Next week, kindergarten through eighth-grade students will display their writings at the annual Young Authors' Faire. For the event, students write, illustrate and bind their stories for the public to read.  The books are on display for the week of March 15 in the Education Center of the Tulare County Office of Education.  During the week, visitors are invited to read and comment on the books. Two evening receptions will be held from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16 and Thursday, March 18, so that the public can meet the young authors and celebrate their successes. As an added feature this year, student authors will give a brief reading from their books at these receptions.

Officials expect 800 Tulare County High School students to attend the second annual Step Up Youth Summit on Thursday, March 11 at the McDermont Field House located in downtown Lindsay. The students - representing virtually every high school program in the county - were selected by a principal or counselor who felt they would benefit from the message and resources presented at the summit. The purpose of the Youth Summit is to connect, educate, equip and inspire Tulare County's youth to live violence and drug-free lifestyles, pursue educational achievement and connect to their community in a positive manner.

The public is invited to attend the annual Tulare County History Day event on Friday, March 12, 2010, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Tulare County Office of Education’s Doe Avenue Complex in Visalia. The complex is located at 7000 Doe Avenue, north of Goshen Avenue off of Shirk Road. “History Day is an impressive event,” says County Superintendent of Schools Jim Vidak. “Each year, our students produce awesome videos, exhibits, reenactments and web sites on an important aspect of local, state, national or world history.”

The 25th Annual Tulare County Science & Engineering Fair will be held March 8 – 14 at the Sequoia Mall in Visalia during normal mall hours. Approximately 200 science projects representing the work of students in grades 3 - 12 from 26 Tulare County schools will be on display. Students participating in the Tulare County Science & Engineering Fair may submit their projects under one of two different categories: a “Showing Science” category, which allows students to demonstrate what they know about science through a video or PowerPoint presentation for instance; and a “Doing Science” category, which allows students to develop a traditional project involving a hypothesis and an experiment.

This month, which is California Arts Education Month, the Tulare County Office of Education is holding its annual “Best of Show” Student Art Exhibition. Pieces for the “Best of Show” event were selected from two smaller exhibitions, which began in the fall. Schools from throughout Tulare County submit their students’ best work for the two preliminary exhibitions. This year, the “Best of Show” Exhibition features over 300 paintings, drawings and sculpture as selected by a panel of judges.

The Annual Poetry & Prose On Stage program is scheduled for March 9, 12, 22 and 24, in the Tulare County Office of Education building, located at 2637 West Burrel in Visalia. This countywide oral interpretation event for students in grades K-8 provides an opportunity for participants to recite before an appreciative audience.

Artwork created by Orosi High School junior J. Guadalupe Salazar has been selected out of approximately 300 entries in the 2010 Step Up Youth Summit t-shirt art contest. As the contest winner, Guadalupe will be honored at the Youth Summit with a gift card to the Visalia Mall and have his design featured on the t-shirt worn by 800 attendees at the March 11 event.

On Thursday, February 25, eight teams of young entrepreneurs from Fresno, Tulare and Kings County high schools presented projects developed in response to The Gas Company Student Entrepreneur Challenge. The Challenge, an event sponsored by The Gas Company, is designed to encourage students to develop products, services or other economic growth ideas that can be applied in the San Joaquin Valley.

February 25 • 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. •  Visalia Convention Center

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 · Visalia Convention Center · 8:30 a.m.