A ceremonial ground breaking for the new Central Coast New Tech High School was held Thursday. Pictured, left to right: Vern Dahl, board member for the Lucia Mar Unified School District, PG&E's Ezra Garrett and Chris Johns, and Beth Curran and Dawn Hinchman, representing the school district.
By Tracy Correa
NIPOMO – Central Coast New Tech High School will welcome its inaugural class of 150 students this fall — and those students will have a special place to study, the PG&E Center for Learning.
The new public high school in the Lucia Mar Unified School District in San Luis Obispo County will focus on high-tech learning. And PG&E – which contributed $250,000 to help build the school – will have a permanent place at Central Coast New Tech High School.
PG&E and school district officials were on hand Thursday (Jan. 26) — along with local elected officials and dignitaries — for the school’s dedication and groundbreaking ceremony at the site located just south of Nipomo High School. During the event, PG&E President Chris Johns presented district leaders with an oversized check representing the utility’s donation.
In front of a crowd of nearly 200, Jim Hogeboom, president of the Lucia Mar Unified School District, thanked those that helped make the school possible including PG&E, the school’s largest donor.
“They stood up in a huge way with today’s donation,” Hogeboom said. “We are so proud to have a partner that believes in our endeavor, innovation and is willing to invest in our students.”
PG&E President Chris Johns and Beth Curran, president of the Lucia Mar Foundation for Innovation, celebrate hold an oversized check in front of the new sign recognizing the utility's $250,000 contribution to the new school. (Photos by Tracy Correa.)
In 2010, the school district launched a nonprofit called the Lucia Mar Foundation for Innovation to assist with fund-raising for the high-tech school as well as other innovative educational projects. PG&E contributed to the foundation and the Lucia Mar’s board of trustees approved naming a building on the new campus in recognition of the utility.
Johns looked over the crowd at the dedication and declared it “a truly rewarding day.” He said PG&E is proud to be involved in such an innovative school, especially at a time when most districts are scaling back on school construction.
“We are building a new one,” he said.
The donation also signifies PG&E’s respect for the community, said Johns. “More than 1,600 PG&E employees are part of this community.”
PG&E is the largest private employer in San Luis Obispo County, which is the location of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. The company has a longstanding partnership with Lucia Mar Unified School District. Since 1997, the company has donated $154,540 to the district with part of the money used to buy new iPod Touch devices for elementary students. With today’s $250,000 donation, PG&E has now given more than $400,000 to the district.
Ezra Garrett, PG&E’s vice president of community relations, also spoke at the event. He said it was important for the company to work side-by-side with schools.
The Central Coast New Tech High School model integrates high-tech teaching methods with project-based learning, similar to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s “learn-by-doing” philosophy. Upon graduation, New Tech students will have completed college courses, given more than 200 multimedia presentations, completed internships, developed a digital portfolio and performed community service.
The hands-on learning is what attracted 13-year-old Devlin Vicars of Arroyo Grande to the school. Devlin said he was thrilled to learn he was one of 150 students chosen by lottery to attend the school. “For me, it was like ‘oh my gosh,’ is this legit?” Now, he can’t wait to start school in the fall.
The school lottery was held last week and district officials had to expand it to include 150 students because so many families applied.
Central Coast New Tech High School is part of the New Tech Network, a nonprofit that works with school districts and communities to create innovative public high schools. Founded in Napa in 1996, New Tech is made up of 86 public high schools in 16 states. While some of the schools in New Tech Network are charter schools, Central Coast New Tech High School is not.
Email Tracy Correa at tcce@pge.com.
