Santa Maria-Bonita staff start school year with fun, food and camaraderie | Local News

The event marked the return of a long-lost tradition and brought together educators, administrators and staff for an afternoon of food, games and camaraderie, district spokeswoman Maggie White said.

More than 2,700 district employees were invited to the picnic-style event, which featured an assortment of free food and beverages, lawn games and a raffle prize drawing before school started Thursday.

The cheerful atmosphere was reminiscent of the all-employee picnics the district hosted more than 30 years ago – a tradition that faded as the district grew, White said.

Superintendent Dr. Darren McDuffie initiated the new event and hopes to make it an annual celebration.

“This event is really about celebrating,” McDuffie said. “It’s about our employees coming together, whether they’re teachers, janitors, teaching assistants or maintenance and operations staff. It’s really about coming together, eating and having a really good time.”

As staff members settled into blankets and lawn chairs and ate tri-tip sandwiches, carne asada burritos, and chicken and rice dishes, special education teacher Abigail Gomez of Tommie Kunst Junior High reflected on the significance of the event.

“It was very well organized and you can tell they put a lot of thought into how to make the teachers feel appreciated. It’s also great to see everyone from the different schools – it’s a nice start to the new year,” said Gomez.

During the event, a group of teachers asked McDuffie for a photo, expressing their appreciation for his leadership and commitment to the district. McDuffie used the opportunity to highlight the importance of nurturing local talent in the community, saying it’s wonderful to see teachers who grew up in the community return as educators.

“They (the group that asked for a photo) came out of our teacher training program and it’s really about developing our own teachers and getting teachers who have been part of this community, who have been part of our schools, to step up and really build a connection with our students,” McDuffie said.

Jessica Perez, a student teacher at Battles Elementary, said the lunch celebration was a great opportunity to get to know other educators and interact more with them. She was preparing to work with transitional kindergarten for the first time and expressed her excitement for the coming year.

“I’ve been working with the older students, so it’s a big adjustment to go from sixth grade down to preschool. I’m excited to see how I’ll work with the little ones, what they bring to school and how I can help them develop as individuals,” Perez said. “I’m here with my colleagues from the Cal Lutheran cohort and we’ll be the next student teachers to help our mentors.”

McDuffie emphasized the importance of community and cooperation within the district.

“Our strategic plan contains eleven beliefs, and one of those beliefs we will focus on this year is that a united community inspires hope and faith. I firmly believe that as a school district, if we work together, we can accomplish anything,” McDuffie said.

Ricardo Valencia, chairman of the board of SMBSD, also attended the event and praised the district staff for their efforts in organizing the celebration.

“This is a great way to start the school year. Relationships are the most important thing in education, and when our teachers have the opportunity to relax and get to know other colleagues, we know that benefits our students,” Valencia said. “I definitely want to give credit to our district staff because it was their vision that brought this idea to life. As a board member, I can’t take the credit for this – it’s a credit to the entire district staff.”