Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, February 22, 2020

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Mountain View News Saturday, February 22, 2020 

PROFILE: MAYFIELD'S ALEXIA SAIGH

SCHOOL DIRECTORY


Alexia Saigh, a senior at Mayfield 
Senior School in Pasadena, recently 
received several different 
types of awards and honors. The 
2020 Scholastic Art and Writing 
Awards were just announced. 
This year, Alexia Saigh won nine 
awards for her photography including 
one for her art portfolio 
in this prestigious competi-tion. 
Winning nine awards this year put 
Alexia in the top 20 entrants for 
the most awards won in the West 
Region (out of 60,000 entries). As 
of this latest contest, since 2016, 
Alexia has won a total of 33 Scholastic 
Art and Writing Awards, including 
6 Gold Keys, for her photography, 
paintings and a poem. 

 

Alexia enjoys all types of art: visual 
and performing including 
Greek Folk Dancing. At the 44th 
Folk Dance Festival 2020, held 
in Anaheim over President’s Day 
Weekend, Alexia's Greek dance 
team, Pyrkagia, from St. Anthony’s 
Greek Orthodox church in 
Pasadena, took 3rd Place in the 
Senior Division for their Greek 
Pontian Dance Suite. Alexia was awarded the “Chris Papadimitrakis” merit-based, academic 
scholarship in the amount of $1000 at this competition that was attended by 3000 people. 

 

Also, Alexia's award-winning photography was included in the 2019 International Photography 
Awards book that was just published.

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 E. Bradbourne Ave., Duarte, CA 91010

(626) 301-9809

Principal: Nancy Lopez

www.foothilloaksacademy.org

office@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, Jo-Anne Woolner

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 College Preparatory

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 LUIS

E-mail address: LUIS.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

SIERRA MADRE MIDDLE SCHOOL PTSA NEED YOU!

We're looking to fill executive board positions for the 20/21 school year.

Dear SMMS Families:

 We need you to Help Lead PUSD's #1 School into the new Decade! We are down 
to 3 . months left in the school year and our PTSA is looking to fill a number of 
executive board positions for the 20/21 school year. This is an excellent opportunity 
to support your child and to get involved directly with the events and needs 
of the school! We have a number of important and exciting positions available 
for next year including treasurer, programming VP, ways and means and historian; 
as well as numerous other interesting volunteer opportunities for events 
throughout the year. 

Please email Kelsie Pejsa (pejsa@vis.caltech.edu) if you are interested in filling a 
position on the board or just have questions about getting involved. We would 
love to hear from you! Our next PTSA Association meeting is March 16th at 6:30 
pm in the Multipurpose room; at this meeting we will nominate and elect next 
year’s board members. All PTSA members are welcome to attend; we hope to see 
you there!


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges

ONE MAN’S EARTHQUAKE STORY [part two]


[Nyerges is the author of “The Self-Sufficient Home,” “How to Survive Anywhere,” and other books. He teaches self-reliance 
and survival skills. He can be reached at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.]

 

The story of Dude McLean and the Sylmar earthquake, continued from two weeks ago.

 

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

 McLean explains that when it got light in the morning after the quake, neighbors checked on 
other neighbors, and there were no major injuries or deaths. Some neigh-bors just stayed to themselves 
and wouldn’t check on others. The water line that pro-vided water to the approximately 200 
homes in the canyon was broken every 6 to 20 feet, and telephone, electricity, and gas lines were out. 
The main access road to the canyon had shifted about two feet, so you needed a truck to get in or out.

 About 30% of the homes in the canyon were totally destroyed. Some people packed up and departed and never 
came back. About a dozen houses were shaken down to rubble piles about four feet high. Homes were down in the 
creek.

 McLean’s family didn’t want to go back into the house, but they went back to get clothes since it was cold. Eventually, 
they all sat in the truck, and cooked some food on Coleman stoves for breakfast. Since there was no electricity, 
the family had no idea how bad the situation was beyond the canyon since they had no news. They got through that 
first day by cleaning up the living room, planning to use it as the bedroom that night. But when night came, no one 
wanted to sleep, so they all piled into the truck and drove out of the canyon to assess the damage.

 There was electricity in Hollywood, and other places, and they learned about the range of the quake’s damage 
from scant news reports. The media focussed on a col-lapsed hospital, and the many bridges and overpasses that collapsed. 
“I believe there was much more widespread damage,” says McLean, “but we didn’t have the freeway through 
here then, and we didn’t have the instant media that we have now.”

 The family came back home, and spent the first night at home. The next day, since they had relatives in the high 
desert, McLean took the family to the relatives and then returned back to the house. But because so many bridges 
and overpasses had collapsed, he only made it to the desert and back because he was so familiar with the old unused 
roads that were built before the freeway to the desert was constructed.

 

THE CLEAN UP

 McLean worked on cleaning up the house for the following week by him-self. He noted that it took four days for 
the government emergency services to get to the canyon bringing water supplies. It also took at least three weeks for 
the regular wa-ter supply to be restored, and at least that long for electricity to be restored. “The gov-ernment can be 
very slow in reacting to emergencies, but we had plenty of supplies in food and water,” he says. “I had a porta-potti, 
and I could bury the contents in the yard when full. But our toilet was actually on a septic system that still worked if 
I poured wa-ter into the bowl.” He had a total of 120 gallons of stored water, some of it in glass con-tainers that did 
not break because they were packed well.

“I took short baths with just a little water. I cooked on the Coleman stoves with the food we’d stored. Plus, I didn’t 
just take care of myself. I shared food and water with neighbors. I showed neighbors how to get water from the creek 
and boil it. It is still amazing to me that some people didn’t know to do this. In general, everyone helped those who 
needed help. Perhaps the best thing we had going for us was that most of the neighbors knew each other. We had a 
community center at the park, and there were regular meetings there with teen and adult activities. Knowing your 
neighbors is probably the best way to prepare for emergencies, beside storing things and learning skills.”

McLean stayed at the house for the first week after the Sylmar earthquake, cleaning things up for the family to come 
back. The family came back a week later, and everyone slept together in the living room. Gas lines were out, so they 
cut their own firewood using hand saws. They walked up the canyon, and cut dead oak and syca-more branches and 
burned it in their living room fire place.

Eventually, little by little, the utilities were restored and life got back to normal.

“After the quake, I remember thinking, wow!, I did the right thing,” says McLean. “Here I was preparing maybe for 
war, for the Russians to bomb us, or maybe for unemployment, but not for an earthquake like this. And I was very 
happy to be pre-pared.”

 “To this day, my son still vividly recalls that earthquake,” says McLean. “That ex-perience spurred me on to do 
even more extensive preparations. A disaster can be a job loss, a fire, anything. It’s important to know what to store, 
where to store things, and how to store them.”

 McLean explains how he continued to study self-reliance and survival skills, and built up an extensive research 
library of over 600 books. “But all the books in the world are no good if you don’t put the information into practice,” 
he adds. “I got to the point where I had a whole room in storage, and if I didn’t have to go to the store for two years, 
I could have done that. We could have lived off the grid for two years, and I had back-ups systems for my back-ups,” 
he laughs. McLean, who was in the music pub-lishing business, also consulted with many individuals and groups 
on how to prepare for emergencies and live self-reliantly. He was very busy during the panic that accom-panied the 
Y2K fears during 1999.

ADVICE

 According to McLean, “The most basic thing for people to do is to have at least a few weeks of food and water. 
Plan at least a gallon of water per person per day. And don’t store everything in one place, since you may not be able 
to get to your gear. Think through all your daily needs, make a list, and began to get your supplies for sleeping, shelter, 
eating, cooking, lighting – everything.” 

 With the pride of a father, he points out that all 3 of his children are very self-reliant today because they grew 
up that way, knowing how to camp and knowing how to deal with the needs of life. “Remember, I had to learn all 
this little by little, and we experimented,” he added. “Sure, we were also preparing for possible emergencies, but we 
all had a great time doing it.


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