- [Narrator] Coming up on "Inside California Education," we'll look at a San Mateo school that's helping students lock in during the school day, by locking up their cell phones.

- I do think that there's a huge benefit for students to have a space that is cell phone free.

- [Narrator] In Palmdale, meet the aviation, planes, drones and mathematics educator who was named the 2025 California Teacher of the Year and dedicated the honor to his father.

- As an educator, you gotta come in and say, what's best for my students who are here in front of me and how do I lift them up?

- [Narrator] Plus, learn how a landmark civil rights case inspired these monuments in Westminster.

- This wasn't even like that long ago that schools were segregated and people couldn't like be equal, you know?

- [Narrator] And bring your appetite, because we're exploring a culinary arts program in Sacramento, which offers a fully student-run restaurant to the public.

- You don't realize or remember that you're sitting in a community college restaurant.

- [Narrator] It's all coming up next on "Inside California Education."

- [Narrator 2] Funding for "Inside California Education" is made possible by... - [Narrator 3] The California lottery is turning 40.

And together with players, retail partners, and our staff, we're celebrating decades of raising extra money for public education.

More than $46 billion in four decades of having fun.

Thank you, from the California Lottery.

- [Narrator 4] Imagine a credit union where school employees are treated like the heroes you are.

At School's First 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.

- [Narrator 5] The Stuart Foundation, improving life outcomes for young people through education.

College Board, helping all students own their future.

- [Narrator 2] Additional funding for "Inside California Education" is made possible by these organizations supporting public education.

(soft music) (upbeat music) (bell ringing) (upbeat music) (soft music) - Good morning everyone.

While I do the warmup, I'm gonna come around and check your Yondr, so if you could please go ahead, have your Yondr out on your desk.

If you have your pink pass, have your pink pass out.

- [Narrator 6] It might look like ninth grade English teacher, Aura Smithers is checking homework, but she's actually making sure her students' cell phones are locked away.

She's doing a Yondr check and it's part of San Mateo High School's cell phone-free policy, which bans phones throughout the school day, including at lunchtime.

- For a lot of students, and I think a lot of people like we really don't have a place in our day or in our lives that are cell phone free.

And I do think that there's a huge benefit for students, particularly as they are developing and learning to have a space that is cell phone free.

- [Narrator 6] To create this phone-free environment, the school provides each student with a secure magnetic lockable bag called a Yondr pouch.

Students must bring their pouch to school every morning, turn off their phone, place it into the pouch, lock it, and store it away all before the first bell rings.

After their last class, students are free to unlock their pouch, at bases located around the school campus.

- This was something that our educators felt, you know, very strongly about because it affected students, their mental health, social wellbeing, as well as academics.

- [Narrator 6] Principal Yvonne Shiu has overseen San Mateo High School's push for a cell phone free environment since the beginning.

The idea was initially proposed by teachers.

- Back in spring of 2019, there was a school in the East Base that was using Yondrs.

So we sent a small group of teachers over to investigate and kind of see how it worked.

We found that it releases the responsibility of the teacher having to collect phones, return them, and then students become responsible for their own property.

- [Narrator 6] After purchasing the pouches with funds raised by their parent teacher organization, San Mateo High School rolled out their cell phone free policy for the 2019-2020 school year, making them pioneers in their school district.

- Having just to be able to focus specifically on learning, not having to sort of manage students in putting their phones away, I think really helps students focus on learning and what we're doing in the classroom and interacting with each other.

- It kind of helps train us to not be addicted to our phones.

You know, they're gonna be people who either way are gonna be breaking the rules and using their phones during school.

But for the most part, I think that we are now kind of moving away from constantly being glued to our screens as a result of the policy.

- [Narrator 6] Syd is a senior at San Mateo of high school.

He says he had an adjustment period after arriving here from a middle school that had a less restrictive policy.

- Coming into high school, it was a little odd not, you know, being able to scroll through apps whenever you wanted to and like, you know, write down other people's numbers on your phone.

But it's really small things like that that you missed out on.

I'd say that the benefits were a little bit greater and so I think now junior, senior year, I really appreciate it a lot more.

- [Narrator 6] Although the school is cell phone free, there are exceptions for medical and safety reasons, and students can still call their parents from the school's office phone if needed.

The trade off is worth it for students like Lulu.

- San Mateo's a very social school and we're kind of known for that.

And I think the Yondrs play a big role in why we're so social, because people like talk to each other way more.

Forces you to get past the awkward stages of friendships, which is really nice because I could just be on my phone, and hide away from awkward scenarios if I wanted to, but this allows me to step out of my comfort zone.

- [Narrator 6] Syd and Lulu are just two of many students who see the positives of a cell phone free campus, but not all their peers are on board.

Some find loopholes putting them at risk of having their phones confiscated or receiving detention.

- I mean, there's lots of things that students do to try to sort of go around the Yondr program.

They'll put like calculators or deck of cards in the Yondr pouch.

There's like really creative ways that students have to get around the pouch.

I think some kids don't like the control aspect of it, but I think that they do see how they're able to focus more on their learning.

And I've had a lot of kids say that they really like the face-to-face and not having to compete with the phone.

- [Narrator 6] Despite some occasional infractions, San Mateo High School sees its program as a success, and due to the new Phone Free School Act, a law requiring California schools K through 12 to limit student cell phones on campus by July 2026, more policies like San Mateo's are expected to be created.

- I think, you know, with schools that don't have it, it's a big jump and there is leeway in how schools or districts implement their cell phone free environments.

How San Mateo does it works for us.

And so the little that we can do in getting students off their phones during the school day, I think is helpful.

- I can't say for certain in 10 years whether all of us are gonna be less addicted to our phones than we would've been if Yondr wasn't in place.

But I'd say that it could be a helping factor.

- [Narrator] As of June 2025, California is one of four states that has laws in place limiting cell phones in classrooms.

18 other states and Washington DC have banned phones in schools altogether.

(soft music) - Good morning.

How are you?

There we go guys.

There we go.

You got this.

You got this today.

Every student comes into my classroom with certain natural gifts, talents, and abilities.

And it is my job as a teacher to help that student hone those natural gifts and abilities into the person that they're becoming as an adult.

You're gonna be entering the pattern at that 45 degree angle, right?

Teaching, it is my calling, and every day as an educator you gotta come in and put yourself away and say, what's best for my students here in front of me and how do I lift them up in every way that I can?

(soft music) - [Narrator 7] Matt Winheim teaches at Sage Academy in Palmdale, where middle school students explore the frontiers of space and aeronautics.

- Five goes into 33, 6 times.

My subject area that I'm teaching with them is mathematics.

Six times five is 30, oh you're right, it does.

My elective that I'm teaching with them is the aviation and the planes and the drones.

So how do I use that aviation and planes and drones environment to show them the hands on application of the mathematics so that they can become problem solvers, whether they're interested in aviation, aeronautics or not, that they can understand that they have the capacity within themselves to do amazing things, to solve complex problems, and you know what?

You could even learn how to fly a plane 'cause this simulator works just like the real thing.

Looks like you're gonna have a heading of about 110 degrees.

Perfect, look at that, outstanding.

Well done, well done.

- [Narrator 7] Matt's dedication to his students and to the profession earned him one of education's highest honors, 2025 California Teacher of the Year.

He was one of five teachers recognized across the state and the only one to earn a nomination at the national level.

- It's an incredible honor to have been selected.

It really is.

There's a lot of great educators here in our state and abroad.

- [Narrator 7] Matt dedicates his award to his late father.

- My father was a teacher and there's a statement that's famous from, I wanna say Isaac Newton, where he said, if I've seen further it's because I've stood on the shoulders of giants, you know.

So this is for dad.

We're just here for a moment, right?

Just like our predecessors were.

And we get to be those shoulders now for our students to stand on.

With that being said there are students who we have to lift up, and they're not gonna reach their full potential unless we actually do it.

Looks like you made it.

Yeah, wanna do it again?

- Yeah.

- Go for it man, level up.

What I find most rewarding is when a student honestly believes they cannot do something, and then through a couple of activities with them, they turn around and say, oh wait, I can, I can do it, I can do it now.

And to see their eyes light up with that aha and those moments happen because of the types of classes I get to teach.

They happen a lot, you know, it's pretty exciting.

Prior to becoming an educator, I had the opportunity to join the Air Force.

I spent four years assigned here at Edwards Air Force Base.

I was working on avionic systems.

- [Narrator 7] It was during a training session, when he had his own aha moment.

- One of the instructors was taking us through the fundamentals of electronic circuits and through the lesson it was very clear that he was showing us basically algebra, but it was applied to these electrical circuits, and there was this aha.

It's like, wait a minute, and it completely floored me 'cause not only was I understanding the mathematics, but I was seeing that there's an application for it and, it stuck with me for years.

- [Narrator 7] He began to question whether he was on the right trajectory in life.

- You know, when you're a young man, you're kind of searching around, what's my purpose gonna be?

What am I gonna do with my life?

You know, that kind of thing.

And even though I loved airplanes, it was kind of a calling of God in my heart.

It was like, well go teach math.

I was like, I don't know math.

Well it was like you got this GI bill, how about go back to school, learn the mathematics, and become a math teacher, right?

And, so I actually, I got my honorable discharge from the Air Force and from that moment forward, I've given my time and my efforts to education and I consider it an extension of my duty to my country, right?

My duty to my community, to doing whatever I can to make this world a better place.

My little section of it, a better place.

Which is not easy, alright.

Alright, I'm very proud of you.

(soft music) - [Narrator] Still ahead on "Inside California Education," see how a culinary arts program and student-run restaurant is cooking up fine dining careers.

But first visit Mendez Tribute Monument Park and discover the rich, but often forgotten civil rights history it represents.

(soft music) - [Narrator 8] On a busy street corner in the Orange County community of Westminster, you'll find a tribute to one of the most impactful civil rights cases you may never have heard of.

(soft music) - Mendez versus Westminster case is a landmark civil rights case that created desegregated schools in California.

- [Narrator 8] Before Brown versus Board of Education led to the desegregation of schools throughout the United States, Mendez versus Westminster did the same thing in California, lifelong resident, Sergio Contreras couldn't believe this case that set the precedent for well-known federal legislation was virtually unknown.

- I grew up in Westminster.

I'm born and raised in Westminster.

I'm a first generation American, English learner, and I went through the school system in elementary school, middle school, high school, and had never heard of the Mendez case.

- [Narrator 8] Contreras is a former city council person and school board member who made it his mission to help the community learn about this important piece of their history.

Today, students from around the region learn using interactive tools that introduce them to the case and pay tribute to the Mendez family.

- The first one, the Mendez family.

- [Narrator 8] On this particular day, for this high school ethnic studies class, there's an extra treat.

- [Announcer] This is Sylvia Mendez.

- [Narrator 8] At 89 years old, Sylvia Mendez lights up when she meets students.

Sharing her experience as an 8-year-old arriving at a new school and being turned away is something she has dedicated her life to as a way to honor her parents.

- My father, Gonzalo, asked my Tia Sally to bring us to school, and when we arrived, the clerk told them, we don't take Mexicans here.

- [Narrator 8] School officials barred Sylvia and her brother from the all-white school and demanded they attend the school for Latino students instead.

- The bus would come and drop us off in front of the school and they would walk into the school, all my friends, 'cause it was in the white neighborhood we lived in, and we had to walk all the way to that Mexican school.

- [Narrator 8] Her parents, Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez hired an attorney, who suggested a class action lawsuit.

It took them a year to convince four other families to join them in this fight.

In 1947, the federal court ruled that this kind of ethnic segregation violated the 14th Amendment.

A monumental decision made seven years before the more famous Brown ruling.

Sylvia said it was her first of many lessons in perseverance, lessons she shares with students as they stand next to a statue of her parents.

- Literally sitting in the same like premises as her.

And you're like, this is real.

This wasn't even like that long ago that schools were segregated and people couldn't like be equal, you know?

- As an educator, you know, we can teach so much curriculum, but one thing that we cannot teach is students how to care.

So we would listening to her speak or reading articles and not to see it come to life.

It's just, it's a beautiful moment to see.

- And she would say, Sylvia, nobody saw Mendez versus Westminster, nobody knows about how we fought.

- [Narrator 8] Sadly, in the years that followed Mendez versus Westminster, not many people knew about the struggle in what was once a small farming town.

Sylvia says her father died penniless and without the recognition he deserved for this groundbreaking fight for equality.

- My mother always wanted to make sure that my father got at least a gracias, Gonzalo.

- [Narrator 8] Sergio Contreras says, the new Mendez Tribute Monument Park is the result of years of fundraising as well as working with the community, and the same board of education that once denied Sylvia and other children the right to attend their local public school.

- We're literally in my dream, which was to create a space where we have students from all over Orange County to visit and learn about this groundbreaking civil rights case.

That really was the birth of the Civil Rights movement.

- I am lucky to be able to have that freedom to go to whatever school I want, not having to be like segregated just because of my color.

- Yeah, this probably is a story of history that I'm going to remember because it goes back to me.

If this didn't happen, I would've been in a different school than I am right now.

- [Narrator 8] Today the case of Mendez versus Westminster is part of California's public school curriculum.

And in 2011, Sylvia Mendez was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a moment of recognition she thinks her father also deserved.

- When Obama gave me the Medal of Freedom, I knew that that was his gracias, Gonzalo, he had finally gotten his gracias, Gonzalo for what you did for all the students.

(soft music) - [Narrator 8] Sylvia loves to remind students that ordinary people can do anything including change history.

- You just have to persevere and not give up.

It might be a long struggle, it was a struggle, but if I could do it, I know that anybody can do it.

So that's what I wanna make sure that the students know that they can do anything they want to do.

(soft music) - [Narrator 8] The statues featured in the Mendez Tribute Monument Park, were designed and sculpted by artist and muralist Ignacio Gomez.

(upbeat music) - It's gonna be a pretty busy day today, so we're expecting close to a hundred folks.

- [Narrator 9] At American River College in Sacramento, food is bringing people together in more ways than one.

- Customer feedback is always wonderful.

You don't realize or remember that you're sitting in a community college restaurant.

- [Narrator 9] That restaurant is called The Oak Cafe.

It's open to the public two days a week, and is fully run by students.

It's part of the community college's culinary arts and hospitality management program.

- The student body is diverse not only in its ethnic makeup, but also in its age.

So we have students that are right out of high school as well as students that are returning to learn.

- [Narrator 9] The $10 million Evangelisti Culinary Art Center opened in 2014, giving community college students a chance to train in a state-of-the-art facility at a fraction of the cost of private culinary schools.

Students can earn degrees or certificates in culinary arts and restaurant management, with the options to focus on front of house or back of house operations.

That includes everything from cooking and baking to hosting and managing a restaurant.

- [Brian] The culinary Center has three teaching lecture and lab classrooms as well as a demonstration kitchen and a full running restaurant.

- We went from like teaching out of two classrooms and now we have this facility where we have cutting edge equipment.

We have this dining room where we do a three course lunch that changes every week and everything is made from scratch.

If we have a hundred guests that day and they each have three courses, which they do, then they're putting out 300 plates that day, which is really good experience.

- [Narrator 9] Graduates are often snapped up by restaurants in the Sacramento region and beyond.

- We also have students working at other levels.

Some of our graduates go run food trucks, some of them run catering businesses or work for caterers.

- Our program and our instructors really try to curate this course to imitate a real career.

So how we are basing this line and how we are basing today's service of these six, seven hours, it is how you would in working as a line or working as a sous chef in an actual restaurant kitchen.

We have multiple positions such as saute, grill, pizza, pantry, desserts, and we switch through all those positions so everyone gets comfortable, - But there are times when something goes wrong.

This morning we almost didn't have bread for service because something went wrong and they managed to pull it off and make it happen, which is exactly what you would do in a regular restaurant.

- First batch might be workable, but because it's so wet, it's taking way too long to get to what it needs to be.

- Today I am a host, but the main position I have been has been a server.

- [Narrator 9] Finch Duong has done just about every restaurant job, starting out as a dishwasher and now studying to become a chef.

Outside of school, Finch works at The French Laundry, a three Michelin star restaurant in Napa Valley.

- It's really dynamic, even though sometimes you can't really have the answers to what's going on in the dining room.

It's taught me some of the skills, especially when it comes to taking care of the guest and being able to take care of your section.

- [Ashly] From the beginning to now, I feel like I've learned so much.

- [Narrator 9] Ashly Meza makes pastries and other baked goods for the Oak Cafe Bakery located right next door to the restaurant.

Like the Oak Cafe, the bakery is run entirely by students.

- Students don't just learn those technical skills, like they don't learn just how to make bread or make a really good cookie.

They also learn more of these critical thinking management business skills, so they see how to do a whole production schedule.

How bakeries, you're not gonna make everything from start to finish in one day, but how to take a product, break it down to its individual components, and then create like a week long production plan.

- Everyone's so welcoming.

If you need help, they're always willing to help you, especially the teachers.

It's a good opportunity for someone to go there to start and improving on their skills.

- [Narrator 9] This space is not just for culinary art students.

Today, students from the wider community college can sign up for demonstrations to learn about cooking on a budget, like a Thanksgiving meal for eight people costing $44.

- And that way your turkey's not sticking to the bottom and the skin's not gonna come off.

- [Narrator 9] Culinary arts instructor, Teresa Urkofsky, leads these demos, using ingredients found at discount stores, and the college's food pantry.

- And this is the way I put it, I just wanna avoid the $5 pizza.

You know that people would get on the way home to feed their kids, when they can use the produce, and they can use the staple items that they get from the pantry.

They can just provide so much more nutrition to their kids and themselves.

- [Narrator 9] American River College faculty say whether you're looking for a career in the restaurant industry, or just curious about cooking a turkey on a budget, there's an opportunity here at the Culinary Arts Center.

- Even if you're not too sure, I would say the classes that you would consider taking for fun, like some of the breads and pastry classes, or some of the culinary basics to at least teach you how to cook.

So even if you're not trying to seek out an education for like a AA in hospitality, the people you meet along the way will be amazing.

- Alrighty, breathe, you're breathing?

It's okay.

- [Narrator] That's it for this edition of "Inside California Education."

If you'd like more information about the program, log onto our website insidecaled.org.

We have stories 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."

(upbeat music) - Space, time, things play.

(upbeat music) - You're gonna be entering the pattern at that 45 degree angle, right?

(upbeat music) - The first one's the Mendez family - Yeah.

(upbeat music) - So, you see how we do this rack, with the vegetables here?

And that way your turkey's not sticking to the bottom.

- [Narrator 2] Funding for "Inside California Education" is made possible by... - [Narrator 3] The California lottery is turning 40.

And together with players, retail partners, and our staff, we're celebrating decades of raising extra money for public education.

More than $46 billion in four decades of having fun.

Thank you, from the California Lottery.

(soft music) - [Narrator 4] Imagine a credit union where school employees are treated like the heroes you are.

At School's First 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.

- [Narrator 5] The Stuart Foundation, improving life outcomes for young people through education.

College Board, helping all students own their future.

- [Narrator 2] Additional funding for "Inside California Education" is made possible by these organizations supporting public education.

(soft music) (upbeat music)