Richland schools host assemblies, get fast start in volleyball

The Richland School District has been busy since the beginning of the fall semester, with numerous assemblies, as well as the start of their sports seasons.

This month, Sequoia Elementary played host to two assemblies, after a two-year hiatus with no assemblies due to the coronavirus. One of the visitors was Mishael McDougal, of the California Dairy Council. This was a free assembly that the industry organization is presenting to schools, paid for by dairy owners and dairy commodity manufacturing companies. Their goal is to bring awareness to school children about the milk that they drink in their school's cafeteria. "Many of the students don't realize how their milk and dairy products get to the store that they eat or drink every day, even though we are an agricultural community," said Richland Superintendent Rosa Romero.

Their second visitor was Marc Griffiths, an inspirational ventriloquist, speaker and author. Griffiths delivered an anti-bullying message to the students while making them aware that each and every one of them has unique talents, and those talents make each and every one of them special. He also said that they need to build one another up and encourage each other to better develop their talents.

"The students were excited to have special visitors on campus, and their messages were very valuable. It was great to see them laugh and smile while being attentive to the content that was delivered," added Romero.

In other district action, the Richland Junior High volleyball teams are off to great starts, with both the junior varsity and varsity teams going 2-0 in the young season. Both teams defeated teams from Palm Avenue and McFarland. "We are looking forward to two home games this week on Tuesday and Thursday. We hope that everyone comes out to support our local teams!" said Romero.

At Redwood Elementary, educational experts and DataWorks teamed together to continue the professional learning on Explicit Direct Instruction. Consultants worked hand in hand with the school's educational experts in the classroom through lesson demonstrations and coaching. The educational experts co-taught lessons following the EDI model. "This full day of learning and support for our educational experts will be transferred into the classrooms, and we will continue to build upon this throughout the school year," she said.