OCDE Education in the News

Thursday, November 30, 2017

OCDE NEWSROOM

SpaceX, Virgin Orbit execs share their secrets of success with tech students

Seeking lessons on how to thrive in technology-driven careers amid fast-changing advances, Orange County educators and students turned Wednesday to local commercial-space pioneers SpaceX and Virgin Orbit. Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX in Hawthorne, and Virgin Orbit Vice President Tim Buzza answered questions from students about how to bounce back from failures and succeed despite daunting odds at the morning showcase of science and technology career-prep programs.

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/29/spacex-virgin-orbit-execs-share-their-secrets-of-success-with-tech-students/

Irvine Unified aims to revolutionize teaching with one-to-one Chromebook program

Over the last five years, the district has expanded its one-to-one program, increasing the number of Chromebooks from 7,500 to more than 34,000. At least 57 percent of the students now have access to a Chromebook whenever their teachers want them to during school hours, which allows students to learn at their own pace and based on their needs, district officials said.

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/29/irvine-unified-aims-to-revolutionize-teaching-with-one-to-one-chromebook-program/

EDSOURCE

Teaching LGBT history complicated by historical figures who didn't 'out' themselves

By next fall, millions of K-8 students in California schools may be learning from history textbooks that astronaut Sally Ride was a lesbian, Walt Whitman was gay, and a Gold Rush era stagecoach driver named Charley Parkhurst was born a woman, but lived as a man.

https://edsource.org/2017/teaching-lgbt-history-complicated-by-historical-figures-who-didnt-out-themselves/590542

KPCC

La Troka, a mobile classroom where kids learn to eat healthy

Nearly 40,000 children have visited the garden at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes for workshops on how to grow fruits and veggies and make health snacks. Now, the Mexican-American cultural center is bringing those workshops out to the community with a new mobile classroom. La Troka, the teaching garden on wheels, made its first stop Wednesday at Para Los Niños Gratts Primary Center, a charter school serving 4-6 year olds.

https://www.scpr.org/news/2017/11/29/78301/la-troka-a-mobile-classroom-where-kids-learn-to-ea/

New Long Beach preschool aims to empower educators

Educare schools follow a model that aims to narrow the achievement gap by bringing high-quality preschools to neighborhoods where families normally wouldn't be able to afford it. As part of the approach, teachers get extensive training.

https://www.scpr.org/news/2017/11/24/78034/new-long-beach-preschool-aims-to-empower-educators/

WHITTIER DAILY NEWS

El Rancho Unified is getting solar panels at most of its 15 campuses starting next year

The El Rancho Unified School District will install solar panels on 15 of its campuses beginning next year. The district is still in talks about the plan with the company providing the solar panels, Huntington Beach-based PFMG Solar. The school board approved the contract for the solar panels in May.

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/2017/11/29/el-rancho-unified-is-getting-solar-panels-at-most-of-its-15-campuses-starting-next-year/

SACRAMENTO BEE

Space industry leaders tout STEM education at OC Pathways Showcase

Foothill High School senior John Gardner always wanted an electric-powered skateboard but thought the $1,500 price tag for each was too expensive. So the teen decided to build his own. Gardner, a student in the Foothill Engineering and Technology Pathway, demonstrated his skateboard Wednesday during the third annual OC Pathways Showcase at the Marconi Automotive Museum in Tustin.

http://newsroom.ocde.us/industry-pros-tout-stem-education-at-oc-pathways-showcase/

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