SCHOOL OFFICIALS HOLD FIRST PUBLIC MEETING TO REFORM SAN PEDRO HIGH AND GATHER IDEAS; ALSO, DISCOVERY SCIENCE CENTER HAS A FREE TREAT FOR EDUCATORS

By Diana L. Chapman

About 200 people converged on San Pedro High School this week in the first official “focus” meeting to help restore the beleaguered campus back to its glory days and remove it from the Los Angeles School district’s list of campuses that need urgent transformation.

Otherwise, outside operators – charters or non-profits – could take over the school of 3,300 students.

LAUSD Superintendent of Region 8, Linda Del Cueto, and Janette Stevens, the new principal sought after to refuel and restore the ailing campus, explained to those attending that this was the first of many meetings before the school must submit a transformation plan by Jan. 8.

The next meeting will be Nov. 9 in San Pedro High School’s auditorium.

While the evening became more of a fact gathering session – rather than learning new information about how to fix the troubled campus – it might have been a first in the Harbor Area community’s history where every principal from each elementary school and two local middle schools were in attendance as well as many high school staff members.

Del Cueto urged all her principals in the area to attend as a strong display to support for the only public high school in the community. She assured the audience that she planned for all schools’ teachers and staff in the area to participate in sharing information to improve academics on a much larger scale.

“We need to work together as a family,” Del Cueto urged the staff and those in attendance, which included parents, students and interested community

members.“And it starts from pre-K. It starts at our feeder schools. We will bring teachers together at all levels to talk about instruction and support.

“I know you are here because you care about San Pedro High.”

The school currently has accreditation through 2010 and will improve as quickly as possible to keep out potential outside operators that might want to take over the Harbor Area campus. San Pedro High has suffered may woes, including a frequent turnover of top administrators, poor test scores, overcrowding and a dismal rating in its accreditation – that some educators compare to a D.

The Los Angeles school board approved outside operators to come in and make a bid on 11 other ailing schools and 24 brand new campuses this past August – a first in the history of the school district.

It means – should any other operators step forward, such as Green Dot charters – the LAUSD staff will have to compete against the other entity to keep running San Pedro High.

The intent to provide a plan is due by Nov. 15 and a final plan is due Jan. 8. School board members will vote on which plan suits the school best in February 2010, guided by Los Angeles Superintendent Ramon Cortines.

At last Monday’s meeting, school officials broke all the those attending into groups to provide questions and ideas toward a restructure. Several people complained, arguing that the debate should be held in the auditorium for all to hear.

However, Del Cueto, in a later interview, said students revealed they would not participate in the auditorium’s cavernous setting – and preferred the classroom.

School officials honored their requests.

“The small group setting allowed for genuine input from SPHS st

udents,” Del Cueto emailed. “More than one student reported they would have been reticent to participate in the auditorium.  Interestingly, youngsters we would 

assume to be main stream and "with-it" revealed they are struggling as

much the Latino and African-American students.

It was a powerful lesson in not "judging a book by its cover."

Stevens, who has only held the post since August, said she was thrilled with the number of people who came and that parents must be “integrally” part of the school’s renovation.

“I know we received amazing input and that people are very interested in making sure that San Pedro High School focuses on improving student achievement,” Stevens said. “A wide breadth of ideas and suggestions were obtained, covering topics such as building motivation for learning to improving communication via advanced technological structures.”

At this point, school officials say, no other agency has entered a proposal, but the deadline to turn in such a bid is Nov. 15.

____________________________READ MORE ABOUT THE SCIENCE DISCOVERY CENTER OFFER FOR TEACHERS
Every first Monday of the month (October to May), Discovery Science Center hosts a free Educators’ Open House from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. This educational event

includes a hands-on science workshop on standard-based concepts, and exploratory visits to the Center’s exhibits related to those topics. Each workshop will address a variety of concepts and their applications across all grade levels

with added emphasis on avoiding misconceptions. Call 714.263.3837 for more

information or to register.

Date Topic 

Nov 2, 2009 Chemical & Physical

Properties & Changes March 1, 2010 Spring Season 

Dec 7, 2009 Winter Season Science April 5, 2010

Earth Science - Astronomy 

Jan 4, 2010 Floating & Sinking; Density & Buoyancy

May 3, 2010 Earth Science - 

Rocks & Minerals 

Leslie Perovich 

VP Marketing 

Discovery Science Center 

714-913-5017 

lperovich@discoverycube.org 

Explore the Science Under Your Skin this fall with

Head To Toe: All About the Body! From October 17

to November 8, Spooky Science will feature skeleton

science in the style of “Dia de los Muertos.”

Then, Pumpkins will fly October

Want to be the first to hear about new exhibits and events? Sign up for our e-news today! Visit 

www.discoverycube.org for more information. 

CHECK OUT A FREE EDUCATORS OPEN HOUSE AT THE DISCOVERY SCIENCE CENTER
EVERY FIRST MONDAY OF THE MONTH; HEAR ABOUT TOPICS FROM ROCKS AND
MINERALS TO EXPLORING SKIN HEAD TO TOE


Every first Monday of the month (October to May), Discovery Science Center hosts 
a free Educators’ Open House from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. This educational event 
includes a hands-on science workshop on standard-based concepts, and exploratory 
visits to the Center’s exhibits related to those topics. Each workshop will 
address a variety of concepts and their applications across all grade levels 
with added emphasis on avoiding misconceptions. Call 714.263.3837 for more 
information or to register. 
 
Date Topic 
Nov 2, 2009 Chemical & Physical Properties & Changes March 1, 2010 Spring Season 
Science 
Dec 7, 2009 Winter Season Science April 5, 2010 Earth Science - Astronomy 
Jan 4, 2010 Floating & Sinking; Density & Buoyancy May 3, 2010 Earth Science - 
Rocks & Minerals 
 
Leslie Perovich 
VP Marketing 
Discovery Science Center 
714-913-5017 
lperovich@discoverycube.org 
 
Explore the Science Under Your Skin this fall with Head To Toe: All About the 
Body! From October 17 to November 8, Spooky Science will feature skeleton 
science in the style of “Dia de los Muertos.” Then, Pumpkins will fly October 31 
at Pumpkin Launch 2009 held at CSU-F’s Titan Stadium! Want to be the first to 
hear about new exhibits and events? Sign up for our e-news today! Visit 
www.discoverycube.org for more information! 
 
 

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SYSTEM STILL FAILING WITH SCORES OF KIDS DYING; WE ALL MUST HELP TO AVOID THIS CONTINUOUS DISASTER

By Diana L Chapman

I’m ashamed….for all of us.

What happened to those children in the county system – all 268 that died in less than two years, many of whom were either murdered, killed in accidents, suicides or of other undetermined causes, should embarrass everyone. How long will it take us to get the system simply doesn’t work?

The time for these fatalities to stop and for a drastic overhaul to begin is now.

We owe that much to Miguel Padilla, 17, – an amputee who disappeared from a group home for nine days before anyone even seemed to notice and hanged himself – and a girl, Lazhanae Harris, 13, who was apparently murdered when she ran away from her foster home. The Los Angeles Times broke the number of fatalities in mid-October and used Miguel and Lazhanae to illustrate the breaks that exist in the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. This doesn’t even mention the scores of other kids abandoned to a dysfunctional agency where wide cracks, are so prolonged, children drop off daily into an abyss of rotating homes.

In the past, the Times has revealed other children who died in a system that is so overburdened, quite frankly, that is seems it can no longer rescue its wards even when it tries. The time for change clearly must be accomplished now, before more children die – and both the county and city leaders need to jump in and lead – not grandstand.

Start with this: We can all continue to blame the parents, or move on and accept the cold truth: many of these parents could care less about their children. That’s not the child’s fault. And unfortunately, leaves the rest of us.

Three overhaul concepts that could happen immediately include:

--Building permanent foster care homes for all the children who are likely never to leave the system, where they can live in the same setting their entire lives, attend the same schools and doctors, maintain their friends, use the same social worker and keep their health records intact – rather than tearing them out and moving them around from foster home to foster home. Staff members and volunteers should be nurturing and trained to guide children to find and define their future career goals – since they are kicked out of the system at age 18. Siblings should be kept together whenever possible. My sister adopted a two-year-old in San Diego’s county system (which has similar problems). He lived in six different foster homes. The harm could not be undone.

--Scores of potential resources exist out there for children in general that are not successfully linked or tapped to the most important place to help them -- school. School is a child’s second home. Having myself discovered this world of often untapped resources – such as Top Sail, a non-profit, which helps struggling students find themselves through sailing -- it was a pity no one had linked this program to two nearby junior highs – especially since the program had grant money. In Miguel’s case, he was humiliated by the taunts that he had no right arm from the elbow down. He wore giant jackets in a blazing sun to hide it, suffered from depression and asked for a prosthetic arm he never received. There’s not a single doubt in my mind that a non-profit, like the Shriners, would have provided this for him. The reason he didn’t receive it, the Los Angeles Times explained, is that he missed repeated appointments for measuring. This was the minimum the county should have done.

It isn’t any wonder why Miguel committed suicide. Not only was he virtually abandoned by his mother who took all three of her other children but not him, a father who left repeatedly for Mexico, and a grandmother who couldn’t raise him, he would have been released at age 18. Where would he have gone, an unloved boy with no arm from the elbow down?

--Last, many Americans have expressed an interest in supporting children like this. Adoption and fostering for some people simply is impossible for many reasons, such as not having the additional room, or finances. This does not mean, however, they don’t want to help. With proper training, volunteers could become a support system for a child, to back up social workers, and make sure they receive the things they need, like getting to the doctor’s for an eye exam – or say a prosthetic arm. Children in the system desperately need advocates to help. Start working up a training program now.

Foster care and group homes were supposed to replace orphanages to give these children a sense of family life. But in case anyone hasn’t noticed, it’s not working. These youth get kicked out or tossed around to different homes like puppies at a puppy mill. They can be moved for reasons such as the provider couldn’t get along with them. It’s a continuous stream of being thrown in the trash can again and again. “No one wants you,” might as well be stamped on their foreheads.

After going through so much of this with my sister, we clearly realized that “stability” was not offered to most of these children. One morning, I was deeply moved reading several letters to ‘Dear Abbey” from adults who were raised in an orphanage in the mid-west – one that actually worked. The writers were grateful to the orphanage, because the staff had provided them with consistency, a stable environment and nurturing. All three writers explained they bonded like a family, which the staff encouraged. The staff also prepared them for their futures, many becoming doctors, nurses and lawyers.

These children weren’t shifted from school to school, house to house or tossed back to relatives who really didn’t want them. They were not given to foster families who did the deed just for money.

For Miguel and Lazhanae, their entire lives were overlooked. All the adults involved failed them in every direction they landed. Honestly, I believe that many people would have stepped up to help had they only known of their plight. Maybe a good mentor, or advocate, would have prevented Lazhanae running away from her foster home, because someone – at last – cared about her. A reunification with her mother, who had many other children in the system, failed.

This is why we so desperately need our leaders in the city, county, juvenile law enforcement and school district to come together and build a network of all the fabulous agencies and non-profits out there that exist to help children – and link them directly to the schools.

Violence amongst teenagers has brewed locally and nationally. We have teenagers killing each other in the streets of Chicago – and five teenagers lighting another child on fire because he reported them for trying to steal his father’s bicycle.

Adults sit around questioning whether kids are more violent and less compassionate today. The answer, is yes, because they take their lessons from the very people teaching them -- all the adults that surround them in their lives – who often do nothing.

That unfortunately includes us.

UPCOMING OFFERS FOR HELP OR FOR GIVING:

WRITER’S WORKSHOPS FOR COLLEGE BOUND

STUDENTS WRITING PERSONAL ESSAYS TO OPEN

HOUSE FOR TEACHERS AT THE MARITIME

MUSEUM; ALSO DONATIONS NEEDED FOR

THANKSGIVING BASKETS

----------NEED HELP WRITING YOUR PERSONAL ESSAY FOR YOUR COLLEGE BOUND APPLICATIONS?????????????:

SCARED TO DEATH TO WRITE YOUR PERSONAL COLLEGE BOUND ESSAY?

FEEL A BIT INTIMIDATED & DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY?

THEN COME PULL YOUR ESSAY OUT OF YOUR HAT AT A SERIES OF WRITER’S WORKSHOPS BEGINNING THIS OCTOBER AFTER SCHOOL AT SAN PEDRO HIGH!

Date: Oct. 22, Thursday, (and for several Thursday’s thereafter)

Time: 3:30 p.m.

Where: College Center/San Pedro High

What You Will Do During This Time:

· --Craft essays right in the workshop

· --Learn what to put in and to take out of your essay

· --Discover ways to write that are less torturous and painful

· --And several more secrets to writing

What You Need to Bring:

· --An unused memo notebook to write in (one you must allow to go home with the instructor)

· --Your IPOD/MP3 player/

· --Pens

· --Yourself

SCHOOL TEACHERS RECEIVE SPECIAL OPEN HOUSE AT THE MARITIME MUSEUM

The Los Angeles Maritime Museum will be holding its third annual "Teacher Open House" on Monday, October 19th at 3:00pm. Local teachers are invited to drop in anytime between 3 and 4:30 to tour the Museum, pick up curriculum information, learn about field trip opportunities, and enter for a chance to win free bus transportation for their class! Teachers of all grades are welcome. Please RSVP to 310-548-7618.

Marifrances Trivelli
Director, Los Angeles Maritime Museum
Berth 84, Foot of 6th Street
San Pedro CA USA 90731
310-548-7618
310-832-6537 (fax)

-------------JUSTICE FOR MURDERED CHILDREN SEEKING HELP TO MAKE THANKSGIVING BASKETS FOR FAMILIES

As Thanksgiving approaches Justice For Murdered Children begin to think of giving and bringing comfort to families in Los Angeles County that have lost a loved one to murder. In previous years it has been one of our commitments to provide Thanksgiving Dinner Baskets to these families in hope that it will help them get through the day in the mist of their loss. This year with the economy being as bad as it is we fill we have an obligation to help these families at least with Thanksgiving Dinner. Our small gesture is just a small way to let them know that they have not been forgotten.

Justice for Murdered Children needs your help in sponsoring a family for Thanksgiving, each family basket can be purchased for a mere $30.00. JFMC is committed to providing a minimum of 50 Thanksgiving Baskets for families living in Los Angeles County that have lost a loved one to murder. It is only through your generosity and love that we have been able to help families of murdered victims feels the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Any assistances that you can give, such as, $30.00 or more for the purchase of the baskets, turkeys, can goods, and other non-perishable items would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be made:

On Pay Pal on our website at www.jfmc.org

Or

By mail to: Justice For Murdered Children (JFMC)

24564 S. Hawthorne Blvd., #201

Torrance , CA 90505

For more information call 310-738-4218 or email victimvoices@yahoo.com