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Stanislaus County, CA November 8, 2011 Election
Smart Voter

Support providing options for all students in Stanislaus County, including at risk youth.

By Kimberly Clare "Kim" (Gerber) Spina

Candidate for District; Stanislaus County Board of Education; Area 3

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Providing options for at risk youth who have not been successful in the traditional academic environment.
The Stanislaus County Office of Education has been a champion of providing "options" for at-risk youth (e.g. Stanislaus Military Academy for high school students and Tactical Character Academy (TCA) for junior high students). They are currently embarking on a new Fine and Performing Arts Academy in Ceres and a Culinary Arts Academy is planned to open in Oakdale next fall - all targeting youth who have not been successful in the traditional academic environment (alternative education students). I want to support this kind of innovative thinking and encourage further efforts of this nature to help meet the needs of all students in Stanislaus County. We must create an educated and prepared workforce. Chefs and mechanics can be as successful as the college educated. Let's capitalize on students' interests. Would learning Algebra, Geometry, and Chemistry under the umbrella of culinary arts make more sense to some students? Maybe then our dropout rate would decline.

If creating synapses that will increase a child's brainpower is as simple as playing a violin or learning a second language at a very early age, why aren't we focusing on that? There are so many children who don't have a chance, whose lives we can change if only we challenge the way we look at things. Is the system failing us, or are we failing the system?

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ca/stn Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 11, 2011 21:06
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