![]() For immediate release Contact: Shannon Carr, Board Support & Communications Specialist (408) 635-2600, ext. 6031 Carlton Stice, Principal of Calaveras Hills High School (commonly referred to as Cal Hills), says math and engineering teacher Sridaya Mandyam-Komar has been a strong advocate for building student pathways since joining the continuation school in fall 2015. “Sridaya works so hard and is open to bringing our students great, out-of-the-box types of opportunities,” he said. “She has developed a course in engineering that now has approximately 60 alternative education students turned on to engineering in a powerful way that could change the trajectory of their lives.” Because of Mandyam-Komar’s ongoing dedication, Stice said it came as no surprise when the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) recently selected her as one of three winners in its Texas Instruments Innovations in STEM Teaching Awards. “When I was selected as a winner, I felt genuinely happy for Cal Hills and what we represent,” Mandyam-Komar said. “Seeing that my students were curious about STEM and how some of them had started to map out their future in STEM careers was reward enough for me. This award makes this reward even sweeter.” Mandyam-Komar will be honored at the 48th annual Teacher Recognition Celebration, presented by the SCCOE, at 7 p.m. on September 14 at the Heritage Theatre in Campbell. Along with the STEM honorees, the event will also recognize 32 accomplished educators, selected from their respective districts. “One of the great pleasures of hosting the Teacher Recognition Celebration is having an opportunity to learn about all of the excellent teachers within Santa Clara County, including Milpitas Unified School District’s teacher Sridaya Mandyam-Komar,” said Summer Reeves, Communications/Public Relations Specialist with the SCCOE. Mandyam-Komar credited the vision of Principal Stice and dedication and persistence on her end to create an engineering course at Cal Hills, which has gained her the recognition. “As our students are primarily here to recover credits, it was not very clear how this would pan out,” she admits. “It is gratifying to see that our students rose to the occasion and persevered to finish the course with success.” She added her students have benefit immensely from the generous funding for the engineering program. Mandyam-Komar has been able take them on field trips to The Tech Museum of Innovation in downtown San Jose and local universities, along with bring in a guest speaker, all of which has provided access to career and college options. The support has also allowed them to have a fully equipped computer lab and 3D printer, to enrich their everyday coursework. “I have been fortunate to teach at a school and district that value risk taking and innovation,” she said. “Bringing the engineering course to Cal Hills has definitely made me see myself as a powerful catalyst in sparking student interest.” Earlier this year, students engineered endless possibilities for their future through FlexFactor, a four-week entrepreneurship program offered by NextFlex, America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Institute. The project -- offered to students in Mandyam-Komar’s “Intro to Engineering” classes -- was run in collaboration with participation from local partners including the City of Milpitas, Evergreen Valley College, and Flex (previously Flextronics) in Milpitas. Students worked in teams of four to conceptualize a Flexible Hybrid Electronic device focused on human health or performance monitoring, and develop a business model around their product. They pitched their ideas in a Shark Tank-style, three- to five-minute presentation to a panel of representatives. “Her engineering course and the NextFlex project was such a great success I knew they would want to honor her for her hard work to help facilitate that project,” Stice said. Reeves explained that the STEM awards were added to the Teacher Recognition Celebration in 2012 as a way to honor special instructors in Santa Clara County public schools who are sparking their middle- and high-school students to enjoy and excel in science, technology, engineering, and math. “Sridaya Mandyam-Komar is a model selection for this award because of her passion for STEM education, and her work toward creating student equity in STEM education,” she said. “Her nomination stood out because Sridaya is a teacher who is using the power of a STEM education to change her student’s lives by exposing her students to processes and industries, and offering a high-quality STEM education to high-risk credit recovery students.” With the support of Superintendent Cheryl Jordan, Stice said he and Assistant Principal Karisa Scott nominated Mandyam-Komar for the award as a way to “honor her for the dedication to our students.” Before teaching at Cal Hills, she taught math at Silver Creek High School and San Jose High School for over a year each and at Homestead High School for 10 years. But her passion for education began years before, growing up in India, where she learned about the traditions of how revered a guru, also known as a teacher, is. “I always had an innate desire to be able to work with our youth and to hopefully influence them to see what great things they could achieve,” Mandyam-Komar said. Another aspect that inspired her to become an advocate for students was being a volunteer in her children’s classes, where she quickly noticed many kids didn’t have the same level of access as her own. Furthermore, Mandyam-Komar noticed that women are underrepresented both in the high-tech industry and in engineering schools. Mandyam-Komar was already trained as an engineer and was working in the industry as she volunteered as a parent. Becoming a teacher was her way of contributing to lessen the inequity. Mandyam-Komar studied Electrical Engineering in Bangalore University, India, earning both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in 1991 and 1995, respectively. She worked as an engineer in several Bay Area companies from 1997 to 2002. Mandyam-Komar started teaching in 2002 and later earned teaching credentials in math and CTE (Career Technical Education in Engineering sectors) and a Master's Degree in Education from National University, San Jose in 2005. “It was apparent that as our girls got into higher grades, their comfort with, and thereby enrollment, in advanced STEM classes dropped,” she said. “I wondered if I could be part of the solution, being a woman trained in STEM, by inspiring girls such as my own daughters to get into STEM careers.” She said this was important to her for a simple reason. “If only our students, irrespective of their identity, could see how important STEM careers are, both in terms of their own earning potential and contributing to today’s technological advances, we would have twice the progress in areas related to STEM,” Mandyam-Komar said. Dr. Madeleine Dasalla-DiSanto was also named a winner for the Texas Instruments Innovations in STEM Teaching Awards. During the June 27 Board Meeting, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan shared that Dasalla-DiSanto is a teacher at the District's sister school, Silicon Valley Career Technical Education Center with Metropolitan Education District. "I don't think that it's general knowledge that this school actually is an extension of Milpitas Unified," she said. "It's part of a joint powers agreement and we along with five other school districts support that school. And, in turn, that school provides an opportunity for many of our students." Each of the winning teachers will be honored at the Teacher Recognition Celebration in addition to receiving a cash award of $1,000 and the opportunity to attend a professional development event at the SCCOE. For more information about the award, read the News Release from the SCCOE. ![]() For immediate release Contact: Shannon Carr, Board Support & Communications Specialist (408) 635-2600, ext. 6031 Growing up, Laura Polden never imagined a life that didn’t involve working with children. “My earliest memory ever is the day my sister was born, and I picked out a book that I was going to read to her when she came from the hospital,” recalls Polden, who was 2 at the time. “I was ready to take on that role from a very young age.” Over the years, Polden’s maternal instinct grew to foster jobs ranging from a camp counselor to a nanny, swimming instructor, and teacher for a special education program and private school. She was even known as the potty trainer for the local neighborhood kids. “There’s never been anything else that I wanted to do,” Polden readily admits. This passion and relentless dedication is obvious to her colleagues and school district leadership alike, which is why the fourth grade teacher at Pearl Zanker Elementary School was announced as Milpitas Unified’s 2016-17 Teacher of the Year during the Employee Recognition Celebration on May 24. Polden will be one of 32 accomplished educators honored at the 48th annual Teacher Recognition Celebration, presented by the Santa Clara County Office of Education, 7 p.m. on September 14 at the Heritage Theatre in Campbell. “I was very surprised and humbled,” Polden said of the announcement. “...It makes me feel very emotional.” Zanker Principal Trisha Lee said Polden was nominated by at least four colleagues, who helped pen the submission form collaboratively. She was first chosen as Zanker’s Teacher of the Year, before going on to earn the school district award. Among the nomination highlights, Polden was noted for being a “dynamic instructor who has a natural ability to read her students needs through explicitly implemented informal formative feedback as well as through her ability to sense their non-verbal feedback.” They cited her work as data driven and highly engaging -- for students and staff alike -- and said Polden has amazing communication skills, relationships with students and families, and engagement in the Zanker community, attending almost every school event. “I think she is extremely deserving,” Lee said of Polden being selected for the award. “She has this zest for life. She finds a way to connect with all colleagues, and invites parents to be a part of her classroom. She is truly a lifelong learner.” Lee noted Polden being recognized is also impressive because she will be entering her fourth year of teaching in the fall. Regardless of her time, she said Polden is an innovative teacher “who is very conscientious of her abilities as well as her areas for her growth, and tries to always better her practice.” Before the 2016-17 school year started, for example, Polden volunteered for “looping,” because an intermediate teacher had retired and the opening needed to be filled. Looping is the practice of a teacher remaining with the same group of students for more than one school year. For Polden, this meant teaching a third grade class in 2015-16 and going on to teach the same students in 2016-17 for fourth grade. Lee credited this move as brave particularly because Polden was only used to teaching third grade, with three years of experience under her belt. “Developmentally, it’s a really big year,” Polden said, adding the transition allowed her to grow by revisiting education acquired during her college coursework. Polden earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Developmental Psychology from George Washington University in 2009 followed by a Master’s Degree in Education from Santa Clara University in 2013, at which time she student taught at Pomeroy Elementary School. Polden added that looping also allowed her to focus on being a data-driven teacher, beyond what is typically analyzed. “It can be data in any form,” she said, explaining that often comes with student observation. “And I was telling my sister, that sometimes data is what you feel. It’s not always a number that a computer produces.” Polden said this data is important because it allows her to meet the needs of all of her students. “So that’s why personalized learning is really important, because each kid gets something different,” she said. “It doesn’t mean 32 lesson plans. It just means different ways, options to give to them.” This year, Polden implemented book clubs in her classroom to meet this need. At that time, students were given options of books to read within a parameter of their reading level, to try and challenge them further. Based on their selection, they were placed in groups and engaged in different activities about their books. Polden said the value in this is “not everybody is reading the same book, which is how I grew up,” citing “The Catcher in the Rye”; “To Kill a Mockingbird”; and other literary classics that have long been required reading in English classes. “Guaranteed, 70 percent of the kids in my English class were not supposed to be reading ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ either because it was too challenging or it was way too easy,” she said. “You can’t teach like that anymore. And if you do, you have to have a lot of other options for ways that kids are going to get their learning targets from that.” Polden said regardless of where her teaching career takes her, this individualized focus will always be front and center in her work. And she believes it all starts quite simply. “You have to get to know your students,” she said. “There’s no Pinterest project, there’s no glitz and glamour borders or colorful paper that can take away that relationship that you have. If you are able to know your students, their family background, what makes them tick, what sets them off, what frustrates them, you can drive your instruction to make your lessons meaningful to all of your students.” ![]() For immediate release Contact: Shannon Carr, Board Support & Communications Specialist (408) 635-2600, ext. 6031 Sid Haro will become Assistant Superintendent of Human Relations for Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD) on July 1 after a 25-year career in education. “Coming to Milpitas is like coming home for me,” Haro said this week. “My family has deep roots in Milpitas (over 60 years) and I am now back in a position to work directly in support of our schools, staff, students, and families. In a way, my career path evolved, yet stayed the same. I believe in the service that I will be providing. I believe in the work of our Superintendent and Board of Trustees. I believe that through the skills, experiences, and resources that I have gained through my career, I will be an even better teacher, educator, and resource for Milpitas.” In Closed Session on Tuesday (June 27), the MUSD Board of Education approved Superintendent Cheryl Jordan’s recommendation for Haro, currently Chief of Personnel and Leadership at the Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE), as the new Assistant Superintendent. “Sid Haro's experiences in HR, teacher development, and leadership coaching will be a great asset to our team, and his focus on building effective systems through servant leadership is why I feel he'll be an excellent addition to our MUSD family,” Superintendent Jordan said on Wednesday morning. “Sid’s cultural ties to Milpitas will benefit him as he collaborates with us in deepening our Culture of We.” During her report in Open Session, Jordan introduced and congratulated Haro on the appointment. After being recognized, he came forward to thank the Superintendent and Board Members during a brief speech. “I am so pleased to be here as part of the Milpitas Unified School District team,” Haro said. “I believe in service, and I’m humbled to do so. I believe in the power of education, and as I really thought about joining our team here and what it really means, I’m looking very much forward to engaging in the work on behalf of our children , our community, our students, and all of our stakeholders.” Haro also acknowledged his family (many in attendance that evening) for helping support him on this next step. They include Shirley, his high school sweetheart and wife of 38 years; daughter Sara, a graduate from the University of California at Santa Barbara and teacher for the ACOE; son Ysidro, a graduate from West High School (Tracy Unified School District) currently attending Las Positas College; and aunt and Milpitas resident Sally Ontiveros, who retired from MUSD and worked in Human Resources for 36 years. “I am a better educator because of them,” he said. Haro began as an elementary teacher in Oakland Unified School District. From there, he taught in Hayward Unified School District at the secondary level, simultaneously working as a museum science teacher with the Coyote Point Museum for Environmental Sciences and the Oakland Museum of California. These experiences were very positive for him and “due to it, I wanted even more student contact and impact,” Haro said. Among his many roles, he has successfully served as a teacher, site administrator, Director of Leadership Development, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, and in his current role as Chief of Personnel and Leadership with the ACOE. “In this new role, I was able to engage in the type of work that I have grown to love and has such a great impact on our students and schools, Human Resources, leadership development, and coaching,” he said. Haro’s role and responsibilities were varied and integral to the success of the ACOE. Through recruitment, retention activities, professional development, and working in close collaboration with both staff and their collective bargaining units, he has been able to assist in carrying out the superintendent’s and school board’s mission and vision for its students, staff, community and stakeholders. This is something Haro is excited about bringing to MUSD in order to positively impact student lives and academic achievement. “My experience and knowledge in the areas of Human Resources, teaching and learning, leadership development, and gained serving as a superintendent’s cabinet member has provided me with the skills and expertise to be of great support and service to your district administrative team, superintendent, school board, and community,” Haro said. “I am hopeful that I can leverage my experience and skills for the benefit of our students and staff, and make a positive impact on our community of Milpitas.” Haro outlined some of his goals for the position and department, in the first 30 days, 90 days, and beyond, noting the importance of starting with relationship building between those both in and out of his department in addition to learning and internalizing MUSD’s good work, needs, and entry points for his support. “Leadership matters,” he said. “I plan to bring forward the elements of proven exemplary leaders that include: modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, and validating the heart.” He also looks forward to collaborating closely with MUSD’s collective bargaining leadership and unit members in the area of the Leadership Management Initiative (LMI). “This is something that they have already embarked upon, and the LMI group is one who I have established a deep relationship with,” he said. “It is foundational that management continues to work towards a culture of collaboration and trust.” Haro is known for being an innovative and experienced cabinet-level educational administrator possessing outstanding presentation, communication, and cross-cultural team management skills. Haro’s colleagues have shared he is an instructional leader of irreproachable character with a variety of strengths, including being a passionate systems thinker focused on relationship building and collaboration, effective communication, student advocacy, and creative problem solving. While Haro was originally a finance major who wanted to be a banker, he credits Kenny Gomes -- his best friend from sixth grade -- for inspiring him to turn his career toward education. “(He) had become a teacher and was so excited and energized about it, I decided to look into it,” Haro recalls. “The elements of using your intellect, satisfying your curiosity in a professional setting, and being in a respected profession were the first things that attracted me to education. However, once I was able to begin to understand what it was to be a ‘teacher,’ I was (and continue to be) humbled and drawn toward the deep service aspect of our profession. It became more about how I could best serve our students, particularly those who come from a family with little education, resources, or simply a need to meet their child’s academic or best interests. It was a wonderful fit for me that allowed me to give back to our community.” Haro graduated from William C. Overfelt High School in 1977 and earned his Associate’s Degree from Evergreen Valley College in 1982. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies, Business Administration from California State University at Hayward in 1993. In 1999, he returned to CSU Hayward and earned his Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership in 2001. Haro earned his multiple subject teaching credential in 1994 and Clear Administrative Services Credential in 2005 through CSU Hayward. “ I am the first in my family to gain a college education and come from a family of migrant workers,” Haro said. “It truly has become part of who I am and what I have to do to repay a debt that I can never repay.” Watch the full video of Haro’s speech during the June 27 Board Meeting online now.
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Click here to go to Santa Clara Swim Club website. ![]() Milpitas Unified School District's Board of Education recognized winners from the Santa Clara County Alliance of Black Educators' 28th Annual Student Recognition Program during its June 13 meeting. The event, which was held April 23 at San Jose State University, is one of the longest running events in the nation organized by a local community organization to recognize African American students. While Ezuma Ble, Jacorey Hudson, Jordan Paran Parham, and S’Ven Morley, formerly eighth graders at Rancho Milpitas Middle School; Nyla Choates, formerly an eighth grader at Thomas Russell Middle School; and Carmelo Rivera and Ondrea Betner, formerly sixth graders at Weller Elementary School were the only ones who could attend the meeting, certificates were mailed to all 24 honorees of the program. Other student winners and their respective schools and grade levels from this year include: Alexis Hodgson, Joseph Ofagalilo Williams, Kaelina Harris, Karrington Kenney, and Leila Phillips, eighth graders at Thomas Russell Middle School; Dawn Betner, a sixth grader at Rose Elementary School; and Ajene Revell, Amir Usman Davis, Brandy Redic, Cheyanne Hankins, Cyann Anderson, Dakiya Banks, El-Nia Shifa, Hibo Osman, Jesse Njuki, Kareem Bailey, and Reese Turner, seniors from Milpitas High School. Last month, the Milpitas Elementary Honor Band, led by Joe Santomieri, earned first place in the three-day "Music in the Parks" competition, beating all middle and high school bands from Northern California. The final day of the competition was held May 20 in the Milpitas High School theater. Honor band students were selected out of all MUSD band and were required to practice extra, on top of regular band practice.
Following the competition, Santomieri emailed audio files of the adjudicators' comments to the students. "I'm very impressed. I teach middle school, and you would have been one of the bands at my school," said Bob Athayde, a teacher at Stanley Middle School in Lafayette, California. "I wouldn't normally go up to the stage, but I must say that was a superior performance. ... There were so many good elements going on. Every time a theme entered, I could hear that new theme and the other theme got out of the way. When you repeated a section, you played it softer. That's superior musicianship on the part of your teacher. Boy I just hope you keep playing because you're going to do nothing but keep getting better and better and better. Wow. You knocked my socks off." Santomieri entered the band to give the students experience competing, and told them not to expect to win. After the competition, Lillie Czarnota, a Curtner student and member of the band, made fliers asking all sixth graders in band at the school to donate $10 each as a sign of their appreciation to the teacher. They presented him with a $100 gift card on May 26. "I want to thank you for an extremely successful inaugural season," Santomieri wrote in an email to the students following the event. "Everyone was very dedicated and worked diligently to do the very best of their musical ability. Our musical growth was very evident at our district music festival, our end of the year concert, and of course our competition last Saturday. It was an honor for me to work with such eager and talented young musicians." Milpitas Unified School District leaders celebrated the turning over of a new leaf for 18 teachers during a celebration closing out the successful completion of their participation in the new Teacher Induction Program on May 8. The goal of the new program is to provide new teachers with a rewarding experience that builds professional skills, fosters lifelong peer relationships, and establishes positive instructional practices that will impact the lives of all students and their families.
"Back when we started two years ago, I remember I gave someone a compass," Norma Rodriguez, Assistant Superintendent of Learning and Development, recalled during the ceremony. "When you take on this position as a teacher, you take on a journey. You don’t know where that is going to lead you, but the compass will always point to your true north. And your true north is what you are all about. " She continued: "I want to thank you for embarking on this journey with us, and we will never arrive. Know that we will always be striving to get there and get there, but with this mindset that we’re always learning and we’re always improving." Participants of the two-year program receive new teacher orientation; dedicated mentor teachers matched by grade and subject; on-site support; robust mentoring system aligned to induction standards; multi-level support and individual reflective assessment; professional growth units through University of the Pacific; professional learning community, online and districtwide training options; and online support and an efolio. "We are so proud of the work that you’ve done and look forward to the continual growth that you’ll make as you help our youngsters be all that they can be," said Superintendent Cheryl Jordan. "So thank you very much, each one of you, and be proud of the work that you’ve done." This year's inductees included Samantha Brasil and Kelsey Taku from Curtner Elementary School; Sarah Green-Thomsen from Pomeroy Elementary School; Elisabeth Pitts from Randall Elementary School; Amber Blanco, Elizabeth Gutierrez, Nicole King, and Vanessa Lorenzana from Spangler Elementary School; Amrun Singh from Rancho Middle School; Caseara Martinez and Wai Lan Tsang from Russell Middle School; Karina Briseno, James Carter, Brian Knitter, Jason Marino, Anthony McCan, and Tomy Nguyen from Milpitas High School; and Kwabena Amo-Mensah from Elmwood/Adult Education. |
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