Sunday, May 11, 2008


ANOTHER COMMUNITY WRAPUP AND IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT UNDERDOGFORKIDS BLOG COMMENTS, Peace Vigils, Cancer Relays & a Musical

Above: Gardena High students Ron Chandler and Kierra Petty to play leading roles in the school's first musical in 15 years.
Dear Readers:

Many of you have reported that it’s difficult to make comments on the blog. In order to comment, it appears you need a Google account, which is free of charge. However, if you’d rather have me post the comments, please send them directly to hartchap@cox.net and I will try to post comments above the stories when possible or a block of comments may be posted at one time. Thank you for reading the Underdogforkids.blogspot.com
We need many more Underdogs out there.

Don’t Miss These Important Upcoming Events: The Cancer Relay, the Peace Vigil, and Gardena High’s First Musical Done in 15 YEARS – done with the Help of the San Pedro Ballet Co.


PEACE VIGIL FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DIED TO VIOLENCE IN SAN PEDRO:

A peace vigil honoring the 181 victims that have been killed violently in San Pedro over the past two decades will be held this Thursday night (May 15) at San Pedro High Pirate’s Stadium where doves will be released, the Pirate dancers will perform, a local jazz singer will belt out Amazing Grace – and cell phones will be lit at the end of the ceremony.
The vigil will run from 6 to 8 p.m.

Being held by the San Pedro School Safety Collaborative –and sponsored by the high school – the vigil is one of the first all-out efforts to pull the entire community together against violence and to send a sign to our youth that the residents here do care about all those who have died – especially the children.

Among the 181 victims, about 24 were children under the age of 18. The vigil was sparked by the violent gang shooting last October of Laterian Tasby, a 17-year-old high school football and basketball player who went to San Pedro High. But as officials viewed the lists of homicides – and local Los Angeles Police Officer Joe Buscaino recognized many he went to school with – the collaborative agreed that all the victims should be honored.

Please attend this event -- as one of the first steps to promoting peace in our community.

Gardena High School Presents “Grease”
San Pedro Ballet Co. Partners with Gardena High School to put on a Musical; the school's first Musical in 15 years


When Gardena High School’s new assistant principal, Jacquie Augustus, wanted to reinvent performing arts at her school, she decided that “Grease” would be the perfect show to launch such a program. As it has been fifteen years since the high school has put on a musical, there were many challenges to overcome.


A team was assembled that included vocal coaches, choreographers, a musical director, costumer, technical director, crew, and director. Once the team was in place, notices went out about the auditions. As this project was a new concept for Gardena High, it wasn’t a given that students would show up and sing an audition song to be judged. The creative team was pleasantly surprised to get enough interest to form a talented cast.


Funding from the LAUSD Arts Grant and the 21st Century Beyond the Bell has made the production possible. A partnership was formed with Harbor College for set design, and upgrades have been made to the theater. The school is attempting to provide their students with a quality theater program similar to those of other top high school theater programs in Los Angeles enjoy. San Pedro City Ballet has partnered with the Gardena High School to add to their team of professionals.
What: Grease
Where: Gardena High School; 1301 West 182nd St.
When: May 23 @ 7:00, May 24 @ 7:00, May 25 @ 2:30
Tickets: $10 at the door


THE CANCER RELAY EVENT ONCE AGAIN COMES TO SAN PEDRO HIGH; Help Raise Funds to Eradicate Cancer
The Cancer Relay will be held Saturday, May 17, at San Pedro High School. More information can be found at this website: www.events.cancer.org/rflsanpedroca
A Survivor's Reception will be held at 9 a.m. with Opening Ceremonies at 10 a.m. Survivors will walk laps at 10:30 a.m. and the teams will keep walking starting at 11 a.m. continuously through the night until the following morning. Saturday evening, the luminaries will be lit to honor the hundreds of San Pedro residents who have died from the disease. On Sunday, a Closing Ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. Please support the teams attempts to raise funds to fight cancer.

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