Celebrating Opportunities promote success for all students  

Forty Californians, including board members, superintendents and teachers from 17 school districts and county offices of education, participated in the annual Celebrating Educational Opportunities for Students of All Cultures conference, a collaboration of state school boards associations in the four southwestern states. This year’s conference took place March 27-29 in Austin, Texas.

“This conference is a priority for CSBA because it gives school board members a chance to educate themselves about issues beyond their own experience, as well as a chance to share best practices for addressing common challenges,” said CSBA President Paula S. Campbell, who presided over a conference panel of students from a variety of ethnic groups.

“The student panel showcases students who have overcome significant difficulties by allowing them to share their stories,” Campbell said. “This conference gives school board members the opportunity to broaden their experience so that they can better serve the diverse students in our state.”

Demonstrating CSBA’s leadership on student wellness, Martin Gonzalez, assistant executive director for Governance and Policy Services, led a team presentation from his department on “Addressing Student Wellness through Community Leadership and Engagement.” The discussion previewed some of the themes to be explored in greater depth at the second School Wellness Conference, sponsored by CSBA, the California Department of Education and the California Department of Public Health, at the Anaheim Marriott Oct. 6-7.

Student health problems—manifested in rising obesity rates, inadequate nutrition, lack of physical activity, mental health disorders, asthma and other factors—hinder student achievement, Gonzales and his co-presenters noted. School board members, they said, have a responsibility to promote the best interests of children in their communities by involving parents and community organizations in efforts to promote student wellness.

Community collaboration was also a theme of another workshop, “Effective Strategies for Building and Sustaining Strong Partnerships,” on preschool, before- and after-school programs and students in foster care. CSBA Research Consultant Marguerite Noteware shared insights from districts that have developed successful partnerships with parents and other community members to benefit children outside the typical K-12 school day and year.

General sessions were another highlight of each day’s activities, with keynote speeches by ABC news correspondent Manny Medrano, writer Mawi Asgedom and performer Sonia Manzano.

The annual conference, formerly known as Celebrating Opportunities for Hispanic Students, is hosted on a rotating basis by the Texas, Arizona, California and New Mexico school boards associations. CSBA presented last year’s sessions in San Jose; the 2010 conference will be hosted by the Arizona School Boards Association in Phoenix, Ariz., next spring.