Saratoga News

BRIEFS

Office of Education links up with Web

The Santa Clara County Office of Education is now online, offering information on local public schools through the World Wide Web.

The Santa Clara County Office of Education home page, found at http://www.sccoe.k12.ca.us, includes updates on school reform, ideas on how to support public education, information on school district boundaries, advice on how to choose a school and more. The page also provides daily legislative information, school district calendars, parenting resources and scholarship links.

Individuals without Internet access can call 453-6500.

Peace center sponsors essay writing contest

The San Jose Peace Center, an organization dedicated to "bringing peace and understanding among peoples, and ending hatred and the use of violence to resolve disputes," is sponsoring the eighth annual Charles Walton Peace Essay Challenge.

The contest is open to all ninth-12th graders in the Bay Area. The 1996 contest asks contestants to write about what should be done to eliminate racial, religious and ethnic violence in the world and how they would personally contribute to promoting peace.

Cash prizes will be awarded to the top five essays. The deadline is Feb. 26. Applications can be obtained from the San Jose Peace Center, 48 S. Seventh St., or by calling 297-2299.

Strickland, Kurze lead county board

The Santa Clara County Board of Education has elected Scott L. Strickland as president and Anna K. Kurze as vice president through November 1996.

This will be the second time that Strickland, representative of Trustee Area Four since 1984, has served as president of the board. A San Jose government affairs and political consultant, Strickland said his top priorities for the coming year include continuing strong support for County Office of Education programs and building community leadership for child care.

Kurze, a San Jose businesswoman, has represented Trustee Area Three, which includes the Campbell Union and Moreland elementary districts, since 1992. She is also chair of the California School Boards Association's government relations committee and a member of its Delegate Assembly.

Educators honor assemblymember

Assemblymember Jim Cunneen was honored by both the California Teacher's Association and the Campbell Union School District.

The state teachers' association gave him a 100-percent rating and a grade of "A" on its 1995 Legislative Report Card. The Campbell school district board of education publicly praised Cunneen for his dedication to education and presented him with a certificate of merit in recognition of his commitment and support for public education.

"Assemblymember Cunneen has done a remarkable job," said Marcia Plumleigh, superintendent of the Campbell Union School District. "He has been extremely accessible to the school board and has gone out of his way to keep us up-to-date on pending legislation in Sacramento. School board members are impressed by the assemblymember's willingness to listen to their concerns and his determination to see that the state invests more in education," Plumleigh said.

Lynbrook paper rakes in prizes

The Epic, Lynbrook High School's student newspaper, was named a Pacemaker for the 1995-96 school year by the National Scholastic Press Association. The award is given to publications that demonstrate excellence and leadership in Journalism. The award preceded the school's winning of the NSPA All-American with Five Marks of Distinction.

The school paper also placed second overall in the Just Get It Write State Journalism Convention in October. At the convention, honorable mentions were awarded to Jessica Wang for sports writing, Catarina Oberdorfer for photography, Katherine Jen for cartooning, Sandya Rao for reviews, Jay Lee for newspaper layout, and Meghna Chowdary for newswriting.

Ruby retains job of board president

The Saratoga Union School District board of trustees on Dec. 12 elected new officers for 1996. Cindy Ruby continues as president of the board. Cynthia Chang replaced Jill Hunter as clerk, and Peggy Koen replaced Stephanie Petrossi as secretary.

The next meeting takes place Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Redwood Middle School library. This is the only meeting scheduled for January.