Every year, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education welcomes a diverse group of locals—businesspeople, educators, government employees—to come together monthly and learn about education in Santa Cruz County. The program serves as a bridge between public education and the wider community, promoting understanding and connections to benefit both sides.

Like our local schools, this year Inside Education has gone virtual. This year’s participants represent a wide variety of business and public sectors, including the public library, for-profit family-focused businesses (including two representatives from Growing Up), local museums, Cabrillo College, and social services. Inside Education explores the whole child from an educational perspective, with student equity playing a major role in their presentations.

September’s virtual presentation included:

1. Teachers presented from their classrooms in Watsonville and Live Oak, showing how two teachers are coping with—and thriving in—distance learning
   Jennifer Buesing, Director of School Safety, spoke in-depth about how schools are preparing for in-person learning and all the various contingencies they are juggling
2. Stephanie Sumarna and Jason Borgen spoke about the educational technology that our local districts are using
3. Michele Chaney from Youth N.O.W., a nonprofit that provides academic support for at-risk youth in PVUSD, spoke movingly about her nonprofit’s struggle to continue serving their increasingly fragile population, especially the children of farmworkers

Join us starting next month for in-depth interviews and reports about what is happening in local education. Growing Up is excited to take part in this school/community partnership!