Turlock’s Texas Ranger talks with students about priorities

Local baseball player Tom Mendonca has a lesson to teach about priorities. This Turlock High School graduate went on to win the College World Series with the Fresno State Bulldogs. He was also named the College World Series Most Outstanding Player and he won the Joe Kearney Award in 2009, which recognized him as the top male athlete in the Western Athletic Conference. After all of his success, however, he says that baseball is not his top priority.

Conflict of interest forces new TUSD trustee to resign

Turlock Unified School District Trustee Lori Crivelli resigned her seat on with only one meeting under her belt on Wednesday due to a potential conflict of interest.

Turlock students come up short in Mock Trials

Turlock and Pitman high students spent the last three months learning how the court system works with the hope that their understanding could be turned into winning prosecution and defense teams. While their arguments were compelling, in the end, they were left with no appeal to move on in the Stanislaus County Mock Trials event.

TUSD starts off the new year with fresh perspectives

Three new trustees were sworn into office at the Turlock Unified School District Board meeting on Tuesday, ushering in a new era in district leadership.

CSUS students and faculty stage multiple rallies against recent cuts

California State University, Stanislaus students staged a massive walkout Wednesday morning to protest the loss of Winter Term, cuts to classes and professors, and what many termed as the "poor leadership" of President Hamid Shirvani.

Anti-Debely coalition voice legal concerns

Despite the threat of potential litigation at Tuesday's Turlock Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting, the board moved forward with the master plan of the Joe Debely Stadium renovations with some additional add-ons for a cost of about $3.6 million.

Bullies beware: TUSD is out to stop you

Spring is the time of year for flowers to bloom and Mother Nature to come out of hibernation, but it is also the time when bullying incidents spring up the most.

Universities strive to end graduation gap for low-income and minority students

Minority and low-income students have historically had a harder path to and through college, but a new nationwide initiative looks to close that achievement gap.

UC Merced application deadline now Dec. 15

The University of California, Merced, pushed back the deadline for Fall 2010 applications for the second time in as many days.

Earl students take a step toward physical fitness

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, passersby can see Dennis Earl Elementary students working on their fitness by walking about a mile before class starts. Their inspiration: Colored feet charms to add to their stylish necklaces.

Local students hone their NFL skills

The lawn outside Walnut Elementary Education Center was transformed into a mini National Football League training camp this past September for 120 students who were looking to put their best punt, pass and kick forward.

Walnut Elementary earns top four in state H1N1 video contest

Sneeze into a tissue, cough into your sleeve, wash your hands, sanitize. These health-minded words along, with the catchy tune that accompany them, have been stuck in the heads of Walnut Elementary School students since they started making their H1N1 public service announcement for the California Department of Public Health.

California steps up competition for education grant

Education cuts are coming at state governments left and right leaving local school districts with little to nothing to teach the students of the future. No one has much money and the students of America are suffering.

Academic Senate censures CSU Stanislaus interim provost

The California State University, Stanislaus Academic Senate voted Tuesday to formally censure Interim Provost Herman Lujan for "intemperate remarks" made in a Nov. 4 letter to the editor, published in the Turlock Journal.

Faculty has ‘no confidence’ in CSU Stanislaus president

The votes have been tallied and the results are in: the General Faculty of California State University, Stanislaus voted overwhelmingly Friday to express no confidence in the performance and leadership of CSU Stanislaus President Hamid Shirvani.

Dutcher students honored for responsibility

Dutcher Middle School students Lucas Bartel (7th grade) and Rayana Plancarte (8th grade) were recently honored as the Turlock Unified School District's Character Counts students of the month for the trait of responsibility. Lucas and Rayana share many similarities, including their impressive grade point average of 3.57, and they are both enrolled in Spanish language immersion classes. The biggest similarity between them is they are both known as responsible students and members of ...

Pitman, THS keep school newspapers alive

The school newspaper was once an essential part of any educational campus. It was where students, parents and community members went to see what was happening on campus. In the past several years as school districts across the state have struggled with budget cuts, school newspapers have been reduced to just a shell of what they once were. At Pitman and Turlock high schools that is not the case. In fact, the journalism ...

Turlock students join list of service academy nominees

Congressman Jeff Denham nominated 23 Californians for appointments to our nation's service academies. Among the nominees are three local high school seniors who Denham nominated for the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. and the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. The three Turlock seniors are Turlock Christian's Nicholas Truax for the USNA, Turlock High's Bryce Brenda for the USMA ...

Stanislaus Military Academy growing, changing lives and impacting generations

It's about 7:45 a.m. on the first day back from holiday break at the Stanislaus Military Academy. It's about 30 degrees outside and the young men and women of SMA are hurting - they've been running, pounding out pushups and standing in formation. Talk to any of the students, known as cadets, however, and you may be surprised to learn that they like the hurt - it's the kind of hurt they've needed ...

Turlock High steps up efforts to raise CAHSEE scores, grades

The graduating seniors of 2006 were the first class in the state required to take and pass the California High School Exit Exam. Half a decade later, the CAHSEE remains the final hurdle towards graduation for seniors in the Turlock Unified School District and on graduation day it makes a difference. Seniors who graduate high school but do not pass the CAHSEE are given a "certificate of completion" rather than an actual high ...

'Making a Difference' in Turlock schools

Budget proposal puts wrench in kindergarten plans; leaves November babies out of class

Keyes resident Yolanda Howey had planned to send her son to transitional kindergarten next school year, but now that plan is up in the air and she could be paying $3,000 for another year of pre-school. Her son's birth date is Nov. 14 and next school year the cut-off date for traditional kindergarten will be moved back to Nov. 1 under the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010. Howey had planned on sending ...

Education foundation names first board

The Turlock Unified School District now has a powerful fundraising ally in the form of the recently established Turlock Education Foundation, which was officially introduced to the TUSD Board of Trustees at Tuesday's board meeting. Along with the introduction, TEF Foundation President Barney Gordon, a community member and chair of the TUSD Budget Advisory Committee, unveiled the first two objectives of the newly formed executive board and board of directors. The first objective ...

UC Merced gives for the holidays

The University of California, Merced may be young, but students, staff, and faculty have already learned the value in giving back. In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, the Kappa Sigma fraternity canvassed Merced collecting nonperishable food items. More than 2,000 pounds of canned foods were donated to the Merced Food Bank. "Our group feels that doing a canned food drive is a way to give back to the community that has ...

New education laws plentiful, some controversial

With the New Year comes a group of educational and youth related laws in California, several of which will likely be challenged over the coming months due to their controversial nature. Kindergarten Readiness Act One of the least controversial, but relevant to education, is the implementation of SB 1381, known as the Kindergarten Readiness Act. Starting this year children must be age five by Nov. 1 to enroll in kindergarten. In 2013 ...

UC Merced searches for future college students at Delhi High

Students from Delhi High School are getting extra assistance in preparing for college thanks to a federal grant received by the Center for Educational Partnerships at the University of California, Merced. The CEP has been awarded grants totaling more than $3.4 million from the U.S. Department of Education to continue its Talent Search program, which is intended to increase the number of low-income and first-generation college students by helping them complete high school ...

State releases funding for school construction

The California State Allocation Board recently disbursed $923.8 million to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools for the construction and modernization of 377 schools, including a Turlock Unified School District $904,000 project at Roselawn High School. "Our schools and California's budget are in a state of financial emergency," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. "These funds will give districts some of the resources they need to construct or ...

A Hilmar Christmas

The "Sounds of Christmas" filled Hilmar on Thursday when students from Elim Elementary delivered an unforgettable program for family and friends at Hilmar High's Strom Gym. So many cheerful visitors watched in wonder that there were three separate performances and at each one Strom Gym was packed to capacity. The Elim Elementary Band, Intermediate Band and Elementary Singers performed holiday classics such as "Deck the Halls," "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree," "Jingle Bells" and ...

UC Merced talent search to expand

The University of California, Merced will offer students at eight Valley high schools extra help in preparing for college. The program, made possible by a $3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, will allow UC Merced to continue its "Talent Search," intended to help low-income, first-generation college students to complete high school and enroll in and complete a postsecondary education. Each student receives academic, college preparation, and financial counseling, including application ...

MJC to dedicate new buildings

Modesto Junior College will dedicate its two newest buildings &ndash; Glacier Hall and the Agriculture Center for Education &ndash; on Jan. 4. Allied Health's Glacier Hall, a building offering lecture rooms, skill labs, a computer-assisted instructional resource lab, and a human patient simulation lab, will be dedicated at 2 p.m. The building is expected to help train health care professionals for the community, ranging from nurses to medical assistants and respiratory therapists. <p ...