The San Joaquin County Office of Education's Educational Foundation was founded in 1995 to help provide children with additional educational opportunities. The Foundation's goal is to raise funds from businesses, individuals, and civic organizations to support student-centered programs--programs which help students to enhance self esteem, achieve academic excellence, and learn teamwork and good citizenship. These programs have the added benefit of increasing community input to, involvement with, and support of public education.

What It Takes:
It seems pretty obvious that everyone shares the important role of helping parents give every child who is willing and able to learn the chance to get the academic, moral, and sometimes spiritual guidance these children need to prepare themselves for the nettlesome perplexities and demands of our time.

The Purpose:
While searching to do its part in providing our children with additional educational opportunities, the San Joaquin County Office of Education founded an educational foundation in January of 1995. County Schools Superintendent Fredrick A. Wentworth stated at the time, “The purpose of our education foundation is to link public schools with businesses, individuals, and civic organizations in student-centered programs which increase self-esteem, achieve academic excellence, teamwork, and good citizenship, and increase community input for, involvement with, and support of public education.”

The Activities:
Under the umbrella of the SJCOE Educational Foundation, student programs like Academic Decathlon, Academic Pentathlon, Mock Trial, Honor Band, Choir, and Orchestra, Starlab, Science Olympiad, Science Fair, Spelling Bee, and Science Camp are receiving foundation funding with the single focus of upgrading these programs to be shining models which attract children from throughout the county to them. By invigorating these student-centered activities with cultural richness and high interest, the Office of Education has provided area students with opportunities to work to their potentials by showcasing their talents in special scholastic and hands-on, activity-type areas.

The Goals:
The SJCOE Educational Foundation’s follows these stated goals carefully:

• to generate support for diverse programs that encourage students to become involved in positive activities at school and within the larger community;
• to identify and develop programs and activities that appeal to the unique interests of the diverse student populations in our community
• to provide opportunities for students to participate in activities that will enhance their personal growth and sense of self-worth;
• to support programs and activities that strengthen the relationships between the school and the community in meeting the needs of youth.

The Needs Validated:
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, student dropout rates in San Joaquin County hovered around double-digit figures, and studies determined that children growing up in San Joaquin County were at severe risk for drug use and involvement in crime. Additonally, a large percentage of the county’s population is socio-economically depressed. But much of current research suggests that busy hands and minds are generally too tired and involved to get into serious trouble or drop out of school, and the rate declined considerably by the mid-to-late 1990s, we believe, because of programs like those sponsored by the San Joaquin County Office of Education Educational Foundation. Furthermore, survey after survey, including the federal government’s Scans Report, stresses the need for young people to work on “presentation” skills which emphasize students working under pressure and often before audiences and judges. Thus it is that the Office of Education recognizes the many and valuable advantages of student competitions, activities, performances, and events which avail students the opportunities to achieve academically, enhance their aesthetic appreciation for the arts, and keep them on track.