Folsom Cordova Leadership Association Charter in Region 3 knows how to celebrate leadership. The FCLA Connection Committee chairs Angie Carlomagno and Amber Fontaine organized a Spooktacular BINGO Member Network Event. FCLA members even got in the Halloween spirit by dressing in costume. Prizes were given for the best background and the best costume.

ACSA Region 16 is proud to announce the formation and work of the region’s instructional technology committee and the region’s early education committees.

“Consistent with our values and instructional needs, Region 16 felt that the work in these two areas was too important to not have their own committee,” said region President Leonard Choi.

Formed this summer, the Technology Committee has worked with VP Programming Angel Barrett to make October Digital Citizenship Month. The region’s virtual brown bag lunches held on Oct. 1, 8, 15 and 22 focused on technology integration culminating in a DigCitCon held Oct. 24. Keynote speaker for the DigCitCon was Richard Cullota, CEO of ISTE. There were two series of workshops for members to choose from and a panel at the end of the day with representatives for local and state leadership. The Technology Committee is headed by Sophia Mendoza, Director, Instructional Technology Initiative, LAUSD who has recently been appointed by the state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond to serve as a designee to the K-12 High-Speed Network Advisory Board. Her appointment will complement the work of ACSA Region 16 as well as ACSA overall.

The Instructional Technology Council will focus on examining rigorous instructional practices enhanced by leveraging technology in purposeful and personalized ways to support all schools. The council will center the complexities of equity, access, and opportunity as it relates to the digital and participatory divide that impacts students, families, and educators. Through relevant, high-quality professional learning opportunities grounded in research-based frameworks, the council will explore and model what it means to be an engaged, authentic education leader in an increasingly digital world through the integration of the International Society for Technology in Education Standards, digital citizenship, and computer science education.

The Early Education Committee is headed by Dean Tagwa, executive director, Early Education Division, LAUSD. The Early Education Council is committed to improving learning outcomes in the lives of young children (birth to 5 years old) to transition to kindergarten with essential skills as they continue their successful educational trajectory. The council takes on the responsibility of serving the diverse cultural and linguistic needs of students and their families. The council will focus on crucial standards such as developmental milestones; social and emotional learning; cognitive and physical skills; high quality professional development for Early Education administrators; and parental and community engagement.