
MAY | 2020 California Lutheran University’s School of Management is happy to share a selection of exciting news, updates and upcoming events to our communities in Southern California and beyond. Please reach out to us if you are interested in…

In response to the growing need for emotional and practical support related to COVID-19 in the Greater Santa Barbara area, HSB now offers a comprehensive resource page called “Coping With COVID-19.” It includes videos and articles by our Community Education staff of dedicated experts, therapists and clergy. Topics include relevant issues we are all facing during the global pandemic. The Coping with COVID-19 Series is comprised of fresh original content. It addresses the many emotional and practical day-to-day challenges coronavirus is having on all of us including schedules, finances, the lives of our children and family, our plans our control over situations.

This year on May 31, World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is, calling for a 24-hour abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption. Ventura County Public Health (VCPH) is asking the community to join the effort to go tobacco free by sharing the smoke-free message with friends, family, classmates, co-workers and community members.

SMHS Business Economics students know more than a thing or two when it comes to the Stock Market.
Three Saint Teams placed in the top one percent out of 931 teams in the Los Angeles Region’s 10-week simulation entitled the “Stock Market Game”. The teams of two each received a “virtual” $100,000 to invest in the stock market. Teams strategized and researched companies before they selected their investments and real time trades were made.

A quest speaker from the Bill Gates Foundation Zoomed into the hearts and minds of about two-dozen Righetti High School History buffs this month.
Students from Mr. Curt Greeley’s Modern World History class participated in the foundation’s “Big History Project”. Afterward, the guest speaker, Bob Regan, donated a $50 gift certificate from Giovanni’s Pizza to each student.

Several members of the Pioneer Valley High School GSA Club recently shared messages about identity, family, peer pressure, healthy relationships and other issues on a weekly CAPSLO podcast called Teen Monologues.
Teen performers write the show. New trailers will be released each Friday. It is available at https://capslo.org/teen-monologues/

Yesterday, in response to Governor Newsom’s announcement, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department issued a revised Health Officer Order which provides updated guidance for places of worship and providers of religious services and cultural ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, hair salons, and barbershops.The Order states that:

Ventura County Public Health (VCPH) today released a revised protocol regarding vehicle celebrations for graduations and other special observances. The protocol has been modified to allow graduates to briefly exit their vehicles on a timed schedule to receive their diplomas. Diplomas may be distributed using a no-contact pick-up method, maintaining physical distancing of six feet or greater. The protocol allows school personnel to take photos of graduates outside of their vehicles. Family members will be permitted to take photos from inside their vehicles.

Approximately 60 SMJUHSD seniors are answering the call of military service and will join the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines after graduation.
Recruiters and staff will honor them in a special drive-thru ceremony from 6 to 7 p.m. tonight at Righetti High School’s bus loading zone. They will receive stoles from their recruiters to wear over their gowns. Social distancing will be the top mission.

Residents who visit Ventura County Harbor Department-managed beaches and parks will have improved recreational opportunities and be able sit and lounge while practicing social distancing guidelines.
Harbor Department Director Mark Sandoval said the County is pleased to ease some of the soft closure restrictions –limiting beach and park access to physical activity – put in place in April 2020. The soft closure restrictions will be removed at Kiddie, Silver Strand, and Hollywood beaches and at the Harbor parks, including Peninsula and Harbor View.

The list of dance scholars asked to speak as part of the Christena Lindborg Schlundt Lecture Series in Dance Studies reads like a Who’s Who in American Dance Research.
Now taking the lecture stage (virtually) on May 29 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. are CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Assistant Professor of Performing Arts/Dance Heather Castillo and Dance Lecturer MiRi Park.
“We were shocked and honored,” Castillo said. “Once a year they invite a guest lecturer, and this year, MiRi and I will be discussing our virtual experiences with dance education.”

Resources
COVID-19 Testing: Information is attached and included at www.vcemergency.com.
Food: http://foodshare.com/covid19/
Senior Services: https://www.vcaaa.org/covid-19/
Unemployment assistance: https://www.vcemergency.com/resources
Business resources: https://edcollaborative.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/EDC-COVID19-BUSINESS-RESOURCE-GUIDE.pdf
Wellness: https://www.wellnesseveryday.org/coping-during-coronavirus
Coping with stress: https://habits.vcbh.org/
Support resources: https://www.ventura.org/departments/hsa/community-events/coronavirus-remote-resources/remote-resources-during-coronavirus/
Frequently asked questions about the Stay Well VC Order:https://www.vcemergency.com/staywellvc/faqs-general

As America battles COVID-19, low-income individuals, families, seniors and those with special needs – people considered our most vulnerable citizens – are bearing the brunt of the ensuing economic fallout. The trickle-down effect of unemployment, standing at more than 14.7 % or 36.5 million workers applying for unemployment benefits over the last two months, directly impacts tenants who can’t pay full rent and landlords, many of which have mortgages on their rental properties. This negative trend is hitting home right now in Santa Barbara and elsewhere.

The Governor announced today that hair salons and barbershops in most California counties can reopen as the state moves forward on the path to reopening. The County of Ventura was approved for a state variance last week allowing the County to move faster through California’s reopening phases. This allows for local hair salons and barbershops to reopen.

When CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) went virtual in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nursing program had one of the biggest challenges on campus. The faculty needed to create virtual clinical labs for its students.
“Nursing programs require a certain number of hours of clinical experience in order to meet state requirements,” said Associate Professor of Nursing Jaime Hannans, Ph.D., R.N., C.N.E. “We have clinical courses in which students engage in patient-to-student experiences at a hospital, or other healthcare facility. We had to rethink how to deliver hand-on educational experiences virtually.”

Righetti High School’s Kai Karamitsos has been awarded the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table Male Scholar Athlete of the Year Scholarship.
Karamitsos, who was on the swim team and played water polo, will receive the $1,000 scholarship at Supervisor Steve Lavagnino’s office on May 26. Karamitsos has a 4.71 GPA and will major in environmental science at US Santa Barbara next year. His class rank is 2/512.

As we wage war against COVID-19, which is causing us to make major changes to our way of life, it is important to continue time honored traditions that give us purpose along with a sense of normalcy during these challenging times. While we’ve temporarily given up certain freedoms in order to protect our health and that of others, we mustn’t forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives during times our country was engaged in war on foreign soil. This year, as in years past, Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation (PCVF) is pleased to present the 2020 Memorial Day community event. What’s special about this year’s program is that residents in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties have an opportunity to gather together remotely to view a televised broadcast in the safety and comfort of their homes. Thanks to KEYT, our local ABC affiliate, the program will air at 4 PM on Monday, May 25th. You can also watch the program after the broadcast, once it’s posted to the Foundation’s website, by going to PCVF.org.

“We were stationed off the coast of Vietnam. When we got the command from up top we would bomb the mainland” those are precisely the only two sentences that my late brother Sergio ever spoke to me about his protracted stint in the Navy during the deadly Viet Nam war years of circa 1968-1971 where he was stationed secretly out there somewhere in the vast Pacific Ocean. I never pushed my older brother for more details. I could tell from that one short abrupt conversation that I had with him shortly after he was honorable discharged from his military service that it was a history that that he would discuss with no one. He made good on his word! Just this past week my dear brother past away and with him his memories, secrets, nightmares and ruminations about the war in Viet Nam that he participated in are gone with him forever!

The Ventura County Office of Emergency Services, and the California Departments of Food and Agriculture, and Pesticide Regulations together have provided over 700,000 facemasks to help provide protection to farmworkers and other agricultural operations. The Agricultural Commissioner’s Office has been reaching out to growers, farm labor contractors, packer/shippers and pest control businesses to make arrangement to distribute masks from the Commissioner’s offices in Camarillo and Santa Paula.

As California lawmakers consider difficult cuts to address the $54 billion budget deficit resulting from the coronavirus, Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara)’s Senate Bill 956 to bring oversight and accountability to billions of dollars in certain corporate and other tax breaks passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee today on a 4 to 2 vote.

Every case of COVID-19 is the result of someone having been exposed to the coronavirus. Here in California, as elsewhere, different people experience different exposures to the virus. Some individuals and families—those with work that can be done remotely, robust health insurance, and relatively easy access to a physician—have been able to reduce their coronavirus exposure by sheltering at home for the past eight weeks.

A California law requires that companies with five or more employees provide two hours of supervisory training and one hour of staff training every two years on harassment, discrimination, bullying and retaliation. With employees now working remotely, arranging in-person training in the workplace is not feasible. Employment law firm LightGabler offers an online training video course as an alternative solution that meets California harassment and bullying training requirements.

The Pioneer Valley High School Senior Awards Night will be a virtual experience on the school website at 6 p.m. May 26.
Panther staff, club advisors, counselors, and school administrators inside the Performing Arts Center recorded the event. A digital copy of the awards program is also available for downloading as a keepsake memory, according to Assistant Principal Greg Dickinson.

The Board of the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round-table will award scholarships to two Pioneer Valley High School athletes at Supervisor Steve Lavagnino’s office on May 26.
Lauren Carandang earned the Female Athlete of the Year Scholarship ($1,000) and Christian Morin nailed down the Joni Gray “Heart and Soul” Scholarship ($1,500). Carandang ran track and X-country. Morin played football, basketball and baseball.

We are summoned to “fly with the eagles” or “watch like a hawk,” but few of us have ever heard of a “towhee” (pronounced “toe-hee”), although the California variety is prevalent throughout the west coast, from the very northern part of California to the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. We’ll never hear anyone urge us to “be a towhee,” nor to act like one.

About 150 Kermit McKenzie Intermediate School students will take their GUSD educational careers to the next level after they are promoted to high school on Tuesday, June 2.
There will be no physical graduation. Instead, a graduation video will include pictures of students and activities as well as encouraging words from current and former teachers. This video will be shared via email, ParentSquare, Social Media, and the school website.

I am very pleased to announce the State Department of Public Health approved Santa Barbara County’s attestation to move further into Stage 2, which allows in-dining restaurants and retail stores to open as long as they follow safety guidance provided by the state and complete a self-certification of safe practices. The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department issued this Health Officer Order, which provides local guidance.

Two Santa Maria public high schools will celebrate academic excellence during separate drive-thru events today (Thursday, May 21).
Righetti High School’s senior awards are scheduled to be given out from 10 a.m. to noon in the bus-loading zone. About 190 students are involved, according to Daniel Solis, College and Career Specialist.

The partners in an initiative to cut air pollution and protect endangered whales announced results from the 2019 program and recognized the 15 shipping companies that participated, reducing speeds to 10 knots or less in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Santa Barbara Channel region. The voluntary incentive program ran May 15, 2019 through November 15, 2019. Partners hope to further recognize the companies at a ceremony at the Port of Hueneme later this year, depending on public health guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

In partnership with America’s Jobs Center, the Human Services Agency is offering supportive services funds for individuals up to $800 if your hours have been reduced or eliminated due to the economic impact of covid-19. Additional eligibility requirements apply. Priority will be given to English language learners, low income individuals and those with barriers to employment.
Please see flyer below for more detail or call 805.204.5186 for more information. Due to a high volume of calls, please allow up to 48 hours for staff to contact you.

We have 12 more days for the Rapid Response Homeless Care Kits drive!
We need 250 more care kits to reach our goal!
Join United Way of Ventura County in honoring the homeless veterans in Ventura County this Memorial Day by joining our COVID-19 Rapid Response Homeless Care Kits campaign, which aims to provide essential hygiene supplies for our unsheltered veterans and individuals. These vital kits will be distributed by our county’s Healthcare for the Homeless Backpack Medicine team.

The PACC has been home to graduations of all kinds – Middle and High schools, Fire and Police Departments, and more – since we opened in 1968. We understand how difficult this year is for all the hardworking graduates who are missing out on their formal ceremonies. We’re here for you!
Come capture your special moment in the spotlight at The PACC and get a chance to win the ultimate GRADUATION PARTY for you and 100 of your friends. We’re able to host this contest thanks to our new partnership with Party Starz who will provide all the decor, food, and DJ, while we provide the venue!

Harnessing the power of partnership, Department of Navy’s workforce “super-connector” NavalX announced an expansion of its Tech Bridge initiative to Ventura County. Joining five other new Tech Bridge locations around the nation, the Ventura location will be housed at the Port of Hueneme.
“I applaud our Federal partners for joining with us and the innovative ecosystem taking shape here in Ventura County,” said Oxnard Harbor District Board President Jess Ramirez. “This new designation will bolster the abilities of our community to develop cutting-edge technology right here at the Port.”

Ventura County has moved into Phase 2 of California’s reopening plan. Businesses that have been identified as eligible to reopen, must meet county and state health and safety compliance protocols.
At this time, we encourage all retail and restaurants that are interested in moving towards in store shopping and dine in service to read the safety protocols and compliance measures necessary to do so. Be prepared to reopen.

Santa Barbara City College has been selected to participate in a pilot project through a partnership with the California Department of Social Services, the Foundation for California Community Colleges and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to provide free immigration legal services. Through this partnership, The United Farm Workers (UFW) Foundation was selected to provide immigration legal services at SBCC starting May 2020. Over the course of the next year and a half the Community College Immigration Legal Services Project will provide free immigration legal services, including education and outreach services, to students, staff and faculty on California community college campuses statewide.