Category Archives: Featured News

Ventura High School Celebrates At-Risk Graduates

Graduating students were all smiles.

by Sheli Ellsworth

Before COVID-19, the term “at-risk” was used to identify students that were having difficulty in school and at risk for dropping out. One out of ten California students will drop out of high school before graduating.

“Out of around 2000 students, we had about 60 students who were recognized by a counselor, teacher, parent or coach as having lots of potential but who were either struggling, underperforming academically, economically, socially, or attendance wise,” says Ventura High School Principal Carlos Cohen. Cohen contacted the Police Activities League (PAL) with an idea. He wanted to bridge any gaps students might have faced in their lives by coaching, mentoring and teaching them the skills they need to get ahead. In April 2019, a joint project Levin named “Learning the Ropes” or LTR was launched.

Students who normally would have been suspended for truancy, vaping, pot smoking or classroom violations had the choice of attending semi-monthly lunchtime workshops or suspension. “Freshman students in LTR also have access to a VHS Den Mentor—junior and senior students who have volunteered to mentor freshmen.” Thirty-five students decided to attend the LTR program. Only four students chose suspension.

PAL members Sal Flores, Ben Schuck, Jeanette Sanchez, Frank Benavidez, J.R. Luna, Joseph Hoss, Annette Garcia, and Lorelei Woerner took on the challenge. “About four or five of us went at a time, says Flores.” At first the students were really distracted, some were disrespectful, and some outright rude. Eventually, they started to listen.” Flores says the workshops focus on subjects like: Never Give Up; You Can Achieve Anything; Wealth and Happiness are Two Different Things; Goal Setting—Make a plan; Take 100% Responsibility for Your Actions; You Earn It—You’re Not Entitled to It; and What is the Real Problem?

Flores says that just showing up for the students is key and more than some working parents are able to do. “We care about them, we believe in them, and we make time for them—which is better than some students get at home.” Many Learning the Ropes students are from broken homes and blended families where alcohol and drugs interfere with normal functioning. “Some of the at-risk kids are just financially challenged and don’t know where to go next. We help them navigate their next step whether it be college or a trade school. We look for scholarships and sponsor field trips to postsecondary schools to get them comfortable with the idea of continuing their educations.” One of the most important lessons taught is: No more excuses! Today is the day to make changes.

On June 13, six of the nine LTR seniors graduated from Ventura High School. “Two more are making up credits this summer and will graduate in August,” according to Levin. One of the June graduates is Destiny Sausedo.

Sausedo grew up in a gang-infested neighborhood where shootings were commonplace. She has lived through the death of her brother in a drive-by shooting and the loss of her mother to a drug overdose. Eventually she landed in foster care then a group home. “I found the meetings motivational. I left with a new sense of purpose,” Sausedo says.  She had no idea so many kids were dealing with so many problems. “Some of us needed help and didn’t even know it.” Sausedo advises other at-risk teens to never give up. “I have a saying: God picks the strongest soldiers for the toughest battles.” Sausedo’s next goal is to attend Ventura College and eventually become a therapist so she can help kids like her.

For more information about PAL and Ventura High School’s Learning the Ropes program contact Sal Flores 805.651.8647.

Ventura high schools hold graduation event at historic city hall

by Richard Lieberman

Graduation season is here, and Ventura city schools celebrated graduating seniors from local high schools, Buena High School, El Camino High School, Ventura High School, Pacific High School and Foothill Technology High School.

Graduating seniors were invited to join their principal and staff at City Hall to have their names read, receive their diploma, and have their photo taken on the steps of City Hall in their caps and gown, all while their family watched from cars below. With 1200 graduating seniors scheduled to walk officials knew the event would need to be held two days. Saturday June 13th and Sunday June 14th were selected.

“Much like our school year, everything changed on a dime, and our teams knew we could wait to see what happen in terms of mass gathering guidelines. We began working on alternative plans immediately in the event traditional graduation would not be possible.” Said Joe Bova, graduation committee coordinator.

Schools had been in the process of planning for pre-recorded virtual ceremonies, per restrictions put in place for large gatherings. That changed on May 27th when a directive from Ventura Count Public Health allowed county schools to plan for a car line graduation ceremony, where students would be able to leave their vehicles for a photo opportunity and to receive their diplomas. The car line ceremonies only allow for the graduate and their families to attend.

The ceremony was filmed by CAPS Media with fixed and remote cameras and will be shared on-line by June 20th.

Dr. Roger Rice, Superintendent of Schools said “We want to thank the many dedicated VUSD employees who have been working tirelessly to make this magical moment a reality, never giving up on our student’s dream of an in-person celebration. A big thank you to our city of Ventura Mayor Matt LaVere, city staff, and the Ventura Police Department. Due to the current mass gathering rules, making this ceremony a reality for our students has been no easy feat, and we appreciate you working with us to make this important milestone happen for our students.”

The front of Ventura City Hall was decorated with colorful shade tents, decorated arches and signs depicting the unique event.

Students exited their vehicles and walked to the steps of City Hall where they were presented with their diplomas. After receiving their diplomas students walked down the steps and were shown how to switch their tassel from right to left signifying this momentous occasion.

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Growers were quick to respond when SEEAG put out the call for produce donations

SEEAG and growers provide over 4,000 bags of fresh produce to local farm workers.

Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG) organized produce donations from 13 different growers to fill over 4,000 bags of fresh produce for farm workers in need. The produce was distributed weekly in April and May.

Participating growers were Gill’s Onions, Houweling’s Group, San Miguel Produce, Earthtrine Farm, Saticoy Lemon Association, Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Petty Ranch, Calavo, Mission Produce, Tamai Family Farms, Fig Tree Farms, Chivas Skin Care and Bennett’s Honey Farm.

Growers were quick to respond when SEEAG put out the call for produce donations. “We want to thank our local growers for their tremendous generosity. They know that this has been a stressful time for our farmworker families in Ventura County,” says Mary Maranville, SEEAG founder and CEO. “Parents are harvesting crops while their kids are learning at home. Families are struggling financially while taking extra precautions to stay healthy and safe.”

SEEAG is also delivering “Farm Fresh Kids Wellness Bags” filled with educational materials, jump ropes, dental kits and fresh produce (celery donated by Duda Farm Fresh Foods and pixie tangerines donated by Friend’s Ranches) to children of farm workers. So far, the nonprofit organization has delivered 1,175 the bags and plans to deliver another 400 by the end of June.

The bags are made possible by donations including $1,000 from Gold Coast Health Plan and $2,500 from Union Bank. We want to thank Union Bank, Gold Coast Health Plan and our other donors for helping SEEAG supply educational and health-related items to children during this time when many may feel disconnected from school,” says Maranville, SEEAG.

To learn more about SEEAG, go to www.SEEAG.org, Facebook www.facebook.com/SEEAG.org or contact Maranville at [email protected], 805-901-0213.

Founded in 2008, Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG) is a nonprofit organization that aims to help young students understand the origins of their food by bridging the gap between agriculture and consumption through its agricultural education programming. SEEAG’s “The Farm Lab” program based in Ventura County teaches schoolchildren about the origins of their food and the importance of local farmland by providing schools with classroom agricultural education and free field trips to farms. Through this and other SEEAG programs including Farm Day in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, over 65,000 elementary school students and community members in Southern California have increased their understanding of the food journey. For more information, visit www.seeag.org or email Mary Maranville at [email protected].

“Feeding the Frontline” organizers expand local food distribution events

And even Mariachi music to workers in the fields.

Ventura County Latino and immigrant rights activists are taking action to support the region’s farm working families who continue to provide California residents with safe and healthy food options throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign, known as “Feeding the Frontline: Feeding our Farmworkers,” has launched a GoFundMe campaign to provide groceries, supplies, and even Mariachi music to workers in the fields. The all-volunteer group is seeking community support to raise $15,000, which will help cover the cost of distributing food, supplies, and public health literature to these “frontline” families.

“The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the value farmworkers provide our communities,” shared Roberto Juarez, CEO of Clinicas Del Camino Real, one of several organizations supporting Feeding the Frontline. “As always, these workers are operating under conditions few of us fully grasp, only they’re now doing it during a pandemic. That’s why Feeding the Frontline is committed to feeding those who feed us. Since many pantries help our community by providing food during normal business hours, our team visits local farms, as well as overlooked and underserved farm working communities, to directly provide much-needed food, supplies, and information to farmworkers while they work non-stop to feed California residents.”

Feeding the Frontline has hosted 15 events since beginning in April. The group has provided over 7,000 farmworkers and their families with 180 tons of warm meals, groceries, and personal protective equipment. Mariachi bands have even joined in on the action by serenading workers. These events have taken place in Oxnard, El Rio, Santa Paula, Saticoy, Fillmore, and Piru, garnering widespread media attention from local and national outlets including ABC 7, Univision, and Billboard. The group’s next distribution on Saturday, June 6, 2020 will take place in Nyeland Acres, a migrant neighborhood of Oxnard with approximately 920 K-12 students who receive free and reduced lunches.

Although farmworkers are more essential than ever to the community’s well-being, their contributions continue to go largely unrecognized. Ventura County’s economy and residents rely heavily on the work of farmworkers. In fact, according to the Farm Bureau of Ventura County, farming and farm-dependent businesses provide an estimated 43,000 jobs in the County, generating $2.1 billion in revenue and $76 million in indirect business taxes annually. Additionally, one in 10 county residents rely directly or indirectly on income earned from farming-related work.

The group’s efforts strike a personal chord for many volunteers whose families also work in Ventura County’s agricultural fields. “Keeping Ventura County families healthy is more important than ever before and we all want access to nutritious produce at our local grocery stores and markets,” said Richard Castaniero, a community volunteer and local educator.

To donate to Feeding the Frontline’s efforts, visit https://bit.ly/frontline805.

Partial closing of Main St. approved by city council, but when?

The Ventura City Council has approved a package of measures designed to help businesses recover from the coronavirus pandemic, including closing part of Main Street to allow restaurants and stores to expand into the street and streamlining the process for approving development permits.

Both were part of an “emergency economic development policy,” approved by a 7-0 vote. Because it takes effect immediately, it was classified as an emergency ordinance and required votes from six of the seven council members.

“We’re taking innovative, create, flexible steps to show our business community that we’ll do everything within our power to support this recovery,” Mayor Matt LaVere said after the vote, which was taken at the end of a virtual meeting. The council has been meeting via videoconference since March.

The street closures won’t start unless Ventura County is approved by the state of California for the next stage of reopening, which will allow restaurants and stores to open if they practice social distancing. County and city officials expect that to happen soon, because Ventura County meets the state’s new benchmarks for reopening, based on its number of positive tests over the past two weeks and its rate of tests that come back positive.

The downtown street closure program was developed by Downtown Ventura Partners, the business association for downtown merchants. It will cover four or five blocks of Main Street and will last for one month as a pilot program.

Downtown Ventura Partners will pay for the street closures and put up the barricades, and will open the streets in the mornings for things like trash pickup and commercial deliveries, Clerici said. When the street is closed, there will be designated spots on each side street for curbside pickup from Main Street shops.

Closing the core downtown blocks of Main will eliminate around 150 parking spaces, out of more than 2,000 spaces downtown, said Councilwoman Christy Weir. With vehicle traffic lower during the pandemic, parking should not to be a problem, she said.

The city permit that will cover the downtown street closures is also available to businesses in other areas that want to close a street or a parking lot to expand their operations. But without an organization like Downtown Ventura Partners to coordinate the closures and foot the bill, no one else has asked the city for a permit.

“I see this as an opportunity to throw a lifeline out to businesspeople,” Councilman Jim Friedman said.

Peter Gilli, the city’s director of community development, said streamlining the process doesn’t just help business and property owners; it helps the entire city, because working more efficiently saves the taxpayers’ money and gives city employees time to address everyone’s needs.

“We should want more new businesses and investments, not less,” Gilli said. “We can’t increase the supply of staff hours and we can’t reduce the demand by applicants. The only thing we can do is make the process more efficient.”

One change is to allow the city’s community development director more leeway in deciding which path to approval a permit application will take — whether it can be approved by the director himself, or whether it needs to go before the Design Review Committee or the Planning Commission.

Teaching and Learning in a Pandemic

Going the Distance (Part 2)
by Amy Brown

Austin Schliecher is focused on using his time wisely during this highly unusual academic schedule. A junior at Buena High, and a Captain of the varsity basketball team, he said while adjusting to the new online learning system was rough at first, once he got into a set routine, he found advantages in working at his own pace. “I spend about an hour per class, and I don’t want to fall behind, so I don’t set myself back,” said Schliecher.

Asked if he was concerned about the potential impact on his last season this fall in high school basketball before applying to colleges, he replied that he stays positive and tries to go with the flow. “I’m just trying to work out and stay in shape for basketball season,” he said. “Our coach has done a good job of keeping us together; we’ve been doing workouts, and we’re on Zoom calls with the team to make sure we’re all on the same page.” He shared that the team is very focused on maintaining momentum and staying connected as much as possible with the limited access they have—working on plays on the phone and focusing on team goals for next year.

Schliecher’s advice to other students and athletes? “Just outwork everyone that’s taking this time off to relax. Stay focused and don’t slack off,” he said. “If you slack off, you’ll fall behind. This is a great time to get ahead of your game and focus on your academics ahead of everyone else.”

Some students are concerned about navigating a regularly scheduled major transition with the coming school year. Sydney Davis will be starting high school in the fall, and currently attends Balboa Middle School.  “I feel like I’m not going to be as prepared as I should be for high school; I feel kind of threatened because I feel like I don’t know as much as I should.” She’s also concerned about not being prepared as she might otherwise be for trying out for the high school volleyball team. She said she’s finding the schoolwork online relatively easy, but it’s hard to catch up if a day is missed. Her advice to other students: “Keep positive, and keep to a schedule.

At first I was doing all my schoolwork from 10am to 2 or 3pm, but lately I’ve been staying up all night, and I want to get back to that first schedule. Basically, don’t lag and stop doing your work.” She’s picked up some new skills during the quarantine, like cooking, learning to sew, and so far has made about 50 face masks for friends, family and a local company.

Distance learning means hours of computer time for both the student and, especially in the case of younger kids, the parents.  Nancy and Chris Cairns are both teachers and parents, Chris teaching at Besant School of Happy Valley in Ojai, and Nancy a professor at LA City College and Ventura College. They both are working from home and conducting distance learning with their own students, while being responsible for overseeing the many hours of daily computer time in online learning for their 6-year-old grandson Braxton, who lives with them. They share his education duties with his great grandmother and mother in another household. “It’s a group effort to engage him with the work,” said Chris. “The online programs he does are interesting and well-made but they keep his attention. The teacher only meets with the class once a week.”

Nancy shared that the system has challenges, especially for working parents of young children.  “It would probably be better if they met every day and had structured lesson plans and were all together in a virtual classroom. It’s like pulling teeth to get Braxton to do schooling in the present iteration,” said Nancy. “It’s felt like we kind of had to choose. It feels awful. To be in this position, where we have to make some choices, between not being the instructor that I’ve always been, or having to sacrifice my grandson’s education.”

Chris feels it’s important to look at the big picture. “ As much as learning is important, I think that another teacher put it succinctly: there will be time to learn, there will be a time to catch up on what was missed, but now is not that time,” he said.  “What we can’t catch up on is emotional damage when families are torn apart by stress and trauma. Don’t put distance education ahead of your own and your family’s mental, emotional and physical health. We need to take care of each other right now.”

Dee Dowell Memorial Scholarship Award

On August 7, 2018 a ceremony was held at Ivy Lawn in honor of Sergeant Dowell’s life.

The Ventura Police Officers’ Association (VPOA) is accepting applications for the 17th annual Dee Dowell Memorial Scholarship. The scholarships will be presented in July 2020 to honor Sergeant Darlon “Dee” Dowell, who was shot and killed on August 7, 1978. Sergeant Dowell is the only officer in Ventura’s history to die in the line of duty.

At the time of his death, Sergeant Dowell, 32, was a nine-year veteran of the Ventura Police Department.

The City of San Buenaventura named Dowell Drive, the location of police headquarters, in Sergeant Dowell’s honor in 1979.

In selecting scholarship recipients, the VPOA will consider academic achievement, school and community service, and financial needs. Applications must contain all required information and be returned no later than June 26, 2020. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Scholarship Awards:

  • 1st Place $2,000.00
  • 2nd Place $1,500.00
  • 3rd Place $1,000.00

Applicants must:

  • Be entering his/her freshman through senior year in college;
  • Plan a course of study related to the field of public service;
  • Ventura resident or have graduated from a high school in Ventura within the past three years, or a Ventura Police Department employee or employee’s child.
  • Have a grade point average of 3.0 or better (based on a 4.0 system);
  • Maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or better if selected as a recipient;
  • Submit a resume of school and community activities, including a copy of transcripts through the most recent semester;
  • Submit a typed essay of 1000 words or less on “Service, what it means to me”;
  • Submit a letter of recommendation from a public servant.

For additional information please contact Corporal Bill Griffin at 805-339-4400 x1381, or Officer Jesus Nuñez at 805-339-4465. Applications are included with this release and are also available at the front desk of the Ventura Police Department.

Ventura lights up to honor hospitality industry

Starting in May, the city of Ventura began to proudly light up in purple, a nighttime display designed to honor the hospitality industry and to also bring a glow of hope in these challenging times.

The message is simple. Purple is the color of the hospitality industry, and tourism will be a major driver in the economic recovery from the damage done by COVID-19.

Teaching and learning in a pandemic

Anna Guerra of Ventura High takes a break from distance learning with her ukulele. Kindergarten teacher Sherry Smith finds fun activities to engage her young students online.

Going the Distance- Part one of two
by Amy Brown

On Friday March 13th, it was announced that Ventura County schools would be closing, and just like that, everything changed. There was a transition to distance learning that seemed to happen almost overnight, but the reality was a huge, incredibly complex effort in the district—by teachers, administrators, students and parents to create, adopt and adapt to a new online format. It meant developing a plan, handing out devices to all those who needed them, and getting everyone on board–no small feat for a population of approximately 16,000 students.

So now that the frankly impressive feat of creating and implementing distance learning has been in effect for weeks, grades are being input and progress shared via email with parents—students and teachers are in harmony—right? Pretty close, according to Daisy Mastroianni, who has been a teacher for 22 years, and is currently teaching 10th grade English, Career Culinary Arts and Foods and Nutrition at Buena High. She shared that while it was a huge initial transition, the students and teachers alike were ready to go and up for the challenge right away. “We found out the same time everyone else did that that Friday would be our last day,” said Mastroianni. “We met in our departments and came up with what we could to stay connected with the kids. The students, in that same vein, were ready to go!” She said that students can work at their own pace if they get into a lesson and want to keep going. “They can spend an hour and a half with math if it’s really clicking, or take a day off from classes that maybe aren’t their favorite.” Mastroianni shared that she misses the personal interactions with her students tremendously, and early on in the process made a video to share a day in her life for her students, practicing a TikTok, cooking, and doing fun things in her home to find different ways to connect and engage them.

While students appreciate what their teachers are providing, there are concerns by many high school students about what the future will bring. Anna Guerra is a junior at Ventura High, and is worried about not getting a normal senior year because of the current uncertainty, and the effect it will have in applying for colleges. “The thing that concerns me the most is not having all the extra curriculars and tests scores that I want to have to stand out among other applicants,” said Guerra, an honors student who plans to study neuroscience at a UC school in 2021. “I didn’t get a chance to tour colleges—I did virtual tours, but it’s not the same.”

Guerra sets a schedule for her schoolwork to complete it early in the day, and makes sure she finishes everything that is assigned for that day. It leaves the afternoons free for connecting with friends and reconnecting with some former pastimes. “I’ve picked up some hobbies that I’d been too busy to do when school was in session,” she said. “I’ve started painting again, and learning my ukulele, and I’m taking the time to learn more French—I take it as a class, but I want to learn more.”

Sherry Smith, a kindergarten teacher at Portola, has taught for 24 years in the district, agreed that the new system had some challenges at first. “It was really hard to set it up at the beginning, to find out which families had devices and access to Wi-Fi, and which ones didn’t,” said Smith. “Then some devices weren’t working correctly, and we had to redo them and get them out again. But now I have 100% of my students logged into the system.”

When asked how she and other teachers were handling engaging with young students and their families in this ‘new abnormal’, she said that she has office hours for parents and a special hour for students to log in as a group, in which she reads stories, and does activities with songs and dancing. She taught the students how to mute, which she said makes reading much easier to the group. “I miss my kids–I miss being at school, ” said Smith. “I went there today and emptied out their desks, it was very sad.”

NAMI Ventura County event goes virtual but purpose more real than ever

In years past the Ventura County NAMIWalks drew upwards of 1,500 Ventura County residents to the Promenade.

Mental illness doesn’t take a time out so neither does NAMI Ventura County. That’s why the show must go on.

In this case, the show is NAMIWalks Ventura County. The 15th annual NAMIWalks is getting a big makeover in format but not in spirit.

NAMI Ventura County is the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The nonprofit is a tiny powerhouse offering 15 unique programs to the public completely free of charge. With just a staff of four and a passionate volunteer base, NAMI Ventura County reached 6,830 people throughout Ventura County in 2019.

The annual NAMIWalks event accounts for more than half of the revenue the nonprofit uses to offer family and peer education classes and support groups, stigma reduction programs in schools, colleges, and law enforcement trainings, and community education programs like those specifically designed for healthcare providers.

Even before 2020 turned everyone’s lives upside down, the need for mental health education, support and advocacy was growing. Now, experts expect to see spikes in newly diagnosed cases of mental illnesses as well as the exacerbation of existing mental health challenges.

Mental health professional Janine Ivy, Psy.D., LMFT, is a member of NAMI Ventura County’s board of directors. While the ways individuals experience and respond to events, like the Covid-19 pandemic, vary greatly, Ivy said it wouldn’t be surprising to see an increase in symptoms of depression and anxiety across all age groups and a greater need for mental health and substance use treatment.

In years past, on the first Saturday of May, the Ventura County NAMIWalks drew upwards of 1,500 Ventura County residents to the Ventura Beach Promenade. But the annual NAMIWalks event wasn’t just another 5k. It was an opportunity for anyone whose life was touched by mental illness to stand together proudly defying and breaking down the stigma that still surrounds these disorders.

“Being a family member myself, it touches my heartstrings every year,” Griego said. “Families are out there showing support and love. It’s what families are meant to do, support their loved one through any experience in life.”

The NAMIWalks Virtual Takeover holds tight to the NAMIWalks Mission: raise awareness around mental health and raise the funds the nonprofit needs to make free education and support a reality throughout Ventura County communities. Instead of a single day, the Virtual Takeover encourages supporters to get

creative in how they participate.

Throughout the month, NAMI Ventura County is asking participants to submit videos and selfies of all the creative ways they are celebrating NAMIWalks and Mental Health Awareness Month.

The 2020 NAMIWalks Ventura County will culminate on Saturday, May 30 as local participants join with 38 affiliates across the county in celebrating A National Day of Hope.

To join the NAMI Ventura County NAMIWalks Virtual Takeover as a team, walker or sponsor, visit www.namiventura.org or call NAMI Ventura County at 805-641-2426.