Bay Area college bound high school seniors can be nominated for the Bay Area All-Star Scholarship Team (BAASST). Since its inception in 1996, the Golden StateWarriors in partnership with all Bay Area professional sports teams has awarded BayArea students with scholarships through the BAASST program. Each Bay Area team has the honor of selecting one deserving student each year to receive a BAASST scholarship to support their pursuit of higher education. This year, the Golden StateWarriors will select one extraordinary student from Contra Costa County.

JA Inspire Virtual represents a new career awareness and development program that JA of Northern California will launch in early December2021-22 academic year. This program brings together the business community with schools across the region using virtual technology where students can explore and interact with dozens of exhibitor booths, participate in webinars and presentations, and download career information and video content that will help inform and guide them as they begin to think about the career options that will be available to them and guide them in their career choices. For more information and to register students visit inspirejanorcal.vfairs.com

We’re excited to share that the California Department of Education (CDE) is offering the Gift of Literacy by partnering with Renaissance Learning to ensure that every California student can access thousands of engaging digital reading resources for free during winter break by visiting www.myon.com.  

Students who are not already reading with myON may participate in this exciting partnership by following these simple steps to log in and start reading:

Read more: https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/el/le/yr21ltr1201.asp

Contra Costa County Health Officer Dr. Chris Farnitano and Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey will join local pediatricians and health officials to answer questions about the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 -11.

How do we manage living in a world overflowing with digital media and technology? Do the benefits of being ever-connected also come with risks to our mental health? It's an important question to ask—especially for our kids. Our Media Balance & Well-Being lessons give students the space to reflect on their own media use. Plus, they'll get the tools they need to think critically about how digital media affects our communities and society overall.

Audience: LEA staff, administrators, and educators.

Date: December 1, 2021

Time: 9:00-10:00 am

Cost: Free

Date: December 2, 2021

Time: 2:00 pm

Cost: Free

The Lexile® and Quantile® Virtual Trainings will focus on the Lexile® and Quantile® measures and the associated tools that can be leveraged by educators and by families across California to fuel student learning. Two virtual trainings will be held to provide you with an opportunity to learn how to use the tools and resources available in the Lexile & Quantile Hub external iconand to share how these tools can contribute to teaching and learning.

Audience: This training series is intended for LEA CAASPP and ELPAC Coordinators, teachers, and any other district staff interested in learning more about Lexile and Quantile measures and Hub tools.

Date: December 6, 2021

Time: 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Cost: Free

CDE is hosting various sessions of FPM Training in December and January to support LEAs in their FPM reviews. Please see Flyer for more information.

Audience: LEA FPM coordinators

Date: December 6-7, 2021

Cost: Free

Flyer: Click Here

For more information contact Lilia Tsui: ltsui@cccoe.k12.ca.us

Date: December 7, 2021

Time: 2:00 pm

Cost: Free

The Lexile® and Quantile® Virtual Trainings will focus on the Lexile® and Quantile® measures and the associated tools that can be leveraged by educators and by families across California to fuel student learning. Two virtual trainings will be held to provide you with an opportunity to learn how to use the tools and resources available in the Lexile & Quantile Hub external iconand to share how these tools can contribute to teaching and learning.

Audience: This training series is intended for LEA CAASPP and ELPAC Coordinators, teachers, and any other district staff interested in learning more about Lexile and Quantile measures and Hub tools.

Date: December 8, 2021

Time: 9:00-10:00 am

Cost: Free

Date: December 16, 2021

Time: 3:00 pm

Cost: Free

The Library is now lending Wi-Fi Hotspots. The hotspot provides internet access to families and library patrons who don’t have a connection at home. The lending program will allow students, parents, teachers and families working and studying remotely, access to a free and reliable internet connection. The portable hotspots connect Wi-Fi enabled devices such as laptops, tablets or smartphones to the internet. The hotspots can connect up to 10 devices at one time and work almost anywhere in the continental U.S. Hotspots are available for checkout at ccclib.org or by contacting library staff any community library. Patrons must have a library card in good standing in order to check out a hotspot. The lending period is 21 days, and they are available for renewal if there is no waitlist.

The Library is also lending Raspberry Pi’s. A Raspberry Pi is a tiny and affordable computer that you can use to learn programming through fun, practical projects. It is capable of doing everything you'd expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games. Check one out or place a hold at ccclib.org.

All Access Comics are now available from the Library through OverDrive. Get access to over 2,000 comics and graphic novels. The collection includes titles from Disney, Marvel, IDW, Image, and Dark Horse. Start reading at ccc.overdrive.com/library/comics.

From noon on Thursday through 4 pm on Saturday (during library open hours) the Friends of the Antioch Library will be hosting their wonderful book sale. There are a wide variety of books, CDs, and DVDs available for purchase. The Friends of the Antioch Library support programs and more for the Antioch and Prewett Libraries.

This Holy Mess: A Writing Workshop

We create because it makes us who we are. When we create, whatever our medium, we come to know ourselves, and we shape the world.

Join this four-week collective journey into writing and creativity for inspiration and guidance for your creative life. Led by local poet Krissy Kludt, our focus will be on journaling and poetry. Each week will have a theme inspired by the four seasons: release (autumn), rest (winter), awakening (spring), and abundance (summer). We will meet weekly via Zoom to write, share, and be inspired together. Our final week will include a collective poetry reading as a celebration of our journey.

All participants will receive a writer’s kit before the workshop begins. An email will be sent out when kits are available for pick-up, sometime around mid-October.

FREE, healthy meals for all kids and teens 18 and under!!!

Meals generously provided by West Contra Costa County Unified School District Food Services

Don't miss the Friends of the Danville Library's next Pop-up Book Sale on Saturday, December 4th, from 10am to 2pm in the Mt. Diablo Room. There will be various genres for sale including non-fiction, general fiction, mysteries, holiday, cookbooks, art books, children's books, DVDs, CDs, book bags, gift items and more! Get ahead of your holiday gift list by visiting this special pop-up sale for one day only! All proceeds benefit the Danville Library.

The Friends also host a small bookshelf in the library (by the library's Print Station) where you can browse and purchase book titles and DVDs for all ages. These shelves are regularly refreshed with new materials!

The Friends of the El Sobrante Library are having Book Sales on the first Saturday of every month in the Nancy Fahden House (behind the library at the back of the parking lot) from 10am to 2pm. Masks are required and please maintain social distancing as much as possible.

Only a few people will be allowed in at a time. Every sale includes books that are new to the Nancy Fahden House. Come and join us!

Join us for a live presentation by author Traci Chee, who will discuss her novel We Are Not Free. The book tells the story of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens living in San Francisco’s Japantown, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the federal government's internment of people of Japanese American ancestry during World War II.

Register with your email on this page. You will receive information on how to access the Zoom one day before the program. Closed captioning will be provided for this program.

Join Bay Point Library's team virtually for stories, songs, and fingerplays. This will be a Live Zoom session that will be held every other Saturday at 10:00am. Registration using an email is required.

An email with the Zoom information will be sent out a day before to the meeting with information on how to join the video chat.

The week of December 6th is National Computer Science Education Week – an annual learning event that invites kids of all ages to build computational skills through coding, problem-solving, and creativity! Pop by the Lafayette Library Teen Center on your next book-run & celebrate with us any day of the week (Mon-Sat):

Make your mark on a giant pixel canvas

Use a polyalphabetic cipher to break into the prize box

Dig into some retro handheld games

Try an online coding activity. Go to https://hourofcode.com/us/learn and explore a whole library of crazy-fun tutorials that teach coding skills (whether you’re a beginner or a buff) in an hour or less. Choose an activity, then pick up a certificate and a button at the Laf. Lib. info desk (and share with us what activity you did!).

Join us over winter break later this month for a virtual Hour of Code™. Check back for more details, coming soon!

“The 'Hour of Code™'/'Hora del Código®' is a global initiative by Computer Science Education Week [csedweek.org] and Code.org [code.org] to introduce millions of students to one hour of computer science and computer programming.”

This program is made possible thanks to support from the Friends of the Lafayette Library and the LLLC Foundation.

Slow down, look around and watch for the wiggle as we search for insects, spiders and more that live in the East Bay, both inside and out! We’ll discover what makes these amazing invertebrates so important, and get some tips on how to find them on your own.

Register here with your email to attend a live Zoom session with an EBRPD Naturalist. The login information will be sent to you on the day of the event. Close captioning will be provided and the event will be recorded for later viewing on the Contra Costa County Library Facebook and YouTube pages.

The East Bay Regional Park District has also generously donated toolkits containing everything needed for kids and teens to go on their own bug safari. The toolkits will be available at local libraries beginning November 22. The kits will be distributed on a first come first served basis and as supplies last.

Can you find the pictures hidden on our holiday I Spy board? Everyone who completes the I Spy challenge will receive a small prize. Come back each week for new clues! This program is ongoing through the month of December.

Learn about healthy eating, exercise and how to care for your body with Nutrition Educator Mr. Adan. He will read from health-based books and get your body moving with fun exercises and games. Each event will showcase different books and activities so plan to attend as much of the six week series as you can.

Register with your email to attend live and the Zoom information will be sent to you on the day of each of the six events. The series will skip the Wednesday before Thanksgivings. The events will be closed captioned.

El Sobrante Library will now have FREE PREPARED MEALS FOR STUDENTS 18 AND UNDER. The meals may be picked up in the Meeting Room on Thursdays at 12pm while supplies last each week. This program is presented in partnership with the West Contra Costa County Unified School District.

Join us for a 60 minute session of programming activity in the Scratch programming language. We will be meeting alternating Saturdays beginning September 4th (Sept 18th excluded) through December 11th.

You can code by yourself or collaborate with a friend or two.  Space is limited. This is a virtual online event hosted on Zoom by the Bay Point Codes Instructor Miss Heather.

Kick-off winter and this magical time of the year with our wonderful Winter Wonderland Activity Bags! Inside you'll find activity and coloring sheets, a musical take and make craft, and oodles of other fun and festive surprises. Pick yours up at the Danville Library on Tuesday, December 14 starting at 10am. Two per family while supplies last. See you soon!

Can you find the pictures hidden on our holiday I Spy board? Everyone who completes the I Spy challenge will receive a small prize. Come back each week for new clues! This program is ongoing through the month of December.

Read the book; do the STEAM project with the Arts Enrichment Book Club! This month our topic is slime! We will have a selection of books with slimy topics that children can choose from, including among others Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar (grades 5 and up), Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold by Megan McDonald, and Frankenslime by Joy Keller. Books will be available to check out at the front desk of the Danville Library beginning November 15.

On December 15 our local slime guru will tell us about slime and lead us in a holiday slime creation session. Some slime supplies (though you'll need to provide a small bottle of glue) will be available for registrants at the Danville Library beginning December 9.

Register with your email on this page. You will receive information on how to access the Zoom event on the day before the program. Closed captioning will be provided for this program. This program will be recorded for later viewing on our YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/user/theccclib

Join Sound Designer Uriah Findley as he talks about the sounds that make Star Wars come alive! Find out about spaceships, lightsabers, and intergalactic creatures. You’ll also learn some basic sound design techniques that you can use on your own creative projects.

WHOO wants to learn all about owls?! Through a hands on owl pellet dissection, students will learn about owl adaptations, diet, behavior, and their critical role in the wild. Don’t worry, our presenters will also cover what an owl pellet is and where it comes from- and the answer may surprise you!

This Owl Pellet Nature Academy class is presented by SaveNature.org and hosted by the Bay Point library.

Recognizing Excellence in Science Teaching and Learning NSTA Awards recognize exceptional individuals for their accomplishments and outstanding work in the science education field.

We offer 15 award programs, designed for all grade levels, and awards that recognize informal educators, researchers, engineering educators, new teachers and more.

Welcome to the 2022 K-12 Coastal Art and Poetry Contest page! We can't wait to see your

creations. Read below to find out how to enter, contest guidelines, and more.

Deadline: Entries are due by January 31, 2022 at 11:59pm

Every year, the EngineerGirl website sponsors a contest dealing with engineering and its impact on our world. The topic and detailed instructions for the contest are posted in September with a deadline for submissions on February 1st of the following year. Winners are announced in the spring.

Deadline: February 1, 2022

Join Travis Credit Union for FREE virtual events designed to teach youth (ages 13‑21) about financial aid opportunities for post-secondary education, choosing a school, and preparing for next-level schooling.

Events will be held on December 3 and December 10.

The California State Park Adventure Pass is for all fourth grade students! See how you can visit some of the most amazing parks in the country with your family and friends—for free.