It’s raining tacos in Humboldt
On Tuesday, over 8,000 students in Humboldt and Del Norte County schools will be taking part in the 7th annual Taco Tuesday, taking place locally at Hydesville Elementary School cafeteria, 3050 Johnson Rd., Hydesville, from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Featuring local grass fed beef, this two county Farm to School event celebrates local producers and healthy school meals.
Rancher and Humboldt County native Clint Victorine, owner of Eel River Organic Beef and Pacific Pastures Beef, worked with the Humboldt County Office of Education to launch Taco Tuesday in 2013. Victorine is providing 1,400 lbs. of grass-fed beef at a greatly reduced price to over 60 Humboldt County schools for this year’s event.
Students will also enjoy sour cream donated from Humboldt Creamery and “Double Delicious Tropical Salsa” on their grass-fed beef tacos. The salsa won the Most Marketable award at HCOE’s 2018 Kids’ Salsa Recipe Competition in Arcata last fall. A team of after-school students from Lafayette Elementary School created the recipe alongside mentor chef Josh Wiley from Restaurant Five Eleven. Eureka Natural Foods will be producing over 30 gallons of salsa for the May 14 event.
For more information, please contact Erin Derden-Little, Farm to School coordinator at 707-441-2072 or e-mail ederdenlittle@hcoe.org.
Family Maker Night in Eureka Thursday
On Thursday, the Humboldt County Office of Education will host the last Family Maker Night of the school year from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Sequoia Conference Center, located at 901 Myrtle Avenue, Eureka.
Family Maker Nights are part of the “Maker Movement” in education, which allows students to practice skills required of the 21st-century learner, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, innovation, communication and collaboration. These events occur throughout the county on the third Thursday of each month.
This event includes support from the Pathmakers Program and Discovery Museum. There will be activities including paper beads, scribble basket bots, fairy houses and more.
Families and students throughout the community are encouraged to attend. There will be food for sale at the event.
For more information or if you would like to host your own Family Maker Night, please contact Tanya Trump, at 707-445-7817 or ttrump@hcoe.org or find more information at www.hcoe.org/maker-movement.
Honorees recognized for work in child abuse prevention
The Child Abuse Prevention Coordinating Council of Humboldt County held its annual awards celebration recently at the Humboldt County Office of Education.
The awards recognize those individuals and organizations who go above and beyond to prevent child abuse. This year’s recipients are Amy Terrones, Family Resource Center coordinator at Jerold Phelps Community Hospital; Trish Oakes, Dream Quest; Laura Montagna, NUGames, TedEx organizer; and The Raven Project.
These awardees are described as individuals who support wellness, build resiliency, strengthen parent-child relationships, and create a safe space where young people can play together and find community.
In addition to the awards presented by CAPCC, representatives from the offices of Congressman Jared Huffman and Assemblymember Jim Wood were present to acknowledge and honor the recipients.
To learn more, please visit www.capcchumboldt.org.
12 county educators recognized for teaching service
Twelve Humboldt County teachers have received an Excellence in Teaching award and were honored at a reception and ceremony at the Sequoia Conference Center in Eureka where more than 200 colleagues, friends, and family members gathered to show their support.
The Humboldt County Office of Education sponsors this celebration annually to celebrate California’s Day of the Teacher by recognizing outstanding educators who were nominated by colleagues, students, parents or school administrators and then selected to receive this honor.
This year’s Excellence in Teaching Award recipients are: Camila Barrett: 9-12th Grade math teacher, McKinleyville High School; Heidi Conzelmann: 4th grade teacher, Morris Elementary School; Heather Gaiera: instructional coach/arts integration, Eureka City Schools; John Michael Larson: 5th grade teacher, Grant Elementary School; Zach Lehner: 7th grade ELA/social studies/drama teacher, Zane Middle School; Holly Matthews: resource specialist, McKinleyville Middle School; Johanna Mauro: 9-12th grade art and photography teacher/arts institute director, Arcata High School; Carole Meng: reading intervention teacher, Dow’s Prairie School; Tim Olson: 9-12th grade Spanish teacher, Eureka High School; Adam Pinkerton: 9-12th grade economics and government teacher, Arcata High School; Dana Settelmayer: 7-8th grade teacher, Fieldbrook Elementary School; Linda Stewart: 6-8th grade teacher, Peninsula School.
Ferndale Elementary and Junior High update gym
Ferndale Elementary School and Junior High finally have their dream of a safer and ADA-compliant gym. What began as a 5-year fundraising goal to keep kids and fans safe at Ferndale Elementary school has turned into a story of what big hearts can do in a short amount of time.
Within six short weeks businesses and individuals in the small town of Ferndale pulled together $38,000 to replace the original stands from when the gym was constructed in 1968. The school says the old bleachers were very cumbersome, unsafe and anyone in a wheel chair wanting to cheer on their favorite athlete was out of luck.
School athletic director and basketball coach Rex Rigney says he presented a 5-year fundraising proposal to the Ferndale school board in May 2018. With the help of free advertising in the local paper, the funds came flooding in by July. Within a few weeks of the 5-year fundraising goal, the school was ordering the new stands and they were delivered and installed recently.
School staff says it knew Ferndale was a very giving and supportive community, but it never realized just how much community support it had until 100 businesses and individuals came together in such a short amount of time to make sure kids and fans were safe.
