Alyssa Long, Kyle Cerny and Justin Tate all have a special connection to Ceres Unified School District. Prior to becoming employees with CUSD, Long, Cerny and Tate attended and graduated from schools in Ceres.
“It was always my goal to come back to Ceres and serve the community I grew up in,” said Long, now a sixth-grade teacher at Westport Elementary School. “It’s a neat situation. You end up working with people who used to teach you.”
“Once you get your foot in the door here, you got a lot of possible opportunities,» said Cerny, who will teach general agriculture and floriculture at Mae Hensley Jr. High this school year. “I’ve always enjoyed working with kids. I like helping students become better people and well-round individuals. I bought a home in Ceres. It shows I fully bought in. I love this community.”
Tate, who is the principal of Virginia Parks Elementary School, said “at this point, I don’t see myself working anywhere else. This is home. I’m looking forward to going back to my old stomping grounds and working with the staff to make Virginia Parks the best school it could be.”
Beth Jimenez, Ceres Unified School District’s communications specialist, said “it’s always rewarding to welcome our former students back to CUSD as teachers and staff members. Of all the districts where they could contribute their time and talents, the fact that they’re choosing Ceres says they believe in the work we’re doing and want to be part of a culture of excellence that they recognize as the Ceres way. CUSD really focuses on providing resources and supports to help all of our staff be successful and fulfilled in their jobs, whether they’re homegrown or come to us from other backgrounds.”
Long, 30, began her teaching career with CUSD in 2017-18 when she was hired to teach fourth grade at Adkison Elementary School.
“My number one priority is making sure the kids feel safe and loved,” she said. “If they feel like you care about them, they will work hard for you and go above and beyond. They will appreciate you. Kids are resilient. They’re incredible little humans.
“My favorite part is getting to learn from the kids and know their families. I have between 30 to 32 different personalities that come from different walks of life. You can never get bored. Hopefully, I impact my students to be better people.”
She spent one year at Adkison before joining Westport Elementary’s staff.
She taught fifth grade for two years (2018-20).
Long has been a sixth-grade teacher at the campus since 2020-21.
“I did my student teaching at Westport Elementary under Brenda Brown, who happened to be my fourth-grade teacher as well. She’s an incredible teacher and a fantastic human being. She retired a couple years ago. I still keep in contact with her. The things that I saw in her classroom as a student are things I implemented in my classroom as a teacher today. I say good morning to every student. We also read out loud.”
Long followed in the footsteps of Brown, her mom Tracy Long (Elliott Continuation School) and her aunt Kristy Thornton (Kimball High School) in pursuing a career in education.
“I don’t think people realize how impactful teachers can be,” she said. “I was very fortunate to have a bunch of teachers who empowered and continued to encourage a passion to learn.”
Long enjoys working for a district that challenges all of its employees.
“Ceres has a high expectation of its teachers to keep up with the research and step up their game. The district as a whole is more progressive. Ceres is ahead of the curve in a lot of things. Relationships became top priority (during the COVID-19 pandemic). We wanted students and families to understand how much we valued them.”
A fifth-generation Cerean, Long graduated from Central Valley High School in 2011. She attended Blaker-Kinser Jr. High and Sam Vaughn Elementary.
Scott Long, Alyssa’s father, was named the recipient of the Ceres Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Grant Lucas Memorial Award in 2014. The award is given annually to a leader in the Ag industry. Long was praised as one who gives his time tirelessly to coordinate the annual Ceres Agribusiness Luncheon all while running Superior Fruit Ranch. Long was also instrumental in helping develop the CUSD Ag center.
Sid Long, Alyssa’s grandfather, was elected to the Ceres School Board in 1959 and served for eight years. He attended school at the brick schoolhouse on Lawrence Avenue, now the site of the Ceres Unified School District headquarters. In 2001, Sid was honored as “Citizen of the Year.”
Alyssa resides in Ceres.
“My family has been in Ceres longer than Ceres has been incorporated as a city,” said Long. “Moffett Road is named after my great-grandmother’s family. It’s one of the big reasons I wanted to come back and serve the community I grew up in. I’ve only ever worked for Ceres. Ceres will always have a special place in my heart.”
Long graduated from Stanislaus State in 2016 with a degree in liberal studies with a concentration in English. She earned her teaching credential in 2017.
She majored in psychology while attending UC Santa Cruz from 2011 to 2013.
“Education is so important,” Long said. “It gives you so many more opportunities. It can take you places.”
Kyle Cerny
Cerny, 30, started working for CUSD in 2017-18 as a campus supervisor. Six months later, he was hired as CUSD’s sole Technical (TE) Youth Advisor.
Cerny was responsible for the daunting task of overseeing 900 Ceres Ag students and seven Ag instructors (five at CVHS and two at CHS) for the past five years.
“It’s not something I planned,” he said. “The district helped me get back on my feet. I’m very thankful. I wouldn’t be here without them.”
Cerny was instrumental in revamping the Ag Mentor Program where local agribusiness men and women connect with students over lunch to provide guidance, mentoring and professional development for their future careers.
His caretaking of district partnerships with E.&J. Gallo allowed senior students to enroll in a 10-week pre-internship program known as Gateway to Industry, where E.&J. Gallo Winery put students through real life scenarios and team building activities to prepare them for a manufacturing internship with the company. Dozens of former Ceres students have been hired and completed paid internships with Gallo, many still working there to this day in full-time manufacturing and engineering roles.
He was responsible for coordinating mock interviews for CVHS and CHS Ag students for a first taste of a real-world job interview.
Cerny was named the Ceres Chamber of Commerce’s “Agribusiness Man of the Year” in May.
“I’m so thankful to be able to give back,” he said. “To do it here in Ceres makes it that more special. Seeing kids succeed is the most enjoyable part of my job.”
Cerny will begin a new chapter in his life this upcoming school year as a junior-high teacher.
“Mae Hensley has never had a full-time Ag teacher,” he said. “I couldn’t be more excited. I’m looking forward to diving in. They have a nice garden parcel on campus. It’s kind of a surreal experience being back on campus.”
Cerny was raised in Ceres where he was involved in sports – not agriculture. His first taste of Ag was at age 16, cutting cords of firewood for a local walnut producer Mark Mello, a former FFA chapter president and alumni of Ceres High School. He also learned about growing walnuts, irrigating, weed and pest control, construction and maintenance.
“Sports and AP classes took up a lot of my attention at Ceres High School,” noted Cerny. “I wish I was involved in Ag a lot earlier. FFA prepares young people for life. A lot of stuff they do is building confidence and how to conduct yourself in a professional manner.”
A 2010 graduate of Ceres High, Cerny attended Mae Hensley Jr. High and Sam Vaughn Elementary. He was planning to pursue a career in law enforcement as a CHP officer but changed his mind after suffering a knee injury before testing. He previously worked in loss prevention for Safeway.
Father Randy Cerny taught criminal justice courses at Ceres High School for 26 years.
He retired following the 2018-19 school year.
Randy is vice principal of Ceres Adult School.
“My career outlook changed. I started as a campus supervisor like my dad. I applied for the Youth Advisor position. I didn’t get it. Six months later, they gave me a shot.”
Cerny is currently working towards earning a bachelor’s degree.
He earned a preliminary Career Technical Education (CTE) credential.
“Ceres Unified is very forward thinking, always looking at how to improve and making sure our students have every opportunity to succeed,” Cerny said.
Justin Tate
Tate, 36, was recently introduced as principal of Virginia Parks.
“It was an exciting moment,” he said. “It’s the next step in my career.”
Tate started working for CUSD in 2012 when he was hired as an education specialist. He filled that position for six years before getting hired by Modesto City Schools. Tate was a vice principal at the elementary level for three years.
“It was a good learning experience. Ultimately, it showed me I wanted to be in Ceres.”
Tate returned to CUSD in the 2021-22 school year when he became assistant principal of Central Valley High School. He was associate principal for one year (2022-23).
“Ceres is always a place I really wanted to work,” recounted Cerny. “I understand the instructional practices and the vision of the school district. I believe in what they do for students. They focus on the whole student, not just teaching but ensuring their social and emotional needs are taken care of. Ceres has very, strong professional development for teachers.”
Tate attended Mae Hensley Jr. High and Walter White and Virginia Parks Elementary schools and graduated from Ceres High in 2005.
“Every teacher I had as a student was really supportive,” he recalled.
Tate graduated from Stanislaus State with a bachelor’s degree in social science in 2010. He earned his master’s degree in education from CSUS in 2017.
“I have a family history of people working in education,” said Tate, a Ceres resident who subbed as a paraprofessional in Ceres when he was in college. “My mom (Leslie) worked for Ceres High for 43 years. She was the office manager. I helped her stuff envelopes and alphabetize things. It was fun. I got an understanding of how a school is run. That really motivated me to become a teacher.”
– Courier Editor Jeff Benziger contributed
