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The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 107, No. 39 - September 27, 2018
Inside
This Issue
Calendar of Events.............2
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................10
Classifieds............................4
Community Briefs...............2
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Food Guide.........................11
Herald In...............................2
Legals.................................8,9
Real Estate.......................5-8
Sports....................................3
Weekend
Forecast
Summer Adult Softball Champs
The El Segundo Commercial Pros battled through a challenging and highly competitive adult softball league that featured 28 teams with 450 participants. After all was said and done, they emerged as the
Summer 2018 City Champions. Photo: City of El Segundo.
Author Fair and New Programs
Highlight Busy Fall for Library
By Brian Simon
Change continues to be the norm these days
at the El Segundo Public Library. A new director
came aboard several months ago, technology
upgrades are in place with more on the way,
and renovations are in the planning stages.
Several programs also recently debuted, with
others on the calendar as the Library looks
to evolve to keep pace with today’s rapidly
shifting world.
For instance, yesterday morning was the
first of many scheduled monthly “Community
Conversations” the Library will hold to engage
local citizens of all ages in a collaborative
effort to provide input and ideas on how
to improve quality of life in El Segundo.
The inaugural meeting of the minds took
place at the Joslyn Center. “Conversations
will be held on various days, times and locations
throughout town and we are turning
to our community members to learn more
about their aspirations for El Segundo,”
Senior Librarian Julie Todd explained. The
conversation moderators implement communication
tools provided by the Harwood
Institute – a non-profit that helps communities
“turn outward” to “become a collective force
for change.” Todd and colleague Kristina
Kora-Beckman received a grant from the
California State Library to attend the Harwood
training this past May.
Another innovative new program in the
works is an upcoming partnership with the
El Segundo Museum of Art (ESMoA) in
which the two organizations will invite visitors
to connect with so-called “living books”
as a way to “foster empathy and break down
stereotypes.” Experience 16: EMPATHY will
involve short, 20-minute conversations with
the volunteer participants who will include a
“radical librarian, a refugee, an artist, and a drag
queen.” They will be available for “checkout”
during two events set for Oct. 25 from 5 p.m.
to 7:30 p.m. at ESMoA; and Oct. 27 from 1
p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Library. The impetus
for the program is the Human Library, which
premiered in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2000
and then spread across that continent and to
the United States. The goal, Library Director
Melissa McCollum noted, is to “break through
prejudices and develop understanding by encouraging
people to talk to individuals they
may not normally meet.” Those interested in
“checking out” one of the participants may do
so in advance (and don’t need a library card).
The events will also include a portrait exhibit
of the “human books.”
As highlighted in the Herald in July, Mc-
Collum joined the City of El Segundo in June.
She reports that she loves the job so far. She
introduced two new monthly programs in
September – Library Yoga and Library Meditation
- in partnership with the Department of
Recreation and Parks and local wellness and
fitness nurse Carol Hahn. The Youth Services
Department will introduce new programs this
fall as well, including Family Storytime and
Bilingual Storytime.
See Library, page 10
El Segundo School Board Hears
Presentation on Middle School
By Duane Plank
With just six weeks left until local voters
fill three open El Segundo School Board
seats and face a $92 million bond ask, the
current members viewed and shared their
thoughts on the first of five state of the
school presentations. Helmed by secondyear
El Segundo Middle School (ESMS)
Principal Melissa Gooden, administrators
and school instructional staff made their
presentation to the Board Tuesday evening.
The presentation began with a demographic
student breakdown covering the
last two school years and 2018/19. The
2017/18 highlights were noted, including
ESMS’s selection as an Apple Distinguished
School, and designation by the California
Department of Education as a prestigious
“School to Watch” – which Gooden said
was a culmination of the effective teaching
that has been ongoing at the campus.
Student achievement was next highlighted,
with data shared with the Board regarding
student proficiency in meeting or exceeding
established standards over grade levels in
English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics.
In the past school year, sixth grade
students saw a drop in ELA scores, standards
met or exceeded by 11 percent; and
a 16 percent drop in a similar Math metric.
Seventh graders basically stayed static
in both ELA and Math metrics, and the
eighth graders saw a drop in the meeting
See School Board, page 9
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
75˚/65˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
72˚/63˚
Sunday
Sunny
74˚/63˚