Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, December 9, 2017

Mountain Views-News Saturday, December 9, 2017 EDUCATION & YOUTH 7 Mountain Views-News Saturday, December 9, 2017 EDUCATION & YOUTH 7 
ARCADIA UNIFIED’S FIRST AVENUE MIDDLE SCHOOL 
CELEBRATES ITS 110TH ANNIVERSARY 


ARCADIA-- Arcadia Unified School District’s First 
Avenue Middle School, which originated as theCity of Arcadia’s first school, will celebrate its 110thAnniversary this Saturday, Dec.9.

Partnering with Downtown Arcadia’s annualHoliday Market, First Avenue will celebrate its 110years by taking part in the day’s family-friendlyfun. Spartan contributions to the day will includestudent-led tours of First Avenue, which school 
was recently ranked in the top 1% of public middleschools in the Los Angeles area according to Niche’s2018 Best Public Middle Schools lists. Tours will 
showcase the school’s historical highlights as wellas unique class projects from many of First Avenue’score classes and cross-curricular pairings, includinga 1,000-piece Rubik’s Cube math mural project ofthe Spartan logo.

“We are very excited to partner with DowntownArcadia and share with the Arcadia community allthat First Avenue’s creative and innovative students 
and staff do to make concepts come to life in ourclassrooms,” shared First Avenue Principal Dr. 
Semeen Issa. “It’s humbling to be a part of FirstAvenue’s expansive history and to celebrate theschool’s modest beginning from one classroomto today’s middle school program that offers ourstudents over 30 electives to choose from that 
include Industrial Technology, Food Science, Art,
Music, Broadcast Journalism, and many other 

courses that allow our students to discover what 
they are passionate about.” 

The Spartan music and dance programs will alsoconduct special performances, including a show bythe First Avenue Rock Band and Spartan studentand staff dancers going “Footloose” to the musicalstylings of the First Avenue Marching Band.
Here is a schedule of the 110th anniversarycelebratory events set to take place at First Avenue:

1:00 p.m. -2:30 p.m.: First Avenue student-led 
tours 
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.: Spartan Marching Band andColor Guard performance to open the ceremonies, 
speeches from community dignitaries, and 
“Footloose” performance
3:30 p.m. -4:00 p.m.: First Avenue student-led 
tours 
4: 00 p.m.: Spartan Rock Band performance
5:00 p.m.: Downtown Arcadia Big Giveaway
The First Avenue street, between Diamond 
Street and Huntington, will be closed to vehicletraffic beginning Friday evening, Dec. 8, throughthe evening of Saturday, Dec. 9, with DowntownArcadia’s Holiday Market running from 11:00 a.m.
to 6:00 p.m.

For more information about First Avenue Middle 
School, please visit fa.ausd.net, and for moreinformation about Arcadia Unified School District, 
please visit www.ausd.net. 

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 
GOLDENWORDS: 

Dr. Dan’s College Corner 

“HOW MUCH DOES YOUR 
COLLEGE MAJOR DEFINE YOUR 
PROFESSIONAL DESTINY?” 

In many cases, it turns out that your choice of your majordisciplinary focus in college is surprisingly unimportantto your post-graduate options for employment and/orgraduate study. There are some important exceptions we’lltalk about below, but since college students often fetishizethe importance of the choice of major (and are forced atmost universities to “declare” that focus area within two 
years of arrival), let’s consider some actual facts in thiscolumn. 

--Certain fields of study that support an early careerchoice demand strategic and sequential course and majorselections. 

If you arrive at a school knowing you want to be anengineer, for instance, you’ll want to stay in step with classprerequisites that ramp you up into the advanced coursesof study. One miscue in enrollment could delay yourprogress, so researching and seeking clear advisement is a 
must. 

There aren’t a lot of foreign language majors these days,
alas. But if you’ve been ignited by world affairs and harboran interest in homeland security and international affairscareers, you’ll again want to stay in step with the sequencesof those language classes. By the way, should you reallywant to change your future options forever, consider achallenging but transforming path--the study of “criticallanguages,” as defined by our Dept of State. (there areeven scholarships to prompt more study of these strategiclanguages, outlined at http://www.clscholarship.org/)
Urdu? Farsi? Korean? Yes, and more! 

--OK, you say. But you want to be a physician, or anattorney or go into business--shouldn’t you major in thosefields? 

Not necessarily. Medical and Law schools have been 
redefining their own admission and teaching models overrecent years, and are placing more of a premium on rangeand what one Dean calls “crossover content.” What’s that 
mean? 

Well, if you take the expected 7 or so pre-med classesthat most MD programs look for, you can major in prettymuch anything else. And anyone who wants to be aclinician in our country these days can win points fromMed School admission committees if they have accruedsome courses in Spanish, American Sign Language andAnthropology.

There are parallel stories for aspiring lawyers andbusiness majors, too. By major discipline, Englishliterature majors tend to score highest on the LSAT, by the 
way. And, even if your school offers a business major, do 

a comparison test with aself-designed “shadow”
business major you 
might craft instead.

You often can take 
most of the same classes 
as a regular businessmajor, have a more 
spacious calendar to take more Economics classes and,
most importantly, lots more Math coursework. And, iffreed from some of the lockstep requirements of a purebusiness major, you may also have room for a study abroadsemester, crucial to your global literacy and crossculturalsensibilities. 


--So, besides the issue of picking a major, what elsecan you do to become life’s most “placeable candidate,” toquote one Human Resources Vice President?

Think of what you choose to study as a portfolio ofacademic skill sets and knowledges, combined with reality-
tested experiences through interning and volunteering(more columns on the indispensability of field work andinternships to come).

Employers more than ever are currently stressingcertain core expectations of new hires: adherence to ethical 
standards of behavior, capacity to write clear, persuasiveprose to deadline, nimbleness in understanding layersof data, ability to work collaboratively with co-workersof often vastly different age and cultural backgrounds,
eagerness to go beyond job description to add value totheir organization. 

So, do you need a Major at all?

It’s undeniably valuable to master a progressivelydemanding core in any field of academic study. But it’salso undeniably foolish to assume that the world willaward you fellowships, graduate placements or lucrativefirst jobs only because of your scholarly masteries. Think 
“portfolio,” one component of which might add value toyour goal of being life’s most “placeable candidate”. Studysomething you love, but be ready to serve the needs of theworld as well. 

Dr. Dan Golden was the founding director of LifePlanning at the Vistamar School in El Segundo. He was aprofessor, program director and Dean for Work & Service-
Learning at Wheaton College (MA), and now consults withindividuals, schools and educational districts on collegeaccess, post-graduate study and career planning issues. Hecan be reached at dangolden0@gmail.com. 

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