Schools
LMHS Basketball Girls Walk Out on Head Coach
SPORTS
021114 17:20 UPDATE-Girls Basketball coach Darryl Gowens has been fired by La Mirada High principal Bill Seals.
Gowens told the La Mirada Blog that after a positive morning meeting at the school he was then pulled aside by principal Seals around 4:45 p.m., moments before boarding the bus to traveling to John Glenn for a scheduled game.
La Mirada~Most of the La Mirada Girls Varsity basketball team walked out of practice this past Thursday due to an apparent dispute with head coach Darryl Gowens, resulting in a forfeiture of Friday night's scheduled contest against Cerritos High.
The issue seems to stem from some of the girls and their parents claiming the first year coach has been over-aggressive in his style.
Gowens says he has encouraged the girls all season and has Facebook posts to prove it and added, "At the end of the day it's about maturity, it's about growing up and it's about accountability".
Two of the girls parents from the programs booster club wished to remain nameless, but they did talk to us and disagreed with Gowens assessment saying he has "mentally abused" the girls with words and other actions.
It is unclear at this time how this will affect the Matadores last two games of the season tomorrow at John Glenn and the final game of the season at home against Norwalk on Thursday, which is also senior night.
Dulles Elementary K-Kids Host First Campaign & Philanthropy Conference; Elect New Officers
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| The spirit of giving and learning how to campaign for office were combined at the 1st Annual Campaign & Philanthropy Conference at Dulles Elementary School in La Mirada. The students are flanked by, l to r, Dulles K-Kids Advisor Stephanie De La Torre, L.A. County Supervisor Candidate April Saucedo, Dulles Principal Robin Padget and Olive Branch Calvary Chapel Pastor Dicky Velasquez. |
See the print version in this weekend's La Mirada Lamplighter Newspaper!
La Mirada~A group of fourth and fifth graders at Dulles Elementary in La Mirada recently hosted and participated in the school’s first annual Campaign & Philanthropy Conference.
The conference was a prelude to the recently completed election of officers for the on-campus Kiwanis K-Kids Club.
About 25 students are active in the on-campus service club which is organized by the Dulles K-Kids advisor and parent, Stephanie De La Torre.
The K-Kids is a branch of Kiwanis International that in coordination with local Kiwanis clubs takes on the responsibility of participating in community service projects at the elementary school level.
De La Torre put together the conference which was attended by Dulles principal Robin Padget and featured two special community role model guest speakers, each invited to talk about the different aspects of the conference.
The conference focused on the importance of community service and giving to others and De La Torre explained the event is also designed to give the students some of the tools they need to campaign for office, including public speaking techniques, creating a campaign platform, judging your peers and creating personal confidence.
De La Torre said the conference was modeled after many she has attended and the idea is to get kids to be independent thinkers through a conference experience, “A lot of times if you’re just leading, they’re just doing what you tell them to do. I want them to be critical thinkers and make decisions on their own.”
La Mirada High School Band and Color Guard Fundraiser
La Mirada~You can support the La Mirada High School Band and Color Guard by eating dinner at Cabo Taco Baja Grill Wednesday, November 13th from 4:00-9:00 p.m.
Simply tell your server you are supporting La Mirada High School and 20 percent of your purchase will go back to the program.
Cabo Taco is located at 15924 Rosecrans Avenue in La Mirada, next to the Movie 7.
High School Juniors and Seniors Should Begin College Application Process Now
The 2013-2014 school year is just around the corner for La Mirada High School, and as incoming seniors and juniors, many students will begin to prepare for the challenging college application process that dominates much of their first semester.
Summer is at its end; August is the month of procrastination. Incoming seniors will have heard a great deal about college applications and personal statements, but very few will have even taken the opportunity to even glance at them. It is a daunting task, one that is not easily juggled between other responsibilities such as schoolwork, extracurricular activities, sports, and even work. However, the importance is self-evident.
As August winds down, students should have a general understanding of which colleges and universities they will be applying to, as applications do cost money to submit. Glancing over the applications you will find that, with the exception of the personal statements and any supplemental questions, they are relatively easy to fill out.
Applications for each college and university are available online and submitted electronically: California Community Colleges (cccapply.org), California State Colleges (csumentor.edu), University of California colleges (universityofcalifornia.edu/apply), and the Common Application which is used by most private colleges and universities nationwide (commonapp.org).
Of these, only University of California, or UC, campuses and most private colleges require personal statements. Privates will usually also have supplemental questions that can range from short answers to 500-word essays. This is why it is imperative for students to become familiar now with the applications they intend to fill out and submit.
La Mirada Students Place in Top 100 in World’s Largest Student Rocket Contest
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La Mirada High School Rocketry Club: Front Row: Akash Soma, Justin Gocho, Kevin Lim, Emily De Boer; Back Row: Hassaan Shakeel, Ryan Haro, Evan Klansek, Ricardo Jauregui, Zack Hart, James Gallardo, Fernando Tapia |
After months of preparation, La Mirada High School students compete for national title in AIA’s Team America Rocketry Challenge.
The Plains, VA~Eleven students from La Mirada bested more than 625 teams nationally recently to be picked to be one of the 100 hundred schools nationwide to compete in the 2013 Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC).
The top 100 finishers advanced to the National Finals recently held on Saturday, May 11 at Great Meadow in The Plains, Va.
La Mirada High’s team received a qualifying score that placed them well within the top 100 teams nationwide, and in the finals, they finished 73rd out of the 100 schools.
They were competing for the national title, $60,000 worth of scholarships and prizes and a chance to participate in NASA’s Student Launch Initiative.
TARC is the world’s largest student rocket contest that aims to inspire students to pursue education and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
For months, these amateur rocketeers worked to design, build and perfect model rockets that can safely carry one raw egg up to an exact altitude of 750 feet up in the air and return to the ground within 48-50 seconds – a mere two-second window before incurring penalties.
All seniors represented La Mirada High in this year’s contest: Kurush Dubash, Hassaan Shakeel, Emily De Boer, Justin Gocho, Evan Klansek, Fernando Tapia, Ryan Haro, Zach Hart, Kevin Lim, Ricardo Jauregui, and Akash Soma.
School Board May Decide to Close Dulles
District Staff Recommends Closure of School
Norwalk~The Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Board members are meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. and will vote on whether or not to keep Dulles Elementary School in La Mirada open.
At the January 7th meeting, district staff reported that Dulles is currently operating at 50 percent capacity (237 students). The school has nine teachers and three of the nine have combination classes (two grades, one class).
Five Dulles parents spoke at the meeting in support of keeping the school open.
The district is expected to save at least $366,000 annually if the school is closed.
The school district is looking to cut costs as the combination of recent budget deficits and declining enrollment are expected to deplete reserve monies in a few years.
Four years ago, the district closed Hargitt and Huerta schools in Norwalk
UPDATE: 01/22/13 8:13p~The Board of Education voted unanimously to keep Dulles open after the district's finance department miraculously provided information at the meeting from the Governors office, they say they received last Wednesday, in which new projections indicate more money to be available. In other words, an hour and a half of my life I will never get back.
School Board May Decide to Close Dulles Elementary
District staff recommends closure of school
Norwalk~The Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Board members, at its meeting tonight, may decide to close Dulles Elementary School in La Mirada.
At the January 7th meeting, district staff reported that Dulles is operating at 50 percent capacity (237 students). The school has nine teachers and three of the nine have combo classes.
Five Dulles parents spoke at the meeting in support of keeping the school open.
The district is expected to save at least $366,000 annually if the school is closed.
The school district is looking to cut costs as recent deficit budgets are expected to deplete the current surplus in a few years.
Four years ago, the district closed Hargitt and
Escalona Elementary Reaches 907 API: Principal Follows Through on Deal by Kissing Pig
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| Escalona Elementary principal Bonnie Lytle makes good on a deal made three years ago-if her students ever scored over 900 on the state's API report she would kiss a pig. Figures were released last month and the school scored 907. Time to pucker up! Photo Victoria Pflanzer |
Hundreds of Students Squeal in Delight at Ceremony as Principal Keeps Her Word by Smooching Swine
La Mirada ~Escalona Elementary principal Bonnie Lytle made a promise to her students-if the school’s Academic Performance Index (API) ever reached 900, she would kiss a pig.
Although it took three years, Escalona scored a 907 when the figures were released last month-one of the first schools in the district to score over 900.
So, this past Friday Lytle followed through by kissing a pig named Olive- fitting for La Mirada-in front of hundreds of students, parents, and spectators.
The very cold winter-like winds didn’t dampen the spirit of the huge crowd at the after school outdoor celebration called “Pig Party.”
There was a petting zoo, along with booths selling popcorn and candy, and drinks. The Kiwanis Club of La Mirada was also there selling quarter pound hot dogs with the works.
The API is a major component of the Public Schools Accountability Act passed by the California legislature in 1999 and scores range from a low of 200 to a high of 1000. The scores are used as a measurement to monitor a school’s growth.
PTA President Monae Zamott said the kids worked hard, “They have been trying and trying to hit that 900. Each year they have inched a little bit closer, improving their scores all along. She (Lytle) didn’t want the kids to wait for their reward.”
Zamott said that the vow got the kids to study more, and that’s all that really matters, “It was a great challenge and a great motivator for them to study. We can’t wait until she kisses the pig.”
The school had a score of 858 in 2009, climbed to 890 in 2010, and then 907 for 2011.
The scores, compiled from testing done in the previous school year, are released every October.
Many of the students who were tested last year, are partly responsible for the score, but have moved on to Benton, Hutchinson, and other middle schools. They were also invited to the festivities.
Three CIF Home Games in One Week Treat La Mirada Sports Fans
La Mirada High Girls Volleyball Advance to Second Round With Big Win
La Mirada~Big week for La Mirada High Sports at La Mirada. Tomorrow night, THURSDAY at 7pm, girls volleyball enters the 2nd round of the CIF Division 3AA playoffs against Riverside Poly after their 25-17, 24-26, 25-10, 25-17 victory over Beverly Hills yesterday in La Mirada.
La Mirada (8-1) football begins a march to the finals playing in its first round game as the number one seed in the Southeast Division. The Suburban League champion Matadores are riding a six-game wining streak and will play at home as well, FRIDAY at 7:30 pm vs. Arcadia. The Apaches (4-6) who lost to La Mirada last year in the second round 31-28, stumbled a bit down the stretch in the Pacific League, and are losers of their last two.
School Board Approves Donations to La Mirada Schools
Benton Parents donate over $127,000 for Washington D.C. Trip: La Mirada Kiwanis and Rotary Donate Cameras
Norwalk~At a recent meeting, the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District board formally accepted several donations totalling thousands of dollars to benefit local schools.
Donations to La Mirada schools included:
-$112.88 by Target Take Charge of Education to Los Coyotes Middle School, to be used for material and supplies.
-$2,750 for Lodestone Adventures to provide Los Coyotes students with training activities that promote team building, talent discovery, and leadership.
-$10,000 to send about 50 Los Coyotes students and chaperones to leadership camp at the Alpine Meadows Retreat Center in Angelus Oaks, with funding coming from parent donations and the ASB budget.
-$34,100 to send about 124 Gardenhill Elementary students and chaperones and $23,386 to send about 88 Eastwood Elementary students and chaperones to Thousand Pines Pines Outdoor Science School in Crestline. Gardenhill will be going in March 2013 and Eastwood in February.
-$481.99 to Benton Middle School by Target Take Charge of Education to be used for the student donation fund.
-$350 To Benton by the Benton PTSA to be used for the student donation fund.
-$359.91 to Benton by Big Lots/La Mirada to be used for the student donation fund.
-$152,550 to send about 71 Benton students and chaperones on an "American Heritage Trip" that will send the group through Boston, New York, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia next summer with funding coming from fundraisers ($24,366), the ASB trust budget ($800), and parent donations ($127,383).
-Two Canon Powershot SX40 HS Cameras to Benton Visual and Arts Academy to be used by the photography class, separately donated by the La Mirada Kiwanis and La Mirada Rotary Clubs.
-16 refurbished computers with Microsoft Office site license for each to Escalona Elementary by the Escalona PTSA, to be used for instruction in classrooms.
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