Local news in the classroom: Weekly roundup Aug. 22 – 27
As you are surely settling into your classrooms, we’re so glad you are a part of our growing educator group. Our educator alert is a weekly email alert designed for you – high school educators – where we handpick several stories that we think will resonate with you and your students – especially those that might spur discussion. These alerts also highlight different resources we offer, such as our upcoming journalism scholarship program, lesson plans and curriculum, in-class workshop options and more. We want to make using Lookout in your classroom easy! Please let us know how useful these are to you, and how best to tailor them.
Current events to use in your classroom
Here’s a roundup of recent articles you could use in your classroom. Explore the linked lesson plans below for simple ways to facilitate reflection on these local events. Interested in more stories? Browse all our recent coverage here.
LOCAL NEWS
Vote 2024: Your guide to the Santa Cruz County general election
By Max Chun
Get all the information you need on Santa Cruz County candidates, local measures and important election dates as we inch toward the general election on Nov. 5.
Carmageddon: FEMA pause not affecting current Santa Cruz transportation projects, but some caught in funding ‘limbo’
By Max Chun
Santa Cruz public works projects haven’t been affected so far by FEMA’s temporary pause on nonemergency disaster relief funding. However, some of the projects dealing with damage leftover from the 2023 winter storms are in limbo — including coastal armoring and a short segment of the Coastal Rail Trail.
Santa Cruz County school districts will ask voters to borrow millions for repairs, workforce housing
By Hillary Ojeda
On this November’s ballot, five school bond measures, totaling $525 million, propose making infrastructure repairs to roofs and athletic fields, modernizing classrooms, and in some cases, building rental apartments for staff and teachers. District leaders talked to Lookout about some of the major projects the bond measures, if approved, would fund.
Chris Clark appointed Santa Cruz County sheriff, praised as progressive
By Christopher Neely
In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors appointed Undersheriff Chris Clark to succeed retiring Sheriff Jim Hart in December. Clark will serve a rare four-year “interim” term without going to voters because of a recent statewide realignment in sheriff election cycles.
The UC forced strikes to end — but behind the scenes, it’s still waging war on student workers
By Rebecca Gross
The University of California system – and UC Santa Cruz in particular – is not treating its graduate student workers fairly and is committing illegal, anti-labor actions, writes UCSC graduate student worker and labor union organizer Rebecca Gross. Student workers across the 10 UC campuses are being punished, she writes, for the spring labor and Palestinian solidarity strikes that upended campus life. The student workers say they are seeing their pay docked and that they have received warning notices about their spring strike activities. Gross says UCSC has illegally attempted to fire four graduate student workers because of strike activities. […]
CALIFORNIA NEWS
Lawmakers say Newsom staff ‘inflated’ cost of failed health care bills
By Ryan Sabalow / CalMatters and Jocelyn Wiener / CalMatters
A trio of California Democratic lawmakers, including Santa Cruz Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, say they’re frustrated by high cost estimates that helped kill their health care legislation. Did the Newsom administration inflate the numbers to quietly kill the bills?
More California schools are banning smartphones, but kids keep bringing them
By Carolyn Jones / CalMatters and Khari Johnson / CalMatters
California schools that banned phones a few years ago have advice for other districts as Gov. Gavin Newsom calls for a crackdown.
EDUCATOR RESOURCES
Current Event Discussion Guide
- Our current event discussion guide is a great activity to engage with local news and can be used for any article. Below is the lesson plan and the bilingual guide.
- Current Event Discussion Guide Lesson Plan (PDF)
- Bilingual Current Event Discussion Guide (PDF)
Educator Page
- You can find more resources on our Educator Page, including a media literacy guide, specific new quizzes and more.
Reminder on student access
- If any of your students are having trouble with their free access, have them sign up for their free student access with their personal email address with this link.
Thank you for all the hard work you do in the community and for supporting our educational programs, helping the younger generations learn media literacy skills and become invested community members and democratic citizens. If you’d like to learn more about our school programs, get more involved or have any questions, please reach out to me jamie@lookoutlocal.com.
Best,
Jamie
