Dixon City Council reinstates upper division youth basketball programs – The Reporter

By Nick Sestanovich

All Dixon Youth Basketball divisions will have a chance to play this season.

The Dixon City Council unanimously voted to approve a resolution allowing Divisions 3 and 4 to play at Dixon Montessori Charter School (DMCS) after the two divisions had been canceled for the year due to lack of gym space.

According to Public Works Director Joe Leach, DYB programs have been offered by the city since 2007, having been previously run by a nonprofit. The program is split into four divisions: Division 1 for first and second-graders, Division 2 for third and fourth-graders, Division 3 for fifth and sixth-graders and Division 4 for seventh and eighth-graders.

Source: Dixon City Council reinstates upper division youth basketball programs – The Reporter

Vallejo school board holding public hearing on by-trustee maps – Times-Herald

The Vallejo school board is holding a public hearing on Wednesday to receive public input regarding three different by-trustee area maps.

Each proposed map depicts how the district could be split into five distinctive distinct trustee areas, which would go into effect for the November 2020 election.

The Vallejo City Unified School District previously said the change to trustee areas comes as a way to avoid a challenge letter from a third party claiming the district’s at-large election violates the California Voting Rights Act.

Source: Vallejo school board holding public hearing on by-trustee maps [Times-Herald, Vallejo, Calif.]

Dixon teacher shoots music video promoting positive relationships – The Reporter

By Nick Sestanovich

Neil Postman famously wrote, “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.” With that in mind, it is considered important for children to set positive examples — and form positive relationships — starting from a very early age to ensure that the future itself is positive.

Sheila Herd, a math teacher at CA Jacobs Middle School, chose to promote positive culture among youth via a music video she shot of students throughout Dixon Unified School District. To bring that message home, she chose the very right song and had the blessing of the band that wrote it.

Herd describes herself as a music lover who attends a lot of concerts and bonds with her son over a lot of bands. One band she is a huge fan of is the Strumbellas, a Canadian indie folk band best known for their 2016 No. 1 alternative hit “Spirits,” which netted them several Canadian music awards, including the coveted Juno Award for Single of the Year.

Source: Dixon teacher shoots music video promoting positive relationships – The Reporter

Country High School community urges school board to not move campus operations – The Reporter

By Nick Sestanovich

A discussion on a proposal to move Country High School’s operations to the comprehensive high school campuses may not have been on the agenda for Thursday’s school board meeting, as it was previously scheduled, but parents, teachers and students still took time to express their concerns.

On Sept. 16, Vacaville Unified School District Superintendent Jane Shamieh issued a letter to families announcing that the district was considering establishing two smaller continuation school campuses on the Vacaville and Will C. Wood high school campuses. Country High students would be assigned to a campus based on their area of residence and take classes in self-contained classrooms.

The district’s goals were to provide easier access to Career Technical Education courses for Country High students, allow CHS students to participate in lunch and extracurricular activities with their comprehensive high school peers and make it easier for them to transition back to their home campus if they finish up their credits.

Source: Country High School community urges school board to not move campus operations – The Reporter

Student vaping epidemic has California schools frantically mobilizing [Los Angeles Times]

Students at Crescenta Valley High School have created an anti-vaping app. At nearby Rosemont Middle School, 55 students have joined an anti-vaping club. Santa Monica schools have booked 20 anti-vaping and drug awareness student assemblies and parent meetings. Staffers at various Southern California campuses are stepping up patrols of hidden nooks, installing costly detection devices, bringing in addiction counselors and modifying health curricula.

The recent surge of lung illnesses and deaths linked to vaping, an increasingly entrenched habit among many youths, largely caught school authorities flat-footed, and educators are urgently mobilizing anti-vaping efforts against what they see as a dangerous teen epidemic.

“We’ve seen this develop very quickly, ” said Crescenta Valley Principal Linda Junge. “We’re seeing a public health crisis that has come onto campus.”

Source: Student vaping epidemic has California schools frantically mobilizing [Los Angeles Times]

Dixon City Council to vote on reinstatement of basketball program – The Reporter

By Nick Sestanovich

Just when it was looking like Dixon youth basketball players would have to go outside the city to participate in recreational action this fall, Dixon Montessori Charter School (DMCS) has stepped in with an agreement to allow playing hoops on its campus.

The City Council provide direction to staff regarding this potential reinstatement at its Tuesday meeting, freeing the way for fifth through eighth-graders to dribble and drive.

For the past 12 years, the city has coordinated the Dixon Youth Basketball (DYB) program to allow Dixon’s youth to participate in a non-competitive recreational sport, according to a staff report by Public Works Director Joe Leach, Recreation Manager Jean Houseman and Recreation Supervisor Austin George. The program is split into four divisions: Division 1 for for first and second-graders, Division 2 for third and fourth-graders, Division 3 for fifth and sixth-graders and Division 4 for seventh and eighth-graders.

Source: Dixon City Council to vote on reinstatement of upper youth basketball program – The Reporter

Benicia students can use ID cards to check out books – Times-Herald

By Vallejo Times Herald

Thanks to the OneCard collaboration between Benicia Public Library and Benicia Unified School District, all students attending middle school and high school in Benicia can now use their student ID cards as library cards, the city announced Monday.

The move puts library cards into the hands of the nearly 3,000 students who attend these schools.

“This is a very important step forward for access to information resources for our entire community,” said David Dodd, the city of Benicia’s director of library and cultural services, in a city press release. “We’ve been working towards this for a couple of years, and it is so fantastic to see it become a reality!”

Source: Benicia students can use ID cards to check out books – Times-Herald