San Pedro High Principal Jeanette Stevens received news this week that San Pedro High School received accreditation for three more years.

SAN PEDRO HIGH SCHOOL’S MASSIVE TURN-AROUND FINALLY RECEIVES A NOD; WITH A TIDAL WAVE OF CHANGE BY ITS OWN STAFF, THE OVERCROWDED CAMPUS OBTAINS A THREE-YEAR ACCREDITATION

By Diana L. Chapman

San Pedro High School – one of the campuses Los Angeles school officials fingered as “poor-performing” forcing it into public school choice —received a trumpeting victory this week when it was given three years more of accreditation.

That was all the 3,600 student campus could receive under the Western Association of Schools and Colleges – known best to educators as WASC – in its current reviewing cycle. To earn this merit, the school staff entirely revamped the way the school did instruction under the direction of its latest principal, Jeanette Stevens, who has now served two years.

“Although we really felt that the term would be a three year term, which is the maximum term available to us in the current WASC cycle, it was fabulous to have our speculations confirmed,” said Stevens, who led a leadership team to drastically change classroom structure and instruction.

The “ultimate goal is always to improve student achievement,” she added. “Throughout my two years at San Pedro High School, we have always taken dip-stick measurements to intermittently monitor our progress towards addressing the WASC recommendations…Our work has been incredibly positive. Students have noticed a change and we have seen growth in our test scores.”

The overhaul of the campus came after a string of principals took leadership of the school and quickly retired, leaving in its wake further deterioration of a campus already suffering from severe overcrowding, low test scores, lack of student engagement and a graduation rate hovering around 50 percent.

Los Angeles Unified School Board officials and then Superintendent Ramon Cortines placed the campus on notice two years ago, forcing it on the public school choice list – which meant outside groups could bid to run the high school.  However, no agencies applied.

Instead, the school staff mapped out a new game plan for its students, which included breaking the campus up into six houses so students could build relations with their teachers as well as extending class time into a block schedule structure.

While Stevens has not received the detailed WASC report, she was told she could call to obtain the results prior to its release. She did so on July 18, she said, and was informed of the news.

Stevens has performed well beyond expectations and so has the staff, said Jacob Haik, the chief of staff for Los Angeles School Board Member Richard Vladovic who oversees schools in the Harbor area and part of south Los Angeles. Vladovic, he said, hails the recent news as a great showing of what can be done at such a high school.

“Richard is really proud of Jeanette Stevens, the teachers and the entire staff over this accomplishment,” Haik said. "This is just the beginning of good things happening at San Pedro High. We couldn't be more happy with (Jeanette) and the staff."

San Pedro High math Teacher Richard Wagoner,  who was critical of the school officials when they placed San Pedro High on the public school choice list, said he was pleased with the recent news and how the staff pulled it all together.

“I sincerely hope that the people who were scared off by the false rumors of the past will stop by and visit to see that we are a great school, with a great faculty, great students and a wonderful principal,” Wagoner emailed. “We are a school in which the faculty and staff sends our own children. We are mostly locals who have a stake in San Pedro and will not let San Pedro High be anything but the best it can be.”

Once the school receives the report, Stevens said, she and the staff will dissect the information and strengthen the areas in which officials say they remain weak.

The staff, she said, “shined,” in helping her create a school with more student engagement.

For example, the school started to involve students with “Think, Pair, Share,” where lesson plans became more uniform and included discussion with fellow classmates “to broaden perspective and understanding.”

Professional discussion time was worked into the teachers schedules so they could discuss which strategies were working best in the classroom.

Most of all, Stevens said, turning the campuses into smaller houses – or smaller learning communities – along with block schedule achieved ground with students.

“Our emphasis on student engagement has resulted in students recognizing a difference in instructional strategies,” the principal explained. “Our teachers care about our students and when we implement new educational practices, our students recognize the intent and rise to the occasion.”

Lead Singer Wolf Bradley and his band Last Day Off Will Be Performing Saturday at the Alano Club in San Pedro.

“TO BREAK THE CHAIN OF VIOLENCE AND ADDICTION IN SAN PEDRO,” THE   ALANO CLUB HOSTS A BENEFIT DINNER AND CONCERT AIMED AT KEEPING KIDS OFF THE STREETS

Gearing up for a new program called “Kids Against Drugs and Violence,” the Alano Club will host a benefit dinner and concert this Saturday bringing in a youthful band, Last Day Off, to attract the younger generation.

Bob Ahl, executive director of the club, said the club is raising money for the program directly aimed at teenagers by hosting once a month Friday night dance parties to keep them off the streets and to steer them into a safe environment along with a myriad of other programs.

This Saturday’s event has a suggested donation of $35 for a gourmet dinner along with a speaking engagement and a concert with four bands later in the evening. Dinner begins at 6 p.m. and will be followed by guest speaker, Steve Ipsen.

Ipsen, a leading deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County, assembled one of the largest attorney unions in the nation. He will discuss “reform first,” where he will unveil his concepts about how to save hundreds of millions of dollars in the system and improve public safety while reducing the massive numbers of inmates in prison.

Following Last Day Off to the stage will be one of San Pedro’s favorite rock bands, CHOYCE, with headliner Franki Doll and the Broken Toys closing the evening of musical entertainment.

Under the planned activities for youth in the future, the club plans Friday night dances for teens ages 15 to 18 which will include supervision from adults who work with the club. Security will also be provided.

Other plans include teaching teenagers how to manage money, write resumes, host peer counseling for bullying and have overnight camping trips to places such as the Joshua Tree Astronomy Center.
  
The club is located at 2001 South Pacific Avenue. For more information, call (310) 833-3525.

Getting Excited about New Blood for the 15th District--Except It Might Be Old Blood

By Diana L. Chapman

I am relieved it’s over.

Those of us in the 15^th District are finally saying goodbye to Janice Hahn, our Los Angeles councilwoman for 10 years, after she swept to victory in the election for U.S. Congress.

But while everybody was partying hard at her victory celebration, I felt this overwhelming sense of liberation: Yes, it’s done. We can move on at last!

A cast of candidates has already started to line up to fight over the vacant Los Angeles Council seat.

Let’s talk about the old blood first. Hahn’s immediate predecessor, former Councilman Rudy Svorinich, wasted no time saying he will run. Charging in right behind him was Assemblyman Warren Furutani (D-Gardena), also a former Los Angeles School Board Member.

Then there are the folks running who are without political stature or the accompanying campaign coffers: Joe Buscaino, a Los Angeles police officer, and Pat McCosker, president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles. Both have boldly announced their intentions.

Other possibilities: Doug Epperhart, a stalwart on the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council; David Greene, president of the San Pedro Democratic Club, and Jayme Wilson, owner of Spirit Cruises along with many others. We won’t know for sure until everyone actually files.

But my point is this: It’s time for us to decide who we really want to represent us on the City Council. Can we find someone who won’t listen only to the unions and entrenched business leaders, but will get down and dirty in the trenches with those trying to make our communities better? Can we find someone who can actually nudge aside the City’s mountain of bureaucracy – a big reason we don’t see projects materialize for 10 years or more?

Which one will fight not just for the big guy but the little guy? Not just the people with campaign money, but the folks who don’t want another convenience store in a neighborhood where there are three already? I’ve watched scores of people work diligently over the years to improve our community, but rarely did they get much support from Hahn.

My wish list for our new council member:

·        Help clean up and beautify our towns, whether it’s San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City or Watts. We don’t have to look like ragged communities left in the dustbin 30 years ago. None of us wants to be step children to downtown L. A. anymore. Come up with a plan, for God’s sake! Don’t do a little bit here and a little bit there with disconnected projects that don’t pull communities together.

·        Be on top of your staff to make sure they’re responsive and truly know what’s happening in all areas. Listen carefully to the reports that stream in. Make sure you’re in touch with your communities, whole-heartedly, not just half-heartedly.

·        Look us in the eye and tell us you’re going to keep the commitments and promises you ran on – and mean it. Take the actions you say you’re going to take instead of giving us empty promises.

The best leaders listen to all sides of an issue, bring everyone to the table and negotiate a game plan. Good leaders can do this. Poor ones can’t. As fractional as our community of San Pedro is, I still believe a strong leader can bring us together.

That’s the type of leader I’m looking for. What about you?

San Pedro Senior Lead Officer Joe Buscaino Gets Another Round Of Applause from the Los Angeles Police Department; He’s Named to Oversee Instructors of the Department’s Respected Youth Cadet Program

By Diana L. Chapman

A local police officer, who singlehandedly brought teenagers’ advice into the fold to help Los Angeles fight crime, was recently plucked to supervise all instructors in the department’s intensive youth cadet program.

Buscaino, 36, will begin his new duties with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Youth Cadet program by the end of July, but will remain a senior lead officer for the San Pedro area he currently serves.

Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said Buscaino was selected among thousands of officers for the post because of his keen abilities to understand that youth must be part of the LAPD’s game plan not just to fight crime – but to prevent it by including teens in its programs.

 “He thinks, he breathes, he embraces the young people of the community,” Paysinger said of Buscaino as to why he was selected. “It doesn’t matter who the kids are. That’s part of his organic nature. He’s a powerful authority. We could not help but make him the architect for this (cadet) job.”

Buscaino, Paysinger said, is an officer who clearly understands that youths have a role in the department’s future in a preventive fashion and said Buscaino spent much time advocating for teens while on the force.

This is the second recent accolade for Buscaino, who first received notice among the top brass for his extensive efforts in launching the initial Teen Community Police Advisory Board six years ago in the Harbor Area. He did so after he had several schools in his area with crime, drugs and bullying issues. He realized no one was listening to the teenagers and their suggestions to attack crime-related troubles even though they were in thick of things.

The youth, he said, had no voice.

Buscaino’s actions with teens, Paysinger said, reflects the belief that the department has spent too much time on the “negative aspects, such as bookings, and arrests,” of youngsters rather than giving them a hand up out of their environments and steering them into programs such as the Teen CPAB or the Cadet Academy.

“It’s humbling,” said Buscaino about receiving the post. “It’s no big secret I’ve invested a lot of time in youth. All the youth I’ve come across have stories and they need someone to turn to. So to have that role is to be there for the kids. It’s all come down to the teen CPAB putting me on the map in the city.”

Part of what caught his interest in guiding youth, he said, were the stories of “the two Manuels.” They both were students he met in his wife’s middle school classes and they both ran smack into troubles. One Manuel had fantastic support from his parents and was guided into the police cadet program. He became an A student and graduated from San Pedro High as the senior class president.

The other Manuel’s story disheartens him so much that tears still well in Buscaino’s eyes when he recalls it. At 14, the other Manuel got involved in some gang ties, had no support from “above ground or when he was in the ground.” He was shot repeatedly about four years while standing on his front porch on Sixth Street, near Gaffey.

Buscaino said he responded to the scene and traveled with Manuel on a short hospital ride, where the boy succumbed. “It was the longest six minutes in my life,” Buscaino said. “He had no support.” His killing was never solved.

That loss is one reason, Buscaino said, he’s driven to support youth – especially those that are ignored by the system and why the academy job suits him perfectly.

The academy, for ages 14 to 20 for about 5,000 youth, runs for 96 hours each and every Saturday to build a foundation for teens that come from all over Los Angeles. They are are trained in academics, leadership, physical training and many policing skills.

One of Buscaino’s greatest achievements , however, was launching the teen Community Police Advisory Board – which met with such great success including a dip in youth crime – that Chief Charlie Beck ordered all 21 areas of the department to establish such teen boards.

By the end of July, all 21 will host a Teen CPAB so teenagers can put “a face” on police, as one member said, and police can understand youngsters are human too.

Ironically in the cadet post, Buscaino will mostly oversee police officer instructors for the cadets, Paysinger said, and relay his philosophy when it comes to them.

Peacock Feathers Galore; If You Want One, Just Email

Our backyard, as I've told many readers before, resides as a fabulous roosting spot for peafowl galore, especially in our thick-branched Monterey Pine.

Our feathery friends come in droves at night to sleep, bringing along it seems, cousins, aunts, uncles and chicks. We also mistakenly offered a variety of food in an array of stunning burgundy, white and purple impatiens -- until I realized the birds' enchantment with this peacock delicacy. Every time I planted impatiens, the birds uprooted and ate them.

Recently, our happy-every-single-day-of-my life, dog Baxter, recently trotted out into the yard, bringing in one peacock feather after another to chew on. A quick investigation found about a dozen feathers strewn across the dense grass! I can't seem to throw the plumes away so I have clusters all over the house, sitting in vase after vase, plumes of teal and emerald colors perched on the kitchen counter top and all sorts of corners in the house.

So readers, if you are interested in inheriting a few plumes, just email if you are local and from my feather to yours -- you shall have them. Email: hartchap@cox.net

Don’t Blame the Jury for the Shocking Acquittal in the Casey Anthony Case; They Did Their Job

By Diana L. Chapman

Decades ago at a college party in San Diego, a woman told me how she served on a jury in a huge murder case that enthralled the entire city. The jury couldn’t reach a verdict, and the media made much ado about it.

Just as with the recent not guilty verdict in the Casey Anthony case, the public was outraged.

Like an insensitive idiot, I said: “Well, you guys blew it.”

Pain and shock flashed across her face, and tears streamed miserably down her cheeks. She slumped into a chair, doubled over and sobbing. I remember that more than anything else; I can’t even remember what the case was about.

“How can you know we ‘blew it’?” she asked. “You weren’t there. You weren’t in the courtroom day by day, minute by minute. You weren’t there to listen to both sides of the case. You didn’t hear everything that was said. How can you judge us?”

That is the same question we should ask ourselves after the stunning verdict when the jury declared Casey Anthony, a 25-year-old Florida mom, not guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

Almost immediately, the media interviewed members of the public who said a “baby killer” was going to walk free. Others wondered how someone like Anthony got off the hook.

TV host (and attorney) Nancy Grace, who consistently railed about Anthony on the air and believed she would be found guilty, called it “a miscarriage of justice,” adding that she was sick and disappointed by the decision and the jury’s failure to take copious notes.

 One juror, she complained, sat and “twirled her pen.”

But again, I ask how can Nancy Grace judge the jurors’ verdict if she was not involved in the day-to-day trial, as was alternate juror Russell Hueclker, who claimed: “It was the right decision. They (the prosecution) didn’t show us how Caylee died. That was important.”

It all comes back to the question that the juror in San Diego asked me that day: How can we judge the jury when we weren’t there in the courtroom – as they were -- to conclude that the prosecution hadn’t proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?

Their verdict came despite hordes of horrendous circumstantial evidence, including that the 22-year-old mom failed to report Caylee’s “disappearance” for more than a month. Also that she partied hard after her daughter “went missing” and then lied repeatedly to investigators.

Profusely lying, partying and failing to report her daughter’s disappearance obviously wasn’t enough for the jury to convict her on anything but lying to investigators--which they did on four misdemeanor accounts.

No matter what we believe, we have to admit to ourselves that:

a)     We were not on the jury listening to hours and hours of testimony;

b)     The jury hears only what the prosecutors and the defense put forward; they don’t hear the intensive media broadcasts that we heard;

There likely was not enough evidence to directly link Anthony to her daughter’s death.

c)     The lesson I learned that night at the party was what we all need to learn about the Anthony case. Instead of outrage and spite toward the jury, we should be thanking them for giving up 35 days of their lives, sequestered in an Orlando hotel where they were not being able to spend time with family or friends.

Certainly, the lives of the seven women and five men on the jury will never be the same.

Caylee was discovered in the woods months after her disappearance, not far from the home of her grandparents, Cindy and George.

Prosecutors painted Casey as a party woman who failed to report Caylee’s disappearance, frequented bars afterward and had the words “ beautiful life” in Italian tattooed on her body.

Prosecutors did prove that she repeatedly lied to investigators – saying that a nanny stole her daughter, which was later disproved. There was no nanny.

Lying. That’s what the jurors found.

Defense lawyers, however, laid out that there were many other possible causes of Caylee’s death, including drowning in the grandparents’ swimming pool. Because of panic, the defense claimed, the grandfather buried the little girl, which the grandfather denies. The defense also tried to enter into testimony that the father had sexually molested Casey, which he also denies.

After Tuesday’s verdict, the jurors refused to talk to the press as they left the courtroom. And who could blame them?

For 35 days, they too have been in prison and are now facing us – the public – who dares to criticize that they were too stupid and unmindful of the facts.

But the real truth here is they are the only 12 people who knew the evidence backward and forward – and were very mindful of the facts. What they were mindful of was the lack of them.

Two Letters Regarding the Last Underdogforkids Blog Post on the 36^th Congressional Race

Two Letters:

Diana,

I read all of your articles and usually find most of them entertaining and interesting.  Although I agree Janice falls short in many areas as too many career politicians do; would it be in our best interest to elect an ultraconservative, tea party candidate?  Huey is against a women's right to chose, would slash services to those most in need under his "spend less" campaign, and is as right wing as they come.  Worse than not supporting either candidate is using your blog to broadcast you are not even going to vote at all!  Listen, you are a smart and passionate person on so many issues; but on this one, you are in left field!
 
I agree that Janice has fallen short in serving her District in certain areas (things like parking prices in downtown San Pedro and funding for a number of programs jump to mind), but she is the lesser of two evils.  She will win and Huey could have taken the $1 million plus he will end up spending and doing a lot better things with it.  Curious why he hasn't returned your request for an interview.  Any reason you think?  You do know that Huey won by a grassroots, Christian campaign base with its own political agenda that has one of the highest voter turnout known to man.  It also helped that it rained that day.  While I respect his right to own his personal beliefs; this is not the type of candidate that will best represent and fight for programs needed in the diverse makeup of our District in Congress.

For all her faults, Janice was smart to get Winograd & Bowen running against one another to split those votes.  She may not do a lot. but at least she shows political savvy at times.  Hopefully that will be put in play in Washington although term limits really hurt us out there.

I feel it is always better to vote and exercise that right than not vote at all.  However, if you personally make that choice, I think it is best kept a private one than essentially telling hundreds of readers via your blog; "don't even bother voting".

Just my thoughts.

Shawn Talbott (Torrance)

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

I like what you say and how you say it , I am from the valley and I am

fed up with our politicians. They cannot fool me. My councilman is Richard Alarcon , 

and they deal in excuses, not fixing the problems Keep up the good work.

Joe Pinoy Lozano, (Mission Hills, San Fernando Valley)

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

American Flags mysteriously appear over the July 4th weekend. Photo By Jim Hart.

On the July 4 Weekend, Tiny American Flags Appear Mysteriously Along Neighborhood Blocks:

It’s a Brilliant Strategy; Was it Janice Hahn, Craig Huey – Or Superman?

By Diana L. Chapman

In my small neighborhood nestled along quiet streets called the Palisades, tiny mysterious American flags popped up out of nowhere over the July 4 weekend, waving in the playful ocean breeze.

They were set carefully along city medians, rolling up and down the hilly streets, tucked neatly and safely on non-residential property so no one could complain it was on their land.

First thoughts: Either Superman was trying to perk up our low economic self-esteem or one of the two fierce opponents for the 36^th Congressional seat, Democrat Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn and Republican Craig Huey, finally got wise with a positive, thought-provoking strategy.

After all, the congressional race has been disgustingly negative on both sides.

For the past several weeks, ugly campaign messages have swamped our mailbox. Hahn has saturated us with anti-Huey campaign literature, while Huey has tried to remind us of a news story, later debunked, that Hahn paid gang members to work the city streets to calm things down.

So flooded with campaign literature is our one small home, one can only imagine the sheer thousands of wasted dollars on these pieces –during a recession/depression I remind you --  and know other residents must be doing the same thing: sending them directly to the recycle bin.

When the flags popped up, it hit me: Wow! An American symbol – probably equal or less expensive to put out as fliers – and a symbol residents can keep if they choose. It’s a gentle reminder of what Independence day is all about.

Leaning over, I plucked away a note that said “From Our Family to Yours….Have a Safe and Happy Independence Day!” The note was from  Karen Anderson who wanted to thank residents in the area for using her realty services frequently.

But it was even more than that, she told me in an interview, adding that she spent “significantly less” than campaign brochures to put out 600 American flags in the neighborhood where yes, she wants more people to know about her.

However, her symbolic gesture, she added, was to remind people of the holiday, because her husband is a Korean War veteran and her stepson is a former Marine who now serves in the National Guard.

“It’s not really a new idea,” explained Anderson, who agrees the congressional race has been nasty. “A lot of Realtors have used it. It’s not a political statement. It’s obviously my way of saying thank you to the Palisades for supporting me. And to remember what the holiday is about. Times have been so hard and we all need a little patriotism.”

For the gesture, Karen said she’s received more than a half-dozen calls thanking her and when she was putting them out along the streets, many residents responded with gratitude.

If only Hahn or Huey had been so smart. For those who might have read my articles in the past about Hahn’s reign, I’ve bitterly watched our town disintegrate and have witnessed firsthand how she couldn’t (or wasn’t interested in) getting the things done necessary to make us a whole community again.

She was elected three times to do that. Huey, on the other hand, responded to my last article that I was staying home for the first time in decades from the polls because I can’t vote for a woman who has done nothing and I don’t want to vote for Huey, a man I barely know.

When Huey emailed me, I asked to interview him and he told me he’d check his calendar. I didn’t hear back, so I emailed again. No word. So I still don’t know him!

Basically, I’ve got this lackluster feeling about voting July 12 and our political process entirely. This was only reinforced by Huey’s own lack of follow-up and then when I read Hahn’s typical email letter on July 4.

It  basically said vote for me “and I hope we will all take a moment to truly think about the idealism and sacrifice that built the United States of America and what citizenship in this great nation means.”

Action, however, is much larger than words.

Right now, I’m seeing more action from a realtor who wanted to thank her clientele in such a simple – but meaningful way – I wish we could check Anderson’s name on the ballot box.

One last thing: in the past three days, it appears few people took the flags down as they still waved boldly in the sea winds.

  

David Kooper, right, celebrates many programs at LAUSD's  Science Center in San Pedro with the director, John Zavalney.

Former  Los Angeles School Board Member Richard Vladovic’s Chief-of-Staff Steps Down from His Post to Tend to Wilmington Elementary School Children;

It’s His First Post as a Principal

By Diana L. Chapman

For more than four years, David Kooper buffeted phone calls, took complaints, managed suggestions, led campaigns and dealt with the media for his former boss, Los Angeles School Board Member Richard Vladovic.

But with a keen interest in kids and education, the former chief-of-staff began his new career Friday – as the principal of Gulf Avenue Elementary School, one of the few remaining schools in LAUSD that still runs on a year-round track.

It’s his first principal post.

Kooper, 33, said he was delighted to take on the role as he’s always dreamed of being a principal. The post with Vladovic, he said, essentially prepared him for the job.  He worked with scores of administrators, teachers and principals during the nearly four years he worked for the school board member and was pivotal in helping Vladovic successfully win March’s election for his second, four year term.

“Every job brings new experiences and new challenges,” said Kooper, a San Pedro resident who taught at three different elementary schools and was a magnet coordinator at South Shores Magnet Elementary School. “I have focused on student achievement district wide and I am eager to focus on one school and provide guidance and support for our hard working employees and eager students. 


 “I have had many great principal role models over the years. I have watched them lead teams that have produced great results and wonderful atmospheres and I want to do the same for another set of children.”

Kooper replaces Nora Armenta who was promoted to the executive director post for LAUSD's Early Education Division. He began Friday at the more than 1,000 student campus on L Street, but has yet to meet scores of students as they won’t begin school again until Tuesday.

On his blog, Vladovic bid adieu to Kooper and said he was saddened by his departure.

“The end of my fourth year on the Board is also met with sadness, as my Chief-of -Staff David Kooper leaves my office to take over as principal at Gulf Avenue Elementary School in Wilmington,” Vladovic wrote. “He has helped the Board of Education develop innovative district policies and procedures as well as been a great friend of the schools and communities of Board District 7.

“Although I’m excited for David, I am sad to see him go for he was a truly wonderful asset for my Board District.”

Vladovic’s District 7 takes in schools in Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Wilmington,  San Pedro, Gardena, Carson, Lomita and a large chunk of southern Los Angeles.

Jacob Haik, who assisted Kooper, was named as Vladovic’s new chief-of-staff.

Known for always returning phone calls and attempting to do what’s right, Kooper most recently was able to work with San Pedro resident Robert Brandin to halt a long-termed LAUSD policy to toss out 22,00 federally-funded meals a day – due to fear of litigation.

Kooper asked LAUSD attorneys to review the laws and find ways that the district could spare  further, uneaten meals from being trashed. The good Samaritan Act, Kooper said, had changed enough to allow the district to hand over such meals to non-profits and other organizations  known for caring and feeding the homeless – without facing lawsuits if someone fell ill by eating the food.

 The new procedure  was triggered when Brandin asked Vladovic during a community forum why the second largest district in the nation wasted so much food and challenged Vladovic to change it. Kooper, with Vladovic’s blessing, pushed for the change.

Looking forward to meeting students on Tuesday, Kooper said his first day was spent getting the campus “and the paperwork ready for Tuesday’s opening.”

“I have a wonderful staff that has put together a good program for Tuesday,” he said adding that he has no interest currently in running for the school board in the future. “I want to do whatever job I do well and I don’t want to focus on what might be in the future. I am committed to giving Gulf Avenue Elementary School my full heart and all my energy.”

The school’s website says the school is often lovingly called “the old brick building”  because it was Wilmington’s first school house, only had four teachers and opened in 1920.

Today, it boasts more than 60 teachers and administrators and a more than 90 percent rate of Latino students.

While Kooper speaks only a bit of Spanish, he said, he understands it well and likely will learn more while tending to his new school. 

Harbor Area LAPD Senior Lead Officer Joe Buscaino flanked by police advisory board members,  Christopher Fukatake, 17, at left, Kavita Desai, right and Emmanuel Jimenez, 17, several at a recent teen conference.

LOS ANGELES POLICE EMBRACE ESTABLISHMENT OF TEENAGE POLICE BOARDS ACROSS THE CITY WHICH STARTED IN THE HARBOR AREA; YOUTH CRIME DROPPED AND STUDENTS INVOLVED SAY THE EXPERIENCE CHANGED THEIR LIVES FOR THE BETTER

“Doing the hard right instead of the easy wrong,” motto of the LAPD Teen CPAB.

By Diana L. Chapman

Six years ago, Los Angeles Senior Lead Police Officer Joe Buscaino landed squarely in the heart of two major San Pedro schools where problems abounded.

Fights took place outside Dana Middle and San Pedro High schools frequently. The students flooded the streets when both schools got out at the same time. Drugs were a constant and Buscaino felt somewhat overwhelmed. Then it hit him.

“We just weren’t connecting with teenagers in terms of problem solving,” Buscaino said, who lives in San Pedro with his wife, Geralyn, and two children. “What was a better way than to bring them to the table? It was ultimately the idea to give them access to the police department.

“Often we were just turning a deaf ear to what kids had to say.”

That’s when Buscaino pushed for and received permission to form  the Teen Community Police Advisory Board in the Harbor Area. The goal: to establish LAPD relations with teenagers, get them to know and trust police officers and to work with them toward the betterment of the community. The program has been so successful --with youth crime taking such a dip -- that the top brass soon noticed.

Now, Police Chief Charlie Beck ordered that all 21 LAPD areas host teen police advisory boards by the end of July.

“Through the vision and leadership of Joe Buscaino, the Teen CPAB has been very successful,” explained Patrick Gannon, a deputy chief. “Joe brought together a core group of teenagers who were dedicated at addressing serious community issues such as graffiti and bullying in our schools and neighborhood. The insight and the effort that these young people brought to these issues has been tremendous.

“Community policing is all about partnerships and problem solving. Increasing our partnerships with teenagers and then using them to solve problems of mutual concern is a valuable asset as we continue to try and improve public safety.”

Since it originated, youth crime slumped across the Harbor Area. Teen members encourage and help other students to stay away from drugs or other criminal activities. And  teen board members conduct public awareness messages – such as anti-bullying videos that will play in the fall at San Pedro High. The bottom line, Buscaino said, is an all out effort to build  associations between students and police. The young members also mentor students who are faced with troubles and don’t know where to go, said Kavita Desai, the current teen board’s co-president. The board has 38 members.

“We mentor students one on one,” said 17-year-old Kavita, whose friend, Andrew Andrade, also 17 is a member. “Being teenagers at school, we know who is under a bad influence. Students don’t want to go to adult. They can talk to us and it’s confidential. We basically try to stop them before they do something they regret.”

Since Buscaino’s brainstorm, the teen board has helped influence relationships between hundreds of students and officers for the better and statistics seem to prove that the program – made up of students from the Wilmington, San Pedro, Harbor Gateway and Harbor City – have possibly aided in a large dip in teen crime.

 For instance, five youth committed homicides in 2006 versus  none in 2010. In the same time frame, aggravated assaults dropped by nearly half, 97 to 45; robbery 105 to 65; grand theft auto dipped 19 to eight, according to LAPD statistics. Burglary, theft  and rape numbers stayed about the same, however.

The teen CPAB meets monthly at Boys and Girls Club sites to problem solve, work on issues that are becoming trendy, such as tagging, and to give teens “a voice.” It also heads yearly teen conferences in the spring where about 200 youth from all over Los Angeles gather to give them a voice to law enforcement.

While the program has built quite a bit of steam, in the beginning, Buscaino said students were wary and unsure if they even wanted to join.

“They were very hesitant and distrusting, and rightfully so,” the senior lead said. “What I gained was they never had an opportunity to establish a relationship with the police. They were timid and shy and it was hard to break that.”

But break it he did and the wall came crashing down between some officers and youth, some of whom nicknamed  Buscaino “Papa Joe” and said their lives changed for the better.

Gabe Maldanado, who joined as the executive secretary at the age of 16, touts the board left him with the sense that he could accomplish most anything and “puts a face” on police officers. Buscaino, he said, attacked the trouble “from the root” and was “clever” in that he handed over the reins to the students to let them lead the advisory board. He witnessed students involved in the program quit ditching classes and improved their grades. He applauds  LAPD’s decision to expand it across the city.

“Teen CPAB taught me to dream bigger every day,” said Maldanado, a 21-year-old graduate from UC Riverside who is now a marketing coordinator. “We went to Sacramento to speak to state legislators. We had teen conferences. It taught me I could do practically anything. I put myself through college. I just got back from Europe. It really changed the way we thought and we were inspired that we could do something for our community.”

Maldando also established a non-profit  TruEvolutions, dedicated to help develop youth in academic, artistic and entrepreneurial endeavors. All this, he said, came from his time with CPAB.

Another former board member, Isaiah Alexander, 21, who attends California State University, Sacramento said he’s ecstatic that the LAPD had the vision to expand on such success. Many students, he said, “feel like no one cares about them.” Those involved will change dramatically, as he did, for the better.

Alexander’s family had many gang ties in Long Beach. When he moved to San Pedro, it helped him cleanse away those ties, but serving on the board allowed him to grow and flourish and understand his capabilities.

“We have a lot of students who don’t like police,” Alexander said. “This (expansion) will define and change behaviors. There will be more trust and rapport and less stereotypes. It gave me a different image of police. I saw their human side.

“It gave me the chance to really work with officers and delegates. I had a chance to express myself and go to the capitol. We really took pride in what we did.”

Buscaino believes part of his success was that he was there to listen to the students and he gave them the freedom to run the board. For instance, he said, the teens decide on the topics to discuss at the meetings. Those involved tip Busacaino off to specific problems taking place in schools, which in turn, will be shared with school police and administrators. That can include anything from traffic and gang problems to narcotic issues.

Many issues involving after school problems at Dana and San Pedro were resolved with the use of the teen board along with help from the Safety Collaborative, a board of school officials, police and non-profits in charge of children’s welfare.

Although Buscaino is pleased with his work, he’s proudest of his youth’s work to pull together teen conferences each year which links hundreds of children with officers, including the top brass. The recent conference focused on bullying.

From that April conference teen Angelica Arreola wrote: “When someone asks me what did I learn from this day, I would say, it’s a day never to forget, a bunch of faces I will always remember. The different stories I heard really touched my heart because to know there are people out there going through what I went through makes me feel a bit less lonely. Bullying is one of the worst things to go through…

“Bullies, all they do is feed from our weakness and we should never give them that power. I also believe we are put in this world to make a difference. I want to make a difference in this world, and show kids out there that they are not alone.”

The Teen CPAB seems to have done just that.