Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, November 18, 2017

Mountain Views-News Saturday, November 18, 2017 EDUCATION & YOUTH 7 Mountain Views-News Saturday, November 18, 2017 EDUCATION & YOUTH 7 
PASADENA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 
ORGANIZES MENTOR NIGHT FOR HEALTH 
CAREERS ACADEMY STUDENTS AT BLAIR HIGH 

SCHOOL IN PUSD 

PASADENA, CA- Amy Foell, the Pasadena Chamberof Commerce Workforce Development director,
organized the third speed mentoring session at BlairHigh School on Wednesday evening, November 8th.
Business partners met dozens of students in the HealthCareers Academy for mentoring sessions and mockinterviews. 

“Words cannot express my gratitude to all of thebusiness partners for showing up to support ourstudents,” Ms. Foell said of the event. “Because of 
our Chamber member businesses, our juniors haveincreased insight and awareness regarding the vastcareer options as well as what it takes to secure a job.” 

Students had a chance to interact with professionalsfrom the Pasadena community during the 90 minutesession. “The Health Career Academy of Blair HighSchool appreciates the time and effort local businesspeople put into making our third annual speedmentoring event a huge success,” said Ms. Foell.

The Pasadena Chamber coordinates work-based 
learning experiences to better prepare Pasadena 

Unified School District students for college andcareers through guest speakers, job shadows, summerinternships and advisory board membership.

Any potential business partner wanting to be partof the effort can contact Amy Foell at 626-795-3355 orvia email to amy@pasadena-chamber.org.

The Pasadena Chamber of Commerce is a business 
service member organization that works to ensurethe prosperity of its members through a variety ofofferings including referrals, networking, workshopsand seminars, events and much more. The Chamber 
serves 1450-member companies. For the past two anda half years, the Chamber has worked to support theCollege and Career Pathways programs of PasadenaUnified School District by providing work-basedlearning opportunities. 
The Chamber has placed more than 300 students ininternships with local companies, brought dozens ofclassroom speakers to local high schools, providedhundreds of students with job shadow and field tripopportunities and externships for teachers. 

GOLDENWORDS: 

Dr. Dan’s College Corner 

DISPELLING DANGEROUS MYTHS 
IN THE COLLEGE PROCESS 

Myths, those stories so commonly in circulation thatthey are taken as truths, are rampant in the collegesearch, comparison and application stages. Some 
of these legends are particularly distracting andunfounded, and can constrain high school candidatesfrom exploring all their options in finding the rightplace in the higher education marketplace. Here are 
some favorites to consider and avoid: 

--”It can’t be a good school because I never heardof it.” Friends, family, uncle Lou and even someguidance counselors can’t be on top of the close to4000 four-year institutions out there in the US andCanada (stand by for a future column on the terrificopportunities for US nationals across the border forinnovative academic programs at excellent pricepoints). Candidates with zip-code flexibility shouldlook at schools their high school classmates examinedand even enrolled at, then crosscheck for the “cousin” 
institutions. (ex. If you look at Bates College, youmight also consider other regional smaller liberal artsschools in the Northeast and elsewhere--Bowdoin, 
Colby, Trinity (CT), Connecticut College).

--”You should go for most prestigious brandname undergrad school you can.” Well, it’s a tellingcomment on narrowness of vision to learn that 
75% of high school seniors apply to the same 250undergraduate schools with entrance expectationsthat range from really difficult to astronomically-
unlikely. We suggest you remember that it’syour GRADUATE schooling that offers the greatleveraging brand name effect.

 Ah, you say, “but how can I get into HarvardMedical School unless I go to Princeton as anundergrad?” Look at the undergraduate colleges ofrecord for first year medical students at Harvard, orfirst year law students at Yale, say. Surprises abound-
Hanover College, Sonoma State, Bemidji State,
Scripps College, Macalester College--these schoolsare among the ‘sending’ institutions that have fedenrollment at such prestigious graduate programs.
You can get there from anywhere if you can becomea winning candidate, really. We’ll talk about exactlyhow to be that candidate in a future column. 

--”My best price value will be at a UC or Cal Stateschool.” The vagaries of state budget cycles canwreak havoc on a student’s plan to get through a UCor CSU institution in four years. You might actuallyneed up to 15 extra months, for instance, to completeyour pre-med requirements at UCLA because somecrucial course sections could be cut by funding 
slashes. An extra year and trimester of costs mightwipe out any ostensible in-state financial advantage. 

What if you won 
a strong discount 
from a greatsmaller school, like 
Occidental if you’reinsistent on staying 
around this area? 
You’ll likely graduatewithin four years,


and, as you’ll learn in a future column, you’ll betaught most of the time by real professors and willhave earlier and deeper chances to do research withthose faculty members, too. This isn’t always thecase at major Research I universities.

--”I can’t leave California!” Most students 
want to go to college within a day’s ride of home-
but that can essentially mean anywhere in the USor Canada if your ride is a Boeing 757. Cali kids 
are really in demand across the country becausethey bring new and different perspectives to theirdestination colleges. The farther you go from LA,
the more intriguing you’ll be. And, if you come 
from a historically-underrepresented cultural 
group, you might even be more intriguing, as oneof my students from Samoa learned in Kalamazoo,
MIchigan.

And, there’ll be enough other Californians 
wherever you go to lament together over theabsence of In-N-Out in Bloomington or Ann Arboror Burlington, really. Californians often make upthe second or third largest population by state atmany universities and colleges. Go away to college,
come back for your interning, job searches andgraduate training? Sounds like a great way to learnabout another part of your country (or Canada, as Isuggested above!).

There are other myths we can cover, and my nextcolumn will address the “Big School/Small School”
folklore. As a prelude consider this: wherever you dogo off to college, research tells us that you will have a‘portfolio’ of friends that hovers around 90-95 otherstudents across class years. That seems to be aboutall the ‘relational space’ students have, given theirbusy undergrad lives. How you find your portfolioplayers will differ, depending on a school’s size orculture. Tune in for more on this topic, and learnabout fabulous honors colleges embedded in biguniversities--a chance to have the best of both worlds 
of school sizes. 
(same bio as we’ve recently used here please) 

SCHOOL DIRECTORY 
Alverno Heights Academy200 N. Michillinda Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 
(626) 355-3463 Head of School: Julia V. FanaraE-mail address: jfanara@alvernoheights.org 
Arcadia High School180 Campus Drive Arcadia, CA 91007Phone: (626) 821-8370, Principal: Brent Forseebforsee@ausd.net 
Arroyo Pacific Academy41 W. Santa Clara St. Arcadia, Ca, 
(626) 294-0661 Principal: Phil ClarkeE-mail address: pclarke@arroyopacific.org 
Barnhart School 
240 W. Colorado Blvd Arcadia, Ca. 91007 
(626) 446-5588 Head of School: EthanWilliamson 
Kindergarten - 8th gradewebsite: www.barnhartschool.org 
Bethany Christian School93 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024(626) 355-3527Preschool-TK-8th Grade 
Principal: Dr. William Walnerwebsite: www. bcslions.org 
Clairbourn School 
8400 Huntington DriveSan Gabriel, CA 91775Phone: 626-286-3108 ext. 172 
FAX: 626-286-1528 
E-mail: jhawes@clairbourn.org 
Foothill Oaks Academy822 Bradbourne Ave., Duarte, CA 91010 
(626) 301-9809Co-Principals Nancy Lopez and Diane Kieffaberinfo@foothilloaksacademy.orgpreschool@foothilloaksacademy.org 
Frostig School971 N. Altadena Drive Pasadena, CA 91107(626) 791-1255Head of School: Jenny Janetzke 
Email: jenny@frostig.org 
The Gooden School 
192 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024(626) 355-2410Head of School, Carl Parke 
website: www.goodenschool.org 
High Point Academy1720 Kinneloa Canyon Road Pasadena, Ca. 
91107 
Head of School: Gary Stern 626-798-8989 
website: www.highpointacademy.org 
La Salle High School3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 
(626) 351-8951 website: www.lasallehs.org 
Principal Mrs. Courtney Kassakhian 
Monrovia High School325 East Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016(626) 471-2800 Principal Darvin JacksonEmail: schools@monrovia.k12.ca.us 
Odyssey Charter School725 W. Altadena Dr. Altadena, Ca. 91001 
(626) 229-0993 Head of School: Lauren O’Neillwebsite: www.odysseycharterschool.org 
Pasadena High School2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 
(626) 396-5880 Principal: Roberto Hernandezwebsite: http://phs.pusd.us 
St. Rita Catholic School 
322 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 
Principal Joan Harabedian (626) 355-9028website: www.st-rita.org 
Sierra Madre Elementary School141 W. Highland Ave, Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 
(626) 355-1428 Principal: Lindsay LewisE-mail address: lewis.lindsay@pusd.us 
Sierra Madre Middle School 
160 N. Canon Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 
(626) 836-2947 Principal: Garrett NewsomE-mail address: newsom.garrett@pusd.us 
Walden School 
74 S San Gabriel Blvd 
Pasadena, CA 91107 (626) 792-6166www.waldenschool.net 
Weizmann Day School1434 N. Altadena Dr. Pasadena, Ca. 91107 
(626) 797-0204Lisa Feldman: Head of School 
Wilson Middle School 
300 S. Madre St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107 
(626) 449-7390 Principal: Ruth EsselnE-mail address: resseln@pusd.us 
Pasadena Unified School District 
351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena, Ca. 91109 
(626) 396-3600 Website: www.pusd@pusd.usrcadia Unified School District 
234 Campus Dr., Arcadia, Ca. 91007 
(626) 821-8300 Website: www.ausd.net 
Monrovia Unified School District 
325 E. Huntington Dr., Monrovia, Ca. 91016 
(626) 471-2000 Website: www.monroviaschools. 
net 
Duarte Unified School District 
1620 Huntington Dr., Duarte, Ca. 91010 
(626)599-5000 Website: www.duarte.k12.ca.us 
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com