A GREAT CULINARY TEACHER – WHO LED HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS OVER A DECADE TO PULL OUT THE DISHES, THE SPATULAS AND WHIP UP MEALS DECIDES TO HANG UP HER CHEF’S HAT AT SAN PEDRO HIGH SCHOOL; HER DEPARTURE WILL DEVASTATE SCORES OF KIDS WHO PLANNED ON ATTENDING HER CLASS

SANDY WOOD ALWAYS HAD DOZENS OF STUDENTS ON HER WAITING LIST, AND THE CAMPUS MAY NOT FILL HER POST DESPITE ITS POPULARITY; “IT WAS TIME,” THE TEACHER SAID HAVING TAUGHT THERE SINCE 1999 WITH A TEACHING CAREER SPANNING MORE THAN TWO DECADES

By Diana L. Chapman

It’s nearly as bad as losing the principal.

With often 500 students on her waiting list, San Pedro High School’s culinary teacher, Sandy Wood, 59, decided it’s time to pull off the whites, tuck away her aprons, put away the dishes and the dish towels and to start cooking more at home.

It was time to retire, the teacher said.

Campus officials fear – during these turbulent economic times – that her post will not be filled. The position –without the nation’s financial economic turmoil—remains difficult to fill in any case due to the sparse selection of high school culinary teachers -- even though the culinary field remains one of the largest growing industries in the nation.

“It’s been wonderful,” Sandy explained during a phone interview. “I’ll be 60 in September and it just seemed the right time. I will definitely miss all the kids. But I’ll still be in town…so I’ll be able to visit.”

Unfortunately, the skillful teacher who could whip up anything in a skillet, was truly regarded as one of the school’s best teachers – not just in her cooking skills – but in the way she cared for her students.

One day recently on Sixth Street downtown, the teacher was walking up the street when a teenager shouted out the window: “Is that Sandy Wood? She was one of the best teachers I ever had!”

After serving the high school since 1999 – and having a teaching career for 24 years where batches of students whisked through her doors – she often found herself turning around students whose futures appeared bleak.

Hector – a fake name she gave one of her students so she could share his story with the crowd when she received a recognition award from the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce in May – arrived in class his senior year, with no interest in school or apparently in much of anything. But cooking made him spark to life – and enflamed his spirit.

Noticing his interest, the culinary teacher was able to stir (steer him) toward culinary school where he later graduated.

“He came into my class as a senior he was just looking at getting by, getting through. But then we started to cook,” she wrote. “ And Hector was hooked. He now had a reason to come to school and a reason to do well. He could not get enough. He filled out an application, wrote an essay, got letters of recommendation and was accepted into a cooking competition!

“He stayed after school almost every day for weeks to practice. He won a scholarship to a culinary school in New England! But leaving San Pedro was not something his family had ever considered. We talked and talked. After working a year to earn living expenses, Hector got on a plane for the first time and headed to the other side of the country. He called me after a week or so and said: “There are no Mexicans here!’ I told him: ‘There are now!’

“Hector graduated from culinary school. He did well. I have seen many Hectors, and Lisas, and Matthews, and Jennifers. I have seen the fire move from the stovetop into their hearts. That’s why I teach.”

The San Pedro High School Lady Boosters Club – a financial backbone to aiding the school, also named Sandy teacher of the year along with Don Hughs, an art and play production teacher.

The culinary teacher began studying at UC Davis, where she graduated with a bachelor of science degree in home economics. She received her teaching credential at Sacramento State University and began teaching in Sacramento before moving to teach English at Atwater High School.

Her departure comes at the same time as San Pedro High Principal Bob DiPietro, who took the reins to lead the campus less than two years ago and opted to step down due to a family crises.

Most consider the culinary teacher’s departure a shame for a campus that’s already in the mist of the tackling scores of problems, from scaling back the overflowing campus to working on returning its threatened accreditation status.

There are just too many Hectors, so many parents are hoping Sandy’s post will be filled.

Jeanna Acaba Ready For UCLA...Read Her Awesome Essay Below

Hot Weather, Cool Air Conditioning, Cheap but Great Films, and Popcorn Should Get Residents To Descend on the Warner Grand This Summer at Its New $3 Night Shows “Warmer on Wednesdays” Beginning This Month; Another student Headed for UCLA Writes an Awesome Essay—and Chinese Dragon Boats for Kids? Let’s Get the Summer Rolling

College Bound Student Strikes Gold With Her Boys and Girls Club Applications and Essay; Read Her Awesome Piece

Jeanna Abaca, 17: San Pedro High student leader,

Career Desire: immigration attorney

Accepted to: UC Merced, UC Davis, CSU Long Beach, UC Irvine, UC San Diego and UCLA, UC Berkley

Selected School: UCLA

“Happiness does not depend on what I have, but on what I make with what I have.”

Overcoming Obstacles

My mom and I moved to the United States four years ago from the Philippines. I have to admit that I hated my new life. The move was difficult, as I lost my loved ones and the comfortable lifestyle that I grew up with. My mother and I had to start our life from scratch. My first couple of years was probably the toughest of my life, and I am proud to say that I persevered.

During our first few months here, we didn’t have our own place to live in or a car, and most of my clothes were hand-me-downs. I didn’t have any friends, and I felt imprisoned. It was so hard to fit in with any groups; I found myself alone most of the time. The new culture was overwhelming. Growing up in a strict private school, I had a very conservative upbringing. I was forced to forget some of the values that I grew up with in order to adapt to my new surroundings. My mom wasn’t able to help me because she was always busy with work. I learned on my own.

In the process of trying to be accepted by everybody else, I lost the real me. Some people made me feel like I was only that girl from the Philippines with a thick accent; nothing more. Others told me that I couldn’t succeed because I couldn’t even speak fluent English. At some point I believed them.

The teasing was severe. They called me names that I had never even heard before. That’s when I realized that in life, when people try to put you down, you just have to keep proving them wrong. That’s exactly what I did. I stopped caring that my classmates made fun of me because I was determined to succeed in school and achieve my dream of becoming a successful lawyer. I worked hard to keep my grades up and to catch up to my classmates. I maintained a 4.0 GPA, tutored underprivileged kids and volunteered in my community. I gained my peers’ as well as my teachers’ respect. I even received awards, including Academic Achievement Awards from my most challenging classes, which includes AP English. This meant that all my hard work had paid off.

I now love my life here in the United States. Being here and not having as much as I did back home allowed me to appreciate the simplest things that could actually bring true happiness.

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

Get Cool at the Warner Every Wednesday This Summer:

Get the kids ready, grab a few blankets and easily escape the heat this summer by planning family outings each Wednesday at the Warner Grand Theatre’s Warmer on Wednesday’s showings with next-to-new releases.

With films like Twilight to the Tales of Desperaux, it makes for an inexpensive family outing for $3 a seat with show times running consistently every Wednesday from at 6 p.m. and again at 9 p.m.

Starting June 17 with the Curious Case of Benjamin, the rest of the shows the following Wednesdays will kick off with: Twilight (June 24), Tales of Desperaux (July 1), Fast and Furious (July 15), the Dark Knight, (July 22) and Bedtime Stories, July 29.

Tickets can be purchased at Sacred Grounds, next door to the Warner Grand, or purchased at: http://www.warnergrand.org.

Warmer on Wednesdays stems from a collaborative effort with the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council, Sacred Grounds, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the Relevant Stage Theatre Co.

THE LOS ANGELES HARBOR DRAGON BOAT CLUB SEEKING YOUTHS TO PADDLE THE SEAS

Local dragon boat officials want kids anywhere from ages seven to 18 to learn to paddle for the upcoming Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival and to start learning the art rowing.

The first couple of practices for youth to try out will be free to ensure the children like the sport, said Bruce Heath, one of the coordinators and an adult rowing coach.

On June 20, Saturday at 9 a.m., the club will host youth tryouts to create three teams of 20 paddlers for these divisions: elementary 7 to 12, middle school: 13 to 15 and high school 16 to 18.

All equipment will be provided. If students decide to continue, a fee of $60 will be charged for training the entire summer, every Saturday.

Try outs will be at the Cabrillo Youth Water Sport Center.

For more information, www.laharbordragonboat.com.

Amy Epperhart, author of Lullaby, and Noe Preciado, whose essay helps him into university

WHEN KIDS CAN WRITE: BESIDES GRADES, TEST SCORES AND OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS, STUDENTS USE THEIR ESSAYS TO MAKE THEM SHINE IN A VAST BOWL OF APPLICANTS AND LOCAL SAN PEDRO YOUNG POET, AMY EPPERHART, SCORES AGAIN WITH LULLABY AND DON'T FORGET THE SODA TASTING FOR KIDS AT THE CORNER STORE JUNE 6!

Dear Readers: Since it's June and time to watch another flock of children leave their nests and fly off to university, I will share several of the essays they wrote over the next week or so --- along with other "when kids can write" pieces. Diana


UNIVERSITY ACCEPTANCES & ESSAY:
Noe Preciado, 17: San Pedro High Varsity Soccer Team
Career desire: architect
Accepted to: UC Riverside, CS San Jose, San Diego, Cal Poly Pomona, Woodbury University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, UC Davis, USC
Will attend: Pomona
Essay Quote: “I have learned that criticism will always exist and that it should never conquer us.”

Essay From College Bound Writing Class at the Boys and Girls Club: My parents and the hardships I have experienced since an early age have both become my greatest influence and somehow motivated me to strive for more in life. My background not only shows how I have evolved into a better person but also why I have chosen my goals and why I am so desperate to complete them.

My father was born in a small town in Mexico, with few opportunities where the chances for a decent life were very limited if at all present. He was just another of ten children born whose sole objective was to help the rest of the family in the fields to provide enough food to survive. Clearly, education was not a priority at the time and my dad was forced to drop out of school by the third grade.

As a teenager he came to the United States and even though his mom acquiesced, he came against his father’s wishes. At the young age of eighteen when most boys haven’t transformed into men, my dad found himself in an unfamiliar country without friends, money and merely a vague idea of how things worked. Thirty-eight years later my dad overcame almost everything put in his path. Due to his hard work, he now lives the American Dream and owns his house but most importantly he has provided a better life for himself and his family.

My mom’s life has influenced me in a different but equally strong way. My mother’s destiny was partially controlled by my grandfather; he never allowed or approved of my mother’s desire to find a soul mate. At almost thirty-two, she lied to her father, saying she would go on vacation to the United States but instead reunited with my father and married him, even though no one approved of it. Her whole family criticized her and she ran the risk of becoming the family outcast, however, she never let people’s opinions change her decision and stood up for herself and her actions. A year later she went back to Mexico where everyone finally saw her strong will and accepted her for who she really was.

Even though this country does a lot to provide an equal chance at prosperity to everyone, there are always obstacles preventing many from reaching it. When I was born my first home was a small house in Wilmington, one of the worst areas in the county shared by our family of four and uncle. We resided in front of the projects, notorious for gang violence, drugs and crime. Conditions were so dangerous that my mom literally crawled to the kitchen so that she wouldn’t be a victim of a drive-by.

We finally moved to a better area and even though it wasn’t great, our new home was an improvement. By this time we began elementary school and I found myself making friends with lower-class children like myself, who no one had high expectations for. In middle school, I began to witness my friends and classmates change and conform into what many believed they would become. It was hard for me to see these people change so quickly and begin going in the wrong direction. Not many of the exceptional students from before remained, and I didn’t allow myself to follow my friends’ steps and become a person I was not.

These events have defined my personality and helped me set my goals. They will support me in pursuing my dream of one day becoming an architect and assist me in surmounting the intense program I seek to attend. They will help me become the first person in my family to go to college and make me realize that like my father, I too would like to one day give my family a better chance at life.

My mother’s life has taught me to always attempt to accomplish our aspirations no matter what, and to never let anything get in the way. I have learned that criticism will always exist and that it should never conquer us. My early childhood helped me become a stronger person and open my eyes to reality. I never let society define me, and became someone I wasn’t hypothetically supposed to be. With these experiences I know who I am, someone who defies all expectations that were once attributed to them.

AMY EPPERHART,16,: OUR LOCAL POET GAL WHO SPENDS HOURS STUDYING, WRITING AND PLANS TO BECOME AN ARCHAEOLOGIST, SCORES ANOTHER MOVING PIECE WITH "LULLABY” – ONCE AGAIN AWESOME!

Lullaby
By Amy Epperhart

They soon grow cold

The ones we love

We sing

A mourning lullaby


Sleep sweetly

Let dreadful pain ebb

Sleep sweetly

Let despair crumble

Sleep sweetly

As life fades


It rains

Salty tear drops

As we sing

A grieving lullaby


Sleep sweetly

Close weary eyes

Sleep sweetly

Fold snowy wings

Sleep sweetly

In the starry sky


Left behind

By those we love

So we sing

A peaceful lullaby

CORNER STORE EVENT EXPLODES INTO A SODA TASTING FESTIVAL FOR KIDS AND THEIR FAMILIES; DON'T MISS THIS FIZZY TASTING THAT WILL HELP THE LOS ANGELES MARITIME MUSEUM
A lot of tastings exist in this world -- wine, beer, cheese -- but soda?
This tasting will aid in the development of a large kids' exhibit at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum and will make for a fun family fun adventure on Saturday, June 6 at the Corner Store, 1118 W.37th Street.

Pop tastings cost $5 per ticket for either an adult or child. Tasting times are at 11:30 a.m./1 p.m. and 2:30. Tickets can be purchased at
the Cornet Store or a he museum, Berth 84, at the foot of Sixth Street, in San Pedro.

A Gentle Reminder of a Celebration of Life Sunday Evening for A Boy Known as “the Campus Hippie,” Christian Stehlik, Who Died at Age 16 from Cancer; He Went Out with the Colors of the 1960s;Tie-dye Shirts Are Available for Sale at Fifth Street This Weekend for Those Interested in Wearing The Startling Tees to Honor His Time; His Best Friend Sends Us a Reminder of Who He Truly Was

A celebration of Christian Stehlik’s life will be held Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium where he volunteered for many years.

Christian, 16, fought a long, painful battle with neuroblastorma, a cancer that starts in the glands and nerves and typically works through the body, often eventually appearing as tumors.
Because of the years he served as a volunteer at the aquarium, the staff agreed to help host the event at 3720 Stephen M. White Drive in San Pedro. The family has requested that donations be made to the aquarium in his name and hope to fashion a small memorial there for him.

“Christian is someone EVERYONE should of known,” wrote his best friend in high school, Shadow Ansaldi. “If more people would be like Christian, the world would be a better place.”
His father, Pete, has encouraged those who are comfortable to dress in a 1960s fashion. For those wanting to wear tie-dyed, a local man living at 784 Fifth Street sells them outside him home on weekends and is donating many to students attending the celebration.

The San Pedro High student, who went back to school in the marine magnet program despite his illness, left behind two books, according to his mother, Wendy, at her Redondo Beach home.
His father, Pete, also found scores of poetry and cartoons written in notebooks in his San Pedro home. Family members hope to have his work published, which stressed the tone of what it was like to live on the edge, stuck somewhere between life and death.

Calling Christian a hippie and lover of the 60s, his friend, Shadow wrote,
he was a “strong fighter of life, never wanted sympathy and special treatment, brave, fearless, positive, polite and a non-complainer. Christian wanted peace and love for everyone. He was a hippie and proud of it and was quick to throw up the peace sign. The 60s flip-flop wearer, bell bottom lover was smart, an inspiration, a teacher, a thinker and a poet….I will miss you Christian.”

Ricardo Romero, 17, mathematician

See Why Diana is a Drip Bag at http://wwwcitywatchla.com; And Here is a Re-post of Yesterday's When Kids Can Write Stories; Having Glitches With My Google Blog -- Apologies, apologies and apologies

Dear Readers: As usual, life often becomes a technological mess. Yesterday, I posted a story about two writer's and community events. As one reader told me, it looked like alphabet soup and even worse -- was not readable! The font colors, sizes and headlines came in a mess of all shapes and sizes. I am trying to re-post to see if this time it works.

Hopefully, I'll figure a way out of the mess as even my good friend, Lisa, Ms. Techy Queen, is having a bit of trouble fixing it.....Thanks for notifying me! -- Diana

Stories: When Kid's Can Write -- a 10-year-old Writes Sonnets at the Corner Store and Boys and Girls Club Math Whiz, Using Essay, Test Scores, High Grades Makes the Grade and Lands a Full Scholarship to Notre Dame


Corner Store Sonnet Writer, Kathleen "Katie" Roarke Haase, was troubled when it came to writing. She couldn't stand boundaries and rules! So she began writing sonnets at the Corner Store; Her Favorite author -- Shakespeare

Three Rooms of Justice: Rainbow Bridge
Part One By Kathleen Roarke Haase

Follow me o'er the
Rainbow Bridge
Sorrow, Sorrow, Sorrow
Fly way 'cross Great
Cliff's Ridge,
Meet me tomorrow, tomorrow.
Three Rooms of Justice,
your good is debated.
In Moon's cavity, for
hate are you hated.
Follow me toward the
glowing sun
Sorrow, sorrow, sorrow.
I'm sorry but that can't
Be done,
But meet me tomorrow, tomorrow

____________A Boys and Girls Club Member Uses Essay and Help from the Club's College Bound Program to Land a Full Scholarship to Notre Dame


Ricardo Romero: 17, San Pedro High School Soccer player and on cross country and track teams
Career Desire: Architecture
Accepted to: UC Riverside, UC Davis, UC Irvine, CSU San Jose and San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Pomona, Marymount College, UCLA, UC Berkeley, University of Notre Dame and Johnd Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins has offered full financial aid.)
Will Attend: University of Notre Dame

Essay for College Applications:

“When I was four years old, my father left my mom, sister, and me in Mexico to go to the United States. His absence affected me greatly because I had no guidance from a father when I needed him the most. Even though he would send money to us, it was nothing compared to what his presence would have meant to me.

We moved in with my grandparents because of my father’s absence. Soon after, my aunts and their children also moved in to my grandparent’s house. After living with my grandparents two years, we took a chance and decided to join my father in the United States.

The moment when I finally saw him again was very emotional. A new life for my family full of obstacles such as learning the English language, having no friends and also adapting to a different form of teaching.

I entered school in the first grade and by the time that I was in second grade, I had learned English. Because I was advanced mathematically, I was being sent to the fourth grade class to take math with them. From then on, my math skills continued to develop and in fourth grade I attended the Math Fair with my school.

In fifth grade, I had an opportunity to attend Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth and did so for five summers, which were paid by a scholarship foundation. In the classes we designed and built rockets, bridges, gear cars, cantilevers and mouse trap cars.

Opportunities like this continued to appear during middle school and high school. I was unable to attend most of them because of the high cost and for being undocumented. I felt that my dream of becoming an architect was over. Then, one day, after waiting for six years, I received legal residency.

My dream was reborn and the fact that I had maintained a high GPA gave me hope of becoming the first in my family to attend college. The perseverance that has helped me overcome these obstacles will keep me going to become an architect. I plan to accomplish this goal by attending a school that has a good architecture program such as Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or University of Notre Dame, both of which I was accepted to.

Math has been my favorite subject and my best. I use this to my advantage. I took difficult courses in Math subject such as AP Calculus and earned a 5/5 on the AP test. I also take science classes that involve the use of math greatly. For example AP Physics, where I earned an A in the first semester. My physics teacher recommended me to take the Calculus based Physics course on my own because that a class is not offered at San Pedro High School. I agreed and my physics teacher is currently helping me pass the AP test. I decided to take it because I like to be distinguished from everyone else and this is a good way to use my mathematical ability.

Apart from the educational goals, I will to attend college and play soccer there. I have played soccer for approximately 11 years of my life. I was taught to play by my father at a very young age and I have not stopped ever since. I played this sport for four years in high school. I was also a member of the Cross Country and Track team for two years. I often use running as a discipline to relieve stress.

I hope that this will inspire younger students to follow the same footsteps so that in the near future there will be many students at the same university.”

Paige Marquez, who died at age four from a rare tumor, wound up linked to Christian Stehlik, not in life but in death, when her family pulled together and raised the needed funds to help for Christian's cremation costs. Christian, 16, died last week of neuroblastoma. Both fought hard to survive for their families. Christian left behind scores of poetry to remind us all what life is about.
Services are announced. See earlier story.

Christian Stehlik’s Death at age 16 Leaves Behind Scores of Poems, Students Who Wish to Wear Tie-Dyed Shirts and a Memorial Celebration of His Life Set for the End of May at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium; His Father Asks For Friends, Family and Those Who Were Interested in His Son’s Life to Attend and to Adorn 1960s Clothes if They So Desire

Money Pours in from a San Pedro Family Who Lost Their 4-Year-Old, Paige Marquez, to a Tumor to Pay for Christian’s Service Costs and to Aid the Family in Need

“Everything lives and everything’s dead. There are no colors just shades of light. Dancing and flying out into space where everything is endless and has no beginning.

Words don’t exist. Laughter and love is the language. Music is the voice. Shadows exist and light shines bright. This place I’m describing is the dream state. Come along for the Trip…” -- Excerpt from Christian Sthelik’s 2008 poem, entitled “The Dream State.”

By Diana L. Chapman

After battling cancer for nearly three years, Christian Stehlik , 16, left behind powerful memorial of his own -- pages upon pages of poetry reflecting on leaping between the shadows of life and death.

His dad found notebooks filled with poetry, some of which will be read at his ceremony to celebrate the life of a young man, who was often shy and retiring, and who seemed years beyond his age.

With often an edgy-style, the writings brink on the border of truism, fears, anger amongst a burst of love and trust braided throughout his work.

A lover of marine science and Bob Dylan, the teenager will be honored at the place where he spent countless hours -- at The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium on Sunday, May 31.

He struggled to go back to school as a freshman and enrolled in San Pedro High School’s marine magnet.

Because Christian volunteered for several years tending to gardens and the aquatic nursery – the aquarium staff will help host a memorial celebration of his life in the John Olguin Auditorium at 5:30 p.m.

Due to the financial issues the family faces, another San Pedro family – who lost their own child, Paige Marquez, 4, to a brain tumor donated more than $1,000 for Christian’s cremation.

Paige’s parents started a foundation, the Paige Marquez Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, when they lost their daughter in July 2005, from a rare, typically fatal brain tumor. The family used money they had raised from the foundation, but went ever further asking other relatives and employees if they would help as well.

It seems the children became linked, not by their lives, but by their deaths and their arduous battles to stay alive – especially for their loved ones.

Christian’s father, Pete, asks that those who feel comfortable doing so, to come adorned in 1960s style clothes – an era that energized the youth as he battled neuroblastoma, a cancer that infiltrates the glands and the nerve tissues before creating tumors in the body.

He wore colorful tie-dyed shirts, gave the peace sign to other students while in high school and always smiled – despite the frequent and tormenting hospitalizations for weeks at a time where he underwent a chemotherapy, blood transfusions and radiation treatments.

In addition, Pete made it clear that Christian many times asked him to quit rushing around and that both of them should slow down and enjoy life.

Several of his friends are expected to wear vibrant tie-dyed shirts to his ceremony, at the encouragement of his father. One of them, named Shadow, wrote to thank him for teaching her to respect the Earth and to quit littering.

The youth recorded his many reflections in pages of poetry, that showered the lines with his discouragement, his anger, his love and his fight with death.

In “Let Me Live Before I Die,” he asked for the freedom to explore life on his own without being forced to learn from other’s mistakes:

“Let me live before I die…

Let me learn from my own mistakes

Not cower in the shadows of yours

Let me live before die

Let me feel cold rain on my face

Let me scream into the sky

Let me leap

From hill to hill

Let me fly up into the sky

Let me live before I die.”

In his piece, the Shadow of Death, he wrote:

The shadow of death

Is trying to take me

It is knocking on my door

But it will not take me

Once I was close; I almost let it in

But I was saved, Once gain

It will try

But I’m not answering

And it doesn’t know why

It keeps a-knocking

I keep a-walking

Farther from the door

My heart is still beating

My blood is still pumping

Death will not take me

One day maybe

After life’s weary path

I’ll finally open

The door that had been locked

And I’ll breath in deeply

The sweet smell of heaven

No longer a shadow.

The father asks that donations be made to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium to honor his son, where he hopes a small memorial plaque will be installed. Checks should be made to the aquarium with Christian Sthelik’s name and sent to 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro, 90731.

Christian is survived by his father, sister, Rhea, mother, Wendy, and step-brother, Alex.

Keli Mezin, 9,

WHEN KIDS CAN WRITE AND A LETTER FROM A GRANDMOTHER TO REMIND READERS THAT NOT ALL IS LOST AT SAN PEDRO HIGH

Dear Readers: A small group of kids meet at the local Corner Store on Wednesday's after school -- to do something extraordinary. They spend an hour writing and creating stories. Here is one of the student's stories. In addition, please don't miss the letter to the Underdogblog below to remind readers that yes, some good things do happen at San Pedro High. Diana

--------------------Pie and His Chicks----------------------------

By Keli Mezin, 9, Park Western Avenue Elementary School

One foggy day a bird named Pie needed to feed his chicks. But it was so darn foggy. It was about to rain and his chicks were incredibly hungry. They hadn’t eaten in three whole days, not even a crumb.

Pie is a single Dad and has been single since the flood that happened in 1958, less than a year back. So, he can’t leave his chicks without protection for long. He would have to be fast.

“Little chicks,” he chirped.

“What?” said Billy, annoyed.

“Wait a second, Billy. Nicole and Carson, get off the branch and come in the nest immediately!!”

“Ok, Ok," they mumbled as they jumped from

branch to branch.

“What Dad?,” Nicole, Carson and Billy twittered in high voices.

“I guess we could all handle it,” they said, but really not too sure how they would do without their father. But, by the time they were all decided they could handle it, Pie was off and away.

Pie was very frightened it would start raining or his chicks might get eaten or even fall out of their nest. Pie shook his head and quietly said to himself, ‘No need to worry. It won’t rain. The chicks will be just fine.’

But soon…………it started raining, then pouring and finally, thundering.

Pie still had no food. He quickly flew under a big mushroom and started thinking: "What are Billy, Nicole and Carson going to think? That I betrayed them?" A little voice from inside his head said: “The chicks are fine."

He believed his head. I mean his head is him. After 5 hours the rain completely stopped. Pie got out from under the mushroom tiredly and saw a rainbow. He thought and thought until…………………………….: Maybe there is a food at the end of the rainbow.

He flew to the end of the rainbow and there was actually food. There was a big pot filled with worms and bugs. He took as much as he could handle and off he flew.

“Hmmmmm, I wonder where Dad is? Billy questioned.

“Oh, he’s probably on his way,” Nicole and Carson teased Billy for being nervous.

“I’m hungry," Billy cried!!!

Some sort of feather touched Billy’s wing. Billy turned around and there was Dad, with tons of food.

“We knew you’d come”, the chicks said, hugging Pie.

“Well, that’s what I said I would do,” Pie said happily.

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

San Pedro High Grandmother Writes About Some Good Experiences at the School

But, there are good sides to the story, too. My granddaughter will be graduating San Pedro High this year. She has been accepted to U.C. Berkeley and will be attending there in the fall. Several of her friends, also, San Pedro High students, will be attending UCLA. Let's hear a little about the fine teachers who have led many our your youngsters to fine opportunities, not to mention the students themselves who have studied diligently, given their summers over to taking advanced placement courses, and donated whatever spare time remained to community service projects. My hat's off to them.

Maxine Lebowitz

Chrstian Stehlik and his sister, Rhea, volunteer at the Cabrillo Aquarium

A Long Battle With Cancer, A Continuous Smile Despite the Odds, An Older Soul in a Young Man’s Body, Christine Stehlik, 16, Gives Way to Fatigue, Drops His 1960s Flair and Dylan Melodies to Become Part of a Larger World: With His Death Last Week, His Father Says He’s “Everywhere Now”

“Just remember that death is not the end.” – Bob Dylan

By Diana L. Chapman

When the second phone call came from his father, I knew Christian Stehlik had left our small world here on Earth. Pete would always wait patiently until I returned his calls.

This time, he didn’t.

Christian, a sometimes shy, pensive, 16-year-old boy, died May 13 at about 2:30 p.m. after a lengthy, arduous battle with neuroblastoma. That’s the name for a cancer that hits the adrenal glands or tissues in the nervous system, often causing tumors and working its way through the body. Typically, it strikes young children between 2 and 5, but older youth occasionally get it. About 650 children in the U.S. are diagnosed annually.

Christian was 13 when he learned why he was constantly tired and losing weight.

The combination of the disease and treatments rocked him back and forth between poor and better health almost daily. Nonetheless, he overcame a gauntlet that included radiation and chemotherapy and returned to school late in his freshman year.

He joined the marine magnet program at San Pedro High, and continued to volunteer whenever possible at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, where he had worked for years to observe the aquarium’s nursery and tend to the aquarium's outdoor garden. When people would ask how he was feeling, he told nearly everyone he was “good”—even when he was not.

He did all that between horrendous bouts of chemotherapy, hospital stays for weeks at a time, blood transfusions and even a trip to San Francisco, where he remained in a room for a week undergoing radiation therapy. While Pete literally roomed with Christian during the long hospital stays, his sister, Rhea, 13, stayed with her mother or family friends.

When he finally returned to school, Christian became electrified by the 1960s. He wore bell-bottom pants, let his hair grow even longer and listened to Bob Dylan’s music. Other students asked him about his dress and he'd quickly gave the peace sign.

"It was a persona he developed and he came home one day and said: "I'm the school hippie." He loved it. It was his new persona and he got a lot of positive attention from it," his father explained.

His teachers often concluded that he was an older man with plenty of wisdom living in a younger body. When I met him two years ago on a student field trip to Yosemite Valley, that soon became clear. One day while hiking in the lush meadows, he grew tired and asked if he could return to his cabin.

He sat in bed staring out the window and writing, describing how robust the squirrels were, how the branches danced in wind and wondered what the constant chatter between the crows and jays was about, wishing he knew their language.

As I commiserated with his father on the phone, I said: “I’m so sorry, Pete. I thought Christian had so much to offer the world.”

“But he gave it to the world,” Pete reminded me when I should have been reminding him. He believed he would become part of everything when he died, Pete explained, and that he was a gentle teacher and reminder that people should take care of Earth and volunteer whenever possible.

When they first learned of his cancer, teachers, students and parents at Dana Middle School, where he attended, had several small fundraisers to help the family pay the bills.

A memorial will be held at the Cabrillo aquarium, where Christian would want his friends to join him to celebrate his life.

He is survived by his father, Pete, his sister, Rhea, his mother, Wendy, and his stepbrother, Alex.