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Interested in an early Mother's Day indulgence?
Coeur d'Alene Elementary, a public school in Venice, is raising money for its library, and has organized a Super Mamas May Getaway on Saturday at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey. About a third of the $100 price tag goes to the library.
The moms get lunch served poolside, mini spa treatments, a fashion show and a goody bag. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., but you can spend the afternoon at the pool. To RSVP, contact rachel.hastert@ritzcarlton.com.
-- Mary MacVean
Roy Romer dropped into town this week to promote his new endeavor: ED in '08, an effort to get education onto the agenda in the presidential campaign.
So far, it can't be declared a rip-roaring success. Romer, the former Colorado governor and L.A. Unified superintendent, admits that education hasn't exactly been a front-burner issue, although he says he's had good talks with all of the candidates. As an undeclared Democratic superdelegate, you'd think he might have a little leverage to apply to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But he concedes that the candidates have been more interested in other topics -- the economy, the war, the environment, those flag lapel pins...
Romer says he's already thinking past all that. In a chat at The Times, he said he's thinking about the pitch he'll make to the next president, whoever that is. Twenty-five years after the Reagan administration published the groundbreaking report "A Nation at Risk," he says, the nation is more at risk than ever from better educated foreign competitors in Asia and Europe. The countries with the best educational systems tend to differ from the United States in a few key ways, he says. They often have national standards for education, they select teachers from a pool of their best college graduates, and they have cultures that value and encourage education.
The U.S. public will never stand for a national curriculum, Romer says, but the next president should convene a meeting of all 50 governors and propose that they use international benchmarks as goals for their schools. In return, he says, the federal government should promise resources to help them reach those goals. Once Americans see how far their schools lag behind such countries as Finland, Singapore and Poland, they'll support a push to raise state standards.
He laid out five fundamentals of a better educational system:
1) Higher standards.
2) More rigorous curricula.
3) Diagnostic testing to keep students on course.
4) Better use of data in school management.
5) More intensive teacher training.
Romer noted that the federal government has transformed the nation's educational system before -- most notably in the 1860s, when it created land grant colleges, and after World War II, when it created the GI Bill. "We know how to do it," he said.
Continue reading Romer: Where's the education campaign? »
Can you hear the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance" yet? We're starting to hear about commencement plans at area colleges.
UCLA got a big name, in fact one of the biggest: Former President Bill Clinton is to speak at the commencement ceremony for the College of Letters and Science on June 13.
At USC, Walt Disney Co. President Robert Iger will deliver the commencement address May 16. Congressman John Campbell (R-Irvine), commentator Arianna Huffington and actress Geena Davis are among those scheduled to speak at the satellite ceremonies.
At Pomona College, graduates and their families will hear from Alex Gibney, a producer and director who won the 2008 Academy Award for best documentary for "Taxi to the Dark Side," the story of a taxi driver picked up by the U.S. military in Afghanistan. Gibney is the son of the late Frank Gibney, who founded the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona.
And Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be the commencement speaker at Occidental College on May 18.
-- Mary MacVean
Antero Garcia, an English teacher at Manual Arts High, writes:
As explained here, this is the first lesson in a series that will use graffiti as a device to develop critical thinking and writing skills in my class. Having returned from a nearly two-month break due to the year-round scheduling calendar, I've made today’s lesson about getting kids to think outside of the traditional classroom setting, and changing their expectations about what happens in our class.
By the way, the lessons presented throughout this project are aligned with the state English standards for 11th and 12th grade. These will be posted in the classroom along with daily objectives that students are meeting. I mention this because it's something most observers are looking for when visiting a classroom.
Anthropological Exploration
OK, class, today we are no longer simply high school students. Instead we will be part of an important historical investigation. The work is already underway. We’ll be leaving Room 162 shortly –- you can leave your bags. When you step outside of this classroom in just a second, you will be traveling 100 years into the future.
We will be anthropologists studying a research location originally called Manual Arts (or perhaps your neighborhood, students in the digital realm.) Your role as part of this research expedition is to document symbols, language, and images that this “primitive and ancient” society used to demarcate and code their landscape. Whenever you see a sign, writing on a wall, or a pertinent image, please record in your notebook what you saw, where you saw it and what you think it may have once meant. Remember, you are looking at this campus as if it is an ancient civilization – don’t take common signage for granted; how will it look to people unfamiliar with this culture?
If there aren’t any additional questions, we’ll proceed in teams through this anthropological site. As a historical exploration, please refrain from disturbing the native inhabitants or any objects you encounter. When you return, we’ll reflect on this exercise (assuming you safely return to the year 2008). Namely, please reflect on your experience as an anthropologist. How did it feel? What do you think you learned? What did you see? What did these signs and images tell you?
The Week Ahead
Though graffiti isn’t explicitly stated as something to record in student notebooks, part of our class discussion will be guided to have students identify purposes on writing on walls. Later on this week, students will be charged with similarly documenting the kinds of writing and signage they see as they travel from home to school. We will document what students report on a specially created Google Map I’ll be sharing with you soon.
In the meantime, any adventurous students out there are invited to write down anything noteworthy they see throughout their anthropological journey. Again, we’re not looking solely at graffiti. Look through the eyes of an anthropologist and be metacognitive about your experience throughout this process: What were you thinking as you did this activity? I’ll be sharing my experience testing this lesson in the classroom later in the week.
Photo by Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times
Some headlines about schools in the region and farther afield:
District enrollment could drop (Palos Verdes Peninsula News)
Some job-training classes to disappear (Ventura County Star)
Day of Silence creates flap at Hoover High (Los Angeles Daily News)
Officials look to fill principal vacancies (Burbank Leader)
Too much testing? (Contra Costa Times)
 A charter school in El Sereno took a small step this week toward putting its feud with talk radio behind it. Academia Semillas del Pueblo became perhaps the first Los Angeles campus to establish sister-school relationships in China, a conscious effort to bring a less divisive issue to the fore.
In the picture at left, Zhang Yun, China’s consul general in Los Angeles, receives a gift bag from student dancers wearing Aztec headdresses at Academia Semillas.
Academia Semillas is best known for being accused of preaching “anti-American” values, of allegedly celebrating indigenous cultures as superior to that which conquered them. It made for great talk radio fodder.
The Semillas founders have denied any improprieties in their curriculum, which, they say, is fundamentally based on California’s academic standards.
Now Semillas, a kindergarten-through-eighth grade school with 310 students, is reaching out to a larger audience, both here and abroad, with its sister-school agreements with the Guanqumen Middle and the Gexinli Elementary schools in China.
Continue reading El Sereno charter school teams up with Chinese campuses »
The Cheer Squad from Bassett High School in La Puente won the national championship in its division over the weekend at the American Showcase competition at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Squad advisor Rosemarie Guerrero says the 15-member squad -- which includes freshmen through seniors -- won first place in the high school "non-tumbling" division of the American championships, defeating Mariana High School of Tucson. Their coach was Ailene Gonzales, a 2004 graduate of Bassett.
In the photo above are, from left: (front row) Zoe Valenzuela, Beatriz Munoz, Rocio Arellano, Alexandra Almaguer; (center row) Yessenia Hernandez, Andrea Armenta, Vicky Carlos, Jessica Ruiz, Melanie Caceres; (back row) Crystal Gillies, Beatriz Duran, Daisy Jimenez, Myra Ramirez, Jessica Martinez and Noemi Caraveo.
-- Mary MacVean
Photo courtesy of Rosemarie Guerrero
The College Board is dropping four Advanced Placement subjects after the 2008-09 school year: Latin literature, French literature, Italian and one computer science course. Read about the decision here.
And here are some other recent education headlines from Southern California:
Only one Orange County city opts for 15-mph zone near schools (Orange County Register)
Ventura school traffic is a dangerous mess (Ventura County Star)
District enrollment could drop (Palos Verdes Peninsula News)
Some job-training classes to disappear (Ventura County Star)
Day of Silence creates flap at Hoover High (Los Angeles Daily News)
Officials look to fill principal vacancies (Burbank Leader)
-- Shelby Grad
We've gotten a lot of e-mail -- some of it scorching, some not -- in response to Saturday's story about a survey of about 6,000 students in South L.A. high schools. The survey found that many students felt unsafe in school and wanted more college-prep courses. More controversial, researchers concluded that a majority of students answering the survey appeared to be showing symptoms of clinical depression.
Many readers welcomed the article and found the survey to be on the money. "Finally a sympathetic voice in the wilderness! Thank you for your timely and well researched piece," wrote one correspondent. "You are bringing a great sense of relief in writing that the lack of safety in some of L.A 's poorest schools is leading to clear signs of clinical depression among students." Another person, who is either very discriminating or doesn't read the paper very often, found the story to be "the best article, thus far, this year in The Times! "
Some people saw it a bit differently. "Hey moron; the answer is school vouchers," wrote one faithful correspondent who flunked the class on semi-colons. Another found the reporting to be "so inadequate and one-sided that it left me clinically depressed." Some resorted to insulting the students who spoke out.
Somewhat more substantively, one reader wrote: "Did any of these respondents stop to think that their schools resemble prisons because they must somehow contain the potential for violence of the 'students' in them? ... This 'survey' was nothing but an attempt to tilt the funding formula even further in favor of the dismal schools, and away from the few and dwindling number of public schools which do graduate a significant number of students who can actually read and write. You better hope Sam Zell doesn’t see this article, or his bloody budget ax will come down on you."
(Note to Sam: Hey, this could be a new Halloween movie franchise -- you and your ax. Just a thought.)
Another reader, Ken Ankenbrandt of Lancaster wrote: "This survey seems to me to simply prove that you can make up a survey to get whatever results you want if you simply cherry-pick the respondents. It also seems to me that having only 1/3 of even these respondents report that they do not feel safe in school, and only 22% reporting that their high school is not preparing them for college and/or a high-paying job, is cause for celebration rather than the apparent hand-wringing of this article."
But the prize for the most comprehensive response goes to Leonard Isenberg, a continuation school teacher at L.A. Unified's Central High School/Tri C, who sent a long e-mail along with a long set of 10 recommendations to solve the problems suggested by the survey. Click on "Read more" below to see what he had to say.
-- Mitchell Landsberg
Continue reading About that South L.A. high school survey... »
As a colleague pointed out, one of the reasons algebra inspires such angst is that for many parents, it's the first time they really can't help their kids with homework. Here are some more stories about algebra.
Hold the marbles: Abstract approach best for math (Reuters)
More math to be added on (Highline Times, Burien, Wash.)
A pro who cares about students (Washington Post)
-- Mary MacVean
Antero Garcia, an English teacher at Manual Arts High, writes: As I continue to receive criticism and skepticism over teaching about graffiti in my class, I thought I would try something a bit different to provide some insight into the kinds of activities that take place in my class. I am pulling back the curtain, lifting the veil, and giving you an all-access hall pass to become a participant in Mr. Garcia’s Graffiti 101.
No, I won’t be collecting homework and I won’t be making calls home. However, I am inviting you to follow along with my class. At the beginning of each week, I’ll post a key activity that my 11th graders will do in class. I’ll include some of the major questions students will be asked, their reading assignments, the lesson’s learning objectives, as well as any other resources you may be inclined to investigate. You’re encouraged to partake in this digital class, offer insights or questions, and engage in the kinds of critical dialogue that are so crucial for learning.
That being said, I need to make it clear that I am not endorsing any kind of illegal activity. To the many who have pointed it out, I am fully aware that some graffiti is illegal. I am also aware that it is something that some of my students place a lot of value on. I’m hoping that, as a community of students (and online as adults) we can use graffiti as a means of mastering the expected skills within a high school English class.
Pre-Teaching Activity
My students return from vacation next week and our official assignment will be made available at that time. However, for all of you anxious overachievers, let’s begin with a standard teaching activity. You’ll need a piece of paper and a pencil -- I’ll wait until you’re ready. Now, what we’re going to create is a KWL chart: create three page-length columns on your paper labeled: Know, Wants to Know, and Learned.
In the left, “Know,” column write down all the facts you know about graffiti. In the middle column write down any concepts you want to learn about graffiti and any questions you have. At the end of May, you’ll revisit this chart and write down what you learned or any remaining questions you have. Looking over past comments about this project, I think there is a lot of frustration and anger toward graffiti –- particularly gang graffiti.
However, this is an opportunity to think more open-mindedly about graffiti –- what do you really know about it? (Hint: Not all graffiti is made by gangs.) Where are the gaps in your cultural knowledge?
Continue reading Welcome to Graffiti 101 »
Inspired to hear some young poets read their work after reading samples here? It's still National Poetry Month, after all.
Tonight's poetry reading, by fourth- and seventh-grade students from the 32nd Street School, is open to the public. It's at 6 tonight in the Seeley G. Mudd Building, Room 123.
The poets worked with students from USC, under the direction of award-winning writers Cecilia Woloch and Aimee Bender.
-- Mary MacVean
 We'd love to see your dresses, your dates, your hairdos. Prom season is upon us, and The Homeroom would like to publish your prom photos. Please send them here.
Here's a picture from our album.
-- Mary MacVean
Helping your children prepare for college, or making the transition from elementary to middle school, are among the topics on the schedule at the 13th School Readiness Conference on Saturday in Carson. Other topics include healthcare and child care and running a home-based business.
The conference, organized by the South Bay Center for Counseling, is free and open to the public. Participants include the United Way, the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services and author Johnathan Mooney.
The conference runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Carson Community Center, 801 E. Carson St., Carson.
Some headlines about schools in the region and farther afield:
My Advice to Ray Cortines (Sherman Oaks Sun)
Tamar Galatzan, a member of the L.A. Unified school board, has some advice for the recently hired deputy superintendent, Ray Cortines. Among her recommendations: "Find a way to develop a more equitable distribution of funds and resources to schools in 'well-to-do neighborhoods.' ... If the district continues to engage in a half-hearted attempt to meet the needs of these schools, or dismisses them altogether, more and more disgruntled parents will simply choose private schools or charters.
And these:
Most pass high school exit exam, but English learners struggle (Torrance Daily Breeze)
Pasadena Unified to lead annual volunteering effort at area schools (Pasadena Now)
Peanut butter and deadly taunts (ABC News)
-- Mary MacVean
South Pasadena High School senior Nick Giulioni writes:
Marty and I sat in the dining hall with 175 other prospective Trojans, attentively listening to a speech by a faculty member who was head of admissions. He asked us how many of us played high school sports, were in leadership classes, and then if we played in the band.
At that very moment, “Fight On!” began blaring down the hall as the Trojan Marching Band (the greatest marching band in the history of the universe) entered the room with absolute precision. While I had already committed to the school, it was at that moment that Marty was convinced and that he joined the Trojan Family.
Explore USC was a program open to all admitted students considering attending the university. It started off with a tour led by current students who were energetic, personable and clearly enamored with the campus.
Continue reading Exploring, discovering my Trojan future »
Education news from around Southern California: Teens can expect harder time finding summer job (Press-Enterprise)
School meal prices may rise (Long Beach Press-Telegram)
Supporters lobby for Palos Verdes schools (Palos Verdes Peninsula News)
Valuable reminder as prom nears (Pasadena Star News)
Foundation vows to help fund fields (Burbank Leader)
For many high school students, algebra is the biggest obstacle to graduation. Here are some thoughts from around the country:
School administrators eye graduation requirements (The Grand Rapids, Mich., Press)
Virtual Schools a boon to Delaware students (News Journal, Wilmington, Del.)
Editorial: by the numbers (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Brave new math world (Washington Times, Washington, D.C.)
Can't figure out your kid's homework? You're not alone (Greenville, S.C., News)
-- Mary MacVean
A poetry reading at USC on Friday evening will highlight the work of some young writers who had the chance to work with award-winning writers Cecilia Woloch and Aimee Bender and eight of their students.
More than 100 children from the 32nd Street School, an LA. Unified magnet school, are expected, along with their families and friends.
Here's one of the poems:
Iraq
By Gabrielle Jenkins
4th grade, 32nd Street School
So much depends on Iraq.
So powerful and so scary
You never know if you'll make it back home to your family.
Many soldiers are dying
Why does the world have to be so violent
Why can't we just be all sweet, like candy.
I think it's humans' fault
Actually, it is.
Because people are given a lot of chances to change
And for the people that don't,
You're killing people who are loved by loved ones.
Make a change in the world.
Rest In Peace, Papa.
It's really nice that you wanted to devote your heart to our country.
You're a hero.
He gave his life for us.
The family misses you, Papa
Woloch was the Los Angeles project director for California Poets in the Schools and has conducted writing workshops in prisons, hospitals, museums, shelters for homeless women, as well as in dozens of classrooms around the United States. Bender will lead the course in the fall semester, focusing on fiction.
And here's one more poem:
The Fall
By Naomi Oregel
4th grade, 32nd Street School
The fall comes on flamingo-colored leaves, calling the fog to arise again, leaping into the dark, cloudy night, swinging around the furious fire, the last time again tonight.
The fall, dancing, wills leaves,
turning the flowers into trees.
The river running fast
like the nature in the past.
Enter the willow tree, dancing in the meadow, singing with Ara Lee, the robin bird, the smallest shadow ever heard.
The program is part of Writer in the Community, which is funded and administered by the USC Center for Excellence in Teaching and the USC Joint Educational Project.
-- Mary MacVean
Gaby Canjura, a student in the humanities magnet at Hamilton High, writes:
When my math teacher passed out general district answer documents, saying the math coach told her LAUSD now required the Algebra 2 classes to take the district assessment, my class was decidedly unhappy.
When she then told us to get started without passing out the actual tests, we were bewildered. No one was really sure just where she was going with this. Despite the fact that we are studying probability in all its glorious forms, I almost immediately brushed aside the notion that we were simply participating in an experimental probability scenario. Because our teacher had given us the assessment code and had us fill in our student ID number, it seemed like we really did have to take a district assessment. Because it seemed so authentic, my friend and I were left with only one possible answer: Our math teacher was "sticking it to the Man."
The idea that my math teacher was giving a theoretical finger to LAUSD testing and state standards was, for some strange reason, thrilling. The idea that she was partaking in a rebellion I saw as only for teenagers gave me a strange sense of pride.
It was only after she revealed to us that the test we had taken was an illustration of a probability project we were doing that I understood why this was. Because I believed my math teacher to be breaking the rules, she was automatically bound to us in a way most teachers are not. In that moment, she shared in the rebellion that all teenagers take upon themselves. She was one of us.
When it turned out that this was all an experiment in probability and not at all the insurrection I was expecting, I was a little disappointed. She was not a teenage rebel, and rightly so. In the days that followed, I came to see the occurrence as just another experiment in probability -- my math teacher had shown us who she was and who she could be, and there was 0.5 probability that she could be either one of those things.
When teachers at the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex School of Justice ask for participation in classes today, they will be met with silence from more than 900 students, more than half the school. The din that generally acts as background to high school life will be stilled, as the school marks a Day of Silence, an effort to bring attention to and stop bullying of gay and lesbian students at schools. Events will occur around the country today and Friday.
A student at left applauds a speaker talking about the protest at a school ceremony Thursday. The button honors Lawrence King, 15, who friends say had endured anti-gay taunts and slurs long before he was fatally shot and killed at his Oxnard school in February, allegedly by a 14-year-old classmate.
At the end of the ceremony, about 50 students from the school's Gay Straight Alliance placed black carnations on a coffin to symbolize the "death of homophobia."
Today, the participants plan to break their silence with an assembly. On Friday, students will see a preview of "Tru Loved." Cast members Jasmine Guy, Bruce Vilanch, Nichelle Nichols and Elaine Hendrix were among the speakers at Miguel Contreras on Thursday. Also there were officials from several organizations, including the Day of Silence sponsor, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
L.A. Unified School Board President Monica Garcia said she was inspired by the students and their efforts toward "a more just and humane world." The biggest cheers went to Lydia Castillo, a student at the school who organized today's protest.
-- Mary MacVean
Photos: Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times
On Tuesday, The Homeroom published a winning essay by Janine Perez, a student at Ruben Salazar Continuation High School in Pico Rivera. The Times had sponsored a contest at the school to mark the release of a U.S. postage stamp in honor of reporter and columnist Ruben Salazar.
We incorrectly reported that Janine will receive a $100 scholarship. The scholarship is for $500.
Seventeen charter schools -- only four of them in Southern California -- were honored for their performance today by the California Charter Schools Assn. The schools were added to a list, now up to 73, of "certified charter schools," singled out for their adherence to high academic, fiscal, ethical and governance standards. Gary Larson, a spokesman for the association, said the certification process is similar to that which most California schools undergo when they are accredited by the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges, but "a little more rigorous."
Caprice Young, president and chief executive of the association, said the schools "are paving the way for continued success and accountability in California’s charter school movement.”
The four SoCal schools were Environmental Charter High School in Lawndale, NEW Academy Canoga Park, Palisades Charter High School in Pacific Palisades and Temecula Preparatory School in Winchester.
Why so few in the south? Larson said it could be a fluke, and noted that Los Angeles and San Diego counties dominate the overall list of certified charters with 15 and eight schools, respectively. The school district with the most certified charters overall is Los Angeles Unified, with an even dozen.
The full list of 73 charters is here. More information about the certification program is here. For the list of the 17 newly certified charters, click below.
-- Mitchell Landsberg
Continue reading Four more Southern California charter schools are certified »
California's English learners are learning more English, the state says in a report out today.
In the 2007-08 school year, nearly 36% of the state’s English learners showed "advanced" or "early advanced" skills on the California English Language Development Test. That's 4% more than in the prior year. (Earlier comparisons are unavailable because the scoring scale was changed last year).
Additionally, the number of test-takers grew 2% to nearly 1.4 million students.
LA. Unified students mirrored the state, with 35% showing "advanced" or "early advanced" skills, a 2% gain over last year. Students in some other large urban districts in Southern California showed improvements but lagged behind their peers statewide. In Long Beach, 28% scored in the top two categories, and 31% in Santa Ana.
Students who score in the "advanced" or "early advanced" categories and meet other goals can be reclassified as fluent English speakers, and that gives them greater access to higher level and college-prep courses.
There's more work to do, however, says the state education superintendent, Jack O'Connell: "If our state is to maintain a competitive edge in the global economy, we must all work together to close the achievement gap."
-- Seema Mehta
Lauren McCabe, a teacher at Environmental Charter High School in Lawndale, writes:
Environmental Charter High School celebrated Earth Day last Friday. This annual event gives our students the chance to teach and become leaders in the movement to save our Earth. More than 700 elementary students visited our campus that day, visiting booths that displayed projects that our high schoolers had been working on for weeks. For my seniors, this event is one of the capstones to their last year in high school. They were in charge of leading small groups of children around to the booths, making presentations and sharing their own expertise in the environment.
Projects elsewhere for Earth Day 2007 included a project in Rio de Los Angeles State Park, where this art-covered bench is located.
While the celebration at Environmental Charter could have quickly turned into a chaotic, migraine-inducing nightmare, the entire process went smoothly and gave our students the chance to step up and shine as stewards in their own community (thanks to the intensive planning and preparation of some of my amazing team members)!
Once all of our ECHS students were in place, I had the pleasure of watching the magic unfold. As the elementary students arrived, my seniors greeted them, checked them in, and one by one took a small group of energized little ones through our campus. I was amazed at how well some of my most introverted students engaged and interacted with their group. Without any directions to do so, the seniors had their groups singing chants, playing get-to-know-you games, and even lining up in a straight line. (Any elementary teacher can tell you how difficult that is!)
This was one of those days where I wanted to run up to every adult visitor on campus and point and say “Yeah, that’s one of mine.” I was so proud, but it wouldn’t be right to take the credit for the thoughtful young men and women these people have become. It has been through their families, previous teachers, friends and, of course, their own initiative, that these students are now capable of giving back the knowledge and kindness that they have received.
What would the world be like without ECHS and its students? Pretty boring if you ask me … and probably a lot less green!
Photo courtesy of Earth Day Network
In our final list of recommendations from the booksellers at Children's Book World, we offer these books of poetry for the whole family. Happy National Poetry Month.
Anthologies for the Family Library
Here’s a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry, edited by Jane Yolen. For the very young -- the best introduction to poetry around! Polly Dunbar provides perfect art.
Talking Like the Rain: A Read to Me Book of Poems, edited by X.J. Kennedy and Dorothy M. Kennedy. As all the best collections do, this maintains high child appeal without sacrificing the grace and dignity of poetry. With Jane Dyer’s lovely watercolors.
A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children, edited by Caroline Kennedy. Jon J Muth’s spectacular watercolors illuminate this excellent, intelligent collection.
A Child’s Anthology of Poetry, edited by Elizabeth Hauge Sword. Don’t be misled by the “child” in the title -- this collection is as comprehensive and diverse as can be found.
Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein. One of the most loved poetry books of all time, inspiring reluctant readers for more than a generation.
-- Mary MacVean
It's fitting that we've got these photos of L.A. County Science Fair winners on Earth Day. Perhaps these young people will solve some of the problems we're all certain to face.
 Brian Vallelunga, a seventh-grader at Dana Middle School in Hawthorne, won the entire junior division with his project "Levitation." He's pictured here with a proud uncle.
 Elizabeth Brajevich, was the first-place winner in the animal biology category of the junior division for her project called "Acting Fishy," about frog and trout growth patterns. She is an eighth-grader at Miraleste Intermediate School in Rancho Palos Verdes.
Continue reading L.A. County Science Fair winners »
Gompers Middle School teacher Lance Chapman writes:
I need to preface what I'm about to write with the following: The last month at Gompers has been crazy, but in a good way! My eighth-graders are making amazing progress, but can still be a handful! They are averaging between proficient and basic on periodic assessments, and I am so excited to see how they perform on the California Standards Test in three weeks! This is the "final exam" and I want them to experience that feeling of accomplishment after a year of hard work.
But I am obliged to describe what happened recently near my school because it presents the harsh reality that my students face on a daily basis. I in no way intend to generalize for all inner-city schools. Lately, there has been an enormous amount of racial tension at my school. I say lately because it really didn't make itself explicitly known until last week.
As I was leaving school today, I saw one of my students walking home. Since he was alone, I decided to pull up along the curb and wish him a relaxing weekend. The very moment I parked, a group of six eighth-graders attacked him from behind and started beating him. When I say beat, I'm not just talking punches ... rather kicking, punching, elbowing, all at once.
Of course, I immediately called security, but I realized that would not serve as immediate assistance. I was watching my student (within 10 feet of me) getting beaten, and for the first time in my life, I had absolutely no clue what to do. I felt horrible, but I've always been told never to split up fights physically, especially off campus (like this one). When they started kicking his head and bashing it against the sidewalk, I could watch no longer. If the other students had been my own, my presence would have been effective, but the fact that they knew I didn't know them fueled their fire to continue.
Continue reading Teacher breaks up a fight, gets a harsh wake-up call »
To mark the release of a U.S. postage stamp in honor of reporter and columnist Ruben Salazar, The Times sponsored an essay-writing contest at Ruben Salazar Continuation High School in Pico Rivera. The students were asked to assess Salazar’s legacy and lasting influence. The winner, senior Janine Perez, 17, is pictured below. She will receive a $500 scholarship and her school will get $1,000. *(An earlier version of this post said Janine would receive a $100 scholarship. Her scholarship is for $500.)
This is her essay:
Being of Mexican American decent has never been much more than two ethnic terms clumped together to define me on paper for surveys and job or school applications.
I am not trying to oversimplify my heritage but rather demonstrate how I have taken it for granted. I had never really paid much attention to the leaders within my culture and community who have paved the way of justice and equal treatment in school.
Without much thought, my peers and I enjoy the rewards afforded to us by Ruben Salazar. Ruben Salazar was a man with a vision and hope for civil justice among all people, especially among his culture in mainstream society. He fought for the unjust treatment of Mexicans and desegregation in schools, parks and public institutions. His untimely death in 1970 has not overshadowed his legacy. He was a big part of the Chicano Movement, a social movement to provide equal treatment for Mexicans in Los Angeles during the 1960s.
His participation created controversy and attention by his opposition, which some researchers may argue could have led to his untimely death by a police officer, who had shot him in the head, during a march in 1970. His strong commitment to ensuring civil equality not only for his “people” but also for others who had been discriminated against, stereotyped, segregated, and civilly mistreated has echoed over time, more importantly, provided a small dominant Mexican American community, Pico Rivera, an alternative school for struggling students like myself.
After learning more about Ruben Salazar I have a better appreciation for my school and for the commitment to making positive changes for his culture and the multicultural communities surrounding me. Prior to attending Salazar High School, I had attended two other high schools just doing the bare minimum to get by. Further, I was seriously unmotivated, lacked interest in my education, and felt disconnected to my teachers and the learning material.
All I knew was that I needed to pass the high school exit exam or not graduate. That was a new kind of pressure I had not experienced, which made me almost consider dropping out of school. However, my last stop in El Rancho Unified School District was a small school named Ruben Salazar Continuation High School. Honestly, most of my “party friends” had attended Salazar High School. So, I associated the school with everything else but acquiring a meaningful education.
However, when I realized that my initial perception of Salazar was not accurate, I knew the possibility of graduating was real if I applied myself at Salazar High. Interestingly, the teachers at Salazar were there supporting me and the rest of the students, which I had not anticipated.
Continue reading * High school senior writes winning Ruben Salazar essay »
The booksellers at Children's Book World in Los Angeles have some poetry recommendations for high school students, too, for National Poetry Month.
Grades 9-12
This Same Sky:A Collection of Poems from Around the World, edited by Naomi Shihab Nye. A tribute to our shared humanity. Poets from 68 countries contribute verse of rare authenticity and sincerity.
Revenge and Forgiveness, edited by Patrice Vecchione. Explorations both classic and contemporary of anger and grief.
Side By Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World, edited by Jan Greenberg. Verses given in the original language as well as the English translation.
What Have You Lost?, edited by Naomi Shihab Nye. Contemporary poems on loss of all kinds.
-- Mary MacVean
An article in Sunday's edition of The Times about public school parents across California being asked to donate hundreds of dollars to save teachers' jobs and keep class sizes manageable inspired scores of reader comments.
 At left, students raise money for their Rolling Hills Estates high school at a car wash.
Many readers worried that too much is being spent on school district administrators and too little in classrooms. Others called for audits of districts' spending plans and lottery revenue, or questioned whether illegal immigration was the source of the state's budget crunch. Some even called for revisiting a sacred cow in California politics -- Proposition 13, the 1978 voter-approved initiative that limited property tax increases and dramatically reduced school finances. Click here to read more.
-- Seema Mehta
Photo by Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times
Students who imagine a “green” future improved by technology are competing on Earth Day -- Tuesday -- in the U.S. finals for Microsoft’s Imagine Cup.
This year’s challenge is to "imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment." The categories include software design, video game development, and challenges involving algorithms and programming. There also are digital arts categories such as filmmaking and photography.
A team from Cal State Long Beach calling itself the Grid Lock Guys has developed a Facebook application that allows users to enter their schedules and matches up carpools. One of the team members, Mike Dowd, says: "You can manage the carpool, and it will send the driver directions on picking everyone up."
Dowd, a junior computer engineering major, feels good about the competition. He told us: "I think we have a really good chance; there's some other really good projects here, but I'm really confident."
Winners in nine categories go to Paris in August for the world finals. Last year more than 100,000 students from 100 countries took part, the organizers said.
* Talk show host Tavis Smiley will be the event emcee, and Microsoft will announce a $1.56-million cash and software grant to the Magic Johnson Foundation, for its Community Empowerment Centers. (Earlier this morning we reported that Earvin “Magic” Johnson would be the event emcee, but a spokeswoman for the event has since told us that he won't make it after all. The spokeswoman, Erin Lopez, says Smiley will do the honors.)
-- Mary MacVean
We continue with our recognition of National Poetry Month -- actually it's just an excuse to suggest some good reading. These, for middle school students, come from the booksellers at the Los Angeles shop Children's Book World, like those we suggested earlier.
Grades 6-8
Messengers of the Rain: And Other Poems From Latin America, edited by Claudia M. Lee. This eclectic anthology includes such famous names as Octavio Paz, pictured below, as well as indigenous folk voices.
All the Small Poems and Fourteen More, by Valerie Worth. The spirit if not the form of haiku: intent observation distilled into an exquisite spareness of verse.
Spinning Through the Universe: A Novel in Poems from Room 214, by Helen Frost. Introducing more than 20 poetic forms, each character’s voice in this narrative is expressed in a different poetic style.
The Way a Door Closes, by Hope Anita Smith. A novel told in verse: facing change in an African American family.
-- Mary MacVean
Photo by Associated Press
Nick Giulioni writes:
I used to be one of the kids who walked to school, reading a novel (often tripping or stumbling along the way) because I simply could not separate myself from the story. If I was in the middle of a good book, I would stay home on weekends to continue the adventure. I would stay up late, after my parents had told me to go to bed, to turn just a few more pages. But this love, ambition and obsession with books has been stolen by my schooling.
For years, school has forced me to analyze, highlight, dissect, and annotate stories. I have placed meaning into the minds of authors where they intended none, have made pages bleed yellow ink, and have thrown books across the room. But my school has taken what made reading fun for me, spilled moldy cafeteria food on it, kicked it down the stadium stairs, and ran it over with a school bus.
But I rediscovered this love during my extended spring break, time I filled by reading a couple of trashy novels. I didn’t analyze past my own desire to understand the authors’ meaning. I didn’t highlight. I didn’t annotate. I simply read for pleasure. Like reuniting with a friend that I had not seen in a long while, I spent hours upon hours catching up.
Continue reading A busy student discovers an old friend »
More than 100 parents and teachers turned out at last night's meeting at Venice High to discuss fallout from an on-campus shooting last fall. Many left disappointed, because privacy rules prevented officials from sharing much detailed information about the case or the teenagers accused in the November shooting.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Brian Schirn told the crowd that two youths were sentenced to juvenile detention camp terms, stifling rumors that no one had been prosecuted. But two others could not be charged because they could not be conclusively identified. "You need witnesses and you need evidence, and here there just wasn't enough," he said.
I write more about the clash between privacy an | |
