Mountain Views News          Saturday, June 4, 2011

8

EDUCATION & YOUTH

Mountain Views News Saturday, June 4, 2011

SCHOOL DIRECTORY

LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!

FUTURE TROJAN PEYTON MCMILLAN WINS DIGITAL VOICE AWARD

Alverno High School

200 N. Michillinda Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3463 Head of School: Ann M. Gillick 

E-mail address: agillick@alverno-hs.org

Arcadia High School

180 Campus Drive Arcadia, CA 91007

Phone: (626) 821-8370, Principal: David L. Vannasdall

Arroyo Pacific Academy

41 W. Santa Clara St. Arcadia, Ca, 

(626) 294-0661 Principal: Phil Clarke

E-mail address: pclarke@arroyopacific.org

Barnhart School

240 W. Colorado Blvd Arcadia, Ca. 91007

(626) 446-5588 Head of School: Joanne Testa Cross

Kindergarten - 8th grade

website: www.barnhartschool.com 

Bethany Christian School

93 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3527 Principal: James Lugenbuehl

E-mail address: jml@bcslions.org

Carden of the Foothills School

429 Wildrose Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016 626/358-9414 
626/358-5164 fax office@cardenofthefoothills.com

The Gooden School

192 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-2410 Head of School: Patty Patano

website: www.goodenschool.org

High Point Academy

1720 Kinneloa Canyon Road

Pasadena, Ca. 91107 626-798-8989

website: www.highpointacademy.org

LaSalle High School

3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 351-8951 

website: www.lasallehs.org

Monrovia High School

325 East Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016 

(626) 471-2000, 

Email: schools@monrovia.k12.ca.us

Norma Coombs Alternative School

2600 Paloma St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 798-0759 Principal: Dr. Vanessa Watkins 

E-mail address: watkins12@pusd.us

Odyssey Charter School

725 W. Altadena Dr. Altadena, Ca. 91001

(626) 229-0993 Head of School: Lauren O’Neill

website: www.odysseycharterschool.org

Pasadena High School

2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 798-8901 Principal: Dr. Derick Evans

website: www.pasadenahigh.org

Pasadena Unified School District

351 S. Hudson Ave. Pasadena, Ca. 91109

(626) 795-6981 website: www.pusd@pusd.us

St. Rita Catholic School

322 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-9028 website: www.st-rita.org

Sierra Madre Elementary School

141 W. Highland Ave, Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-1428 Principal: Gayle Bluemel

E-mail address:gbluemel220@pusd.us

Sierra Madre Middle School 

160 N. Canon Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 836-2947 Principal: Gayle Bluemel

Contact person: Garrett Newsom, Asst. Principal

E-mail address: gbluemel220@pusd.us

Walden School

74 S San Gabriel Blvd

Pasadena, CA 91107 (626) 792-6166 

www.waldenschool.net

Weizmann Day School

1434 N. Altadena Dr. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 797-0204

Lisa Feldman: Head of School

Wilson Middle School

300 S. Madre St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 449-7390 Principal: Ruth Esseln

E-mail address: resseln@pusd.us

Pasadena Unified School District

351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena, Ca. 91109

(626) 795-6981 Website: www.pusd@pusd.us

By Susan Henderson

A few weeks ago, Peyton McMillan, a second grade student at Sierra 
Madre Elementary School did something that no other student 
in the Pasadena Unified School District or in the County of Los Angeles 
has ever done. He became the first elementary student in the 
PUSD and County to win the Los Angeles County Office of Education 
‘s (LACOE), Digital Voice Award as an individual. 

When Peyton was assigned a video homework project by his 
teacher, Ms. Yolanda Munoz, he chose to use the endangered African 
Wild Dog as his subject. After completing his research online, 
he went to the Los Angeles Zoo where he interviewed Zookeeper 
Veronica Munoz (no relation to his teacher), about the animals. 
The interview was captured on video tape and became part of the 
project. 

Peyton used his creativity and developed a live news segment 
called, “Trojan News”. In it, he discusses the animal and its’ habits 
and includes the interview with zookeeper Munoz. His teacher Ms. 
Munoz and Dawn Tully were so impressed with his work that they 
submitted it to the Digital Voice Award Competition.

Peyton’s “Trojan News” was selected by LACOE as the Digital 
Voice Winner in the “English/Language Arts – Video Individual 
Elementary Student” category. On Thursday, May 19, 2011, the 
Digital Voice Awards-DVA held its first online “virtual” celebration 
where hundreds of teachers, students, and their families from 
across Los Angeles County tuned-in to watch clips from winning 
2011 Digital Voice Award projects from across the K-12 curriculum 
and Peyton’s submission was among them. To view the event log on 
to: http://dva.lacoe.edu/

The Digital Voice Awards were given to forty-three classroom 
projects, inclusive of the special focus award of “Cultural Connections,” 
where an award was given to an elementary and secondary 
project. Of those 43 award winners, Peyton was the only one from 
the Pasadena Unified School District and the only individual elementary 
winner from LA County.

This is not the first honor for 
this creative and talented young 
man. Last year, he was honored 
by the Los Angeles Lakers. In 
January 2010 he was chosen 
as the Laker’s “Student of the 
Month” for his philanthropic 
activities and for being a great 
student. That award is given to 
two teachers, two students and 
two principals each month of 
the season. Peyton was the only 
representative from the PUSD. 

In addition to his academic 
activities, Peyton had a keen 
sense of responsibility to the 
world around him from a very 
early age. He has raised over 
$1500.00 for various organizations 
by participating in fundraising 
efforts such as sickle cell 
anemia research through Little 
Legs, Big Hearts. He started at 
2 years old for friends who have sickle cell. 

At 6 years old, he had his first lemonade stand. The catch was to 
sale “pink lemonade” as a symbol for breast cancer awareness. Peyton 
wanted to donate half of his earnings to another set of friends 
whose mother had stage 4 breast cancer. She passed away last year 
when Zack and Xavier were just 4 and 7 years old. 

He also shook up his piggy bank to donate to the Red Cross for 
the Haiti and the Japan disaster relief efforts. His next project is to 
help the victims of the recent tornadoes in Mississippi and Missouri.

Peyton McMillan is a very busy young man with a very promising 
future. While he has yet to decide exactly what he wants to be 
when he grows up, he knows one thing for certain, “I want to go to 
USC”. And, as you may notice in the picture above, his microphone 
is a metal version on Tommy Trojan. We think he is really serious.


Looking Into The Life Of A Teenager

 By Meaghan Allen

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

People always say never let an opportunity pass you by. I agree with 
them. This past weekend, when some family friends called us up and 
asked up to go to the Dodger game an our before it started, my dad 
and I conceded without blinking an eyelash. Boy was I surprised 
when I found out that we were sitting in the United Airlines Suites. 
I hadn’t been to a game in years, so any seat would have been fine, 
but the suite was amazing. Filled endlessly with Coca-cola, pulled 
pork sandwiches, Dodger Dogs and Cracker Jack, I was in heaven. 
Then the dessert cart came, and I have never in my life seen so many 
delicious things in one place at one time. From the caramel apples 
to the mudslide brownies, it was a cart filled with my sweet tooth 
dreams. I eventually decided on an eight layer s’mores cake after five 
minutes of painful deciding, and it was one of the best things I have 
ever eaten. It was layer after layer of graham cracker, chocolate and 
melted marshmallows, and took me almost the entire game to eat – a 
large feat considering I usually annihilate anything that is put in front 
of me. Fully content after the game – we beat the Marlins 8-0 with 
Kershaw pitching his 2nd ever shutout and smashing a line drive foul 
ball right into our suite– I thought the day couldn’t get any better. It 
did. As we were leaving the suites, I saw Adam Sandler. Not only did 
I see him, but I actually got to go up to him and get his autograph. I 
about passed out my heart was beating so fast. To me, Adam Sandler 
is up there with God, anyone from Harry Potter, and a few others. 
Leaving the parking lot that day, I was so glad that we had said yes. 

PUSD SPECIAL EDUCATION 

DEPARTMENT TO HONOR EXCEPTIONAL 
STAFF AT AWARDS CEREMONY

Academy Award® Winner Marlee Matlin to receive “Albert 
Einstein Leadership Award”

Pasadena, CA - The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) of 
the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) Special Education Department 
hosts its annual Recognition Awards Ceremony on Monday, 
June 6 at the University Club of Pasadena. The event celebrates 
the academic achievements of students served by Special Education 
by honoring the teachers, support staff, and administrators who are 
responsible for that growth. The event underscores that, in an environment 
of limited resources due to state budget cuts, resources invested 
for special education students actually benefit the entire classroom: 
techniques used to help special education students access the 
curriculum also are used to help general education classmates who 
are struggling with certain concepts or academic subjects.

 Pasadena resident Marlee Matlin will receive the CAC’s “Albert 
Einstein Leadership Award,” which is presented to an individual 
who, through personal success or extraordinary effort, is helping 
tear down lingering stereotypes. Deaf since the age of two, Marlee 
became the youngest recipient of the Best Actress Oscar and one of 
only four actresses to receive the honor for her film debut. More 
recently, she was a finalist on this season of NBC’s The Celebrity 
Apprentice, raising more than $1 million for the Starkey Hearing 
Foundation. 

The award is named after Albert Einstein, who lived in Pasadena 
for three summers while a visiting professor at CalTech. If he were 
born today, many believe Albert Einstein would be a special education 
student: he had a learning disability as a child, did not speak 
until the age of 3, struggled with math and had difficulty expressing 
himself through writing. Einstein’s life serves as a brilliant reminder 
that genius can be developed from the most unlikely of beginnings.

 

SUBJECT: PUSD Special Education Annual Awards Ceremony

 

DATE: Monday, June 6, 2011

 

TIME: 5:00 p.m. - Community Resource Fair

 6:30 p.m. - Recognition Awards Ceremony

 

LOCATION: University Club of Pasadena

 175 North Oakland Avenue

 Pasadena, CA 91101

 
2011 Summer Fun Programs 
Will Soon Be Full... Enroll Today! 
July 5-25 
Sponsored by: My Homework Club located on 
Sierra Madre Elementary Campus 
Reserve Your Spot Today! 
(626) 388-1525 /MyHomeworkClub.com 
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