United Magazine

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backtoschoolA SPECIAL UNITED: ELECTION EDITION

northern CaLiForniaCOLUSA COUNTY • SUTTER COUNTY • YUBA COUNTY

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>>insiDe:exCLusive Four Page sPreaDCoLusa County suPerintenDent oF sChooLsCanDiDate Bios.........................P.4 - P7

uniteD exCLusiveFair Preview :2010 miss CoLusa CountyPuLL out Poster! CheCk it out!

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this months Contributors

Luis [email protected]

nikki [email protected]

kathy [email protected]

James [email protected]

united magazineby the Luis Barrer Design studio437 market street, suite 3Colusa, Ca 95932

[email protected]

Luis Barrera

SANKEY AUTOMOBILE CO.

Business: (530) 458-2125

“Located in the Heart of Downtown Colusa”

E-Mail: [email protected] Market Street • Colusa, CA 95932

Toll Free (800) 223-2081

this is what is all about!

For as much fun and creative things we do here in United Magazine, I’m

very pleased to present to you this may edition. we have the four candi-

dates hoping to be elected superintendent of Colusa County schools.

i enjoy bringing this kind of edition together because i hope not only it

informs our readers of who is who, but also helps them become better

educated voters. Colusa County has one of the highest high school drop

out rates in the state. we also have a high percentage of students who

do not seek higher education once completing high school. while there

are endless factors as to why these statics are what they are, we can start

improving these numbers by doing one simple thing: “get invoLveD”

whether you join the Pta or just by talking to your kids about their day at

school during dinner.

Another way to get involved is to know who is who at your kid’s school.

who is their math teacher? english teacher? and this June you can get

involved by helping elect their superintendent.

whoever of these four ladies may win this election is unknown, but

one thing is for sure, it’s going to be a rough road head and it’s a very

thankless job sometimes. with budget cuts to schools at an all time high

whoever takes the reins of our county’s schools they are going to have to

need a great sense of budgeting and administrative skills. they are also

going to need OUR HELP! We can’t only express our concerns when things

go south, we must also provide solutions and get ready to be part of a

solution. i truly admire all these four ladies for taking such a daunting

task and i wish them all four the best of luck this June and i hope the

voters of Colusa County make the best educated decision. Because after

all is not about who gets the popular vote. It’s about the education of our

kids who are the future workforce of our county.

Best whishes to all, and get out and vote!!

i71st Colusa County Fair

everyone’s a star

June 10th - 13th 2010

Colusa County Fair“Home oF tHe big wHeel”

General admission $8

Children admission $46 years to 12 years . Children under 5 FREE

Questions? Call the Fair office at 458-2641Four day season Pass $20 adults, $10 children.

Destruction Derby tickets can be purchased in advance for$10 for general seating and $15 for reserved seating.All pre-sale passes and tickets can be purchased at the fair office Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Carnival tickets can also be purchased at Savmor, Chung Sun Market, Davison Drug, and La Reyna Carniceria in Colusa; El Jalisience Restaurant or Corona's Video in Arbuckle; Fouch and Son Pharmacy in Williams.

look for the official Guide to

the fair delivered to homes

countywide on may 26

for more info.

Get more For your buCk!

Get the star treatment!

• Carnival Coupons: $15 and can be used for either a book of carnival tickets or Wristband for Pay One Price Carnival Days.

Pay One Price Carnival days

Wristbands & Booklets Available

Thursday, June 10 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. • Friday, June 11 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.Saturday, June 12 from noon to 3 p.m. • Sunday, June 13 from noon to 8 p.m.

www.colusacountyfair.comGet the latest news, look for the Colusa County Fair Guide on Facebook

ThE caNDIDaTEs ofCoLusa County

sPeCiaL series: leadership and vast knowledge of Colusa County schools is what in-cumbent Kay spurgeon is bringing to the table on June 8 as she seeks her fifth term as superintendent.spurgeon, 66, has served as Colusa County superintendent of schools for the past 15 years and says she has a clear understanding of what the coun-ty’s educational needs are.“California’s budget crisis is impact-ing school districts throughout the state and strong fiscal leadership is essential to insure that school districts maintain their financial viability in providing for the instructional needs of their students,” said Spurgeon.she said that only 6 percent of the Colusa County Office of Education’s budget is funded by state general fund while 94 percent is funded by state and federal restricted funds. Districts receive 80 to 85 percent for general funding, with 15 to 20 percent for re-stricted use.aside from K-12 education, she be-lieves in early childhood education and higher education, as well, and has been active in bringing in grants for

child development, and advocating for having community college classes and services return to Colusa County.“when the yuba Community College District closed the Colusa Center in 2003, it forced many of our students to travel outside of the area to receive college courses,” Spurgeon said. “while some students were able to commute outside the area to continue their education, others, without their own means of transportation, were forced to rely on other people for rides or simply had to postpone their education.”spurgeon has been working collab-oratively with woodland Community College staff to design multi-use fa-cilities through the yuba Community College District to build the Colusa

Outreach Center in Williams. Last month, spurgeon was informed that funding for purchase of the land for

the new County Office Education Center has been released by the state, and will be constructed adjacent to the Outreach Center.“the facility is being funded using State bond money,” she said. “If we don’t use the money then it will be al-located to some other school district elsewhere in the State.”Prior to becoming superintendent, spurgeon worked for the Colusa County Office of Education for ten years as deputy superintendent, di-rector of Children’s services, and cooperative director, serving as the administrator for child development, preventions programs, and for cate-gorical programs countywide. During this same time frame, she was elected president of the California Coopera-tive Director’s Association, leading the efforts for advocacy and coordi-nation of state and federal programs and organized three statewide confer-ences.spurgeon began teaching in the mid-1960s at arbuckle elementary school and has worked in the Colusa, max-well, Pierce and williams school districts and is knowledgeable about their instructional programs. She has also served as a member of the Colu-sa Unified School District Board of Trustee for four years.she has also served as past president of Capital service region County su-perintendents, past president of Colu-sa rotary, past president of soropti-mist international of Colusa County [siCC], president of the theta mu Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma So-ciety international [professional edu-cators] and past president, vice-presi-dent, and secretary of the beta sigma Phi, just to name a few.Spurgeon grew up in Arvin, Ca., near Bakersfield where she attended public schools and graduated in 1961. After high school, she attended Bakersfield College and then Fresno state where she received her bachelor’s degree. in 1965, she met her future husband, Eddie, and later moved to Colusa. To-gether, they raised four children: Kira, Erika, Theron and Tara.

exCLusive to uniteD

“California’s budget crisis is impacting school

districts throughout the state

and strong fiscal leadership is essential to insure that school

districts maintain their financial

viability in providing for the instructional

needs of their students”

“If we don’t use the money then it

will be allocated to some other school district elsewhere in

the State”FOR COLUSA COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

Kay Spurgeon

exCLusive to uniteD


sPeCiaL series:

FOR COLUSA COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

Becky Van Kleeck Poyner

a career in education that spans three de-cades is what becky Van Kleeck Poyner brings to the June 8, election as she makes her bid for Colusa County super-intendent of School.Poyner, 53, is the assistant principal of Maxwell Unified School District and has more than thirty years experience in edu-cation which includes working 11 years for the Colusa County Office of Educa-tion. She has a Master’s degree in Edu-cation leadership and administration that she received in 2009 from Chapman College.as assistant principal Poyner, is re-sponsible for completing the Federal and state Categorical Funding applica-tion for the school district. She is also responsible for supervising and evalu-ating both certified and classified staff, compiling and updating site and district plans, maintaining the school’s website and networking with law enforcement and other community agencies.if elected, she would like to create a better line of communication between the Colusa County Office of Education [CCoe] and each of the school districts that are located within the county.

“The State is facing some difficult finan-cial times and unfortunately things are probably going to get worse before they get better,” Poyner said. “Therefore, it is more crucial than ever that the county of-fice of education and the school districts work together to create a plan that will help to eliminate any unnecessary cuts by the State.” Poyner said if she is elected, she would like to pool county resources in an at-tempt to save money.“During these difficult times the county must use its resources wisely,” Poyner said. “One of my goals is to use educa-tors who are specialized in a particular area to help train newly hired staff. By having new staff trained in-house when it is possible, will save the district money because we are not having to send them outside the area to receive that training.”in a further attempt to save the county money, Poyner said that if elected said she would hold regular meetings with administrators from each school district in the county to work on budgetary mat-ters.“working on the budget process together with each school district creates a closer working relationship between the county office of education and the school dis-tricts, and that has been a problem in the past,” Poyner said. “As an administer myself, I can say first-hand that I would have appreciated working more closely

with the county office of education in the budget process.”the idea behind working together is to collaborate ideas and combine resources in an effort to better serve the needs of the students and staff.Prior to becoming an administrator at Maxwell Unified, Poyner worked as a resource specialist [special education] at river Valley High school in sutter County. Before working for Sutter Coun-ty, she worked as resource specialist for the Colusa County Office of Education from 1980 to 1991.Poyner said she is an avid supporter of higher education and encourages life-long learning from infant to adults.“the goal is to train our students to study better at a young age with the hopes that they will use those study habits later in life and become more successful adults,” Poyner said.she was born in Colusa and attended public schools. After high school, she attended California state university, Chico where she graduated in 3 _ years with both her bachelor of arts degree in liberal arts and her multiple subjects Credential [MSC].aside from having earned her bachelor’s degree and msC, she also has an admin-istrative services Credential, resource Specialist Certificate, English Learned Development Certificate and a Single Subject Certification in English.the candidate has 28 years experience in special education in several areas that include: teacher, resource specialist, Program specialist, workability Coor-dinator, Vocational specialist and inte-gration Specialist.Poyner has worked with students at all grade and age levels: Pre-school, Pri-mary, middle/Junior High, High school and Adult. She has also taught migrant children ages 2-6 at the migrant camp in Williams. There, she was responsible for daily routine and basic instruction in motor delelopment, self-concept, music, language, and academics.Poyner is a member of the national as-sociation of Professional women, Prin-cipal’s advisory Committee member [river Valley High,] and ela articula-tion Committee member for yuba City High School.some of her accomplishments include: Compiling the Colusa County workabil-ity Handbook which is used as a guide statewide, compiled the Crisis response box for river Valley High school, wasC Coordinator for river Valley High school and has written grants and annual reports for WorkAbility I.Poyner has been married to her husband, John, for 18 years and has one son and three step-children: nicholas, scott, Andy and Brian. Scott and Andy are California Highway Patrol officers, Bry-an works in construction, and nicholas works in agriculture.“Help me invest in kids this June and create a better learning experience for them,” said Poyner.

“The State is facing some difficult financial times and unfortunately things are probably going to get worse before they

get better”


sPeCiaL series:

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Colusa resident Jamie myers is one of three candidates vying for the seat of superintendent of Colusa County Schools in June.myers, 50, is an educator at burch-field Primary School in Colusa and has more than 20 years of experi-ence in education. She has a Masters degree in education administration and has experience in administration, curriculum development and imple-mentation, data analysis, mentoring begining teachers and intervention to improve student achievement.

“i believe that it is the responsibility of the Colusa County Offfice of education [CCoe] to serve and support all county school districts, educators and to pursue education opportunities for the entire county,” said Myers.if elected as superintedent, one of her goals is to develop a strategic plan of action that will support all Colusa County school districts. Myers said she would like to see a better line of communication between the county office of education and educators.

“administrators and educators must work together especially during these tough financial times,” Myers said. “California’s budget crisis isn’t go-ing to get better anytime soon, so the county office of education and each of the school districts within it must come up with a plan of action that will help our local schools to avoid potential budget cuts.”Prior to becoming an educator, myers was employed by the city of Colusa

for several years where she worked for the Parks and Recreation Depart-ment. She has a Bachelor’s degree in recreation administration from Cal-ifornia State University, Chico. She also received her multiple subjects and special education Credential at Chico and received her administra-tive Credential from Chapman uni-versity.myers has worked directly with the Sacramento Office of Education Staff Development Program and has received and completed four years of Coach’s institute training in lan-guage Arts. She has worked as the summer school principal for Colusa Unified for Pre-K to grade 12.aside from being an educator, my-ers also has partnered in several suc-cessful businesses in Colusa. She has been a past owner of Chef Colus, and current partner in messick’s ace Hardware and brady myers insur-ance Services, all in Colusa.myers has been married to her hus-band, brady, for 24 years and togeth-er they have one child, mattison, a freshmen at Colusa High School.myers has been heavily involved in the community serving 15 years for the city of Colusa recreation Com-mision [8 years chairperson,] mem-ber of the Colusa regional medical Center Foundation, board member of the Colusa athletic Foundation, past swim coach, 4-H leader, and Colusa Area Little League manager.


Jamie Myers

“I believe that it is the responsibility of the Colusa County Offfice of Educa-tion to serve and

support all county school districts, educators and to pursue education opportunities for the entire county”

“Administrators and educators must work together

especially during these tough

financial times”

note From PuBLisher:uniteD magazine is CommitteD to keePing the Community inFormeD anD uniteD.uniteD magazine Does not enDorse any PartiCuLar CanDiDate.aLL the inFormationon our “CanDiDates: sPeCiaL series” wasoBtain From eaCh CANdIdATES’ OWN PRESS reLeases, CamPaign managers or By sPeCiaL interviews ConDuCteD By uniteD magazine.

Julie struckmeyer, candidate for Colu-sa County superintendent of schools comes to the race with extensive ex-perience in administration and with a strong educational background and credentials. She believes her major strengths are the ability to develop re-lationships and to encourage collabo-ration and communication, skills that she states are essential for the position of Superintendent.

“Colusa County could build upon the foundation of the Chamber of Com-merce, county and city governments, school districts, county departments, churches, service groups, youth groups, and volunteer organizations that have been created. Networks could be strengthened and expanded to work together to accomplish the services and programs essential during these tight economic times,” she said. looking to the future of education in Colusa County, struckmeyer sees op-portunity for improvement. “We have opportunities to efficiently

expand programs already in place and to initiate new ones,” she said. “My de-sire and willingness to ask what school administrators, teachers, parents, staff, and students in Colusa County want and to enable the conversations to for-mulate action plans which create posi-tive changes.” Putting plans into action is what struckmeyer has been doing for the past 8 years while serving 5 years as principal of a K-6 school and then promoted to become Director of Ad-ministrative services overseeing 22 el-ementary schools in Rio Linda Unified School District. The jobs have pro-vided negotiation experience, district office responsibilities, and curriculum/technology updates in a “cutting edge” school district. For the past two years,

she has been the principal for Hillsdale K-6 school and the 7/8 westside Pre-paratory Charter school (whose aPis are 785 and 893 respectively). struckmeyer has had involvement in all age levels of the educational pro-cess. She was a professor of Child De-velopment at Oxnard College. She rep-resented the needs of college students in Colusa County on the yuba College Board from 1986-2000. she was instrumental in promoting change and developing new programs. “we created the Child Care resource and referral for riverside County of-fice of Education; I became the admin-istrator who was in charge of devel-opment of Head start/Preschool and Early Childhood Education. she has lived in Colusa County since marrying her husband, Joe, over 30 years ago. She has been involved in various community organizations such as Children’s Home society, Friends of the library, soroptimist, stagehands, and Omega Nu. Locally, during her tenure at the Colusa County Office of education, she guided the department in the creation of Child Care resource and Referral and began Head Start. struckmeyer then worked for two summers as williams summer school Principal and then arbuckle summer School Principal for 4 years. She then became Vice Principal of arbuckle el-ementary from 1998 to 2002. Believ-ing in the importance of educating the whole person, struckmeyer spearhead-ed the development of a rural model for Character education with arbuckle Elementary staff and parents. Her background in budgets and the business knowledge she gained while obtaining her mba qualify her to pro-vide the necessary leadership to our school districts during these most chal-lenging economic times. struckmeyer is adept and experienced at public speaking and can be counted on to represent the needs of Colusa County and to negotiate well on be-half of the schools’ interests. She has spoken at numerous senate hearings for child development, character edu-cation, and special programs. She has pursued her spanish speaking ability by taking yuba College’s intermediate spanish and completed a full-immer-sion course at CSU Chico. Julie struckmeyer has the most ad-ministrative experience as a principal plus having completed her doctorate, has the most academic preparation suggesting that she is right choice for change and for efficient, knowledge-able assistance to school districts!

“We have opportunities to efficiently expand programs already in place and to initiate

new ones”


Julie Struckmeyer“Networks could

be strengthened and expanded to work

together to accom-plish the services and programs es-

sential during these tight economic

times”

dON’T FORgET TO vOTE!tuesDay June 8th 2010

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sPeCiaL series:

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To schedule your beauty day call Martha or Dawn today!

Walk-ins Always Welcome!3720 Highway 45 • Colusa, CA 95932

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Monday-Friday 9am-5pmSaturday 9am-4pm

Bulletin BoardUNITEDMagazine

Save the date:The Colusa

County Fair!!Starts June 10 Save the date:

Virginia ReadMay 22th

this is your bulletin board! - Fill it up. sub-mit your photos and important community dates to [email protected] our bulletin board also gets blasted through our e-mailed data base twice a month! *our bulletin board space is limited and it’s available on a first come first served basis.

Vendors Needed!Colusa Farmers’ Market is getting ready for its - 2010 Market Season. Start-ing June 7th, @ the Colusa Business & Visitors Center 2963 Davison Ct. Colusa Industrial Prop. Off Hwy 20.Monday Evenings 5 pm. to 8 pm.Looking for Fresh Produce, Fresh Baked Goods, Dairy, Hand-Made Crafts, Plants, Fresh-cut Flowers, etc.Also, groups or organizations looking for Fund-raising events.

Please contact (530) 458-5525. or download an application @www.colusafarmersmarket.com

Save the date:Williams

Family RunMay 22th

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