EL SEGUNDO HERALD June 1, 2017 Page 3 The Jewelry Source 337 Main St. El Segundo. 310-322-7110 www.jewelrysourceUSA.com ©2007 Make sure she graduates with your honors Community Briefs Dr. Jack Plotkin Named Director of Innovation and Student Support Services for ESUSD At the El Segundo Unified School District (ESUSD) Board of Education meeting on May 23, the Board appointed Dr. Jack Plotkin as the new Director of Innovation and Student Support Services for the 2017/18 school year. With the upcoming retirement of Dale Lofgren, Executive Director of Pupil Services, Dr. Melissa Moore, ESUSD Superintendent, chose to restructure the position and combine innovation with student support. The new position attracted a large and highly competitive pool of applicants. Dr. Dylan Farris reported the hiring process included paper screening to identify highly qualified candidates, two rounds of comprehensive interviews with a panel of stakeholders, a finalist interview, and a reference check. In the end, Dr. Jack Plotkin has proven he was the best selection to lead and serve as Director of Innovation and Student Support. Dr. Plotkin has 18 years of experience serving a broad span of students K-12. He began his career as a high school and middle school special education teacher for seven years. He has worked in administration for ESUSD since 2007, serving as coordinator of pupil services, assistant principal for El Segundo Middle School and Richmond Street Elementary School, before being promoted to principal of the middle school in 2011. Dr. Plotkin earned his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from UCLA and his noteworthy dissertation is entitled, Making College a Reality: A Transition Services Collaboration for Students with Disabilities. He has two Master’s Degrees; one in Educational Administration from Pepperdine University and and the second degree in special education from the National University with his thesis topic project; Conquering the Block: Analyzing Class Schedules for Students with Special Needs. He earned bachelor’s degrees Dr. Jack Plotkin. in foreign affairs and Spanish also from the University of Virginia. During his tenure as principal of El Segundo Middle School, Dr. Plotkin was named the Middle Grades Principal of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators Region 14 in 2016, brought to fruition the ESUSD Board of Education’s goal to achieve an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, as well as earned the middle school the California School Board Association’s Golden Bell Award and designation as a California Gold Ribbon School by the California Department of Education. – Content and Photo Provided by ESUSD El Camino Awards $800,000 in Student Scholarships Scholarships from the El Camino College Foundation will play a part in helping hundreds of students reach their academic goals. The El Camino College Foundation Scholarship Program has awarded more than $800,000 in scholarships to 650 El Camino College students for the 2016-2017 academic year. Recipients had the opportunity to meet donors at the annual Scholarship Awards Ceremony on May 11. The diverse scholarship program at El Camino College provides critical support to students in a variety of academic disciplines. Scholarships are awarded based on academic achievement, financial need, leadership and community service, organizational, and campus club affiliations, among other criteria. Juan Venerio, a chemistry major, earned a $1,000 Edison Scholars scholarship. He said he hopes to pursue research in a laboratory working in pharmaceuticals. Juan graduated from high school in Nicaragua in 2013, and started attending El Camino College the next year after a recommendation from his father. He said he has always had an affinity for science, but discovered his love for chemistry in his college courses. He also joined the ECC Math, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program, which offers rigorous coursework, leadership preparation and problem-solving workshops, in addition to access to the MESA/STEM Center to meet with study groups. MESA became an important part of the college experience to Juan. Another outstanding scholarship recipient is Yoon (Eunice) Cho, an ECC liberal studies major who earned a $1,000 Barth Family Scholarship. She plans to transfer to California State University, Long Beach this fall, where she’ll earn a bachelor’s degree and teaching credential. For more information about the El Camino College Foundation Scholarship Program, contact the El Camino College Foundation at www.elcamino.edu/foundation or call 310-660-3683. – Provided by El Camino College • Timely Advice for Grads, Families About Student Loans By Rob McCarthy A college education in California was free not that long ago. The University of California system didn’t charge residents tuition before 1970, and two-year community colleges like El Camino were free to attend until 1985. Even graduate students got a free ride. To the class of 2017, the era of a free education must sound like ancient history. Today’s college students leave campus more than $30,000 in student debt, according to figures from the government and private lenders. They enter a university with an interest in science, education, medicine or business. They leave four or five years later with a loan balance and six months’ reprieve before the first loan payment--plus interest--is due. Some families are questioning whether a college education is worth the price anymore, considering that it might take 10 or 20 years to pay off the student loans. Naysayers are quick to point to people like Bill Gates who quit college to start Microsoft. Yet, wage and employment data from the U.S. Labor Department support going to college and earning a degree despite the odds that a student will graduate with a debt load equal to his or her annual starting salary. No question that college is an expensive proposition for young adults and parents, yet a college degree equates to higher pay, according to the Economic Policy Institute. It compared 2015 wages of college graduates vs. high school graduates in the workforce and found 56 percent higher pay for a college diploma. The current job market clearly favors college graduates because of the shift toward automation and technology in the workplace, the Institute noted. The class of 2017--from Westwood to Long Beach--is positioned for success in the techheavy job market in the region and South Bay. The pressure of final exams is behind them, however, another deadline is on the horizon. Students must being repaying their loans in six months unless they remain in school and pursue another degree. What happens though when a job search goes longer than six months or an entry-level job doesn’t pay enough to cover monthly living expenses and student loans? Well, it depends on who issued the loans. Whether a loan was issued by the federal government or a private student loan company, every student and family considering debt relief or asking for a deferment to repay should remember “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Scams and dishonest companies exist that only make a student borrower’s financial situation worse. There’s no good reason to pay for student debt relief because “a company can’t do anything you can’t do for yourself,” the Federal Trade Commission advises student borrowers on its website (www.consumer.ftc.gov). Last week, the FTC announced it broke up a student debt relief scam that targeted borrowers in the State of Washington, Ohio and Florida. A company calling itself Strategic Student Solutions enticed consumers for debt relief with promises of payments as low as zero dollars per month or cutting their monthly payments by 60 percent, according the feds. The scam operators told the student loan borrowers they would be enrolled in a loan forgiveness or payment reduction program, and that their monthly payments would be applied to their loans. The unsuspecting consumers with student debt saw their situations go from “bad to worse,” the FTC said. The debt relief operators didn’t enroll them in any loan forgiveness or payment reduction programs, and they discovered later that none of their monthly payments were applied to their student loan debt. It was a rip-off. “The bottom line: never pay an up-front fee to a company promising to deliver debt relief,” said Tom Pahl, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. The companies named in the federal complaint charged $1,200 upfront and $49 per month for their bogus services, the FTC said. They operated under the names Strategic Student Solutions, Strategic Debt Solutions, Student Relief Center and Credit Relief Center. These operators violated federal laws by deceiving consumers, telemarketing fake financial services and offering credit repair for an upfront fee, which is against the Credit Repair Organizations Act. For the class of 2017 and their families, here are some legitimate no-cost programs for managing a student’s debt. Keep in mind, student debt is rarely forgiven--even by the federal government. Federal Loan Relief Getting debt relief is easier with federal loans than with private student loans issued by Sallie Mae, Wells Fargo or Discover. The Department of Education offers these free programs that may help: Income-based repayment plans: Monthly payments are based on the borrower’s earnings. Deferment: Monthly payments are postponed temporarily, though the principal may continue to accrue interest. Loan consolidation: A borrower’s federal loans are bundled into a single federal loan with one monthly payment. Loan forgiveness: In very limited circumstances, a borrower won’t have to repay some of all of his or her student loans. The exceptions are granted for people in certain jobs, with disabilities, or if their school closed or committed fraud. Under certain income-based repayment plans, any balance on a student loan that remains after 20 to 25 years is forgiven. However, the IRS may collect income taxes on the loan amount that is forgiven. See Student Loans, page 14
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