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High School Seniors Can Win $1000

To affirm our commitment to the artistic talents of our state's students, the California Association of African-American Superintendents and Administrators (CAAASA) and the F3 Student AwardsTM (F3) program are partners in "Education for All," an annual photography contest that provides five student education awards of $1000 each to high school seniors.

Each year, students from across the state are invited to submit photographs that illustrate the theme of Diversity. Collaboration. Achievement. In addition to their photographs, student artists submitted a short essay explaining how their work illustrated the contest theme.

The purpose of this contest is to promote student achievement and public education's commitment to the arts as part of a comprehensive curriculum, as well as to assist public school graduates with the increasing costs of higher education.

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CAAASA’s ongoing program activities include:

• CAAASA Annual State Professional Development Summit: This statewide conference focuses on critical issues in educational policy. The event draws national leaders in educational equity (superintendents, district leaders, principals, teachers and more) to share ideas and experiences, and provide opportunities that will facilitate the implementation of strategies to empower African-American students to successfully matriculate through each level of their educational experience. This is event takes place annually in early March and alternates location between Sacramento and San Diego. CAAASA also hosts a one-day student summit, concurrent with the overall Summit, to connect African American youth with educational resources.

• Annual Education Round-Up: This event galvanizes superintendents, administrators, parents, educators, legislators, civil rights leaders, elected officials, and other community members to identify and address key state-wide education initiatives and/or concerns that impact African-American students. This event takes place in late summer in the greater Los Angeles area.

• CAAASA Health and Equity Leadership Institutes: Founded in partnership with The California Endowment, CAAASA brings together superintendents and other key district leaders from around the state to better understand how issues of student social-emotional and physical health can impact equitable learning.

• CAAASA Leadership Academy for Aspiring and New Superintendents: “Breaking The Glass Ceiling.”  This event, held five times a year, focuses on professional development, including strategies to support career advancement and equity for African American educators and educational leaders.

• California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) Professional Learning Community: The CCEE selected CAAASA to organize a Professional Learning Community (PLN) focused specifically on improving outcomes for African American students. The two-year project, which engages educational leaders in the study of best practices, is the only PLN statewide to focus exclusively on the experience of African American students.

• Social Justice and School Climate Technical Assistance Project: This project, developed with and supported by The California Endowment, works through County Offices of Education statewide to provide technical assistance and professional development training on equity interventions. The project also helps to support improvements to statewide educational policy through work with the California Department of Education and leading think tanks and non-profit organizations working on issues of educational equity.

• CAAASA Quarterly Meetings with State Superintendent of Public Instruction: Four times a year, CAAASA meets with California’s Superintendent and his staff, along with statewide educational organizations and legislators to facilitate discussions, status reports and plans for on-going initiatives.