SCSOS Community Update
February 2023
A Message from Superintendent Reusser
I am proud of my staff here at SCSOS who have worked diligently to make this dream come true. It truly was a collaborative effort. Out team attended many meetings with stakeholders to ensure that our new cosmetology program is state-of-the-art and accessible for the students within our community.
Our new cosmetology building is located at 939 Live Oak Boulevard and classes will be held Monday through Thursday from 8:30 to 4:30. For more information about how to enroll, call (530) 674-9199.
Sincerely,
Superintendent Tom Reusser
Meet our New SCSOS Board Members!
Gurv Pamma, Trustee Area 1
Sutter County Superintendent of Schools is delighted to welcome Gurv Pamma as our new board trustee for Area 1. Gurv was born in Punjab, India and moved to Live Oak in 1973. He currently serves as an IT Manager for the state of California and helps his father and brother with the family farm. Gurv has been married for 33 years and has three children.
Gurv expressed that he is excited to serve on the Sutter County Board of Education in order to contribute in a positive way to guide the students of Sutter County. He also stated that he wants to ensure that funds are spent for the greatest impact on students.
Be sure to welcome Mr. Pamma when you see him.
Kash Gill, Trustee Area 3
Kash stated that he has always been involved in the community; he served a chairman of the board on the Chamber of Commerce and the Fremont-Rideout Foundation, and was elected to the Yuba City Council for two terms: 2006 and 2010. He served as mayor of Yuba City twice, 2020 and 2014. He holds the honor of being the first Punjabi/Sikh mayor in the United States. Kash was also the co-chair of Measure SS, which was the bond for RVHS and the expansion of Butte Vista School.
In high school, Kash enrolled in the ROP Photography class for two years; he almost chose photography as a career. From that experience, he feels that he understands how important ROP classes are for students and is an advocate for expanding ROP classes.
"If you want to make a change, you have to make it happen," Kash said. "You can't sit on the sidelines and expect it to happen."
Be sure to welcome Mr. Gill when you see him.
Sutter County Cosmetology School
In spite of all the projects that our SCSOS Facilities, Maintenance, Operations and Fleet Department has on the docket, Director James Peters and his staff were able to find the time to change an office building into a state-of-the-art cosmetology school. It was no small feat, especially when it came to the electrical in the building.
"Seth, Andy and I rewired the electrical so that the salon would have 20 dedicated circuits," James said. "It took us three days for that project alone."
There are currently 16 stations in the salon and the school can accommodate 150 students. In time, the goal is to provide reasonably priced haircuts to families in the community with children.
"I'm a firm believer in Tom's vision" James Peters said. "Not everyone is going to college. The students who enroll in the cosmetology school may not know Tom, but he will forever be a part of changing their lives."
The Cosmetology Program takes approximately nine months to complete. The student kit costs $2000 and the tuition is $12000; students can choose from four payment plan options.
Our school is located at 939 Live Oak Boulevard in Yuba City.
Meet Felice Clayton: Lead Instructor for the Sutter County Cosmetology School
Felice went on to say that having a cosmetology school here in Yuba City will encourage students to remain in the area and secure employment with local salons. The Cosmetology School will train future cosmetologists and support them towards passing the state licensing exam. Felice and other cosmetology instructors will be available to support students with extra study time and scheduling of testing appointments.
Felice has one son, Spencer, who is the apple of her eye. He works in technology and because he can work from anywhere, he plans to travel the world next year. Felice enjoys spending time with her family and hearing live, local bands. She is excited to begin this new chapter of her life.
Shady Creek Spring 2023 Update from Director Christopher Little
In our first season at Shady Creek back in the Fall of 2008 we were lucky enough to serve the sixth grade students from Palermo Middle School. Like every week here at camp, there’s always that nervous excitement right before the students arrive. As I was waiting for the bus to pull into our driveway, I was standing with the teachers as they chatted about their students. In this conversation I kept overhearing them talking about one student in particular. There was some serious concern revolving around whether or not he would be able to stay out of trouble and survive an entire week at camp. They has even joked around saying that they were going to pay the bus driver $20 bucks just to wait 20 extra minutes just in case he couldn’t behave upon arriving. As they talked about this students and his struggles it instantly hit my heart strings…. There was so much that I had in common with this student. Poor choices at school and a rollercoaster of a home life resonated with my own upbringing. In hearing all of these details I became super excited to meet this student.
When the bus arrived and the students started to file out of the bus I stood there scanning the kids to see if I could pick him out of the crowd…….and then I saw him. I was told that this particular student was a year older than the rest of his sixth grade peers and it was obvious. He wore cowboy boots, tight faded blue jeans, a giant gold belt buckle, a dirty white tank top, a red bandana wrapped around his forehead and rocked an attitude like I’ve never seen before. As he stepped off the bus he looked around at the his surroundings and instantly blurted out a curse word. Instantly a teacher approached him and gave him a “G”, which meant he only had one more strike left before he would have to leave. I rushed over to him right away and introduced myself with all the energy I could muster. After introducing myself I asked for his nature name…… He replied with arms crossed that his name was Mustang. He looked at me as if I was the craziest person he had ever seen, it was evident that my enthusiasm to meet him freaked him out
As the rest of the week unfolded I rearranged my schedule so I could be around him every chance I got. I was determined that he was going to stay the whole week. During Skit Night, Mustang refused to be in his cabin skit – That was okay, I had a plan…… I made Mustang the “Bodyguard” of Skit Night. Essentially, Mustang stood to the side of the stage to make sure no one rushed the stars preforming. Mustang stood there for an hour and a half looking super hard…..It was priceless! By the time Thursday night came for Fun Night he had informed me that he would not be dancing with everyone else. But as the night raged on he couldn’t help himself – He finally let go of all his pain and all of the walls of toughness started to fall. By the time he started to dance the whole camp couldn’t help but stare, it was the impossible….Mustang was being a kid!
When I arrived Friday morning to breakfast there was only one kid I wanted to see. When Mustang and I locked eyes that morning he instantly stood up and ran out of the dining hall. I followed him to a giant ponderosa tree where he stood with his head buried into the trunk. At this point I thought Mustang was just messing around with me, so when I approached him I was super playful. Immediately I realized this was serious and not a game. What I saw that morning is forever etched onto my heart for all eternity. When Mustang turned around he had tears flowing from his bloodshot eyes and snot running all down his face to his dirty white tank top. He put his arms around me and said the words I’ll never forget, “I don’t want to leave.” Those words had never been more real for me and they still resonate with me now. He then took off his red bandana and put it in my hands and told me that he never wanted me to forget him.
I could go on forever about what happened from there but I’ll give you all the quick version. I was able to stay in touch with Mustang throughout the years and received updates every once and a while about the man he grew up to be. Years later he would share with me that that one week at Shady Creek changed his life. He got his act together, he started to realize how much he mattered and re-wrote his life’s story. His testimony will go down as one of the greatest things I have ever been a part of here at Shady Creek. I love being in the business of reminding people how amazing they truly are, I love being a light in the darkness and I love what we do up here at Shady Creek.
Adult Transition Program and Sutter County One Stop Success Story: Keith Carero
Keith was placed on a paid work experience (WEX) with Linda's Soda Bar, a local eatery in Yuba City. Through this placement, Keith learned a lot about himself and the food service industry. Keith was so passionate about this experience, he became determined to never give up on his dream to obtain full time employment in some capacity of food services.
After completing the paid work experience (WEX), SCSOS continued to support Keith, fostering his interests and skills. Soon after, Keith was introduced to the manager of Pizza Factory in Live Oak for another potential work experience opportunity. In collaboration with the Department of Rehabilitation and the Pizza Factory, Keith was able to secure On-the-Job Training (OJT) to provide additional food preparation and training experience.
"I really like where I work," Keith said. "I like my boss and co-workers."
After completing a second work experience, Keith accepted a temporary On-the-Job Training position as a permanent employee. Keith is permanently employed with the Pizza Factory and is excelling in his new job, as he continues to learn more about the food service industry. We wish the best for Keith and that he continues to look for more learning opportunities, including opportunities to move into other areas of food service in the future!
Submitted by: Toni Costales-Servin
Congratulations to Twin Rivers Charter School: 2023 California Distinguished School
"We were completely surprised," Dr. Karen Villalobos, Superintendent/Principal said. "We didn't apply for this award and weren't expecting it." Amid receiving the award, Dr. Villalobos admires her team for the work they put in to get the school where it is today, recounting it wasn't easy. At one point, TRCS had the lowest academics in the county. "We've had over 30% growth in the past seven years," Dr. Villalobos said. "Through hard work and collaboration, we have had great success over time."
When the pandemic hit, Dr. Villalobos stated that all staff stepped up. Teachers became Google certified and staff switched to Distance Learning that Spring. Throughout all the changes, teachers continued providing the same quality instruction online, just as if they were teaching in person. The school provided a continuation of tutoring, small group instruction, and intervention for students. "We mitigated learning loss to the best of our ability during COVID," Villalobos stated.
A few years ago, the TRCS board created an incentive program, challenging the administration and staff to better the school by identifying various recognition programs: Model Professional Learning Community (PLC) School, CA Green School, Middle School to Watch, and CA Distinguished School; for the most recent recognition students and staff have earned a Carnival Day later this spring. Over the last three years, the TRCS staff has turned many of those goals into a reality.
Becoming a PLC in 2016, Teacher Katie Peacock said, "We had to learn how to PLC. Change was hard, but now we have strong grade level pods." The teachers agree they have good quality professional development, including Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Positive Behavioral Intervention System (PBIS), and Academic Vocabulary Toolkit (AVT) to name a few. TRCS staff work collaboratively as a team. There is time built into their workday every Wednesday to meet for PLC partner time and professional development.
"I've never seen a school where all teachers work hard," said special education teacher Chari Daddow, "We collaborate well together."
During COVID, teachers had to rely on each other which made the grade level teams stronger. "We just didn't stop," Teacher Wendy Wilder said, "We kept going and constatnly asked, 'how can we make it better for students?'"
"We had success through acceleration and vulnerability," Vice Principal Chrissy Jolly said. "We assume nothing, we have strong teams, we implement a systematic response, and we have a culture that is second to none."
"They don't boss, they lead," Teacher Katie Peacock echoed, "They listen to their staff; we feel heard and validated."
Twin Rivers Charter School will be honored as a 2023 California Distinguished School at a ceremony which will take place in Anaheim in February.