Hawthorne Press Tribune The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - October 20, 2016 Home of the Hawthorne Football Team Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................2 Classifieds............................3 Community Briefs...............2 Finance..................................7 Food.......................................8 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals............................4, 6-7 Police Reports.....................3 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 83˚/61˚ Saturday Sunny 75˚/58˚ Sunday Sunny 73˚/61˚˚ HalCap Field is home to the Hawthorne High School football team. The Cougars remained undefeated in the Ocean League with a 40-28 win over Santa Monica last Friday. Hawthorne will host Culver City Friday at 7 p.m. Photo by Eric Ramos Arts and Fitness Programs Fortified at Wiseburn Schools By Haleemon Anderson The Wiseburn Board of Trustees focused on extracurricular programming at its meeting last week, approving youth fitness and art programs to be provided by outside contractors. The Board approved a Youth Fitness Program, which will cover Juan de Anza students from grades 1 through 5, and grades 3 through 5 at Peter Burnett. The activities will be provided by the Westchester YMCA during regular school hours. The board authorized an agreement with P.S. Arts to continue providing visual and performing arts classes at the elementary level. Superintendent Tom Johnstone explained the district has contracted with the nonprofit organization for three years. The arts organization generally acts as coordinator of all programming, scheduling and personnel for the schools it serves. Board Vice President JoAnne Kaneda asked for clarification on the role of coordinator, and that motion was tabled. “They provide a pretty comprehensive arts program,” said Johnstone, noting P.S. Arts has increased services and full time music programming to 3rd grade. P.S. Arts was founded in response to continued cuts to arts programs and funding throughout the state. It operates arts programs as far north as Fresno and Greenville, California, providing yearlong arts education in dance, music, theater, and visual arts to every child during the regular school day. P.S. Arts’ website features Wiseburn, noting... “The Wiseburn Unified School District has a long history of having arts-rich schools and P.S. ARTS is proud to be serving 3 of its schools with arts programs. Juan de Anza’s and Peter J. Burnett’s 3rd-5th graders receive music classes and Juan Cabrillo’s students have had visual arts for the past 3 years.” Other local school districts that also contract with P.S. Arts include Compton, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale, LA Unified and Santa Monica. Students from Juan De Anza Elementary, along with Principal Albert Paredes, were present in the boardroom. The students demonstrated mobile devices built in class and an interactive game. The board and audience members at the meeting were invited to log on to the game using their smart phones and play along as the students showed off their skills at Kahoot. Game play was displayed in real time on the overhead projector and board members were quite competent at the game, although a student ultimately won. The learning platform allows students to create their own games using multiple choice questions. The game fosters friendly competition and according to the website getkahoot.com, “Kahoots are best played in a group setting”…where they create a “campfire moment--encouraging players to look up”… at the large screen display to find out how other players are doing. Phase two construction at the Wiseburn High School site is projected to start on December 19, said Johnstone. With approval from the state architect’s office, bids can be accepted starting November 18 until the 29th. Director of Facilities Vince Madsen clarified two proposals up for board approval. In the phase one scope, additional funding of $20 thousand is needed for the theatre building, for geotechnical monitoring and soil testing. In addition, a design survey is needed at the parking lot site. Now that the area has been cleared, the survey is a precaution to avoid potential sinkholes before the lot is filled, said Madsen. Both proposals passed unanimously. Board member Nelson Martinez acknowledged the work of Maintenance & Operations Manager Bill Denney, who was on hand at the meeting. “The schools look phenomenal,” said Martinez. “It’s one of the many reasons I’m proud to be a part of this board and this school district.” VP Kaneda also thanked Denney and his team, saying, “The district’s schools just seem to glow. It’s something to be truly proud of.” Board Member Neil Goldman reported on the arts commission and said he was happy to get it going and moving toward getting the director position filled. Board Member Roger Banuelos attended 6th grade camp. He acknowledged the weekend programming was a change and thanked everyone who participated. He also reported on the area-wide anti-bullying event at the Forum. Martinez also attended the event and reported Wiseburn 6th graders attended. He said it would be worthwhile to share the information with other grades, and asked if the event was taped for simulcast. Assistant Superintendent Chris Jones said over five thousand students were in attendance. Chief Business Officer David Wilson reported a surplus of $1.3 million from one-time state funds for 2015-16, will result in $515 thousand in surplus this year. Wilson also reported that rentals of the district’s sports facilities to local volleyball clubs and other teams nets $30 thousand in profits yearly, putting Wiseburn’s gym accounts at $118 thousand. The board funds Wiseburn sports programs through the account and also provides upkeep and maintenance on the Dana Gym. Jones reported that all available sports fields and gyms are getting maximum usage with Harmony, AYOS and volleyball coming in on Saturdays. Board President Israel Mora, who participated in the meeting via phone, thanked the board for their patience and assured everyone he will return to the boardroom in two weeks. It was announced the Dana Middle School yearly Spooktacular will take place on Friday, October 28th from 5:00-7:30 p.m. The next regular meeting of the Wiseburn Unified School District Board will be held on October 27 at 7 p.m. The board meets every second and fourth Thursday, unless otherwise announced; the meeting is preceded by a onehour closed session. • “The Wiseburn Unified School District has a long history of having arts-rich schools and P.S. ARTS is proud to be serving 3 of its schools with arts programs”
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