Marie Russell, Director of Communications, Family Engagement, and Outreach

On September 21, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a warning to school leaders about a new and concerning “rainbow fentanyl,” a potentially fatal drug found in brightly colored pills and powders that could attract young people.

The CDPH points to a recent warning from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency that notes the highly addictive and potentially deadly “rainbow fentanyl” has been found in at least 18 states. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, which is equal to 10-15 grains of table salt, is considered a lethal dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC says fentanyl and other synthetic opioids cause most overdose deaths in the country. In 2022, there were 116 total overdose deaths in Stanislaus County, 80 were Fentanyl-related. 23 of these deaths were 18-29 years old. While these drugs generally have no tell-tale tastes, smells or visual indicators, there are signs associated with opioid overdoses. They include:

• Small, constricted “pinpoint pupils”
• Falling asleep or losing consciousness
• Slow, weak or no breathing
• Choking or gurgling sounds Limp body
• Cold and/or clammy skin
• Discolored skin (especially in lips and nails)

TUSD, like many California schools, has trained health staff in the use of Naloxone, a life-saving medication that can be used to reverse an opioid overdose. All secondary schools have received a supply of Naloxone and we are working to expand it to all schools in TUSD.

For those interested in learning more, on November 3, a Town Hall Event on the Fentanyl crisis will be hosted by the City of Turock and Turlock Police Department at the Turlock Community Theater from 6:00-8:00 PM.

What schools did you attend in TUSD? Turlock Christian Elementary, Walnut Elementary School, Dutcher and Turlock High. 

What year did you graduate? I graduated from Turlock High School in 2014. 

What schools did you attend after high school? Major? I got my B.S. in Genetics and Genomics at UC Davis with a minor in professional writing with a science emphasis. I got my M.S. in Science Communication from UC Santa Cruz.

What are your career goals? Or your career? I’m a social media specialist for NASA based at their Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. I run social media with 10+ million followers across accounts, sharing how NASA studies Earth from space. 

What teachers/classes made an impact on you? Mrs. Walker’s AP calculus class. I struggled so much and the math didn’t come naturally, but she spent a lot of time helping me understand. That really showed me that I could do anything if I worked hard and sought help. I think we both cried when I told her I actually passed the AP test! AP English classes with both Mr. Huth and Mrs. Asgill taught me to be creative as both a reader and writer. 

Any advice for students?  Enjoy your elective classes and don’t discount those subjects as potential career paths. I took photography and journalism just for fun, and those are skills I now use every day.

Fave books or music or movies: The Game of Thrones series by George RR Martin

Hobbies? Things you enjoy in your spare time? I love mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking and just generally being outside! I also love to cook and read science fiction.

Mental Health Clinicians

October is ADHD Month. Like many mental health challenges, a team approach is most effective, and the educator has a vital role on that team. How a teacher responds to ADHD challenges can be a major factor in whether that student understands their brain difference as a challenge or whether they see themselves as a “bad kid.” Self-esteem struggles are incredibly common with this diagnosis, and one caring adult can make a difference! Our first step is to recognize ADHD symptoms, understand how learning may look different for them, and make appropriate and effective accommodations. Check out this teacher's guide to ADHD in the classroom.

ADHD has three main presentations: predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive/impulsive, and combined. Predominantly inattentive may seem like the students are just easily distracted, or “daydreaming” a lot. ADHD in girls often looks different than it does in boys, as they statistically tend to be more inattentive and not as hyperactive. They may be hyper-talkative and struggle with impulse control related to blurting out of interrupting. For more on supporting girls with ADHD, see this article.

For more classroom strategies, click HERE.

Director of Curriculum and Instruction

Why is i-Ready important? i-Ready Diagnostic measures students’ strengths and needs. It equips teachers by delivering actionable data that addresses the first part of the learning process—knowing exactly where each student is. i-Ready Diagnostic provides teachers with a complete picture of student performance relating to their grade level and national norms. It includes Lexile® and Quantile® information for insights into reading and mathematics performance. The data is guiding the work of our 27 elementary intervention teachers. Without this universal screener, it would be difficult to determine which students needed which skills. All teachers benefit from having data that informs them when intervention or enrichment is needed. i-Ready Diagnostic also correlates to state assessments so that students become familiar with the rigor and format they will see on high-stakes tests.

What is i-Ready?

The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to student’s needs. Each item a student sees is individualized based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier questions. The purpose of this is not to give a grade, but instead to determine how best to support each student’s learning.

How can teachers use the assessment results?

• The “Instructional Groupings” feature allows you to differentiate instruction based on skill
• The “Tools for Instruction” feature provides additional resources with step-by-step lessons
• The “Prerequisites” feature identifies students learning needs for upcoming essential learning

We can’t wait to see the growth of our students!

Marshall Beyer, Coordinator of Educational Technology

Robert Brogdon, Director of Technology Services

What is multifactor authentication (MFA)? MFA fortifies the sign-in process by adding additional layers of security to verify your identity. This verification can be provided in several ways, including a fingerprint, facial recognition, or a code sent via text, email, or an app on your smartphone.

Why do we need MFA? Authentication is the process of verifying your identity when you sign into an account. This is traditionally done through a username and password. Unfortunately, single-factor authentication is easily susceptible to compromise. Usernames are easy to figure out because they are usually our email addresses or an abbreviation of our names. It is difficult to remember a multitude of complex passwords, so people tend to choose simple ones or use the same password for many, if not all, of their accounts.

Why should we care? “According to Check Point Research, the education/research sector was the most targeted in 2021, with an average of 1,605 cyberattacks per week, up 75% from 2020.” (“The State of Cybersecurity in Education - Security Boulevard”) MFA is necessary because it makes stealing your information harder for cybercriminals. They will often move on to an easier target that is not using MFA. To protect your personal information, everyone should enable MFA for all online accounts, including private banking, social media, and email accounts, to name a few.

Alice Solis, Director of English Learners, Assessment, and Special Programs

The district has provided you with a powerful resource to help you reach and teach your English learners in class. You have access to Ellevation Strategies, an online platform with hundreds of ideas for bringing instructional strategies into your lessons.

• Ellevation Strategies is an online resource of high-quality classroom lesson Activities.
• Based on accepted best practices, Activities are organized into a meaningful framework of Practices and Strategies that resemble a common lesson cycle and guide teachers on how to teach a classroom of linguistically diverse students.
• Activities allow teachers to put Strategies into action, helping students to focus on particular language skills while engaging with subject-area content. Each Activity has its own landing page with details and resources to support successful facilitation.
• Activities are widely adaptable, and teachers can find the best ones to use for their students by browsing and filtering individual Activities according to the specific linguistic needs of students or by browsing and filtering Collections of Activities that are connected to specific academic content with relevant standards.

Watch this video to learn more!

Denise Duewell, Coordinator of Induction and Professional Development

Every September along with football games, pumpkin spice, and lesson plans galore, new teachers begin their individualized learning plans (ILP). The ILP is an important step in becoming a well-rounded, effective, reflective, and positive educator. This is an opportunity for them to become adept at observing what is happening in their classrooms, identifying and analyzing the challenges they face, and determining what strategies they can employ to meet those challenges.

As always at induction seminars, we work to incorporate best practices while providing our new teachers with what they need in order to choose an ILP challenge and develop an inquiry cycle. September’s seminar was no different.

To that end, we shared examples and non-examples of the ILP, reviewed and discussed the updated rubric, and provided time to begin their self-assessment and determine where/how they wish to grow in order to positively impact their scholars. Because by its very nature, the ILP is differentiation at its finest, as no two teachers, classrooms, or challenges are exactly the same, it seemed appropriate to differentiate the exit slips. When the evening wrapped up, teachers were asked to tell us what they learned or had reinforced about the ILP - a tried and true practice. However, we also asked teachers to respond in a manner that would accurately show what they know while choosing their own form of communication. Their choices were poetry/song, video, art (drawing, online pictures, etc.), a written summary, a combination, or their own idea.

In the end, the exit slips did what we needed - they let us know who had misconceptions and who had a solid handle on the ILP, but they did something more important - they acknowledged the fact that there are a variety of strengths out there, and we all need an opportunity to lean into our strengths to demonstrate what we know.

*There were some added benefits to this practice as well, especially when collecting 100 exit slips - it was exciting to see the array of products, and they were fun to read, watch, and review.

Thank you to all mentors and candidates for their unique exit slips, and a special thanks to the mentors and candidates above who so willingly shared their work. 

Marya Moreno, Pitman High School

How long have you worked in TUSD? This is my 10th year working in TUSD. My first year I was a long-term substitute teacher. I spent the following 7 years as a third-grade teacher at Crowell. Last year I was the Ed Tech Instructional Coach for our district.

What is your job title? Dean of Students at Pitman High School

Where did you work prior to TUSD? Before TUSD I was a substitute teacher for Stanislaus County. However, my most notable prior employer is La Morenita in Ceres. La Morenita was my first job out of high school. I recently retired to take my administrative position. La Morenita will always have a special place in my heart. 

Any info you would like to share about your job? Average day? This is my first year at the high school level and it feels good to be here. I get to work with students daily. There is no average day in the Dean’s office and that’s what I love about it the most. Each day brings you something new. 

When I first started, I heard the Dean’s Office is one of the busiest. I found this to be true! I couldn’t do it without my secretary. Shoutout to Valery for all her hard work!

A highlight at the end of some of my days is that I get to supervise school sports and events. I’ve recently learned all things volleyball and now consider myself a volleyball mom. Haha!

Things you are most proud of? I’m proud of all the connections I’ve been able to make with students. It’s a great feeling when you’re able to see the growth in your students. I’m also proud that I have students who come to my office for help. Establishing a safe space for students is important and I can see it happening in my office. 

Challenges? Time is my challenge. There never seems to be enough time in the day. 

Favorite memory/story? Some of my favorite memories and stories come from teaching third grade at Crowell. One year I had the opportunity to be the Santa Claus on our local fire truck. The route just happened to be where our Crowell students lived. The looks on their faces as I wished them personalized messages were priceless! The stories they had for me the next day about Santa Claus knowing their name and the excitement they had was the best. 

What are you reading?  I’m currently reading The Listening Leader with our Equity Task Force. I also just started rereading Grading for Equity with my Pitman colleagues. 

Each weekend I read to my grandmother, San Juana. We are currently reading Rabbit by Patricia Williams. She and I both love memoirs. This is our second book about women who have overcome unique challenges in their lives.

Any favorite shows you’re watching on TV? I am all over the place with TV. This is what having multiple streaming platforms will do to you!  My classics are The Office and That 70’s Show. However, I do love Reality TV. I particularly like exploration and survival shows. Shows like Alone are made for me! Now you won’t catch me watching The Real Housewives…but you will catch me watching all things RuPaul Drag Race. Charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent. They have it all! 

Fave movies? I have no favorites. I love indie films and documentaries. My most recent obsession is watching all the Mt. Everest documentaries.

Anything surprising we may not know about you? In my early twenties I was in a band with my best friends. I was the bass player of an all-girl indie band called the Femmebotz. It was a fun time in my life. The local music scene in Modesto was taking off and the community was just what everyone needed. 

Fave quote? "You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take." ~Wayne Gretzky & Michael Scott

Fave memory of someone in education who inspired you? My first and second grade teacher Ms. Jackson from Walter White Elementary in Ceres was an amazing woman. I was lucky to have her for two years in a row. She showed so much love to all of her students. She was warm and welcoming and made students feel at home in her classroom. I will never forget the love I felt from her. I strive to be Ms. Jackson.

Anything about your personal you’d like to share? (i.e., family, hobbies, stuff you do outside work?) Camping is life! The Oregon coast is my favorite. I have been working my way up the Oregon coast. Next summer I will finally make it to the top of Oregon and start my Washington camping adventures. I’m a tent camper and love it. My next trip is planned out to Bodega Bay for our winter break. I also love to watch sports in my free time, both live and on TV. Football season has arrived, pray for my Raiders! 

Jessica's House Community Education Training

Education on how to support children who are grieving. It is at no cost and runs from 9 a.m.-12 p.m.