Somerville-Bennett hired as THINK Together's IE General Manager

Lisa Somerville-Bennett is THINK Together's newest General Manager with responsibility for the organization's Inland Empire (IE) Region. Adriana Kingtson who previously managed the IE Region will move over to manage a new Southern California Region.

Born and raised in Southern California, Lisa has enjoyed more than 31 years in education.

Lisa began her teaching career in Lake Elsinore as one of the first female high school Vocational Agriculture Teachers and FFA Advisors in California. With extensive school and community support, Lisa was able to build an Agriculture Department and FFA chapter that became one of the top programs in Southern California, with her students earning recognition throughout the state.

After five years teaching high school, and looking for a change, Lisa began teaching Kindergarten in the Jurupa Unified School District. During her twelve years at JUSD, she taught a variety of grade levels, served on numerous site/district curriculum and leadership committees, and served as PTA President at Troth Street School.

While not originally planning to become an Administrator, Lisa was mentored and encouraged to do so. In 1997, after seventeen years of classroom teaching, she completed her Administrative coursework and was hired as an Assistant Principal in the Ontario-Montclair School District. In 1999, she was promoted to Principal and in total has 4 ½ years as an Elementary Principal, 6 years as a Middle School Principal, and one year as a Community Day School Principal under her belt. During her 13 years with OMSD, Lisa gained in-depth training and experience to effectively assist a very large population of English Learners, many coming from a low socio-economic background, to achieve at “opportunity gap” closing levels. Her middle school experiences included exiting the “SAIT” state monitoring process within two years; and in collaboration with her staff and West-Ed, developing an “Alternative Services Delivery Model” which provided full-inclusion in regular education classes for Resource and “Special Day Class” Special Education students. Her middle school ASDM became the template for Ontario-Montclair’s middle schools, was presented at LACOE in conjunction with West-Ed, and was featured in the “Special Edge,” a statewide newsletter which focuses on Special Education issues in California. As Principal of OMSD’s Community Day School, Lisa was able to hire and work with a staff totally dedicated to doing “whatever it takes” for the district’s most academically and behaviorally challenging middle school students. With a “no excuses, never give up” attitude, her proudest moments came when students who “wouldn’t do school” started to “do school” and were able to “earn” their way back to their home school, or begin 9th grade at their regular high school.

Lisa holds a B.S. and Master’s Degree in Agriculture Education, as well as Single Subject and Agriculture Specialist teaching credentials (earned at Cal Poly, Pomona); a Multiple Subject teaching credential; and also has her SB1969 certification. She completed her Tier I Administrative credential through Chapman University, and received her Tier II Professional Administrative credential through Cal State San Bernardino.

Hear how THINK Together helped this local family

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In this video, hear how THINK Together's early literacy program, carried out in partnership with the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) and the Children and Families Commission of Orange County, helped one local family.

Visit THINK Together's channel on YouTube.

Pio Pic Parents visit Santa Ana Library with THINK Together

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Nearly two dozen parents and 35 children visited the Santa Ana library with Pio Pico’s THINK Together  Community Outreach Coordinator Arianna Esparza. Parents are a part of THINK Together’s Early Literacy program where they rotate a book bag weekly and learn literacy techniques as part of the program. At the end of the school year, each parent will receive a blue book bag with 1 free book. Parents are encouraged to continue sharing the love of reading with their children by checking out books from the public library and using the blue book bag.

See other THINK Together photosets on Flickr

THINK Together & AmeriCorps: April 2011 Newsletter

Read about the meaningful impact THINK Together and AmeriCorps are having on several Southern California neighborhoods and communities. (April 2011 Newsletter) 

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See What These Kids & THINK Together did on Spring Break

Last week, THINK Together offered a full-day Spring Break program that served more than 5,000 Santa Ana students district-wide. Here's a slideshow with photos of the representatives activities in which students participated.

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THINK Together Completes Successful Santa Ana Spring Break Program

Post by
Randy Barth, THINK Together founder & CEO

Last week, our tireless staff ran a full-day Spring Break program district-wide that served more than 5,000 Santa Ana students. This created an opportunity for these students to have a fun-enriching week as well as the opportunity to participate in preparation for the upcoming California Standardized Tests (CST). This also created an opportunity for the parents of these 5,000 students to have a worry-free week of work while their children were out of school for the holiday.

Thanks to our Orange County General Manager Tia Dwyer, these students were able to receive both free breakfast and lunch each day. When it appeared that the district was not going to be able to provide free meals at the Spring Break program through its normal channels, Tia demonstrated her initiative and creativity to solve the problem. She connected us to another feeding program that she had heard about and we were able to work with the district to bring that opportunity to Santa Ana students.

As part of the Spring Break culmination activities, I visited the program at Thorpe Fundamental Elementary last Friday. That site served students from both Thorpe and Greeneville Fundamental. While at Thorpe, I got to enjoy a dance performance that was spearheaded by our enrichment partner Active Learning. The students had a great time and I want to congratulate our combined Thorpe/Greenville staff under the leadership of Donna Hinojasa and Elizabeth Thompson.

Finally, our I want to extend our congratulations to the entire OC Region for executing a very successful week of programming on top of your regular duties. Running full-day programs with no school support (administrators/office staff/cafeteria support) and feeding 5,000 students two meals a day (on top of your regular work) is no easy task. Congratulations on job well done!!!

See some representative photos of the week on Flickr.

THINK Together Students Participted in LA Marathon

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As part of the 2011 LA Marathon activities, students from the THINK Together program at Tracy Elementary (Baldwin Park, CA) participated in KidsMarathon.

In the weeks leading up to the LA Marathon, the Tracey Elementary students lopgged a total of 25 miles running on their own, then on race day they ran 1.2 miles along the LA Marathon route! All finishers received a T-shirt and medal!

Kids Marathon is an 8-week fitness education program that enables kids to complete a full marathon (26.2 miles) by running approximately 3 miles per week. Through the program, kids learn the value of exercise and nutrition habits for healthy living and, best of all, they have fun! The program is completed in grand fashion as each child finishes the final 1.5 miles of their marathon distance in front of hundreds (sometime thousands!) of cheering fans, friends, and family. KidsMarathon was founded by Rod Dixon, winner of the 1982 New York Marathon and Olympic distance runner.

See other THINK Together photosets on Flickr.

More on KidsMarathon.