Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the amount of a grant to Grover Heights Elementary School. The grant from the Stuart Foundation was for $240,000, not $24,000.
The Lucia Mar Unified School District earns a try-try-again bouquet for finding a way to fund a teacher training and incentive program — called TAP — at Grover Heights Elementary.
A majority of teachers at Grover Heights voted in favor of the program, as did teachers at Mesa and Judkins middle schools and Dorothea Lange, Fairgrove, Nipomo and Oceano elementary schools. However, federal funding would cover only six schools.
Undaunted, the Lucia Mar district searched for an alternative source of funding for Grover Heights, and managed to secure a one-year, $240,000 grant from the Stuart Foundation in San Francisco. The district will be able to apply to renew the grant in future years.
That’s a great lesson in perseverance.
Here at The Tribune, we "heart" brickbatting knee-jerk decisions. So when we learned that Cal Poly would not allow a sexual assault prevention group to sell T-shirts bearing the slogan, “I "heart" consensual sex,” we were tempted to lob a few hard-hearted brickbats at Poly administrators.
Here’s the problem: The T-shirts — which bore the name of Cal Poly on the back — violated a university licensing policy that excludes “sexually suggestive products or language.” Poly officials said the group would either have to remove the Poly name from the back of the shirts, or change the saying on the front.
OK, maybe a T-shirt proclaiming “I "heart" consensual sex” is a little racy. But we wholeheartedly agree that it’s also a clever, low-key way to encourage student discussions about sexual behavior and the prevention of sexual assaults.
Cal Poly officials eventually came around to that way of thinking, too — after students submitted petitions with 1,000 signatures and parents telephoned administrators to support the T-shirt campaign.
The T-shirts were granted an exemption — prompting us to pack up our brickbats and replace them with an about-face bouquet for Poly administrators who had the grace to reconsider.
We toss bon voyage bouquets to the two Cuesta College vocal groups that will tour Europe this spring and summer.
Between them, the groups raised more than $70,000 to finance their trips — no easy feat in today’s tough economy.
The trip has been an especially long time in coming for Cuesta’s North County Chorus, which leaves in May for Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Irish tour was originally scheduled for last year, but was delayed after a volcano erupted in Iceland, releasing a cloud of ash that grounded flights throughout much of Northern Europe.
Another vocal group, the Cuesta College Chamber Singers and their vocal jazz ensemble, Voce, will tour France, Italy and Austria in July.
These good will tours are not only great experiences for students, they also provide terrific exposure for Cuesta College and San Luis Obispo County. A big round of applause to both groups.
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