EL SEGUNDO HERALD August 29, 2019 Page 3
School Spotlight
El Segundo School Board Approves
Joint Agreement with the City
Tuesday evening, the night before classroom
sessions resumed in the El Segundo Unified
School District (ESUSD) for the 2019/20
school year, School Board members approved
Douglass
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Eagles Look to Rebound This Season
By Gregg McMullin
The El Segundo football team missed out
on advancing to the CIF Southern Section
playoffs last season after a 5-5 finish. It
marked the first time in eight seasons the
Eagles missed out on playing in the playoffs.
Head coach Steve Shevlin, starting his 26th
season, believes the Eagles will be in contention
to return to the playoffs despite being
in one of the South Bay’s toughest leagues.
Culver City is the top ranked team in the
CIS-SS Division 5, Lawndale is ranked third
in Division 3 and Santa Monica is ranked
fourth. Besides a challenging Ocean League
schedule the Eagles will have face Peninsula
ranked seventh in Division 10, North Torrance
sixth in Division 9 and Mira Costa, which
is a perennial powerhouse.
Coach Shevlin, with 153 career wins, is
second behind Mira Costa head coach Don
Morrow for most wins in the South Bay.
He says the success he’s had can be traced
to the assistant coaches that have been part
of the program over the years. This season
there has been a lot of changeover with the
coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Dan
Heck, DB coach Tyler Murray, OL coach
Jeramie Stewart, DB/OLB coach Nick Kessler
have decided to step down after years
of dedication to the program. The transition
has been very smooth and the continuity of
the program hasn’t missed a beat according
the Shevlin.
Coach Heck has retired after a stellar 10
year career as the Eagles Defensive Coordinator.
Long time veteran coach Mike Wagner
will be take over the defense. Shawn Green
has been promoted to associate head coach
for the Eagles. Coach Green brings his 19
years of experience as a head coach and assistant
coach at the lower levels. Shaun Kemp
returns as an assistant coach with the OL/
DL for the Eagles while first year assistant
Marco Bowers will handle defensive backs.
Paul Keiser returns to the Varsity level after
serving as the co- defensive coordinator on
the freshman level the last four years will
serve as the defensive line coach. Long time
assistants Jason Parker will handle RB/LB,
Jeff Puffer and Joey Bolder the defensive line
return. Darin Glotz will be the frosh/soph
head coach while Makanna McCarty will
assist as the frosh/soph defensive coordinator.
The Offense Key Returnees
WR- Scott Melton – 6’2”/180 Sr., WR-
James Pearson 6’2”/170 Jr.; WR/RB - James
Fraelich 5’9”/ 165 Sr.,;FB/RB - Arman Sayson
5’9”/200 Sr. All- Ocean League RB; OL-
Justin Delgado - 5’11”/260 Sr. All-Ocean
League; OL- Adrian Wexler - 6’2/225 Jr.;
OL - Alex Everard 5”11/210 and OL - Gerardo
Blanco - 6’2”/260 Sr.; and OL - Ben
Villa - 5’11/180 Jr.
Newcomers
Connor Hochberg 5’9”/165, Matt Higginbotham
5’11”/180; Aiden Pagel 6’0”/260,
Wyatt Coulter- 6’1”/185; Duke Sanders
5’11”/185; Cody Simmons 5’11/180; Sam
Pachuta 6’1”/170; Mason Kahn 5’11/165;
Conrad Bernstein 5’11”/165; and Jack Stoker
5”10”/160
The offense returns All-Ocean League running
back Arman Sayson who averaged 6.3
yards per carry and scored nine touchdowns.
With the loss of two-year starting quarterback,
Matt Romero, to graduation Nick Villa
moves from his All-Ocean League cornerback
position into the starting role under center.
With his speed, arm and athleticism Villa is a
natural to lead the Eagles. The offense returns
a lot of experience including Scott Melton,
James Fraelich, Julian Rodriguez, and James
Pearson. According to Coach Shevlin each
has had an outstanding summer camp and
should help ignite the offense. Kyle Myers,
Matt Kusserow and Cody Simmons could
also see plenty of action. The offensive
line has four starters returning including
All Ocean League three year starter Justin
Delgado. Others include Gerardo Blanco,
Adrian Wexler, and Alex Everard and parttime
starter Ben Villa. Depth won’t be an
issue with three talented sophomores Damian
Garcia, Aiden Pagel, and Matt Higginbotham
ready for action.
The Defense Key Returnees
DT- Luis Beas – Sr. 5’11”/180; DE- Jose
Hurtado – Sr. 5”10”/170; LB - Jackson Ross
Sr. 5’11”/180 All Ocean League; LB - David
Madrid Sr. 5’11”/180; LB- Julian Rodriguez
Jr. 6’1”/185; CB - Kyle Myers – Sr. 5’10”/160;
and FS- James Fraelich, SS- Scott Melton
Others to Watch
Ray Silva – Sr. LB 5’9”/170, Kahlel
Flores-Cummings –Jr. LB 5’10”/175,;Justin
Gil –Jr.- LB 5’10”/170, Duce Spivey- Soph
5’9” 165 CB/F; and Higginbotham LB,
Sayson LB, Pearson DE, Pagel DT, Sanders
DT, Nick Villa- FS/CB
Defensively, the team returns a core from
last season led by linebackers including
All-Ocean League Jackson Ross, Julian
Rodriguez and David Madrid. All Ocean
League defensive back Nick Villa has moved
to QB but could play some free safety. Also
returning is defensive back Kyle Myers who
had an outstanding summer in passing league
competition. The question mark of the defense
could be the line. Adrian Wexler will start
at DE besides playing on the offensive line.
Luis Beas was outstanding a season ago and
will be one of the defensive unit’s leaders.
Other key contributors will be seniors Don
Robinson, and Jose Hurtado as well as juniors
Wyatt Coulter and James Pearson.
Overall the outlook is bright for the Eagles
entering the season. The Eagles have a challenging
non league schedule opening up
on the road with Peninsula (CIF Finalists
last year) on Friday at 3 p.m.; at home on
September 6 against North Torrance (Semi
Finalist last season); at Mira Costa (Quarter
Finalist) on September 13; at an improved
Torrance on September 20; and at home on
September 27 against South Torrance; all
games at 7 p.m. unless otherwise indicated.
Long Over Due
This will be the last season the El Segundo
high school athletic program will compete
in the Ocean League. Starting the fall of
2020 the Eagles will return to the Pioneer
League where they belong. The Eagles will
face Torrance, West Torrance, North Torrance,
South Torrance and Lawndale in the
revamped Pioneer League.
Kelsey Cummings
Wins Pier to Pier
Former Eagle standout Kelsey Cummings
repeated as the first woman finisher in the
International Surf Festival Dwight Crum
Pier to Pier swim. Her time of 38:27 was
good for seventh best out of 1,023 finishers.
Cummings led the Eagles to a 2008 CIF-SS
Division III title. •
Wiseburn School Board Meets Briefly,
Looks Forward to the New School Year
By Duane Plank
Time flies when you are having fun, it is
said, and time has definitely flown for the
younger students in the Wiseburn Unified
School District (WUSD), who went back to
the classrooms two days ago, many gearedout
with the pre-requisite new and stylish
back-to-school attire.
For the long-time members of the WUSD
School Board, last Thursday evening’s very
short meeting (30-minutes), was probably a
welcome detour from the anticipated longer
meetings as the Board meets typically twice
monthly in regular session to guide the path
of the WUSD in 2019/20.
With no special presentations on the agenda
last Thursday evening, the assembled Board
members gave very brief reports, with Vice
president/Clerk Roger Banuelos noting how he
was “really looking forward to the new school
year,” but noting how his children were “not so
much” looking forward to spending their days
in the classroom. Banuelos referenced “a lot
of excitement” in the start of the school year
and shared the past successes of the District’s
robotics team, and how they will be hosting a
regional competition in the District in 2020.
Board President JoAnne Kaneda acknowledged
the recent change in administrative
positions in the District, with two new principals
taking over since the conclusion of the
2018/19 school year. She called it a “huge
effort” to identify and qualify new personnel
and thanked all who have worked to make
that happen. “You have done a wonderful job
through a time of huge change,” she said. She
also noted how she “loves walking the community”
and hearing the calm and optimistic
vibes “about living and schooling in Wiseburn.”
Chief Financial Officer Dave Wilson then
spoke, thanking all the team members who
have pitched in over the short summer to
make sure that there is a seamless transition
“Football is fantastic because you can live
great emotion through a big competition.”
– Hugo Lloris
See WUSD, page 7
a joint agreement with the City of
El Segundo for the use and payment for of
the parking lot property at Richmond Street
School (RSS).
The agreement stipulates that the City will
pay 70% for the construction of the parking
lot, around $307,206, and the District will
chip in the remaining 30%, in the area of
$131,660. Similar percentages were agreed
upon when the City and the District entered
a joint agreement in 2018 to repair the aging
Urho Saari Swim Stadium, know locally as
the Plunge.
The City Council gave their approval to
the joint agreement with the District at their
meeting of Aug. 20.
While there were five special presentations
on the Tuesday evening agenda, four
were relatively brief. The oath of office was
administered to new student representative to
the Board Ella Tichy, who then gave her first
report. New school resource officer Stephanie
Martinez was next introduced to the Board
by El Segundo Police Department Lieutenant
Dan Kim, who also “re-introduced” school
resource officer Joe Cameron to the current
configuration of the Board.
El Segundo Education Foundation (Ed!) CEO
Carol Pirsztuk then gave her monthly report,
highlighting upcoming foundation fundraisers
and events as Ed! gears up to try to exceed
their fundraising goals ($1.8 million) for the
school year. The final, lengthier presentation
was helmed by Dr. Dylan Farris, the District’s
Executive Director of Human Resources. He
introduced a proposal to the Board that has the
ESUSD entering into a short- term agreement
with Alder University for the development of
a teacher residency program that will support
Alder students as they work towards a Master’s
Degree and teaching credential during the
2020/21 school year. The ESUSD will partner
with four District’s in the ambitious program,
including Da Vinci Schools, Environmental
Charter, WISH Charter, and ICEF.
Prior to speaking about the Alder opportunity,
Farris noted how the ESUSD had a “record
number of new teacher-hires” for the 2019/20
school year.
The Board next tackled consent agenda items,
including the approval of the annual Outdoor
Science School contract, which sixth graders
at the Middle School are able to participate
See ESUSD, page 6