West Sacramento Christmas Tree Lighting

The City of West Sacramento would like to invite the community to this year’s Christmas Tree lighting. The event is scheduled for Friday, December 1st at 5:30pm. Bring your “ugly Christmas sweater”, your friends and family, and Christmas cheer. This is a free, family event where you can wish your fellow community members happy holidays.

Nerf Battles

West Sacramento Parks & Rec is hosting Nerf Battles for kids age 7-13 years old. On December 1st, 2023 from 6:30-8:00pm your kids have the opportunity to “dive into action-packed excitement as your young warriors dodge, sprint, and strategize their way through thrilling battles.” Darts provided, loaner shooters available, eye protection required. Fee: Free for passholders, $10 for non-passholders. This popular event sells out! Secure your kid’s spot and register today online at cityofwestsacramento.org. Find under “Youth & Teen” or enter “Nerf Battles” into the search bar. The Recreation Center is located at 2801 Jefferson Blvd., West Sacramento

Internship Program Wins League of California Cities Award

On Thursday, September 21, the City of West Sacramento was presented with the Helen Putnam Award for Excellence for City and Business Relations for the West Sacramento Home Run Paid Internship Program by the League of California Cities at its Annual Conference and Expo in Sacramento. A representative from the league also attended the November 1st City Council meeting and presented the Council and our partners, Washington Unified School District, with a plaque to commemorate the award.

The Paid Internship program was initiated by the City Council and designed by Home Run staff in partnership with the West Sacramento Chamber of Commerce and has grown from around 24 students in 2017 to 56 in summer of 2023. The program, which places students in meaningful internships with local businesses and organizations, is available to high school students from all Washington Unified High Schools aged 16 and older and have completed one Career Technical Education course or received a recommendation from a high school counselor or mentor teacher/administrator. The Home Run team was delighted to receive this coveted award and is hopeful that it will help to bring recognition and further partnership with local businesses to the Home Run.

Micro-credentials for Early Learning Professionals

In Fall 2023, West Sacramento Home Run’s early learning professionals will have a new way to share their skills and experience with the public. Digital Badges have been part of the West Sacramento Home Run since the beginning, and initially focused on youth participating in training, courses, or experiences that can be badged and show they have gained career readiness skills. West Sacramento’s early learning quality improvement has been providing teachers, administrators and caregivers of young children with professional development, coaching and certification in an array of skillsets known to be important for quality early learning. Because the Home Run early learning specialists are state-certified, we have now embarked on a new form of digital badging and micro-credentials specifically designed for early learning. The micro-credentials earned through this new program:

Signify that specific skills and/or competencies have been demonstrated by the credential holder; are endorsed by the West Sacramento Home Run; and are developed through established state and local governance processes

As of November of 2023, there are multiple badges being issued to early learning teachers and administrators, and those digital badges can be included in online profiles like LinkedIn, on digital resumes, and are also being printed on stickers that will be displayed at the site to signify the levels of quality work done by early learning staff.