The Foundation for Clovis Schools thanks The Habit Burger Grill (at Sunnyside and Herndon in Clovis) and the community! The Habit held a soft opening Sunday, March 17 from 11:30am – 1:30pm with all proceeds going to the Foundation for Clovis Schools. The event brought in $1,619 for the Foundation.
On March 18, 2013, seventeen amazing high school juniors were recognized as Students of Promise. Started in 2001, the Students of Promise Scholarship Program honors students who are attending school on a regular basis, showing responsibility and succeeding in school in spite of very challenging situations in their personal lives.
On each high school campus, there are students who face extreme obstacles that could easily affect their performance at school, but somehow these students do not let challenges get in their way. Obstacles that students face include: growing up in foster care, homelessness, poverty, critical illness, death of parents, drug addiction, gang affiliation, becoming a teen parent, and much more. Each year, Foundation Directors read letters from school counselors and teachers about some extraordinary young people who have beat the odds.
The Students of Promise award is given to students in their junior year to reward them for persevering through tough times and to encourage them to keep up the good work. Upon graduating from high school, each Student of Promise is eligible to receive a $1,500 scholarship for a college or technical school.
Veronica Ochoa, a 2008 Clovis High recipient, had this to say about Students of Promise: “Today I purchased my cap and gown, as I will be graduating in less than two months with my Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology from Fresno State. I started thinking about everyone who had a part in my journey to crossing the finish line and wanted to thank the Foundation for Clovis Schools for being a part of that journey. It truly means a lot to me that there are others out there who care about education and that your organization cared enough to recognize myself and others for our success in the face of adversity.”
This year’s recipients are:
Buchanan High School
Richard Fiore
Virginia Healon
Brie Janae Oliver
Jeff Saul
Clovis East High School
Meghan Christopherson
Karris Gentile
Clovis High School
Oscar Gutierrez
Kolby Jizmejian
Ashley Lucckesi
Blake Martin
Clovis North High SchoolÂ
Ralph De La Mora
Stephanie Tran
Clovis West High School
India Alexander
Katrina Howard
Jalen Swank
Gateway High School
Martin Lorta
Aarin Starlin
As of January 25, 2013, Clovis North Educational Center (CNEC) will be the permanent home of a rare collection of authentic NASA artifacts, including items from the Space Shuttle program.
In the fall of 2009, NASA and the federal General Services Administration announced that with the phasing out of the Space Shuttle program, artifacts related to the program would be made available to public institutions for educational purposes. Clovis North social sciences teacher Cliff Nitschke immediately recognized a unique learning opportunity to generate interest in science and engineering in Central Valley students.
Following three-and-a-half years of effort, Nitschke’s dream of housing a part of the NASA Space Shuttle Program in Clovis Unified became a reality. Nitschke and CNEC have received the first of two deliveries of nearly $4 million worth of Space Shuttle artificates.
With funding from a grant from the Foundation for Clovis Schools, Nitschke was able to pay to have the donated artificats packed and shippped to CNEC. The artifacts will now be housed in a classroom where students can study their origins and use in the NASA program. Nitschke’s goal is to create a museum-like atmosphere to the classroom as a fitting way to display these unique pieces of Ameria’s history. In addition, the room will feature a space Research Center, complete with books, videos and multimedia presentations, all with information on space exploration and science.
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By helping teachers create a stimulating and motivational classroom environment, we help promote student learning.
When new teachers set up their very first classroom, it can be very expensive. There are materials and supplies that a new teacher needs, which the school district is not able to provide. It is very common for our new teachers to spend dollars out of their own pockets which can be very difficult on a new teacher’s salary.
Every September, the Foundation for Clovis Schools sponsors the New Teacher’s Reception. Each new full-time teacher in the district receives a grant for $200; each new part-time teacher receives a grant equivilant to the % of their contract. This grant helps teachers with their start-up expenses. In addition to being a financial help, the grant acts as a welcome to Clovis Unified School District.
If you would like to help our new teachers get a great start to their teaching career, please consider sponsoring one or more grants for new teachers at $200 per teacher.
CUSD Superintendent Janet Young, Ed.D., offered her annual State of Clovis Unified School District September 18 at the 2012 Superintendent’s Back-to-School Breakfast sponsorerd by the Foundation for Clovis Schools. More than 450 community members attended the breakfast which began with a welcome from Foundation for Clovis Schools Board of Directors Chairman, Hugh Awtrey, folowed by several selections performed by the Buchanan High School Chamber Choir. Next, 19 elementary through high school students were brought onstage and honored for winning this year’s Foundation for Clovis Schools Art Contest. Dr. Young then took the podium, highlighting the district’s many accomplishments in 2011-2012Â and goals for the new school year. Her speech followed the district’s yearlong theme of “Believe.”
Just a few of the things on Dr. Young’s list included:
