hello and welcome to "comunidad del valle," i'm damian trujillo. today, bringing the navajo valley. vincent is in our studios. plus, the rocket ship schools. this is your "comunidad del valle." ♪ now, summer is almost here and you're wondering what am i going to do with my children, make sure they stay keducated. we brought the right man, welcome to the show.

>> glad to be back, damian. >> you're doing great things. a disclaimer, my daughter goes to one of the schools, but now that we let them know, before we get into the great technology efforts, tell us first of all what can parents do or children do between now and the beginning of the next school year to make sure they are not falling behind and they kind of stay ahead of the game when school starts in the fall. >> parents, take your kid to the library, parents, take your kids to shepherd school. this friday we're going to dedicate a field to encourage our kids to stay active, physically fit. it's an all-weather track, soccer field, and while there, they can also visit their teachers, who work there during the summertime, so parents, take your kids to the library, read to them, talk to them, put that novela aside, unless it's on nbc, but stay involved with learning. >> how big of a concern is that for educators, because, i mean,

we have working families and day care becomes a problem. now we have to make sure our children especially don't fall behind. that's got to be a big concern for your schools. >> absolutely, particularly with those that are english learners. it's so big, enough of a big concern that we want to give that message to our parents. for example, our schools will be open, summer schools will be open, to provide free breakfast, free lunch, and free access to learning there, so it's big enough to make that extra effort, parents. stay involved. kids, go to the library. >> it's because of that, my daughter goes, that the test scores are getting to where they need to be. >> they are. we have tremendously dedicated teachers. we have tremendously dedicated school leaders who are making a difference every day in the life of our kids, and they are teaching our kids exciting new ways to approach teaching and learning with technology.

21st century learning classrooms are now in it. >> my report ran on the children getting ipads. my network called and said we want to talk to that school. you have other visitors wanting to learn from what you're doing. >> visitors from around the world. visitors from the rich part of town. what's happening in san antonio and lucha right next to each other is every child has an ipad or ipod in their hand, so they are learning math, english, they are learning reading, they are playing math games with each other during recess. they think they are playing, we know they are learning. it's exciting what we're doing. every child, every teacher has that in their hands, and now we're getting visitors. two weeks ago we had visitors from new zealand who heard about that and visited our school to

see what kids in the valle are doing in the 21st century, and get this, this week, later this week, representatives from coopertino school district, high income, high technology, high achieving, everything on the up of the scale are visiting our schools to learn from us to see what we're doing with technology and education. so i say, come on, world, come to us, because good things are happening. >> we only have a few seconds, but is it because of private-public partnerships or what is it that's made it possible? >> educational leadership that made it possible to say we're going to make it work, we're going to spend the money, because our kids are just as able to learn as those kids from the rich part of town. >> well, alum rock school district in san jose. final thoughts for the parents and school children out there? >> read to your children, take them to the library, make their future your highest priority.

our kids can learn when they are in our classroom, we need your help now and throughout the summertime. i'm glad to be a graduate of alum rock school district and now on the school board. >> thank you very much, president of the board. up next, the rocketship schools. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ [ transforming sounds ] [ male announcer ] transformers. the ride. ride it at universal studios hollywood. we are now here with rocket ship, a school endeavor that has virtually taken off. with us here on "comunidad del valle," two parents, karen martinez and christine. they are here to tell us why they have their children enrolled in rocket ship. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> tell us, first of all, christine, what it has done for you and your family and why you think rocket ship is such a great program, great school. >> well, my daughter, she loves the school she's going to, and she's doing great right now. she's a first grader, and she doing third grade math and fourth grade reading and, you know, she couldn't stop talking about rocket ship, you know, and

yesterday we have one day off and she go, mom, i want to go to school! >> wow, you don't hear -- hopefully she'll keep that up. that is great to hear. karen, what about you? >> we actually have seven children, we have five boys and two girls, but what brought us to rocket ship is our oldest daughter was a third grader reading at a first grade reading level, so having our first five older sons who had struggled to finish high school, we were really looking for other school models, and so we found this school called rocket ship and accepted our daughter who is categorized as a special needs child in the third grade reading at a first grade reading level, so she ended the fourth grade reading at a fifth grade reading level, so she's currently going to be graduating this year as a sixth grader, and she's reading at a sixth grade reading level and she's doing very well. it has to do with rocket ship rocking it.

>> we do have some video. there it is right there, off of youtube, we appreciate that. what is it, is it longer school hours, what is it that's different about rocket ship? >> i think -- i think it's a combination of things like longer hours also part of it, but i think the biggest thing is the parent involvement. we are, like, i feel totally welcome when i come to rocket ship and, you know, we are constantly in there and, you know, we can come into school any time and there's so many things for us to do to get involved to be in our children education, and i think that makes a very big difference beside that we have a great, wonderful group of teachers, you know, with all these good curriculums they are using. >> that is great, what do you think is the difference for your child? that's a significant jump. >> to actually have the full perspective from the very beginning from kinder to high school, what i have seen is

rocket ship has individualized learning, so if someone comes in behind, they are going to get them ahead and get them above that, so a year and a half is their goal, to have every child a year and a half ahead of your traditional school setting. if you come in already at that level, it's to continue to push you ahead, and if you come in already ahead, it's to push you to that next level so you're constantly stimulated, no differentiating the difference between students, it's making sure everybody is there and able to achieve. like christine was saying, longer school days and those things, we have kids who have different form of autism and adhd who thrive in our schools because there's minutes, seconds to get on to the next task, so there's constant stimulation going on and the teachers are very involved. they do home visits with families to really get engaged and how to really teach and educate their child, not just mine, but ours.

>> it's an old school school. >> exactly. >> interdistrict transfer, how does that work? >> can i tell you something a little funny? we moved four times within santa clara county trying to find high-quality education, so when we found rocket ship and entered, we actually thought we needed to be in the district, so we immediately moved again and moved into the district in which rocket ship, the school which she resides in is in, and actually you don't need to do that, so you can live anywhere in the county and still have rocket ship as an option. >> that's awesome. did you find that maybe you, yourself, are learning, christine, from your child in that school itself, because now, not that you weren't involved before, but now you're more involved in your child's education? >> yes, definitely. i've learned a lot, and, you know, i'm very involved in the program also because they have computer -- we have each student get a one and a half hours in

the computer lab every day, so she's learned a lot from that, and she constantly telling me, like, sometimes she ask me something and i said, oh, i don't have that question, let me find out for you, then she tell me, google it, mom. >> that is -- well, y'all are great ambassadors for the program. if you want to find out more, we have information there, the web address and 800-number. any final thoughts, karen? >> no, just give different school options a try. come and take a look at what rocketship has to offer to you, your family, and your future and please give us a call at 877-806-0920 at extension 217. we're here to serve you. thank you. " you guys are great > up next. co>>up next on "comunidad del valle," stay with us. here you go little man.

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napa valley is coming to the

silicon valley. it's the annual fundraiser. with me are lisa, helping coordinate and organize this event. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> we have great pictures y'all sent us also from last year's event. boy, talk about bringing a this is it.t to the south ba. >> it's a really wonderful event, it's a diverse event that i went to as a guest last year, and it was the end of the evt e i connected and said i'd love to know more, love to get volved. abouout o, ttwhreeonths m lateri received a phone call and really honored. >> good to have you here. again, it's classy but casual. it's a way to kind of have fun and at the same te good cause. >> absolutely. the goal here is just, again, to approach the young professionals at out in this t valley, eylloduce them into what the has to offer, bringing a little napa n sonoma to the valley, and at the same time, give back to a good cause, which

is young latinos out there that we can help out. >> yeah, absolutely. again, you were there last year. your thoughts, we're going to have, again, alex here in our next segment, but your thoughts when you were able to go booth by booth and saw the caliber of the vendors who made it down to san jose. >> they were really -- i mean, they were tasty wines and, again, did not know there was such a large amount of latino winers. talking about marketing, [ speaking spanish ] -- i know how to do my thing, and it was just delicious, you know, red wine that we bought up, you know, some of, and it was just a really -- it was impressive. >> it moved you enough to say i want to be a part of this. >> absolutely. talking to the three

organizations they benefit is, you know, [ speaking spanish ] then the women and children shelter, which, you know, growing up in san jose is in our backyard, so you can't go wrong, i mean, even if you just have a free friday evening, have some time to go and get out, it's a wonderful event. >> good time and help out. we saw alex there, saja wines there, several other wines, tell us about this year's lineup, if you will, and what we can expect if you go this year. >> this year's lineup we still have the same vinters from last year. this year we added a variety of different restaurants. we went out to a few of the mexican restaurants, latino restaurants, we have a few of them, tomato times, they are getting involved, they want to

reach out into our community, so for us, it's really show casing not just the wines, but also bringing out the food and the culture. >> you're speaking about the restaurants, you run chacho's, not that there's an explosion, but an upsuing, if you will, of latino-owned restaurants downtown san jose. >> absolutely. the way that san jose is changing, the demographics in downtown, i think that you'll start to see an infusion of a lot of different other types of restaurants, not just the latino ones, but right now there is an infusion downtown because the hopes is with all the new highrises and all the new people moving into the downtown that there will be enough variety to provide for everyone that comes downtown. >> very good. so for those who might have heard about it the last three years and are thinking maybe i should go, convince them, go ahead and tell them what they can expect and why they should go. >> sure, so it's going to be mix

and mingle, come and meet your neighbors you may not otherwise have an opportunity to get to be introduced to. we have about eight different restaurants that are, you know, have bought into the event that want to donate to these wonderful causes, and the great wine, music, there's going to be music throughout, it's like a plaza layout. it's an incredible event. i closed the place down yesterday -- i'm sorry, not yesterday, maybe yesterday too, last year, yep, so definitely worth while. you will not, you know, tickets on sale, $35, up until july 1st. so you can't go wrong. >> tickets up to june 15th on our website. you can get it online and those tickets are -- pre-sales on sale until the 15th, then they go up.

>> come out and meet great people. we do get movers and shakers that show up to this event. there's the web address, happening july 20th at history park. that's adjacent to the municipal stadium and kelly park in san jose. it's a great venue. any final thoughts before we wrap up? any final thoughts? >> oh, no, again, it's an exciting event for an exciting cause, and we're looking forward to this year. >> thank you so much for coming and for organizing. >> thank you so much. up next here on "comunidad del valle," alex. whoever said that "less is more" is more or less mathematically challenged. less isn't more, it's less. and the only thing more than more is a lot more. which is exactly what i get at embassy suites. more space... more down time. more family time. more me time. more me time. more me time. because the more more i have, the more i have to have...

more. [ female announcer ] more room. complimentary drinks. free breakfast. embassy suites. get more. . he founded the sellers, we are honored to be joined here on "comunidad del valle" by alex. welcome back to the show, alex. you were here last year. >> thank you, thank you, it's a pleasure, and thank you for the support of "comunidad del valle." we're happy and lucky to have you around. >> thank you very much. i do appreciate that, but what

was it that made you say i want to become a vintner, i want to do this? >> well, the story begins many years back, 21 years ago, and, in fact, survival, i will say, made me to become who i am. reality, working in the vineyards and all that stuff, working some place to make money so you can eat and pay rent and everything else, but later on, you get hooked to the industry and as soon as you get hooked, you're there for life. that's the way that i see it. for me, i needed to get a formal egg and improve myself and over time before i knew it, i was a wine maker and later producing my own wine. >> does everybody want to be your friend now? >> i do have a lot of friends, thank god. beautiful family, so i think it's a good life. >> that's great. you were pouring -- you poured the last couple of years, you're going to pour again this year. talk about what you brought to

us. >> yes, in fact, bringing tonight just to show a couple of the wines, zinfandel. last year, i think we're to the top of the top, consider some of the critics and consider some of the public all over the world have seen that we are producing some of the best wines in the world, and so we're not just competing with the local wine producers, but we actually go even beyond and bringing the product to events around the community, i think it's a gift. it's a gift that the life has given the opportunity to give a little bit back to the community and been involved with wonderful people and with a great community, i mean, it's just an amazing. i think we're going to throw a party with a cause, and how better can that be? i mean, it's just wonderful. >> and i know that whenever you

are -- i know this is part of marketing, whenever you're asked to pour, you're going to pour -- i've seen at so many events you're the one doing the pouring. you don't send somebody else to do it for you. your name is on the label, so you got to represent, i guess. >> well, reality, i'm going to tell you, ten years back, maybe even five years back, we used to do a lot of events, close to 100 a year, but reality right now, involved in a lot of other businesses and i don't have the time, so we do about 20, 25 at the most, all over the nation, but we do, i mean, we cover from new york to san diego, dallas, chicago, san francisco bay area, and so reality, we're very focussed into just bringing the wines to those top-quality events all over the nation and creating rather than just the experience, a partnership, making sure that everybody

benefits from us to be there. >> whenever we're at a news story, channel 7, let's get away from them. how is it with you guys when you're pouring? >> well, we're just a bigger family. that's the way that we are. we just although -- >> i take the low road, you take the high road. >> that's reality, a lot of people may see us as competition, but there's no such thing. we're into that. actually, family-oriented business, plus, the production that we do make, it's tiny compared to how big is the actual industry, so, no, we are just a loving bigger family. that's the way that i see it, and actually, if they do well, we're going to do well, and that's the way that we're actually seeing it. we're growing together. >> that's great. talk about, briefly if you can, about it and why you said this

is something i want to keep doing. >> they are going to tell you things, they, number one, three, four years back when ray and lisa sit together and were talking about it, the abs started to developing to where we are right now, and it's actually, again, bringing napa, sonoma, and some of the local vineyards to this event, now we're making an addition, bringing in the local high-end restaurants. think about you coming, have a glass of wine, have a good bite, good music playing, around good people. does it get better than that? i don't think so, so it's just as good as it gets. alex wants to be a part of it, of course. this is great, i mean, san jose area, it's a great community, and it's a reality that not too many people are going to be coming in. a lot of people from all over

the bay area and even beyond, so this is reality. this is a hot place and hot event. >> it really is. you can meet alex, pour some of his great wine for you, it's at history park in san jose. there's the web address for more information, and again, it benefits three great organizations, so you can come out and drink some wine, have a good time, and help a worthy cause. thank you so much. any final thoughts, alex, to your fans out there? >> just keep on enjoying life and drinking good wine. that's all i can say. >> [ speaking spanish ]. >> be my guess, lamb, turkey, meat, roasted vegetables, anything. reality has no limitations, so that's the beauty about some of the amazing wines. >> [ speaking spanish ]. >> exactly. >> alex, let me keep you here for a couple of seconds and show

you what's happening in your comunidad. ♪ ♪

>> [ speaking spanish ]. ♪ >> here's our address for next week. there's my twitter handle. pick up a copy and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. we thank you for spending your sunday with us once again. we will see you next week. ♪ ♪

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