March 25, 2013 (El Cajon) – Nearly 3,000 volunteers and students statewide from elementary grades through high school converged on Cuyamaca College all day Saturday for the 2013 California Destination Imagination State Tournament, a precursor to a global competition designed to help children develop critical thinking skills in a fun, creative way.

The students worked since last fall on the Team Challenge portion of the competition, choosing from among seven technical, scientific, fine arts, structural engineering and community service projects created by the non-profit organization, Destination Imagination, based in Cherry Hill, N.J.  The 200 teams that competed Saturday already won a top spot in one of California’s seven regional competitions held in February. Local schools represented included Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, Flora Vista Elementary School in Encinitas, and multiple schools from Cardiff and Encinitas.

By L.D. Thompson

March 18, 2013 (City Heights) -- Crawford High School student Terrance Hall said he doesn't always have bus fare and has to walk 18 blocks to get to school.  Over 400 students in the Center City area alone take the bus to school every day at a cost of $5.00  per day or a regional monthly  bus pass of up to $72.00.

School Superintendent Richard Barrera reported that for four years he has been asking Mayor Jerry Sanders to do something to relieve students and parents alike of this unfair burden only to have his request fall on deaf ears. However the election of Bob Filner as San Diego’s new Mayor changed all that. 

Saturday morning, the Improving Transportation in City Heights (ITCH) held a press conference to witness the signing of a pledge to provide students free transportation on the city owned transit system.

March 18, 2013 (Lemon Grove) -- Lemon Grove Academy hosts its first Underage Drinking Forum for parents and students. Phil Hubbs, from the Proactive Network Against Substance Abuse (PRONASA), will be presenting information to parents about current drug and alcohol trends among youth. Additional speakers include: M.A.D.D., Friday Night Live, Lemon Grove Academy parents and students.

Students will participate in break-out sessions with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) and Friday Night Live to learn about the dangers of drugs and underage drinking. Families are invited to arrive at 5:30 p.m. for a complimentary dinner before presentations begin. The event will be held at the Lemon Grove Academy, 7866 Lincoln Street, on Thursday, March 21 with dinner at 5:30 and presentations from 6:00-7:30 p.m. 

Update March 15, 2013:  The Board appointed Gerald Lecko to fill the vacancy.

March 11, 2013 (San Diego’s East County ) – A preacher, a scientist, a substitute teacher,  an architect, an IT tech for the Navy, and a  PTA president are all vying for appointment to the La Mesa Spring Valley School Board to replace Penny Halgren, who resigned for personal reasons. The LMSV board has decided to fill the vacancy by appointment to avoid costs of a special election.

On March 14, the board will hear from the applicants and take public comments before casting their votes at the special meeting.Six candidates, listed in alphabetical order, are Steve Babbitt, Robert Divine II, Gerald “Jerry “ Lecko, Ben Motten, Jay Steiger, and Mike Stewart. For details on each, scroll down. 

March, 8, 2013 (La Mesa)--Fun with Physics introduces all ages and the entire family to fun, hands-on science experiments. Fun with Physics will be held on Saturday, March 16, from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the La Mesa Boys and Girls Teen Club & Highwood Park, 7775 Junior High Drive, La Mesa, 91941. Experiments include: Bubbles, Sink or Float, Oobleck, Dry Ice Experiments, Airplanes and Helicopters and more. Come join the Fun!

March 4, 2013 (Jamul) – The water saving garden at Jamul Primary School has just been selected to receive a $5,000 grant from the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation.  “Catch Our Rainwater!” is the next major project planned by school garden directors Lois Young and Cass Crain.

“Our goal is to provide an outdoor learning environment for children, and a model for the community of sustainable gardening practices for our dry climate,” says Ms. Young. “We’re on our way to a new level of water conservation.”

By Billy Ortiz

Video and pictures by Billy Ortiz 

March 4, 2013 (Lakeside)--Children at the Lakeview School area in Lakeside now have a safer place to walk to school. To see a video of the sidewalk development process here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saUjx_WTvMY.

“Every one of the 12 companies that contributed more than $5,000 to the Grossmont Union High School District's Proposition U campaign in 2008 won a contract from the district.” – Voice of San Diego

Reprinted with permission from Voice of San Diego

Link to original story by Will Carless and Wendy Fry

Posted February 19, 2013 (updated February 27, 2013) 

From the Reporters:

The Question

We wanted to know whether major donors to school bond campaigns are likely to win contracts from school districts once the bond passes.

By Janis Mork

February 25, 2013 (Spring Valley)--CSEA’s (California School Employees Association) Chapter 419 has announced an agreement to save benefited positions in the Child Nutrition Department at La Mesa-Spring Valley School District middle schools.  

Anna Bongard, kitchen manager (left) with lunch workers Debbie Martin and Doris Evans

February 21, 2013 (El Cajon) -- Everyone has a favorite-teacher story – the memory often ingrained for life of a particular instructor whose love of the profession has proven inspiring. At Cuyamaca College, the Academic Senate each year recognizes one full-time and one part-time instructor selected by a faculty committee based on student nominations, rankings and reviews.

The winners of the Award for Teaching Excellence this year are Debra Babylon, an art instructor for 17 years and a two-time winner for her teaching prowess; and Eddie Sturgeon, a Superior Court judge by day and an adjunct law professor at Cuyamaca College two nights a week. 

SB 316 would require school doors to lock from the inside

February 20, 2013 (Sacramento)--State Senator Marty Block (D-San Diego, 39th district) introduced legislation Tuesday requiring all classrooms with five or more persons to install devices that allow doors to lock from the inside by January 1, 2015. The California Federation of Teachers is sponsoring the legislation.

Following the school shooting tragedies in Newtown, Conn. and Taft, Calif., schools are rethinking safety procedures, including additional protections against campus intruders. A 2010 analysis of similar legislation estimated that 70 percent of schools already have such locks. Without the locks, teachers must go outside to secure their classrooms during emergencies. Block’s proposal would ensure that every school regardless of age complies with the inside lock requirement.

Lemon Grove Filmmaker Jim Ellis Creates 33-Minute Documentary for Children, Parents to Watch Together

By Mark Gabrish Conlan

February 18, 2013 (Lemon Grove)--Nikki’s story is all too typical of the ones told in Lemon Grove filmmaker Jim Ellis’s new 33-minute documentary, Indoctrinated: The Grooming of Children Into Prostitution. At age 18, to raise the money to go to college, she took a job in a strip club. There she met an older man who helped her out financially, bought her nice clothes and accessories, and got her to fall in love with him and ultimately move in with him. Then he put the hammer down and told her that in order to keep her lifestyle — and his affections — she’d have to have sex with other men, for which he, not she, would be paid. Nikki’s story ends more happily than most such tales; she got out of “the life,” as prostitutes call it, and in her 20’s is trying to piece her life back together. She’s sufficiently self-assured that of all the present and former prostitutes Ellis interviewed, she was the only one who agreed to show her face on camera instead of having it electronically blurred.

February 17, 2013 (New York)--Pressman Toy (www.PressmanToy.com), announced winners of its first annual Mastermind Braintwister Challenge February 10 at its 110^th annual American International Toy Fair. The first place winners, 4^th grader Gaurov Bansal, age 10 from Stamford, CT; won for “Letters Equal Numbers” and 5^th grader Sophi Schneider, age 10 from Dresher, PA, won for “Wordsticks Mode 4 – Let’s Race.”  Each received a $1,000 scholarship.

Three Braintwister category winners were also awarded $100 each:

•          “Difficulty” – Luke Cepurac, 10, La Mesa, CA,  for his entry “Order Up”
•          “Skills” – Erica Blakely, 12, Tinley Park, IL, for her entry “Who, What, Where”
•          “Creativity” – Max Hartle, 12, Tampa, FL, for his entry “Air Attack”
  
  

Critics call action "meaningless"

February 12, 2013 (El Cajon )—Newly elected Grossmont Union High School District Board Trustee Jim Stieringer plans to introduce a resolution on the 12th high school for Alpine at the board meeting at 924 East Main Street, El Cajon.   The public portion of the meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, February 13.

The motion directs the GUHSD to developed modified building plans and submit to the Division of the State Architect  (DSA) –but only after it is determined that the Alpine School District Unification plan is either abandoned or fails to achieve voter approval. In addition, the site and building plans must be modified to stay within the remaining budget.

Elected officials, education leaders, celebrities to read aloud at underprivileged schools throughout San Diego County on February 14 

February 8, 2013  (La Mesa)--Rolling Readers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping low-income, at-risk children enjoy reading, will celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of its “Share Your Love of Reading” event on Valentine’s Day.