Los Gatos High School administrator presents at international conference
Los Gatos High School Assistant Principal Kristi Grasty presented her doctoral research at the 13th International Conference on Food Studies at the University of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico in October.
A presenter and panelist, Grasty’s leadership in Food Studies also led to the district’s state-wide 2023 Golden Bell Award, “Edible Learning: Transforming School Cafeterias into Wellness Communities.”
Grasty’s conference presentation, titled “Edible Learning,” focused on her doctoral research that highlighted school food service practices and types of experiential education that promote better nutritional health for youth. Through documenting the work of the Los Gatos High School cafeteria through film, Grasty researched the strategies used in school nutrition programs and nutrition-related education, spotlighting practices that could be positively replicated.
“Kristi’s expertise and passion for food studies has given the transformation of our cafeterias such incredible momentum,” Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District Superintendent Bill W. Sanderson said. “We are so fortunate to have such remarkable administrators who support our dedicated staff and talented students day in and day out.”
The district was awarded the 2023 California School Boards Association Golden Bell Award in November for its food service program transformation spearheaded by Grasty in 2019. Serving more than 1,000 meals a day, both schools’ breakfasts and lunches are created entirely from scratch, ditching the traditional method of heat-and-serve. Because fresh ingredients are more cost-effective than their frozen counterparts, the district also went from spending 55% of its cafeteria budget on food to spending 33% in the 2022-2023 school year.
Grasty anticipates that her documentary film will be publicly shown later this year.
Valley Water board appoints Hsueh as 2024 chair
The Valley Water Board of Directors on Jan. 9 elected Nai Hsueh, District 5 representative, as board chair for 2024. Richard Santos, representing District 3, was elected vice chair.
The board vote launches Hsueh’s third tenure as chair. Hsueh served as board chair in 2013 and 2020.
Hsueh, a registered civil engineer in California, worked at Valley Water for three decades.
“We are here to do good things for the community,” Hsueh said. “I see the role of the chair not as a person with more authority than other board members, but as the coordinator and doer for the board, working with everybody to make sure things happen. With a functional board, we will continue to be a high-performing organization, which will benefit the community.”
Hsueh was first elected to the Valley Water Board of Directors in November 2012 to represent District 5, which includes the cities of Cupertino, Saratoga, areas of Sunnyvale and southwest San Jose.
Hsueh was re-elected in 2016 and 2020.
Santos is embarking on his fourth tenure as vice chair, previously serving in 2004, 2009 and
2017. Santos, a retired firefighter and native of Alviso, represents District 3, which includes Alviso, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Milpitas and Berryessa/Alum Rock.
Immediately following the handing over of the gavel, board members praised outgoing chairperson John L. Varela for his leadership as chair pro tem in 2022 and chair in 2023. Varela’s service was highlighted with a video featuring some of the agency’s achievements during his tenure as board chair.
Berta named president of the Santa Clara County Board of Education
The Santa Clara County Board of Education (SCCBOE) elected its officers for 2024 on Jan. 10. Trustee Maimona Afzal Berta, elected to the board in 2022, was named president, and Trustee Don Rocha was named vice president.
Berta received the gavel from Trustee Victoria Chon. Prior to her election to the SCCBOE, Berta was an educator in the Alum Rock School District and a board member in the Franklin-McKinley School District. Her trustee area, Area 6, covers the following areas: Alum Rock Union, Mt. Pleasant Elementary, Franklin-McKinley School districts, and a small portion of Evergreen School District, as well as a corresponding portion of East Side Union High School District and a small portion of San Jose Unified.
Her term expires in 2026.
Rocha represents trustee Area 3 which includes the Cambrian, Campbell Union, Luther Burbank, Moreland, Union and Campbell Union High School districts and a small portion of San Jose Unified and Santa Clara Unified school districts. He has served on the Joint Legislative Advisory Committee. His term expires in 2024.
The Santa Clara County Board of Education has seven members. In addition to newly elected President Berta and Vice President Rocha, the current members of the County Board of Education are Victoria Chon (Area 5), Joseph Di Salvo (Area 4), Raeena Lari (Area 7), Grace H. Mah (Area 1) and Tara Sreekrishnan (Area 2).
