Hope abounds

One of the male students related how he was a rule breaker for the first two years at Bayside but in eighth grade he finally pulled himself together and tried to be a good student. A young woman told how she and her brothers were raised in foster homes but her luck changed when she was adopted (she gave the exact date as if it was her birthday) by a loving family, how her teachers gave her the support to succeed. Another talked about the strong women in her family, her mother — a single parent — had worked hard, despite many difficulties, to help her daughters. And so it went. By the end of the eighth speaker, I had run out of Kleenex.

The student speakers were Megha Tandel, Jacklyn Musil, Jade Barkett, Shawna Knapp, Michael Corzo, Giovanni Moreno, Maui Nogawa and Kimberley Cano.

The faculty speaker was a young teacher, at Bayside for only one year. Rob Bolt, who teacher robotics, worked for many years at Intel as a computer programmer. He recounted how he and his parents came to this country as immigrants from Australia. His parents were mathematicians, who lived in a small Australian town. They were invited to teach at UC Berkeley. Bolt attended Berkeley public schools, then went to Intel. After several years he decided he wanted to be a teacher and tried to get a job teaching social science. But there were no openings. There were, however, many jobs available in the technology field. Bayside has reinvented itself as the S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, math) ACADEMY. Bolt reminded his audience that students who majored in these courses would have many more choices later in life, just as he did.

I was curious how Bayside was able to attract such a highly qualified individual so well suited to educating young adults. With his resume, he easily could be teaching in a prestigious private middle or high school. Bayside’s principal, Jeanne Elliott, told me she asked him once, got a no; asked him twice, got a no; but the third time was a charm. And Bolt is not the only talented young teacher at Bayside who brings excitement into the classroom. When you meet Dr. Elliott, who is soft-spoken but tough, you know right away she’s not the kind of person who gets many "no’s.” She is responsible for raising the aspirations of her staff and students while at the same time making the school a very friendly and caring place.

Two students, Megan Tandell and Emily Chow, received perfect attendance awards for not missing a day of school for three years. Francesca Woo was the first student in the district to receive the prestigious Mary Fowler Scholar Award for perfection in her academic work ( all 4.0) and for excellence in citizenship, work habits and homework. She received a check for $500.

With a principal, teachers and graduates such as those on display at Bayside, hope abounds.

***

San Mateo Rotary has long played a significant role in helping Bayside students. Last year, Rotary provided funding for a one-on-one after-school tutoring program for students who needed extra help. The tutors were high school students, all former Bayside students, who had been the recipients of Rotary scholarships. John Kelly, former Serra teacher and former director of Samaritan House, led the program with help from other Rotarians.

***

Former San Mateo city manager Arne Croce has a new assignment, which will make his years spent in San Mateo seem like a piece of cake. Arne is headed to Iraq beginning in July to train local government officials. Croce works for ICMA, a local government management consulting firm, which is under contract with USAID to design and provide the training.

***

The office of state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, called last week about his bill to delay kindergarten. His staff said it would save the state $700 million and would affect a quarter of California children who could not start kindergarten unless they were five years of age by Sept. 1.

Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.