Hawthorne Press Tribune Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - October 15, 2015 Hold Your Own Star Party with the White House on Astronomy Night President Barack Obama looks through a telescope on the South Lawn of the White House at the first White House Astronomy Night in 2009. The White House will be hosting another Astronomy Night on October 19, 2015, and invites the public to hold their own astronomy nights. If you or your organization is interested in hosting an observing night or watch party in conjunction with the White House Astronomy Night, you are invited to tell the White House about your event at https://www.whitehouse.gov/webform/astronomy-night-share-your-supporting-event. For more, see page 7. Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy. Council Votes Unanimously To Join President Obama’s Initiative To Aid Youth By Derrick Deane After a series of tense meetings, the first city council meeting of October began on a positive note. Hawthorne became the fifth city in Los Angeles County to join President Barack Obama’s initiative to help young men of color and youth to achieve success during their school years and throughout life. Mayor Pro Tem Olivia Valentine introduced a presentation by Human Resources Director David Roberts for President Obama’s ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ Initiative/Challenge. “I could see myself in these young men,” Obama said in a video presentation about a program in Chicago that helped underprivileged men get help with school and learn life lessons. “The only difference was that I grew up in an environment that was a little bit more forgiving. I firmly believe that every child should have the same chances that I had.” Obama signed a presidential memorandum to, “determine what we can do to help boys and young men of color. We’re committed to building on what works and we’re calling this My Brother’s Keeper,” Obama said. “President Obama decided to get the private sector, the public sector, foundations and some great individuals and entrepreneurs and get them all involved to ensure that these young men can go on and be successful in life,” Magic Johnson, a participant in the project, said. “This is key for America, not just the black and brown community.” On September 2014, President Obama issued a challenge to cities, towns, counties, and tribes across the country to try and become a part of the program. The challenge encourages communities to implement a coherent cradle-to-college-to-career strategy and to improve the life outcomes of all young people. The program also endeavors to help young people to reach their full potential, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or the circumstances to which they are born. Nearly 200 mayors and tribal leaders along with county executives across 43 states have so far accepted the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Initative. Four cities within Los Angeles County have so far accepted the challenge and Valentine seeks to make Hawthorne the fifth to accept the challenge. The MBK Initiative involves six key goals; to ensure all children enter school cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally ready, to ensure that all children read at grade level by 3rd grade, to ensure all youth graduate from high school, to ensure all youth complete post-secondary education or training, to ensure all youth out of school are employed, and finally to ensure all youth remain safe from violent crime. “With these goals, there are a lot of questions, naturally,” Roberts said. “In order to initiate and help the MBK Initiative to flourish, community leaders can lay the groundwork in four steps. First would be to accept the President’s challenge which we can do under the direction of Council. Second, we need to convene a ‘Local Action Summit’ to build an MBK community which would consist of several leaders, not just from the public sector but from the private sector as well.” “Specifically when we say community, we’re not just saying the city council step up and do their part, this is asking the city of Hawthorne to step up,” Roberts continued. Roberts highlighted that Hawthorne Police Chief Robert Fager was eager to join the challenge and stood up at a local summit to speak on the topic. Valentine and Mayor Chris Brown were also invited and attended the summit along with principals from Leuzinger and Hawthorne high schools. “We’re not just talking about young men that are at risk, but we’re also speaking to pre-school children, elementary, junior high and both of the high schools,” Roberts said. “We’ll be reaching out to other teachers and constituents in the city. It is a large project, but it is one that can be successful and we can see the lives of our youth changed.” The two other steps involve the local summit conducting a policy review and form recommendations for action and launch a plan of action. “Right now, of our young men of color from the ages of 16 to 24, nearly 25 percent of them are what they call ‘disconnected’,” Roberts said. “What that means is they are either unemployed or not in school.” Roberts said that the trickle-down effect of having that many people not employed would result in $2.1 trillion of losses in the GDP from communities around the country. Councilwoman Angie Reyes English brought up the question of what the city needs to do to participate in the program. Roberts replied that there aren’t any finances that the city needs to provide. Instead, there is a possibility that the city could receive money to execute the program. Additionally, the city would need to provide a location for the community to meet such as the Memorial Center. “It’s very important that we look at this as a project that we can use to help our children, especially with the achievement gap in California,” Alex Montero, a participant in the program, said. “We need to have some type of program like this in place that does not involve money. It involves participation, mentors, and tutoring so that children can succeed in life.”• Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................6 Classifieds............................3 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals............................2, 6-7 Looking Up...........................7 Police Reports.....................3 Seniors..................................5 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 79˚/70˚ Saturday Partly Cloudy 79˚/70˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 75˚/66˚ The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
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