Sunday, June 30, 2013

6th Annual Matt Garcia Softball Tournament 2013

 Step Up To The Plate And Help Strengthen Our Community!

SIGN YOUR TEAM UP NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

SATURDAY & SUNDAY - AUGUST 17TH & 18TH

COMPETITIVE AND COED DIVISIONS

EARLY BIRD ENTRY FEE $325.00 BEFORE JULY 27TH

REGISTRATION FEE $375.00
DEADLINE TO REGISTER AUGUST 9TH, 2013
(4 Games Guaranteed / 15 Players Per Roster)

Lambrecht Sports Complex off Petersen Rd in
Suisun City, CA 94588

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY 
(Jump House, Great Food, Music & Face Painting)

Contact Information
(Team Registrations) Dave Diaz - Cell # (707) 249-9747 / Email ktdadaved@gmail.com
(Sponsorship Inquiries) Scott Siordia - ktdascotts@gmail.com

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Malcolm London: "High School Training Ground"



Young poet, educator and activist Malcom London performs his stirring poem about life on the front lines of high school. He tells of the "oceans of adolescence" who come to school "but never learn to swim," of "masculinity mimicked by men who grew up with no fathers." Beautiful, lyrical, chilling.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Fairfield PAL - The Matt Garcia Youth Center

250 Travis Blvd., Fairfield, CA 94533
707-422-MATT (6288)

For hours of operation and more information visit their website @ www.fairfield-pal.org

The center was named in memory of 22-year old Fairfield City Councilman, Matt Garcia, who passed away in early September 2008. When Matt ran for city council, one of his campaign promises was to open a teen center. The center was originally to be named the Billy Yarbrough Youth Center, but at the request of the Yarbrough family was re-named.
 
The Fairfield Police Activities League (PAL) Matt Garcia Youth Center builds community by organizing youth sports and healthy activities that develop personal character and foster a positive relationship among police officers, youth and dedicated volunteers.
 
In the past several years, the City of Fairfield was confronted with the growing problem of juvenile delinquency. Through the inspired efforts of Community Leaders, Law Enforcement, and Local Citizens to counteract this trend, the Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center was established. The vision of the Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center is to provide supervised programs such as basketball, boxing, martial arts, music, multimedia, soccer, dance, running, homework tutoring, and more.
 
The Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center reaches out to underserved kids in the City and provides safe, healthy activities which promote teamwork, personal responsibility, self-confidence, exercise and healthy living. At a time when youth are barraged with negative influences and unproductive choices our programs offer safe, constructive alternatives to gang involvement, crime, teen pregnancy, delinquency, video game playing and just plain lethargy.
 
The Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center provides a framework of rules and regulations that serve as guideposts for youngsters while they are growing up and will continue to serve them in later years. Dedicated civilians and police officers serve as coaches, instructors and mentors to youth who participate in the Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center programs. For some youth these adults are the only people in their lives holding them to high expectations while teaching basic fundamentals of sports and leadership.
 
The Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center is a community based tax exempt charitable organization that raises funds through individual, corporation and foundation support. We leverage each donation ten-fold by the hundreds of volunteer hours our coaches and program volunteers contribute.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Paul Pholeros: How to Reduce Poverty? Fix Homes



In 1985, architect Paul Pholeros was challenged by the director of an Aboriginal-controlled health service to "stop people getting sick" in a small indigenous community in south Australia. The key insights: think beyond medicine and fix the local environment. In this sparky, interactive talk, Pholeros describes projects undertaken by Healthabitat, the organization he now runs to help reduce poverty -- through practical design fixes -- in Australia and beyond.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

The Matt Garcia Home for Women and Children


  • Program supporting 12-18 months, completed November 2009 
  • 6,265 square foot building 
  • Housing for 63 residents 
  • Additional open spaces for family support 
  • Resident assistance residence 
  • Mixed dorm and private family rooms 
  • 2 large lounges for meeting rooms and relaxation 

The Matt Garcia Foundation:

Matt Garcia was a man with a vision. He was the youngest city councilman elected in the state of California in November 2007. Matt was a great young leader and inspiration to all who knew him. Matt was only 22 years old…but he lived more in those short years than many adults can even imagine. He led by inspiration, with integrity and ambition.

Matt’s dream involved supporting the youth and creating places for them to go and things for them to do; Changing a culture of violence and crime in the city through youth involvement. By uniting a community all people will have a sense of belonging and responsibility to the city of Fairfield. Matt’s life was cut short, but his legacy, work and heart live on.
 
The Matt Garcia Foundation was established to carry out Matt’s dream. We are dedicated to the work and efforts that Matt started and hope that we can inspire others to be the change in this world we live in, just as Matt inspired us.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

The Matt Garcia Learning Center School

 For More Information : Contact 707-424-9400
 
The Matt Garcia Learning Center is located on two campuses. The 2nd -5th grade Matt Garcia Learning Center is located at the H. Glenn Richardson Campus and is one of a group of specialty programs provided at that site. At this unique setting, students receive the needed supports and wrap around services which are integral to the students' specific needs. The 6th -12th grade Matt Garcia Learning Center is located in midtown Fairfield, California, at 1100 Civic Center Drive. It occupies the former FSUSD Adult School which closed in 2008 due to budget constraints and declining enrollment.
 
The school is named after Matt Garcia, a well respected Fairfield City Council member who was tragically gunned down in 2008. Matt was a product of the FSUSD schools and was a visible presence and powerful role model for many of Fairfield and Suisun’s school age students. The school opened on October 18, 2010 and draws students from throughout Fairfield and Suisun. Prospective students interview for acceptance through a variety of avenues including school, central office and parent referral, parent/student interest, social service referral and probation referrals. The majority of students referred and attending the Matt Garcia Learning Center has not been successful in the comprehensive setting for a variety of reasons including academic, attendance and behavioral issues. The school also receives students who have never attended a public school or who have only attended private or public Independent Study programs. The student population fluctuates between 125 and 165 students. We are staffed to increase our enrollment to accommodate approximately 180 students. Our sixth through eighth grade classes are self-contained and core classes are intended to not exceed 25 students. High School students have a five period day with each class lasting seventy-two minutes. Students at the high school level are on a variable credit system which is rigorously tied to key grade level standards. The variable credit system allows students to transition throughout the year, in order to continue to earn needed credits.
 
The school’s mission is to meet each student where they are, assess their needs and provide the resources needed to insure that each student has the ability to grow academically, socially and emotionally. The school’s vision includes providing wraparound support systems, to insure that students and families are provided with resources as issues arise.
 
The Matt Garcia Learning Center's May 23, 2012 WASC visitation resulted in the school receiving "Initial Accreditation" status. The Expected School wide Learning Results (ESSLRs) are focused on rigorous, scaffold expectations, personal responsibility and positive citizenship and technological awareness. The ESSLRs are posted throughout the school to insure that all students and stakeholders clearly understand the expectations. The Matt Garcia Learning Center staff is committed to providing a rigorous education to district students who thrive in a smaller setting. Additionally, the school is home to the Matt Garcia Foundation, a local non-profit organization focused on providing opportunities for at-risk students and their families.
 

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

It's Not About Time; It's About Learning: Fred Bramante at TEDxYouth@IFTA



School taught me that I wasn't very bright. Life taught me that school was wrong.

America's system of public education was never designed to educate every student. Every day, 7,000 students drop out of high school. This is a national tragedy that America pays for in crime, welfare, taxes, and heartbreak. Virtually everyone agrees that our schools need to be redesigned, but, into what? This TEDx talk will paint the picture of a new system of public education, one that is designed from the ground up to provide customized, competency-based learning opportunities for every child.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Karen Thompson Walker: What Fear Can Teach Us



Imagine you're a shipwrecked sailor adrift in the enormous Pacific. You can choose one of three directions and save yourself and your shipmates -- but each choice comes with a fearful consequence too. How do you choose? In telling the story of the whaleship Essex, novelist Karen Thompson Walker shows how fear propels imagination, as it forces us to imagine the possible futures and how to cope with them.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Ron Finley: A Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA



Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA -- in abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. Why? For fun, for defiance, for beauty and to offer some alternative to fast food in a community where "the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys."

Monday, June 3, 2013

Lisa Bu: How Books Can Open Your Mind



What happens when a dream you've held since childhood ... doesn't come true? As Lisa Bu adjusted to a new life in the United States, she turned to books to expand her mind and create a new path for herself. She shares her unique approach to reading in this lovely, personal talk about the magic of books.