SCOE to honor top 2021-22 educators, school staff – Daily Republic

Seven teachers and eight classified employees have been nominated as the top educators in Solano County for 2021-22.

The certificated educators nominated are:

Kelly Hughes, a fifth-grade teacher in the Benicia School District; Jenny Campbell, a response to intervention and English language development K-3 teacher at Dixon School District; Joseph Arbizu, a math, Algebra II, integrated math and geometry high school teacher in the Fairfield-Suisun School District; Ronald Major, a multiple-subjects (8-12), teacher for the Solano County Office of Education; Kylie Negin, an English and journalism high school teacher in the Travis School District; Laura Roberts, a U.S. history and ethnic studies (11-12) teacher at Vacaville School District; and Vivet Beckford-Nelson, a biology and engineering design and development high school teacher in the Vallejo City School District.

Source: SCOE to honor top 2021-22 educators, school staff

SCOE names educator nominees of the year – The Reporter

By Richard Bammer

The nominations are in, and the Solano County Office of Education will name the county’s two educators of the year during a virtual celebration on Tuesday.

Every year county school districts nominate one teacher and one classified, or school-support, employee to be recognized as the best of the best for the year.

During the online celebration, which begins at 3 p.m. on the SCOE Facebook page and at www.Solanocoe.net, each nominee for the 2021-2022 awards will be honored.

Source: SCOE names educator nominees of the year – The Reporter

Benicia High student tops all others at science, engineering fair – Daily Republic

Allison McCabe, a Benicia High School student, was the overall winner of the recent 2021 Virtual Science and Engineering Fair.

McCabe also took first in the Physical Science category in the Senior Division, in which high school students competed. There were also Elementary (third through fifth grades and Junior (sixth through eighth grades) divisions. McCabe is a sophomore.

“Our goal is to inspire more students to consider a career in science, engineering or a related field. The fair is an excellent opportunity for our elementary, middle and high school students to apply science and engineering skills to investigate problems, gather and evaluate evidence, and develop conclusions. Events like the Science and Engineering Fair have the potential to spark a lifelong interest in a related field.” Solano County Superintendent of Schools Lisette Estrella-Henderson said in a statement announcing the winners.

Source: Benicia High student tops all others at science, engineering fair

Benicia High releases completed football schedule – Times-Herald

On Monday, the Benicia High School football team released its five-game football schedule for the spring.

The Panthers will host a scrimmage against Northgate on Friday and then start the regular season March 19 at home against Campolindo.

Benicia will travel to Miramonte on March 26 and then host Acalanes and Will C. Wood on April 2 and 9, respectively. The Panthers will conclude the season April 16 at Las Lomas.

Except for the game against Wood, all of the games are against Diablo Athletic League opponents.

Source: Local Roundup: Benicia High releases completed football schedule – Times-Herald

Kai Wills, Benicia High boys tennis team ready for season to begin – Times-Herald

By Matt O’Donnell

By now, the general public has become accustomed to wearing a mask in grocery stores and other retail outlets during the coronavirus pandemic.

How about playing a competitive tennis match with a mask wrapped around your face?

That’s something players like Benicia High School’s Kai Wills and his teammates will have to familiarize themselves with as the boys tennis season begins later this month.

“Personally, I’m pretty used to it but I think it’s something some players will struggle with,” Wills said. “I was training coming back from an injury and I had to do it for about three months.”

Source: Kai Wills, Benicia High boys tennis team ready for season to begin – Times-Herald

Some Benicia High School sports set to practice on Monday – Times-Herald

By Matt O’Donnell

Deep Purple is the classic rock group that features screaming vocals from Ian Gillian and blazing guitar solos from Richie Blackmore.

Benicia High School is not in “deep purple” yet. The Panthers are more likely in “early purple” mode.

Source: Some Benicia High School sports set to practice on Monday – Times-Herald

Benicia High boys, girls golf teams ready for potential season – Times-Herald

By Matt O’Donnell

No sport or activity is 100 percent shielded from COVID-19 transmission, but golf is as safe as they come.

“It should be really easy to maintain protocols,” said Benicia High’s boys and girls coach Bob Hall. “Kids will have to wear masks at all times, they’ll will have to keep at appropriate distances, there won’t be any handshakes and there will be no sharing of balls and equipment.”

Source: Benicia High boys, girls golf teams ready for potential season – Times-Herald

Benicia school seizes poet laureate’s wisdom – Times-Herald

By Richard Freedman

The nation’s newly-minted and celebrated poet laureate, 23-year-old Amanda Gorman, inspired many adults with her “The Hill We Climb” inauguration message.

Christina Moore hopes Gorman’s words are equally admired by Robert Semple Elementary’s 460 students.

Moore, the Benicia school’s sixth-year principal, barely waited for Gorman to finish her presentation before rushing an excerpt from the historic poem onto Semple’s vintage marquee: “There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

“Not only has this generated some great interest, we might be getting a new marquee out of it,” said Moore.

Source: Benicia school seizes poet laureate’s wisdom – Times-Herald

Janari Boone should be two-sport star at Benicia High School – Times-Herald

By Matt O’Donnell

In 2018, Benicia High School’s Janari Boone admitted to being anxious before the start of the first game of the season.

After all, he was a freshman linebacker, starting on the varsity football team.

“It was crazy,” Boone said. “I was nervous and I was scared, but people told me, ‘Relax, you’ve been doing this your whole life’ since I had always played against older players before. But on the first play of the first game, I made a tackle and settled down.”

When Boone starts the first game of the 2020-21 season, he may not experience any tension. Instead, the feeling may be more surreal.

Source: Janari Boone should be two-sport star at Benicia High School – Times-Herald

Benicia High club creates video to help peers deal with Covid-19 stress – Daily Republic

The Benicia High School Youth Advocacy Club made a video presentation at the recent statewide Virtual Youth Summit as a resource to help peers cope with the stresses of Covid-19 and distance learning.

“The result is a video and presentation on Brain Dance, a full body-brain exercise that reduces stress, increases levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin, and helps develop new neural connections,” according to a statement released by the Solano County Office of Education.

“We created brain dance to give young developing minds a way to grow,” sophomore club member Lillian Theis said in the statement. “We thought making a video would be a fun and beneficial way to reach younger audiences.”

Source: Benicia High club creates video to help peers deal with Covid-19 stress

Benicia Schools Volunteer Food Delivery Services need drivers – Benicia Herald

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, schools were scrambling to keep lunch and breakfast available to students through pick up options at one school site. While some students were still able to utilize this valuable resource, some did not have transportation or means to get there, leaving much of the food to go to waste each day.For now, the program remains free to all students. Robert Semple Elementary parents Tawnya Cassidy and Diederich Burton saw the need for students to receive these important meals and stepped up to serve as delivery drivers to help, forming the Facebook group Benicia Schools Volunteer Food Delivery Services.

Source: Benicia Schools Volunteer Food Delivery Services need drivers

Solano Office of Education honors top educators – Daily Republic

The Solano County Office of Education on Wednesday celebrated all the certificated and classified employees nominated as part of the Educators of the Year program.

“The video highlights that honor each nominee in this year’s virtual celebration are truly heartwarming. Solano County’s certificated and classified employees of the year nominees are all passionate and committed people who have put their colleagues and students first. We are so proud to recognize each honoree with a video celebration of their dedication and hard work,” Solano County Superintendent of Schools Lisette Estrella-Henderson said in a statement.

Source: Solano Office of Education honors top educators

SCOE honors employee of the year nominees – The Reporter

BY Richard Bammer

Solano schools’ common mission to support, educate and graduate students was in high relief Wednesday when the Solano County Office of Education held an online celebration for a select group of school-support employees and teachers.

Every year, school districts countywide nominate one teacher and one classified employee to be recognized as an Educator of the Year.

The prerecorded celebration, which got underway at 3 p.m. and made necessary because of the ongoing pandemic, was a salute to six classified employees and seven teachers and paraeducators.

Source: SCOE honors employee of the year nominees – The Reporter

Benicia High defensive lineman Miles Bailey is now a three-star recruit – Times-Herald

By Matt O’Donnell

Benicia High School defensive end Miles Bailey hasn’t played a snap for the 2020-21 season yet. That hasn’t stopped colleges from taking notice.

Bailey, a 6-foot-4, 241-pound junior, is being recruited by schools like Colorado, Colorado State, Cal, Fresno State and San Jose State after attending two football showcases.

Scouts were impressed by Bailey after the Elite Underclassmen Camp in Las Vegas and the Best of the West Showcase in Reno.

Source: Benicia High defensive lineman Miles Bailey is now a three-star recruit – Times-Herald

Solano school, college district nomination period ends, mostly, for Nov. 3 election – Daily Republic

By Todd R. Hansen

Judi Honeychurch did not face a challenger in her last election and will have no need to campaign this fall, either.

Judi Honeychurch“I look forward to the challenges of the future and working with the superintendent and the teachers and staff,” said Honeychurch, who will enter her third term on the Fairfield-Suisun School District board of trustees.

She is the only incumbent who does not have a challenger.

Clifford Gordon, owner of Gordon’s Music & Sound in downtown Fairfield, pulled and filed candidacy papers Thursday for the Trustee Area 1 seat held by Bethany Smith. Trustee Area 2 incumbent Joan Gaut will run against Leslie Unverferth, and Area 6 incumbent John Silva faces Ana Petero.

Source: Solano school, college district nomination period ends, mostly, for Nov. 3 election

Vallejo, Benicia school districts getting ready for start of fall classes – Times-Herald

By Thomas Gase

Zoom accounts. Masks. Decent WiFi. It’s not the typical back-to-school shopping list, but then again 2020 has been anything but normal due to COVID-19.

With the start of the school year right around the corner (Aug. 17 in Solano County) teachers, administrators and school board members are currently working quicker than The Flash to make things run smoothly when students return back to class.

When the students do return it won’t be on campuses as the Solano County Office of Education announced three weeks ago that local schools will start the new school year with distance learning. This is because Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in July that that schools in counties on the state’s coronavirus watch list begin the school year via distance learning. Solano County is on that list.

Source: Vallejo, Benicia school districts getting ready for start of fall classes – Times-Herald

State Gives Benicia Guidance To Start School Classes | Benicia, CA Patch

By Maggie Fusek

If the Benicia Unified School District wants to hold classes in schools instead of online this fall, state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan on Tuesday outlined the state’s waiver process for K-6 schools.

Solano County is currently on California’s COVID-19 coronavirus “Watch List.”

Pan, the former health officer for Alameda County, said K-6 schools can apply for a waiver to begin in-person instruction if they are located in a county that meets several criteria in spite of being on the state’s Watch List.

Source: State Gives Benicia Guidance To Start School Classes | Benicia, CA Patch

Student Murals Installed In Benicia As Public Art | Benicia, CA Patch

By Maggie Fusek

The latest student-created public art installation is now on display, marking the third year of a successful public art collaboration between the Benicia Unified School District and the City of Benicia Arts and Culture Commission’s Public Art Committee.

“I am so grateful for this opportunity to be able to bring a smile to someone’s face through my art in these uncertain times,” said student artist Emery Lee, whose mural panel is featured in the public art installation.

Source: Student Murals Installed In Benicia As Public Art | Benicia, CA Patch

Stanford-bound Katie Han is Benicia High School’s valedictorian – Times-Herald

By Matt O’Donnell

During freshman year, Katie Han was one of 80 students tied for third place in class ranking.

By senior year, she stood alone as the valedictorian at Benicia High School.

Han was recognized for that honor when Benicia handed out diplomas during a drive-thru ceremony — in accordance with the COVID-19 pandemic — last weekend. That same day, the school unveiled a film compiled over a three-day span where the students walked Drolette Stadium in small groups, practicing social distancing.

Source: Stanford-bound Katie Han is Benicia High School’s valedictorian – Times-Herald

Benicia High School students hold Youth Against Brutality protest – Benicia Herald

By Galen Kusic

As the country continues to mourn in anger over the brutal police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week, activists and protesters have taken to the streets to call for justice and accountability for not only Floyd’s murder, but the countless other black and brown people that have been murdered by the police without repercussion or consequence.

While surrounding cities like Vallejo, Richmond, Oakland, San Francisco and others have experienced police violence toward protesters, Benicia thus far has experienced peace. As looting continues and curfew restrictions have been put in place county-wide, Benicia High School students organized a peaceful Youth Against Brutality Black Lives Matter march and protest on Sunday in honor of Floyd and the many other black people that have been killed at the hands of law enforcement or racists.

Source: Benicia High School students hold Youth Against Brutality protest and march on First St.