Local schools to benefit from tobacco use prevention grant

The Stanislaus County Office of Education recently received $1.8 million in grants for their Tobacco Use Prevention Program from the California Department of Education. This money is to help educate students in sixth to12th grades about the negative health effects of smoking.

TUSD hires consultant for special education program

In hopes of improving the special education program and reducing costs, the Turlock Unified School District hired the School Innovations and Advocacy, Inc. to be a consultant from Aug. 1 to June 30, 2010. TUSD trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to contract with SI & A.

Dear Mr. President

Students in Kristin Wilson's fourth grade class carefully followed the 2008 presidential elections. They watched the Presidential Inauguration as a class, and they discussed what they would like to see from their new president. They even wrote Barack Obama letters that offered suggestions on how he could improve the country.

CSU Stanislaus earns high ranking in West from U.S. News & World Report

For the 14th straight year, California State University, Stanislaus has been recognized as one of the country's top public universities in the U.S. News & World Report "America's Best College" rankings.

Academy charts new path for alternative education

Cadets in full uniform sat perfectly still in their seats on the basketball court at John B. Allard School Thursday evening. Despite the scorching heat rising from the blacktop below them, these high school students didn't move a muscle, not even to wipe the sweat that was running down their faces.

Retirees honored by school district

Sandi Sing walked across the stage of the Turlock High School Performing Arts Building amid applause, handshakes, and hugs from the Turlock Unified School District Board of Trustees.

CSUS students scramble to replace cut classes

With the start of the fall semester rapidly approaching, California State University, Stanislaus junior Amanda Crocker thought she was all ready for the first day of class. That was until she checked her e-mail and found out one of her required courses had been cut from the university's schedule.

School district plans for success

The first week of school is a hectic time in the Turlock Unified School District. Teachers have to finalize lesson plans and decorate classrooms; students have to find their classes and get back into the school spirit; and this year administrators have to find ways to follow the District's new strategic plan.

Local winery pours resources into school district

Thanks to E. & J. Gallo Winery students in the Turlock Unified School District will have a few dozen more computers on which to research everything from the classics to modern art.

Program looks to fill future teacher shortages now

Turlock High School teacher Kyle Sires became a teacher after his career as a professional indoor football player. He was able to make the transition from professional athlete to professional educator through the alternative certification program.

Turlock students make progress in state testing

Despite a down turn in educational spending at the state level, Turlock Unified School District students made modest improvements in their English and mathematics skills according to state test results released Tuesday.

Stadium eligible for RDA funds, say trustees

The Turlock Unified School District Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to allow the Turlock Redevelopment Agency to offer the District funds to install an all-weather field at Joe Debely Stadium at Turlock High School.

Excitement, enrollment up on first day of school

Children all around Turlock waited patiently at bus stops early Tuesday morning. They were dressed in their best new clothes, carrying brand new backpacks. Some were eager, some were anxious, some just wanted to go back to bed, but they were all on their way back to school.

Starting school with style

MedicAlert estimates that over 2,000 children in the Turlock Unified School District cannot afford the supplies that they need to begin the school year. That is why they organized Crayons to Calculators, a community-wide initiative to get students the supplies they need to succeed.

CSU Stanislaus receives $400,000 gift

California State University, Stanislaus received a gift of $400,000 to fund an endowed chair in the College of Education.

Turlockers spell V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

The top two finishers at the 2011-12 Stanislaus County Elementary Spelling Championship, held Wednesday at Gregori High School in Modesto, hailed from Turlock Unified District Schools, fifth grader Joven Hundal goes to Julien and sixth grader Avery Owen attends Walnut. Terry Tek was the third place finisher and he attends Agnes Baptist in Modesto. Hundal and Owen will represent Stanislaus County at the State Championship at the San Joaquin Office of Education in ...

Hilmar FFA teams represent California at national competition

The Hilmar FFA Dairy Cattle and Dairy Foods judging teams represented California at the National FFA contests this October in Indianapolis, Ind. The national contests were held in conjunction with the annual National FFA Convention. The Dairy Cattle Judging team placed fourth overall in the nation with 42 states competing and 166 contestants. The four members and their individual placings were: Randy Edwards – 10th, Brian Lopes – 12th, Clinton Lundell – 30th ...

CSU Stanislaus awards Rogers Scholars

California State University, Stanislaus this week awarded 25 students as Mary Stuart Rogers Scholars. The annual scholarship recognizes students who have overcome challenges to excel academically. Since the program's 1991 founding, more than $2.5 million in scholarships have been awarded to more than 400 CSU Stanislaus students. Each of the 15 undergraduate recipients was awarded $3,000, while each of the 10 teaching credential program recipients was awarded $3,500. This year's undergraduate ...

UC Merced professor designs HIV inhibitor

University of California, Merced professor Patricia LiWang has designed what may be the most effective chemical inhibitor against human immunodeficiency virus infection, the university announced this week. LiWang's discovery combines two existing drugs to work between several times and several hundred times more effectively than existing inhibitors, depending on the strain of HIV. The new inhibitor blocks HIV from entering a cell at two different steps of viral entry, an approach among ...

Love and Logic alive in Hilmar

As every parent knows, there is no instruction booklet for parenting. The Hilmar Unified School District, however, has been helping local residents be better parents through its Love and Logic program. Love and Logic is a philosophy founded by Jim Fay and Foster W. Cline, who had over 75 years of working with and raising children. The philosophy has been taught for over a decade in Hilmar by Bruce Reisdorph, a licensed marriage, ...

Pumpkins pop up at Cunningham

The Kiwanis Club of Greater Turlock delivered 650 Halloween pumpkins to Cunningham Elementary School in Turlock on Friday. For the past 22 years the Kiwanis Club of Greater Turlock has been delivering the pumpkins. This year's batch was donated by Kiwanis members Ron and Karen Macedo, owners of Ram Farms.

Drug-free life

It was Red Ribbon Week last week in Turlock as schools all over town celebrated living a drug-free life.

Pitman High band kicks of Washington D.C. fundraising with free concert

The Pitman High School Band, known as the "Marching Pride" was recently invited to the 2012 National Independence Day Parade in Washington D.C. following a recommendation from Governor Jerry Brown. The Marching Pride hopes to raise $100,000 in order to make the trip to the nation's capital. Tonight the band will celebrate its nomination and kick off its massive fundraising effort with a free concert. The event will be held at 5:30 p.m. ...

THS Symphonic Band places 4th at Foothill Review

The Turlock High School Symphonic Band finished fourth overall out of 17 bands during the Foothill Band Review held Saturday at Amador Valley High in Pleasanton. The THS Symphonic band consists of 38 students who play an ensemble of percussion, wood and brass instruments. Only 38 students of the 100-member THS band participate in the symphonic section. At the review THS placed second in the concert class of schools. Band Director Daniel ...

Spooky fun at Chatom

It was a spooktacular engagement at Chatom Elementary School on Saturday afternoon. The country campus was filled with hundreds of ghostly sights and scary sounds.

Local schools to compete in Spelling Championship

Top local elementary and junior high spellers are scheduled to compete in the Stanislaus County Spelling Championships in the coming weeks. The top spellers in grades four through six from Chatom, Denair, Keyes, Sacred Heart and Turlock Unified School District elementary schools will compete with schools from throughout the county on Nov. 2 at Gregori High School at 5 p.m. Mountain View, Denair Middle, Sacred Heart and Turlock Junior High will compete ...

Migrant preschool program earns top honors

The Central California Migrant Head Start Program, operated by the Stanislaus County Office of Education, was recently named a "Center of Excellence" by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. Locally, the Migrant Head Start Program operates the Turlock Child Development Center, which serves 150 children from low-income, agricultural-income based homes. Since 1965, the program serves 8,000 children in a seven county area and it was ...

Stanislaus AD resigns, joins staff at Simon Fraser in Canada

Strong Character at Crowell

Crowell Elementary in Turlock capped off its Character Counts Week celebration with a presentation of students who scored a perfect 600 on their California Standardized Testing on Friday. Throughout the week the school held assemblies to promote strong character amongst students and even held a professional dress and career day for sixth graders.

Farhadian named Love of Learning scholar

Isaac William Farhadian, of Turlock, a graduate student in History at CSU Stanislaus, was chosen as the Love of Learning award recipient by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Farhadian completed his undergraduate at CSU Stanislaus in 2010. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a double-major in History and Political Science and received the J. Burton Vasché Award. He has also received the Miriam V. and John L. Keymer Student Leadership Award, ...