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The 2nd Annual Starlight Soiree Fundraising hosted by the Rocklin Educational Excellence Foundation (REEF) was a great success! Once again community and business leaders came together to show their support for the Rocklin Unified School District! As many of you know, having high-quality public schools is a high priority for the families in our area. In fact, it is the primary reason people move to Rocklin. They are attracted to Rocklin because of its well-deserved reputation for great schools. In times when families now have more of a choice as to where their children go to school, RUSD is consistently ranked as one of the very best public school systems regionally. Twelve thousand families are part of the RUSD family, consisting of award-winning eleven elementary schools, two middle schools, two comprehensive high schools, an alternative high school as well as the Rocklin Independent Charter Academy.
The 2nd Annual Starlight Soiree was about bringing community and business leaders together so we can help support that tradition of excellence and invest in giving our students the competitive edge they will need to succeed and thrive in college, careers and active citizenship.
The Rocklin Educational Excellence Foundation is working to prepare students for the future. Part of that future is going to college and other postsecondary opportunities. We were honored to have the leaders of higher education in our area on our host committee for this event.
Among the many highlights of the night were the words of inspiration from our amazing education leaders: Roger Stock, RUSD Superintendent, Willy Duncan, President of Sierra College, Dr. John Jackson, President of William Jessup University and Al Frisone, Vice President of Advancement at Sacramento State University. And you might think they gave mere speeches… not these guys! They were fantastic, fun and funny and poignant. They made the evening a memorable one! Dr. Nathan Herzog, of WJU School of Education, also brought two RUSD alumni (graduates of Rocklin HS and Whitney HS) who now want to become teachers and they thriving at the WJU School of Education program, producing wonderful future teachers. Our Master of Ceremonies was none other than longtime CBS 13 Weatherman Dave Bender who kept the crowd entertained. He was awesome!
We are very grateful for such a tremendous outpouring of support from our Starlight Soiree sponsors. Thank you to – Presenting Sponsor: William Jessup University School of Education. Pegasus Sponsor: BCA Architects. Dinner Sponsor: The Chef’s Table. Venue Sponsor: The City of Rocklin. Centaurus Sponsor: SAFE Credit Union, Landmark Construction, Placer Ranch, Lozano Smith Attorneys. Orion Sponsor: Wellness Together, Communications Resources, The Broadway Family, Halldin Public Relations, Scott Yuill State Farm Insurance, Thunder Valley Casino. In-Kind Sponsor: Bouchard Communications Group, Sharif Jewelers, Out of Bound Brewing Company.
A Special Thank You To:
• Roger Stock, RUSD Superintendent
• Willy Duncan, President of Sierra College
• John Jackson, President of William Jessup University
• Nathan Herzog, Ph.D., Dean of School of Education, WJU
• Al Frisone, Vice President of Advancement at Sacramento State University
• Dave Bender, Anchor from CBS 13 Sacramento, for making the 2nd Annual Starlight Soiree a fun event
• Noel Smith, Event Planner for decorating the organizing and decorating the place so elegantly
• Erick Johnson, The Chef’s Table and his crew for an amazing four-course dinner
• Doug Martin for music entertainment
• City of Rocklin (Quarry Park is a beautiful backdrop for this event)
• ABC 10 Drew Fowler for providing terrific live auction items (Audience experiences at both
• Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune and a cool Swag Bag from each popular show)
• The culinary students from Whitney High Schools who did an amazing job assisting Chef Erick
• REEF Board Members Todd Lowell and Ann Bouchard for the tremendous work on the planning committee