Please join us for Pioneers & Purpose on June 7, 2010 - the one event that brings together all of Silicon Valley in support of education. We are pleased to announce that John W. Thompson, former CEO of Symantec Corp., will be honored with our Pioneer Business Leader Award for 2010. Thompson is one of Silicon Valley's most prominent technology leaders who during his decade-long tenure at Symantec transformed the company into a major force in helping customers secure and manage their information.

When: June 7, 2010
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Where: Fairmont Hotel, San Jose

We look forward to celebrating with you on June 7th. For information on event sponsorship and ticket sales, email jill@svefoundation.org.

In This Issue

• Lessonopoly.org Goes for the Gold!
• Event Wrap-Up: Kick-Off Event: Target Field Trip Grant Program
• Event Wrap-Up: Closing the Achievement Gap in Silicon Valley: Forum One
• High Five Member Corner
• Education Forum: Race to the Top
• Closing the Achievement Gap in Silicon Valley: Forum Two
• SVEF Poker Tournament
• Closing the Achievement Gap in Silicon Valley: Forum Three
• SVEF Teacher of the Month Sponsored by KBAY

March 3, 2010
Education Forum: Race to the Top

March 17, 2010
Closing the Achievement Gap in Silicon Valley: Forum Two

April 16, 2010
SVEF Poker Tournament

April 28, 2010
Closing the Achievement Gap in Silicon Valley: Forum Three

June 7, 2010
Pioneers & Purpose

View Events Calendar

(State Superintendent Jack O'Connell observing teacher Eli Segura's class based on Lessonopoly at Luther Burbank Elementary School)

February was a big month for Lessonopoly.org. California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell gave two press conferences to promote the Science of the Olympics lesson plans.

The 39 lesson plans based on this year's Winter Olympics generated a lot of traffic on the site and over 1,400 new users signed up for Lessonopoly.org in the month of February!

Teacher Gail Ausman's 8th grade science class from Piedmont Middle School was featured in an article by the San Jose Mercury News as they studied helmets used by skiers and hockey players. Check out this lesson plan about helmet safety that had students creating protective coverings for raw eggs using Styrofoam and bubble wrap.

Visit www.lessonopoly.org for more great lesson plans.

Education Forum:
Race to the Top

Join us for an interactive discussion of this federal stimulus funding, and the requirement that links teacher evaluation and compensation to student performance.

Panelists
Jeff Camp, Education Chair, Full Circle Fund
Thomas Ezrin, VP Global Compensation, Benefits and Mobility, Flextronics
Marc Liebman, Ph.D., Superintendent, Berryessa School District
James Russell, Principal, Del Mar High School
Dean Vogel, Vice President, California Teachers Association

Date
March 3, 2010
Time
4:00pm - 5:30pm
Location
Synopsys, Building 2
455 N. Mary Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94085

Registration
Click to RSVP

(Left to Right: Dean Osaki (Target), Mayor Chuck Reed, En Lee (Target), David Lake (Target), Muhammed Chaudhry, (SVEF))

More than 110 people attended the launch of the SVEF Field Trip Program presented by Target. With generous support from Target, SVEF was able to award field trip grant money to our partner school districts in Santa Clara County. Through this program, field trips can be arranged with partner organizations Children's Discovery Museum, The Tech, and Marine Sciences Institute. Our special guest, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, was on-hand to distribute checks to the Santa Clara School Districts school districts benefitting from this program. Superintendents Dan Moser (EastSide), Paul Hay (MetroEd), Karl Black (Milpitas), Maurice Ghysles (Mt. View-Whisman), Tony Garcia (Oak Grove), and Joseph Amelio, (Orchard) were all in attendance.

If your district did not receive a grant, please contact manny@svefoundation.org to find out about the benefits of partnering with the Silicon Valley Education Foundation.

Forum Two:
Solutions for Closing the Achievement Gap

Date
March 17, 2010

Time
3:00am - 5:00pm

Location
Google
1500 Plymouth Street
Mountain View, CA 94043

Keynote
Edwin Javius, Ed.D.
Founder & CEO
EDEquity Inc.

Forum Three:
Time to Act: Developing Effective Local Policy Changes to Close Achievement Gap

Date
April 28, 2010

Time
1:00am - 3:00pm

Location
Microsoft
1065 La Avenida Street
Mountain View, CA 94043

Keynote
Jack O'Connell
State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Click to learn more

Sponsored by

(Left to Right: Emmett D. Carson, Muhammed Chaudhry, Wendy Cole, Barbara Marshman, Jose Ortega, Jean Holbrook, Charles Weis, Cam Nelson, Glenn Singleton, and Ron Gonzalez)

Forum One:
Institutional Racism & The Achievement Gap: Together and Unequal

On February 26th, Silicon Valley Education Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation, with support from Hewlett-Packard and the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, presented the first of our 3-part series titled "Closing the Achievement Gap in Silicon Valley."

Forum one – Institutional Racism & The Achievement Gap: Together and Unequal – highlighted the role that race plays in this critical disparity in academic achievement. Panelists included Glen Singleton, Executive Director of Pacific Educational Group, Ron Gonzales, President & CEO of Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, Jean Holbrook, Ed.D. of San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools, Jose Ortega, Liaison, California Department of Education P-16 Council, and Dr. Charles Weis, Ph.D., Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools.

This invitation only series is bringing together key thought leaders to develop a set of local policy recommendations that business, education, and government leaders can support so all of our students are prepared for the 21st century workforce our region demands.

The remaining two forums, which will offer solutions and policy changes to help close the gap, are scheduled for March 17 at Google and April 28 at Microsoft.

For more information on this series, email Rigo Magaña at rigo@svefoundation.org.

Sponsored by

Kim Cosmas
Valle Vista Elementary School, Mount Pleasant School District

The KBAY Teacher of the Month for March is Kim Cosmas, who teaches at Valle Vista Elementary School in the Mount Pleasant School District. This is Kim's 4th year of teaching, mostly in second grade. She says, "I've spent the last three years at Valle Vista Elementary as a second grade teacher but my first year of teaching was as a kindergarten teacher near Hilo, HI on the eastern side of the Big Island. Before all that I worked for 12 years in the tech field as a network infrastructure engineer and program manager when I decided that I would finally put all the teaching I'd done throughout my life into use and went back for a master's degree in elementary education."

Kim goes on to say, "Now it's my fourth year of teaching and, while I finally feel like I'm beginning to hit my stride as an educator, I still feel that I have so very, very much to learn to become a good teacher. It's organizations like the Silicon Valley Education Foundation that let me do that by helping me bring unique, memorable experiences to my students." Kim will receive a Teacher Innovation Grant for her classes from the Silicon Valley Education Foundation.

Kim will use her SVEF Teacher Innovation Grant to bring the...

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Sponsored by

(Steve Beitler, Manager of Government and Public Affairs, Agilent Technologies)

"I joined SVEF's High Five program because I wanted a consistent way to support public education. Signing up was easy, and I'm happy to help make a difference every month."

For more information about the High Five Program or to see more supporters click here.

After hosting a great poker tournament in December with nearly 100 players, we're excited to announce our next tournament on April 16, 2010. This fun evening of Texas Hold'em will include prizes, snacks and drinks, and makes a great evening out. You can't lose! The more money you lose the better you'll feel about supporting public education.

Date: Friday, April 16, 2010
Time: 6:30pm – 10:30pm
Donation: $100
Registration: Click to RSVP
Location: Sobrato Center for Nonprofits
Room Cupertino A
1400 Parkmoor Avenue, San Jose, CA 95126
Note: No Experience Needed

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