Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, June 30, 2018

9

EDUCATION & YOUTH 

Mountain Views-News Saturday, June 30, 2018 

GOLDENWORDS

Dr. Dan’s College Corner

SCHOOL DIRECTORY

DON’T GET ALL “STEAMED” UP!“ 

Complement your high-analytic major with Humanities courses

Alverno Heights Academy

200 N. Michillinda Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3463 Head of School: Julia V. Fanara

E-mail address: jfanara@alvernoheights.org

Arcadia High School

180 Campus Drive Arcadia, CA 91007

Phone: (626) 821-8370, Principal: Brent Forsee

bforsee@ausd.net

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: Ethan Williamson

Kindergarten - 8th grade

website: www.barnhartschool.org

Bethany Christian School

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

(626) 355-3527 

Preschool-TK-8th Grade

Principal: Dr. William Walner

website: www. bcslions.org

Clairbourn School

8400 Huntington Drive

San Gabriel, CA 91775

Phone: 626-286-3108 ext. 172

FAX: 626-286-1528

E-mail: jhawes@clairbourn.org

Foothill Oaks Academy

822 Bradbourne Ave., Duarte, CA 91010

(626) 301-9809 

Co-Principals Nancy Lopez and Diane Kieffaber

info@foothilloaksacademy.org 

preschool@foothilloaksacademy.org

Frostig School

971 N. Altadena Drive Pasadena, CA 91107

(626) 791-1255

Head of School: Jenny Janetzke

Email: jenny@frostig.org

The Gooden School

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

(626) 355-2410 

Head of School, Carl Parke 

website: www.goodenschool.org

High Point Academy

1720 Kinneloa Canyon Road 

Pasadena, Ca. 91107 

Head of School: Gary Stern 626-798-8989

website: www.highpointacademy.org

La Salle High School

3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 351-8951 website: www.lasallehs.org

Principal Mrs. Courtney Kassakhian

Monrovia High School

325 East Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016 

(626) 471-2800 Principal Darvin Jackson

Email: schools@monrovia.k12.ca.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) 396-5880 Principal: Roberto Hernandez

website: http://phs.pusd.us

St. Rita Catholic School

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

Principal Joan Harabedian (626) 355-9028 

website: www.st-rita.org

Sierra Madre Elementary School

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

(626) 355-1428 Principal: Lindsay Lewis

E-mail address: lewis.lindsay@pusd.us

Sierra Madre Middle School 

160 N. Canon Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 836-2947 Principal: Garrett Newsom

E-mail address: newsom.garrett@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) 396-3600 Website: www.pusd@pusd.us

Arcadia 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

Arcadia Christian School

1900 S. Santa Anita Avenue Arcadia, CA 91006

Preschool - and TK - 8th Grade

626-574-8229/626-574-0805

Email: inquiry@acslions.com

Principal: Cindy Harmon

website: www.acslions.com

In the past 20 years, American higher educational 
institutions have seen a large majority of students 
seeking to major in practical and pragmatic subject 
areas that, on the surface, seem to provide a workplace-
ready profile upon graduation. Even our greatest liberal 
arts and sciences colleges, long resistant to ‘vocational’ 
areas of study, have begun to craft their own versions 
of such in-demand majors as Communications and 
Business Studies, and have designed dual-degree paths 
for students to get a second, more “practical” degree in 
these areas, as well as Engineering disciplines.

 We have in recent years also put a lot of K-12 focus 
on the STEAM disciplines (acronym for Science, 
Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) as 
we try to close mathematical/scientific/technology gaps 
compared to many other nations, and seek to prepare 
our children for all kinds of jobs that are constantly 
intensifying in analytical components.

 “Study programming and you’ll get a job as a 
programmer; study programming but major in History 
and you’ll own the company!” So spoke one of my 
Wheaton college alumni about her path into creating 
and owning her own software company in Boulder, CO. 
Her point is a simple and important one to consider. 

 When you counterbalance the analytical demands of 
majors in Engineering or Finance or Biochemistry and 
similar fields with more extensive studies in English and 
the Social Sciences (more than the puny requirements 
of many analytically-focused majors), it turns out you 
are developing core skills that will allow you to advance 
more quickly and creatively in your professional life 
path. 

 Your friend who majors, say, in Finance has tons of 
knowledge about mathematical models in business 
environments, has mastered the mysteries of regression 
analysis, LIFO-FIFO, Hog Belly Futures and more. But 
this narrow and intense expertise sometimes has come 
at the expense of developing subtle life and human 
relationship skills that come from studying literature, 
philosophy, politics, history.

 This hypothetical friend may get a job more easily 
thanks to his course content relevance (and we hope 
thanks to some related interning he’s done during 
summers, too), but he might find himself lagging in 
his organizational advancement. Turns out he needed 
more of the strengths that come from the nuanced 
and imprecise and elusive fields on the other side of his 
campus.

 If you are really good at a precise core of knowledge, 
you get ahead up to a certain point, and then your reward 
is being asked to lead a team of other precision-focused 
employees. You quickly discover that you have tons of 
memo and report writing and employee evaluations to 
perform, you are on the spot every Tuesday when you 
have to give a 90 second verbal update in the presence 
of other managers and your Vice President, you have 
make a case to your boss for more resources at budget 
time--all these and related situations turn out to need 
qualities and strengths you may have been neglecting 
since your last writing or speech class in college!

 Thirty years ago, I hosted a Humanities and 
the Professions conference at the JFK Library in 
Boston. One of our keynoters was the CEO of the 
Hanes corporation (think pantyhose, underwear, 
sweatclothes). Gordon Hanes was a garrulous story-
telling North Carolinian, but he was wise far beyond 
his drawl. He said: “I love hiring English Majors, 
because they make far more rapacious businesspeople. 
I can teach anyone my business in a summer except 
a Business Major, and I can’t teach them how to read 
people, how to speak another language, how to sit at 
a dinner party among powerful foreign professionals 
and know what fork to use, and talk intelligently about 
politics, movies, everything but the admittedly boring 
details of my product lines. I need educated employees 
as my raw material, my uncombed cotton.”

 Not interested in being the next pantyhose CEO? 
Well, how about being marked for success at Google? 
The mega-tech company conducted a study, cited by 
professor Cathy Davidson of the CUNY Graduate 
Center, who writes the results “shocked everyone by 
concluding that, among the eight most important 
qualities of Google’s top employees, STEM expertise 
comes in dead last.

 The seven top characteristics of success at Google 
are all soft skills: being a good coach; communicating 
and listening well; possessing insights into others 
[including others’ different values and points of view]; 
having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s 
colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem 
solver; and being able to make connections across 
complex ideas…”

 Hmm, as professor Davidson reminds us, these 
traits are often byproducts of the study of literature, 
theatre, human history and more. So for students solely 
focused on their initial employability, the STEAM 
fields can give you an edge, but the stuff that gets taught 
in those other buildings on your campus will give you 
the edge for promotion and advancement in your 
workplace and in your life, too.

 Save time for some academic cross-training in the 
Humanities and Social Sciences, study the imprecise 
and ambiguous and nuanced arenas of life--for they 
will teach you a whole other code beyond computation.

 Dr. Dan Golden was the founding director of Life 
Planning at the Vistamar School in El Segundo. He 
was a professor, program director and Dean for Work 
& Service-Learning at Wheaton College (MA), and 
now consults with individuals, schools and educational 
districts on college access, post-graduate study and career 
planning issues. He can be reached at dangolden0@
gmail.com.

THE GOOD LIFE

SIMPLE GADGETS THAT CAN HELP OLDER DRIVERS

SENIOR HAPPENINGS


Dear Savvy Senior,

Are there any specific auto gadgets you can recommend 
that can help senior drivers? Both of my parents are in 
there eighties and still pretty good drivers, but due to 
arthritis and age they’re very stiff, which causes them 
some driving problems. 

Researching Daughter

Dear Researching,

To help keep senior drivers safe and prolong their 
driving years, there’s a plethora of inexpensive, 
aftermarket vehicle adaptions you can purchase that 
can easily be added to your parent’s vehicles to help 
with many different needs. Here are some good options. 

Entry and Exit Aids

To help arthritic/mobility challenged seniors with 
getting into and out of their vehicle, there are a variety of 
portable support handles you can buy, like the “Emson 
Car Cane Portable Handle” ($12), which inserts into 
the U-shaped striker plate on the doorframe. And the 
“Standers CarCaddie” ($13) nylon support handle that 
hooks around the top of the door window frame. 

 Another useful product is the “DMI Deluxe Swivel 
Seat Cushion” ($22), which is a round portable cushion 
that turns 360 degrees to help drivers and passengers 
rotate their body into and out of their vehicle.

Enhanced Rear Vision 

 To help seniors with limited upper body range of 
motion, which makes looking over their shoulder to 
back-up or merge into traffic difficult, there are special 
mirrors you can add as well as back-up cameras.

 For starters, to widen rear visibility, eliminate blind 
spots and even help with parallel parking, get an 
oversized rear view mirror like the “Allview Rearview 
Mirror” ($50) that clips on to the existing mirror. 
You should also purchase some “Ampper Blind Spot 
Mirrors” ($7.50), which are 2-inch adjustable convex 
mirrors that stick to the corner of the side view mirrors.

 Another helpful device is the “Auto-vox M1W 
Wireless Backup Camera Kit” ($110). This comes with 
a night vision camera that attaches to the rear license 
plate, and a small monitor that mounts to the dash or 
windshield. When the vehicle is in reverse, it sends live 
images wirelessly to the monitor so you can see what’s 
behind you.

Seat Belt Extenders

 To make buckling up a little easier, there are a variety 
of seat belt extension products offered by Seat Belt 
Extender Pros like the “Seat Belt Grabber Handle” ($8), 
which is a rubber extension handle that attaches to the 
seat belt strap to make it easier to reach. And the “7-
inch Rigid Seat Belt Extender” ($20) that fit into the 
seat belt buckle receiver to add a few inches of length, 
making them easier to fasten.

Gripping Devices

 If your parents have hand arthritis that makes 
gripping the steering wheel, turning the ignition key or 
twisting open the gas cap difficult or painful, consider 
these products.

 The “SEG Direct Steering Wheel Cover” ($15) that 
fits over the steering wheel to make it larger and easier 
to grip. The “Ableware Hole-In-One Key Holder” ($9), 
which is a small plastic handle that attaches to the car 
key to provide additional leverage to turn the key in the 
ignition or door. And for help at the pump, the “Gas 
Cap & Oil Cap Opener by Gascapoff” ($12) is a long 
handled device that works like a wrench to loosen and 
tighten the gas cap.

 All of these products can be found online at Amazon.
com. Just type the product name in the search bar to 
find them.

Safety and Security

 To help ensure your parents safety, and provide you 
and them peace of mind, they should also consider an 
in-car medical alert system like “splitsecnd.” Offered 
through Bay Alarm Medical (BayAlarmMedical.
com, $30/month), his small device plugs into the 
vehicle’s cigarette lighter to provide 24/7 roadside and 
emergency assistance at the push of a button, automatic 
crash detection and response, and GPS vehicle location 
and monitoring capabilities.

 Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 
5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. 
Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and 
author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …June Birthdays*

Joanne Thrane, Nellie Haynes, Dorothy McKay, Theresa Daley, Donna Doss, 
Mary Carney, Carol Handley, Marilyn McKernan, Pat Fujiwara, John Shier, Beth 
Smith-Kellock, Ann Disbrow, Joan Ellison, Anne Montgomery, Trini Ornelas, 
Martha Spriggs, Pat Starkey, Kathleen Coyne, Suzanne Decker, Jacque Persing, 
Jeanne Peterson and Grace Sanders

 * To add your name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 
626.355.2737. YEAR of birth not required

ACTIVITIES: Unless listed differently, all activities are at the Hart 
Park House (Senior Center) 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre

 

 

Hawaiian & Polynesian Dance Class: Every Tuesday morning from 10a.m. to 
11a.m. Join the class with Instructor Barbara Dempsey as she leads you in the 
art of Hula. 

Bingo Time: Every Tuesday beginning at 1:00p.m. Cards are only $0.25 each! Everyone is welcome to 
join. Activity may be canceled if less than five people. 

Free Blood Pressure Testing: 2nd Tuesdays of the month from 11a.m. to 12p.m. No appt. is necessary. 

Brain Games: Join us on Thursday, April 19th at 10:30a.m. to 11:30a.m for Scattergories, a creative 
thinking game by naming objects within a set of categories; or Jenga, a block-building challenge that 
keeps you stacking and balancing your tower. Everyone is welcome, and no experience is needed. What 
a great way to strengthen your brain and make new friends. Games facilitated by Senior Volunteers. 

Free Legal Consultation: Wednesday, April 18th from 10:30am to Noon. Attorney Lem Makupson is 
available for legal consultation. Specializing in Family Law, Wills, Trusts, Estates, and Injury. Please 
call Hart Park House for an appointment, 626-355-7394. 

Senior Club: Meets every Saturday at the Hart Park House Senior Center. Brown Bag Lunch at 
11:30a.m. 

Chair Yoga: Mondays & Wednesdays from 11:00a.m. to 11:45a.m. with Paul Hagen. Classes include 
Yoga and balance exercises. All ability levels are encouraged and welcomed!

* A voluntary donation of $5.00 per week is suggested but not required.

Birthday Celebrations: Every 2nd Thursday monthly at the Hart Park House, share some free 
birthday cake provided by the Sierra Madre Civic Club! 

Free Strength Training Class: Fridays from 12:45p.m. to 1:30p.m. with Lisa Brandley. This 
energetic class utilizes light weights, low impact resistance training and body conditioning. Class 
equipment is provided. 

Tax Assistance: Every Wednesday beginning on February 7th through April 11th from 1:00p.m. 
to 2:00p.m ...Don Brunner is available for income tax consultation... 
**Appointments are required by calling the Hart Park House Office 626-355-7394**

 ** Call Community Services Department for details about the “Ear to Ear Program” returning in 
2018** 626 - 355 - 5278


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