Class Act! 10 Questions for Rhonda Bird

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Submitted by Denair Charter Academy

Name: Rhonda Bird

 Family: I have two boys, Jackson, who will be leaving to attend Kansas State in the fall, and Colton, who is a student at Hughson High.

School: Denair Charter Academy

Subject taught: Special Education

Experience and education:  I have been teaching for 23 years and 17 of those years have been at the Denair Unified School District.  I received my Bachelor of Arts Degree from CSU Stanislaus and my Master’s Degree from Grand Canyon University.

Why most inspires you about teaching?  The students. I enjoy the interactions with them.

What are your biggest challenges as a teacher? I think the biggest challenge as a special education teacher is working with the varied abilities of students.  I find it challenging to modify curriculum for every student to make sure he or she is working at his or her ability without frustrating the student.  Another challenge is working with general education teachers and modifying the curriculum to make sure every student is working at his or her ability level and learning the material.

What is your favorite teaching tool or activity? My favorite teaching tool is technology now.  You can find any activity and lesson on the Internet.  It allows me to modify curriculum easily and still get the same standard taught to the student at his or her reading ability level.

How has Common Core affected your classroom strategy? Common Core has given me the opportunity to give more projects and have more work moving away from the pencil and paper assignments.

What do you want your students to remember? Every student is smart and everyone learns in his or her own way.

How can parents support what you do? Be involved in their child’s education and ask what was learned at school. Continue reading “Class Act! 10 Questions for Rhonda Bird” »

Denair Trustees Cut Ties With 4 Certificated Employees

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Submitted by Denair Unified School District

An emotional meeting of the Denair Unified School District board that lasted well past midnight ended with the announcement that four certificated employees will not return for the 2017-18 school year.

Two of the employees submitted resignations that were accepted. Two others still on probation were told their contracts would not be renewed. Certificated employees can be teachers or administrators.

Under the California Education Code and union agreement, teachers with less than two years’ experience in a district must be notified by March 15 each year whether they will be released.

With that in mind, more than 100 students, parents, teachers and community members gathered beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday in the board meeting room. Over the next 90 minutes, the five DUSD trustees listened to expressions of support for individual teachers.

Because personnel issues were involved, trustees and district officials could not respond.

The board took a short break at 7:45 p.m., then returned and heard from a few more audience members. Then, trustees spent the next 2½ hours dealing with their regular agenda, including accepting a financial report that shows the district continues to improve its position thanks to enrollment growth.

About 10:12 p.m., the board went into closed session. Trustees emerged about 12:07 a.m. and announced the personnel decisions to the 30 or so people who had waited.

The vote was 4-1, according to board President Kathi Dunham-Filson. She joined Trustees Ray Prock Jr., John Plett and Sandi Dirkse to support the motion related to the four certificated employees. Trustee Robert Hodges voted against it.

Denair has about 70 teachers and eight administrators in the district. Continue reading “Denair Trustees Cut Ties With 4 Certificated Employees” »

Huge Improvements Under Way for Denair Sports Fields

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Submitted by Denair Unified School District

For the past couple of seasons, the gophers making the football field their home outnumbered the players on the Denair sideline. And it wasn’t even close.

Concerns about sunken gopher holes and their potential danger to players often forced Denair High athletic director Darrin Allen and a handful of volunteers to scurry around with buckets of sand before referees would start the game.

More than once, people on the sidelines and in the stands spotted rodents during games. “They were brazen little suckers,” said school board Trustee Ray Prock Jr.

Since the first of the year, more than 50 gophers have been trapped and exterminated on the football field. And Monday, a Livingston company that has provided turf and field maintenance for the Giants, 49ers and most other professional and college stadiums on the West Coast arrived to work on the surface at Jack Lytton Stadium.

Very soon, it will be a little easier for Allen, Prock and Denair’s athletes to laugh about those gopher stories.

“Knowing the problem has been recognized and we are finally moving forward with a solution is enough for me,” said Allen, who has more than three decades of experience on the field, going back to his days as a Denair athlete.

Facilities director Brian Holloway realized not long after arriving last year that there was a gopher problem at the football field. A pest control company tried to use bait to kill the rodents, but Holloway said it was ineffective. It wasn’t until the football and soccer seasons were completed that a more aggressive eradication program could be coupled with field restoration.

“There are only a few active gophers left,” said Holloway, promising their days are numbered, too.

Gopher tunnels often are only a foot or two below the surface. One of the benefits of a rainy winter has been to soften the ground and collapse the tunnels. Holloway, his staff and even some Denair High athletes have made patchwork progress filling in the holes. Between storms last week, the football field also was aerated. Continue reading “Huge Improvements Under Way for Denair Sports Fields” »