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 (EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—-RIVERSIDE, CA— On Monday, December 17, the NAACP Branch of Riverside will be swearing-in new officers. The ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. at Bordwell Park/Stratton Center located at 2008 Martin Luther King Blvd in Riverside.

Officers getting sworn in include: Dr. Regina Patton-Stell, President; Sharron Lewis-Campbell, 1^st Vice President; Natasha Ferguson, 2^nd Vice President; Mary Welch, 3^rd Vice President; Nina Moore-Hailiburton, secretary; Collen Hairston, assistant secretary; Charles Walker, treasurer; and Maudie Wilson, assistant treasurer.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—- SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools’ Expanded Learning program has been notified that it will continue to receive state and federal funding for the 2018-19 academic year.

The Expanded Learning program, which will receive a total of $304,500 between two grants, has been recognized as a statewide model for initiating training opportunities and increasing access to programs for schools and districts across the region. For the 2018-19 academic year, there were 266 after-school programs countywide, including five being implemented at the high school level in the Apple Valley and San Bernardino school districts.

“This funding makes a tremendous difference in assisting our schools and districts to provide high-quality, after-school, academic and educational opportunities for our students,” County Superintendent Ted Alejandre said.

Funding for the grant is split between support from the California Department of Education and the federal government.

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(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—-LOMA LINDA, CA— Loma Linda University Health’s fourth annual No Shave November fundraiser partnered with the San Bernardino Police Department and finished with over $8,000 donated to Loma Linda University Cancer Center.

The two organizations collaborated for the awareness month, during which male and female participants skipped shaving in order to raise awareness about cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Kerry Heinrich, JD, CEO of Loma Linda University Medical Center, said he is thankful for this partnership that has been established on behalf of patients. 

“I am grateful for the San Bernardino Police Department and their commitment to engaging in helping make the Loma Linda University Cancer Center an institution that is focused on research for a cure, and support for patients,” Heinrich said. 

For Captain Paul Williams of the San Bernardino Police Department, and his team, their motivation for participating in this annual fundraiser lies in their faith for generational impact.

“All of us have been touched at some point in our lives, by cancer,” Williams said. “What I’m hoping for — and what these officers are hoping for — is that the money they can help raise will help their kids and their grandkids.”

To close out the fundraiser, a celebratory event was held at Loma Linda University Health – San Bernardino Campus Friday, November 30. At the event, all participants were judged and awarded for everything from best beard to best attempt. 

After the program, two local barbershops offered free straight cut shaves on site to those men who had participated in the month-long awareness. The one female participant opted out of the service.

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EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—- SAN BERNARDINO, CA— The San Bernardino City Unified School District Board of Education honored 12 students with Outstanding Student Awards at the November 6, Board meeting. The San Bernardino Symphony also recognized students by providing them and their families with free symphony tickets.

Outstanding Student Award winners are recognized for achievement in academics, athletics, fine arts, citizenship, or for showing significant improvement in these areas. Students are awarded and inspired to have hope for their future by thinking about long-term educational and career goals.

Emmerton Elementary School Outstanding Students

Second-grader Diego Florido has already mastered all of the high frequency words, and he is eagerly expanding his vocabulary beyond that. He is always eager to take on new challenges. Right now, his goal is to play soccer and attend UCLA to study epidemiology.

Second-grader Emperor Martin has an amazing heart. He is kind and friendly with everyone. He is well-behaved, inquisitive, and enjoys a challenge, making him a model AVID scholar. Emperor’s long-term goal is to become a police officer.

Third-grader Matara Teava is a respectful and responsible student. She is doing well in reading, writing, and math, but math is her favorite subject. Matara wants to become a middle school teacher and a famous hula dancer.

Highland-Pacific Elementary School Outstanding Students

Fifth-grader Heaven Calaway is the type of student every teacher wishes for. She works hard, participates in classroom discussions by posing in-depth questions, and is an all-around great student. Heaven likes to help people, so she is thinking of becoming a doctor or owning her own bakery.

Third-grader Allysa Villarreal never hesitates to seek out information or help to overcome a challenge. She is a model for her classmates, not only academically, but because of her strong moral character and compassion. Allysa wants to attend college and write a mystery comic book.

Sixth-grader Achilles War Cry Hart Zavala is a true leader. He has a positive attitude, empathy for others, and good communication skills. He wants to study computer science and robotics at CSUSB and become a game designer.

Jones Elementary School Outstanding Students

Sixth-grader Kimberly Martinez is an English learner, but she hasn’t let that challenge stop her from serving three years on the student council and helping incoming students successfully transition into the Jones Elementary learning environment. Kimberly plans to study nursing at Valley College before transferring to UCLA.

Third-grader Khloe Mendez is an exemplary student who is dedicated to her studies. She is achieving at or above grade level in reading and math. Khloe wants to attend Harvard University and someday become a surgeon.

Third-grader Melanye Reyes is a great role model. She is respectful, responsible, and works hard. She is in the Dual Language program and is reading at a 4th-grade level. Melanye wants to become a biliterate teacher someday.

Muscoy Elementary School Outstanding Students

Sixth-grader Diana Moran is a pleasant and positive student. As a result of her hard work and growth mindset, she has made tremendous academic progress. She is advanced by two grade levels in reading. Diana wants to go to college and eventually work in a bank.

Fifth-grader Arianna Puga is always thinking of others. She helps out at school and she does it with a smile. She even helped launch a clothing drive for the needy. Arianna knows she wants to attend college, but she hasn’t decided which one yet.

First-grader Nigel Tamallo is a model citizen. He is an active listener and classroom participant. He struggled in kindergarten, but now he is working at grade level in all subjects. Nigel wants to become a firefighter.

Pacific High School Outstanding Students

Twelfth-grader Marissa Ocasio is a kind, giving person. She helps her classmates and volunteers regularly with the Tzu Chi food distribution program, all while taking A.P. courses. Marissa wants to major in psychology or sociology and become a high school counselor.

Ninth-grader Miranda Owen has a 4.0 GPA, ranks #3 on the school’s singles tennis team, and plans to try out for basketball and track and field. Miranda said she wants to attend college and search “the multiple opportunities available in the world.”

Eleventh-grader Joseph Pratt is known for his hard work, positive attitude, and kindness. He plays football on the varsity team and string bass in the City Honor Orchestra. Joseph plans to attend a university in California, but he hasn’t decided on a school or major yet.

San Gorgonio High’s starting linebacker to play prominent role in Friday’s semifinal game

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—-Heidi Gonzales will never forget the day her then 10-year-old son was told he couldn’t play football.

“They told us they had no use for him,” Gonzales said, referring to representatives for the local football league. “They said he was a liability because he was deaf. But Desi didn’t listen.”

Fast forward seven years.

Today, Desi Gonzales is starting linebacker for the San Gorgonio High School varsity football team, a position he earned with pure grit and the help of an American Sign Language interpreter who excitedly signs play to him from the sidelines.Born with congenital hearing loss, Desi, 17, attended California School for the Deaf, Riverside until earlier this year when he decided to transfer to his home high school for his junior and senior year.It was a difficult decision that worried his mom, who wondered whether her only child would adjust to life in the hearing world.

Desi has more than adjusted.

At San Gorgonio High, he’s thriving academically and he hasn’t looked back.

“He can’t hear, that’s it,” Gonzales said. “There’s nothing else that’s different about him.”

Desi is anything but ordinary.

In his 16 years as San Gorgonio’s athletic director, Matt Maeda has seen a handful of deaf athletes try their luck in sports like track and basketball. But none had the perseverance and athleticism that made Desi stand out.

“Nothing’s been given to Desi,” Maeda said. “He’s had to earn it by working hard, harder than most other kids.”

On Friday, when Heidi Gonzales watches her son and his team take on Anaheim’s Western High School at 7:30 p.m., on San Gorgonio High’s home field, she’ll be beaming with pride that her son didn’t listen.

Partnership addresses long-term healthcare needs of Coachella Valley

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—-RIVERSIDE,CA— The School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, and Eisenhower Health have formally established an affiliation for the joint training of future physicians to address the Coachella Valley’s medical workforce shortage.

Deborah Deas, the Mark and Pam Rubin Dean of the UCR medical school and chief executive officer of clinical affairs, and G. Aubrey Serfling, president and chief executive officer of Eisenhower Health, signed the affiliation agreement in an informal ceremony attended by leadership, faculty, and staff of both institutions in the Annenberg Health Sciences Building on the Eisenhower Health campus.

UCR Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox, who attended the event, described the new partnership as an investment in the long-term healthcare needs of the region.

“It’s about shared values, an improved quality of life in the Coachella Valley, and a world-class medical education — but it is also about a deeper vision,” he said. “The commitment is really a focus on the future, designed to serve upcoming generations, not only treat the patients of today. It is about helping to create a different Coachella Valley in 10, 20, 30 years from now, as these physicians become part of the environment here in the region.”

“With this affiliation, the future of health care in the Coachella Valley is moving forward,” Serfling said. “Establishing an affiliation with such a respected institution like UCR underscores our commitment to provide the very best care to our patients now and for years to come.”

Initially, the two institutions will partner to expand residency and fellowship training opportunities in the Coachella Valley. The UCR School of Medicine sponsors a variety of residency training and fellowship programs, including in psychiatry, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and cardiovascular medicine. Eisenhower Health currently offers residency training programs in family medicine and internal medicine, a fellowship in sports medicine and, beginning next July, a residency training program in emergency medicine.

Together, the two institutions will start additional graduate medical education programs. The strategy of expanding residency training in the Coachella Valley capitalizes on the primary driver of where physicians practice: where they complete their medical training.

This partnership “will allow us to be an example for other communities of similar demographics, communities that have so few physicians, of how we can come together to make something great,” Deas said. “We all share the common vision of providing the best quality care for the people of our communities. We will epitomize the African proverb, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ I’m sure we will go far together.”

“From the very start, our discussions were predicated upon the notion that this has to be a win-win situation for both institutions, and I believe we’ve achieved that,” said Dr. John Stansell, designated institutional officer of Eisenhower Health, who will work directly with Dr. Gerald A. Maguire, UCR’s associate dean for graduate medical education.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—- SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 1355 W. 21st Street, San Bernardino, CA, is pleased to announce and welcome the Reverend Godfrey R. Patterson as the church’s new senior pastor.  He was appointed by the Rt. Rev. Clement W. Fugh, Presiding Prelate of the 5th Episcopal District of the AME Church, at the 94th Session of the Southern California Conference on October 21, 2018. 

Rev. Patterson has more than 40 years of a successful pastoral experience where he has served congregations in Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, North Carolina, California and Kansas.   His most recent pastoral assignment was at St. Paul AME Church, Wichita, Kansas. 

A native of Chicago, IL, he graduated from Northside High School, attended and graduated from Lambuth College in Jackson, TN; after which he responded to the “call of Gospel ministry” and enrolled at the Howard University School of Religion.  At Howard, he distinguished himself as both a campus leader and community organizer, co-founding the Howard University Student Aid to Political Prisoners and becoming a coordinator with the Wilmington 10 Defense Committee.   He is also the founder of InFocus Ministries, an “evangelistic social gospel workshop” and has traveled extensively throughout the nation winning souls to Christ and organizing these converts to become agents of positive change in the black community.

His credits as an author include: The Ten Black Commandments (Principles of Survival); two books, The Autobiography of a Stranger; Just Trusting in God; and a screenplay, “Framed.”  He is currently working on his third book, Meditations from the Heart of a Stranger, as well as video project connected with his book, Just Trusting in God.  His personal motto is taken from the words of Hale, “I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  What I can do, I ought to do.  And what I ought to do, by the grace of
God, I will do.”

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—-SAN BERNARDINO, CA—The San Bernardino County Board of Education unanimously elected Hardy Brown II as president of the five-member governing body for one year during its monthly meeting on Monday, December 3.

Brown, who was just elected to a new term in November, represents Trustee Area D, which includes the districts of Rialto, San Bernardino and Snowline.

In addition to the presidency, Laura Mancha was elected vice president of the Board. Mancha represents Trustee Area C, which includes the school districts of Chaffey Joint Union, Chino Valley, Cucamonga, Fontana, Mountain View and portions of Ontario-Montclair. Board members are elected to four-year terms.

Prior to the meeting, Brown, along with newly elected Board members Ken Larson of Trustee Area A and Rita Fernandez-Loof of Trustee Area B, were sworn into office.

The Board establishes policy, adopts an annual budget, approves building plans and hears 

student expulsion, inter-district transfer and charter school appeals. The Board meets monthly, regularly the first Monday of the month.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—- SAN BERNARDINO, CA— Learning about African American History on Sunday, December 2, 2018 at the Center for Youth & Community Development was engaging for all Beautillion Knights and their support group. Dr. N. Lawson Bush, V, Professor of Educational Leadership and Administration and Pan African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles and the former director of the University California Irvine and Cal State Los Angeles Joint-Doctoral Program in Urban Educational Leadership spent time educating Social Lites, Inc.  Beautillion Knights on African American History.  

Alumni Beautillion Knights are encouraged to contact Mrs. Tina Darling or Mrs. Bettye Brewster before the end of December 2018.  All Alumni Knights are welcome to attend Sunday meetings with the 2018 Knights every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Center for Youth & Community Development (formerly Boys and Girls Club of San Bernardino) located at 1180 W. 9th Street in San Bernardino.

The Social Lites, Inc. 52nd Beautillion program will commence on March 30, 2019 at the National Orange Show of San Bernardino. 

For more information, please telephone chairperson, Mrs. Tina Darling at knight.beautillion@gmail.com or Ms. Joyce Smith, President at (909) 881-5841 or Ms. Bettye Brewster, Business Manager, (951) 204-0022.

The 10-year grant is a gift from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians

By Tess Eyrich

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—- RIVERSIDE, CA— Over the past 13 years, more than 500 Native American high school students from across the country have gotten a taste of college life courtesy of a one-of-a-kind summer experience held at the University of California, Riverside.

Known as the Gathering of the Tribes Summer Residential Program, the eight-day initiative is organized by UCR’s Native American Student Programs, or NASP. According to NASP Director Joshua Gonzales, between 30 and 50 students attend each year, with about 30 percent of them coming from out of state. With the exception of transportation to and from UCR, most costs associated with attending are covered by NASP.

Over the past 13 years, more than 500 Native American high school students from across the country have gotten a taste of college life courtesy of a one-of-a-kind summer experience held at the University of California, Riverside.

Known as the Gathering of the Tribes Summer Residential Program, the eight-day initiative is organized by UCR’s Native American Student Programs, or NASP. According to NASP Director Joshua Gonzales, between 30 and 50 students attend each year, with about 30 percent of them coming from out of state. With the exception of transportation to and from UCR, most costs associated with attending are covered by NASP.

The program was designed to help American Indian youth get acclimated to a university setting by living in on-campus residence halls and immersing themselves in a variety of academic, cultural, and personal development workshops. During their time at UCR, participants attend daily writing sessions geared toward responding to essay prompts on the University of California’s standard undergraduate application. They also hear from UCR-affiliated guest speakers — including faculty — and tour research hubs like the School of Medicine.

So far, Gonzales’s approach has been a fruitful one. A UCR alumnus, he first came to campus on a cross country/track and field scholarship. He was active as a student in the NASP office and became a program assistant there in 2005 — the same year the Gathering of the Tribes initiative was activated by former NASP Director Earl Dean Sisto. Since then, Gonzales said, 93 percent of the summer program’s participants have gone on to attend community colleges or four-year universities, with many later receiving master’s and doctoral degrees.

In recent years, the success of the initiative caught the attention of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, a federally recognized American Indian tribe located near the city of Highland, at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains. San Manuel Chairwoman Lynn Valbuena said San Manuel targets four key areas to support through charitable giving, with education-related causes comprising one of those areas.

“The tribe is aware that the number of Native American high school graduates across the country who go on to college is relatively small, and we intend to increase that number both regionally and nationally,” Valbuena said.

With addressing those concerns a top priority, in June the San Manuel Band of Missions Indians awarded $1.28 million to NASP. Gonzales said the grant is the largest NASP has received in its 38-year history. It will be used to support the office’s long-term goal of expanding efforts to reach college-going Native American students and better serve them as they earn their degrees. Over the next 10 years, the grant will fund:

• Hiring a full-time staffer to support Gonzales’s student and community outreach efforts, further develop NASP’s educational programming, and create a roadmap for a larger initiative called the Native Pathway to College Program.
• The continuation and growth of the Gathering of the Tribes Summer Residential Program.

A series of 40 academic scholarships — four per year, at $6,000 each — reserved primarily for Native American students in need.

Gonzales, who serves as NASP’s sole permanent, full-time staffer, likened the grant to a life-giving element.

“Our office is like a plant; if you give us enough resources, like sunlight and water, we’ll be able to grow and flourish,” he said. The addition of a second full-time staffer, in particular, he said, will allow NASP to dedicate as many of its resources to student retention as it currently does to recruitment.

He also plans to devise new means of drawing applicants to the Gathering of the Tribes Summer Residential Program and tracking and building relationships with students who have attended in the past. By doing so, NASP hopes to play an integral role in guiding students through the more challenging aspects of tasks like choosing a university, applying for financial aid, and selecting a course of study.

“Here at UCR, we’re surrounded by more than 30 different tribes in the Southern California region, and many indigenous peoples who are affiliated with tribes throughout North America,” Gonzales said. “There’s so much potential to reach more American Indian students in this region — so much opportunity we look forward to developing.”