HELP A SAN PEDRO 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL BATTLE LEUKEMIA; ATTEND A BLOOD/BONE MARROW DRIVE AND FUNDRAISING BARBECUE THIS SATURDAY; READ ANOTHER SAN PEDRO CHILD’S HALLOWEEN TALE AND MAKE SURE YOU READ THE EARLIER POST ON TIPS FROM A LOCAL CHRIOPRACTOR TO AVOID DIABETES IN YOUR CHILD

BLOOD/BONE MARROW DRIVE FOR 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL & BARBECUE

A 9-year-old student, Devin Taylor Hamilton, who goes to Crestwood Elementary School, needs your help to survive leukemia. To do so, consider attending an American Red Cross blood/bone marrow drive and a family-style barbecue this Saturday.

The $10-per-plate barbecue, which includes a free jumper for children, will help with the family’s mounting medical expenses.

Devin, a lifetime resident of San Pedro, was diagnosed with leukemia in August and doctors believe she has the chance to survive with more treatments. Donations will also be accepted.

The American Red Cross will handle the blood and bone marrow drive while the family’s relatives and friends will hold the barbecue at the same location .The drive will be held at Top Value Market, at the corner of 1^st and Bandini streets, from 9 to 3 p.m.

CHECK OUT THIS FUN MONSTER TALE

THE SEVEN MONSTERS OF HALLOWEEN

By Casey Mezin, 13, written at the Corner Store fall of 2009

The seven witches were the seven monsters of Halloween.

They were known as Raven, Worm, Moldy, Cackle, Prickly, Crept and Misty.

There were seven kids who were going trick-or-treating one Halloween night. As they roamed from house to house asking for treats, they heard a cackling sound. Then they spotted a misty fog floating toward them. Beneath their feet, prickly worms sprouted up from the sewer. Their candy began to mold.

Scared now, they crept quietly to the next person’s house, which had a sign that said: “Raven.” Something flew by on a broomstick with a horrible laugh.

Suddenly, coming out of nowhere was a person with purple eyes, muscular arms and a hairy body. Another figure started to move in black armor with a deadly sword, mace, axe and a protective shield. And then two more creatures appeared; one looked like it was made from tar and mud and the other was formed from mist that turned into a strange cloud of dust. A walking crocodile and a giant worm popped out of the sewer drain and slid toward the kids.

Meanwhile, hours later, the parents waited and worried, because the kids didn’t come home. They didn’t know the seven witches had abducted the trick-or-treaters! Just as the parents prepared for a search, the kids came home. But they were different.

They came home with bright green eyes and they had a strange way of walking. The children didn’t tell their parents where they were and wouldn’t answer their questions. The parents were becoming more suspicious that something bad had happened, but could get no answers.

Finally, the kids decided to go out one night and the parents followed. Then the seven witches appeared and leaped on the parents, trying to give them green eyes and a funny walk. This is how they controlled people so they could eventually eat them!

The parents, however, fought back, breaking the magic spell – and all the children melted back to their normal selves. They saw the witches trying to tie up their parents with chains, so the children battled too.

Together, they won and shouted: “VICTORY!” They later threw a party for their victory with pizza, hot dogs, sodas, chips, cookie, cakes, puddings, cupcakes topped off with delicious tasting witch meat pie.

On Halloween, children can now trick-or-treat in safety – since the seven kids got rid of the seven witches for everyone.

LOCAL CHIROPRACTOR GIVES TIPS IN REGARDS TO CHILDHOOD DIABETES

Dear Readers: Kim Kromas has been a long time chiropractor in San Pedro, who has helped me in many ways over the years. She is a chiropractor I trust, so I asked if she’d be willing to help parents by giving them tips on taking care of their children. This time, she explores childhood diabetes, now becoming a common illness among our youth.

By Kim Kromas, DC, Phd

Childhood diabetes is on the rise. This is not the type of Diabetes that you are born with, but the kind that arise from imbalances in our blood-sugar system.

It is the type of Diabetes that requires insulin only if it is not kept under control and until recently was most common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders as well as the aged population. To mange this, it requires proper foods and daily exercise.

Type 2 Diabetes is on the rise in our American Children. The cause is obesity. Let’s bravely admit the main reason for this obesity and avoid embarrassing excuses that have no merit. Obesity begins in the home and continues into social interactions as kids get older. Yes, there are the few that have an organic reason for the inability to lose weight, but this is a very low percentage of the population.

Our children are obese because we allow them to become obese and stay obese. This is a disgrace to our society. Where has our parental intervention gone? Aren’t we supposed to provide our children with the best tools for their future? Their health is their future. We are living in a time of intense scrutiny about our gluttonous country and a collapse of our health system. We live in an illness-driven society where monetary gain is made not only from diagnosing conditions such as diabetes, but from treating this illness on a long-term basis without a prognosis of cure.

What exactly happens in Type 2 Diabetes? Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. This is known as being insulin resistant. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use glucose for energy.

When you eat food, the body breaks down all of the sugars and starches into glucose, which is the basic fuel for the cells in the body. Insulin is released from the pancreas and takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can cause these problems:

• Right away, your cells may be starved for energy.
• A state of hyperglycemia can occur, causing heart palpitations and even unconsciousness
• Over time, high blood glucose levels may hurt your eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart.

Remember, your child’s health is a great gift. Let’s focus on feeding them Brain Foods vs. Brain Weakening Foods. Here are some suggestions to guide you:
GetRidOfFoods -------Soda, sugared cereals, boxed and canned foods, cookies, pastries, potato chips, herbal teas
AnyTimeFoods--------Fresh fruits, raw or steamed vegetables, beans, rice, Kashi cereal, nuts, olives, yogurt, turkey and chicken slices, diluted juices

OccassionalFoods----------Red Meat, whole grain crackers, whole grain chips
MinimalFoods-----------butter, mayonnaise, real ice-cream, low sugar sweet

1. Drink lots of water each day.
2. Only eat 1/2 of a sandwich at a time. Eat the other half later that day.
3. Eat every 2-3 hours in small amounts.
4. Eat only what could fit in the palm of your hand.

EXERCISE

Type 2 diabetes requires exercise. Buy your child a jump rope. It is inexpensive and really fun to use. They can start by jumping 10 minutes 2x/day. Your local parks will have resources for swimming lessons, soccer teams and other sports activities that will help maintain a blood-sugar level that will benefit your child.

And remember, it is common for Type 2 Diabetes to create high blood pressure, high cholesterol, digestive problems and lack of concentration. You are the teacher and the model for your child. Teach them to eat right, exercise and to cherish the only body they will be given.

To reach Kim Kromas for further information, call 310-832-5818. Her office is at
302 W. 5th St. #101 San Pedro , CA.

KIDS WRITING THEIR OWN VERSION OF HALLOWEEN STORIES! HERE'S THE FIRST PEEK AT ONE!

Dear Readers: It was exciting to have this story come about from a writing class at the Corner Store where one student proposed writing from the point of view of a witch. That got Keli Mezin thinking....She decided to write from a pumpkin's point of view. Enjoy & Happy Halloween

Pumpkin’s Point of View

By Keli Mezin, 9, photo above

Humph…..Why is everybody carving things out of me? How would you like it if someone just picked you up and started to carve you up? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

I think I am handsome until you guys pick me up and carve me. It’s like you take a knife and shove it in. But since we pumpkins don’t want to scare you, we don’t talk which is miserable for us. Try not talking 24-7. It’s hard. I know we are good to eat and stuff, but still, think about if it happened to you.

Just think about it.

-----------------------------------------HappyHalloween!!!--------------------------------

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.