Two Tulare County high school programs will be featured in the latest ABC30 Children First special, Learning and Earning, which airs Sunday, July 26 at 6:30 p.m. The special focuses on the importance of internships and career technical education in preparing high school students for college and career.

Through a longstanding partnership with Groppetti Automotive, Redwood High School students Brayden Pulley and Santiago Leon Garcia are gaining experience in a variety of service areas at two of the company’s dealerships in Visalia.

At Farmersville Unified, the district’s Career Technical Education (CTE) program created Reach & Rise. For two periods each day, high school students in the program are paired with elementary school students who need extra help with their work. The segment features Farmersville High School seniors Evelyn Saldivar and Cielo Jacuinde helping students at Freedom Elementary improve in reading. The district reports that reading scores are improving while Reach & Rise students are getting real instructional experience.

Other segments in the special include a feature about Valley Children’s internship program in partnership with California State University, Fresno. Through the internship, Fresno State students can prepare for careers at the hospital that don’t necessarily involve medical care. At Duncan Polytechnical High School, students in the construction program are busy building one of Fresno’s most popular hangouts.

Chelsea Cushing, College of the Sequoias’ dean of Industry & Technology, CTE and Workforce Development, also shares some of the industries with great job opportunities for students.

The program will also be streamed on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Samsung TV Plus.

Photo above:

~ Brayden Pulley is featured in the upcoming Children First special focused on internships. Pulley works at the Visalia GMC dealership as part of an internship program between Groppetti Automotive and Visalia Unified School District

~ Farmersville High School students Evelyn Saldivar (fourth from the right) and Cielo Jacuinde (third from the right) pose with Freedom Elementary students they tutor through the district’s new Reach & Rise program.

The second year of TCOE esports is getting underway with a kickoff event for the Esports Community of Practice (ECOP) on July 29 from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. in the Willow Room of the TCOE Doe Avenue Complex (7000 W. Doe Ave., Visalia)

The ECOP connects educators across Tulare County to build a regional esports hub. To attend the free ECOP kickoff event, register at https://tulare.k12oms.org/147-280176.

New to ECOP this year is the introduction of cohorts. The new member cohort will meet once a month to discuss topics such as organizing teams, identifying equipment needs, requesting funding, and finding supporting resources.

The returning member cohort will meet quarterly to discuss advanced topics, such as integrating CTE pathways and supporting middle school students transitioning to high school esports programs. A key focus for this group will also be growing girls’ participation, such as creating all-girls teams.

Some meetings will include both cohorts to help all members connect, ask questions, and build relationships across schools, districts, and the county.

Information about the upcoming TCOE Esports League for middle school students will also be provided at the ECOP event. Registration for the fall season opens July 29 and closes August 28. The season will run from August 31 to November 27, with the Esports Fall Tournament taking place on December 3. For the spring, registration begins January 4, competition starts February 1, and the Esports Spring Tournament is on May 17.

There will be two titles per season this year. For the winter, the league will have both Super Smash Bros and Rocket League. During the spring, the titles will be Mario Kart and Brawlhalla. Teams will compete in one title on Tuesdays and the other on Thursdays.

For more information on the Esports Community of Practice (ECOP), contact Douglas Cairns at doug.cairns@tcoe.org.

For more information about the TCOE Esports League, visit https://tcoe.org/Esports.

The Pursuing Victory with Honor (PVWH) program invites 7th–12th grade student-athletes and parents to an official NCAA presentation on Wednesday, September 16, at 6:00 p.m. at 6200 S. Mooney Blvd., Visalia.

Assistant Director of Outreach Ivorye Long, from the NCAA Eligibility Center, will present virtually to the live audience in the Redwood Conference Center. Long’s session will cover critical college athletic recruiting topics, including Eligibility Center registration, academic requirements, recruiting calendars, official versus unofficial visits, Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) basics, and new pre-enrollment rules.

Space is limited, so register today at https://forms.gle/99QaXsWdbwM8Wc27A.

For questions, contact Zoty Briceño at miozoty.briceno@tcoe.org

Editor: Robert Herman, Communications Director
Contributors: Nayirah Dosu, Jennifer Fisher, Jaime Burnitzki, Douglas Cairns, Zoty Briceño