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The Santa Paula Rotary Club held its annual welcome to new teachers at the Wilson Ranch this year. All new teachers from the Santa Paula Unified, Mupu and Briggs School districts were invited to the steak dinner under the giant oak trees. |
Rotary Club welcomes new teachers
at annual barbeque
September 26, 2014
By Brian D. Wilson
Santa Paula News
The Santa Paula Rotary Club held its annual welcome to new teachers at the Wilson Ranch this year.
All new teachers from the Santa Paula Unified, Mupu and Briggs School districts were invited to the steak dinner under the giant oak trees. Increased state funding has allowed districts to hire more teachers this year so there was a good size crowd. Xavier Montes entertained the gathering with his harp music and received a round of applause from the crowd.
SPUSD board member Chris Wilson hosted the event. He told the gathering that the Rotary Club was grateful that they were all there. “We very much appreciate education, “he added. “We’re grateful for this gorgeous spot that my grandfather bought in 1914. He was an architect in the county and designed many of the schools in the whole county.”
SPUSD Superintendent Alfonso Gamino said they very fortunate to have everyone there. “This event is to let you know how much we appreciate you,” he said. “We want to let you know that we thank you for making a difference in the lives of our children. You do make a difference. We hired you for a reason and that reason is so you could help educate our community here in Santa Paula. I am very proud to be the superintendent here and know that you all are very proud to work for our district.”
Gamino noted that the state didn’t give them additional funds so they could stash it away. He said, “They give us these funds so we can hire you so you can make a difference.” He added that they have more counselors than they have ever had. “We have reading specialists at K-3,” he noted. “We wanted to make sure kids read. We have more counselors at all schools, including the high school so we can have more individual one-on-one counseling with each of our kids. Our libraries are open longer now. They’re open after school and this is because of our Local Control Accountability Plan.”
After all of the new teachers were introduced, Gamino had some additional comments. He said, “If you ask any of our principals or staff we are a unified school district. These principals and this staff got together and it’s all about working together for all of our kids.”
