We “catch” the students who are on the verge
of completely falling out of the education
system. Acknowledge provides training and
supervision to therapist interns who, in turn,
provide counseling to students attending San
Mateo County Court and Community Schools.
100% of these students are on probation or
have been expelled. They are considered most
at-risk because they are exposed to poverty,
gangs, unstable homes and/or abuse in their
daily lives. Students often share that our
counselors are the first adult they have a
positive relationship with.
Acknowledge Alliance provides a full breadth of school-based services wherever students and educators need
it most. Our therapists offer guidance to educators and upcoming mental health professionals to help them
effectively address students’ underlying social and emotional needs that sometimes hinder learning. Together,
we create a consistent safety net on the frontline to keep students positively engaged in school regardless of
their circumstances—ultimately leading to graduation, personal fulfillment and lifelong success.
The prevalence of mental
disorders among youth in
the general population is
estimated to be about 22%;
the prevalence rate for
youth in the juvenile justice
system is as high as 60%.
9 to 12
Court and
Community
Schools
The Catch Before the Fall
“Counseling was helpful
to me because I felt I had
someone I can trust and
count on. It made me feel
like people actually cared
about me.” — Student
Nearly 50% of teachers
leave their profession
within the first 5 years.
Over 3 million elementary
and middle school students
are suspended per year.
K to 8
Schools
The Beginning Foundation
The relationship between students and
teachers is at the heart of learning.
Providing support to educators helps them
better support and teach students. Starting
at an early age, we shape the foundation
for school readiness and achievement by:
ü Mentoring educators through 1:1
consultations and support groups
ü Embedding social emotional learning for
the whole classroom
ü Offering counseling for students
“I feel like I am more
relaxed at work, more
able to empathize with
my students, and a better,
calmer, role model for
the kids.” —Teacher
Over 3 million public school
students dropped out of
high school in 2013.
Only 43% of California
students report feeling
connected to their school.
Public
High
Schools
The Transition to Success
After students exit from the Court and
Community Schools, we help them
smoothly transition back into their public
high school by providing counseling and
resources on campus. New challenges
students often encounter include peer
pressure and anonymity in a large school.
Our counselors help students navigate the
school system and motivate them to realize
their full potential. Thoughts of attending
college, becoming employed, and having a
positive lifestyle are now within reach.
“I want to thank my
counselor for all she’s
done and all the support
that she has given me.
She made me be a stronger
person.” —Student
A Resilient &
Compassionate
Safety Net
FORMERLY The Cleo Eulau Center
Founded in 1994, Acknowledge Alliance is focused on creating classrooms where students want to learn and teachers
want to teach. We provide a full breadth of school-based services wherever students and educators need the most support.
Our impact reaches over 300 educators and 4,000 students in 18 schools within Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.
2483 Old Middlefield Way, Suite 208 Mountain View, CA 94043 • www.AcknowledgeAlliance.org • 650-314-0180 @AcknowledgeAll Follow Us

5:00
Doors Open: Early Check-In
5:30
Silent Auction
Hors D'oeuvres
Wine Tasting — J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines
6:15
Dinner Buffet Opens — Absolute Barbecue Company
6:30
Silent Auction Closes
6:45 to 8:00
Welcome
Susan Williams-Clark, Executive Director
Educator Awards
Robyn Cherry, Math & Science Teacher
Melinda Fore, Educational Services Manager
Live Auction
Mark Alman, Auctioneer
Student Award
Nick Jasso, Sequoia High School Student
Fund-the-Hope
Forget-Me-Not:
Fields of Hope
May 7, 2015
Holbrook-Palmer Park
A bright wildflower that grows in the shade
Symbol of resilience, remembrance, and renewal

Napa Valley Getaway
Secluded Wine Country Bungalow on
Two Wooded Acres in Napa Valley
Nestled just two miles from Calistoga, this
charming two bedroom house is the perfect
home base for exploring the Napa and
Sonoma Valleys! Dates for this two-night
stay are available on various weekends until
March 13, 2016 (based on VRBO occupany-
check calendar at http://bit.ly/napahome).
Included to enhance your weekend
extravaganza and so forth:
-A $100 gift certificate towards lunch at
Bottega Napa Valley Ristorante
-A 2015 Wine Passport for complimentary
tastings in selected wineries within Napa,
Sonoma, Santa Barbara, Oregon, and
Washington
Value: $1,100
Donated by Sydney Lagier & Doug Wachtel,
Bottega Ristorante, Napa Valley Passport
Paella Party
The Perfect Dish to Rally
A Circle of Friends!
Have an authentic taste of Spain and enjoy
this specialty dish of Chet and Carla's at
their beautiful home in San Francisco!
The paella pan will be filled with piping hot
fresh seafood to the very brim...ready for
your special party of eight to indulge and
devour. Plenty of wine, appetizers, salad and
dessert to go around too!
With scenic views of San Francisco and
fun-loving hosts, this one-of-a-kind party
will truly add some festive and delicious
pizzazz to your next celebration!
Value: Priceless
Donated and Hosted by Chet & Carla Villalba
Dining with the Stars
A Bay Area Culinary Delight of
4 Michelin-Starred Restaurants
Four Michelin-starred restaurants offer the
best of San Francisco Peninsula dining! Use
these certificates to treat you and your date
to an extraordinary gourmet experience.
Each is valued at $200.
Madera
Menlo Park
Chez TJ
Mountain View
The Plumed Horse
Saratoga
The Village Pub
Woodside
Value: $800
Donated by Cindy & Wayne Davison,
Terri & Tom Bailard

An Evening in Marrakesh
A Sumptious Moroccan Feast
in Welcoming Woodside Home
Slip into your most exotic clothes and
wander into the hills to a refuge of candles,
music and eclectic art from around the
world.
Your friendly hosts will fete you with a
lavishly-spiced Moroccan meal and
elegantly paired wines as you enjoy your
private “evening in Marrakesh.”
Your group of six friends will be attentively
served by three couples intent on making
your evening truly memorable!
Value: Priceless
Donated and Hosted by Diane Toby & Jeff Lea
A Voyage At Sea
Any 7-day Holland America Line
Caribbean or Mexico Cruise for Two
When you step aboard one of the five-star
ships of Holland America Line, you will
experience a voyage unlike any other.
Your journey will include spetacular dining,
a spacious stateroom, elegant surroundings
and days filled with new discoveries,
memories and gracious pampering by an
award-wining crew.
Take sail on the next adventure of your
choice to either the Carribean or Mexico,
whenever you desire! This certificate has no
expiration dates; is based on one minimum
ocean view stateroom; and does not include
taxes, onboard charges, or shore excursions.
Value: $2,800
Donated by
Value:
Infinitely Priceless
(lifetime guarantee)
When teachers face stress and
burnout from classroom demands,
When students struggle under
pressure and experience adversities,
When schools cope with tragic loss,
Acknowledge Alliance helps
lend support,
provide guidance,
cultivate resilience,
build strengths,
and restore hope.
Help us create more classrooms....
where students want to learn
and teachers want to teach.
Fund-the-Hope
Raise your paddle
to make a gift tonight!

Robyn Cherry
On top of the already difficult social and emotional changes middle school
brings, so many of our students are struggling with stressors outside of school
that I can’t even imagine having to deal with. Despite these circumstances, they
still show up to school. That’s my inspiration. They show up to school, so I have
the opportunity to help them build their character.
I can teach them compassion and empathy: to always treat others with kindness
because you never know what they’re going through. I have the opportunity to
teach my students coping mechanisms and how to be resilient, how to
persevere through tough times, how to make difficult choices, and how to be a
good friend. Because I take advantage of this opportunity, I think students feel
safe, supported, confident, and often times just happy in my classroom.
This is what has inspired me everyday of my past 9 years of teaching. We can’t
get students to understand how to divide fractions or explain the theory of
Continental Drift when they are worried, anxious, angry, or depressed. When
we teach the “whole child” they feel taken care of, which means we can get to
focusing on that math and science.
Math & Science Teacher
Columbia Middle School
Sunnyvale School District
Outstanding
Educator

If you think back on your school days, I’m sure you all remember
one teacher (hopefully more than one) who was your favorite
or who stood out as special because of who she or he was as a
person and because of the relationship s/he had with you and
with your classmates.
Robyn is one of those special teachers and it is a privilege to
honor her today for her commitment to young people, their
learning experience and their growth.
Since our mission at Acknowledge Alliance is centered on
building relationships, I want to share some comments from
people Robyn works with every day at school.
Here’s some of what her Principal, Mary Beth Allmann, had to
say about her:
“If I’m 'stuck' in my office, I can go into Robyn’s class
and it turns my day around. She’s the perfect example
of showing how creating a really strong socially-emotionally
sound or supportive classroom links to academic performance.
She creates a safe space, a community where the students
know she cares about them and when they can ask questions,
support each other...and where everybody’s learning.”
Robyn’s partner in Columbia’s collaboration with Stanford Univer-
sity’s Partnership Program (UPP), Jessica Salazar Adams, had this
to say about working with Robyn:
“I feel entirely blessed to have been given the opportunity to
work so closely with Ms. Cherry this year. When I started
working at Columbia Middle School four years ago, Ms. Cherry
did not hesitate to welcome me with open arms. Over the
years, I've grown to know just how sweet and compassionate
she is and the children’s adoration towards her serves as a true
testament to her making a difference in their lives.”
It’s clear that Robyn makes a difference with everyone she comes
in contact with, especially the 11, 12, and 13 year olds who are
lucky to have her as their teacher, their families who she reaches
out to and connects with, and the staff who experience her caring,
calm, and, I would add, loving presence and spirit.
— Jean Hamilton, LMFT
Resilience Consultant

Melinda Fore
Educational Services Manager
Community Schools Program
San Mateo County Office of Education
I grew up in Breckenridge, Texas which is a small town about 90 miles west
of Fort Worth. I graduated from Texas Tech University and Texas Christian
University. Fourteen years ago I moved to the Bay Area. What a wonderful
place to live and work! When I am not working, I enjoy movies, baseball,
college football, theater—especially Broadway musicals, and curling up with
a good book.
I have been an educator for just over 20 years, 11 of those years as a principal.
In addition to my administrative experience, I have been a classroom teacher
and a Reading Recovery teacher.
It is an honor to be at the helm of the Community Schools Program where
the adults are in a prime position to truly support young people. I find the
students in my program to be some of the brightest and most talented
students with whom I have worked. It is my hope that the time students
spend in the Community Schools Program provides a respite—a time of
reflection and renewed hope!
Outstanding
Educator

Melinda Fore is the principal of the San Mateo County Community
Schools, where she tenaciously loves, advocates for, and educates
the students who attend, and mentors and encourages, and
supports the teaching, probation, and administrative staff with
whom she works.
Her students (sometimes affectionately called her “babies”) come
first! She believes 100% in their ability to succeed and has gone
the extra miles to create a safe and welcoming environment in
which they can thrive. She is tuned into their individual needs,
frequently identifying students who might need counseling or
other resources and then doggedly making sure that happens.
Melinda ensures that students can get the counseling they need
from our program while working collaboratively with and
supporting our interns.
Melinda is tuned into the collective needs of everyone at
community schools, always looking to bring in the most up to
date and effective programs and curriculum to provide her
students (and staff) with every opportunity to learn, grow and
succeed. She has incredible knowledge about education and
policy and all that is required to be on the forefront in service of
these kids. She is creative and flexible in her approach on a
day to day and minute to minute basis, in order to meet the
needs of each student and situation in ways that have the most
chance of working. She is the energizer bunny…sometimes a
whirling dervish…and she gets the job done with tenacity, humor,
and love.
Her tireless efforts to be everywhere, do everything, and yet fully
embrace and support everyone working for and with her will
leave you in awe. As said by one of her staff members: “She has
organized and structured Gateway (a school most considered the
toughest), in a way that is seamless and easy to follow.” Other
staff talked with me about how inspired as well as supported they
feel by her leadership style, leaving them wanting to be their very
best.
Every time I walk on the Gateway campus, it is a happy and safe
place to be...you can feel it from the kids and the staff. I can’t tell
you how important this is for these disenfranchised kids. For most
of them, school has merely been a place of shame and frustration.
We all know that creating a positive and enriching environment
like this comes from the top down…Melinda, you are Tops!!
— Judith Gable, LCSW
Collaborative Counseling Program Director

Nick Jasso
Hope has changed my life. I am a senior at Sequoia High School, less than a month away from
graduating – a place I thought I would never arrive. I feel blessed to be here and have this opportunity.
I hope to keep chasing my dreams and one day become a firefighter.
Nick is a young man who has faced much adversity. He experienced many
difficulties as a child and battled more tribulations as a teen. He came to
our Transition Program in 2012 at Sequoia High School. He was ready to
persevere. He took advantage of several support systems and many
opportunities that were offered to him, the Transition Program being one
of them. While receiving our services, I watched him blossom. He is an
amazingly accomplished son and grandson, student, mentor, role-model
and soon to be a 2015 Sequoia High School graduate!!
— Kristal Sanchez-Navarro, PsyD
Transition Program Therapist
Outstanding
Role Model

A huge thank YOU to all our guests and donors!
We'd also like to acknowledge the generous individuals
and businesses who have contributed to Forget-Me-Not.
Bob Beyer
Steve Hope
Linda Keegan
Brooke Kernick
Susan Levenberg
Grainger Marburg
Bridgett Longust
Deborah Tanaka-Laude
Chet Villalba
Jane Bryan-Jones & Hardy Jones
Cindy & Wayne Davison
Penny Goldcamp
Sally & Craig Falkenhagen
John Kriewall & Betsy Haehl
Susan Levenberg & Paul Podrid
Bridgett Longust
Mary Lou & Tony Schiavo
Marilyn Stallings
Authentic You
49ers
Bay Area Discovery
Museum
Bob Beyer
Bottega Ristorante
California Academy
of Sciences
Celebrity Forum
Chet & Carla Villalba
Christine Chang
Cindy & Wayne
Davison
Cline Cellars
Crystal Springs
Golf Course
Deborah Tanaka-Laude
Diane Moon
Diane Toby & Jeff Lea
Disneyland Resort
Domaine Chandon
Exploratorium
Helen & David
MacKenzie
Hobee's
Holland America Line
Jessica Yuen
Jory Moon
Ledson Winery
Linda Keegan
MarketMe Video
Napa Valley Passport
Napa & Sonoma
Valley Bike Tours
Pier 39
Pomegranate Seed
Six Flags Discovery
Kingdom
Sarah Kremer &
Lauren Owenmark
San Jose Giants
Savannah Chanelle
Vineyards
Susan Williams-Clark
Sydney Lagier &
Doug Watchel
Terri & Tom Bailard
The Counter
Whole Foods Market
Susan Williams-Clark
Judy Bulloch
Chris Chiochios
Beverly Corriere
Maya Drori
Judith Gable
Gladys Gudino
Jean Hamilton
Jane Haddow
Sarah Kremer
Tracy Lyons
Lisa Medoff
Diane Moon
Kristal Sanchez-Navarro
Carmen Enciso-Steinberg
Wendy Salazar
Mary Sylvester
Beth Walton
Tracy White
Jessica Yuen
Ashley Altmeyer
Anistasia Anishchenko
Ryan Ansarra
Emily Artusio
Crystal Cajilog
Scott Christensen
Suzanne Coleman
Tara Collins
Kate Deaton
Julia Hammett
Eileen Lindgren
Lauren Lowe
Nancy Ramirez
Kira Steifman
John Talaga
Board of Directors
Acknowledge Staff
Acknowledge Interns
Leadership Committee
Auction Donors (as of 4/21)
Photographer
Kenneth Chung
Wine Tasting Sponsor
J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines