Literacy network to honor five at awards ceremony in March

Three adult students and two literacy advocates will be honored by the Literacy Network of Stanislaus County in an event March 3 at CrossPoint Community Church in Modesto.

They will include: English as a second language award winner Maria Jauregui, who overcame physical abuse, abandonment and the death of a foster mother after coming from Mexico and speaking no English; 78-year-old Dolores Garcia, the literacy award honoree who enrolled in the LearningQuest Program in 2009 and will begin working toward her high school equivalency degree; high school diploma or equivalency recipient Maura Chavez, now enrolled at the University of Phoenix and working as a field investigator for Stanislaus County; Betty Mulnix service award winner Lindsey Bird, coordinator and lead teach at the English Language Institute at Grace Davis High School; and Kathy Harwell, winner of the Jean and Clyde Dunlap award for outstanding contributions to the cause of literacy.

The event begins at 11:30 a.m. and is open to the public. The cost of $30 includes a catered lunch. Call 209-238-1766 or email SPIE@thevision.net to register.

West Side school district gets national recognition

The Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District received the award of excellence for its online special education services from PresenceLearning, a telehealth service provider.

The district began using the network’s services in 2014 when it could not fill its speech-language pathologist position. The program enables students grades four through 12 to work with the company’s speech-language pathologists during live online sessions. More than 85 students are participating this year. The district was among six nationwide to be honored.

Students who overcame challenges will be honored in March

Two dozen Stanislaus County honors students will be recognized next month for succeeding despite challenges. The breakfast event, in its 12th year, is sponsored by the Stanislaus Association of School Administrators Charter, the Stanislaus County Office of Education, Mocse Credit Union and the E.&J. Gallo Winery and will be March 7 at 7 a.m. at the Peterson Event Center in downtown Modesto.

Honorees will include Cherith Franklin of Central Valley High, Antonio Palacio of La Rosa Elementary and Jesse Vazquez of Blaker-Kinser Junior High, all in the Ceres Unified School District; Eutimio Reyna Romero of Capistrano Elementary in Empire; Jeramiah Haines of Hart-Ransom Elementary; Shelby Christopher of Keyes Elementary; Grace Avila of Enoch High, Emilia Gonzalez of Grace Davis High, Ever Meeker of Fremont Elementary and Cielo Romero of Roosevelt Junior High, all in the Modesto City Schools District; Maria Castro of Bonita Elementary in the Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District; Marissa Bales of Oakdale High; Celena McDonald of Del Puerto High and Viviana Torres of Grayson Elementary, in the Patterson Joint Unified School District; Kimberly Romero of Riverbank High; David Jasuan of Valley Charter High, Stanislaus County Office of Education; Ryan Perry of Agnes Baptist Elementary in the Stanislaus Union School District; Katlin Kuykendall of Somerset Middle School and Landon Staggs of Orchard Elementary, Sylvan Unified School District; Isabella Crutcher of Sacred Heart Elementary in Turlock; Bella Gonsalves of Julien Elementary, Hanifa Karimi of Wakefield Elementary and Jacob Williams of Pitman High in the Turlock Unified School District; and Angel Pulido of Sentinel High in the Waterford Unified School District.

Gregori takes home mock trial title

Gregori High reigned as champion in the 33rd Stanislaus County Mock Trial competition that ended Wednesday night. Beyer High finished second. Alysse Messer of Hughson High won the journalism contest and Felix Jara of Pitman High was the best artist in the courtroom.

Gregori High will represent Stanislaus County at the State Mock Trial next month in Riverside.

This story was originally published February 18, 2017 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Literacy network to honor five at awards ceremony in March."