Video entries are now being accepted for the 2025 Slick Rock Student Film Festival! Submissions for the annual film festival are due by March 7.

Middle and high school students living in Tulare, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, or Merced counties may enter videos in a total of 15 categories, ranging from documentaries and blockbusters to public service announcements and music videos.

A “Best of Show” winner for both middle and high school categories will be selected from all films entered in the festival.

For over 20 years, the Tulare County Office of Education has assisted the Tulare County School Boards Association (TCSBA) with its annual scholarship program. Each year, the association offers scholarships to seniors from every Tulare County high school, including comprehensive, charter, and continuation sites.

This month, scholarship applications were distributed to Tulare County high school counselors. One senior will be chosen from each Tulare County high school to receive a $350 scholarship. Tulare County high school seniors interested in applying for the scholarship, which is due February 21 to their counselor, are encouraged to contact their counseling office or visit tcoe.org/tcsbascholarship for more information.

This year, Educational Resource Services’ mathematics department organized a professional learning collaborative that involves teachers at five small districts. The benefit of the series is that teachers are able to learn new strategies alongside their peers and then apply the strategies in a classroom setting on the same day.

The series began in August with educators from Alpaugh, Buena Vista, Palo Verde, Saucelito, and Waukena coming together for training and application. The collaborative is being hosted by Palo Verde, which generously provided space and resources to facilitate this dynamic experience.

The teachers met with counterparts in five grade-level spans — TK, kindergarten, grades 1-2, grades 3-5, and grades 6-8 — to share ideas, develop skills, and enhance their teaching practices.

Each grade-level session is organized around a "lesson lab" model, allowing educators to learn new strategies and apply them immediately in classroom settings. This hands-on approach gives participants the chance to see theory in action, collaborate with peers, and refine their techniques in real time. Teachers are able to explore new methods and receive constructive feedback, making the experience both practical and impactful.

Throughout this school year, participants will attend three or four grade-level sessions. While the collaboration serves as a launchpad for professional growth, it is the continuous support between sessions that ensures these new strategies are effectively implemented and sustained. Through regular check-ins, observations, and feedback, leaders and coaches play a critical role in reinforcing and expanding the learning that took place during the training.

"We are incredibly grateful to Palo Verde for hosting this event and providing a welcoming environment for shared learning," said one participating teacher. "Opportunities like this remind us that even though we are small schools, when we come together, we can make a big impact on our students."

District coaches interested in joining a future mathematics professional learning collaborative are encouraged to contact the math team by visiting tcoe.org/ERS/Math. District leaders interested in developing an onsite professional learning series for any curricular area are encouraged to contact Samantha Tate at samantha.tate@tcoe.org.

Photo above:

~ Second-grade teachers from Alpaugh, Buena Vista, Palo Verde, Saucelito, and Waukena are pictured delivering a word problem lesson for students at Palo Verde. The teachers are involved in a yearlong mathematics professional learning collaborative created by Educational Resource Services. During the collaborative, teachers learn new instructional strategies and then immediately apply them in a classroom at the host district, Palo Verde Union School.    

Last week, Southern California Edison presented the Tulare County Office of Education Foundation Innovate Fund with $50,000 for STEM education. This grant will be used by College and Career Readiness to provide STEM-related work-based learning scholarships throughout Tulare and Kings counties. The funds will also be used to enhance a number of STEM-related student events, including Tulare-Kings Community Design Challenge.

The donation was presented by Brian Thoburn, government relations manager at Southern California Edison.

The Tulare County Office of Education Foundation supports TCOE programs and schools in Tulare County that have innovative ideas to improve student engagement. For more information on the TCOE Foundation and its grant programs, visit tcoe.org/Foundation.

Photo above:

~ (left to right) TCOE Foundation board members Luis Castellanoz, Tammy Bradford, and Jeff Boswell; Brian Thoburn, SCE government relations manager; TCOE Foundation board members Janice Castle, Chris Meyer, and Margaret Moholt; and Tulare County Superintendent of Schools Tim Hire.    

Editor: Robert Herman, Communications Director
Contributors: Nayirah Dosu, Jennifer Fisher, Kathleen Green-Martins, Kim Webb, Bill Davis

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