La-Terian Tasby, before he was killed, with Cara Askew, College Bound coordinator, for the Boys and Girls Club. La-Terian was in College Bound and a leader at the Cabrillo club site.

WHAT LA-TERIAN TASBY’S MOTHER WANTS TO SAY PUBLICLY FOR THE FIRST TIME ABOUT HER SON’S KILLING; AND HER THREE WISHES IN REGARDS TO HIS DEATH; SHE FEELS HONORED TO ATTEND THE PEACE VIGIL AT SAN PEDRO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE 182 MURDER VICTIMS AND WILL BRING HER FAMILY

The Vigil will be 6 p.m. Thursday at San Pedro High School’s Pirates Stadium,
1001 W. 15th Street

By Diana L. Chapman

It’s been almost eight months since her son, a San Pedro High School athlete, was shot and killed by gang members at a party in October. She’s heard two different versions about his death – one is that he went down fighting to protect his friends. The other was that he stood by watching an argument ensue and was shot.
Knowing La-Terian Tasby’s personality, his mother, Rosemary Snead-- who has five other kids but finds that even they can’t patch the bleak hole punched out in her heart-- banks on the first being the closest to the truth.
And that’s exactly why she feels so frustrated with his friends who are too fearful to talk; Stories keep rolling in such as it was a 15-year-old boy who shot her 17-year-old son. Constantly, she finds herself dwelling on the idea that “that boy gets to eat, sleep, laugh, use the bathroom and still get mad at his mom and dad.
“My son can’t do that anymore.”
La-Terian’s death couldn’t have been anymore tragic. Having moved with his mom from Inglewood to San Pedro in 2006 – for a time living with his aunt and uncle and the rest of his family under one roof – Rose recalled the transition she witnessed in her own son.
In the beginning at San Pedro High, his grades were Fs and Ds – atrocious – and he was always “clowning around” in this 6’5” body with size 17 feet. But once the coaches told him he could have a winning shot with sports – both in football and basketball – she watched her son finally settle down.
The coaches prodded him to bring up his grades, so La-Terian embarked on an intense campaign of schooling, including summer school and attending Harbor College classes to make up for his past failures.
“He was so happy,” she explained, “and he was just determined to meet the qualifications.”
La-Terian also became a leader at the Boys and Girls Club where many youth were awestruck not only by his height, but by the fact that cared about them. He constantly listened to the younger kid’s problems.
But that October night crucified all the work La-Terian had done when allegedly gang members crashed an athlete’s party, made racial slurs and started a brawl. Several students said La-Terian moved in to protect them and went down fighting like a soldier right before he was shot in the chest. At least two other youths were stabbed, but did not have life threatening injuries.
The story that La-Terian started to fight for his friends didn’t surprise his mother, one bit, because unfortunately, even though he was as gentle as “a big pussycat,” he didn’t have much fear. He also believed in doing the right thing, his mother recalled. Once when there was a fight at school, he was subpoenaed and asked to testify. He didn’t think twice about testifying, because he wanted the truth to come out, she said.
Even though the charges were dropped in that case, Rose believes to this day that had the situations been reversed – and La-Terian watched someone else get shot – she believes he would take the stand.
“My son put his life on the line for his friends, but if they were true friends, they would come forward,” she said.
She understands the fears the students, who were at the party, face. If they testify, there’s a possibility they could get killed or even put their family members in jeopardy. To survive, it’s likely they would have to enter the eye-witness protection program, uproot their entire family and change their identification.
While she herself is somewhat torn – and doesn’t want anyone to die if they did testify – she still wonders aloud then what has been accomplished. “The fear empowers the gang members to go on killing” more and more – especially if they never face the face of justice. That makes San Pedro just that much more dangerous, she said.
She forgives the killer or killer(s), she explained, because she refuses to walk around with hate. “The gang bangers don’t scare me,” Rose explained. “The only thing I’m scared of is my heavenly father. So I am always trying to forgive and not hate.”
Rose’s three wishes:
--That no one take revenge in her son’s name because “he would not want that. He was not a gang-banger. That’s what gangs do. Get revenge. He wouldn’t want that. He would want justice.” And, she added, that she would never wish that type of pain on any mother or family.
--That someone step forward and take the stand so whoever killed her son would face justice and serve a lifetime sentence. “I don’t want revenge,” she said. “I want justice.”
--That if someone is caught, that that person will pray to God and ask for forgiveness for what was done to La-Terian.
Besides his mother and other relatives, La-Terian is survived by five siblings, Jennifer, 21,Cecil, 20, and twin brother, Darien, 18, all Tasbys; Jaevion Owens, 15, and Johnny Yates, 11.

YOSEMITE: THE BIGGEST OUTDOOR
CLASSROOM EVER; ALL CALIFORNIA STUDENTS DESERVE TO GO: PARENTS -- IT'S YOUR TURN TO HIKE UP

YOSEMITE: THE GREATEST OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTER; ALL CALIFORNIA STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE A SHOT AT THIS MARVELOUS, MAGICAL WORLD TO LEARN

By Diana L. Chapman

A TRIP TO YOSEMITE: ONE OF CALIFORNIA’S GREATEST EDUCATIONAL TOOLS; MIDDLE SCHOOLERS INTERESTED IN GOING SHOULD START FUNDRAISING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR FOR A SHOT AT SPOTTING SHEER WALLS, BOB CATS, COYOTES, SNOW AND SOME OF THE GREATEST GLACIER CARVINGS THAT EXIST ON EARTH

By Diana L. Chapman

A pit welled up in many of the kid’s stomachs as they started to haul themselves through a tiny V-shaped rocky entrance into pitch-black Spider Cave.

The blackness alone was enough to scare off most adults – let alone middle school students – who were learning once again during an educational trip to Yosemite the true nature of team work. They had to depend on each other to get out.

A teacher on the journey, a bit petrified herself, felt her heart stop once she entered the cave until she heard Felipe, a giant 8th grader, whisper kindly that she was fine. He was right there next to her – and he would guide her through the darkness. The students were in a chain, holding each other’s hands, responsible to guide the soul behind them – to find their way out.

Arching through Spider Cave –not called that because the creatures dwell there, but because a human almost has to take the shape of a spider to get through – was just one of the many lessons students received on their journey through Yosemite – done via the Yosemite Institute where lessons from geology to biology will be thrown at students from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. each dayan .

It’s hard to drink in that much information, but when education is disguised as adventure, which it truly was, the spark easily stays ignited.

The best part: students from Dana Middle School learned to give up their computers, their I-Pods, their cells (which didn’t work here) and learned to enjoy – some for the first time in their lives – the wilderness. They hiked through towering sequoia groves, studied the swath of stars in the night time skies, scaled the sides of sheer cliffs – and learned how the glaciers carved those cliffs with slow, but ever-changing movement.

It was a giant outdoor classroom that was endless in lessons.

Once in Spider Cave, the Yosemite Institute teacher lit a candle. The student’s faces glinted with shadows that bounced off their faces and asked them to share their feelings about being in this cave – where few of the millions of visitors would ever have a chance to crawl through.

One frightened boy gratefully turned to his friend and thanked him profusely for guiding him through the cave, one of dozens of adventures they would have in this week-long trip in one of California’s most magnificent natural landscapes.

While walking through ancient redwood groves, one student marveled at the amount of knowledge the institute’s teacher had. The teacher, he was awestruck by, could pick up leaves and tell you which type of tree they belonged to.

“How do they know all that?” the student asked one morning while walking through grooves. He might not have been a perfect student, but he was learning a lot about biology – and best of all, the jagged Yosemite geography was igniting his imagination. This experience is the type hat can change a child’s life around in a heartbeat.

That week in Yosemite, students dabbled in astronomy, had lessons in cross-country skiing, hiked alongside waterfalls and visited a myriad of areas in the region laced with hundreds of lakes and ponds. They watched as wildlife trooped casually by in their own neighborhood, from shadowy coyotes scouting for food to a quick visit from a bobcat.

“Yesterday, when I was hiking, my group and I saw a coyote stalking two squirrels,” wrote one 8th grade student. “It’s really cold here. I love the snow when it’s fresh and powdery.”

A science teacher explained just why this experience is so important to so many students.

“For students with limited experiences coming into middle school, the Yosemite experience broadens their world,” said Alyssa Widmark, a science teacher who has chaperoned the adventure for three years. “It gives them a reference point from which to imagine, to dream. They could not have imagined careers or leisure time in this environment, because they did not understand its existence.
"For more worldly students, it gives them opportunities to mature, help others, be self reliant and have others rely on them. It connects them with nature in ways that will effect who they become as an adult.”
Since Yosemite, one of the greatest gifts California has to offer perhaps to the entire world, the state’s students should all have a chance to attend this marvel.
To do so, however, school districts can’t possibly do this alone. Parents need to step up, agree to chaperone and in some cases – consider taking over the responsibility of the adventure.
For if there is a dream world to be had – and one that can be learned from – Yosemite is the place.
For more information, visit http://www.yni.org/ or call (209) 379-9511.

“

Above photos by Ash Rhominou, science teacher at Dana Middle School

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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.

WHY I DISLIKE READING COUNTS!!!! FOR SOME STUDENTS, IT DUMBS DOWN THE MIND & FAILS TO SPARK A KID’S CREATIVE THINKING; WHILE IT’S EXCELLENT FOR OTHERS, IT CAN BE A FAILURE-TRAP FOR LOW READERS; AND A BOREDOM-TRAP FOR HIGH ACHIEVING STUDENTS

By Diana L. Chapman

A student takes the Reading Counts test and fails.
The same student takes the test again and fails.
The student takes the test again, for the third and last time. Another fail. By now, this kid –despite having read the book – will receive no points for having done so and comes to dislike reading.

A student reads the book, Jane Eyre.
Another reads the book, Wuthering Heights.
Another reads the monster-sized novel, It.

All these tomes are hundreds of pages long, but some high achieving students who’ve read them refuse to take the Reading Counts test. It’s just too mundane for their senses.

The highly popularized Reading Counts system, which has been adopted at schools around the country, has worked for thousands of students, but for some kids, the disconnect between the testing, the reading and the classroom, makes me cringe. The tests are short, something like eight questions, and tend to address the smallest of details.

Some teachers like this because it helps them determine whether the student has actually read the book, or just watched the movie. This program, however, leaves me discouraged by its lack of creativity and depth –which to me is what English is all about.

What discourages me the most? The failure to address students who are never going to pass the quiz because they lack memory skills about specifics, such as what type of jam was sitting on the shelf the day so-and so began making preserves. They’ve read the book, but are punished for failing to get these types of questions that are neither analytical nor challenging, but memory-based.

Or this issue: my friend’s two daughters, whose heads are constantly buried in books, find the whole Reading Counts thing tedious, troubling and ridiculous; their father spends a good amount of time yelling at them to take the tests because, in this case, it counts for 20 percent of their English grade.

Many teachers swear by this program and absolutely love it. They see their students reading levels go up. That’s excellent. I don’t doubt for a moment that it works for scores of students. But I have two fears using this system. One makes me wonder if there’s a lot less dissecting of books going on in English class, fewer and fewer book reports – and very likely -- less essay writing – the very thing that loans itself to spark the imagination and creative soul.

While some teachers and students find book reports boring and cumbersome, the funny thing is this: it makes kids write and think – and in English class -- that’s exactly what they need to do.

Having 15 low-level reading students to work with as a volunteer, I was puzzled that when we completed the book, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, more than ¼ could still not pass the test.

The sad tale was this: the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves walking through the woods of England, drinking pots of tea and hanging out with a lion when we were reading. They challenged all the oddities they spotted, comparing their home life to England – such as, why do the English drink so much tea.

Another, they wanted to understand why the characters in the book, Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter, had to flee London during World War II and go live in the countryside with their uncle. These – low-end readers --if we want to call them that -- constantly asked questions which led us to debates – all sorts of debates, including one about Hitler.

Once we completed the book, we celebrated with an English tea so the kids could taste a bit of England with pots of jam, lemon curd and buttered scones. Then, they took the test.

The ¾ of the kids who passed were delighted. The rest hung their heads in shame. Finally, I went to look at the questions myself: one of which was where was the Sheepdog standing next to Aslan, the lion? What sheepdog? I must have read that book a dozen times and don’t remember a sheepdog. We went through the book and couldn’t find a sheepdog. In fact, no one in my family (who has read the book several times as well) could recall that character either.

To this day, I still can’t find the sheepdog!

From my end – a struggling student myself and a poor test taker -- my only saving grace was English. I loved those heated classroom debates of what an author was trying to say.
English made my dull school years come to life as we picked books apart, delved into characters, and discovered the depth of the plot. Often while science and math killed my grades, here was something I absolutely could cling to – reading and writing.

Had tests like this been a chunk of my grade, it’s likely; however, I too would have failed. In fact, it surprises me that my girlfriend, who for some curious reason I will never understand, enjoyed taking the Reading Counts tests and often didn’t pass them either!

The question: should students take tests like these? The answer is: “Yes,” for the students it does help. But for those students who will only see it as a repeated failure in their lives, why sacrifice what might stir their souls and march them in the right direction – book reports, essays and debates.

The job is to instill a love of reading. If we can do it using Reading Counts, then so be it. But as all educators know by now, no one size fits all. For those the program fails, we must seek – and it’s an absolute must – another path to take them to the road of reading.

That is, after all, one of the biggest steps a kid will ever take toward carving out a successful future.

Join San Pedro City Ballet for their Annual Spring Fundraiser
“Saturday Night Fever;" Keep Our Very Own City Ballet Alive and Leaping!!

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
6:00 pm
The Reef Restaurant
880 Harbor Scenic Dr.
Long Beach (near the Queen Mary)

One hour hosted bar, silent and live auction, dinner, disco dancing

Advance purchase: $70 per person or $650 per table of 10
At the door: $80 per person

Adults only, please
RSVP by April 28th

Proceeds to benefit the 15th Anniversary production of “The Nutcracker”.