child’s possible substance use can turn to school and community resources available to help. In addition to a school’s counselor, psychologist or nurse, members of the Comprehensive Wellness Team are available. In the community, resources like Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health (800-654-3937), California Department of Healthcare Services Substance Abuse and Referral Line (800-879-2772), or Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Support (800-662-4357) can be helpful to families as well.
The challenges facing students today need not be over-whelming, but can definitely feel that way. If your child is struggling, we encourage you to reach out for the helping hand your Clovis Unified team is ready to offer.

— ABOUT US —

CUSD Today, Clovis Unified’s good news publi-cation, 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 achievements 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: All costs associated with producing, printing and mailing CUSD Todayare entirely 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. Editorial deadlines are two weeks before the pub-lication date.We do our best to include as many sub-missions in each issue as our editorial space will al-low.

CUSD Today Staff

Publishing & Editorial Clovis Unified School District 1450 Herndon Avenue Clovis, CA 93611 Telephone (559) 327-9094 Fax (559) 327-2957 cusdtoday@cusd.com Kelly Avants, APR
Chief Communications Officer
327-9092 Patti J. Lippert Managing Editor
327-9094 Nancy Porter
Advertising Specialist 327-9095 Verna Garcia
Graphic Designer

CUSD Governing Board Members

Steven G. Fogg, M.D.	Susan Hatmaker	Tiffany Stoker Madsen President                                      Vice President                                         Clerk

269-7000	288-2743	392-1014

o
Hugh H.Awtrey                David DeFrank               Y landa Moore                Betsy Sandoval 437-6580                            327-9000                            327-9000                             291-7564

CUSD Administration

Eimear O’Brien, Ed.D.	Norm Anderson Superintendent                                                    Deputy Superintendent
327-9100	327-9107

Robyn Castillo, Ed.D. Corrine Folmer, Ed.D.	Barry Jager	Michael Johnston Associate Superintendent	Associate Superintendent Associate Superintendent Associate Superintendent
Instructional Services	School Leadership	Human Resources and	Administrative Services 327-9373                            327-9350                   Employee Relations                  327-9110
327-9308

Page 6	CUSD Today	November 2021

PATRIOTS DAY IN CUSD

Your
has
“ video

made
me smile.

–FDNY Battalion Chief
”
Upon seeing
James Halaby	Michael Weinberg

Clark Intermediate students’ project

Clark students make special 9/11 connection with FDNY

CUSD Today

Clark Intermediate leadership and drama teacher Jill Mele connected her students to the 9/11 story by sharing with them a film about Michael Weinberg, one of the 343 FDNY firefighters who died that day. She had her students research each firefighter and make posters that Mele then used to create a short tribute film.
She shared the project with the Fire Department New York (FDNY) and, said Battalion Chief James Halaby:“It was so sad to see, but I’m so glad I did because it reminded me of how proud I am to have known such brave men.
“The kids in your class are so lucky to have done this project. Lucky because they are all aware of fellowAmericans who would have sacrificed their lives for any of them if they needed it. You don’t have to ask for proof because these firefighters have already proven it.”
Halaby said he planned to forward the video to dozens of FDNY firefighters who continue to cope with the tragedy. “I’m still sad at times, but your video has made me smile. Thank you so much!” he said.
The connection toWeinberg for Mele was unexpected. Mele was a film student in college when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks occurred, and she saw a national news report with a woman named Patricia mourning the loss of her little brother, Michael Weinberg. Mele also had a little brother named Michael. Through the years, Mele would remember Michael’s family on 9/11, and about
three years ago decided to dig deeper and learn more.
As she researched, she discovered Weinberg had been part of a film project in the early 1990s that had never been completed. She got the idea to share the film with her students but couldn’t find it. “Going totally out of

character for me, I decided to message Michael’s sister, Patricia, on Facebook,” she said.
Patricia not only responded about the film and helped her get it, but Mele and Patricia have since become a good friends. It makes sharing the events of 9/11 with her students even more meaningful to Mele.
“As an educator, this is my greatest hope. I want students to connect and feel the events that day – not just learn about them,” Mele said.
To view Clark students’ tribute to the FDNY 343: https://youtu.be/afa1igvrZTY
To view 9/11 Michael Weinberg film: https://tinyurl. com/MichaelWeinberg

More Patriots Day tributes
Across the district, school and clubs honored the fallen victims of 9/11 on what was the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack on American soil.
Students at Clovis East Higharranged 2,977 American flags on campus to honor the lives lost. The JROTC Cadets, Fire Tech and Criminology students conducted a memorial ceremony as part of their normal flag raising detail. In some classes, an educational webinar by the National 9-11 Memorial and Museum was viewed and discussed.
Buchanan Highheld an early morning ceremony that honored eight fallen heroes from Buchanan in the Middle East, first responders and those lost on 9/11. The BHS Young Americans for Freedom Club created a flag display in the school’s amphitheater.
The Clovis North Chamber singers, led by director Heather Bishop, performed at the California 9/11 Memorial Ceremony in Clovis.

piloted in K-12
AROUND THE DISTRICT

November 2021	CUSD Today	Page 7

Science – in the balance n New textbooks being

in a video to be shown later this year during Century’s Multicultural Fashion Show.
“Students look forward to both events every year,”Warren said.

Photo special to CUSD Today. Century Elementary sixth-grader Jacquelyn Franksen shares her Mexican culture during the schools Multicultural IDAC Night.

Multicultural idea blossoms at Century Elementary

Century Elementary’s annual multicul-tural event has evolved since six years ago then fifth-grade student Janus Kaur asked then new principal Brion Warren about in-troducing some cultural events at the school. She was a part of the Principal’s Advisory Council (PAC), a group of diverse students who then together decided to host a cultural fashion show.
The first fashion show had students walk-ing on stage in traditional dress and students
performing cultural dances that inspired	The student body seized the opportunity the audience. The following year the PAC     and excitement spread throughout the com-decided to introduce a poster project for all     munity.“So many family members attended students to put on the cafeteria walls to be     the event that year that the PAC requested seen during the show.                                       the daytime event remain, but also to include

SierraVista Elementary third graders show appreciation Students in Kimberly Ballinger’s third-grade class at Sierra Vista Elementary surprised

custodian Steve Soma with a huge “THANK YOU!” recently. The class was inspired by a Positivity Project video that focused on “Other People Mindset,” and they chose to celebrate Mr. Steve for everything he does for the students and campus. The class made signs and the teacher even baked his favorite dessert – a fresh peach pie – in his honor.

Students in Mountain View Elementary teacher Debbie Lewis’ third-grade class recently inves-tigated balanced and unbalanced forces during a “Table Top Tug of War” experiment from a new textbook Lewis is piloting.
This is a big year of piloting science textbooks with books be-ing explored in grades K-12.
“We have two teachers per school site piloting brand new science books, labs and experi-ments across the district,” said Janet Samuelian, CUSD Admin-istrator of Professional Develop-ment, Curriculum and Instruc-tion. “Materials are getting our kids very excited about science!” Of the experiment in Lewis’ class,“kids loved it,” she said. Pic-tured are Mountain View third-graders Ariana Ruiz and Ibraheem Abdul Hamad tugging against Galileo Gsell as Samantha Robi-
son observes.

an evening multicultural activity,” Warren said.
For the last few years, Century’s Multi-cultural IDAC night has grown and is similar to a science fair. Students create large story boards about their culture, often dress up in traditional wear, and even bring food that they have cooked with loved ones to share. Students present their story boards to the attendees, and selected students per-form dances with this year Folkloric and Hindu dances spotlighted.
Janus, now a sophomore at Buchanan High, recently returned to Century and dis-cussed how the evolution of the program at Century had grown.
The multicultural night was well received by the community who was amazed by this year’s 44 student presenters.“They were ar-ticulate, dedicated and shared a tremendous amount of knowledge,”Warren said.
Information from the night will be used

Bulldogs show good behavior Cole Elementary students celebrated “Pass-port Day” to promote Positive Behavioral In-terventions and Supports (PBIS) at their school and each student received a Cole Bulldogs spirit shirt. During the whole school event, students toured the campus and at destination spots, a staff member discussed behavior ex-pectations, like “Be Positive” and “Say please and thank you.” Students got a sticker at each stop to put on their PBIS Passport that they

filled by the end of the tour.

Gladding strong at FW
On the third anniversary of the loss of a much-admired Clovis Unified educator, stu-dents, staff and family of Gavin Gladding came together to dedicate an area at Fort Washington Elementary in his honor.
At the time of his death in a hit and run accident, Gladding was the vice principal of Fort Washington. The former teacher and Peace Corps member was known for his positive attitude about life and his focus on improving the world around him, one act of kindness at a time.
Two friendship benches in a shady spot facing the fields have been placed in his honor along with a commemorative plaque naming it as The Gladding Gathering Area. His children cut the ribbon to mark the of-ficial opening.

Page 8	CUSD Today	November 2021

Hall of Fame: Inductees attended hometown football game night before big event

FROM PAGE 4
Courtney (Scott) Deifel - Softball Representing: 1990s
(Clovis	High) Softball catcher. In high school, earned All-League, All Valley and All State honors. Was a 2-time All-Pac 10 player and 2003 All-American at UC Berkeley. Member of the 2002 UC Berke-ley National Cham-pionship        team.
Played professionally in Japan League from 2004-2006. 2021 SEC Coach of the Year at University of Arkansas.
1979 Clovis High School Boys Golf Team
C l o v i s U n i f i e d

School District’s first and only State Cham-pionship Team in golf.
1999 -2014 Clovis West High School’s Boys Swim and DiveTeams
16 consecutive CIF Central Sec-tion Championships. Produced 78
All-Americans.
Daniel E. Kaiser, Ed.D. Doc Buchanan Award
During his 38-year career in Clovis Uni-fied, Dan Kaiser was instrumental in es-tablishing and per-petuating a legacy of athletic and academ-ic excellence.
In addition to coach, his roles in-cluded	English teacher, Learning Di-rector, Deputy Prin-cipal, Principal,Area
Administrator, Assistant Superintendent, Associate Superintendent and Deputy Su-perintendent.

In high school, Dan was a standout athlete earning recognition as an NYL All League basketball player, third in the state for 120-yard high hurdles, and a B’nai B’rith

honoree. At UCLA, he set a school record in the 120-yard high hurdles. In 1969, Dan held the world’s sixth fastest time in the 110-high hurdles.

COVID updates
November 2021	CUSD Today	Page 9

Robotics:Chaos Crew formed at Fugman Elementary

FROM PAGE ONE quarters for the secret chal-lenge. Originally the global project was to begin the fol-lowing year in 2020 but had to be paused due to COVID. The teams began working on the challenge this February.
LEGO sent each team member a LEGO Technic Volvo A60H set, which is a replica of the world’s largest articulated hauler, the Volvo A60H. Teams had an unlim-ited amount of LEGO bricks, and LEGO motors at their disposal, but all the parts needed to originate from that specific set. Teams were guid-ed by a LEGO and Volvo en-gineer, and students were giv-en cameras to document the process. It took until June for the young scientists to

conquer the challenge. There were long nights at
the drawing board, building and testing what their designs could do, and then sharing those tests around the world with their other teammates. Says Hamzah to the other teams during a Zoom call shown in the film,“So, what is up guys? It’s me Hamzah and we are here with Chaos Crew and we are going to do a test. So let’s hope it works
guys.”
He shows three small LEGO truck haulers tied to a desk chair, with Chaos Crew’s Tyler sitting in the chair for extra weight.
“Let’s do this,” Hamzah says as the motors are switched on in the hopes the robotic trucks will pull Tyler. Tyler and the chair didn’t move that time. But the kids

Grant:

made adjustments and tried again.
“It’s mind-blowing that children so early in their en-gineering journey managed to complete such a complex engineering task so well,” said Libor Udržal, Master Builder and Engineer at the LEGO Group. “Even with my 20 years of experience, I would have felt daunted by the task in hand.”
Said Volvo Designer Frida Jönsson, “The children showed incredible resilience and tenacity. Despite their plans literally turning to ashes on the first attempt, the teams showed that with col-laboration, teamwork and a good dose of creativity, you can always find a way to suc-ceed.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t moved to tears by

the pride and sheer joy you could see from the teams when they realized their hard work had paid off.”
Here’s the project by the numbers:
■ 728,168 LEGO Technic Elements were used
■ 1,920 Control+ XL mo-tors were used
■ 2,000 hours of build time by LEGO engineers to build the students’ design at the LEGO Factory
■ 10,000 Newtons of pull force created using LEGO Technic elements
The documentary can be viewed at: https://youtube/ Tr-8npmuyFI.
LEGO has a page dedi-cated to this project on their website: https://www.lego. com /en-us/aboutus/ news / 2021/september/lego-technic-move-it-campaign.

FROM PAGE ONE throughout the district about plant science, food safety, and healthy eating through farm tours and an Agriculture Fair at the Ag Center.
The 2021 California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program funds innovative lo-cal and regional farm to school projects in nutrition educa-tion, sustainable food pro-duction and procurement, and high-quality student engage-ment through experiential learning. This year, 60 projects totaling $8.5 million in grants were awarded.

CUSD Today file photo from pre-COVID A Clovis East High School ag student harvests lettuce that was used in a Farm-to-Table Dinner event in Old Town in 2019.

District school psychologists honored

n Board hears latest

By Kelly Avants

CUSD Chief Communications Officer

Clovis Unified’s Govern-ing Board heard updates Oct. 6 about recent an-nouncements that:
Governor Newsom has directed the California De-partment of Public Health to add COVID vaccination to the list of required vacci-nations for students to at-tend in-person classes at public, private and charter schools through regulations added to the health and safe-ty code. (Learn more on cusd.com.)
Changes in contact trac-ing requirements for schools have been implemented fol-lowing data that does not indicate a need to conduct contact tracing if only one case is reported in a class-room where students were masked and continue to re-main asymptomatic. There-fore, so long as that is the case, contact tracing will be conducted at the time a sec-ond case is identified in a classroom/co-curricular pro-gram where the second case

➤BOARD BRIEFS

is not traced to an outside source. It is anticipated that this change will help reduce the amount of contact trac-ing and modified quaran-tines.
In other action, the board: ■ Approved the Compre-
hensive Coordinated Inter-vening Services Plan as re-quired by the California De-partment of Education.
■ Approved a resolution authorizing the refinancing of general obligation bonds to reduce the amount of in-terest repayments.
■ Awarded a lease-lease-back contract with Harris Construction Co. for the construction of the Terry Bradley Educational Center, the district’s fourth educa-tional center expected to open for intermediate school students in 2025.
■ Authorized the execu-tion, delivery and sale of certificates of participation totaling $105 million to fi-nance capital projects and approving related docu-ments and actions.
■ Approved new job de-

scriptions for the Financial Analyst II and Financial An-alyst III resulting from a re-cent third-party study of the district’s business office that included recommendations to restructure some staffing structures. The total cost of both phases of the restruc-ture is expected to result in additional expenses annually of just over $10,000.
■     Adopted amended Board Policy No. 4118 – Dis-missal/Suspension/Discipli-nary Actions – Certificated Employees to reference em-ployee groups.
■ Approved an amend-ment to the district’s Section 125 Flexible Benefit Plan to include group hospital in-demnity benefits as an eli-gible pre-tax expense.
■ Held a public hearing on the sufficiency of text-books and instructional ma-terials, and later adopted a resolution certifying that the district has sufficient mate-rials for the 2021-22 school year.

q
Complete board minutes and agendas are available at cusd.com. The next regu-larly scheduled meetings of the Governing Board will be Nov. 10 and Dec. 10.

Page 10	CUSD Today	November 2021