Monthly Archives: June 2022

‘Courageous’ adult school graduates complete major step in educational journey – Daily Republic

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By Matt Miller

Courage was the underlying theme Thursday of the Fairfield-Suisun Adult School graduating Class of 2022.

Those who dressed in Navy blue caps and gowns numbered 19 at the ceremony in Willow Hall. The number of graduates in full, listed in the program, was 39 with two GED graduates, many of whom completed their studies in November.

Principal Elizabeth Kolakowski said during her remarks that the graduates showed “remarkable discipline, commitment and courage.”

Source: ‘Courageous’ adult school graduates complete major step in educational journey

Sem Yeto grads take first steps into adult world – Daily Republic

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By Susan Hiland

Proud parents, friends and family member were thrilled Thursday to have an in-person graduation at Schaefer Stadium to cheer the Sem Yeto graduating Class of 2022.

Imshala Edwards was the student speaker. He spoke about the journey of the past 12 years from childhood to adulthood.

“We began our journey as children and leave here as adults,” he said. “Although time seemed to drag on forever. It is surprising how fast time went by.”

Source: Sem Yeto grads take first steps into adult world

Fairfield High tassels fly as Class of 2022 graduates – Daily Republic

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By Todd R. Hansen

Madison Cox, Taylor Hubbard and Winter Moore have been friends since elementary school – inseparable.

When the senior trip was canceled, they locked arms and headed to Southern California.

Now the three Fairfield High graduates are looking at futures with divided roads. Hubbard and Moore are heading off to attend rival schools: USC and UCLA, respectively, with Hubbard looking to a career in writing for television or movies, and Moore stepping onto a pre-med tract with the goal of becoming a pediatrician.

Source: Fairfield High tassels fly as Class of 2022 graduates

Vallejo High School ‘achieves greater lengths’ to graduate – Times-Herald

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By Thomas Gase

Vallejo High School valedictorian Rachel Contreras Ramirez had some difficulty giving her speech at times on Thursday afternoon. In many segments, especially while thanking her family, she was overcome with emotion, shedding tears.

However, much like her fellow students in the Class of 2022, she pushed on despite the challenges.

Those tears from Ramirez eventually subsided and her smile eventually matched the ones of 292 other students as family, friends, teachers and others celebrated the Redhawks making it through an often difficult four years to get to commencement

Source: Vallejo High School ‘achieves greater lengths’ to graduate – Times-Herald

Solano County libraries provide youth free summer lunches – Daily Republic

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The Solano County Library is offering children and teens a free “Lunch at the Library” at its various branches and also encouraging participation in the Summer Reading Program.

Lunch at the Library is a project of the California State Library in partnership with the California Library Association. The program is supported with funds from the state.

Source: Solano County libraries provide youth free summer lunches

Vacaville School District offers free summer meals – Daily Republic

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The Vacaville School District is offering free meals for children and teens this summer.

Meal boxes are available for anyone 18 years old and younger during June. Each box includes fresh items to make meals at home.

The meal boxes are available from 6 a.m. to noon Wednesday at Padan Elementary School, 200 Padan School Road, Thursday and June 16 at Fairmont Elementary, 1355 Marshall Road, and Friday and June 17 at Markham Elementary, 101 Markham Ave.

Source: Vacaville School District offers free summer meals

John Finney students ‘rise’ to graduate – Times-Herald

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By Thomas Gase

It wasn’t a cold winter day in Boston, but Vallejo City Unified School District Superintendent William Spalding gave the same advice to John Finney High School graduates once given to a Harvard freshman named Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Persevere.

“This has been the hardest year of the hardest three years for students,” Spalding told the crowd and students at Corbus Field Wednesday. “These students had to persevere under so much and yet, here we are. You can credit that to stamina, resilience, and tenacity. So give these students a round of applause as they probably had to work harder than any other student to get here.”

Source: John Finney students ‘rise’ to graduate – Times-Herald

Vallejo charter schools promise ‘turnaround’ after district’s threat to status – Vallejo Sun

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The Griffin Technology Academies (GTA) Board of Directors formally responded this week to allegations of wrongdoing levied by the Vallejo school board in late April.

The Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Education voted on April 28 to send a notice of violations to each of the four charter schools operated by GTA – paving the way for the district to strip the charters of their status. The district alleged the charter board committed numerous violations, including failing to protect students, mismanaging the network’s finances, allowing mold to flourish inside school facilities, and violating the state’s open meeting law.

Source: Vallejo charter schools promise ‘turnaround’ after district’s threat to status

Benicia High Class of 2022 ‘interrupts’ summer to graduate – Times-Herald

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By Thomas Gase

As the COVID pandemic took over conversations throughout the nation, the Benicia High School Class of 2022 dealt with the kind of interruptions their predecessors couldn’t have imagined.

Yet there the students were on Saturday morning at Drolette Stadium, their voices heard loud and clear during a joyous, 361-senior celebration.

“We usually think of interruptions in a negative sense — as a disruption or distraction,” Benicia High principal Brianna Kleinschmidt told students, families and friends. “But interruptions can provide opportunity also. Interruptions remind us that things aren’t what we expect or need them to be. In the same way, each of you can interrupt expectations as you continue to discover the world and experience new things.”

Source: Benicia High Class of 2022 ‘interrupts’ summer to graduate – Times-Herald

Will C. Wood High School graduates ready ‘to keep moving on’ – Daily Republic

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By Matt Miller

A hush came over the overflowing crowd of 4,000 at Wildcat Stadium as Will C. Wood High School senior Breanna Dagen sang an emotional “I’ll Always Remember You” by Alexander Jessi Leigh and Scherr Mitchell Allen.

One of the lyrics said, “Yesterday’s gone, and we have to keep moving on.”

The 380 graduates of Will C. Wood and their family and friends were more than happy to “keeping moving on.” Senior Class President Allie Yaws said, “We have been through so much, from the riots, to the pandemic, through tragedy and losses, and so much more.”

Source: Will C. Wood High School graduates ready ‘to keep moving on’

Fairfield-Suisun school board hears update on district spending plan – Daily Republic

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By Susan Hiland

Trustees of the Fairfield-Suisun School District received an update Thursday on school funding that tweaks goals found in the first year of a three-year plan.

Assistant Superintendent Sheila McCabe gave the presentation on proposed updates to the district’s Local Control and Accountability Plan.

Source: Fairfield-Suisun school board hears update on district spending plan

Vacaville grads take first steps into next chapter of life – Daily Republic

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By Susan Hiland

Co-valedictorian Jadyn White compared the past couple of years of high school on Saturday to a famous movie quote, “Life is like a box of chocolates,” she said, “but it is a mixed box.”

The years have been full of bitter chocolates that people would put down if they could, such as wildfires, a global pandemic and not being able to use their own stadium for football games, instead using another school’s stadium.

But the graduates of Vacaville High School had good chocolates, too.

Source: Vacaville grads take first steps into next chapter of life

Muzetta Thrower adult school kicks off Vacaville graduation season – The Vacaville Reporter

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By Nick Sestanovich

Graduation season officially kicked off in Vacaville Unified School District Wednesday. While many students taking the first step toward a new chapter this season are teens who worked hard over the course of four years to receive their diplomas, Wednesday’s ceremony was dedicated to another age group that worked just as hard and often for longer: adults.

The Muzetta Thrower Adult Education Ceremony hosted a graduation ceremony at Will C. Wood High School’s Wildcat Stadium to honor the 27 students who persevered, often through hardships, and received diplomas, GEDs and other important documents. In addition to the Class of 2022, some students who graduated in midyear 2021 were also honored.

Source: Muzetta Thrower adult school kicks off Vacaville graduation season – The Vacaville Reporter

Seven Will C. Wood students get early taste of college, AA degrees – The Vacaville Reporter

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By Nick Sestanovich

On Friday, hundreds of Will C. Wood High School students will graduate and many will be attending college in the fall.

Approximately 30 of these students already got a head start through the Vacaville Early College High School program, where Wood students can take classes at Solano Community College as early as freshman year and receive college credits.

What’s more: Seven of these students now have Associate of Art degrees.

Source: Seven Will C. Wood students get early taste of college, AA degrees – The Vacaville Reporter

Dixon’s Maine Prairie High mints 30 new grads – The Vacaville Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

The power went south throughout Dixon Wednesday night but there was no outage of energy at the Maine Prairie High School Class of 2022.

Held outdoors on the quad at Dixon High as the sun had set, the Dixon Unified continuation high graduated 30 students, who, later tonight will embark on a new life journey, whether it be in college, in the military, at a trade school, or on the job, said Principal Yvette Ramos.

District Superintendent Brian Dolan, lamenting the outage as he spoke to the gradually swelling crowd of graduate families and friends, said, “‘We’re here to celebrate our kids,” a statement that was translated into Spanish just before the delayed 6:30 p.m. ceremony began.

Source: Dixon’s Maine Prairie High mints 30 new grads – The Vacaville Reporter

Fairfield student honored for heroism – East Bay Times

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On March 30, Public Safety Academy student Tamaiah Massot, 12, saved a drowning child.

For her actions, she was awarded the Fairfield Fire Department’s inaugural Citizen Life Saving award.

The sixth grader was recognized by the department, NorthBay Medical Center, the Fairfield Police Department and Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District trustees Friday during a special presentation at her school.

Source: Fairfield student honored for heroism

Youth Coalition members get lessons on how elections work – Daily Republic

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Fifteen students from the Solano Youth Coalition recently participated in a voter registration training.

The training was coordinated by the Solano County Office of Education, the League of Women Voters of Solano County and the Solano County Registrar of Voters.

“Using voter iPads to simulate the registration process, students checked voter status and ‘registered’ new voters. They also used training ballots to learn how ballots are counted at polling centers,” a statement released by the Office of Education said.

Source: Youth Coalition members get lessons on how elections work