Partnership Educators,
In 2017, when I was selected as the Superintendent of our great partnership, I noted that Redding, Shasta, and Igo Ono Elementary Districts have quite the stories. These stories have continued from 1873 for Redding and older for Shasta. What a pleasure it is to celebrate the accomplishments of our districts. It has been an amazing journey as we have continued to work hard to help our students grow, to sharpen our vision, and reach for the higher stars over our long and laudable histories. You all are a part of that history now. You are in a long line of folks that have chosen to serve your community and strive to achieve higher standards for its children. Thank you for making that choice and for working with your schools to make tomorrow better than today.
Last week, I had the delight to take part in our own Redding Ruckus robotics tournament. We had seven of our own teams take part and it was an amazing event. The students represented themselves well. The tournament is a competition that is built on the concept of collaboration and sportsmanship. As the tournament continued the teams just got better at helping each other and working together in order to get higher scores. In the end, the adults who helped with the event were the winners by seeing the excitement and motivation built within our students. Thanks to Seth Hemken for his brilliance with the audio-video production and streaming of the event, Cindy Bishop for helping with the pit area and student support, Aaron Adams for volunteering to referee the matches, and Brain Selke for setting up and preparing the tournament venue. Can't wait for next year's event as we again invite teams from all over the north state to join us at the Redding Ruckus 2024.
Next week we will be celebrating our certificated staff for the work that they do to help our students achieve. Lets all say thanks to our Teachers, Speech Therapists, Psychologists, Nurses, and Counselors for their work. As I have shared many times, it was a teacher at Sequoia Middle School in 1976 who first shared a book with me that started my journey to becoming a lover of books. I am sure there are many stories that you could share about the work a certificated employee of a district where you were growing up influenced your life. I encourage you to share your thanks with those that you work with this coming week.
Although Lucy Liu is more widely known for her acting, she holds a degree in fine arts, and galleries have showcased her paintings. "My love of the arts started in public school. We didn't really focus on art at home, so the only opportunity I had was when I went to school." she says. Liu discovered her love of art in school and continues to support the importance of these types of opportunities for children.
Partnership educators, keep giving and supporting those important opportunities for our students and celebrating their growth and love of learning.
Have a great weekend,
Rob