Mountain Views News          Saturday, June 23, 2012

8

EDUCATION & YOUTH

 Mountain Views News Saturday June 23, 2012 

SCHOOL DIRECTORY

PUSD OFFERS SUMMER 

LEARNING TIPS

 The Pasadena Unified School District 
(PUSD) offers useful tips and 
resources for families to keep children 
engaged in learning during 
summer vacation.

 "As a teacher and administrator, I 
worried about my students as each 
summer vacation approached," 
said PUSD Superintendent Jon R. 
Gundry who spent 16 years as a 
classroom teacher. "Without activities 
to keep them learning, students 
would forget the material they 
learned the previous school year, 
stop practicing important study 
skills and lose ground. Students 
who struggle in particular subjects 
can fall even further behind during 
the summer, leading to a widening 
of the achievement gap. That's why 
it is important for families to keep 
children engaged in fun activities 
that encourage learning during the 
long summer vacation."

 Although PUSD only offers a limited 
summer school program for 
credit recovery because of ongoing 
budget cuts, other organizations in 
the community offer learning resources 
for district families. Pasadena 
LEARNs offers five weeks 
of summer activities. Visit www.
gopusd.com/learns for information. 
The Pasadena Educational 
Foundation (www.pasedfoundation.
org) offers academics and enrichment 
for all grade levels. The 
City of Pasadena Human Services 
and Recreation Department (www.
cityofpasadena.net), the City of Sierra 
Madre (www.cityofsierramadre.
com) and the parks and libraries 
of Los Angeles County (www.
lacounty.gov) offers activities and 
resources for youth this summer. 

 Free breakfast and lunch will be 
available for children and youth 18 
years old or younger this summer 
through the 2012 Summer Food 
Program. Sponsored by the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture and 
PUSD's food services division and 
operated by PUSD, the City of Pasadena 
and other organizations, the 
free meals will be served at schools, 
parks and other sites throughout 
Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra 
Madre. Participants must eat all 
meals at the site; additional rules 
will be posted. For more information, 
call PUSD Food Services at 
(626) 396-5850.

 To help keep children engaged 
in learning this summer, here are 
some tips from PUSD and the California 
Department of Education:

Top 10 Tips for Summer Learning

1. Encourage Reading. Help establish 
a love of reading at an 
early age. Reading helps improve 
writing and communication 
skills as well as improve learning 
throughout the summer. Recommended 
reading lists are available 
on the California Department of 
Education's (CDE) literature database. 
Take your children to the 
public library where they can obtain 
their own library cards, learn 
how to find books, and check 
them out free of charge. The Pasadena 
public libraries offer free 
summer reading programs. 

2. Participate in Community 
Summer Programs. Many local 
organizations offer interesting 
summer events, such as art classes, 
music, cooking, sports, free 
concerts, and summer camps. 
Pasadena LEARNs, the Pasadena 
Educational Foundation's Summer 
Program and the City of 
Pasadena's Summer Recreational 
program offer a variety of classes 
for K-12 students, from robotics 
to art and high school credit 
courses. Scholarships available.

3. Encourage the Use of Math. 
Give your child practical experience 
using mathematics at home. 
Put your preschool child's counting 
ability to work. In preparation 
for meals, let the child count out 
the number of forks or dinner 
napkins needed for the table, the 
number of servings from a meal, 
or any other quantity. Mention 
the size of containers, such as 
pints of cream and half gallons 
of milk. Allow your child to measure 
ingredients when you cook 
or add up costs when shopping.

4. Encourage Creativity With Art. 
Keep your child supplied with 
sheets of paper, crayons, finger 
paints, modeling clay, burlap, 
paste, marking pens, scraps of 
cloth, yarn, scraps of wood, and 
water colors. Provide a workspace 
for your child and encourage 
the creation of works of art. 
Proudly display your child's best 
creations on the wall, door, or 
bulletin board. Give frequent 
opportunities for the expression 
of artistic ability, like making 
birthday and greeting cards. Encourage 
help with holiday decorations. 
Encourage musical activity 
in the home or on family trips. 
Let the child be a music maker 
as well as a listener. A toy piano, 
drum, tuned bells, or harmonica 
can help teach the rudiments of 
rhythm and tone.

5. Have Fun With Science. Work 
with your child on projects such 
as making bird feeders, caring for 
pets, setting up a home weather 
station, observing the night sky 
and preparing a family vegetable 
or flower garden. Talk with your 
child's science teacher and get 
useful tips to help you reinforce 
your child's formal science training. 
Summer is an ideal time 
to visit museums and zoos in 
your community. Many of these 
are free or low cost for young 
children. 

6. Get Active. Many low-cost 
summer programs are available 
for your children through the City 
of Pasadena, summer LEARNs 
and other organizations. Check 
for recreation and education opportunities 
like youth sports 
leagues, swimming, baseball, basketball, 
soccer, cheerleading, tennis, 
dance, drama, the arts, sports 
for children using wheelchairs, 
enrichment classes, concerts, and 
other youth programs.

7. Volunteer For a Good Cause. 
Homeless shelters, animal shelters, 
and senior community 
centers often need volunteer 
help. For example, teenagers can 
explore animal-related careers 
while gaining work experience, 
and help teach children and families 
about animals, the environment, 
and conservation. 

8. Start Writing. To encourage 
creative writing, jot down stories 
your child tells or songs they 
make up. Show them to the child 
later. Suggest they be illustrated 
and "published" for grandparents 
or other relatives as gifts.

9. Encourage Social Studies. Discuss 
current events. Read newspapers 
and periodicals. Watch the 
local and national newscasts. Provide 
your child with social studies 
research materials, including 
a dictionary, atlas, globe, and 
almanac. A map of the city and 
road maps are excellent for plotting 
trips and helping the child 
understand geographic relationships. 
Keep the research items 
conveniently close to the TV for 
use during news and documentary 
programs.

10. Helping Out at Home. Teaching 
children early and often about 
doing chores around the house 
helps them learn important skills 
like cooperation, teamwork, fairness, 
patience, responsibility, and 
values. It also helps free up some 
time so you can just enjoy being 
with your children.

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

Foothill Oaks Academy

822 Bradbourne Ave., Duarte, CA 91010

(626) 301-9809 

info@foothilloaksacademy.org 

preschool@foothilloaksacademy.org

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

Looking Into The Life Of A Teenager

 By Meaghan Allen

FAREWELL PART 1: THERE AND 
BACK AGAIN

 This is my second to last column that I will write 
for this newspaper before I head off to Wyoming and then 
Syracuse University for college in the fall. In this past year, 
a lot has happened and changed: Harry Potter has ended, 
Hunger Games has begun, Whitney Houston died, the 2012 
Election have started, the Kings won the Stanley Cup, and 
the Royal Wedding occurred, along with a lot more. I have 
graduated high school which is bizarre and look forward 
to my future now with excitement, anticipation, and fear. 
Where in the past I see friendship, stress, writing, and 
maturation – a change in whom I am as I have grown up. 

 The time has been short but significant because time 
is limited. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, ““All we have to decide is 
what to do with the time that is given us”, and although he 
was talking to Frodo about taking the One Ring to Mordor, 
it applies to everyone, everyday. And I see this quote and 
I feel both good and disappointed because I have done so 
much but not nearly as much as I would like, and I begin 
to fear that I won’t have the chance to that which I want. 
But this column has been something that in the time given 
I have greatly enjoyed and appreciated because I took the 
risk in asking for an opportunity to write and it was given. 
So I thank all who have helped me pursue this dream and 
get to where I am going in the future. I may not take the all 
powerful ring to Mt. Doom, but I do hope to change the 
world for the better one day like Frodo. 

MINDSPRING EDUCATION 
CENTER LAUNCHES NEW 

SUMMER PROGRAM

Handwriting, Typing, and Journalism – Oh My!

 Summertime in Sierra Madre brings Friday family movies

in Kersting Court, the annual Independence Day Parade and 
now, three-week educational sessions designed to give young 
students tools that will enrich their lives and their academic

pursuits.

“I’ve been in education for 12 years and here in Sierra Madre 
since 2007. It’s such a pleasure to work with the people here 
in my own community and see my students accomplish

their goals throughout the school year. Now that school’s 
out, I have the opportunity to teach skills that will benefit 
my students in whatever they are doing,” explains Sally Morrison, 
learning specialist and owner of Mindspring Education 
Center.

Mindspring’s three-course, three-week program will run 
Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. until noon. Three 
sessions will be offered this year with the first one starting 
June 18. 

Students can choose to take one, two, or three classes per 
session. Signing up for more than one session will benefit 
kids even more as the small class sizes allow them to progress 
at their own pace throughout the summer. Handwriting, 
Typing, and Journalism classes engage students in some 
of the most important tools for communicating their ideas.

Mindspring offers one-to-one intensive instruction

and tutoring year-round. 

For more information, please visit www.mindspringedc.
com.