Rumors Abound that San Pedro High School Lost Its Accreditation; But Not So Fast School Officials Say; While Piles of Work Remain Necessary to Maintain the Rating in the Future, the Overcrowded High School Obtained a Two Year Reprieve and Has A Miraculous Chance of Recovery in the Next Year

At Its First Parent Meeting Tuesday, School Officials Listened and Did Not Dispute a Flood of Criticism Mothers and Fathers Released About Teachers Who Failed to Return Phone Calls, Deadwood on the Staff List and a Litany of Other Woes; Despite Some Ugly Words; Parents Appeared Eager to Help Cure the Ills

By Diana L. Chapman

Despite a litany of criticisms about San Pedro High School, school officials bucked up and listened at its first parent meeting regarding the possibility—but not probability—that the overcrowded campus could lose its accreditation.

Without accreditation, student transcripts would not be honored at colleges and universities.

The meeting launches a series of forums about the issue.

The rating becomes a must for all high schools – and colleges. If the school loses this status, universities could refuse to admit the school’s students, said Linda Del Cueto, who oversees 95 schools in Region 8 , including San Pedro, for Los Angeles Unified.

In its opening series of meetings and forums, parents unloaded shovelsful of issues with the school, from teachers failing to return phone calls or emails and worse – failing to teach.

Faced with the anger, Del Cueto encouraged parents to call her directly. She reaffirmed that staff and parents need to work together to ensure San Pedro High School’s future. Failing to return phone calls, she said, is unacceptable.

The good news, she explained: The school did not lose its accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The bad news: The reviewers said the school failed to improve in the areas of student engagement, academic rigor and applying state standards.

“We can do great things if we pull together,” Del Cueto told more than 50 parents attending the meeting at the school. “Parents, teachers, administration and the staff must come together on the progress report.

“It’s all of us together.”

The school has until June 2010 to prove it has made the improvements.

Before she was able to present the favorable findings of the assessment team, parents complained profusely about the fact that 48 percent of the students don’t graduate and a myriad other frustrations.

“It’s not a student problem,” one father argued. “Let’s talk about resistance. It seems to me this school needs to make some drastic changes. It’s a systemic problem.”

Troubling figures were tossed out at the meeting, such as 70 percent of the students have either D’s or F’s in a core class.

Another parent revealed: “We have a lot of deadwood on the faculty, and there’s a lot of teachers who don’t teach. I could tell stories for hours.”

“We don’t get calls back and my daughter learned nothing, absolutely nothing, in geometry,” complained a mother, herself an educator – who contended her daughter, a gifted student, received a D, which limits her college choices.

Tammy Wood, a parent who struggled, often alone, to improve the school, pleaded with other parents to become more involved and visit the parent center for information and the advocacy they need.

“I’ve been at this for six years, and we need more parents,” said Wood of her struggle to make San Pedro High an exemplary school. “I’ve been a lone voice.”

Should the school lose its accreditation – which rarely happens in a school district where campuses are given multiple chances to make good on the issues – the entire faculty can be replaced, and the decision-making authority is taken over by another agency.

While a series of troubles were discovered at the school site, the accreditation agency explained there are some favorable attributes, such as strong community relations and the relative safety of the campus.

One concern that surfaced repeatedly is that students don’t feel the campus staff respects them. The school was designed for 2,000 students. Current enrollment is 3,150.

At one point, enrollment was 3,500, but many students enrolled at other schools such as the Port of Los Angeles charter school and the Harbor Teachers Preparation Academy. By the end of the meeting, the participants’ once-contentious demeanor showed a sense of humor.

Principal Bob DiPietro told me afterward he was actually pleased by the parents’ anger, because it showed they were concerned about their children’s welfare.

“It’s difficult to listen, and it’s all stuff I’ve heard before,” he said. “But then I think: ‘Hey, these are taxpayers, and the most important thing in the world is that they’re concerned about their children.’ ”

For more information, visit San Pedro High’s website: http://www.sanpedrohs.org.

Education Humor for the Day: Overhearing a phone conversation her 8^th grade son was having, Linda Del Cueto – in charge of a giant cluster of 95 LAUSD schools – eavesdropped while he told a friend he couldn’t talk to his parents because “They aren’t too bright.” His father is an LAUSD high school principal.

Above: Cindy Bradley coaches Ivan Mechor, who wants to learn ballet and goes after school now for classes. At the top, Alberto Encinas works hard so he can pass his physical education test at school.
AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS OF TEACHING BALLET AT 15^th STREET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – WHERE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS SHOWERED HER WITH PRAISE – CINDY BRADLEY OF SP BALLET SCHOOL WILL SADLY FINISH OFF HER CLASSES – WHICH SHE CONTINUED FREE FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR ONCE FUNDING CEASED EARLY THIS FALL

School Officials Say They Are Saddened Her Lessons Are Coming to a Close – a Loss for the Primarily Blue-Collar Families Who Rarely Have the Chance to Pursue the Cultural Arts;
>Diana L. Chapman

At the San Pedro Ballet School on Pacific Avenue, the typical fare of soft-colored pink tights, violet leotards and graceful leaps and turns seemed to clash with some seriously different attire – shorts, rugged jerseys, football shaped bodies and ankle socks.

Alongside graceful girls, many with neatly braided hair or pinned up buns, came a handful of boys, who in French terms plied, leaped, releved (to rise on half toe) and, well it wasn’t exactly dainty, it was close enough for the cluster of boys and one girl to continue their efforts after school.

The surprise: the seriousness the 15^th Street Elementary students displayed.

Alberto Encinas, a 5^th grader wearing glasses, a white T-shirt and black tights, worked hard, but grew disgusted when he occasionally lost his balance, rolling his eyes up in the air with displeasure. He struggled, but continued.

He never knew he liked ballet until the instructor showed up at his school and began teaching on Wednesday mornings.

“I just really started to like it,” said the thin boy, who worked intensely throughout the class, saying he was a good student except for physical education. “I didn’t think I could take it anymore because it’s so expensive. It makes me tired and it makes me relax after working at school all day. And it makes me more flexible. This is really helping me for my upcoming physical test.”

Along with Alberto, came his younger brother, Christopher, 9, a first grader with a broad build, his hair cropped short, with reddened cheeks. He wore a red and grey jersey, shorts and ankle socks.

With more of a football player body than a ballet dancer, he turned, plied, balanced at the barre and tried to keep up with the class, pointing his toes and stretching, his determination impressive for his young age.

“Well, I just started it at school and all the boys said: “Wow, boys can do ballet!” And we saw people in there (the studio) and they were doing jumps and leaps. Ballet is more about jumps than it is ballet,” he confided proudly, although his parents don’t want him in the class “because it’s a waste of time.”

Once the lesson began, Cindy firmly told the class “No talking in ballet class,” between demi-plies, tendus and brush “changemont,” meaning brush with foot and change.

About 165 students poured through her classes at 15^th Street this year. Many had never seen or tried ballet before, said Sandy Steinhaus, a 2^nd grade teacher who pulled the program together and found the funding source that dried up. The primarily blue-collar family school, rarely sees this form of dance, and the impact has charged both students and teachers with an electrical excitement.

Having enjoyed the students, the ballerina decided to finish up the year – without pay.

“It’s been such a golden opportunity,” Sandy explained as she watched several of the students at the studio. “It’s been a perfect fit for our community and all our money for the program is frozen. This has opened up ways for our kids they’ve never had before. It’s been such a natural fit for our school. The kids loved it, the teachers loved it.”

“Right foot, left foot. Brush. Brush,” Cindy instructed the students.

Ivan Melchor, 10, a 5^th grade boy who participated on the drill team last year, surprised all the instructors with his sweat, grit and determination in the ballet class.

Despite his size, that of a mini-linebacker, he gracefully extended his arms into a port de bras, stretched his leg into an arabesque at the bar and twirled across the floor, using chaine – a chain of turns.

“Side, side up, plie,” Cindy continued. “Side up, plie. Point. Point.”

After class, a happy Ivan, his face glistening with a dewy sweat, explained his enjoyment of the dance.

“I like the leaping and stuff. I pretty much like everything to do with ballet,” he responded, explaining his parents are proud and now his older sister wants to start.

The studio owner began public school ballet classes first at 186^th Street Elementary and later was asked to join 15^th Street. She was paid initially through the Los Angeles Unified School District’s art program, but that sizzled away with the poor economy.

When boys are interested in this dance form, she encourages them, as the opportunities for men are far greater. It’s not part of “our American culture,” and therefore, the numbers of men flocking to the art are small – and are needed, making college scholarship and professional potential far greater for boys.

But whether boys or girls, what Cindy spots in nearly all the students is their confidence building.

“I see a transformation in students the first time I teach them. They don't see the possibility that they may be able to become dancers,” she emailed. “They walk in and float out. They learn to fly through the air and that is a boost to their self-esteem that often can lead to... well, to anything really.”

At the end of the class, the girls curtsied and the boys bowed with Steinhaus praying that the drapes won’t come down on the dance classes next year.

“It’s just such a great partnership for us,” she lamented. The school donated 100 tickets to the school for its upcoming show, The Nutcracker.

"LICKING MY WOUNDS AFTER AN ODYSSEY, A MISSION TO KEEP AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS ALIVE AND WELL AT DANA MIDDLE SCHOOL TO HELP STUDENTS STAY AWAY FROM GANGS, MAKE THEM FEEL SAFE – AND TO BRING PARENTS BACK ON BOARD—ENDS SADLY– AT LEAST FOR ME

By Diana L. Chapman

I confess. I went on vacation…a long, long vacation. It was one I needed to rest and to lick my wounds after my son graduated from Dana Middle School where my friend and I started a series of after school programs. Now, I just feel foolish.

I can’t say why now we even did it.

I can say why it started. We both enjoy kids so much and innocently believed a drive for change could – and should --come after school where scores of kids were milling on the street and fights broke out. It was a simple solution to a hard-core problem.

And it was working. After launching an art and newspaper club, parents started several other clubs, such as swimming, Spanish, art, cooking and so on.

But who knew we’d be walking into a hornet’s nest, make that many hornets nests. We

had, after all, unknowingly wandered into a territory of the big dogs, the bureaucrats and the empire of non-profits, who I have since learned, rule this world.

Who could know that after school programs swirled with angry political bees – just waiting for someone to disturb them. Sting. Zap.Not a couple of silly moms, I guess.

What seems mostly to be missed is that 50 percent Los Angeles students are dropping out of school; for that reason alone, we have to shuck our attitudes that we are the only ones who know how to do this – because:

We need everyone. The kids need parents, police, the business community, the school district, the mayor of Los Angeles, our councilwoman and so on, to become part of the solution. Schools cannot raise thousands of children, many who live in poverty and in broken homes, on its own. It’s a belief I’ve been harping on for three years to anybody I can get to listen -- and frankly, I can’t accept that it’s ok for kids to get gunned down in the streets of Los Angeles, whether they are in a gang or not.

Take for instance a 14-year-old was fatally shot on his own porch last year in San Pedro, struck with several bullets. Sadly, his 13-year-old girlfriend, a Dana student, raised the money for the services and arranged them, since his mother was alone and spoke no English.

Was he in a gang? I have no idea. Does it matter? The fact is he was 14 and surrounded by a world of poverty, drugs and gangs. How can we expect 14-year-old to make the right choices in this environment? We have to divert them with things to explore after school.

That’s why Kim and I delved deeply into programs at Dana – to show them others paths, then gangs, drugs, and crime – as well as to guide kids, who had none of those issues, but came from broken homes or otherwise. We were so successful at Dana. The clubs were flourishing and I knew this could be done at every single middle school in Los Angeles -- if we pulled everyone together, which we tried to do.

A group of us visited the mayor of Los Angeles’s staff – because after all Antonio Villaraigosa told the public he could run schools better than the district . Wanting to see if he would put his efforts where his smiling mouth always seemed to be, we pedaled it to his office.

They weren’t interested. Not sexy enough.

We visited Councilwoman Janice Hahn’s office, who seemed interested, but didn’t offer much in the way of support in any fashion accept to say she liked it.

Los Angeles School Board Member Richard Vladovic backed it 100 percent, but had no money. But money wasn’t the issue.

It all boiled down to leadership. When my son started at Dana at a sixth grader in 2006 at Dana, the school had a horrible reputation and my friends looked at me in horror that I enrolled him there. They were disgusted with my choice. But I wanted to be part of the solution and bring my son’s home school back up to the level I knew could be. No question, the test scores had shot up by the third year, I"m sure for many reasons, but I don't doubt for an instant the after school programs were part of the answer.

The Boys and Girls Club got involved with our program, using our students to maintain a grant, and bused kids to Peck Park Pool for the Swim Club – with a good end result. The parent chaperone said the students grades were improving! They stayed at Homework Club first for one hour before they went off to swim.

When Basketball Coach Derrick Smith joined the team, we were ecstatic. He trained his students to play basketball, to do their homework and watched over their grades. He urged the school to hold pep rallies for his players, which were accompanied by our awesome Dana band and cheer leaders

I laughed watching even the cool students – to cool for anything – magnetized by the rallies. Derrick believed it was all about the school spirit.

It should have all been good, because it was really a miracle in a way. A handful of volunteers, many parents, students staying after school in a safe environment because they wanted too and it was growing. We hadn’t even needed that much money to maintain and run it. We did candle fundraisers and asked for funding from our Neighborhood councils, by far our biggest supporters: Coastal donated $5,000 to the plans; and Central: $3,500.

But like anything, there’s always walls, obstacle courses and politics – and those can shut down many things in an instant. My friend, Kim, who had worked at Dana for years, had invested her soul in the school was becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of administrative support.

She was a true treasure at the school, a gem who had spent countless volunteer hours helping kids. I can only say she was an angel; if only some administrators could see it that way.

After two years of helping run the programs, she left to work at another school. Perhaps I should have joined her but the Cooking Club started with San Pedro High’s Culinary Teacher Sandy Wood and on Friday’s after school, nearly twenty kids marched up to her classroom and whipped up foods like pancakes, omelettes, cookies and salads.

But trouble, as it always does, brewed drastically by the third year. I had sought help from a myriad of places, because it was clear several leaders were necessary to pull everyone together – and it couldn’t be done by a couple of parents. It had to be someone who could pull together the police, the business community, the city’s Recreation and Parks, the schools.

Finally, Celia Sawyer, of Beyond the Bell, which runs the after Los Angeles school district’s after school programs, wanted to take over the programs – which made sense to me to have a professional arm of the district involved.

But within a few weeks of starting to train all our volunteers, Celia retired leaving no one to truly head this program, which left me carrying the load. Of course, she did not tell me that she planned to retire and I’m still wondering about her motives to this day.

When your faced alone with something like this, you learn a lot about yourself and others. I learned that several administrators were not going to help a single ounce and in and, in fact, worked hard to damage the program.

San Pedro High coaches didn’t like our basketball coach, claiming all the time that he was recruiting. No one seemed to care that every one of his kids had improved in school – and all of them crossed the stage at 8^th grade graduation, including kids who were destined to not make it. Prior to Derrick’s arrival,, no one had even come to look at the students there.

I learned many lessons, many that are ugly -- that politics was the only reason that the district’s program had even been interested to circumvent some grant money. And I learned, working with the Boys and Girls Club would be incredibly difficult because they didn’t want competition – nor for that matter, did any other non-profits.

Finally, my health spiraled and I could no longer cope with the stress. I was doing a balancing act, hanging by a thread. There are a lot of people delighted I left Dana, not because I wanted too, but because my health forced me too.

Today at Dana: The Boys and Girls Club took over and runs everything. The parent volunteers are mostly gone, replaced by younger Boys and Girls Club employees and the door of opportunity is closing at Dana, because – in all honesty – without parents it’s going to be hard to really make it a better school. With about 1,800 kids, and some 200 plus adults, there’s simply not enough adults to help kids discover where they shine.

The other day, I heard the school district, the council office, the police and the Boys and Girls Club pledged to work together. Perhaps it will work -- especially if parents are encouraged to climb aboard along with the many other non-profits that offer different resources than the Boys and Girls club.

But two things need to happen: first, the school has to be considered the second home of students where they can truck back and forth between the school and the Boys and Girls club. And the parents need to return.

I continue to say – and will always say – if we truly want to see changes: We need everyone.

RECOMMENDATION FOR AN AMAZING LESSON ON AMERICAN IDOL FOR ALL OF US/GO TO YOU TUBE IN TYPE IN THIS NAME: SUSAN BOYLE FOR QUITE A SURPRISE; A PEACE CANDLELIGHT VIGIL FOR HOMICIDE VICTIMS AND A FUNDRAISER FOR SAN PEDRO BALLET

----------------

Dear Readers: I can't tell you how much a must it is to visit http://www.youtube.com. Many of us received an amazing lesson for both children and adults on American Idol. Until this, I wasn't into American Idol. But when I saw this performance, it changed my mind. Check out the performance of Susan Boyle. You will not be sorry. Diana

Homicide Victims’ organizations throughout L.A. County have decided to unite to do a “L.A. County 7-day Candlelight Vigil” in conjunction with National Crime Victims’ Rights Week”, April 26-May 2 . This year marks “25 Years of Rebuilding Lives. Celebrating Victims of Crime Act”.

The vigil is to bring attention to the senseless killings and to unite victims throughout the county.

The candlelight vigils will takes place at 7:00 pm each night in a different location throughout the county (see attachments for locations).

For those unable to attend the candlelight vigil, we ask you to be in unity with us by lighting your candle at your home, office or location of choice at 7:00 pm every night and keep it lit until 9:00 pm every night during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week April 26-May 2.

Locations (See Attachments for more details):

Sunday, April 26 Lemert Park , 4300 S. Crenshaw, Los Angeles

S.T.E.V.I.E.S., Gwen -310-671-6935

Monday, April 27 Roger Park, Beach & Eucalyptus, Inglewood

Helping Hands, Mary -424-200-9210

Monday, April 27 Poncitlan Square , 38350 Sierra Hwy , Palmdale

POMC-Antelope Valley , Sheri -661-265-5963

Tuesday, April 28 Pasadena City Hall , 100 N. Garfield Ave , Pasadena

Victims’ Coalition, Jan- 562-907-4917

Wednesday, April 29 Pomona Civic Center, 505 S. Garey Ave , Pomona

POMC-Inland Empire-Agnus- 909-987-6164

Thursday, April 30 McCarty Memorial Church , 4101 W. Adams, Los Angeles

Mothers On The March, Charlotte- 323-493-1884

Friday, May 1 Lynwood Park, 11301 Bullis Road , Lynwood

Drive By Agony, Lorna-310-404-1050

Saturday, May 2 Water Fountains, Harbor & Swinford, San Pedro

Justice For Murdered Children, La Wanda- 310-738-4218

-----Submited by LaWanda Hawkins

SAN PEDRO BALLET FUND-RAISING EVENT

“A Glamorous Evening”

Saturday, May 16^th

6:00 pm

The Vue

255 W. 5^th Street, San Pedro

(between Centre and Palos Verdes Streets)

Cocktails, dinner, silent & live auctions, dancing

Free parking in the Vue’s parking structure

$70 per person or $650 per party of 10 advance purchase

$80 per person at the door

Adults only. Glamorous attire through the times optional.

For more information or to have an invitation mailed to you, please e-mail karen@sanpedrocityballet.org or call Karen Hicks at 310-600-5271

All proceeds from this event benefit the 2009 production and Outreach Program of “The Nutcracker”

“The Nutcracker” will be performed for two shows Saturday, December 12^th and Sunday, December 13^th

San Pedro City Ballet
310/732-1861 www.sanpedroballet.com

Our Overlord Los Angeles Makes Life More Difficult! I'm Ready for a Revolt

Dear Readers: This story appeared in the March issue of San Pedro Today where my columns will now regularly appear. In addition, www.coastgopher.com will use several of my stories that have appeared on this blog. Diana

By Diana L. Chapman

The other day, I figured out what I’ve received from our arrogant overlord, the kingdom of Los Angeles, in my 25 years as a San Pedro resident.

A public pool and a bottle brush tree.

It’s clearer than ever that City Hall believes we paupers here in Harbor Land can’t make decisions on our own, that it’s a task best left to our municipal overseers. Even our Neighborhood Councils, formed to fend off the “s” word—secession—are shaking their collective heads.

Sadly, decisions about our well-being are made in tall buildings farther away than Catalina and further still from our hearts and minds. It seems as if San Pedro lives in a straitjacket, barely able to breathe.

I’m tired of being a serf. I’m fed up with city officials not caring about the soul of our community. The last straw was the quadrupling of our downtown parking rates, strangling our hard-working business owners during a recession. It left me with this thought:

We need a revolt.

I’m praying for a modern-day Robin Hood. The response from our Councilwoman to complaints about the parking increase won’t cut it. First of all, she voted for it. And in a letter to the editor, she slapped our hands by telling us how we had to suck it up for the community good.

Which community, Janice? Downtown Los Angeles? The City Council? We don’t have anyone to stand up for us. Pleeease listen. Our people are starving. What more do you need to say? “Let them eat cake?”

We’re scrambling to maintain our identity. We can’t fix our own problems because L.A. makes more for us. I love San Pedro, but I despise Los Angeles, whose officials don’t care.

What locals find routinely is that just about everything we ask for turns into a tangle of meetings with bureaucrats who seem to have only one thing to say: It’s not possible. Of course anything is possible, but you’d better be prepared to battle for years with a gauntlet of city warriors whose job, it seems, is to stand in our way.

A city-owned ficus tree in front of our house was strangling our sewer line. When I called to find out if it could be removed, I knew we were in for an ordeal. The voice on the phone said environmental issues had to be considered first. And we learned from a Bureau of Street Services “information sheet” that it is a city-granted “privilege” for the homeowner to be connected to the public sewer system!

The public pool is another example. I was in the forefront of a battle to convince the city to clean up and refurbish the decades-old pool at Peck Park. Although we eventually won, the citizens on the Peck Park Advisory Board spent 10 years on the effort. Many of us thought we would die before we would ever see the pool rehabilitated. In fact, some of us did.

Now, for the bottle brush tree. The toppled ficus and its roots had left a crumpled sidewalk in its wake--a lawsuit waiting to happen. We called the city but were told nothing could be done for years because of the backlog. However, if we agreed to pay $1,500, the city would pay another $1,500 and repair the sidewalk in the next two weeks.

So we did it.

We were dismayed to wake up on a Saturday morning and find a gaggle of city employees out on the sidewalk. We watched in disgust, as did many of our neighbors, as most of the employees stood around for hours drinking coffee and chatting on their cell phones. The only people working were two guys digging a ditch.

How much did that cost the taxpayers? Who knows, but I can bet those city employees racked up some pretty good overtime. We were granted a bottle brush tree to replace the ficus.

Things are never perfect. But when my friends ask about any undertaking with Los Angeles – such as bringing in more playing fields – I ask them: “Do you have 10 years of your life to give?” That’s the minimum you need to push something through Los Angeles.

So yes, I’m saying it out loud for all to hear – I’m ready for a revolt. Because the years I’ve spent to get a bottle brush tree and a revamped pool – just aren’t worth being a serf to L.A.

Diana L. Chapman has been a writer for 30 years whose work has appeared in many publications, including the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. To learn more about local issues – especially concerning children – visit her blog: http://www.theunderdogforkids.blogspot.com

Above: Saturday barbecue attracts scores, Devon Hamilton cuts a customer's hair, LaWanda Hawkins, founder of Justice for Murdered children and Devon's father-in-law, Michael Martinez, take out time for a hug at the rally....

Two Separate Shootings at a San Pedro Barber Shop and Small Church Has the Long Time Shop Owner Contemplating Closing Down; the Trouble is His Customers Refuse to Let Him Leave Soulful Shears, a Community Watering Hole Where Hispanic and African American Customers Get Haircuts Side By Side

By Diana L. Chapman

Photos By: Jens Peerman, publisher of Coast Gopher, an online Harbor Area Newspaper: Http://www.coastgopher.com

With just another quick buzz of a shaver , Devon Hamilton swirled the chair and whipped up another customer 's cut in what seemed less than five minutes. At the same time, loyal customers streamed in begging him to stay open.

Clip, clip, …zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz .

Amongst the buzzing noise of shavers and client's chatter, Soulful Shears, which sits smack in the heart of a small shopping front on Bandini, near 1st streets, is abuzz with worry. For 13 years, the shop symbolized a safe haven where clients swapped tales, large and small, and discussed, yes, women, when the opposite sex wasn't around.

That safe feeling evaporated with two non-fatal shootings last month. At 36, Devon , an African –American, considered shutting his shop and saying: “I’m out of here.” He believes the shootings were racially motivated and fears not only for himself, but his three young daughters and the scores of his customer’s children, who frequently drop by to visit to talk and get haircuts.

Local residents, however, with the help of organizations, launched a barbecue/rally this past Saturday to show the community has this attitude: “Don’t let them chase you away.” All day long, a stream of Hispanics and African Americans came in droves to support the barber, buying ribs, hot dogs and chicken – and often donating more money than was asked for.

Spirits were running high and jokes were exchanged at the barbecue, held at the Top Value parking lot across the street. The constant flow of people coming all day made the volunteers happy. While it was suppose to end at 4 p.m., the food ran low by 2 p.m., explained LaWanda Hawkins, who founded justice for Murdered Children.

“God is just awesome,” LaWanda said while cleaning up after the barbecue. “We made over $600 and we thought we were going only to make $200. It was just word of mouth and people kept coming."

The money will go to repairs from the shootings and to purchase vests for volunteers to start escorting children to school safely.

The barber and his parents-in-law said –despite the rally – they still fear for the children who come to the shop. On Saturday, only one officer showed up; Lomita Sheriff's Deputy John Huerta, who was born and raised in San Pedro, attended the rally to make sure everyone was safe, said Mary Lou Martinez, Devon’s-mother-in-law. He got out of his car, wandered around and spoke to the children, she said.

“This place (the barber shop) is like a community center and people come here to socialize,” said Mary Lou, who showed she was clearly agitated with the lack of response from the Los Angeles Police Department. “This is an area that should be patrolled. LAPD needs to get involved. It's their jurisdiction. I’ll give the deputy thanks for coming by to support us.”

Without a doubt, Mary Lou believes the shootings are racially motivated – and while some say it’s gang related, she argues this: “If it’s gang-related, it’s race related.”

As for Devon, he said, when the Los Angeles police discussed the shootings with him, they indicated that he needed to stop giving gang members haircuts. Devon’s question was how would he do that? All walks-of-life end up in his shop, from blue collar workers to doctors. Longshoreman, students, teachers and all police officers come for quick buzzes.

And while he knows some customers are gang members, it’s likely he’d cause more trouble by denying them service. More importantly, his large, multi-racial family -- which does include in-some gang members -- don't even know they are hitting a relative's shop, his mother-in-law revealed.

One innocent party – or believed to not be the target – is the small church right next to the barber shop, the Iglesia Manantial de Vida. Pastor Arturo Vargas believes that the church door was accidentally shot and that Soulful Shears was the true target.

The barber shop has been extremely respectful of his church and “we help each other,” explained the pastor, while inside the dimly lit chapel where his young daughter rapped on drums.

“They are responsible, good neighbors,” the pastor said, whose flock participated in the barbecue. “I believe they were after maybe one of his (Devon’s) customers. I see a lot of Hispanics that go there to get their hair done. Thank God we don’t have services on Tuesday (when the second shooting occurred). We feel we are under God’s protection, but my concern is for the women and children.”

The church paid $250 to replace the glass door’s entrance to the chapel.

Due to the weekend, Los Angeles police could not be reached for comment about the incidents.
In the meantime, others are trying to redirect the shootings from being considered racial – and call them solely gang activities.

Gloria Lockhart, executive director of Toberman, a well-known social agency that helps the poor and works to dilute gang activity, said: “We think it's gang related. That’s how we feel. It’s various sets of gangs. We launched this (rally) to symbolize unity in the community."

Tyris Hatchett, who works Toberman’s gang unit, explained that currently this issue should not be labeled until more information is gathered.

“You have to evaluate the situation,” said Tyris, as he barbecued along with several other volunteers. “It’s a lot of knuckle heads doing things just to be doing it. Since it’s getting to be summertime, we are trying to bring folks together so there won’t be any retaliation."

Warren Chapel church member, Daniel Johnson, who volunteered and was passing out plates of food, offered this up: whatever prompted the shootings doesn’t matter as much as this: “We want no more shootings, no more fighting or any more of that.”

Inside of the barber shop seemed like any typical Saturday. It was mobbed with customers. Parents dragged their kids along with them – and bustled in and out. While mostly men come for haircuts, women also have their hair done there. Stories are told so often that Devon said: “It’s kind of like Vegas, what’s said in here stays in here.”

The first shooting in February was 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Devon said he was cutting the hair of a 60-year-old man, a regular customer, when suddenly three shots rang out. Bullets went flying through the door where the man was sitting, grazed his hand, and the other two bullets struck a back wall and a back door. “We just ducked for cover,” the barber said, adding they couldn’t find the third bullet.

That episode was terrifying enough, especially since Bandini Street Elementary School sits just a block away and nearly the entire neighborhood knows how many kids revolve in and out the barber’s doors.

The second shooting, also in February, happened on a Thursday night, Devon said. There were about ten customers in his shop, with at least four youngsters, when bullets riddled through a window of one of his customer’s cars -- parked out front – and then shattered the door of the church right next door. But Devon believes – as does the pastor – that the bullets were meant for his shop.

The woman, who was sitting in her car and works at San Pedro High, the barber said, was not injured. Her grandchildren were inside Soulful Shears.

“This just doesn’t make sense,” said Devon, shaking his head. “All I can think about is it’s racial. We’ve had a town hall meeting at a church and some people were saying it was gangs. To me, those two almost go hand in hand.”

It’s clear Devon has rules to come to his shop. Prominently posted are these conditions: no smoking, no drinking alcohol, no drugs of any kind “in or around the shop,” no fighting, no cursing – and – to watch the conversation when children are present.

For the moment despite the shootings, Devon will continue to use his shears.

The community support has convinced him to stay at least for now. Toberman, the Boys and Girls Club, Justice for Murdered Children and the Warren Chapel put together the rally in response to the community’s desire to convince the barber to not close.

“He’s going to stay,” said his adamant father-in-law, Michael Martinez, who lives up the street from the shop and who was born and raised in San Pedro.

Devon’s not exactly sure, but wants to remain. “I talked to some older gang members and they think it’s younger knuckle heads. The second shooting left me really discouraged and I’m worried about the safety of my customers.”

efpriority="99" latentstylecount="267">

A Series of Shootings at Local Business on Bandini StreetHave Triggered Alarm and Prompted Local Groups to Rustle Up a Barbecue on Saturday; Funds Will Go Toward Paying for Repairs

Two sets of non-fatal shootings that riddled a local African-American barber shop and a nearby church close to an elementary school this month have caused alarm and triggered several groups to announce a giant block party and barbecue Saturday to bring the community together.

The Block Party will begin at 11 a.m. and stop at 7 p.m. Justice For Murdered Children, the Toberman House, the Warren Chapel Church and the Boys and Girls Club are some of the groups participating in the event.

Funds from the barbecue proceeds – which will include $1 hotdogs and $8 rib dinners, will go to help the local business rebuild, said LaWanda Hawkins, who founded Justice for Murdered Children after her son was murdered in 1995.

“Everybody was shocked since it’s just one block away from an elementary school,” LaWanda said. “They’ve (the businesses) had to get their windows redone and pay money and then they had to do it again.”

In particular, the African-American community is heavily invested in Soulful Shears, which has served the black community for years. Barber shops in the black community often become more than a spot to get a haircut, but blossom into social places where stories are swapped, told and retold, explained LaWanda, who has her hair done there.

Noted African American Los Angeles police commanders, Randall Simons and Kenneth Garner got haircuts there, she said. Both recently died, Simons in action and Garner from a health issue.

The barber shop owner “was going to close up and move and we all said: “Don’t do that!” LaWanda added.

The event will be held at Top Value, a market at First and Bandini streets, and hopes to bring the community together to make a statement to end the shootings.

--Diana Chapman

Four Friends, One Vision and a Miracle for Our Deteriorating Parks: A Non-Profit Begins in San Pedro With One Mission in Mind -- Starting Small and Rescuing One Sports Facility at a Time – Beginning With Local Baseball Diamonds ; If This Vision Works, This San Pedro-Charged Group Could Mean a Field of Dreams for All of Los Angeles

By Diana L. Chapman

With our Los Angeles parks falling fallow, a recession that seems ugly enough for the city to go after taxpayers for more cash and a crush of kids who still want to play ball, it’s a homer of a thing that two fathers, a former teacher and a team mom stepped up to the plate in San Pedro.

So far, they’ve been hitting homeruns -- quietly mending ruined baseball diamonds in the background of San Pedro while an ongoing, ugly battle resumes over the temporary – perhaps permanent location -- for the once-homeless Eastview Little League.

Despite the fierce warring, that’s an issue this group tries not to focus on.

Instead, they’ve raised at least $8,000 plus and gone about repairing and rehabilitating beaten down baseball diamonds. In the past year, the group quietly redid Peck Park ball fields, added awnings and shades, reopened the snack shack and reduced playing costs from $100 to $80 per player.

But they hope to do more—with long term goals of fixing not just baseball diamonds, but many other facilities, such as gyms, soccer fields and basketball courts. Soon, Bogdanovich’s players hopefully will see the last of bumpy fields and splintering benches.

“My heart is for the kids and there are many parents who just can't afford it,” explained John Delgado, who said most city fees to play ball start at $80. “The fields were falling apart and it just didn’t seem fair.

“We brought it (Peck) back to life.”

For this we should applaud the foursome, which included John, now the president of Central’s Neighborhood Council, his side kick, Mark Aariola, a team mom, Robin Gregg, and a former school teacher, Frank Anderson. They are looking for more volunteers to come and hit home-runs with them. Another resident, Allen Quinten, has also joined the force.

Using the former title of a group that was launched in the 1970s but had languished with time, John and his team injected new life into the San Pedro Youth Sports Association (SPYSA). The new crew turned it into a non-profit, with the blessing of its original founders, including Quinten’s father, and started to raise money by visiting both North West and Central Neighborhood Councils and holding fundraisers.

Working deals with the city – they offered packages difficult for Los Angeles to refuse in this dragging economy – and has launched one of the first successful partnerships which city recreation and park officials have long avoided in the past.

“They’ve been really doing a good job,” said Deanne Dedmon, the Los Angeles city recreational supervisor for the Harbor area region. “They are very open and easy going and they keep us in the loop about everything.”

This group should not be confused with the San Pedro Youth Coalition, another non-profit fighting to nurture organized sports in the Harbor Area that has aided East View in its long running plight. The league lost its original home at the former DiCarlo Bakery site and were forced out when Target purchased the property and opened a store.

Many non-profits and volunteers in the past have tried to pass muster through the parade of city warriors and collaborate, but often city bureaucrats intensely resisted.

John believes the reason for their success thus far stems from the spiraling economy, which left the city little choice but to collaborate or allow for more parks to fall to ruin.

Mark, who was the other father who pulled this program together agreed that in the city didn’t want to “work with us at first.”

“We had to step in and give the things that Rec and Parks can no longer afford to give our kids,” he explained, who added the group has no intention of stopping their good deeds at the door step of San Pedro. “We are trying to help lower prices…and are gearing for the football season.”
Its board members plan to expand from repairing baseball fields to all sports facilities. They hope to leapfrog later to Wilmington and – if met with continued success – use their resources to fix ailing sports facilities across Los Angeles.

In the meantime, as the East View battle continues to rage about whether to have East View remain atop Los Angeles Port-owned Knoll Hill or turn it into open parklands appears – where Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn promised it a temporary home for three years – heads possibly toward compromise.

John is on the Central Neighborhood Council steering committee studying uses there as is Phil Trigas, who agreed that the Knoll Hill will meet the needs for both open-park land and ball fields. “The design needs for both can me bet. And it’s going to be a public facility,” Phil predicted. “We are hoping Janice (Los Angeles Councilwoman Hahn) will compromise.”

Hahn has urged the Central Council and port officials to allow the league to remain there, as other potential homes for the league have dwindled. That concept remains controversial, however, as many critics consider the league a private organization that does not serve all children.

As the screaming goes on, the association in the meantime has launched a $2 ticket raffle to restore Bogdanovich’s playing fields, reopen the snack shack, provide awnings – and in the end, by next season, subsidize the city’s $110 rates per player to lower rates so more children can play.

The dream includes only charging $35 per player – in the long run – with the association paying additional costs.

The raffle’s number one prize winner, for a flat screen T.V., will be announced at a pancake breakfast at Peck Park in the auditorium on May 17, a Sunday from 8 to 11 a.m. The winner does not need to be present.

So much has happened since their opening day at Peck Park last April when the Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa showed up. Because no press attended, that mayor “could be himself,” John said, “and signed balls for every single player.”

To buy tickets, contact John Delgado via email at: johndelgadosp@aol.com

Sign up for free writer's workshop

Would You like to Learn Seven Golden Secrets and the Joy to Writing? Then consider this first-time free adult writing workshop coming soon to Nosh Café in San Pedro:

Have you always felt tortured when you sat down to write? Do you hate and love writing? Do you have a book, but you don’t know how to spit it out? Do you think you are a bad writer? Did you love writing when you were a kid, but have since given it up?

Then you may want to consider joining Diana Chapman’s first adult writing workshop coming in April – time and date to be announced at Nosh Café. The workshop is free. Diana has been writing for 35 years and has had her work published globally with many of her pieces running in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She also wrote for more than a decade for various newspapers, including The Daily Breeze and The San Diego Union.

Over the years, she’s gathered many short cuts and secrets to better writing – and how to discover the joy of this powerful talent – instead of the pain. Come and learn her secrets. If interested in attending this event, please email her at: hartchap@cox.net.

Hello Mariners and San Pedro Residents: It's Coach Smith With More news on Dana Basketball "Dana Basketball continues to move Victorious" Dana Girls play week 2 against Stephen White & Carnegie Middle School Unfortunately we lost to Stephen White But won against Carnegie Awesome teamwork Dana Girls Record 1-3 Dana Boys play week 2 against Carnegie & Rival Dodson Carnegie was defeated by Dana in a very close game standing room only Dodson was also defeated by Dana with special visits from San Pedro High School Coach John Bobich Dana Boys Record 3-1 and tied for first place Next Saturday The Girls Play Rival Dodson at 9:30am at Banning High Curtis at 10:30am at Banning High The Boys Play Wilmington at 1pm at Banning High White B&G Team at 2pm at Banning Special Thanks to the awesome Coaching Staff of Dana Basketball: Coach Smith, Coach Geo and Coach Richard Go Mariners!!!

THE PEDRO CUPCAKE QUEEN ENTERS INTO A CONTEST: GOOD LUCK ROSE!!!

I am very proud to announce that on Sunday, March 29th, Cuppacakes will be participating in The LA Cupcake Competition at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. This is where the winner of the BEST cupcake will be announced! There will be about 15 other well known Cupcake Shops I will be competing against which should be quite exciting.

Each Cupcake vendor will make 2 different flavored mini cupcakes, 400 of each! Can you imagine with 16 Cupcake makers there, each bringing in 800 mini cupcakes, which makes it a total of over 12,000 mini cupcakes!! That's a lot of cuppies!

The judges will be well know celebrities and the public! Here they will taste the cupcakes and pick their favorite ones. If you would like to come to this fun event, you can visit the website of the LA Cupcake Competition at http://www.drinkeatplay.com/cupcakechallenge/ The cost of coming and participating in the event and eating as much cupcakes as you like is $40. Part of the cost goes to the Children's Aids Foundation, which I was told. All information is provided in the link I gave you.

I hope I get to see a lot of you there! It should be a fun event and who knows, Cuppacakes could be crowned LA's best Cupcake maker!

Again, it's on Sunday March 29th from Hollywood, CA. 90028.

Here's the link:
http://www.drinkeatplay.com/cupcakechallenge/

Thanks for supporting Cuppacakes!
------Rose
www.italiancuppacakes.com

Why Port of Los Angeles Charter High School Did Not Work for Us; But Could Still Work for Your Child; Assessing Students Needs Are Never Easy and the More You Know About How a School Operates, the Better; The Kids Here Need a Voice, More Parent Advocates are Necessary to Make This the Phenomenal School It Will Eventually Become

By Diana L. Chapman

Coming home after an eight-hour “in house” suspension for wearing the wrong shirt, Ryan was fully loaded with ammunition to take him out of POLAHS (Port of Los Angeles High School), the up-and-coming charter school in San Pedro. He’d been attending POLAHS only about a month.

“Face it, Mom,” he argued. “I got that suspension because I wasn’t Red Carpet enough for them.”

No, he wasn’t. It was the latest of several indicators that made me think we’d made an unwise choice of schools for our son. On “Red Carpet Day,” he was supposed to wear a suit and tie or a tuxedo (none of which I knew anything about). Ryan didn’t understand, either, so he wore a polo-shirt with an artistic skeleton head, currently a popular style.

That cost him eight hours of education, as he had to sit in a conference room for the rest of the school day.

Let me say this first so I can get it a couple of points across immediately. First of all, as much I disagree with how this school is currently operating, I can’t condemn it. Many students are flourishing in this smaller setting instead of overcrowded San Pedro High. For some parents and students, POLAHS is a perfect choice

The trouble here was that we had miscast the student as well as the parent. Ryan said when he started at Dana Middle School and again at POLAHS that “we come as a package.” That’s true. I’ve been an active volunteer at his schools since he was in pre-kindergarten. I helped to bring after school programs to Dana after and develop Peck Park Pool into a year-round facility.

My way of thinking when I enrolled Ryan at POLAHS was this: It’s a small charter. They’ll welcome parent volunteerism in a variety of ways besides joining the booster club. Maybe I could help start some after school programs to the campus. The school was still evolving since it opened in 2005.

I should have paid more attention to the section in the student handbook that said they didn’t want parents hanging out in the halls. I should have paid more attention when the former principal departed last summer, leaving the school virtually without a captain and one of its biggest advocates for the students. Before we enrolled, I should have paid more attention to the fact that many of the ideas I suggested were being rebuffed.

After awhile, I realized the school wanted to make suggestions to the parents about what they could do -- not the other way around – and their involvement would be limited.

It was virtually the first time in my son’s education that I felt locked out of the picture. After awhile, I decided I could deal with that – especially when I discovered other parents were finding out the same thing. It wasn’t just me.

On the morning of Red Carpet Day, the school called with an ultimatum: Get down to the campus and provide Ryan with a standard uniform shirt or he will spend the entire day in a conference room.

Stunned and angered – I admit ultimatums don’t work with me – I was also feeling sick that day and couldn’t drive down to the campus. Could they provide him with a uniform shirt? The answer was no.

An email from Assistant Principal Gaetano “Tom” Scotti, (recently named principal) stated that the school did not want students or parents to dictate the dress policy of the school. (Maybe not, but perhaps since this is whom you are serving with public funds, you may want to give them a voice in the policy creation and make sure parents understand this coming in the door.)

My calls to Executive Director Jim Cross that morning went unheeded. The first time, he said he would call me back soon because he understood there might have been some “confusion.”

Two hours ticked by. I called again. He said he would call me back. Nothing. A couple of days later, my husband called and left a message. No response.

A few weeks later, my girlfriend’s daughter had to sit in the conference room for the school day for having a small tear in her pants.

I’ve talked with many of the Port of Los Angeles students. For the most part, they are good kids who are striving to do their best and make their way to college. San Pedro High would be thrilled to have them. So I thought – do we really want to punish kids for small infractions to this degree?

For me, the answer is no, especially when matters of dress are so subjective. The letter announcing Red Carpet Day that came home didn’t say anything about tuxes or suits. It just said: “Boys are prohibited from wearing anything sagged, over sized or gang-related.”

This led to our decision to move Ryan to San Pedro High School at the semester break. We had misjudged him. He loved nearly everything about Dana. He loved its size, meeting different kinds of students and bonding with special friends. So it made sense for him to continue in a large setting. We also understand the rules at a public school better since he’s been in Los Angeles Unified since he was 4.

But while Ryan thrived at Dana, a friend’s daughter told me she felt like “a speck on the wall” there, where she felt unnoticed for the entire three years despite her intelligence. Few teachers seemed interested in her abilities, she said. At POLAHS she has flourished, blossoming with all sorts of possibilities. She has studied Celtic and Latin at home and wants to be an archaeologist. Her efforts are supported and endorsed at the school.

She’s not the only one who has blossomed at POLAHS.

Along with scores of other students, she recently received an award to a function for students who may have gone unnoticed elsewhere. All of which is fantastic. And I am pleased to say that they e-mailed photos of the award-winning students to the homes of school parents – instead of what I received before, many pictures of the adults running the school.

I’m also pleased that they named Scotti as principal in February. While I disagreed with some of the policies he enforced, I have to admit that many students have done better on the small campus than they would have at SPHS.

Also, over time, I suspect more parents will get involved on the POLAHS board of directors – and hopefully, one or two student leaders will be allowed to join to give the kids back their voice. With that, the disciplinary policies may be toned down. After all, to paraphrase a saying, a great mind is a terrible thing to waste sitting in a conference room. And believe me, there are many great minds there.

At that point, I truly believe POLAHS will become the phenomenal school is striving so hard to be.