Derek Esquibel, 17, goes to battle in his fight against Crohn's, this Father's Day.

LOOKING FOR A DIFFERENT FATHER’S DAY GIFT?  TAKE DAD RACING AT AN INDOOR GO-CART  TRACK  AND HELP RAISE FUNDS TO BATTLE CROHN’S DISEASE

By Diana L. Chapman

For the second year in a row, San Pedro High Student Derek Esquibel – who battles with Crohn’s  -- will host a fundraiser at the K1 Speed racetrack this Father’s Day weekend in his “race against Cohn’s.”

Derek, 17, an auto racing enthusiast, decided to combine his love for racing with his drive to prevent Crohn’s disease – an illness no child should suffer from, he said. He’s gearing up this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday,  to bring funds to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America through the electric go-carts racetrack.

Fliers will be passed out in front of K-1 in Torrance. For each $20 race purchased, K1 will donate $5 to the foundation.

Since a severe episode in 2009, which dramatically threatened his health and kept him hospitalized for a month, Derek  told his parents that he wanted to shift gears and drive out Crohn’s. It lead him to do several fundraisers in which he’s garnered more than $4,000.

He also talks publicly about his less-than-glamorous illness, which inflames the bowels. In Derek’s case, it impacts both his small and large intestine, which has led to severe weight loss. Stress makes the disease worse and it can be life-threatening.

“It’s horrible to the immune system,” Derek told a group of students at the San Pedro High School Community Outreach Club. “Stress is a big part of it and racing helps me relieve my stress.”

At first, Derek said he was  skeptical about having his fundraiser on Father’s Day, but realized “it could be a great way to celebrate.”

Last week, a San Pedro McDonald’s donated cookies for the student to sell at school. He raised an additional $250.

To become part of this, donations will be accepted at K1 or online at:

http://online.ccfa.org/goto/RacingAgainstCrohns Race times are 11 a.m. to 11 on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 on Sunday.

K1 is located at 19038 S. Vermont Avenue in Torrance.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn’s Big, Bad—and Irritating—Campaign Against Republican Craig Huey for Congress

By Diana L. Chapman

I open my mail and find a campaign brochure with headlines that scream:

“Huey Wants to Put Doctors in Jail”

“Huey Called Planned Parenthood a “‘Murder Mill’”

“Huey Opposes Separation of Church and State”

It’s an ugly Saturday morning, gray with a chill in the air, as I stare at the brochure.  Couldn’t Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn, a Democrat, come up with something a bit smarter in her attacks against Craig Huey?

Huey, a Republican, shocked everyone as he came out of nowhere in the May primary election for the 36^th congressional district and edged Secretary of State Debra Bowen for second place. He now vies against Hahn in a runoff.

This upcoming special election on July 12 has me in a quandary. I’m a Democrat, but I can’t bring myself to vote for Hahn, our Los Angeles councilwoman, because  I know all that she has not done for our community.

After Hahn’s more than a decade on the City Council, Los Angeles continues to struggle with financial issues and a pile of other nasty problems while she fiddles with issues such as the Arizona boycott because of the Grand Canyon state’s stance on immigration. But what disturbs me the most are all the things Hahn could have done in her own backyard.

Hahn has done so little about serious issues that it’s hampered growth in our area. Yet she deplores Huey in her campaign for his anti-abortion stance and claims he’s too much like Sarah Palin.

That must mean she can’t dig up better, more worthwhile issues.

As I’ve watched our community deteriorate under Hahn’s watch, I can’t imagine what she could do for us in Congress–if anything.  You get what you vote for.  

I won’t list everything she hasn’t done, having written about it many times already. But two issues cropped up recently that Janice just seems to have botched.

Recently, I wrote a story about the proposed Taco Bell expansion on 11^th and Gaffey streets in San Pedro, where the food chain wants to double its size, remove half the parking and eliminate one of the entrances from Gaffey Street. Somehow, the views of residents living nearby were bypassed in the process, and they are upset, as they should be.

Hahn’s office, however, is totally supportive of the expansion. She hasn’t suggested any conditions that could be placed on the project to address residents’ concerns while still making it work.

Residents were given only two weeks’ notice before the issue moved to the Planning Commission in downtown Los Angeles. Yet they have been complaining for nearly 20 years about the eatery attracting a bad clientele with fights, drug deals and other gang clashes.

The residents’ complaints went unheeded – and now that there’s an opportunity to place conditions on the project, where is Hahn? I’ve talked directly with residents and I don’t see her.

The same is true for downtown San Pedro, which has been economically depressed for years. Scores of businesses have closed, many due to parking problems. Two years ago, Hahn supported a quadrupling of parking rates, which nearly killed what business remained.

It was one reason that Susan McKenna, a community-oriented businesswoman, closed the doors last month at Nosh– a restaurant that was well regarded for its scrumptious food and delectable lattes. But struggling to find a parking space was like a mad hornet buzzing around your head.

Due to scores of complaints, Janice finally woke up and called for eliminating the parking meters in downtown San Pedro and Wilmington.

It’s much too little, too late.

I admit I don’t know Huey.  I’ve heard he’s a small business owner who made it on his own, spent $500,000 of his own cash in the primary and is a member of Rolling Hills Covenant Church. But I do know Janice. I was disgusted by her obnoxious campaigning--first against Bowen and now against Huey, where she claims he calls his enemies “the forces of Satan” and calls him a “fanatic.”

Really, Janice? Please give us something worthwhile rather than ridiculous generalizations. Give us some substance.

I’m afraid I will find myself sitting at home this election day, something I haven’t done since college. I don’t  want to vote for a candidate I don’t know at all. And I don’t want to vote for someone I know all too well.

Leslie Jones, who owns the Omelette and Waffle shop with Mona Sutton, says she's alarmed by the potential expansion of Taco Bell -- without many conditions.

POTENTIAL DOUBLING THE SIZE OF A TACO BELL ON GAFFEY STREET ALARMS NEIGHBORS WHO ALREADY LIVE WITH A WEALTH OF LITTER, NOISE, FIGHTS AND DISINTEREST THEY SAY FROM THE FAST-FOOD RESTAURANT

Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who endorses the project and is in the middle of the 36^th District Congressional race, offers residents little help so far

By Diana L. Chapman

It seems like a betrayal of sorts.

Somehow, don’t ask me how, a proposal to double the size of a Taco Bell on Gaffey Street quietly slipped through the Community Redevelopment Agency in San Pedro and moved its way to planning in downtown Los Angeles – before any nearby residents, who’ve complained about the eatery for years, even heard the news.

The next thing neighbors knew:  they had two weeks notice to gear up, set off the alarm bells and to drive downtown Los Angeles to fight the project  on 11^th and Gaffey streets. For years-- in fact as far back as I can remember-- neighbors have complained historically and repeatedly about the eatery. They call it a haven for loud teens and adults where frequent fights occur along with crime, piles of trash, occasional gang skirmishes – and a place that offers no security to deal with the mayhem.

“The reality of Taco Bell for one is the patrons,” complained Mike Boke, one of the neighbors at a meeting on Monday night. “They’re a beacon of crime for our neighborhood. They urinate everywhere. We find patrons pissing in the alley.

“It’s like a bad bar. We are completely off their radar.”

Besides wanting to double the eatery’s size, Taco Bell officials want to cut the parking nearly in half, stay open until 4 a.m. in the summers and remove one currently existing access route off Gaffey – leaving only two ways out of the parking lot – Gaffey and the alleyway.

Frustrated residents fumed with anger at a Monday meeting at the Omelette and Waffle Shop and really can you blame them? They complained to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn’s staff, Gordon Teuber, the economic development director, that their numerous woes have gone unheeded.

Neighbors added that they deal with copious trash, drug deals, defecation, loud music and the arrival of delivery trucks at 4 a.m, waking up neighbors. Despite repeated complaints to the restaurant, they said, and many to the council office little if nothing, has changed. It’s been an unsatisfactory way of life for more than twenty years, they add.

“We’ve put up with them for decades and decades and it’s gotten really bad,” said resident Sal DiConstanzo, who’s been leading the resident’s cause and said he’s complained to Hahn’s office. “We confront (Taco Bell). They behave better for awhile and then they just go back to where they were.”

City officials say Hahn’s office encouraged the new building because it was better than the “status quo” and an improvement for San Pedro overall since it will be a brand new facility.

 But I find it peculiar and extremely perplexing that no one warned residents early on. Megan Hunter, a city planner with the Community Redevelopment Agency, said at the meeting that the agency didn’t have enough money to warn residents to send out notices. She asked Taco Bell to do the duty.

She didn’t know, she added, that eatery had not done so.

 “It just shows how much the city is disconnected,” said Leslie Jones who owns the Omelette and Waffle Shop with Mona Sutton across the street from Taco Bell, both of whom spend time picking up trash from the facility. “They are just making it more and more difficult. I feel it’s a betrayal, us not being told and we are neighbors.”

Despite that, Mona Sutton said both her and her partner support the remodel, but without conditions, will  lean toward helping their long time neighbors.

"I'm very excited that the Taco Bell will spend it's million for a new store in our community," Sutton explained. "However, with that said, if we small business owners were remodeling, we'd be held to the fire if the community had complaints. Also, we being the community supporters that we are,  would never not consider the greater good. Taco Bell should be a good community partner and should be held to a high standard to prove it."

Taco Bell, however, believes it has worked closely with both neighbors and city officials.

"To better serve both our customers and the community, we have been working closely with San Pedro city officials, local residents, and businesses on the plans to redevelop the Taco Bell restaurant on Gaffey Street,” said Rob Poetsch, an official spokesman for the restaurant chain. “The renovation, which is supported by city officials will improve traffic flow, discourage loitering, and bring in several hundred thousand dollars in construction jobs and new jobs to the local economy.

“It is our hope that by investing in the community, other businesses will be encouraged to do the same."

If the current plans are approved, the facility will be torn down and expanded to more than double its size – from 627 square feet to 1,474 – and most of the seating – possibly  due the residents’ complaints– will be inside. Parking spaces will drop from 17 to 10, so Taco Bell is asking for a variance. City officials said its likely Taco Bell will not be allowed to stay open until 4 a.m.

Neighbors still have deep fears creeping in – especially what will happen in the alley.

They fear – and rightly so – that cars will start to stack along the alleyway and back up drivers along  both 10^th and 11th streets – not to mention Gaffey.

What surprises me the most is that the councilwoman  – who is running for the 36^th Congressional District against Craig Huey in July and is in her third term in the council office  – didn’t take this long list of complaints early on – or frankly long before that -- and use the project to the city’s advantage – before it even got to the Los Angeles zoning offices. This is the time Hahn’s office could minimize most complaints since the project needs a Conditional Use Permit.

“It is a golden opportunity,” said Dione Liu, chief-of-staff for Hahn’s office, who added he wasn’t aware of any complaints coming into Hahn’s office prior to the project about Taco Bell.  “Generally speaking, it’s an opportunity for us to put in stricter conditions. I think obviously this is something we will have to do.”

Since I live in San Pedro, and to me what hampers the lifestyle of one set of residents can trickle down to the rest of us, I’m encouraging the neighbors to come together and demand at least the following just to make the area more livable, besides having no outdoor seating, ask for:

·        A full time security guard all hours that the eatery is open.

·        Security cameras that are running 24 hours a day and are fed publicly for anyone to access

·        Taco Bell to close at midnight; open at 9 a.m.

·        Maintain the two entrances and exits along Gaffey as it is now – to keep the alley from being disastrously clogged

·        In a long grassy area planned for the front of the eatery that fronts Gaffey, plant cactus and other drought succulent plants so the vegetation doesn’t die (as the grass there is dead now) and it doesn’t become a seating area for teens

·        Help provide and seek a long, sought after signal for 11^th and Gaffey where many of the youth cross a dangerously busy street with cars speeding faster than 40 mph.

·        Besides offering a six foot wall between the alley and the residents, use vegetation to help buffer the noise 

·        Ask for Taco Bell to do a traffic study 

·        Make sure the bathrooms are always open to patrons, even if only the drive-through is open.

·        Display signs that surveillance is ongoing and to ask  patrons to turn down radios and keep voices low as not to impact neighbors

·        Clean up graffiti quickly and clean sidewalks of gum and other muck

Robert Brandin smiling that Los Angeles Unified School District will no longer toss full meals in the trash.

A SAN PEDRO MAN PERSUADES LAUSD TO QUIT TRASHING GOOD MEALS AND TURN THEM OVER TO NON-PROFITS WHO FEED THE HOMELESS;  FOR YEARS, THE DISTRICT HAS DUMPED THOUSANDS OF TRAYS FULL OF UNSPOILED FOOD

Listening intently at a community forum, Robert Brandin raised a single question that caught the Los Angeles Unified School Board incumbent off guard.

 “How come we waste so much food in LAUSD and what can we do about it?” asked San Pedro resident Robert Brandin, 62, who like many others has faced dismay for decades that uneaten, federally-funded school meals were tossed into trash bins by the thousands due to health regulations and federal stipulations.

Richard Vladovic, who was re-elected to his seat in March, answered that the district was following regulations, which sounded “hollow,”  Brandin said.

But within a few minutes, David Kooper – Vladovic’s chief of staff – brainstormed with Brandin and agreed that the district’s rules needed changing. Last week, the LAUSD parent got his wish when the school’s attorneys and county officials agreed food could be turned over to non-profit organizations, churches and others who issue food to the needy.

Already 70 groups have rushed to become part of the program and twelve have turned in paper work to the district, said David Binkle, LAUSD’s deputy director of food services. The program is expected to be kicked off next week.

For Brandin, it was a great gift, who is gratified that now 22,000 district meals a day –once headed for the wasteland during one of the worst economic downturns in the United States since the Great Depression– will feed nutritious meals to those who can’t afford to feed themselves.

“It was just someone like me, a simple ordinary person who wanted to talk to someone who wanted their job back,” Brandin said, who is still surprised by what happened.  “It’s the best outcome we could have hoped for. This worked, but it was all about timing.

“But I won’t feel warm and fuzzy until I see the non-profits getting the food out to the people.”

Kooper, who helped arrange the change, said that revisions in the Good Samaritan Act made it possible for the district to change its food-dumping course. Outside organizations that use the food will then be responsible for any potential liabilities that could arise.

“It was a good idea and it was just easy,” Kooper explained. “Come on. From a social services standpoint, it’s probably one of the biggest things the district has ever done. It was just a perfect storm of things that happened. The district has received “good feedback” and “everybody wishes we could have done it before.”

Calling Vladovic and Kooper “champions,” Binkle, the food service deputy, said the massive effort to work with the county and change the regulations “is unbelievable.”

“It’s the right thing to do, and it’s common sense,” Binkle said of the new program, who added the district makes 650,000 meals a day through the federal meals program. “We know all the issues now of the unemployed. It’s needed.”

 Eighty percent of LAUSD students qualify for a free or reduced lunched meal, Binkle said, and added that food services employees have complained to the county and other agencies in the past but had gotten nowhere to change the rules.

Nobody was happy tossing meals, Binkle said, but all their requests went unheeded.

For years, parents – like Brandin and myself – have long complained about the food waste. Many of us took it to our principals, arguing against fresh apples, juices and uneaten meals being tossed at the end of the day – a frustrating experience when so many families can’t afford to even buy their groceries.

Principals would always promptly respond that their hands were tied due to health regulations.

Brandin  said he was moved to action after listening to a former LAUSD cafeteria manager, one of his relatives. She complained profusely about the waste and called it sacrilege – which made him take it to the top.

Food isn’t the only endeavor on Brandin’s list. For the past three years, he has volunteered at San Pedro High, where his son Nick is a 17-year-old senior. He aides students in earning  government community service hours.

“I’m all about our students and to find ways for opportunities,” Brandin said.

And I believe him.

Diana Chapman with her core of  Seven Golden Secrets to Writing students who attend religiously to learn the craft.

SUMMER SERIES OF SEVEN GOLDEN SECRETS TO WRITING WORKSHOPS

This summer, two Seven Golden Secrets to Writing workshops will be held at the Corner Store:  Discovering the art of reading will be held Mondays; the art of writing on Wednesdays.

On Mondays: Reading to build writing skills and to learn the power of vocabulary will begin from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. from July 11 to Sept. 11. Students will have fun studying authors’ works and developing “My Own Secret Word Book.” Cost is $30 for the entire summer.

On Wednesdays: Seven Golden Secrets to Writing classes where students learn to have fun using this wonderful skill begins July 6 to Sept. 7  from 4:30 to 5:45.  Cost is $60 per student for  the summer. ***Please keep in mind the  teacher will take vacations to be announced during  these sessions.



For more information, email Diana at hartchap@cox.net. The Corner Store is located at 1118 37th Street, San Pedro. Thank you to the Corner Store for allowing us to have these classes. And  Congratulations to its upcoming 5th anniversary this month!
____________________________________________

To Enroll:

Mondays: Student’s Name____________Phone_________Email

__________________________________________________

Wednesdays: Student’s Name___________Phone_______Email

Mallory Garcia attends a Seven Golden Secrets to Writing workshop where she crafted a story about her animals and a guitar.

Student Writes What She Knows When It Comes to Her Fiction Story; And Dana Middle School Holds June Fundraiser for Crohn’s Disease to Aid 17-Year-Old Derek Esquibel in His Fight to Raise Funds for the Debilitating Illness

Write What You Know

Dear Readers: I was really pleased with this story. Mallory is one of my newest students to the Seven Golden Secrets to Writing class. She used expressive words in this work which stemmed from that old caveat: “Write what you know.”  It turns out she owns a bearded dragon and plays guitar.  This gave her some of the best knowledge to craft this fun story. Diana

The Wiener Dog that Plays Guitar

By Mallory Garcia, 10

There once was a wiener dog that played guitar. Her name was Sheila. Sheila had a friend named Tiger. He was a bearded dragon. His orange neck would puff out to warn you not come near.  I have a bearded dragon named Tiger. I named the lizard in this story after mine.

Well, anyway, Sheila wanted to perform in front of people on a stage. But that didn’t go well. One day, Sheila went to Fredrick’s house and left her guitar at home. She forgot all about her guitar. Well, Tiger snuck into Sheila’s house and took her guitar.

He began to play and then: “Screeeeeeeeeetch! Snap!!!!”

Tiger gasped: “I broker her guitar!”

There were only five strings left. As he began to play, his sharp, slick claws broke another string.

“Ahhhhhhh,” Tiger screamed. But even though he was scared, he was going to be torn to shreds, he kept playing. Then three more strings broke. There was only one string left now.

Tiger suddenly heard Sheila running up stairs. He hid under her bed and plugged his ears.

She screamed: “Who broke my guitar? I’m going to rip you to shreds!”

As she turned around, Tiger ran out of the room, out the door and into the bush. She ran outside after him and yelled: “You broke my guitar.”

Tiger said: “What are you talking about. I wanted to surprise you.”

“For what?” she asked.

“I, Um…wanted to get you a brand new guitar because I broke yours and I want to get you a new one. Please don’t rip me to shreds.”

“Why would I rip you to shreds?” Sheila asked.

“Because I destroyed your guitar,” Tiger said crying.

Sheila picked him up, hugged him and said: “That’s OK. I still love you. When do I get my new guitar?”

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

Derek Esquibel who battles with Crohn's disease.

Crohn’s Fundraiser at Dana Middle School Snared More Than a $1,000 with Coins and the Campus Will Continue Fundraising at Acapulco June 7

In honor of its past ecology president, Dana Middle School collected coins for a cure for Crohn’s disease raising $1,046 and will host a June 7 fundraiser at Acapulco at Ports O Call.

Former ecology president, Derek Esquibel, who now attends San Pedro High and has Crohn’s, inspired the school’s current ecology club to raise funds to fight the painful disease, which inflames the stomach and bowels.

Derek was diagnosed when he was 11, said Michelle Fortune, a Dana English teacher, who runs the Ecology Club.

“Derek has been so positive and eager to work for a cure,” Fortune said. “He is one of those kids you meet and are just so glad to know exist in this world. Derek has two types of Crohn’s, a rare situation where he has it in the small and large intestine, but he doesn’t let him get it down.

“He went public with his disease in high school and began speaking about it to raise money for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation for America.”

Last year, Derek, who loves to race cars, held a fundraiser for the foundation at K-1, an indoor go-cart racetrack, in Torrance garnering $2,500.

To help Derek to raise money to fight for a cure, go to dinner at Acapulco’s from 5 to  9 p.m. at Ports O Call in San Pedro June 7. The restaurant will donate 25 percent from food sales toward the foundation.

In order to honor the fundraiser, the restaurant wants fliers from the school. Students will pass out fliers outside the restaurant or they can be picked up in the main office at Dana Middle School, 1501 S. Cabrillo, San Pedro.

Zumba founder Beto Perez showing students how to exercise and enjoy it.

Aileen Padilla, of Torrance, will begin Zumba fitness at San Pedro High Wednesday.

The Dance-Style  “Zumba” Fitness Workout That Has Gone Wild Internationally Will Soon Land at an LAUSD School As “Exercise in Disguise”; The Pilot Program Was Blessed By School Board Member Richard Vladovic Who Sponsored It

By Diana L. Chapman

This Wednesday, a non-traditional school exercise will land boldly at San Pedro High and students will find themselves doing a bit of hip shaking and foot stomping while tamping out cumbia, merengue, salsa, flamenco and other dance forms -- with enthusiasm and rigor.

The use of Zumba Fitness -- a contagious dance-style workout which has hooked thousands of would-be dancers into addictive exercise --  will have a shot at getting a work out of its own at the second largest school district in the nation.

It’s an experimental pilot to see if teenagers like it – and I don’t have a single doubt that they will.

“I want to try it, “said 16-year-old Kimberly Hernandez, a junior, who will attend the program after school when it begins at 3:30. “I’m really excited. You’re exercising and dancing at the same time.”

Freshman Vanessa Ruiz, 14, and her sister, Jazmin, 17, a junior, both high school volley ball players, plan to jump feet first into Zumba which will be held in the San Pedro High auditorium.

“I don’t like exercise at all,” Vanessa complained. “I hate running. I hate push-ups. I hate crunches. I think this will actually help me in a fun way.”

Jazmin said while she’s never heard of Zumba, she wants to try it anyway.

“I’m a bit hesitant, but all my friends are all going to do it,” she said. “Maybe it will get me into shape for volley ball.”

With child obesity levels on the rise across the nation, it seemed time to try a creative approach to get teens to exercise – one where they can have fun, feel confident and forget altogether they are working out. It also takes little equipment and students don’t have to know how to dance to do it. They only need a licensed Zumba instructor to learn.

That’s why I picked it as a pilot after school program for San Pedro High where I volunteer, besides that it has an international flavor, embracing many types of cultures that also reflect the school district

 Once I tried it at home for over three months, I was ecstatic that the program was a possibility for nearly everyone --one woman does a modified version from her wheelchair. The music and dance carries with it so much “spicy flavor” and a party atmosphere -- that I wanted to see how it would succeed at our schools. The San Pedro High Community Outreach Club helped bring the workout to the campus.

Beto Perez, creator of Zumba showing one of his moves

I also was pleasantly surprised that the founder, Beto Perez,  who accidentally stumbled on his creation in the 1990s , encourages all participants to come up with their own styles, a refreshing approach to dance, and the programs officials nickname it “exercise in disguise.”

 Millions have shed weight using the popular dance workout, say Zumba officials, and tout record numbers. Twelve million “people take a Zumba class every week” in 125 countries in 110,000 locations and about 10 million of the program’s DVDs have sold, said Allison Robins, media director for the fitness company.

 Zumba officials readily agreed to do a try-out at the high school and arranged for me to meet with Aileen Padilla, a 34-year-old woman who now trains and certifies Zumba instructors in California.

But it wasn’t that long ago that Aileen hated exercise, sat at a desk job in Indio

and refused to go to the gym with her husband. She had “no dance background whatsoever,” and could barely run.

Her cousin, Eliza Stone, asked her to attend a training for Zumba in 2005, at a time when people were asking: “What is Zumba? Nobody even knew what Zumba was,” she added.

 She fell in love with the program and so did her husband, Alfredo, 35. They both trained and became instructors and “education specialists.” Aileen quit her full time job, trading in for Zumba, and said her first class at a Palm Springs gym was so packed, they had to bring in more instructors. She now lives in Torrance, teaches at gyms in the South Bay and travels to Zumba international festivals when asked, saying she’s now visited countries such as Sweden, India and Scotland.

“I considered myself happy before,” Aileen said, “but now I have more friends, more social life partly because Zumba relaxes me. It doesn’t feel like a workout at all.”

The reason Aileen believes it will be successful at high school despite that it’s fun and healthy stems from the social aspect. Her students, she explains, tend to become friends and forge close bonds – which she suspects will happen with many of the teenagers involved.

More than that, Gina Grant, one of the leading education specialists for Zumba and a star attraction in many of the videos, said it’s time this type of programming comes into schools. Grant, a professional dancer and choreographer who launched Zumba in California, found not only that her participants were getting in better shape, it also eased their depression.

Because she so strongly believes in the fitness program, she helped design Zumbatomic classes for children ages four to 12. Teenagers are capable of doing regular Zumba lessons.

“Zumba puts the fun back into fitness and physical exercise and it offers a great alternative to traditional workouts or sports activities,” Gina e-mailed. “If kids develop healthy habits early on, it will provide a more health conscious outlook in their adult life.

“It’s a cardio workout and it’s something they’ll really enjoy doing. All kids like to go to dances or listen to music so this is the perfect workout that combines both.”

As a volunteer who sadly has watched scores of teenagers entering high school get rejected across the board for teams, basketball, dance, baseball, football and other activities – I realized we were sending the wrong message to our youth.

The message seemed to be: If you don’t make the team, you’re done. But sports for teens should just be beginning for both girls and boys. Instead of weeding them out, I want to weave them back in so they continue, as Gina said, and form healthy habits for the rest of their lives especially for students who don’t like traditional athletics programs.

Ironically, Zumba wouldn’t have existed at all if Beto, a fitness instructor in the 1990s in Colombia, hadn’t landed on the idea when he left his regular music tapes at home for his class. With a bit of improvisation, he used some of his favorite traditional Latin music, such as the salsa and the merengue that he had in his backpack, and had his students exercising to it on the spot.

His program grew so popular, he was later able to move to Miami to continue teaching when two entrepreneurs approached him and helped transform it into a global company.

While this program at San Pedro High is only a pilot, I figure we have to start somewhere and find new ways to teach students to continue exercise for the rest of their lives.

LAUSD School Board Member Richard Vladovic agreed, sponsoring the four week-after school pilot.

“It is wonderful to hear that our students are taking an active role in physical education and dance,” said David Kooper, Vladovic’s chief-of-staff. “Zumba appears to be a great workout that combines dance with exercise.

“The students will be getting fit and having fun.”