Annc: Coming up on Inside
California Education...
Lara: Ok guys, it's on!
Perfect.
Annc: Discover how a
student-run thrift store at
a San Diego school is
outfitting teens with new
threads...while also serving
a greater mission of helping
those in need.
Mendoza: Which of the
following groups was the new...
Annc: See how at-risk
students from a community
school in Los Banos are
defying expectations as they
compete in the
Academic Decathlon.
Tony: What I love about
this country is the promise
that anybody can
have an education.
Annc: Meet California's
newest Superintendent
of Public Instruction
Tony Thurmond.
Student: She's about four,
four and half months old
Annc: And explore two school
farms in the Central Valley,
where students are growing
food for school lunches.
It's all next, on
Inside California Education!
Annc2: Funding for Inside
California Education
is made possible by:
Since 1985, the
California Lottery has
raised more than $34 billion
dollars in supplemental
funding for California's
11-hundred public school
districts from kindergarten
through college.
That's approximately $211
for each full-time student
based on $1.7 billion
contributed in
fiscal year 2017-18.
With caring teachers,
committed administrators,
and active parents, every
public school student can
realize their dreams.
The California Lottery:
Imagine the Possibilities.
The Stuart Foundation:
Improving life outcomes for
young people through
education
♪♪♪
♪♪♪
Michael: These are rooms
full of memories.
Magical evenings like
senior proms or
trips to Disneyland.
Clothing once cherished
as the height of fashion.
Or just an item outgrown.
All now destined to
serve a higher purpose.
Michael: It's Wednesday
afternoon at San Diego's
Patrick Henry High School.
Lara: OK guys, it's on!
Perfect."
Michael: With student
volunteers right behind,
teacher Lara Dickens is
opening up two rooms
packed with donated items.
Welcome to the on-campus
thrift store...
where all proceeds go towards
helping less fortunate students.
Lara: When the parents found
out that there were homeless
students and foster
students on our campus,
it all of a sudden became a
huge community mission
to make everyone's experience
at Patrick Henry fun,
meaningful, memorable, and
equal."
Michael: The thrift store
began modestly in 2016
with just a single
rack of clothes.
Re-purposing used clothing
was originally intended
as a lesson about
environmental awareness.
♪♪♪
Michael: But then members
of the school's Interact
Club...a kind of
junior version of Rotary
International...realized
this would be a great way to
raise money to
help fellow students.
With help from
Rotary, parents,
staff, and students, the
thrift store blossomed.
Kella: The proceeds all go
to benefit kids financially
who may be struggling, so
we can help and them
and support them.
Lyndsey: It just provides me
with an opportunity that
I just feel like helps my
community and helps me
grow at the same time.
Glenda: Thomas, you're
going to do the T-shirt wall
and the jeans if we
have time for that.
Michael: It starts in
the morning...
when special education teacher
Glenda Griesgraber assigns
Thomas, Darren
and Brendon
the tasks of sorting
and folding the clothes
before the store
opens in the afternoon.
Glenda says it's been a game
changer for her students.
Glenda: It gives them a
sense of accomplishment
that they're doing something
other than being in an
academic class; this is
giving them something,
a skill they use to go
work in a retail store.
Darren: If they're worn
out, they're going in
the Goodwill box.
But if they're not
going to be in Goodwill,
we'll put them
back in stock.
Kella: Come on into
the thrift store!
(Woo-hoo!)
♪♪♪
Michael: Every item...
big or small...
is priced at
one dollar each.
Students can buy everything
from bracelets to
prom suits and dresses.
All the money raised, almost
two thousand dollars a year,
helps pay for
yearbooks, senior trips,
even laptops for graduating
seniors heading off
to college.
Proceeds also help buy
personal care items for
students who might not
be able to afford them.
They can approach
any teacher, counselor,
or Thrift Club student
and everything's
discreetly
provided for free.
Lara: So we make sure
students are aware that
they can have deodorant,
toothbrushes, toothpaste...
there isn't anything
that should prevent
you from coming to
school if we can buy it.
We hope that you
will attend school,
and thrive.
Eliza: We want to make
sure that everyone has
the ability to be a
part of things,
that no one feels excluded,
and everyone is able
to participate in other
things and they don't
feel ostracized form
other students."
Michael: Even at a
relatively affluent school
like Patrick Henry...
it's estimated as many as
twenty students could be
homeless at any given time.
Once again, fellow students
help out by collecting free
food items to share.
Eliza: The canned food is
all going towards students
at our high school right now
that can't afford too much
because they live in
really difficult situations,
so right now they might
not have a stable home.
Elizabeth: There are
students who obviously need
help, and so this
provides that venue...
but it also gives students this
great feeling and sense
of pride that they're
giving back to others.
Michael: Principal Elizabeth
Gillingham says the thrift
store helps erase the
stigma or self-judgment
students may feel when
their families face
financial challenges.
Elizabeth: So a student
would say to be proudly,
'I bought this at the store
and she's at the prom and
his suit was a dollar
and so is my dress.
I think that's amazing.
Cameraman: "Cute shirt.
What'd that cost you?
Student: One dollar!
Cameraman: Can't beat
the price.
Student 1: Can't beat the price.
Student 2: It's true.
Student 1: He got this here
too - one dollar."
Lara: It's really beautiful
to watch students just do
something because they
feel good about it and
not because it's going
to be a bullet point
on their resume or
college application.
Michael: The idea of an
on-campus thrift store may
seem a bit unusual for
some...
but the consensus at Patrick
Henry High is that the benefits
far exceed the risks and
resources needed
to make it happen.
Elizabeth: I would say
having a thrift store is
a wonderful thing for
every student that's
on your campus.
Their world is bigger than
themselves and giving back
to others is important.
And it makes it cool
to be part of that,
and I like that."
Lara: I encourage
middle schools,
elementary schools, and high
schools to all connect and
share the wealth
they have within.
Kella: Just talk to a
teacher and get it started.
Just get the whole school
together and then you start
fundraisers or have
donations for clothes
and then it's just like
a snowball effect,
it keeps rolling.
Lara: It's a wonderful
thing to be part of this.
They're just
beautiful inside,
and I get a lot of
credit for this...
but, it's them.
♪♪♪
♪♪♪
Mr. Mendoza: I will be there as
your cheerleader.
Go team Go team.
Your coach but that
will be my responsibility.
Your responsibility will be
to do all the hard work.'
Annc: IN JUST A COUPLE DAYS
THIS TEAM OF HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS WILL BE COMPETING
IN MERCED COUNTY'S
ACADEMIC DECATHLON....
AND IT'S ISABEL MENDOZA'S
JOB TO BE SURE THESE KIDS
ARE READY TO COMPETE.
Isabel: But it's not so much
what you are saying,
it's how your saying it.
how your presenting it.
and are you
believable enough?
Isabel: I'm more
guiding them.
I'm helping them
discover what they can do,
can't do and I know many
of my students
want to do better.
They want to try, but
sometimes they're limited
because of their background.
Rob: IT'S BECAUSE OF THEIR
STRUGGLES AT A TRADITIONAL
PUBLIC SCHOOL THAT THEY
ARE NOW AT A
COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL
Leslie: Each one of these
kids has their own story.
Each one has their own
reason they're here.
Rob: LESLIE JELEN IS
THE PRINCIPAL AT VALLEY
COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL
IN LOS BANOS
Leslie: We serve many
different at risk youth.
And this is a chance
for them to get back on track
and recover from
maybe some bad decisions
they've made.
They don't have to be
defined by their past.
Rob: ONE OF THE WAYS
THE HIGH SCHOOL IS HOPING
TO ACHIEVE THIS IS BY GIVING
THEIR STUDENTS THE
OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES,
SUCH AS THE
ACADEMIC DECATHLON.
Isabel: Okay, number 39.
This one asks how did you
and your team prepare
for the Academic Decathlon?
Leslie: So as far as I am aware
of, we are the only county
that has community schools
that participate in
the Academic Decathlon.
We have this small team that
doesn't have a lot of the
same supports and
doesn't have as much time,
but we're still
there, we're still trying.
Rob: THE ACADEMIC DECATHLON
IS NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED.
Proctor: The correct
answer is: A.
TEAMS OF STUDENTS
DEMONSTRATE THEIR ACADEMIC
STRENGTH BY COMPLETING
SEVEN WRITTEN TESTS,
WRITING AN ESSAY, DELIVERING
A PREPARED AND
AN IMPROMPTU SPEECH,
AS WELL AS PARTICIPATING
IN AN INTERVIEW.
THE CONTEST CULMINATES IN
WHAT'S CALLED
A SUPER QUIZ - A JEOPARDY
-STYLE SPEED TEST.
Proctor: Pencils up.
ALONG WITH THE MEDALS AND
PLAQUES PRESENTED TO THE
TOP TEAMS AND INDIVIDUALS,
THE DECATHLON ALSO GIVES
OUT THREE SCHOLARSHIPS
TO EACH PARTICIPATING
HIGH SCHOOL.
Isabel: This academic
decathlon is scary
to many, and the hardest
thing to convince them that
you should be here.
Amahd: Honestly at
first I was like,
"I don't even know why I'm
doing this," and towards the
end I kind of accepted it
as like this was helping me,
it's for my future.
So when I kind of got that,
I was like it's all good,
just do it.
Andrea: I would have never
expected this three years
ago, being a sophomore
and getting all Fs and not
getting any passing grades.
I've been to four different
high schools and none of the
offered anything like this.
So I'm really, really
excited and nervous
at the same time.
Rob: FOR FRANCCITA - IT'S
ACTUALLY HER SECOND
TIME PARTICIPATING IN
THE COMPETITION.
Franccita: And we
do argue about it,
but he's still
my best friend.
Franccita: I attended the
academic decathlon last year
and won one gold medal in
science and one bronze medal
in music.
Rob: LIKE ANDREA, SHE
TOO HAS COME A LONG WAY.
Franccita: Before this, I
don't think I would have
graduated high school.
Why's that?
Cause I wasn't even trying.
At one point I just gave up
and it was really sad
for a while.
And a lot of my family were
very disappointed because
I'm a smart kid, but I
gave up on myself which
was really bad.
That's like the
worst thing you can do.
Isabel: Kids like
these need people who
are willing to push
them forward.
Why wouldn't you
think about college?
Student: I wasn't really sure
what I wanted to do
with my life, which
is very common.
Isabel: They've got
to find somebody that will
give them that little boost
and that's what I'm here
for, that little boost.
Nothing more.
Isabel: We're
going to stop there,
we got about
five more minutes.
Work on your speeches.
Tomorrow I want those things
typed out because it's here
now and we're going
to do the best we can do.
Rob: AFTER MONTHS
OF PREPARATION AND
HARD WORK - THE BIG DAY
HAS FINALLY ARRIVED......
Andrea: I'm in the
academic decathlon now.
Whatever brought us
here, the circumstances,
we're just trying to
make the best out of it.
Amahd: I feel like it's
not just proving just
for myself, but like
the whole school.
We're not bad kids and we
can do what everybody
else does.
Franccita: It means a lot to
me that they helped me
grow as a person, and
definitely It's something
I'm very grateful for.
(Cheering)
♪♪♪
(Cheering)
♪♪♪
Isabel: it's not
that I taught them to fly on
their own.
I helped them discover
that they can fly.
It's already in them, it's
just they need to find
that themselves.
♪♪♪
Annc: Still ahead on Inside
California Education....
Laura: Do you think a horse
can catch up with a cow?
All: Yes!
Annc: Students in the
Central Valley towns of
Turlock and Ceres are
getting hands-on experience
at school farms.....
learning everything from
how to plant vegetables...
to proper animal care.
But first....let's get
to know Tony Thurmond,
California's brand new
superintendent of schools.
♪♪♪
Tony: When I think about
how education impacted
me, you know, I had great
teachers who always believed
in me and, and they really
imparted a message that if
I believed in education that
my life would be better
than it started.
I'm confident that it
meant the difference for me
between ending up in
California State Prison
and instead ending up
as California State
Superintendent.
Kristen: Tony Thurmond is
California's newest
Superintendent of
Public Instruction,
guiding education policy
for the state's
six million students.
He was inaugurated in
January 2019 in front of a
crowd at Sacramento's
McClatchy High School.
Tony: To which our
children are entitled.
Judge: I will not
back down.
Tony: I will not
back down.
(Applause)
Steinberg: California is
immensely lucky to have a
talented, committed and
savvy leader like Tony
Thurmond leading the
department of education
and fighting for our youth.
Welcome to Sacramento!
Welcome everybody. . .
Kristen: But, it wasn't an
easy road to the office.
Thurmond was in a contested
and expensive race for the
position against charter
school executive
Marshall Tuck...
with the results too close
to call for days
after the election.
Tony: My campaign for state
Superintendent was certainly
the toughest race that
I've had in politics.
And I've always
had tough races.
But I never lost faith.
I always believe that if you
put forward what your vision
is for helping young people,
that everything will work
out the way
it's supposed to.
Lupita: What makes him well
suited for this position is
that he has a lived
experience that's unique
and unlike any other
superintendent.
He's Afro-Panamanian, he's
lived in an experience in
which he was orphaned,
and he had to be raised
by his cousin that he
had never met.
And so education um to
him is very personal.
Tony: My cousin raised me
and she kept me out of the
streets, and she
kept me out of trouble.
And she always made sure
we had the best education
we could possibly get.
Tony: My mom was real sick,
and my mom had cancer.
And when I was six years
old my mom lost her battle
to cancer and my dad
was not in the picture
so I ended up growing
up in Philadelphia.
Kristen: Thurmond graduated
from Temple University in
Philadelphia before
returning to the Bay Area,
where he became
a social worker.
That lead to seats on the
Richmond city council
and school board, then
the State Assembly,
and finally,
state Superintendent.
Tony: I've been very
fortunate um to be
in a position to work
with young people.
To help them get
a second chance,
to help them get strong
after school programs
and mentoring programs.
It's my mission, um,
to serve young people.
Kristen: Today, Thurmond
is meeting with students at
Valley High School in
Sacramento involved with
a program called
Improve Your Tomorrow.
student: So I showed
up for the food,
but then I started to
realize the mission of the
program was to get
young men of color to
and through college.
Kristen: Over the
next four years,
Thurmond says he wants to
focus on those students
who are often too
easily overlooked.
He also wants to reform
school budgets at a time
when school districts
like Sacramento are facing
a budget crisis, and
teachers are striking
in cities across the state.
Tony: California still is
forty-first in the nation in
per-people spending even
though California is the
fifth wealthiest
economy in the world.
We have to change that.
We always say that
kids are our future.
We have to act like it
and my top priority
is increasing revenue
for our schools,
closing our achievement
gap, closing our
teacher shortage.
How do you learn when you
don't have a well-trained
and qualified teacher at
the head of every class?
Kristen: These reforms
are more than Thurmond's
political platform...
they're also personal.
He has two daughters
attending public schools.
Tony: There are
times when, um,
I felt like if, if a teacher
or a staff person is
going to be so
difficult to me, um,
how are they going to treat
other parents who don't
know how to advocate
for their children?
And so we've got to work
throughout the bureaucracy
and the barriers that impact
our educational systems.
Lupita: He's not a
figurehead.
He's actually boots on the
ground and he's rolling up
his sleeves and he knows
what's happening at the
department and he wants
to be helpful personally.
Kristen: At the
end of his term,
Thurmond says he hopes
to increase the state's
per pupil spending...
putting the state on trajectory
to someday be first
in the nation.
Tony: I think there's so
much more that we can do
in this state and I'm excited
that the voters are giving
me the opportunity to do it.
Annc: On average, states
spend more than $12,000
dollars in per pupil
spending when adjusted
for regional costs.
Vermont has the highest per
pupil spending in the nation
at more than
$20,000 dollars.
Utah spends the least at
about $7,000 dollars
per student.
In California, per pupil
expenditures are a little
over $9,000 dollars.
♪♪♪
Ken: Make sure you
plant the plants so they are
even with the soil.
So you're just going
to open the soil up,
put it in and see how
it is even and level.
And then put the soil back
and around.
Christina: Agriculture is the
biggest industry here
in Stanislaus County....
where farms generate
about $3 billion worth of
commodities each year.
So you'd think that kids
from local schools would
have plenty of
exposure to the farm life.
But school officials from
the towns of Turlock and
Ceres discovered -
that was not always true.
Ken: Almost all the kids
in our program are actually
coming from a
suburban environment.
Very, very few of our
students are actually
coming off of a farm.
And they don't have any idea
where their food comes from.
We plant broccoli plants
and they look at that,
and they have no idea what a
broccoli looks like
growing in the field.
Laura: We have some students
that have never had,
um, a farm experience.
They've never planted
something in the ground
and been able to
watch it grow.
They've never been
able to hold a chick,
or pet a sheep or a goat.
And, so, with
bringing them out here,
they actually get these
experiences that they
may not have otherwise.
Christina: In the
last several years,
both the Turlock and
Ceres school districts have
invested significant time --
and money -- into creating
real, working farms
for their students.
Turlock's efforts started
in 2013 when the district
bought 10 acres of
land in the city.
They've been slowly
building it up since.
Laura: We finally finished
our swine facility just
about three weeks ago.
And, so, so now we have
a swine facility that is
up to industry standards.
We've also been able to
bring out our goats and
sheep to the farm this year.
They used to be housed,
um, in different locations.
We have about an
acre of fruit trees,
and we have about an
acre of vegetables.
We are starting to plant
now with the first graders,
and they will continue to
plant with about 800
more first graders out here.
We get a lot of
seeds planted,
and they're very
good at doing that.
Christina: Turlock wants to make
this farm accessible to every
student in the district...
whether it's elementary
school students
on a field trip....
or high schoolers who are
raising animals through
Future Farmers of America.
Student: She was
born in November,
so she's about four
and half months old.
Christina: The learning
doesn't stop at the farm for
these first graders from
Julien Elementary School.
Their teachers say they
have several lessons
planned around
today's excursion.
Heather: Kids are
jumping up and down,
very excited, and it kind
of brings to life the things
they've been reading
about and learning about.
Laura: The teachers are very
good about bringing it back
to the classroom
and using it as,
"Remember when we were at
the farm and we did this?"
Christina: Turlock's farm
coordinator Laura Brem says
the district was also motivated
by new science standards
that encourage kids to
memorize less
and explore more.
Laura: We don't just
give them the answers.
We want them to
explore and to investigate,
and then find the
answers on their own,
because, as they go
through that process,
they internalize it.
They, it becomes
a part of them.
Simon: I've been
planting peas,
climbing on
tractors, looking at fruit.
I really enjoyed looking
inside a tractor because
I don't really get to
do that very often.
Christina: The food grown
on the Turlock farm typically
returns to the schools as
a snack for students.
But the farm run by the
Ceres school district
takes it a step further.
Each year they sell about
$18,000 thousand dollars
worth of produce grown on
the farm back to
the school district.
Ken: It's really a
seed-to-fork operation.
We start seeds in our
greenhouses with our
students, we grow those and
then they actually go into a
school lunch program
with the school district.
So instead of buying
it from a wholesaler,
they're actually purchasing
it from the ag program
and those funds
come back into it.
So on a, on a average week,
we're probably feeding
2,000 students just off
of this particular fruit
that comes off the farm.
Arianna: The food that grows
out here and goes to our
cafeteria, I feel like
that does make a difference,
because a lot of people
don't know where their
food comes from.
Instead of like trucking in
fruits from different
parts of California,
we can just truck 'em in
from our school farm.
Christina: Arianna is a
junior at Ceres Central
Valley High School, which
offers students four career
pathways in its
agriculture program.
This 6 and a half acre
farm is an extension
of that program....
with more than 200
fruit trees, table grapes
and vegetables.
Plus, there's livestock
facilities so students
can learn how to
care for cattle,
sheep, pigs and goats.
Arianna: I've been thinking
a lot about veterinarian
technician, with the
experience I have with goats
it's going to help me a lot
to go towards my career.
Christina: Ceres ag
instructor Ken Moncrief
says one of the most
rewarding parts of his job
is watching students eat
farm -fresh food
often for the
very first time.
Ken: When we grow a carrot,
they're pulling the carrots
right out of the ground.
I have to kind of fight
them to go wash them,
because they're so excited
to try their vegetables
that they grew.
So I think they're really
learning about nutrition
and things like that, because
they're eating something
right out of the ground.
Sarahi: I think it's very
important for students
to know where the
food, is coming from,
because a lot of people
are starting to raise
awareness of how
important it is to have,
like, locally sourced food.
Christina: School officials
from both Turlock and
Ceres agree....
the learning that
goes on at these
farms is invaluable.
It provides a hands-on
experience students can't get
in the classroom...
sparks a new appreciation
for animals....
and even offers inspiration
for a future career.
Ken: In education, there
are so many great kids.
And I think this is a
shining example of where
kids can really shine.
Every part of this is
touched by kid's hands.
And that's what
makes me the most proud.
♪♪♪
Annc: If you'd like
more information about the
program, log on to our
website insidecaled.org.
We have video from
all of our shows,
and you can connect
with us on social media.
Thanks for joining us.
We'll see you next time on
Inside California Education.
♪♪♪
♪♪♪
Annc2: Funding for
Inside California Education
is made possible
by: Since 1985,
the California Lottery has
raised more than $34 billion
dollars in supplemental
funding for
California's 11-hundred
public school districts
from kindergarten
through college.
That's approximately $211
for each full-time student
based on $1.7 billion
contributed in
fiscal year 2017-18.
With caring teachers,
committed administrators,
and active parents, every
public school student
can realize their dreams.
The California Lottery:
Imagine the Possibilities.
The Stuart Foundation:
Improving life outcomes
for young people through
education
Additional funding for Inside
California Education
is made possible by these
organizations
supporting public education:
♪♪♪