Tiffany Barber, 17, warms up and later hits a double in the game.

Joey Pierry pitches to Marvin Villata during Wiffle ball practice at Harbor Highlands Park in San Pedro. (Photos by Jim Hart).
 

PLASTIC WIFFLE BALL FOR AGES 5 TO 70; SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ORGANIZATION WANTS THE ZANY FAMILY/COMMUNITY ORIENTED GAME FROM OTHER COUNTIES TO EXPAND TO SAN PEDRO, THE SOUTH BAY AND LOS ANGELES

 IT  WILL BEGIN IN JANUARY AND ONE ORGANIZER HAS ALREADY STARTED PRACTICE GAMES

By Diana L. Chapman

It’s a baseball. It’s a softball --- No it’s a Wiffle ball!

That’s  the craze that has hit hard across the east coast, landed in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties catching on like “wildfire” and its blazing its  way here.

Chris Furgel, who will aide the SoCal Wiffle Ball Association in bringing the sport here,  started  practice games at San Pedro’s Harbor Highlands Park Saturday. Wiffle ball, he said, is “goofy,” “crazy,” but most of all “fun.”

 “This is going to be for family times,” said Furgel, a baseball coach who started playing Wiffle ball with his son Richard about a month ago. “You don’t have to be an athlete to be good at this game. We’re just in the baby steps right now and we want to get it off the ground and running.”

League games will begin in January.

The truth was already out last Saturday as about ten players showed up for the practice: One team was called the Vipers, the other the Scallywags on the teams that typically have only three to five members.

Until the players climb to high ranking levels, Wiffle ball encourages silliness across the board with everyone teasing one another – especially because they are all at the rookie level. The din of the park was cackles, laughs, hoots and howls during the practice game, which was charged with pleasure.

“You’re terrible Ryan,” shouted out Derrick Traeger teasing his friend who was up to bat. “You’re just terrible!”

When people struck out, no one got upset or marched off the field. They just giggled. Because the truth was, no one was too good at the game – yet.

While the structure looks a lot like baseball, it’s only so close. For instance, no one runs to bases. There are only four innings and every player pitches. Pitching, in fact, is the key to the entire game, something not all that easy since a Wiffle ball seems to have a mind of its own.

It can go up, down and all around. But that’s part of the crazy fun. And it didn’t stop people from coming.

Tiffany Barber, 17, a San Pedro High school student, said she found the game easy – and exciting.

“I just wanted to learn it,” said Tiffany, who hit a double. “It’s easy and a lot of kids at school who can’t make the teams will like to play this sport.”

“I like the atmosphere,” said Jimmy Pierry, 19. “It’s light hearted and  a fun time when you’re playing with friends. I’ve never done it before.”

“The rules are just a lot of fun,” added Marvin Villalta, 19. 

That’s the whole idea, said Furgel, who stumbled on the game on the internet and started playing with professionals in Riverside for the heck of it. He later urged the organization to expand to the South Bay area, which he will help pull together.

There can be Wiffle madness – touring pros and backyard bombers – but at the rookie level – it’s all about enjoyment.

The game hosts a scaled down diamond – and all the pitches are determined fair if they hit the back stop  – the strike zone area – behind the batter. How far out the ball is batted out defines whether it’s a single, double, triple or home run, Furgel said.

“It’s just phenomenal what you can do with it,” Furgel added who wants leagues to start from San Pedro, across the South Bay and up into Malibu. “We want to get everyone out from Lomita, Redondo, Carson, Gardena, Los Angeles…

To play, each member pays $20 for eight games. If their team makes the play offs, they will enter tournaments where winners will receive cash prizes of $250 for first, $100 for second and $50 for third place.

One of the beauties of the game, Furgel explained, is it doesn’t take much overhead and the equipment isn’t expensive. The diamond is placed down on grass using rope and spikes, which are removed after the game. Bats usually run about $2 to $3 and a single Wiffle ball about 99 cents on the internet.

Wiffle ball was created in Connecticut in 1953. David Mullany designed it for his 12-year-old son, according to Wikipedia.

Nearly anyone can play the game, Furgel explained, saying that his dream is seeing teams with moms, dads, grandmas, aunts and uncles and kids coming out, barbecues in tow and making it a pleasurable day.

“This game is the great equalizer,” Furgel added. “It doesn’t matter how good you are as athlete. You don’t even have to be an athlete.”

The players Saturday all left – saying they planned to return and were likely to join the league. The Scallywags won 8-3 against the Vipers. But no one left sad since it was all in the name of fun.

For more information, email: socalwiffleball@aol.com or facebook socal_fastplastic.

 LOSING MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS IN STATE FUNDS, LOS ANGELES SCHOOL OFFICIALS PLAN NOV. 1 TO OPEN EIGHT CENTERS TO TARGET TRUANT STUDENTS  AND RETURN THEM BACK TO THE CLASSROOM

FOUR HIGH SCHOOLS – AND SEVERAL MIDDLE SCHOOLS – WILL HOUSE THE FACILITIES INCLUDING SAN PEDRO HIGH

By Diana L. Chapman

 Los Angeles Unified School officials, tackling a 1.3 billion dollar deficit over the next three years, revealed the opening of eight new centers dedicated to go after truant students and hook them back into schools starting  in November.

Having lost millions in state funding due to truancy, school officials will begin the task of reining in thousands of students who fail to go to school Nov 1.

The facilities will be located at four high schools and several middle schools peppered throughout the district. Each will include one certified teacher, one aide and one safety officer,  said Judy Elliott, the district’s chief academic officer.

 “They will be separate places (on the campuses) so that students do not mingle with the general population of the campus," said  Elliott, who planned out the center’s with her staff. “They will work on a different bell schedule, lunch schedule and the like to ensure students are separate from regular campus activities. We have a lot of disenfranchised kids. Some kids are just late because they couldn’t get out of bed. The whole goal is to get them off the streets and into a safe environment.”

Police embrace the program because it helps officers have a location to drop off students rather than giving the child a $250 truancy ticket, which often doesn’t change the situation, Elliott said.

Calling them “Attendance Improvement Centers” rather than truancy facilities, school officials will initially target middle and high school students. Students are to be assessed and returned to their usual campus by the following day or “two days at most,” Elliott explained. They will be given a work packet to start catching up with their school work.  She added it will not be a place of leisure for students – but for education.

It will also provide a strict environment in which students won’t be  too comfortable, so they’ll want to return to their home school. For example, students will not be allowed to put their heads on their desks to rest, she said.

Students, who be coming from a wide variety of areas to the centers, will be kept separate from the regular student population to avoid any potential gang conflicts, age differences or distractions to other students, said Debra Durado, director of pupil services.

For years, Los Angeles Unified has been hit hard financially due to the number of children missing in school. The state pays schools an average daily attendance rate which equals about $33 a day per student. District calculations reflect that about 172,516 children missed at least three days of school in 2009-2010. That means nearly $17 million of funding was lost in a single year.

“We are losing all this ADA money,” Elliott explained who oversaw a similar program in the much smaller school district of Long Beach that met with success. Having worked with Los Angeles for two years now, Elliott said she was intense about pushing this plan forward, but wants it to start off small so it can be successful from the early stages and then flourish.

 “I have always known this is the right thing to do for the district,” she added.

Unlike Long Beach, the Los Angeles program will not yet include children who have been suspended or elementary students. It was easier to accommodate those students in Long Beach which only has 89,000 students compared to the Los Angeles district’s 463,000. 

Principals, she said, were vying to have the centers on their campuses due to the resources that it provides their students.  The district selected schools that could geographically take truant students from all the nearby surrounding schools and had strong principals.

Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Pat Gannon, who operates the department’s southern bureau, said his officers would find the centers useful as they often are  collecting children off the streets during school hours.

“ I was at a meeting last week with LAUSD district superintendents,” Gannon said. “In that meeting I learned of the truancy centers that are being established and I was told San Pedro High School would have one of these centers. This is great news.

“The focus of our truancy efforts have always been to keep kids in the school. If they are in school, they are less likely to get into trouble and will be in a better position to learn. We have pledged to fully support this effort.”

Campuses that will have the centers include: Sepulveda, Gage and El Sereno and Burbank middle schools; High schools that will house them are San Pedro, Belmont, Washington Preparatory High School. Another center will be established at the Santee Education Complex.

“This is going to be a great opportunity for San Pedro High School students in particular,” said an enthusiastic San Pedro High Principal Jeanette Stevens who welcomed the truancy center on her campus. “The resources available in the center will actually assist students in understanding the value of their education and support their learning objectives.

“The goal is to reduce the number of truancies and to provide an opportunity for the students’ needs to be addressed within an educational environment.”

The San Pedro center will be located in a room near 15^th Street and Alma, making  it easier for parents and police officers to access, she said.

David Kooper, chief of staff for Los Angeles School Board Member Richard Vladovic, said the board member and his staff are also enthusiastic and relieved about the centers – especially after police believed students were causing a rash of burglaries in the neighborhood surrounding San  Pedro High last spring.

While it turned out the students were not involved, Kooper said it brings relief to know students loitering on the streets will be swept up and brought to a location where their needs will be addressed and their parents called.

“It’s going to be a great program,” he said. “Anything we can do to keep kids in school and out of trouble is good. Kids cannot learn if they are not in school.”

The Los Angeles Unified centers were Elliott’s brainchild after she oversaw the truancy center that began in Long Beach where she was the assistant superintendent for support services for eight years.

During that time, the Long Beach program was deemed highly successful. Because of the Long Beach district’s smaller size, only one was established and it accommodated all ages from elementary to high school. It also tackled those students who were suspended.

 Once the new centers are successful, Elliott explained, she plans to add both truant elementary and suspended students to the plan.

In Long Beach, the center paid for itself in returns of ADA, which Elliott said will happen with the program in Los Angeles. It will be a self-sustaining.

At the current time, the district is still working out some remaining logistics, such as what happens to a child picked up in Los Angeles, who actually goes to school in area outside of the district such as Compton or Bellflower. The district would be responsible for that child and has to determine how to get them back home.

Because truancy issues have financially injured Los Angeles Unified , school officials have launched other means to help students. Besides opening the centers, Elliott said, the district also started a virtual high school where students can finish courses on-line. This way they can recoup or accelerate the courses they need. A mobile van to reconnect students and families to LAUSD schools will soon be rolling into neighborhoods to give parents and students information on how to return children to school or reenroll to graduate.

A variety of reasons, she explained, often small crises, keep children out of school.

“There are immigrant families who need kids to stay home and take care of younger siblings,” she said. “You have kids who don’t have the clothes to wear. You have kids who have violence at night and some of the kids have to walk through challenging neighborhoods.

“That’s the reality in urban America.”

IS THAT DAD WRONG WHO STORMED ONTO THE SCHOOL BUS TO PROTECT HIS DAUGHTER?  I DON’T THINK SO

ALSO, CABRILLO BEACH CLEAN UP SCHEDULED FOR THIS SATURDAY

By Diana L. Chapman.

The bullies are still there. They are there every single day at school. They are there in the morning. They are there in the afternoon. They appear after school, before school and during breaks.

They slink around when kids walk home. They show up when kids take the bus.

And yet, despite school officials repeatedly saying they have this issue under control  across the nation – there is nothing further from the truth. One out of four students in America faces bullying, according to many websites that follow the issue. This often causes psychological damage – and yet, it continues on like a badge of honor for those doing the deeds as it has for decades. We apparently can’t find a solution

Anti-bully campaigns run at school. School officials talk about it. But I’m still not finding them taking it seriously enough.

Therefore, I don’t think James Willie Jones has anything to apologize for, especially since his daughter was humiliated and allegedly knocked in the head and had her ear twisted – along with a condom tossed at her head.

As far as I’m concerned, there are no excuses anymore to let this reprehensible behavior continue on the playground, in the classroom or anywhere else for that matter. That’s what adults are supposed to be for – to stop this action.

Too often they don’t. And then we wonder why kids show up at schools shooting.

This is the reason why when James Willie Jones lost control over teasing and taunting of his 13-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy, I don’t blame him one bit. Where was the bus driver when students started taunting her and throwing condoms at her? Why was there no adult to stop this?

So Jones took matters in his own hands on Sept. 3 in Sanford, Fla. He jumped on the bus and confronted the kids who “allegedly” did the bullying. He cussed and screamed and threatened, because he didn’t want his daughter injured anymore ---emotionally.

What did that get him? Yes, he apologized, but I don’t think he needed too. He’s just another parent who has tired of the taunting, the teasing of a girl who already has enough trouble to confront in her life time.

I’ve witnessed such behavior when I was at school and later when I was a career-oriented reporter. I found bullying unbearable. The worst case going back to the mid-70s  in Glendale, CA in middle school.

Not once, have I forgotten it. I watched a developmentally disabled girl, about 12 tormented as a horde of students first circled and then mobbed her after someone posted a sign: “Kick Me,” on her back.  The group of hecklers followed her all the way across campus. Her eyes were round with fear.

Desperately, I tried to make my way through the crowd to pull the sign off. By the time I got there, a school official came up and said curtly to the girl:  “You have a problem girl.” He turn her around, yanked the sign off her back and told her to go on her way.

That was it. Nothing happened. No speeches in the auditorium. No discussion of this matter in anyway.

That girl was so completely helpless, and terrified, it was horrifying.

When it happens around me, I don’t stand for it. A few years ago, I went to pick up my son from school. A bus dropped off a bunch of high school students outside where they walked  home from that location.

One older student popped out and another one right before him. The older boy rolled up a newspaper and started whacking the younger boy on the head repeatedly. The youngest looked completely humiliated, befuddled and miserable. Grabbing the newspaper from the oldest student’s hand, (while the bus driver sat reading behind the wheel) I asked the tormentor what he thought he was doing.

“Playing,” he said. “I was just playing.”

“Sure, you were,” I responded, adding that I’d be writing his principal. “Go ahead,” he said with a smirk and walked off. I asked the other student his tormentor’s name, which he gave me – and immediately wrote a letter to the principal that night and faxed it.

Later, I received a call from the top administrator explaining there was nothing he could do. The bully argued he just playing and he believed him. It was my word against the students. It was outside of another school and not on his campus. He could do nothing.

Great. That’s really good. Didn’t he wonder why someone would go so much trouble to report it?

That’s how far we’ve come in the past four decades. Do nothing. It’s just easier.

Certainly, I believe people have no understanding of how much damage this does. Later, I had a friend tell me her son’s grades in third grade suddenly plummeted from As to Cs and Ds.

That’s odd, I told her. Something had to go wrong. Grades are a great indicator that something is up with your child. “Bring me his report cards,” I told her, “and let me see what’s going on.”

Viewing (I’ll call him Tommy) his grades, the teacher had written “child comes in crying at school every day. Parents must meet with teacher.”

“What was happening?” I asked my friend. “This is unusual for a child to cry every day.”

“Well,  Tommy said some boys were bothering him,” the mother explained, “but the teacher didn’t seem to think it was that.”

Oh, yes it was. Tommy – who spoke three languages and was extremely creative – was being horribly taunted by four boys every day for his accent and was constantly ganged up on. Being immigrant parents (legal I might add), they felt all they could do was go to the teacher.

“The sooner you get him out of there, the better,” I told Tommy’s parents. Tommy was a ridiculously creative and an artistic boy who could write a good story. He was, like many of us, sensitive to the taunting.

As soon as he left that school, his grades went back to As. He made new friends and was happy again. The parents are so proud of him now – as they should be.

Yep, bullying is still here, alive and well, and no matter what school officials say, it’s up to all of us – all adults – to understand it’s still not being taken seriously.

Whatever James Willie Jones did that day loading up on the bus and losing complete control, it’s a cinch one thing will happen -- his daughter will not be teased again anytime soon.

Nor should she ever be.

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CABRILLO BEACH CLEANUP DAY

Show up and clean trash off the beach this Saturday at the annual Coastal Cleanup Day at Cabrillo Beach.

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium helps to sponsor the event from 9 a.m. to noon. Participants are encouraged to bring a bucket or reusable bags and gloves.

For more information, visit: coastforyou.org or call (800) Coast 4-U.

Point Fermin Principal Bonnie Taft announcing that Point Fermin had become Los Angeles Unified SchoollDistrict's first marine magnet elementary school.

LAUSD School Board Member Richard Vladovic visits students at one of his schools.

POINT FERMIN ELEMENTARY SCALES UP TO THE “800 CLUB” WITH AN AMAZING 45 POINT LEAP IN ITS API AFTER THE PRINCIPAL IMPLEMENTED HER “GOLDEN HOUR RULE” AND OTHER STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE INSTRUCTIONAL LEARNING; THE MARINE MAGNET ELEMENTARY HAD THE LARGEST JUMP IN SAN PEDRO

 LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER RICHARD VLADOVIC APPLAUDS POINT FERMIN AND MANY OF  HIS SCHOOLS FOR HAVING THE HIGHEST TEST SCORE RANKINGS IN LAUSD; THIS CLAP ON HIS BACK COMES AT A BRILLIANT TIME AS HE’S RUNNING FOR REELECTION

By Diana L. Chapman

Within a year that Principal Bonnie Taft stepped onto the campus at Point Fermin Elementary school, the test scores began taking dramatic leaps upward. Sixty nine points the first year, 34 the second and 14 the third – the year the school at last made it to “the 800 club.”



That  placed it among other top-ranking elementary schools in the region, having shot up from 695 points to 813.

And then the drop came. Taking the principal and staff by surprise, the test scores in 2008-2009 dipped down 18 points. That’s when Taft pulled out the big guns –shortly  before the school became the Los Angeles Unified’s first elementary marine magnet in February 2009.

Apparently, those implementations including her “Golden Hours” rule, hiring an intervention teacher full time and not allowing any fundraisers during school hours – worked. The school shot up 45 points this past year, reaching an API (Academic Performance Index) of 838.

 “We had to go back to square one,” the principal said, explaining how the school made such a giant leap. “We had to tighten up everything.”

She believes the new test scores issued this week reflected a mixed pot of rigor she added -- with the support of her teaching staff -- at the small school of 325 students, one being the return of the Golden Hours.

 “We had always taken our instructional time seriously but we really put our nose to the grind,” she said. “I instituted the Golden Hours between eight and noon where students have their most energy and they’re ready to learn. There were no classroom interruptions during that time. No loudspeakers. No parents bringing lunch to the classroom. No phone calls.”

School Board Member Richard Vladovic, who is running for reelection,  lauded Point Fermin’s achievement along with the high scores at many of the 150 other schools he resides over.

 His region’s total API (Academic Performance Index)  growth was 2,082, the highest throughout the district out pacing his comrades on the school board, his staff said.  The top schools in his region that vaulted upward were: West Vernon Elementary School reached 711 from 635, a 76 point increase, followed by Compton Elementary which increased by 66, from 668 to 734 and Richard Lizzaraga Elementary School from 670 to 738, garnering an increase of 58.

Locally, other schools fared well in their scores, with Harbor Teachers Prep Academy in Wilmington obtaining stunning results jumping 52 points. It’s now ranked as Los Angeles Unified’s top performing high schools when it comes to API at 936 points.

 In particular, the board member lauded two Harbor area schools that have faced significant struggles in the past that successfully raised the scores. Those  include: Gulf Elementary School in Wilmington with 42 points -- now at 770 -- and Fries Elementary, in the same community, reaching 739, a 40 point jump.

“I am so pleased with the tremendous growth at Point Fermin last year,” Vladovic

“I am thrilled by the increase in student achievement in the Board District 7. Our schools have worked tirelessly despite bleak budgetary constraints.”

In addition, the following high schools had increases: San Pedro High from 675 to 692, Banning from 613 to 646, Carson  610 to 641, Gardena  up 11 to 586 and the Port of Los Angeles Charter from 731 to 778. The San Pedro areas two middle schools also reflected increases: Dana from 687 to 716 and Dodson from 799 to 825.

At Point Fermin, the principal said she used several strategies besides the “Golden Hours,” which sprang from her many years as a teacher and later principal when she watched students consistently lose focus as phones rang, people entered the class room and the worst interference: loud speakers that announced messages, throwing students’ concentration off.

Another strategy was to hire a full time intervention instructor to support struggling students – and at least 40 students went through the program. Fundraisers were done only after or before school so class instructional time was not impacted, including school book fairs.

The school, she said, also received tremendous support from volunteer parents in the classroom and from Mike Romero who now heads the region as local superintendent.

“One other thing: Mike Romero was our director and  he was here monitoring our progress,” Bonnie explained. “He knew my teachers by name. He understood instruction. Every year, he supported my teachers.”

She added when the scores dipped: “It just spoke for itself. We had to change what we were doing.”

Steve (who calls himself Sean Evans) on right with his role-model, Taylor Lautner, the actor  who plays Jacob Black in the Twilight Series. They met during opening day of the third movie, Eclipse.

A KID WHO COULDN’T FINISH A BOOK FOR THE LIFE OF HIM HAS HIS FIFTH GRADE TEACHER INTERVENE BY ASKING FOR ADDITIONAL HELP; IT APPEARS THE   WONDER OF READING VOLUNTEER PROGRAM RESHAPED HIS LIFE AND SET HIM ON A NEW COURSE, ONE THAT WON HIM THE CHANCE TO COVER THE OPENING OF THE NEW TWILIGHT MOVIE FOR HOLLYWOODLIFE.COM AT THE AGE OF 17

By Diana L. Chapman

He once went by Steve; He now goes by Shawn Evans to fit in with his latest image.

After winning the enthralling moment to cover the opening convention for Eclipse, the latest Twilight book movie installment that rocked teen girls over intensely good-looking guy vampires – Shawn Evans took his first step into the future he wants:

Hollywood. This comes from a kid who struggled to read and  was constantly harangued to play football due to his large size.

“I was really excited that I had a chance to be a reporter for Hollywood.com,” the 17-year-old high San Pedro High School quipped enthusiastically. “The whole day I was just twittering and tweeting about what was going on.”

Hollywood.com presented three of their readers -- who submitted personal essays about why they wanted to cover Twilight’s convention – an opportunity to become celebrity reporters and phone in their stories to the website’s reporters.

Steve, one of the winners, found himself in a tent outside sleeping over night to report on the convention on a June weekend. Unfortunately he had no ticket for the movie’s opening day until a man standing around watching the events offered him his ticket – saying he wasn’t going to use it.

“It was just surreal,” Steve explained; the opening day ticket thrust him into the limelight with stars such as his favorite role-model and hero, Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob Black. The Twilight tales revolved around  a love triangle of the most hairy kind when an ordinary human girl, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) becomes the passionate love interest of Jacob, a shape shifting werewolf.

There’s one problem with that: the enticing Edward Cullen, a chillingly handsome vampire played by Robert Pattinson found Bella first.

Steve said his heart thumped like mad when he got to walk with the stars, especially Lautner.

“He’s a nice guy and an amazing person,” Steve said during an interview at Starbucks after the event. “He dresses well. He’s almost perfect. He shook my hand. I had to be calm.”

His conclusions from the latest movie: Bella is stupid, Edward is “too controlling” and the movie is a “hello, it’s getting darker in here” with its grimmer side.

All this was ghoulishly good news to me and should give hope to volunteers who work with children everywhere.

As his “Wonder of Reading” volunteer in fifth grade, I quickly learned Steve had a lot of obstacles to overcome.

The first: he hadn’t been able to finish a book in his entire life and wasn’t going to anytime soon.

The second: his big-shouldered frame and height made many folks believe football was his future. He was begged and plagued to play. Football coaches frothed over him. Strangers questioned him about sports.

 But this giant kid –sitting next to me at Crestwood Street Elementary School’s library when he was 11-years-old – had no interest in athletics. He confided that he’d rather sit and listen to fairy tales with his nieces. Or watch another version of the witch T.V. series, Charmed.

OK, sports is out, I concluded.

Three months, zero books and many weekly meetings later, I was beginning to believe that perhaps reading was out for him too. He wanted to chat and talk about television shows he adored. He wanted to quit reading every book we started. He wanted to interrupt every second when we began.

Perhaps his fifth grade teacher was wrong. She had persuaded me to work with Steve -- convinced if she got him into the program, it would be his ticket to embrace reading.

But after three months, we were going nowhere and I was frustrated.

The only thing I knew was that he reminded me so much of myself as his age. He had lower grades than he should have because he wasn’t working to his top abilities. He was so big that he was teased – frequently. And his self-esteem was low.

What book, I wondered, helped me as kid? Finally, I settled on the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

“Oh, I have that book,” Steven said when I brought it up to him. “My mom gave it to me. I never read it.”

But his interest was piqued – especially since it was a gift from his mom. Reading that tome percolated his discovery at last that books can take you anywhere – including to fantasy world beyond a wardrobe door. After we finished it, he was hooked and we moved on to another book.  Then another.

Then came another confession from the big guy: “I don’t need you anymore,” he said sweetly one day. I  watched him for the rest of year, his face buried in some novel or another, including every single Harry Potter. “I’m on the sixth book!” he’d shout at me gleefully.

From time to time, I’d hear about Steve when I saw his mom. But the last time floored me to hear about his opportunity to report on the Eclipse convention.

So often as a volunteer, you have no idea whether you’ve helped a kid or not. This confirmed for me that without reading – he would never have had this chance. I was also amused to hear that when he was at a family party and everyone was talking about Twilight, he said: “What’s that?” and immediately dismissed it, because “I don’t like gore stuff about vampires and werewolves. But my cousin, Alyssa, said: ‘No, it’s a love story.”’

He started to read the series and loved it. That led him to submit his piece for the contest. He kept following up with the emails until finally he received a “congratulations!” from Hollywood.com, he said.

It’s been awhile now since I’ve seen Steve. But a month or so ago, I spotted him auditioning for drama at San Pedro High.

He got up, his large frame dwarfed in the giant cave of an auditorium, and spoke his monologue without a hitch, one he’d memorized from a television program.

It left me in wonder: what will he do next?

ANNOUNCING A NEW WRITING WORKSHOP SESSION FOR STUDENTS BEGINNING OCTOBER 6^th AT THE CORNER STORE AND A NEW BLOG TO SINK YOUR SPIRITS INTO WHEN YOU ARE ANGRY, SAD OR NEED A PICK-ME-UP; SECRET LIFE IN MY BACKYARD

Seven Golden Secrets to Writing Workshop

Parents can enroll their youngsters from ages 6 to 12 into a new writing session that begins in October.  The course is taught in a nurturing environment and helps students gain confidence in their skills.

Using an unorthodox approach from the Seven Golden Secrets to Writing, students learn how to use this craft  with fun and ease by having the chance to create.

Workshops are conducted by Diana Chapman, a longtime San Pedro writer.

The next session begins Oct. 6 and runs through Nov. 10. Workshops are from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. each Wednesday at the Corner Store, 1118 W. 37^th St., San Pedro.

Cost for pre-enrolled students are $50 per  six-week session. Enrolling the day the class begins costs $60. There are no refunds.

To enroll,  please email Diana at hartchap@cox.net.

THE SECRET LIFE IN MY BACKYARD

After making several complaints to my husband about living in such a congested city as Los Angeles, he suggested I learn to sit in my backyard and appreciate the life around me.

I did and found not only a sense of serenity, but a whole new world to write about. Visit http://www.secretlifeinmybackyard.blogspot.com and find out what you might be missing in your own yard. Please leave your thoughts on the site.

 DIANA’S HAPPY YELPERS AROUND TOWN – AND THEN SOME;  MY RULES FOR SURVIVAL: GO TO PLACES WHERE THEY ARE KIND, GO THE EXTRA MILE AND  WHERE THE SUCCESS REPEATS ITSELF

Mona Sutton, one of the owners of Omelette and Waffle Shop

By Diana L. Chapman

I was sitting at the Omelette and Waffle Shop in San Pedro catching up with a friend and eager to eat a good meal.

Somehow my dish got back-ordered  and my friend’s food arrived first. In her other hand, the waitress carried a bowl of sparkling freshly cut fruit and placed it in front of me that I hadn’t ordered.

“I felt bad that your oatmeal isn’t ready yet,” the waitress announced. “The kitchen was behind and was making another batch.  “So I brought you this so you didn’t have to sit and watch your friend eat.”

Bingo. Shazam! Double dancing up and down. Four star check out of four! Yelping with pleasure all the way home. That’s how I felt after that experience. Over  years of receiving poor service, grumpy sales people or the customer-is-never-right attitudes, I began to sum up what I wanted when visiting retailers and other service industries -- a lot less stress. I despise getting in disagreements over a wrong order or a returned item and had too many of them to count. Who needs that to ruin their day?

So I came up with this simple rule of thumb: Go where people treat me right – and that includes how they treat other people too.

Since then, my life has been more relaxed.

I’ve established a load of local places,  I haunt regularly.  You can send me yours at hartchap@cox.net. Here’s my list of favs from restaurants to banks and other retail services.

RESTAURANTS:

OMELETTE AND WAFFLE SHOP obviously --  where my son always insist the restaurant should compete in the Guinness Book of World Records  for having the most omelettes! The place is loaded with dishes – so many you can barely count them – from tasty pumpkin waffles to scrumptious delicious chicken tacos. The more than a dozen types of omelettes are great to sink your teeth into and I find the service  repeatedly awesome.  What I really like, however, is that owners Leslie Jones and Mona Sutton, repeatedly give to community, such as helping schools, sitting on the Chamber of Commerce, forging cleanup projects around town and sitting on the Los Angeles Police Department’s advisory board. Open for breakfast and lunch, the OWS is located at 1103 South GaffeyPedro, (310)-831-3277.

NOSH: 

William McKenna, Susan's son, helping out at Nosh.

 A great downtown San Pedro eatery run by  Susan McKenna, a former owner of the popular Corner Store.  Susan ventured into the new café diner she calls  Nosh and began to whip up delightful homemade soups – from carrot to lentil – creamy quiches, and salmon sandwiches. The place has an Aussie air about it – since Susan is Australian – and it carries such things as sausage in a blanket, seaweed salad and PG tips, a strong black tea from England. Check out golden syrup on crumpets, bangers and caramelized onions on toast, Aussie meat pie, or date pudding with toffee sauce.  Lattes, cappuccinos and other specialized coffee drinks  are available and the staff is always both warm and friendly. Free Wi-Fi is offered at the long table in the front and at the counter (where you can often see me writing.) Open for lunch and breakfast,  Nosh is at  617 S Centre Street, San Pedro, (310) 514-1121.

 

CORNER STORE:

 

A neighborhood eatery and small store where residents can come and hang their hats and chat for awhile. Most days, that’s the common scene at the Corner Store. Cappuccinos, a wide array of peculiarly colorful sodas including one that is bright blue, gourmet desserts and sandwiches are served daily. Drop by to grab a “Walk the Plank,” Albacore tuna on squaw or croissant bread or a “Black Beard’s” beef dip, thinly sliced roast beef on a steak roll with the meat’s juices. Sandwiches range about 4.95 to $5.50 – and you can count on some other delicious goodies, as well, such as an affogato -- two shots of espresso over ice cream. If you didn’t get to the grocery store, you can grab eggs, cheese and milk or buy that last minute gift as the store’s quaint boutique that hosts jewelry  and other charming gifts. How is that for the last minute? You can see me here teaching writing classes on Wednesday afternoons. Check out the store located at 1118, W. 37^th Street (310) 832-2424.

 

THINK CAFÉ/THINK BISTRO/THINK PRIME:   For dinner and sometimes lunch, I enjoy all three of these restaurants – each with its own flair and atmosphere. Once all were owned by Kashi Aghilipour, who recently sold the café to his Chef Sonny Ramirez and wife Carly. The café hasn’t skipped a beat still serving wonders such as Cajun Spiced meatloaf for dinner and shrimp tacos for lunch.  Think Bistro is one of my favorite dinner spots in town due to its fair prices and because it’s around the block from my house and I can get there in five minutes.  The veggies are always cooked perfectly, much too my liking as I’m keen on vegetables. My favorite dish, chicken piccata. Lastly, Think Prime—an upscale and casual steakhouse – can get an array of beef dishes along with sides that include fresh corn on the cob and buttery garlic mashed potatoes. Don’t miss their daily happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. where the bar menu is half price.

LOCATIONS:

Think Café: 302 w. 5^th Street, (310) 519-3662.

Think Bistro: 1420 W. 25^th Street , (310) 548-4797

Think Prime:  29601 S Western Ave., Rancho Palos Verdes (310) 221-0415

 

YOGURT:

An always smiling employee at Dolci Mango serves up the creamy treat.

 

 Dolci Mango: WOW! Love this place that touts low-fat European yogurt at about 25 to 35 calories an ounce. The staff is always fun – and the yogurt, creamy smooth sliding right down into your tummy! Red Velvet Cake, blueberry cheesecake – chocolate! All those great toppings of fresh fruits, nuts and berries. But be careful of those delicious toppings like Oreo cookies, pecan pralines and M&Ms. Those calories add up. Don’t miss this delectable pleasure at 28901 S. Western Avenue, Rancho Palos Verdes, #227.

OTHER SERVICES FROM BANKING, CLOTHING TO HEALTH

MALAGA BANK: 

I switched from Bank of America – after so many bad experiences, not so much with the staff but the larger organization itself. I had things like checks bounce – despite our overdraft protection – and had to make repeated calls to correct the mess. Switching to Malaga, now on 25^th and Western Avenues in the Vons shopping Center, was a godsend. Due to its small size, they are able to call you when something looks amiss – as they did recently when we were in Canada and using our ATMs to the max. In another incident, I left on vacation having made a transfer to the wrong account and overdrawing rapidly in the next few days. Calling right away, the small bank was able to salvage my fiasco and complete the transfer for me. BRAVO MALAGA! 1460 West 25^th Street/ 310-732-1100.

Kim Kromas runs San Pedro Health Center

CHIROPRACTOR/CLINICAL NUTRITIONIST:

My favorite chiropractor/clinical nutritionist in town by far is Kim Kromas, but what else can you say about the only person who wasn’t afraid to tell you the truth about your  diagnosis. While my doctors were petrified to tell me (having by now lost vision in my right eye and having fierce tingling pains in my arms) Kim began to put the pieces together. When I called her to say my doctors were dancing around, she told me straight out: “I think you have multiple sclerosis. Go back and ask them.” The relieved doctor confirmed Kim’s theory. Today, Kim's focuses on clinical nutrition with a supporting team of chiropractors, acupuncturist and muscle therapists. Other therapies include  ionic/detoxification, physio therapy and orothodic molding. Kim spends most her time counseling patients on nutrition and how to better themselves physically with supplements from Standard Process. Recently, I was coming in with bruises peppered across my body when she finally determined was from my medication. Once again, she turned out right and I remain under her professional care.  The Nutritional Chiropractor Center is located at 302 W. 5^th Street, 310-832-5818. Visit her blog at: http://www.kromasnutrition.com

ALPHABIOTICS: 

Richard "Doc" Wright and his wife,Dagmar Neubauer, treat ailments and stress with alphabiotics.

Don’t ask me how it works or why, I just know it does for me. While you can hear the whole explanation from Richard “Doc” Wright and his wife, Dagmar Neubaurer, or Gene Eramela, all

 alphabiotists, I sum it up as this:  you get a “brain hemisphere balancing” each time you walk in, which helps shake out all those old injuries and years of compressing and jarring your spine, the core that holds our bodies in one piece. This provides your brain the ability to balance itself and help you heal  naturally. Since I’ve undertaken this, I’ve seen improvements I haven’t made in 20 years. Having gone on a myriad of drugs that have helped me, but came with serious side effects, I found more relief from using alphabiotics to tame unpredictable multiple sclerosis than all my drugs put  together. For once in my life in the past two decades, I haven’t had to drop in my bed for hours a day and excuse myself constantly for intense fatigue. For a full detail on how this treatment works, stop by and chat with Richard at 1407 W. 8^th Street. Call first to make sure schedule. (310)519-7700.

Sylvia Hudson outside Hair and Nails Salon

HAIR AND NAILS SALON: 

I was tired of feeling like just another robot in the pedicure assembly line at so many nail salons. I confess; I wanted to be spoiled. At the Hair and Nails Salon, the staff is amicable, right down to the receptionist Yolanda. At this place, I found mutli-talented Sylvia Lee, who does my hair and my pedicures. What I like best truthfully is that Sylvia spoils me and I always leave feeling like a pampered queen. Everybody deserves to feel like royalty once-in-awhile.  What is most enjoyable here: watching the way the staff care about their clients that come in from young to old. After going to several indifferent salons, I stumbled on this one and haven’t quit going ever since. Sylvia is truly a gem. The salon also does also does waxing, facials and eyelash extensions. It’s located at 2312 S. Western Avenue. (310) 548-3406

MAX’S PLACE:

Max Beyda, the owner, and Barbara Arizpe make a fabulous team at this clothing store.

A low-priced, clothing boutique, this is probably the only place in town I look for casual and dressy fashions. Between the owner, Ann-Margret (Max) Beyda, who has a fabulous eye for purchasing ever-changing styles, to her store clerk, Barbara Arizpe, you should have a yelping good time finding clothes that suit your moment, from the sporty to elegant. This “mix-and-match” shop has been my lifesaver many times, where I’ve ran in at the last minute looking for something to wear that evening. Somehow, don’t ask me how, they always pull together a stunning outfit off the racks.  Voted South Bay’s Best women’s clothing store for 2010, customers can enjoy an array of colorful scarves to accessories to match their apparel. One tip: if you find something you like, buy it because clothes tend to literally fly off the racks. Max’s is located at  1422 W. 25 Street in the Von’s shopping center. (310) 519-9096.

PARK PLAZA SHELL: 

Talk about going the extra mile, this gas station is it! Owner Mitch Harmatz takes serving his customers to the max, such as having free loaner cars, rides to and from his business and delivering your car home after services are completed. Never in my life have I seen a gas station do any of this. His staff is kind to clients (or they are gone) and having used Mitch’s auto repeatedly, when mistakes are made, they are corrected. This place is so unusual that we don’t go anywhere else. In fact, when we bought our used 1999 Explorer, we took it to Mitch and he gave us the green light. It’s been a good car (knock on wood) ever since. My hats off to a guy who truly cares about his customers. 990 N. Western Avenue (310)-831-1571.