Ben Graham, new coach at Marymount, and Chris Widdy, who came out of San Pedro

Marymount College in Rancho Palos Verdes Hires Its First Soccer Coach and to Expand on Its Small Sports Program; The University of Bakersfield Assistant Coach Arrives in July and Reveals He Will Look at Players From Around the South Bay and Elsewhere

Also, TheUnderdogBlog Will Soon Go Under Reconstruction, Be Overhauled and Called: theunderdogforkids.com. For Now, the Stories Will Remain Here; Stay Tuned;

Plus a San Pedro Festival This Weekend

Marymount Coach to Start This July, Kicking off the First Soccer Program at the Two-Year College in Years

By Diana L. Chapman

A highly qualified soccer coach from England will soon land the ball at Marymount College – kicking off the first year the small campus has ever run a soccer program.

Under the agreement, Ben Graham – currently the assistant soccer coach at the University of Bakersfield – explained he was looking forward to recruiting for the college and believes there’s vast talent in San Pedro and on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. He begins July 1.

Asked where he would find players, he remarked via email: “You can always find good players! Especially in California where the talent pool is so deep. I will be looking for players that are maybe looking to play at a Division 1 or a Division 2 school in the future, but do not have the grades to go straight there.

“I will probably also look to bring in some foreign recruits as well.”

Officials from the Bakersfield university continue to look more closely at San Pedro since its discovery of soccer player, Chris Widdy, at the San Pedro High School through the relentless efforts of the San Pedro High School soccer coach, Paul Butterfield.

Due to repeated calls from the San Pedro coach, Widdy was finally offered the chance to place First Division – and also received a full scholarship to Bakersfield.

Graham suspects a lot more players like Widdy, who typically plays forward for his team, reside in the Harbor Area, one of the many areas he hopes to recruit from. However, Marymount college has yet to qualify for any playing divisions, perhaps making it more difficult to lure potentially skilled soccer players.

Currently, the small college has a La Crosse program that it intends to keep, said Kelly Curtis, a spokeswoman at the school, and down the road an athletic facility.

Leaving Bakersfield, Graham said, has been a tough challenge as he’s participated in a huge investment in many of the students there to train them to play in First Division soccer.

“It is always hard to leave your existing players considering the investment you put in them, both emotionally and from a soccer perspective. But, after two years here, and four years as an assistant in total, I feel this opportunity to run my own program was too good to turn down.”

Campus officials hope that offering sports will attract more students, but also round out their academic education.

THE UNDERDOGFORKIDS WILL UNDERGO RECONSTRUCTION AND WITHIN TH NEXT FEW MONTHS BECOME THEUNDERDOGFORKIDS.com

Dear Readers:

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the gigantic letters, bizarre rainbow colors and the strange spacing that’s going on with my blog. This led me to take a good suggestion from Joshua Steker At San Pedro Today and buy the domain – and register the underdogforkids name.

And so I have.

After a period of reconstruction, you’ll be able to find my stories on theunderdogforkids.com, which makes much more sense! For now, they will continue on this site.

The blog has been running for four years and it’s gaining about 200 hundred readers a week. That’s awesome!

While I enjoy putting community service items on, if I miss some I apologize. I’m the only blogger on this post and it’s going to happen. I especially try to give top- dog billing to those community briefs that are related to kids.

Again, I want to emphasize that my blog is open to other writers so if you have something you want to put on, just contact me at hartchap@cox.net. Thanks so much and look forward to getting theunderdogforkids.com going.

CONSIDERED A SHAPER AND SHAKER TO REMOLD STRUGGLING PUBLIC SCHOOLS, THE FORMER PRINCIPAL OF NARBONNE HIGH TAKES THE HELM AT SAN PEDRO DETERMINED TO FIX THE PROBLEMATIC CAMPUS;

DESPITE OVERCROWDED CONDITIONS, ENTRENCHED TEACHERS AND BORDERLINE ACCREDITATION, LINDA KAY AGREES TO DROP INTO THE TROUBLE-PLAGUED SLOT

BY Diana L. Chapman

Linda Kay – a hard-nosed principal who once headed Narbonne High before
becoming a district director, has agreed to take over the helm of beleaguered
San Pedro High which continues to bob through troubled waters.

She replaces current principal Bob DiPietro, who resigned due to personal
issues, and who departs at the end of the school year. DiPietro stayed only for
two years and inherited a horde of problems, including what’s much like a D on
the school’s accreditation report.

Kay, who has more than thirty years chalked up with the district, will now
contend with overhauling a school where some employees seem to believe no
problems exist at all. However, the campus suffers a 50 percent dropout rate
and test scores nearly as low -- or lower -- than many inner city schools.
Student engagement remains one the school’s key troubles.

In addition, overcrowded conditions have students attending an aging campus with
3,500 students, when it was built for 2,000.

Kay, who has more than thirty years with the school district in a variety of
capacities and values rigorous discipline, was announced as the new principal
Friday. She currently holds the post of district administrator for middle
schools in District Region 3, which stretches from Westchester north to the
Palisades and sweeps in the areas of Venice, Dorsey and Crenshaw.

She headed Narbonne, starting in 2006, where shortly after a controversy erupted
when the school was accused of allowing an ineligible student to play for the
school’s girl basketball team.

Apparently, Kay accepted the coach’s resignation and the accusations led to
campus losing scores of district titles.

The administrator also was a principal at Bret Harte Middle School and held
administrative posts at both Banning and Belmont High Schools.

Due to the unusual trouble that San Pedro currently tackles, Linda Del Cueto,
who heads the region where both the Narbonne and San Pedro schools reside,
decided to forge ahead and do the hiring without the usual selection committee,
which typically includes staff and parents.

Instead, she sorted through a series of candidates and believed Kay was the best
choice. The district also had to hire directly from its pool of candidates who
could face layoffs due to economic crises forcing potential layoffs in the
district.

David Kooper, the chief of staff for Richard Vladovic, the LAUSD board member
for the area, agreed that at this point in the school’s struggles, Kay was the
best choice to lead the school out of its stinging problems.

“Every place she goes she motivates and she’s probably one of the best at that,”
Kooper explained. Out of all the candidates, she was “the most right person for
Pedro right now. We are pretty lucky.”

d



San Pedro High Culinary Teacher Sandy Wood, above, even helped teach Dana Middle School students how to cook during an after school cooking club.

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.”