Proud father of two Santa Clara Unified School students - Andrew age 14
is a freshman at Santa Clara High School; Katie is a 7th Grader at
Buchser Middle School.
Caren and Andy Ratermann have been happily married for 17 years.
Caren also volunteers in our schools; she ran the scrip program at
Westwood and has served in many capacities in the PTA and other school
organizations.
Community Service
President Santa Clara Sister Cities Association for 3
years.
Santa Clara Sister Cities Association promotes citizen diplomacy with
Santa Clara’s two Sister Cities: Izumo, Japan and Coimbra, Portugal.
Sister Cities runs many youth programs all of which are available to
students of Santa Clara Unified Schools. Here are a few of the
accomplishments Sister Cities has completed this year :
1. Hosted 15 high school students for a week from Coimbra,
Portugal
2. Ran a reciprocal 2 week exchange for two of our high school
students with Izumo, Japan
3. Hosted and arranged home stays for 40 middle school students
from Izumo, Japan
4. Ran the cities first ever Citizen Diplomacy Summit
5. Hosted the Mayor of Izumo and 33 citizen visitors
6. Ran the Second Annual Youth Art Showcase
7. Arranged for home stays for 13 Wilcox High School students in
Izumo Japan
8. Sent two Santa Clara students to the International Youth
Leadership Conference on Global Citizenship in Washington D.C. Santa Clara Sister Cities,Sister Cities International
Board Member of the Santa Clara County Council of the Boy Scouts of
America, and District Chairperson for the Pioneer District. Andy
oversees the Pioneer District the largest in the Santa Clara Council.
The district has 90 units (Troops, Packs, Venture crews) serving 2500
boys ages 8 to 21 and girls ages 14 to 21. Santa Clara County Council -Scouting
Board Member and Co Founder - Next vista for Learning Next
Vista works to make learning more engaging, with a focus on helping
students start strong with any topic they study. Its central project
is a free, online library of teacher- and student-made short videos
for learners everywhere. Next Vista believes a strong four-minute
video could save students days or weeks of frustration by providing a
variety of presentations on the topics that give them trouble. Next Vista
Board Member - Santa Clara Arts and Historical Consortium
A local consortium that provides infrastructure and a meeting place
for many of the area's art, cultural, and historical groups. The
Consortium publishes the Echo newsletter.
Troop Committee Chairperson - BSA Troop 394
The troop committee is the troop's board of directors. It is responsible for ensuring that this troop is financially stable and that it provides a quality program for the scouts. . Troop-394
Board Member – Santa Clara Historical Preservation Society
The Santa Clara Historical Preservation society runs the Harris Lass
Museum. The museum developed curriculum offers tours to
elementary grade classes. Teachers can take their
students to the museums to supplement their California history classes. The
Santa Society also runs the Santa Clara Home Tour each December. The
Harris-Lass Museum House,Harris-Lass Historic Museum
Member of the Rotary Club of Santa Clara
Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional
leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical
standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the
world. Here are a few of Rotary’s local projects helping our youth :
Steps for Success
– Rotary of Santa Clara distributes 500 pairs of new shoes to needy
children in the Santa Clara
Christmas for Kids – Rotary gives presents and a warm parka
to deserving students at several Santa Clara Unified schools.
Interact– Is a Rotary sponsored service club for young
people ages 14-18. Students in Interact have an opportunity to
participate in fun, meaningful service projects while developing
leadership skills and meeting new friends.
Santa Clara Unified Schools Facilities Needs Task Force
(2002-2004)
Before serving on the school board, Andy served on the Santa Clara
Unified School District’s Facilities Needs Task Force. As part of the
preparation for the Measure J campaign, the task force evaluated our
schools and studied other school districts to define the district's
needs. As part of this process, most district schools were visited giving Andy a better understanding of the needs for each school.
Worked on the Measure J Campaign
Thanks to the hard work of many people including Andy, the Santa Clara
Unified School District won the Measure J bond measure. Measure J
brought $315 million dollars to our district for much needed
facilities modernization. Santa
Clara Passes Measure J
Past member Santa Clara Unified Schools GATE Advisory
Committee
Andy served for 3 years on the district GATE (Gifted and Talented
Education) Advisory committee. He attended continuing education
conferences with district administrators on differentiated
teaching.
Past PTA president - Westwood Elementary
Past Site Council Chair Westwood Elementary
Past Historic Landmarks Commissioner City of Santa Clara
Served on the Mayors Task force for Neighborhood Conservation
In college Andy served as Chief Justice for the Student Court
In college Andy served as Lt Governor FOR the CAL NEV HA district of
Circle K the college Kiwanis service club.
