The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 110, No. 10 - March 11, 2021
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................11
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Film Review..........................2
Legals.............................. 9,10
Obituaries.............................2
Pets......................................12
Police Reports.....................2
Real Estate.......................5-7
Sports....................................3
Weekend
Forecast
El Segundo High School Class of
2021, We Welcome You Back Home
ESHS ASB members, Board of Education members, and ESUSD administration welcome seniors as they arrive on campus Monday morning for the first time in a year. Photo courtesy El Segundo High School.
ESUSD ‘Rock Star’ Robin Espinoza
Is All-In for Her Students
By Duane Plank
El Segundo High School Athletics Director
Steve Shevlin considers his colleague Robin
Espinoza a “rock star” for the tireless work
that she does with high school students. A
job made more challenging as the COVID-19
pandemic has disrupted school districts for the
past year, necessitating the implementation of
innovative ways of reaching and connecting
with students who are being forced to learn
and interact virtually.
Espinoza, who was born and raised in neighboring
Jackson Kalb Nourishes
the Soul with his Food
By Kiersten Vannest
Mélisse, Alinea, Joël Robuchon, Houston’s
Restaurant with Hillstone Group,
Union Square Cafe, Factory Kitchen.
For foodies, these names will all sound
familiar as some of the best restaurants
in America. For one El Segundo resident,
they were his training grounds.
Jackson Kalb started his culinary journey
at the young age of eleven. “I got sick
with something like mono, where I was
bedridden for a while,” says Kalb. To pass
the time, he watched the Food Network.
He watched it, learned from it, and when
he got better, he made a complicated sixcourse
meal for his friends and family,
his first foray into fine dining.
As his interest in cooking grew over
the next couple of years, he started and
ran his own catering business. With no
family or connections to the culinary
world, he explored his own abilities for
anyone who was willing to taste them at
events and parties.
“Really anyone who wanted to give
me twenty bucks to make some food,
it was mostly just family friends,” he
laughs. At one of these parties, a guest
asked him if he’d like to meet the owner
of a restaurant. Wanting the opportunity
to look in at a restaurant and see how
that world works, he agreed.
At age thirteen, he showed up at Mélisse,
Manhattan Beach, and graduated from
Mira Costa High School in 1994, currently
tackles three positions at ESHS: Director of
Student Activities; Business Pathway Teacher;
and Leadership Chair for the high schools
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
accreditation visit and process.
Said Shevlin, who has worked with Espinoza
for a dozen years: “She is phenomenal. She
came in and entirely changed the culture of
(ESHS) activities,” strengthening the support
network, as well as ratcheting up the
enthusiasm for campus activities. “For me,”
Shevlin said, “it became rock-star intense.”
He talked about the increase in student support
under Espinoza’s guidance at football
games, basketball games, and other campus
activities, dubbing Espinoza as “the captain
of fun.”
Sarah Davlantis is the ESHS assistant
principal. She echoes Shevlin’s thoughts.
“Robin Espinoza is one of the kindest and
most caring people I know,” she said. “She
is always thinking through the lens of what
is best for kids and students. During this
school closure, she has quickly transitioned
to not only support students, but teachers
too, hosting regular online sessions to meet
up with peers. Recently, Robin learned of a
student who spent New Year’s and her birthday
completely alone, as the rest of the student’s
family had COVID and was quarantined in
different parts of their home. Robin took it
upon herself to send the family dinner for
multiple days and check in regularly with
the student to see what they needed. That
right there embodies the kind of person and
educator Robin is.”
Espinoza is a “legacy” ESUSD teacher.
Her mother, Cathy Teitelbaum, who passed
away in 2015, taught third-grade students in
El Segundo for 26 years. Espinoza fondly
remembers the times, beginning as a preteen,
that she would accompany her Mom
to school and “spend hours on the swings”
outside while her mother worked in her
classroom. Espinoza remembers helping her
See Robin Espinoza, page 8 Robin Espinoza
See Jackson Kalb, page 6
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
57˚/44˚
Saturday
Sunny
61˚/47˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
61˚/50˚