Tulare County Office of Education

2000 Partners

Mary Anne Lawrence
Volunteer Coordinator, City of Visalia

Nominated by Nancy Hawkins, Golden West High School

Mary Ann has been an active supporter of the GWHS Health Careers Academy for the past three years. Her help in placing freshman and sophomore Academy students in community reliable and safe environments has been invaluable.

Yolanda Schultz
Dept. Assistant, Porterville College

Nominated by Sharon Pearson, Employment Connection

Yolanda is recognized for going out of her way to listen to and help the students who come to her. She is always there to help the students make the transition into college easier and more comfortable.

Visalia Community Bank
Judy Silicato

Nominated by Elaine Rubio and Eric Ford, Golden West High School

VCB supported the Golden West High School Business/Finance Academy by offering employees to serve on the steering committee, providing promotional materials and, most importantly, allowing Judy Silicato to serve as Chair of the Steering Committee.

Dave Boltshauser
Long's Drugs

Nominated by Steve Rogers, Mt. Whitney High School

Dave is a member of the advisory board for the ROP Retail Sales/Small Business Management classes at Mt. Whitney. He is heavily involved as a Judge at the annual DECA Conference and hires students who are enrolled in the Retail Sales/Small Business Management courses.

Save Mart Supermarkets
Rick Van Matre

Nominated by Bob Tiemens, Visalia Unified School District.

Save Mart Supermarkets have gone the extra mile in forming a partnership with Visalia Unified WorkAbility Program. This effort helps special education students' transitions to the world of work. Long term, Save Mart has plans to expand the program to all California stores.

Porterville Chamber of Commerce
Business Education Committee
Donette Silva-Carter – Chamber President

Nominated by Mary Leavitt

This Business/Education committee’s ongoing support of the School-to-Career partnerships and its’ initiation of a newly sponsored “Administrator for a Day” program linked 5 school districts and 41 business leaders this year.

Dan Serna
San Joaquin Valley College

Nominated by Gil Jaramillo, Exec. Dir. Tulare Kings Hispanic Chamber

As Ambassador for the Tulare-Kings Hispanic Chamber, Dan has assisted in the coordination of a visit by over 20 high school students to the Tulare Kings Hispanic Chamber Business Conference, where the students participated in workshops and interacted with business leaders in the community.

Cindy Sandoval
San Joaquin Valley College

Nominated by Gil Jaramillo, Exec. Dir. Tulare Kings Hispanic Chamber

Cindy's involvement in the Golden West Health Careers Academy, coordination of San Joaquin Valley College students to attend meetings of the Hispanic Roundtable, and involvement with area STC projects make her a special person in the lives of area students.

Tulare County Housing Authority
Margaret Lowe

Nominated by Martha Falcon, Services for Education and Employment (SEE and Company)

Tulare County Housing Authority is a proactive agency that anticipates the needs of low-income Tulare County residents. Through the "Moving to Work program", they’ve helped hundreds of families move into stable housing, making it easier for youth and adults to continue their training and education.

Home Base
Cheryl Lew

Nominated by Martha Falcon, Services for Education and Employment (SEE and Company)

Home Base has been a partner in training programs for over five years. Now they have expanded programs by offering training to welfare recipients. Home Base is a unique partner with an impressive job retention rate.

Sierra View District Hospital
Delisa Walls, Rebecca Moreno and Dave Workman

Nominated by Jan Price, Porterville SEE Youth Program and Debbie Prescott, Porterville Adult School

SEE and other agencies have been placing students at Sierra View Hospital for many years. Their involvement in the former Summer Youth Employment & Training Program and their willingness to hire trainees as regular employees make them a special partner.

STARS – Students Together Achieving Results as Stars
Norma Erwin, Project Director

Nominated by Jan Price, Porterville SEE Youth Program

STARS increases academic achievement, promotes self-esteem, and stimulates an enthusiasm to learn by providing a safe, fun, and healthy environment. The program is designed for students in first through sixth grades and utilizes older students as program assistants -- allowing youth to help youth.

John Low
Manager, R and N Market

Nominated by Jan Price, Porterville SEE Youth Program

John has always been responsive to youth employment programs and has taken many students from Lindsay High School over the years to do internships. R and N Market offers a wide variety of training and students who do well are given a chance as regular employees.

Jeff Monaco
County of Tulare Resource Management Agency

Nominated by Brad Albert, C-SET

Jeff is a three-year partner of Tulare County Youth Corps, providing job training in the field of waste management and recycling. Specifically, Jeff has involved the Corps in recycling education, where corps members provide hands-on recycling presentations to elementary students located in the rural, unincorporated communities.

Gary Pikop
Southern California Edison – AgTAC

Nominated by TEAM Horizons

Gary's ongoing work with the Horizons Program and KAPOW (Kids and the Power of Work program) at AgTAC has created new and exciting projects. Gary is always willing to reach out and help area students.

Karen Dressel
Bank of America, Main Street Branch, Visalia

Nominated by Bill DeLain, Southern California Edison

For her ongoing work with the Visalia Chamber of Commerce-- Business/Education Connection, Karen has been a driving force in pulling together more than 45 business volunteers and resources for this important school-to-career project.

Virgilia “Lily” Rivera
CSET – Porterville Got-A-Job

Nominated by Linda Olmedo CSET

Lily is a multi-year veteran of the Got-A-Job project in Porterville. Lily participated in the first year of Got-a-Job as a summer youth worker. This summer, Lily is supervising Porterville Got-A-Job. She plans to return to school this fall to pursue her Master's Degree in Criminology.

Randy Wallace, Project Director
phone: (559) 733-6101
fax: (559) 737-4378

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