Narr: Coming up on Inside California Education dogs in the classroom.

They're more than cute pets.

They're therapy dogs.

See how this central Valley High School is using these charming canines to help students and even teachers with their mental health and to reduce stress and anxiety.

It's one of the newest and most exciting official sports on California high school campuses.

Girls flag football.

Discover why this fast paced competition is scoring touchdowns with female students, teachers and coaches across the Golden State and beyond.

Amaya: I thought it was like super cool and I was like so excited to see like, who is going to come out and like, how we would do as a team and like, learn together because like, I've always wanted to play.

Narr: When it comes to lettuce in the school lunchroom.

It doesn't get much fresher than this.

Explore how freight container farms like this one in the Bay Area use hydroponic agriculture to bring healthy meals to these students.

Michael: We take the lettuce from the wall, and unlike conventional farming where you have to bend over, we simply lift the panel off the wall and we transfer the panel right to our nursery station.

Narr: And recent immigrants to America face many challenges, especially young students.

See how this Newcomers program is helping these youngsters learn English and better assimilate to life and education in the U.S.. Efrain: By knowing their story allows me to be a little bit more empathetic.

Narr: It's all coming up next on Inside California Education Annc: Funding for Inside California Education is made possible by the California lottery has been reliably raising additional money for public education for decades.

More than $41 billion since voters created the lottery in 1984.

Man: And that's the reason why California lottery exists.

It's why we do what we do and work so hard to do it.

Annc: Thank you, California.

Our schools appreciate your support.

Annc: Imagine a credit union where school employees are treated like the heroes you are.

At SchoolsFirst, Federal Credit Union.

Everything we do starts with helping school employees and their families live better today and plan for tomorrow.

Learn more at SchoolsFirstFCU.org The Stuart Foundation.

Improving Life Outcomes for Young People Through Education ScholarShare529, California's state sponsored tax advantaged 529 College Savings plan designed to help pay for the cost of higher education.

Additional funding for Inside California Education is made possible by these organizations supporting public education.

♪♪♪ Narr: Not everyone gets excited about going to school each day.

Fortunately, these two dogs can't wait to get to class.

After all, they have important jobs to do.

Kristy: They know when they are coming to work and they're ready to go.

- Good morning!

Narr: On any given day, you can find Jeter and Scout, making their rounds at campuses throughout the Selma Unified School District.

Student: Youre so cute.

Woman: Good girl scout.

Narr: Today, these certified therapy dogs are visiting students at Selma High School.

Kristy: Jeter and Scout...

They help provide a safe and supportive environment for students.

Jeter has been with Selma Unified since 2016.

I call him my lead therapy dog and Scout.

She is four and a half years old and I'm hoping she will be taking taking the reins for a Jeter.

She'll continue to learn and work beside him.

They're my colleagues theyre my co-therapists.

Narr: Kristy Rangel is the proud owner of these two dogs.

She's also the lead mental health clinician and clinical supervisor for Selma Unified.

Kristy: The stigma associated with mental health services, you know, it was pretty high.

We had a lot of students and parents who did not want mental services.

So when we introduced Jeter to the school district and he was board approved and we went through the whole process, we saw an increase of interest.

And Jeter became a really big part of our community, the school community and the Selma community.

And so with him being around the stigma associated with mental health has really decreased.

Narr: At 13 years old, Jeter is starting to show his age and is happy to let Scout take over as lead therapy dog these days.

Kristy: Hi, Kennedi.

How's it going?

Kennedi: I just needed to talk, right now, but- Kristy: Okay, let's go on in.

In session with me.

They'll go and I'll sit next to them and they will be there and be that comfort and support that students need.

Kristy: So what's been going on this week?

Kennedi: I just had a rough week this last week.

- Today was like my first real session.

I really liked it.

And I love dogs, so I feel like it's like just a really good way of like releasing your feelings and like, talking about what you need to talk about.

- It's just been a lot.

Kristy: Yeah, she just wants to make sure and she wants to let you know she's there for you.

- They allow those defensive barriers to, you know, to go down.

And they provide an environment where students feel like they can share what's going on with them.

Narr: Jonna also got to experience having a pup next to her during her counseling session.

Kristy: Hi.

Welcome.

How are you doing?

Go ahead, have a seat.

Jonna: It's nice being able to see them.

Kristy: So how's it going today, Jonna?

Jonna: Um, t's okay.

It's been a lot.

A lot having to balance.

- It lifts my spirit, you know, like it helps me feel not as anxious.

Kristy: With everything that's going on with school.

It's kind of hard to find that balance.

Kristy: Yeah.

Jonna: Yeah.

Kristy: Studies show that, you know, with dogs, it's like just seeing them, petting them.

You know, it just releases that, like, happy hormone, the release of oxytocin.

Narr: It's not just the students who benefit from having the pups being on campus.

It's teachers too.

Greg: Cmon scout.

Greg: I am definitely one of those teachers.

- Youre such a good girl.

You are.

Its just a stressful job.

Teaching isn't the easiest profession.

And so getting a release for that stress with these dogs, it lets me go back to my classroom and be a better teacher.

They pop in every once in a while and the kids, their excitement level definitely goes way up and they want to pet and play with them.

And it really does change the mood in the room.

Kids have changed in my 27 years here.

They seem to be under more stress and they seem to be having more issues, social issues and psychological issues.

So having these people on campus and having the dogs on campus have been a godsend.

It's really has improved our campus as a whole.

Kristy: You guys ready?

Greg: Everybody say bye Scout!

Bye Jeter!

Kristy: It's really amazing to see the way the culture and the environment is so accepting of Jeter and Scout and just seeing that Jeter and Scout are making an impact and helping these students feel supported and accepted.

It's so satisfying and just very fulfilling.

Jonna: It's really important because not everyone gets that.

And so I think it's really special that we have it here at Selma High School.

Therapy dogs help humans in all kinds of places hospitals, nursing homes, even airports where they soothe nervous travelers.

In California, colleges like Sacramento State, CSU, Long Beach and UC Berkeley used therapy dogs to alleviate stress during finals week.

To earn a therapy dog title from the American Kennel Club, Dogs must complete a certain number of visits.

Starting with ten recorded visits to earn a novice title all the way up to becoming a supreme therapy dog with 600 visits.

Curtis: That means you would be running the line but if she doesnt hold it in the huddle.

You just run it regular.

Player: Okay.

Curtis: Alright do we know what we're doing?

Alright lets go!

Narr: It's one of the last games during the very first season that Girls Flag football has been an official sport in California.

The California Interscholastic Federation, or CIF, which governs high school sports in California unanimously approved girls flag football in February of 2023.

Interest in the sport was immediate and overwhelming across the state by that fall, just months later, about a quarter of the high schools in California had teams signed up and ready to play.

Will DeBoard is with CIFs Sac- Joaquin Section, which includes 200 high schools from Yuba City to Merced.

He says a new sport typically takes a year to get up and running and sees around 15 schools join in the first season.

Will: We have 70 schools playing girls flag football right away, which is for a new sport.

We've never had that in our history, dating back to the 1940s.

Narr: Here at Woodcreek High School in Roseville.

16 varsity and 13 JV players signed up right away.

Amaya: I thought it was like super cool and I was like, so excited to see like who was going to come out and like, how we would do as a team and like, learn together because like, I've always wanted to play.

And so like getting an opportunity to play is like amazing.

Narr: Teachers at the school were just as excited, including Jenna Taipaleti, who's now co-head coach of the Varsity Girls Flag football team, along with coach Malcolm Thomas Jr.

They see it as a chance to help launch a program that could provide new opportunities for girls in sports.

Jenna: Coach Thomas and I both have young daughters and we wanted to start paving the way for our girls and be a part of history.

Malcom: So the expectations in the beginning was I just want to have fun and let's see how this -- going to be new experience for everyone, all the schools around the section.

And then we started playing and I was like... Man, these girls actually pretty good.

Narr: So good, They were undefeated in their very first season.

A fact that co-team captain Whitney says, sets the tone for this new sport on their turf and allows a school that already loves boys football to create just as much energy and excitement around the girls team.

Whitney: Since it's a new sport, since it's a new idea in California.

There's no basic standard for a culture here.

And so we get to create our own culture however we want.

Narr: She says that culture includes hard work, good sportsmanship and no drama.

And this team takes it seriously.

They show up to practice at 6:45 in the morning, four days a week.

And playing a new sport isn't just about the training.

They're also learning the rules of this new game.

Jenna: They've picked it up super quickly for it being their first time ever playing.

Um, they're really positive.

They're hard working.

Player: Down, set, hike.

Izzy: I learned that it was pretty easy to pick up with all the girls.

They got it pretty quick too.

So with that chemistry, we're doing great.

Whitney: It's really, really cool because we have some just phenomenal athletes and combined with our quarterback.

We're just unstoppable.

Narr: Unstoppable, just like the sport as a whole appears to be.

A total of 11 states in the U.S. now have sanctioned girls flag football, and CIF officials say this is just the beginning.

Will: I think girls flag football is going to have a lot more popularity moving forward.

We've already heard of a lot of schools that don't have it, that they're going to have it next year.

Curtis: It's just like the Super Bowl, is the most watched game alive, right?

Narr: Curtis Grant is offensive coordinator and father of five girls.

Curtis: So, Whitney is my center if were lined up where we at?

Narr: He hopes the overwhelming interest in this new sport will eventually lead to greater opportunities, like someday seeing college scouts sitting in these stands.

Curtis: I think it should -- It's going to be a college sport soon.

So once that happens, man, I'm excited.

Oh...

I'm excited.

Then girls can really work to football to go to college and play football.

And that's going to be game changing for a lot of people.

Narr: While flag football may not yet be an option when these girls are in college, the fact that they have this opportunity to play means a whole lot, not just to them, but to Coach Taipaleti who remembers her own love for football as a girl, as well as the limits that existed.

Jenna: I could throw a football really far, I could kick a football really far, but I didn't have the opportunity, to play girls flag football.

Sometimes I'm coaching on the field and I just stop and I'm like, This is awesome that we have this.

You know?

I think it's well overdue.

We should have had flag football a long time ago, but I think it's just going to grow from here.

Narr: In the meantime, this inaugural team at Woodcreek High is paving the way for those who come after them and setting the stage for a future where girls flag football is just as much a part of high school as the boys team has been.

Player: Woodcreek on three!

[ players in unison ] One, two, three, Woodcreek!

Narr: Still ahead on Inside California Education, teaching English and much more.

to young students who have recently arrived in America.

But first, fresh lettuce from a freight container?

See how these Bay Area students are enjoying healthy lunches from a hydroponic farm right on campus.

Michael: Providing students with real, fresh, grown, nutrient dense produce... Is... is real pivotal to the learning.

Narr: Michael Jochner admits it's a very unusual way to farm, but says that technology and this shipping container are key to meeting the green salad lettuce needs for students in the Morgan Hill Unified School District.

Michael: Well, I think food sovereignty is important, um, especially in underserved communities.

And I wanted to demonstrate that a school district and not just large farming or small scale farming, that a school district itself could be the farm.

Narr: Michael has a background as a chef, and he's Morgan Hill's director of student nutrition.

The shipping container is called a freight farm and uses the vertical hydroponic farming technology developed by a Boston company.

It all takes place in a ten by 40 foot space.

Michael: So let me show you our nursery station.

This is where the lettuce and the seedlings start their life cycle.

All of our nutrients are stored here.

The computer pumps continually check the water, evaluate the EC readings, PH readings, temperature readings.

And at the end of the nursery station, we have a 40 gallon reservoir where all that water is stored.

Narr: Michael grows five varieties of lettuce, which germinate at the nursery station in small grow pods.

Nutrient dense water feeds the roots of the tiny plants.

Michael: Down on this floor, we start our seeds in the grow pods.

They'll spend two weeks in the humidity domes and at the end of the two week cycle, they turn in these beautiful little seedlings.

Narr: The freight farm at Sobrato High School is one of two in the district, each costing $150,000.

After sprouting, the seedlings moved to vertical growing panels called cultivation walls watered with drip irrigation.

Each farm container will grow 4000 small heads of lettuce at a time.

LED light walls powered by the high school's solar panels, provide the illumination for plant growth.

Michael: So leafy greens require specific light spectrum.

Crate farm uses red and blue lights in the cultivation walls.

This is our daylight setting.

We have over 100,000 LED lights and these lights will remain on for 14 hours of simulated sunlight.

So lettuce on this wall is now six weeks old.

Morgan Hill students get to enjoy living lettuce right from our walls.

We take the lettuce from the wal and unlike conventional farming, where you have to bend over, we simply lift the panel off the wall and we transfer the panel right to our nursery station.

Narr: Lettuce from the cultivation panels goes directly to lunchrooms in cafeteria salad bars.

Michael says the container farms produce the equivalent of two and a half acres of lettuce in just 320 square feet of grow space.

Raising their own has also helped the district reduce part of their spending on fresh produce.

For second graders Aida and Cody, It means a tasty part of their daily choices at lunch.

Aida: I always love salads.

I had tomatoes, salad, ranch, cucumbers, and plums.

Cody: I usually wait in line until it's my turn.

Then I go to to go to the salad bar and I pick what I want.

Dr. Garcia For a lot of our students, it's the only meal that they have during the day.

And so we take our school nutrition efforts very seriously to ensure that our students are eating healthy.

Michael: My dream is to ultimately try and grow the whole salad bar.

While ambitious, we decided to start with lettuce because the technology allowed us to do so.

Narr: Michael calls his future agricultural plans, farm tech.

It would utilize existing greenhouse facilities and the district's open space to develop curriculums and coursework.

Both would emphasize the nutritional and environmental benefits of merging technology and farming.

Michael: The district is sitting on several acres of land that has been set aside to see if we can build farm tech into a destination worthy field trip worthy location for both students and the community.

I'd like to show off the technology and show that its importance in a community is... is not solely reliant on conventional farming, that there are high tech alternatives.

Narr: But for now, the technology is providing daily evidence of the possibilities that come from finding new ways to help feed students and the community.

Michael: For me, it's really just been about the kids and watching them grow to learn real produce.

Dr. Garcia: If we begin with our students and teach our students the importance of healthy eating habits, those habits will stay with them throughout their entire lives, and it will pay dividends to ensure that our kids grow a healthy life.

Narr: There are now more than 600 of these freight farms located in every U.S. state, as well as 40 other countries around the world.

Besides lettuce and other greens, schools, nonprofits, farmers and even restaurants are now also growing radishes, strawberries and even flowers using the same hydroponic wall panels and artificial light.

Efrain: My name's Efrain Tovar.

I teach at Abraham Lincoln Middle School in Selma, California, and I teach seventh and eighth grade Newcomer program.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

A newcomer, is a student that is new in the country.

Typically, a newcomer is defined as anyone that has not attended US school for three years or less.

- All right.

Good morning, everyone.

First thing we're going to write the question.

- Our newcomers are very diverse.

They come from different countries and they speak different languages.

Every single flag that you see in my classroom represents the flag of a current newcomer or a former newcomer.

This year, they're all Spanish speakers.

- All the letters in English make sounds.

Yes, just like in Spanish, right?

- They need to be given every single opportunity to acquire the English language quickly, but also the importance of not forgetting where they're coming from.

And by that I mean that I also like to reinforce their primary language.

- So say it in Spanish and I will help you with your English.

Okay?

Because Alondra, you have superpowers.

You know what your superpower is that you speak two languages.

That means, you know, two worlds.

And I want you to be proud of that.

You're learning English?

Yes?

And you're learning Spanish in this classroom.

You need to learn both so that you can be a supergirl.

Okay?

All right.

- By me reinforcing their primary language and validating their primary language.

What it does is that it makes them feel seen, because I truly believe that language is tied to identity.

Any time that we don't acknowledge the students heritage language, we are subconsciously telling them that that they have to leave that part of who they are aside in order to acquire another language.

Now, I want you to write the question.

You should be able to do this in 2 minutes.

I run a pretty tight ship, you know, and um -- but hopefully they know that I meant well for them and that I expect the best from them because they are the best.

- Vowels.

Beautiful.

Ohhhh... That's okay.

Give her a hand, please.

- I'm all about allowing student to fail in class so that they can know that it's okay to fail because failure is our first attempt in learning.

And when you're learning language, we're going to make a lot of mistakes.

- Question, what do you love?

What do you like?

Yes, understand?

- In order for me to be able to teach the student and be able to connect and to reach that student by knowing their story allows me to to be a little bit more empathetic and allows me to know how to best reach them and how to impact them in a positive way as they begin to adjust to a new school, to a new country.

I often share with my students that I was like you.

I was an English learner.

It was not a positive experience.

My parents are from Mexico.

They came to this country seeking a better life.

My parents didn't speak English at that time, and so obviously coming into the classroom, being a newcomer per se was very scary for me.

My teacher told me that I was not allowed to speak Spanish in the classroom, and so that shut me down.

I didn't feel that I could be me and that has impacted my life and has, I think, definitely has made me the teacher that I am today.

We as educators must do everything possible to minimize those anxieties, to minimize those things that inhibit our students to be who they truly are.

When it comes down to it, these are children, right?

Regardless of why their parents came to this country, whether they came legally or illegally, theyre children.

And as an educator, my job is to protect children.

My job is to ensure that they feel safe, that they have every single opportunity to be successful, to be able to reach the American dream.

And what is that American dream?

That American dream is whatever they want to accomplish in life.

This is our one life.

So let's live it with excellence.

That's it for this edition of Inside California Education.

If you'd like more information about the program, log on to our website: InsideCalEd.org .

We have videos from all of our shows and you can connect with us on social media.

Thanks for joining us.

We'll see you next time on Inside California Education.

Woman: So cute!

Greg: Everyone say bye scout!

Bye Jeter.

Player: Down, set, hike!

Curtis: But if she doesnt call them in the huddle.

You just run it regular, okay?

Michael: Morgan Hill students get to enjoy living lettuce right from our walls.

Efrain: Give her a hand, please.

Annc: Funding for Inside California Education is made possible by: Annc: The California Lottery has been reliably raising additional money for public education for decades.

More than $41 billion since voters created the lottery in 1984.

Man: And that's the reason why California lottery exists.

It's why we do what we do and work so hard to do it.

Annc: Thank you, California.

Our schools appreciate your support.

Imagine a credit union where school employees are treated like the heroes you are at SchoolsFirst, Federal Credit Union.

Everything we do starts with helping school employees and their families live better today and plan for tomorrow.

Learn more at SchoolsFirstFCU.org The Stuart Foundation.

Improving Life Outcomes for Young People Through Education ScholarShare529, California's state sponsored, tax advantaged, 529 College Savings plan, designed to help pay for the cost of higher education.

Additional funding for Inside California Education is made possible by these organizations supporting public education.

♪♪♪