Ava Salinas | Lead Educational Programs Fellow

Local news in the classroom: Nov. 11, 2026 Good afternoon, With the excitement of election season settling down and daylight saving time coming to an end, many of us are preparing to cozy up for the winter, or at least trying to. For some members of the community, however, the changing seasons bring additional concerns. […]

Local news in the classroom: Your weekly roundup Nov 4, 2026 Good afternoon, While the spookiness of Halloween might be behind us, the suspense of election season remains. Rather than highlighting one specific story in this week’s Educator Update, we’re featuring Lookout’s Election Central page, which offers a collection of local and statewide election coverage, […]

Before the weekend fun, this week’s Educator newsletter highlights a story that explores how UC Santa Cruz students get around, and how they might have some tough adjustments to make in a few months. The university’s five-year agreement with an e-bike rental company may be coming to a close, unless the university and company come to a new financial agreement.

The weather is cooling off after another brief heat spell, and there’s still more than a week left to figure out any last-minute Halloween costumes! The highlighted story in this week’s Educator Alert explores something that students may have personal experience with: bike safety and infrastructure (or a lack thereof) in Santa Cruz. A new study from a California-based law firm ranks Santa Cruz as No. 6 in a list of the most dangerous California cities for cyclists, and local active transportation advocates weigh in.

We hope the school year is going well! With important decisions ahead for the Pajaro Valley School District, this week’s Educator Alert takes a look at the two candidates for Area IV’s school board seat. The candidates offer different perspectives and experiences, as well as different priorities regarding school district improvements.

We hope you’re doing well with another round of heat this week. The heat rises in more ways than one as Santa Cruz’s mayoral race enters its last month, with certain claims about each candidate continuing to circulate. With each candidate denying the claim made about them, Lookout decided to take a closer look. This week’s Educator Update explores this closer look and example of professional fact-checking that students can model after.

Local news in the classroom: Your weekly roundup Sept. 30, 2026 Good afternoon, With UC Santa Cruz classes starting up this past Thursday, the city of Santa Cruz is feeling the hustle and bustle of new and excited students – including me! Hello again, Ava Salinas here, joining Lookout Santa Cruz as the Lead Educational […]

It’s hard to believe that we’re already at the last Educator Newsletter of the school year. At this time, I’d like to share some of Lookout’s educational highlights and projects from the past school year. 

Local news in the classroom: Weekly roundup 5/20/26 Good afternoon, Debates over representation and access unfold across Santa Cruz County this week, with today’s featured stories highlighting how local institutions are responding to community pressure. In Capitola, after allegations that the current at-large voting system weakens Latino voter representation, officials and residents are starting to […]