Page 6 December 8, 2016 EL SEGUNDO HERALD ES High Students Launch Computer Science/Internet Safety Workshops See School Spotlight, page 14 Burkley & Brandlin LLP Douglass A T T O R N E Y S A T L A W Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litiga tion 310-540-6000 Lifetime El Segundo Residents *AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization Brian R. Brandlin • Bruce R. Brandlin • Christopher P. Brandlin M O R T U A R Y “Our Family Serving Yours Since 1954” B U R I A L - C R E M A T I O N - W O R L D W I D E T R A N S F E R P E T M E M O R I A L P R O D U C T S 500 EAST IMPERIAL AVENUE EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA 90245 Telephone (310) 640-9325 • Fax (310) 640-0778 • FD658 Herald in Laos As they continue their extended journey through Southeast Asia and take in some of the world’s most exotic locales, Peter and Wendy stopped in Luang Prabang, Laos with a trusty copy of the El Segundo Herald in hand. They admitted, “From time to time we miss our family, friends and the home cooking back in El Segundo.” School Spotlight Program Benefits District Elementary Students El Segundo High School (ESHS) student mentors’ new Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative (ESCEI) has launched its first Computer Science/Internet Safety Workshop, attracting 52 El Segundo fourth- and fifth-grade GATE students and their parents. The young protégés laughed, cheered and questioned the high school student mentors during the interactive workshop. The students played educational software games to detect “Trojan viruses” and used ESCEI’s customized QR codes to learn complex computer science fundamentals on their school-issued iPads. ESHS junior Shrenil Sharma founded the ESCEI in September, recruiting his peers from the Project Lead the Way Engineering Pathway and the ESHS Computer Science Club. Sharma, who plans to major in computer science at a four-year university, has won several awards with his teammates at the annual Chevron Design Challenge at both the regional and state levels. Grateful for the support he has received from his ESHS teachers, the engineering student said that he wanted to create a cyber education club as a way for ESHS students to give back. In addition to Sharma, the ESCEI student mentors are Hayden Crabbs, Carson Doering, Joseph Karrer, Ben Kooper, Thomas Martinez, Adrian Osorio, and Nolan Young. “We want to help elementary students learn what to expect about the engineering program in high school,” said Sharma. “Sometimes kids can get intimidated when being taught by adults. We find that they are more comfortable working with student mentors and open up to ask lots of questions.” ESCEI mentors presented their younger students with an educational video that their production team created for the program. The video reviewed the rapid progress of technology and explained why it’s so beneficial to get ahead of the game, even when you’re only ten years old. “When these kids grow up, there will be new jobs that haven’t even been created yet, most of which will have some field of computer science as an integral skill. It’s estimated that 71 percent of new STEM jobs ESHS 11th grade student Carson Doering mentors fourth and fifth grade students from Richmond and Center Street Schools during the inaugural Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative (ESCEI) workshop. ESCEI was organized by a group of ESHS Engineering Pathway students as a way to give back to the community, while also advancing STEM education. Founding members of the ESHS Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative (left to right) front row: Benjamin Kooper, Shrenil Sharma, Carson Doering. Back row: Thomas Martinez, Nolan Young, Hayden Crabbs, and Joseph Karrer. Photos Provided by El Segundo Unified School District. Some Comments on El Segundo’s Aquatics History By Jim Norris Before the Urho Saari Swim Stadium (The Plunge) was built in 1941, El Segundo had an earlier pool. It was located on the south side of Richmond School where the cafeteria is situated today. Hot water was piped from the Standard Oil stills. First it was salt water and then it switched to fresh water. “Pop” Randall, a school employee, was the manager and taught many kids to swim here. This early pool was sometimes divided with a curtain with women on one side and men on the other. Free swimming in the evening and Monday was men’s nude night! Mildred Spargo, in an oral interview, did not mention women’s nude night… In the 1930s El Segundo High School (ESHS) coach Harvey Hazeltine had boys and girls swim teams – the students drove their own cars to meets with local high schools. ESHS had a water polo team as early as 1928. Urho Saari was a championship butterfly swimmer at a Buffalo, New York high school and then at Buffalo State College where he is in their hall of fame. After he and Wanda were married, they moved to Southern California where he attended UCLA and obtained a California Teaching Credential. Meanwhile he managed the Beverly Hills Municipal Pool and coached at the Hollywood YMCA. When the swimming coaching position opened at ESHS, he was hired and had his first teams in 1942. He began the K-12 swimming instruction that still continues. A rite of passage for young swimmers was their movement from the small pool to a lap in the “big” pool. It has been estimated that 20,000 students learned to swim with Saari’s instruction. For some ESHS senior boys, a rite of passage was sneaking into The Pllunge for a night swim. Audrey Drebbing lived across the street from the pool and if she saw a police car pull up, she would ring the pool and we would know to stop moving and be silent for awhile. It was a challenge to jump off the high board in the dark. It has been rumored that several classes snuck in coed and swam in the nude? Saari was called to the US Army in 1943 and served in Wisconsin at a language school. When this closed, he was transferred to India where Sgt. Saari organized water carnivals for 6,000 American, Australian and New Zealand troops on R & R. Here he played and coached water polo, obtaining an international background to the sport. Mr. Brugh and Mr. Kelly kept the ESHS swimming and water polo program going during Saari’s Army service. Upon his return to ESHS in 1946, a remarkable and unequaled record in CIF water polo and swimming began (John Stevenson’s record in baseball is very similar). In 1947, the ESHS water polo team won El Segundo’s first CIF championship and many CIF swimming and water polo championships followed that win. Saari continued his leadership in American water polo, helping organize the Southern California Water Polo and Swimming Officials Association with Hap Wear, Steve Ellish, the Pouchers, John Morrow, Ken the head of the CIF, and Jim Schulz. He also served for years on CIF, SPAAU, and the National and International rules committees. The ESHS 1947 team--Harry Bisbey, Bill Dornblaser, Bob Hughes, Bill Lake, Jim Norris, Jack Spargo, Pete Stange--was unique in that the same group stayed together for the 1948 Olympic Water Polo Trials in St. Louis, won the 1951 Pan American Water Polo Trials in El Segundo, won the 1952 Olympic Water Polo Trials in New York and finished in a tie for first in the 1955 Pan American Water Polo Trials. The Los Angeles team went to Mexico City, winning on the highest goal points.All the 1947-1955 team members were Korean conflict veterans and all went on to work as area beach lifeguards. See Aquatics, page 9
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