The city of San Jose is teaming up with the military, businesses and religious and labor community organizations to generate support for dependent families of reservists and members of the National Guard.

Approximately 200 San Jose reservists were called into active duty this year. Some employers cannot pay the regular salaries of activated reservists so the city-led partnership will work to help these families while reservists are on active duty.

Among the institutions involved in the partnership are the American Red Cross, the San José Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and the San Jose Police Officers Association, which pledged $5,000. The Assyrian Church of the East has pledged $5,000, and Safeway has pledged $3,500.

For more information about the partnership, call the city of San Jose's 24-hour call center at 408.277.4000 or visit http://www.san-jose.ca.us.


School district holds free parent seminar

The San Jose Unified School District invites parents whose children attend public schools to attend its annual parent education conference at its headquarters at 855 Lenzen Ave. on May 3. Registration to attend the free event is requested by April 29, but later applications will be accepted.

This year's conference, called "Parents are Teachers, Too," offers 20 workshops as well as opportunities to speak with education and child-raising experts and learn more about educational materials and child care.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Manuel Garcia of the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, part of the Stanford University Medical Center. Garcia is an assistant professor in the department of pediatrics at the children's hospital.

The Willow Glen Middle School and Willow Glen High School choirs, under the direction of music teacher Andrew Eisenmann, are scheduled to perform between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. on
May 3.

For more information or to register by telephone, call the district office at 408.535.6493.