FORMER WRITING STUDENT ASKS US TO HELP HAITI: HE WRITES A PIECE OF POETRY TO COPE WITH HIS OVERWHELMING COMPASSION AND SENSE OF HELPLESSNESS

T-SHIRTS SAVE THE DAY AT THE SAN PEDRO BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB

PECK PARK BASEBALL SIGN UPS ARE FEB. 5^th WITH A LOT OF TREATS IN STORE FROM A SMALL NON-PROFIT FORMED BY PARENTS

ALLIANCE CHARTER SCHOOLS LOOKING FOR STUDENTS TO APPLY

Dear Readers:

This poem comes from one of the former writing students at the Boys and Girls Club College Bound program. As a high school student, Emmanuel didn’t think he had much to offer – in fact considered himself “worthless” until he enrolled in the Boys and Girls Club College Bound program which encouraged him to consider a higher education. He turned his grades around from a 1.8 to 4.0 nearly over night and said he had “found a family” at the club. He is now at the University of Florida.

“We all should donate somehow to the Haitians
It’s a human race issue. Kids are dying.” Emmanuel Catalan

TEARS POURING DOWN LIKE RAIN

By Emmanuel Catalan

Tremendous Fear in the streets,

not knowing what you're going to eat,
where do I sleep?
on the floor?

My Home and everything I own decimated,

my mom and daughter both eliminated,
walking down the street,
looking for food to eat,

But nothing in sight,

try as I might,
which god do I pray to for Him to assist?
and get me out this abyss,

My tears pouring down like rain,

to illustrate my pain,
so much suffering, so much agony,
can't take seeing so much death

I'm losing my sanity,

how do I shake it off?
how do I make it all go away?
for the first time I can't really say.

Yet whatever sadness I may have I …

must move on,
otherwise any chances of survival
will be gone.

More time passes by as my energy

enervates,
slowing my pace as my hope
disintegrates,

Then I suddenly drop and

pass out
falling victim to a horrible
drought,

Staying steady in my long sleep,

not even hearing a peep,
I see in my dreams where
lies my fate,
seeing if I enter the pearly
gates…

Suddenly I awake with someone

there to revive me,
who would think anyone would bother
to care about me,

What a miracle it was to see,

when no one thought it could be,
another human being there to
help his fellow man,
guess my survival was all a part
of God's plan,

I'm rejuvenated and now know
my calling in life, helping others in need to overcome
their strife,

How amazing it was for me, a man who
was minutes away from Death,
get back up and take another breath,
Let it be told to those who wish to burn
in the fire,
that you control your own destiny if only you
persist and desire.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REMEMBER THOSE RAINY DAYS LAST WEEK! AN AVALANCHE OF SOAKED KIDS POURED INTO THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB – DONATED T-SHIRTS SAVED THE DAY

Within seconds of the bell ringing last week, students poured out of San Pedro High last Wednesday and were drenched from head to toe as buckets of rain plummeted from the sky. Some students had rides home. Others walked. Still others, spilled by the dozens into the Boys and Girls Club on Cabrillo Avenue.

The flood of dripping students caught the club a bit off guard. "I was giving a tour to a foundation that was considering funding the college bound program," said Mike Lansing, the executive director. "The torrential downpour on Wednesday hit right at dismissal -- and as I was walking these guest around, we had DOZENS of members coming in the front door soaked to the bone."

Desperate to get their kids out of sopping clothes, the staff founds scores of donated T-shirts that came in handy to solve the problem. The shirts were donated by Da Vita Kidney awareness and were left over from their annual run/walk events from 2009, the staff said.

"Thank goodness for the recently donated T-shirts," Lansing added. "We were able to get them out of at least their drenched shirts and into something warm and dry. In a way -- it made me think about "Haiti" and what those poor people are going through without food, water or shelter."

Break out the raincoats and umbrellas, as forecasters predict a 60 percent chance of rain and the Boys and Girls Club are out of shirts.

PECK PARK BASEBALL LEAGUE SIGN-UPS FEB. 5;

AND THERE’S ROOM FOR TREATS: PARENT-RUN NON-PROFIT

IMPROVING BALL FIELDS AND THE PARK OVERALL: 

COACHES NEEDED!!!!!

Mark down your calendar on  Feb. 5 for baseball sign-ups at

Peck Park and make room for pleasant surprises as this year’s

fields have markedly improved thanks to a batch of parents

who formed a non-profit.

Parents, dismayed by the decline of ball fields around Los

Angeles-operated parks,launched the San Pedro Youth

Association to work  with the city to clean up  ball fields

and other needs at parks’ throughout the Harbor Region.

Originating with Peck, the parents added $5,000 worth of dirt

to the field, reduced the price to join the park’s

league (now $85) and paid for umpires using its own funds,

said Allen Quinton Jr. who helps run the association along

with Mark Arriola. John Delgado, president of the Central

Neighborhood Council, remains the official president of

SPYA as well.

The group also went after $430,000 in Quimby funds to

make repairs at Peck, which helped park officials obtain

a brand new air conditioning unit for the recreational

building, develop a $20,000 handicap ramp to help access

the fields, add a scoreboard, put in new back stop covers

and set aside money for lighting – and hopefully – shade

covers at Peck Park Pool.

“We started this together not knowing what to expect,”

Arriola explained adding they hoped to partner with

other facilities. “We like partnering. Our goals are bigger.

We’d love to do it for all the parks.”



This year, baseball evaluation day will be held at the park March 9 for minor

division players,born in 1999 through 2001from 5:30 to

6:30 p.m.



Juniors and Majors evaluation on March 11 will be

held at the same time. Juniors are born in 1994-1996 and

majors players must be born in 1997 or 1998.T-Ball division

players, born in 2002 to 2004have no evaluation day “for the

little guys,” Quinton said. Cost remains the same.

League games begin March 22.As always, coaches are

needed. Peck Park offices can be reached for further

questions at 310-548-7580.

___________________________________

ALLIANCE COLLEGE-READY SCHOOLS LOOKING FOR STUDENTS TO ATTEND ITS CHARTERS



Los Angeles, CA - Alliance College-Ready Public Schools,

a charter school 

organization offering a college-prep curricula for students in academically

low-performing, overcrowded Los Angeles communities, announced today that it is accepting applications for incoming 9th graders and incoming 6th graders to its

high-performing network of public schools for the 2010-11 academic year.

Alliance public charter schools, recently featured in the L.A. Times story

"L.A. Charter Schools Flex Their Educational Muscles," operates 11 high schools

and 5 middle schools in south, east, southeast, northeast and mid-city Los

Angeles and will open new schools in Watts, East L.A. and the northeast end of

the San Fernando Valley in 2010-11 school year. Alliance offers safe campuses

and a quality learning environment based on an educational model that focuses on five core values: high expectations for all students, small personalized

schools and classrooms, increased instructional time, highly qualified

principals and teachers, and parents as partners. They are tuition-free and open

to all students in California.

Five Alliance high schools earned 2009 Academic Performance Index (API)

scores that rank them in the top 16 public high schools in the Los Angeles

Unified School District; two scored higher than 800 and rank in the 10

top-scoring high schools.

To learn more about Alliance schools-where they are located and how students

can apply-contact Mary Louise Silva at (213) 943-4930, ext. 1011 or

msilva@laalliance.org.