SS/HS Initiative
In September 2006, the Woodland Joint Unified School District was awarded a Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) grant award that addresses the concerns about the health and safety of all students. The 2009-10 school year was the final year of funding for the program.
The SS/HS grant activities focus on seven "elements":
- Safe School Environment
- Violence, Alcohol and other Drugs Prevention and Intervention
- Access to Mental Health Services for Students
- Early Childhood Social Emotional Learning
- Services that Support Families' Involvement in Schools
- Promotion of District Wide Safe School Policies
- Development and Strengthening of a Collaborative Partnership with the community.
SS/HS Staff:
- Project Director, Linda Gutierrez
- Administrative Secretary, Jenny Dahl
- SS/HS Nurse, Debi Sterling
- Attendance Liaisons, see "Attendance" section
- School Resource Officers from Woodland Police Department
- Probation Officer from Yolo County Probation
- Campus Security Supervisors
- Clinicians and Case Managers from Yolo Family Resource Center
Attendance and Truancy
The significant improvement in student attendance throughout WJUSD has been the one of the most dramatic success stories of the SS/HS project.
The Attendance Liaisons, with the assistance of the SS/HS Nurse, continue to decrease truancy and improve school attendance at all WJUSD sites.
- Patricia Barba works with the high schools
- Rosie Caraveo works with the middle schools
- Gricelda Cardenas works with the modified elementary schools
- Marisol Carbrera works with the traditional elementary schools
In the 2008-09 School Year:
►The WJUSD Attendance Liaisons worked with an average of 155 students each month and made, on average, 1,277 student/family contacts each month
►The Yolo County Deputy Probation Officers averaged 29 attendance or truancy related contacts each month
►The Woodland Police Department School Resource Officers averaged 51 truancy-related contacts each month
The Collaborative Partnership
In response to the many needs of local students' families, the Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative has developed a partnership of community agencies dedicated to finding and implementing innovative solutions to the challenges faced by WJUSD students. The SS/HS Collaborative Partnership includes local non-profit organizations, county health and mental health agencies, and local law enforcement and juvenile justice entities such as:
- Yolo County District Attorney
- Yolo County Probation
- Woodland Police Department
- Yolo Family Resource Center
- Creative School Resources and Research
- Yolo County Friday Night Live
The SS/HS Collaborative Partnership meets on a regular basis. Approximately 50 community members attend each meeting. Sustainability of the services provided by the SS/HS grant funding is an on-going topic of discussion.
Teen BE SMART Fact Sheets
Teen BE SMART Fact Sheets are created by Debi Sterling, RN, the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Nurse. The Teen BE SMART Fact Sheets promote health and safety.
- Volume 1, October 2008: Energy Drinks- English, Spanish
- Volume 2, January 2009: The Flu- English, Spanish
- Volume 3, February 2009: Binge Drinking- English, Spanish
- Volume 4, March 2009: Ecstasy- English, Spanish, Teacher's Edition
- Volume 5, April 2009: Marijuana- English, Spanish
- Volume 6, May/June 2009: Rx Drugs- English, Spanish
- Volume 7, Aug/Sept 2009: The Flu Update, H1N1- English, Spanish
- Volume 8, October 2009: Dating Violence- English, Spanish
- Volume 9, December 2009: Inhalants- English, Spanish
- Volume 10, February 2010: Sexting- English, Spanish
- Voume 11, May 2010: Hearing- English, Spanish
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Crystal Darkness
Methamphetamine ruins lives and communities—across o
Methamphetamine ruins lives and communities—across our country and in our backyards. Methamphetamine does not discriminate, touching males and females at every race, age and class. Many addicts are 12 or 13 years old when they try meth for the first time. Our own law enforcement statistics indicate that meth addiction is connected to more than half of all violent crimes in our area.
Crystal Darkness reached nearly three million people in our area. This campaign harnessed the power of broadcast and print media, government, treatment professionals, churches, and businesses in a cooperative, community-based way that had never been done here before. Our local television stations stepped up to do their part in this important campaign. Channels 3, 10, 13, 31, FOX 40, 58 agreed to donate airtime in the form of a broadcast “roadblock” to air Crystal Darkness, The program will aired on stations simultaneously at 6:30 p.m. on March 26, 2008. Following the broadcast, certified treatment professionals and volunteers manned a local Meth Hotline to provide advice and treatment referrals. The documentary explores the powerful testimonies of those who have personally waded through the dark depths of Meth addiction. With heart wrenching and raw honesty, they spoke with an unforgettable message of warning. If you are not yet aware of the seriousness of the meth problem in our own neighborhoods, then the images and stories shared in this film may have shocked you—but I believe they will also bring our community one step closer to solving this problem. Hotline volunteers and treatment professionals stepped as well.
- Over 150 volunteers gathered to answer the phones
- Over 1000 phone calls were received from18 counties across the state
- 260 individuals found help and, hopefully, a way to save themselves and their families.
