Page 2 June 29, 2017 Community Briefs SBWIB Receives $500,000 from EDD to Assist Veterans with Training and Jobs The South Bay Workforce Investment Board (SBWIB) has been awarded $500,000 to assist unemployed and underemployed veterans with barriers to employment find rewarding civilian jobs. The funding was made available through a Veterans’ Employment-Related Assistance Program (VEAP) offered by the State of California Employment Development Department (EDD) under the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA). The SBWIB/VEAP program will focus on training and placing veterans into the construction industry, a sector projecting thousands of new job openings in the next few years, in particular surrounding the construction of the new Inglewood football stadium. For veteran job seekers that may not fit within the construction sector, the SBWIB will assist them to find jobs in other industries. Training will be provided by local training agencies, community colleges and employers and will include pre-employment and job-readiness workshops, on-the-job training, paid work experience, and certified vocational training LA Metro Construction Lane Restrictions Through July 7 LA Metro will be performing ductbank work for the LAX/Crenshaw Line along Arbor Vitae Street in both eastbound and westbound lanes between Aviation Boulevard and Bellanca Avenue from Monday, June 26, to Friday, July 7, which will require alternating eastbound and westbound lane closures. Work on the segment is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each weekday. During the construction periods, lane closures will alternate leading to credentials and job placement. The program will service transitioning and recently separated veterans, veterans with service connected disabilities, eligible spouses, women and minority veterans, homeless veterans, veterans recently released from incarceration, veterans lacking a high school diploma or equivalent certificate and other veterans with barriers to finding employment. Outreach and recruitment will be supported by existing partnerships with local area employers, the Los Angeles Air Force Base, the EDD (JVSG) (DVOP) (LVER) and other community partners such as U.S. Vets. The SBWIB previously established the Military Veterans to Civilian Career Pathways program to assist with resources needed to secure gainful employment for vets and over seventy percent of veterans enrolled in the program find employment. The new SBWIB/VEAP program will open many more doors for veterans helping them to secure meaningful employment and successful careers. - Content: SBWIB between eastbound and westbound Arbor Vitae Street, though at least one eastbound lane and one westbound lane will always be maintained at all times. There will be no lane restrictions over the weekend of July 1-2, or during the Tuesday, July 4, Independence Day holiday. Motorists will also have the option to use Manchester Avenue as a detour during the construction period. - Content: Los Angeles World Airports Bill to Streamline Construction of Assisted Living Facility Passes Senate Committee Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi’s The construction of the facility will (D-Torrance) Assembly Bill (AB) 994 also bring many well-paying, middle-class unanimously passed the Senate Governance jobs to the South Bay. “The Beach Cities and Finance Committee last week. The bill Health District campus is in urgent need will allow a much-needed upgrade of the of upgrades. This bill will enable campus Beach Cities Health District’s (BCHD) campus construction of a much-needed assisted living to be built using a streamlined design-build facility for seniors to be completed utilizing construction method that will cut costs of a cost-effective construction method called construction by as much as 20 percent. The design-build, that will save taxpayers up upgrades include much-needed maintenance on to $20 million on planned projects,” said the original hospital facility, and construction Muratsuchi. “This construction project will of an assisted living center for the expanding also create good, middle-class jobs for the senior population in the South Bay. South Bay.” Wiseburn School Administration Selects New Principal for Cabrillo Elementary By Duane Plank Last Thursday evening’s Wiseburn School Board meeting featured a lengthy update on the state of the progress made by construction crews and affiliated workers at the new Wiseburn High School site at 201 N. Douglas Street. Balfour Beatty, the company that is managing the four-story, $140 million construction project that started taking shape in August of 2015, had representatives Wayne Roehmild and Don Rondeau on-hand to provide information on the project’s progress as workers strive to make deadlines that will allow the on-campus ribbon-cutting ceremony to take place on August 12, with the first day of classes at the new facility slated for August 22. Vince Madsen, Director of Facilities Planning, introduced the Balfour Beatty representatives, who said that while there were issues with some of the logistics of the project, workers had been toiling overtime to make sure that the facility would be ready to welcome students and staff when the doors officially open in less than two months. When asked by a Board member if there were any “surprises” being encountered on Douglas Street, Roehmild said that “while not everything has been perfect,” there were “no more surprises--just a lot of work.” IT issues, fire alarm integration, and getting the building elevators to mesh with the building’s infrastructure were mentioned as typical areas to still be addressed as a project of this magnitude moves into the final stages. Also present during the meeting to answer questions were Alvin Flores and Scott Griffith, representatives from the K-12 architectural design firm Ruhnau, Ruhnau and Clarke. The Board was set to approve the sum of $180,000, contracting with the firm to develop an architectural master plan and provide design services for the soon-to-be-vacated land at the west portion of Dana Middle School, bordering Aviation, once the District offices are moved to the new High School facility. The Board will officially vote on the item during a brief meeting scheduled the morning of June 28. The new facility will be known as the Dana West Sports Complex. Wiseburn Superintendent Tom Johnstone has mentioned the possibility of installing a full running track on the property. Not mentioned at the meeting, because it is pending Board approval, was the selection of the new principal for Juan Cabrillo Elementary. Prior to the meeting, Johstone said that Lisa Baggio, an assistant principal at Marco Forster Middle School in San Juan Capistrano, will be taking over for the retiring Margaret Lynch. The Board was expected to approve the appointment of Baggio at a very brief meeting that was set to take place yesterday morning. Emailed Baggio about her new position: “I am thrilled to have been selected as principal at Juan Cabrillo Elementary. It is an honor to become a part of such a prestigious district and school. I am truly looking forward to working with the dynamic team at Cabrillo. I am excited about getting to know all stakeholders and continuing the progressive work that Juan Cabrillo and Wiseburn Unified are known for.” Baggio will be joining the recently selected Kim Jones (Peter Burnett Elementary) as new school principals in the District for the 2017-18 school year. Jones’ selection was approved by the Board at the June 8 meeting. Baggio obtained a BA from Chapman University, a Masters from UC Irvine, and another Masters in Educational Leadership from UCLA, and has also worked in education in New York City. One of 17 initial applicants for the position, Baggio was one of three candidates called back for a second interview. Both Lynch and Laura Sullivan, principal at Burnett, who is also retiring, attended the Thursday evening meeting, and were praised by Board members for their years of service to the District. The only special presentation that took place during the 100-minute meeting was made by Sarah Nitsos, the District’s Intervention coordinator. Nitsos shared with the Board what she termed her “deep dive” into reading intervention, with a specific focus on K-2 students. Nitsos, who had served the District in a prior capacity as the principal at Anza, talked about the successes of Wiseburn’s 2016-17 reading intervention program. Initially focusing on K-2 readers in need of extra help to increase their reading comprehension, the program provides a goldmine of specific data that enabled Nitsos to not only help classroom teachers identify young learners who may be falling behind, but also grace teachers with specific information and data that they could use to help young learners improve their reading and comprehension skills. Said Nitsos: “My job was exploratory in nature, much like Christopher Columbus.” While each school site, she said, had previously had interventions, they were not necessarily synched-up throughout the District. She sought to develop a program that would be implemented throughout Wiseburn, provide teacher feedback--and not only be child-focused, but also allow teachers and administrators to mine available data. Post the special presentation, Board member comments ensued, with several asking about the program as it moved forward into the 2017-18 school year. Nitsos said she would like to see the program expand, but that would entail “personnel.” One of the limitations of intervention, she said, was the timeframe that current intervention personnel could devote to the program. Said Superintendent Johnstone: “It is a huge blessing to us to have a principal quality person that really has an unbelievable knowledge of students from the classroom level up to the principal level to be focused 100 percent of the time on this topic.” Lynch lauded the work done by Nitsos. She noted how it was very important for the District to create and fund the intervention coordinator position, and how Nitros has “brought it to life” and “brought the conversation from teachers talking about ‘my kids’ to teachers talking about ‘our kids.’” The next regularly scheduled Wiseburn Board meeting is on the docket for Thursday, July 20. • L i k e U s on Facebook Thank You to our Advertisers ! 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