News

Train with NO Excuses and Teach with NO regrets!!

By Dr. Julie Boesch
Superintendent/Principal
Maple Elementary School District

Westside Small School Districts Collaborative just wrapped up an incredible three full days of training for over 212 Kern County educators! This collaborative is made up of a group of 14 small school districts on the west side of Kern County. The superintendents from each district meet monthly to share best practices, tour classrooms, hear presenters and find new ways to leverage resources by working together as a team. This year, with over 212 participants from the majority of these districts, administrators and special guests, the collaborative surpassed our vision of providing quality training and collaboration opportunities to teachers who often feel isolated among our small, rural districts.

We kicked off our three-day extravaganza with nationally known speaker Julie Adams who shared her expertise on brain science, cognitive growth, developing as a leader and implementing common core standards with students. That day ended with a highly engaging session from our own Joost Demoes on cultivating wonderment and excitement around the world of mathematics! We also had three incredible technology sessions including presenters from Kern County who shared their expertise on student engagement, Google and Stop Motion Film Festivals.

Our second day was an amazing opportunity to increase our skill set for supporting and teaching our English Language Learners with Dr. Jill Hamilton-Bunch. Dr. Hamilton-Bunch advanced our knowledge of teaching methods, philosophy for serving students’ needs, and principles of language acquisition. Our teachers were able to collaborate and work in teams with support from an expert as we get ready to serve each of our students with high quality teaching.

To cap off this amazing training we were honored to have Dr. Joe Sanfelippo guide us on a journey through finding ways to share our story using technology. Each and every one of our schools and districts are working hard every day to serve students and Dr. Sanfelippo provided tools and encouragement for sharing the great work that we do by having students and staff create a positive social media presence – helping us tell our story. The afternoon sessions were self-selected sessions created by local area educators from across the county who guided their colleagues as they explored all things Google from tips, tricks, ideas and hacks, Slides and Docs to organizing a paper- free environment, the resources and practical application were invaluable to our teachers who eagerly participated in each session.

Helen Keller said “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” Together we were able to provide our teams with truly high quality learning and we can’t wait to demonstrate what we have learned as we serve the students of our districts!

On September 16, 36 principals and aspiring principals began the first session of a 70-hour, seven-weekend Principals Academy in Bakersfield. The widely popular academy, which has not been previously offered in Bakersfield, filled so quickly it required a waiting list. The enthusiasm for the academy encouraged co-directors Dr. Kevin Silberberg and Dr. Blanca Cavazos to increase the class size to accommodate demand.

The Principals Academy focuses on the leadership and management skills needed by administrators in order to be successful  principals. The list of academy presenters reads like a “Who’s Who” of notable educators and practitioners from Region 11 and ACSA.

Region 11 President David Bowling and West Kern Charter President Richard Morosa attended the first session to congratulation participants on their decision to continue honing their administrative skills and encourage their membership and active participation in ACSA.

Co-directors Silberberg and Cavazos emphasized that each of the presenters had “walked the walk” and could share from first-hand experience how he or she had successfully put their skills into practice. “That was easy to create a list of presenters who were highly regarded in the profession because of their proven success with all children” said Cavazos. “On the flip side, the depth and quality of experience we have in our Region made it a difficult task to narrow the list of presenters.”

The Region 11 contingent to the State Leadership Conference, recently held in Los Angeles, returned with great news. Terri Rufert’s nomination for State Board was accepted and she will be running for Vice President of Legislative Action unopposed. After the election in May, Rufert will be the first Region 11 representative to sit on the State ACSA Board.

Following is her position paper:

“The work required of the Vice President of Legislative Action is an area that I am passionate about. Whether it is state and federal legislators, Superintendent Torlakson, the State Board of Education or the Governor, I have helped lead our regional and state work to gain support of our positions for 16 years.

I bring the skills and experience of being Vice President of Legislative Action for my region for four years, as well as one year on the Legislative Policy Committee, and two years on the ACSA State Board. Currently, I am the Region XI representative on the ACSA Small Schools Committee, in my second year on ACSA’s State Board Advisory Group, and a member ACSA’s Women’s Network Group. I am extremely committed to promoting ACSA as the leading advocate for our state’s 6.2 million students. On many occasions I have been asked to speak on behalf of ACSA, students, and administrators at state hearings because I’m a trusted leader who understands the nuances of issues, from budget to curriculum and student services to principals.

As State Vice President of Legislative Action, I believe it is important to support and encourage each region’s Vice President of Legislative Action in the work they to do back home. We all need to empower other administrators to be part of the "One Voice for Students." It is absolutely crucial for us to make sure our voices are heard and our communities represented. Together let’s continue to make a difference. I would appreciate your vote.”