Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Fresno Superintendent Takes His Militant Positivity to New Level in Thanking 'Haters'
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 4 years ago on
June 9, 2021

Share

Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson is known as a friendly and cheerful guy who, if he wasn’t heading the state’s third-largest school district, could make a good living as a used-car salesman. (Or so he has reportedly said.)

Check out my other School Zone columns at Nancy Price’s School Zone Facebook page.

One of his favorite catchphrases, usually accompanied by a hashtag, is Militant Positivity. Nelson seems determined to always find silver linings in clouds and make lemonade when he’s handed lemons. If he had a theme song, it probably would be “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” (Is there a ukulele version?)

In a recent post on one of his Facebook pages, Nelson carried his militant positivity to a new level when he talked about being thankful for being attacked by “haters.”

Nelson and the district have been under fire over the past year on a number of issues, including keeping schools closed to in-person instruction when other districts were open, the renaming of the Fresno High mascot, and the naming of the district’s new campus at Ventura Avenue and 10th Street.

He may have been channeling German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (whose adage “what does not kill me makes me stronger”) when he wrote the following:

 

(By the way, don’t call me a hater, Bob, but I’m pretty militantly positive that “vicious” doesn’t have that extra letter s.)


Also in School Zone: 

  • Golden Charter Academy gearing up for new school year.
  • Spark Tank winners talk about their community problem-solving projects.

Summer School for Teachers at This Charter

Teachers at Golden Charter Academy, Fresno’s newest charter school that will be in partnership with Fresno Chaffee Zoo, will have one of the more fun summer school assignments. In July, they’ll be spending a week at the zoo getting docent training, school CEO Robert Golden tells GV Wire.

Docents are volunteers who are thoroughly educated about zoo critters and their habitats and then share their knowledge with zoo visitors.

Golden Charter Academy teachers will need that education when the school opens for its first classes in August. The school will mix classroom lessons with zoo-based, hands-on experiences through environmental education.

The school is opening with grades TK-3 and then gradually adding grades until it tops off in a few years with grade 8.

There was some talk about a summer school for Golden Charter Academy, but Golden says that plan was shelved because new charters don’t qualify for state funding for summer school.

The school’s finances got a big boost Tuesday when Golden Charter Academy was awarded a $250,000 grant by the Charter School Growth Fund, which Golden says is “very exciting news for us.”

The Colorado nonprofit provides seed money to budding charters as well as grants to larger charter schools, targeting schools with growth potential and that provide school opportunities for underserved students.

Meanwhile, Golden Charter Academy’s School Board has some trustee appointments on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting. Fresno Unified Trustee Keshia Thomas, who is Golden’s mother-in-law, is on tap for a retroactive appointment — her three-year term started July 2020 and will end in June 2023. Fresno Unified’s former chief financial officer and deputy superintendent, Ruthie Quinto, is being nominated for a three-year term that begins July 1 and ends in June 2024.

Spark Tank Pitch Fest Celebrates 2021 Winners

Winners of the 2021 Spark Tank competition hosted by the Fresno Pacific University Center for Community Transformation will be honored June 17 at a ceremony that’s open to the public.

The winners will talk about how their projects addressed and provided solutions to community problems through social enterprise. Each business received a full scholarship from the Lilly Foundation to attend the center’s Social Enterprise Academy.

Since 2013 Spark Tank has energized 58 social enterprises in the Valley that created jobs for more than 260 people, many of whom face employment challenges, and generated $3.7 million in income.

The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required to allow for safe distancing practices. To register, go to https://cct-2021-spark-tank-tickets.eventbrite.com.

The Spark Tank Pitch Fest will be from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. June 17 at the Encore Amphitheater, located off Hamilton Avenue on the south side of the main campus in southeast Fresno.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Israel Says Attacks on Iran Are Nothing Compared With What Is Coming

DON'T MISS

Military Parade Barrels Through Nation’s Capital With Tanks, Troops and 21-Gun Salute

DON'T MISS

Authorities Still Searching for Suspect in Shooting of 2 Minnesota State Lawmakers

DON'T MISS

Caitlin Clark Returns and Leads Fever to Upset Win Over Unbeaten Liberty

DON'T MISS

Iran Fires Another Round of Missiles at Israel, and Explosions Are Heard in Tehran

DON'T MISS

Stephen Miller’s Former High School Classmate Challenges His Deportation Policies

DON'T MISS

‘We Will Kill You Dead’: Florida Sheriff’s Stark Warning to Demonstrators

DON'T MISS

Trump Says ‘War in Israel-Iran Should End’

DON'T MISS

Trump Curbs Immigration Enforcement at Farms, Meatpacking Plants, Hotels and Restaurants

DON'T MISS

Fresno Protesters Rally Against Trump Administration on ‘No Kings Day’

UP NEXT

Youth Invited to Unplug, Connect With Nature at Day Camp in Auberry

UP NEXT

Here’s What to Expect at the Army’s 250th Anniversary Parade on Trump’s Birthday

UP NEXT

Fresno State Matches the Scholarships for 25 FUSD Students

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified Spends Thousands to Reprint Diplomas With Misty Her’s New Title

UP NEXT

Many Fresno Unified Schools Will Get Makeovers This Summer

UP NEXT

US House Passes Trump Cuts of $9.4 Billion for Foreign Aid, Broadcasting

UP NEXT

Tulare County Inmate Found Unresponsive in Cell, Autopsy Pending

UP NEXT

Harvey Weinstein Convicted of Sex Crime Amid Contentious Jury Deliberations

UP NEXT

Trump Warns Protests at Army Parade Will Be Met With Force

UP NEXT

Do Americans Support Trump’s Use of Marines in LA? The Numbers Might Shock You

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

Israel and Iran Bombard Each Other, Trump Says He Can ‘Easily’ End Conflict

17 hours ago

Trump Vetoed an Israeli Plan to Kill Iran’s Supreme Leader, US Officials Say

17 hours ago

Newsom Wanted To Fast-Track the Delta Tunnel Project. The Legislature Slowed the Flow

19 hours ago

Five Weeknight Dishes: Seven Ingredients or Fewer, Because Summer

21 hours ago

Big Fresno Fair Unveils Second Wave of 2025 Concert Acts

21 hours ago

Israel Says Attacks on Iran Are Nothing Compared With What Is Coming

1 day ago

Military Parade Barrels Through Nation’s Capital With Tanks, Troops and 21-Gun Salute

1 day ago

Authorities Still Searching for Suspect in Shooting of 2 Minnesota State Lawmakers

1 day ago

Caitlin Clark Returns and Leads Fever to Upset Win Over Unbeaten Liberty

1 day ago

Iran Fires Another Round of Missiles at Israel, and Explosions Are Heard in Tehran

1 day ago

Fresno Man Arrested in Fatal DUI Crash on Trimmer Springs Road

A man is dead and three others are injured following a rollover crash Saturday evening on Trimmer Springs Road that investigators say was ca...

15 hours ago

15 hours ago

Fresno Man Arrested in Fatal DUI Crash on Trimmer Springs Road

Mourners pray during the funeral of a Palestinian killed in what the Gaza health ministry says was Israeli fire near a distribution center in Rafah, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 15, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
16 hours ago

Israeli Military Kills 41 People in Gaza, Medics Say

Bullet holes mark the front door of Minnesota state Senator John Hoffman, who was shot alongside his wife, Yvette, in what is believed to be an attack by 57-year-old suspect Vance Luther Boelter, who is also the lead suspect in the shooting deaths of senior Democratic state assemblywoman Melissa Hortman and her husband, Marc, in Champlin, Minnesota, U.S., June 14, 2025. REUTERS/Tim Evans
17 hours ago

Manhunt for Gunman Who Shot Two Minnesota Lawmakers Enters Second Day

Israelis take shelter at the side of a highway as siren sounds following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in central Israel June 15, 2025. REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon
17 hours ago

Israel and Iran Bombard Each Other, Trump Says He Can ‘Easily’ End Conflict

President Donald Trump speaks as he attends a military parade to commemorate the U.S. Army's 250th Birthday, on the day of his 79th birthday, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
17 hours ago

Trump Vetoed an Israeli Plan to Kill Iran’s Supreme Leader, US Officials Say

19 hours ago

Newsom Wanted To Fast-Track the Delta Tunnel Project. The Legislature Slowed the Flow

21 hours ago

Five Weeknight Dishes: Seven Ingredients or Fewer, Because Summer

21 hours ago

Big Fresno Fair Unveils Second Wave of 2025 Concert Acts

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend