Why I love Baccalaureate

Posted on 23. Jun, 2010 by kchristieh in education, religion

The night before my oldest child graduated from La Canada High School, our family attended the community-wide Baccalaureate ceremony at our local Catholic church, St. Bede the Venerable. The ecumenical ceremony included prayers, music, a featured speaker, and student speakers of different faiths. I’d never attended such a service, but I really appreciated having a chance to:

• Take time out to reflect upon what matters in life;
• Reflect upon how our children can make our world a better place;
• Appreciate the faith journeys of students of different faiths;
• Find our common ground;
• Gather together as a community of Seniors and their families. Graduation is so crowded, and so rushed afterwards. My best conversations with fellow parents, some of whom I’d met when our kids attended preschool together, occurred at Baccalaureate.

When I spoke to the organizer, she said that she’d tried to get student speakers from more faiths, but that some religious communities either didn’t have any teens they thought would speak or chose not to participate. I offered to help identify students that might be inspirational speakers when she organizes next year’s ceremony.

I’m all for separation of church and state, but I think that was adequately satisfied by holding this off-campus and making it completely optional. Also, because it was ecumenical, it wasn’t pushing one faith over another. I didn’t count, but I think about 1/3 of the students from the graduating class attended.

I meant to blog about this earlier, but I’ve been very busy. I finally did, however, because not only did I see a Facebook thread discussing it, but I hosted friends from Pakistan this morning who spoke about how they organize a big event after Ramadan to bring Christians and Muslims together. We’re so fortunate to live in a country where getting along is a blessing, and not critical for survival.

Pasadena Star News supports 9-1-1 immunity bill

Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by kchristieh in politics

The Pasadena Star News supports AB 1999, the 9-1-1 Immunity bill introduced by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino.

To encourage getting help, we support the granting of immunity from criminal prosecution to underage drinkers who call for help for a friend and then stay until medical help arrives.

Under current law, underage drinkers who call 9-1-1 for someone else can be prosecuted themselves. Under a bill by Pasadena Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, the threat of prosecution – a barrier to getting medical attention for a friend – is removed.

They sum it up especially well at the end:

It shouldn’t be a crime to get help for a friend.

At our recent meeting, the La Canada High School PTSA also voted to endorse this bill. Hopefully others will join in, and it will pass in time to save some lives.

Links:

• Read my original blog post about AB 1999.
• See the Pasadena Star News story about AB 1999.

La Canada High School seeks gently-used piano

Posted on 24. Feb, 2010 by kchristieh in education, music

Do you have a gently-used upright piano gathering dust? Give it new life and get a tax-deduction by donating it to the La Canada High School instrumental music program. Funds are tight, so please consider doing your part to keep the music coming.

If you’re interested in donating your piano to this incredible program, please contact Fernando Aenlle-Rocha at or .

Please spread the word to anyone else you know who might have a piano to donate!

Last field trip to Hyperion Treatment Plant

Posted on 06. Jan, 2010 by kchristieh in education, parenting, travel

Yesterday I chaperoned what will probably wind up being my last school field trip ever when I accompanied my daughter’s AP Environmental Science class to the Hyperion Treatment Plant near LAX. Thanks for inviting me, Dr. E!

We got to ride in yellow school buses without seat belts. I had fun sitting next to my friend Sharon S. We sat in front so we wouldn’t make the kids feel awkward. It was strange to be able to see so much in the rear view mirror.  Apparently, other chaperones must choose these seats, too. Of course, all the kids were quite well-behaved.

I knew we were in for some fun when this was the first sign I saw. Once the waste water is processed, the clean water is pumped 5 miles out in the ocean, 90′ below the surface, via a 12′ diameter pipe.

But first, we hung out on Dockweiler State Beach for an hour and a half while the first bus took the tour. Hey, 2006! I found your cellphone!

This plant treats 350 million gallons of wastewater from 3 million Los Angeles residents each day. That’s enough to fill up 3 or 4 Rose Bowls each day.

“Wastewater” refers to what comes from your house, not what goes down the drains in the street. That goes straight to the ocean, which is why it’s particularly important not to litter on the street.

Of course, many of us in La Canada have septic tanks, so our effluent never makes it to such a fancy treatment plant. Instead, it collects under our yards and kills our beautiful oak trees. Or mine, anyway.

Guess what’s in this truck? I hope it’s not dumping it near you.

These guys are the facility watchdogs. I think one of them is in the Witness Protection Program.

If you imagine some of the worst things that could wash down the toilet or the drain, they’ve probably been sifted here. I wouldn’t want to explain some of this to younger kids.

Our tourguide says that they’ve found motorcycle parts, money, bowling balls, and even body parts coming through. Eeek!

It smelled bad enough, so I’d hate to be around when the siren sounds.

Everything was really clean on the outside.

Water is being processed under these grids.

The architecture was impressive. The Hyperion plant was named as one of the most amazing public works projects of the 20th century.

Seagulls enjoyed feasting on the bacteria in the skimmer ponds.

Everything looked so sparkling clean. But when I see this, I still smell it…

Nancy, our tour guide, was fantastic. She was sharp, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic. Here, she’s showing how water leaves the ponds.

I didn’t take any pictures after this since we went to an underground area where photography wasn’t permitted. It reminded me of Jack Bauer’s haunts at CTU. Many movies and tv shows have been filmed at Hyperion, including Spiderman.

Nancy says that Hyperion is featured in the tourism book . You might be able to take a tour if you call ahead.

The best part of the day occurred before my daughter went to bed, when she thanked me for going on the trip. Awww!! I’m so grateful that my mere presence there didn’t embarrass her. Too bad this is our last field trip together.  :(

LCHS ranks 80th in U.S.

Posted on 10. Dec, 2009 by kchristieh in education, local news, startling statistics

Go Spartans! US News & World Report has ranked La Canada High School as #80 among U.S. public high schools. The rankings are based largely on test performance, especially the AP test. Unlike Newsweek’s rankings, the US News methodology gives weight to how schools performed on statewide assessments.

From what I can tell, the only California schools that aren’t a magnet school or a charter school that are ahead of LCHS are Gunn (Palo Alto, #67), Monte Vista (Cupertino, #70) and Piedmont (#73). San Marino, which was the only public non-magnet, non-charter school to beat La Canada on API scores, wasn’t on the top 100 list.

This is wonderful news. All schools on this list should be proud.

It bears mentioning, however, that Gunn High School has been in the news recently because four of its students have committed suicide in the past year. Is it a coincidence that this is happening at the top school? I don’t think so.

I was surprised to see that my alma mater, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (NJ), is even less diverse than when I attended. I assumed that nearly all U.S. high schools are more diverse these days. When I attended RFH, I think about 4% of my class was Black. These days only 1.4% of the school is, and less than 1% of the school is Asian.

Links:

• America’s Best High Schools: Gold Medal List
• California list
• Ranking methodology

The best Red Ribbon Week posters

Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by kchristieh in education, life lessons, parenting

One of my goals this year as PTSA President is to make Red Ribbon Week more meaningful. It’s tough to communicate an anti-drug, anti-drinking message to cynical high school kids, especially when so many of them have already experimented with these substances.

Anne Tryba saved the day. She volunteered to be the Red Ribbon Week Chair about a month before it took place, and not only managed to stage an essay contest that garnered nearly 200 entries, but she created the following four posters. These aren’t of the mere “Just say no” variety. I think they’re very effective at shocking kids to take a second look at the consequences of their decisions.

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California State PTA rules regarding endorsing candidates

Posted on 02. Oct, 2009 by kchristieh in education, politics

In case you’re curious, and I’m sure some people are, here are the guidelines from page 118 of the CA State PTA Toolkit regarding endorsing candidates. They specify that a PTA officer’s title may not be used in an endorsement, but it doesn’t say the person can’t endorse someone as a private citizen.

A current or former PTA officer/board member must not use his/her title or the name of the PTA to endorse a candidate even for purposes of identification in any print, electronic, or website candidate literature (e.g., campaign mailer, ballot measure, candidate stationery).

A current PTA officer/board member must not use his/her title, the name of the PTA or the trademark of PTA
• in any election venue unless authorized by a vote of the association, following a study of the issue.
• to take action in opposition to the official California State PTA position.

Although federal election regulations do not prohibit the use of organizational affiliation for identification purpos- es, the California State PTA sets a standard which is higher than law. Failure to comply may result in a viola- tion of California State PTA policy.

For the purpose of this policy, all elections involving candidates are defined as partisan elections, even those for “nonpartisan” offices such as school board or city council. Use of a PTA’s name or the PTA trademark with participation in any partisan activity will endanger PTA’s nonprofit status.

PTA members are not prohibited from running for public office themselves nor from listing PTA involvement as part of their biographical information and/or campaign literature.

One last fire shot, as seen from La Canada High School last Friday

Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by kchristieh in local news

This photo of the fire in Angeles Forest was taken from the parking lot at La Canada High School last Friday, Sept. 4th around 4:30 pm, looking east towards Pasadena. If my kids had been willing to sit in the parking lot for awhile, I could have taken a fantastic time-lapse video of it. You could see the plume growing by the second. A half hour later, this was gone. I think it collapsed upon itself. FYI, the mountain is about 5,700 feet elevation at the point we’re viewing.

New website launched: La Canada High School 9-12 PTSA

Posted on 13. Aug, 2009 by kchristieh in education, non-profits, work

When I sent my kids off to camp and Costa Rica last month, I finally found time to fulfill my 2008 New Year’s resolution and learn to incorporate a database into a website. You can see the results on the La Canada High School 9-12 PTSA website, lchs912.org. Events and news items are easy to enter and automatically show up on their correct pages and drop off the site when they expire. I’ve even set up sub-categories such as athletics and college recruiting events so that those events also show up on the appropriate pages. Although I took a PHP class last year, I chose to create this website using ExpressionEngine so that it would have a robust content management system that non-professionals would be able to use.

Another great feature of this website is the online One Check Order Form. This form used to be about 15 printed pages that were mailed to every school family. It would take a long time to fill out, as you’d need to re-enter your name and address on each page since they’d be sent to various committee chairs. I used Icebrrg to create this online form, and it takes about 3 minutes to fill out. It then takes you to PayPal to complete your payment. Icebrrg keeps track of all entries in an online or downloadable spreadsheet, so it’ll be easy for our Financial Secretary to pass the information input on to the committee chairs. Over 100 people have already clicked on the link in my Constant Contact email and completed the form.

I’m confident that this will make my job as PTSA President easier, and will make it easier to pass the website on to my successor in a few years when both my kids have graduated.

It’s official: South Pasadena passed its parcel tax

Posted on 20. Jun, 2009 by kchristieh in education

In the past month,

• San Marino passed a parcel tax for $795
• South Pasadena passed a parcel tax for $288

Clearly, the residents of both of these communities are willing to pay to help their public schools.

I hope La Canada’s willing to pass a parcel tax for $150.

If you want to vote for this, get your ballot in NOW. They must be received by June 30th. Postmarks don’t count.

Have questions? Visit www.measurelc.org.

Why I’m voting “YES” on Measure LC, the La Canada parcel tax

Posted on 02. Jun, 2009 by kchristieh in local news

For years I’ve helped raise money for the La Canada public schools. If we didn’t raise private funds, our kids wouldn’t have 20 kids per teacher in Kindergarten – 3rd grade, art, drama and music at the elementary level, computers, or a librarian and a guidance counselor at the upper levels.

Unfortunately, the current California/national/international economic crisis means this isn’t enough. If local residents don’t step up and pass a parcel tax, our schools are going to have to drop programs and positions that are critical to maintaining our schools’ high standards.

Measure LC would raise property taxes a mere $150 per parcel. That’s less than the cost of a postage stamp a day. And yet, it would raise approximately $900K per year for the district. It still isn’t enough to avoid making any cuts, but it sure will help.

Please join me on voting “YES” on this crucial measure. It’s a mail-in vote only, so look for the ballot you probably received in today’s mail and send it in asap. It needs 2/3 majority to pass, so every single vote counts.

You can learn more about Measure LC at www.measurelc.org.

By the way, San Marino just passed a $795 parcel tax, which supplements the $295 parcel tax they already had That’s a community that values education! Let’s show that we are, too!

PTSA President 3.0: I have the gavel

Posted on 01. Jun, 2009 by kchristieh in education, local news, my life

Today I achieved the Triple Crown of PTA: I was installed as President of our high school’s PTSA. I’ve already been an elementary school PTA president and a junior high school PTA president, so I’m optimistic that those have prepared me well for this job. Unlike parenting, which gets more difficult as the kids get older, PTA President gets easier. At the elementary school I had 90 (!) positions under me, with numerous fundraisers, room representatives, docents and programs. When you added a dash of confusion over PTA bylaws, it got stressful at times. At the high school, we have only a few straightforward fundraisers, no room reps (our kids would kill us!), one program (Red Ribbon Week – any ideas?) and no docents. I’ve got a GREAT group of people on my Executive Board, and all have years of experience. I’m following in the steps of an amazing woman, and she’s done a wonderful job of paving the way.

We’re looking forward to another great year!

What high schools should really teach

Posted on 02. May, 2009 by kchristieh in education

Do you use everything you learned in high school? I doubt it. Aren’t there subjects you wish you’d studied in high school, or you wish that your children would learn? If I were in charge, here’s what I’d propose that students learn in high school in order to challenge them, excite them, and teach them lessons and skills that will enrich them and teach them to lead more productive lives:

Math: Teach geometry and algebra, but try to provide more real-life examples of when you’d use them. Instead of automatically moving kids on to trigonometry and calculus after that, encourage them to take logic and statistics. They’re much more useful, even in the teenage years. Can you imagine how cool it would be if a course could actually teach teens to be logical?

English: I wince when my sophomore son says, “I hate reading.” I don’t think he does, but I don’t blame him for saying it when he’s forced to annotate books written in non-standard English with adult themes. English class should teach kids to appreciate the power and beauty of our language, and give them the tools to comprehend and communicate. It’s important that they’re familiar with classic literature, but they’ll lose the joy of reading it if they have to pick it apart sentence by sentence. After all, that’s not what most authors intend when they write. As for contemporary literature, I’d empower kids by giving them choices, or at least not force them to read books with adult themes that perpetuate racial stereotypes. We should also expose our kids to great poetry, songs, speeches, and other forms of communication. As they learn what makes each work great, they should practice writing and speaking their own words and thoughts.

Social Studies: There’s not enough time in high school to cover all the social sciences needed to become an informed and responsible citizen, and I actually think that most high schools do an admirable job of trying. It’s important to take a general social studies course, an American history course (in America), and an economics course. When possible, I’d also recommend European history, world history, or government. I’d incorporate teaching how ethics and religion tie into any of the aforementioned classes.

Science: Instead of just concentrating on biology, chemistry and physics, I love the fact that our high school offers geology and environmental science. The last one is probably most likely to be used in the future by the most students. I’d also include some sort of computer science course in the science curriculum.

Foreign Language: I dream of the day when every American child is bilingual by the time they leave high school. I wish more kids could attend language immersion schools at younger ages, and feel confident in their language abilities by the time they enter high school. But since that’s not likely to happen soon, I’d propose that schools make more of an effort to reduce class sizes in foreign languages. Learning a foreign language requires that kids have the chance to practice it with a seasoned speaker, and that can’t happen when you have 35 kids in a class.

Physical Education: Forget running around the track and doing calisthenics. Kids should do fun activities and sports in P.E. so that they learn to enjoy exercise, and perhaps find something they’ll enjoy doing for the rest of their lives. Also, instead of requiring kids to take P.E. for 5 hours a week for freshman and sophomore years and 0 hours for junior and senior years, require 2.5 hours a week for all four years. Spread it out so that they can continue to stay in shape.

Electives: There are already many fine electives that well-funded American high schools offer, including art, drama and music. Here are a few that are often not taught:

• Accounting: Unless you’re some sort of business major in college, you probably won’t take accounting. And yet, it’s important for most people in their lives and careers. I think many high school students could handle and would benefit from an accounting class.
• Family Life / Health / Sex Ed.: Teach kids the basics of running a household, keeping healthy, and family planning.
• Typing: Supposedly kids learn it in elementary school, but I’m skeptical. Typing is so important to so many careers these days, so I’d make sure kids have this basic skill down pat.

Other notes:

• Class size: In order to implement these suggestions, class sizes would have to be small enough for teachers to give students individual attention in both the classroom and when grading papers.
• # of periods per day: Schools need to divide their school day into more than six periods to accomplish these goals.
• Teacher quality: As I’ve said in this blog before, I wish that schools had more freedom and resources to reward teachers that do a great job, mentor teachers that need help, and let go of teachers that aren’t working out in the classroom. I also wish that there were more ways to give feedback about teacher quality.
• Standardized testing: Find a way to reduce it: kids are spending too much time being tested when they could be learning. For example, if a kid achieves a certain score on the PSAT, don’t make him take the CAHSEE (CA High School Exit Exam). Don’t require the SAT II if a kid is enrolled in an AP class.

This is just a partial list. I’m sure I’d think of more things if I weren’t so determined to post this today. Please add your comments and suggestions!

Spiffing up the school

Posted on 29. Mar, 2009 by kchristieh in education, things that bug me

Yesterday I attended Servathon at La Canada High School. Throngs of students and parents descended upon campus to plant, paint, scrub and scrape. Imagine our horror when we saw this new graffiti on the front of the cafeteria. I’ve never seen graffiti at our high school, and neither had the boys that were with me.

It didn’t take long for Assistant Principal Kevin Buchanan to spring into action and paint over the offensive scrawlings.

All over campus there were kids planting new plants,

and cleaning lockers.

My brave crew found a dark hallway on the third floor that was clearly at the bottom of the list for preferred locker spaces. Many of the lockers didn’t have locks on them, so we opened them up to see if there was anything inside we needed to clean up.

We struck the motherlode when we opened this locker. It was full of abandoned sandwiches and other lunch items. They were crawling with bugs and maggots. Why can’t kids just throw them out? Or better yet, eat them when they’re fresh? Kids in developing nations would be stunned.  :(

We were amazed at how much dirt there was.

We found this in one of the lockers. We’re not taking it personally.

People arrested for stealing $40K in athletic equipment from LCHS

Posted on 28. Mar, 2009 by kchristieh in local news, sports

From today’s Pasadena Star News:

Man, woman suspected in school burglaries

From staff reports

Posted: 03/27/2009 06:50:12 PM PDT

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE – A man and woman were arrested Friday on suspicion of stealing about $40,000 worth of athletic equipment from two local schools in recent weeks, authorities said.

Martha McRae, 44, and Mark Wallace, 40, both of La Canada Flintridge, are suspected of breaking into La Canada High School and Flintridge Preparatory School, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Ogurek said.

The burglaries occurred over several days about three weeks ago, officials said.

Detectives investigating the burglaries served a search warrant about 8 a.m. at a home in the 2100 block of La Canada Crest Drive, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Ogurek said.

Inside, property allegedly taken in the burglaries was found, as well as information which led officials to a second location in Montrose, where more allegedly stolen property was found, the sergeant said.

The majority of the property taken from the school’s was recovered, he added.

McRae and Wallace were booked on suspicion of burglary, receiving stolen property and possession of methamphetamine for sales, Ogurek said.

According to court records, both suspects are being held in lieu of $20,000 bail and are due for arraignment in Pasadena Superior Court Wednesday.

Pink Friday at La Canada High School

Posted on 13. Mar, 2009 by kchristieh in economy, education, local news, shopping

Teachers, students and parents all turned out at La Canada High School to protest that California is cutting even more from public school system budgets. We wore pink because today is “Pink Friday,” the day that teachers who are being laid off must receive their pink slips by.

As I said in my previous post, we’re lucky that La Canada has enough reserves to absorb most of the impact of losing $1.9 million from the state this year. But I learned at this morning’s PTSA meeting that we’re expecting to have to cut $11 million from our spending in the next three years. Ouch.

I found out today that a friend got a pink slip in a nearby town, and another friend who was training new teachers saw all those people get pink slips. She won’t be training new teachers anymore (since there won’t be any) but she’s lucky she’s been around long enough to keep a job with her district.

It’s hard to believe California once took pride in its schools.

In keeping with my tradition of highlighting my favorite Etsy find of the week, here’s the pink slip I wish they were handing out instead.

The fastest parade in the world

Posted on 24. Oct, 2008 by kchristieh in animals, education, local news, my life

It’s homecoming weekend here in Small Town, USA La Canada Flintridge. The high school kids put on a great pep rally this morning, and this afternoon they gathered in the park to get psyched up for this evening’s game. The football players and cheerleaders then boarded firetrucks, the homecoming court hopped into nice cars with banners, and the student body kids boarded their pirate-themed homecoming floats. It was a crisp fall day about 90 degrees with a perfectly blue sky, but we decided not to complain since it was amazingly beautiful.

If you blinked, you’d miss the parade. The local sheriff’s deputies led the caravan down Foothill Blvd. at about 25 miles per hour. I think they didn’t want to tie up traffic too much on a Friday afternoon. We save our slow parade for Memorial Day. Although the football team subsequently lost, a good time was had by all.

I’d been out most of the day, so I decided to bring the dog with me to the park. He loves people, so he had a great time making new friends of all ages. Unfortunately, he growls and barks at other dogs, so it got a little dicey at times. We’re working on that.

Here’s a new picture of him. Perhaps I should have let this sleeping dog lie, but he’s so cute!!

It’s much better than a text message

Posted on 08. Oct, 2008 by kchristieh in education, parenting

It still bugs me that the kids at our local high school feel they need to make a big production out of asking each other to dances. They’re not content to merely say, “Would you please go to the dance with me?” No way! Instead, they make big signs to display at football games, write poems, bake treats, and so, so much more. It’s tough when the person being invited doesn’t want to go, and feels pressure to say “yes” since the person asking went to such an effort, and it’s devastating when a person goes to a big effort only to be shut down. It’s also tough to be one of the people who doesn’t get asked when it’s such a big deal when people do get asked.

But I’m softening in that position. I thought back to my high school years, and even when I wasn’t 100% enthused about going to a dance with someone, I would say “yes” and make sure to have a good time. I also read a newspaper article recently that lamented that kids still ask each other to homecoming via text message, and I don’t think that shows as much respect and enthusiasm as doing something special.

From now on, I won’t complain as much about the effort that our local kids go to when asking each other to dances. I just hope they have a good idea of how the person will respond before they ask. I also hope they do just as much someday when it’s their anniversary or their spouse’s birthday.
Besides, it’s really cute when the invitee responds by doing something special, like this:

Those are rose petals. Awww!!!

On the other hand, perhaps the easiest solution is just to go to a dance without a date. It frees you up to dance with whomever you want!

If I hadn’t volunteered, I wouldn’t be watching soap operas and eating bonbons

Posted on 26. Aug, 2008 by kchristieh in education, my life, parenting

Today 800 juniors and seniors descended upon our local high school campus to pick lockers, get their textbooks, and meet with counselors. I braved the crowds to get my son’s athletic clearance, and when I saw that the textbook room needed some extra hands, I volunteered to help. My fellow PTSA moms and I spent hours working our way through a pile of schedules, running through the aisles grabbing the necessary textbooks for each student. We were all sacrificing getting things done at home and at work, but no one complained. We knew that without us, the kids would have to wait all day for their books and the dedicated textbook room workers would go insane.

So I was disappointed when I heard from a friend later in the day that she’d overheard a former student who was picking up books for his little brother that the PTA ladies had nothing better to do and couldn’t even run the textbook room well. Thankfully, she corrected him, but I thought I’d add to it. We didn’t create the system; we inherited it. We do what we can to make it better, and we sacrifice other things in our lives to do so. It’s not as exciting to volunteer in a textbook room as it was to go on a 3rd grade field trip long ago, but I enjoy being with other parents who care about their kids’ education and have a good attitude toward helping out.

The September, 2008 Los Angeles magazine names La Canada High School as on of its Best Public High Schools. Here’s an excerpt from page 131:

“Its performances on the API and AP exams rank among the best in the state, and parental involvement is unusually strong.”

It’s no coincidence that those two points are in the same sentence. I truly believe that parental involvement is critical to a child’s success. Not only do I encourage my kids to study hard and take pride in what they do, but I put my time and money where my mouth is and do what I can to make their school better. I love living in a community where other people share the same philosophy.

CNN’s Roland Martin agrees. In “” he says that the most important form he fills out at the beginning of the year is the PTA membership form.

See, I had good role models: my parents. They didn’t go to college and have six-figure jobs. They simply cared about the education of their five children.

So, the nation’s children are preparing for another school year. The parents must do the same thing.

My nieces begin September 2. We guardians and parents need to get our minds right, and make the decision now whether we are going to be those who work for solutions or those who just whine about the deficiencies.

Show up on the first day and do not make it your last. There is no greater gift you can provide your children, nieces, nephews or grandchildren than your full attention to their educations.

Show up. You’ll make a lasting difference, and have fun at the same time. Sorry, clients: I’ll be helping at the counselor’s office tomorrow morning. You’ll need to wait until the afternoon for me to get your work done.

Down Syndrome speaker becomes Big Man on Campus

Posted on 10. Jun, 2008 by kchristieh in disabilities, education, health

For the third year in a row, I arranged for my website clients from the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles to speak to 7th grade science classes today. DSALA’s executive director, Gail Williamson, and her son Blair, who is an actor and has Down Syndrome, told the kids what it means to have Down Syndrome, and shared clips of movies and tv shows Blair has acted in. They stayed the whole day, and spoke to five different classes.

Gail says that 95% of women in Southern California who learn they are pregnant with a Down Syndrome child choose to abort it. It’s no wonder that hardly any of the students who heard today’s presentations know anyone with Down Syndrome. Hopefully they learned that a person with Down Syndrome can lead an enjoyable and rewarding life.

Here’s a picture of Blair with some of the students. Many kids stayed after each class to get Blair’s autograph and have him sign their yearbooks. They even stopped him in the hallway and leaned off the balconies shouting his name.

I think he needs a star on the sidewalk out front.

You know you’re an adult in La Canada Flintridge when…

Posted on 29. Mar, 2008 by kchristieh in local news, social networking

• You’ve had to explain to people that you’re not from Canada.
• You’ve shopped at Ralphs even when Vons is closer.
• Even though Arco is cheaper, sometimes you go to other gas stations so you can use your credit card.
• You know that wherever you go in town, you’ll see someone you know.
• You tell your kids they won’t get away with anything in this town because someone will always find out and tell you.
• You know who Officer Smith is, and may have even appreciated him.
• You’d never dare drive over 40 on Foothill.
• You can count on one hand the number of friends who have moved out of town since you’ve lived here.
• You know what PCR, PCY, LCE, FIS, LCPC, LAFC, ALF, LCJBSA, Gala, Parent Ed, Fiesta Days and LCHS stand for.
• You can’t really figure out who all those kids are that go to school in the old FIS building are. But you’re pretty sure they’re not Scientologists.
• Your child played AYSO and LCJBSA.
• You sent your child to the Gollatz Cotillion.
• You love the concept of a bookstore here, but you admit to still buying books on Amazon.com.
• You’re often surprised when someone says they’re a Democrat.
• You love the Korean food at elementary school carnivals.
• You call the local freeway “The 210″ instead of “The Foothill Freeway.”
• You can’t wait for the sewer construction to end.
• You have either parrots or peacocks in your neighborhood, unless you have rattlesnakes and coyotes instead.
• If you’re a woman, you’re either in a book club or have been asked to join a book club.
• When you go to the library, you don’t browse: you pick up the books you ordered online.
• There are some people in town who everyone knows by their first name: Anthony, Jinny, Janice, Damon, Wendy, …
• Every adult you know in town has a child.
• You sometimes feel like a family with just two kids is small.
• Your children think that God made women with blonde hair, and men with brown hair.
• You’ve woken up at an insanely early hour to sign your kid up for preschool, camp, sports, summer school, parent ed., etc.
• You and your neighbors can’t agree on whether LCF is rural or suburban.
• You can’t believe you need to cross the street to get your mail.
• You love Trader Joe’s but hate its parking lot.
• You’ve marched in at least one Fiesta Days parade.
• You wish you had a funny little car like the Shriners in the parade do.
• You tell your kids never to drive into the mountains.
• Your teen has begged you to schedule her driving test in Newhall, even though Glendale is right next door.
• You hope your child won’t be at the high school in a big earthquake.
• You have a strong opinion about whether Home Goods going into the Sport Chalet Town Center is a good thing.
• You feel sorry for Penguins, but go to Pinkberry anyway.
• You don’t miss Hidden Treasures. Is it really gone?
• You think the town has enough banks, cleaners and hair salons.
• You either drive a big car, a luxury car, or a Prius.
• After a few years here you can recognize people from behind by their hair or the way they walk.
• You’ve given money to supplement public education funding.
• You read the Valley Sun and the Outlook cover to cover each Thursday.
• You have a favorite Mexican restaurant and a favorite pizza parlor in town.
• You forget you’re on top of a freeway when you’re at Memorial Park.
• When your kids were little, they loved running up and down the hill at the park during Music in the Park.
• You go to Pasadena to see most of your movies.
• As illogical as it may seem, you know that the exit to In-N-Out is after the exit for the 134.
• You scan the Rose Parade program to make sure not to miss the La Canada float.
• It drives you crazy when people say “Hahamonga” instead of “Hahamongna.”
• You’ve argued with people who think that JPL is in Pasadena.
• If you live in Flintridge, you only call it that if you’ve lived there more than 20 years. Otherwise, you say you live in La Canada.

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I’ve created a Facebook group called “” with this list on it. Join Facebook and let me know if you have any additions to the list!

Should we throw money at the schools? Yes.

Posted on 02. Mar, 2008 by kchristieh in education, startling statistics, things that bug me

Want to provoke me? Then say this,

“Throwing money at the schools won’t fix them.”

If that’s true, then

• Why do some people pay $25K a year for their kid to attend private school?
• How would we pay the teachers required to reduce our class sizes down from 31 per class in the high school?
• How would our school district pay for art, music, drama, counselors, librarians, computers and more if parents didn’t generously donate to PTA, Boosters, the Educational Foundation and more?

My husband and I attended the LCF Educational Foundation fundraiser last night. It was great to see old friends, make new ones, and raise loads of money for the schools. Our community’s lucky that it can supplement the meager money it gets from the state. Even with what the parents chip in, our district spends $6,875 per child. Unfortunately, today’s Pasadena Star News says that the state budget shortfall is expected to shrink our school district’s budget by about $2 million, or 6% of the total. That’ll be tough to do without impacting classrooms.

I recently sat on a panel with a member of the Westport, CT school board. He told the audience that his district was getting SmartBoards into the classroom. I laughed, as there’s no way we’d have money for that. I looked their district up on GreatSchools.net, and their high school spends $15,610 per pupil. It’s no wonder they have one teacher per 10 kids.

We only dream of such things in California…California dreaming, on such a winter’s day…

Startling Statistics II: Muir High School in Pasadena

Posted on 21. Sep, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, education, startling statistics

It’s incredible that less than a mile away from a high school with scores that rank it as one of the top in the state, there lies a school that’s on the brink of being taken over by the state due to its poor performance.
Yesterday’s Pasadena Star News reported in “Muir’s Mustang Spirit Lost” that a consultant who studied John Muir High School in Pasadena found the following sorry statistics:

• Muir’s daily attendance hovers between 60 percent and 70 percent.
• Student proficiency rates in math, English and science are below 25 percent.
• In this year’s state-mandated standardized testing, 75 percent of Muir’s ninth-graders scored below proficiency in English. By the 11th grade, that number climbed to 84 percent.
• Ninety-four percent of ninth-graders tested below proficient in Algebra I, while 100 percent of 10th- and 11th-graders tested below proficient in that subject.

Of course, many reasons are cited for this sad state of affairs. Large class sizes, poor ground maintenance, lack of district support, mistrust of the district, and open enrollment were all on the list. I’d also add student and parent apathy: how else could you account for attendance between 60 to 70 percent? It’s hard to teach kids that don’t come to school.

Bless the new superintendent, Edwin Diaz, who hopes the school will become a model for secondary school reform. I hope he’s right. But it’s going to take a lot more than money and small school reorganizations to fix this mess.

Yesterday’s multicultural day

Posted on 09. Sep, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, education, music, my life, politics

Now that school’s started, our calendar is filling up! It’ll get even busier once my son’s arm has recovered enough to play club soccer again.

Yesterday was not only busy, but it was very multicultural. The first phone call of the day was from a parent who will be translating the high school PTA newsletters into Korean this year. We’ll publish our first issue soon.

Later in the morning, I took my daughter to an orientation session for the STARS tutoring program in Pasadena. It’s run through the Lake Avenue Foundation, and is supported by our church. My daughter’s going to tutor there one evening a week, and will probably tutor younger kids who are either Latino or African-American.

In the early afternoon, my husband and I attended the funeral of Donald Long Chu in Rosemead. (see obituary) His son, Newton, lived across the street from us when we lived in Pasadena. We’ll always remember Mr. Chu’s big smile, and how he loved carrying the American flag as he led the tricycle/bicycle parade at our neighborhood block parties. Before he retired, he was a film editor, and in fact was the first Chinese-American film editor in Hollywood. His son Nathan read a very touching letter from the Motion Picture Editors’ Guild praising Mr. Chu’s skill and dedication. One of the most memorable parts of the ceremony was learning that the box that contained his ashes was made from a tree that he’d planted in his yard many years ago.

After the service, we rushed to downtown Los Angeles to attend a Stanford alumni conference about Immigration. There were great speakers, including Xavier Becerra, Zoe Lofgren, Alan Acosta, Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, Hazel markus and Al Camarillo. I especially enjoyed my breakout session with Monica McDermott. My biggest takeaway from the event was that the immigration debate is often colored more by negative images of immigrants, and could benefit from a more balanced view. That’d be tough, however, as most illegal immigrants would be loathe to publicize their status.

Finally, as we were leaving the Wilshire Grand Hotel where the conference was held, we passed the venerable Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm band. We felt like we were in the presence of celebrities, since they were featured on the front page of the NY Times yesterday, hailed as having an incredibly entertaining, disciplined, and high quality band. I’d even taken the time yesterday morning to watch the online video about them. We asked some of the band members if they knew about the story, but they didn’t. It turns out they were in town to play North Carolina A&T in the Angel City Classic at the Coliseum. My husband and I are both former high school trumpeters, and we love the direction today’s innovative bands are going.

Note to self: get tickets to next year’s Angel City Classic. Unless there’s soccer, of course.

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Top 10 Tips for Starting High School

Posted on 03. Sep, 2007 by kchristieh in education, my life, parenting

My son starts his freshman year of high school tomorrow. He’s savoring the last day of summer and the fourth day of having his cast off by playing video games and swimming with some friends. Once the friends leave, I’m going to have him read the following from Cherie Bennett’s column that I read in the San Diego Union this weekend. We’ve already spoken about #6 today, and I’ll talk to him about #5 later on this evening. Thankfully, #9’s not an issue!!!

Top 10 Tips for Starting High School

1. There’s a much bigger difference in maturity and what you can do between a 10th-grader and a 12th-grader than between a seventh-grader and a ninth-grader. Always remember who you are.
2. Don’t drink. Don’t do drugs. High school is complicated enough.
3. Don’t get in a car with anyone who ignores No. 2. Life is precious and an accident where you’re a passenger with a drunk driver is such a waste.
4. The great novelist Kurt Vonnegut said, “We are who we appear to be.” (Yeah, yeah, I wish I’d said it.) This is especially true at a big school where people don’t know the real you. Who you appear to be is what people will think you are. Act and dress accordingly.
5. Reputations are made quickly and repaired slowly. Act and dress accordingly. What your teachers decide about you in the first week will help you or hurt you.
6. Don’t get behind in your schoolwork. In fact, get ahead in your reading. You will get sick at some point during the year. It’s much more pleasant to recuperate from a stomach virus without having to read a history textbook in bed or elsewhere.
7. Make acquaintances quickly and friends slowly. There is a very good chance that your best friends from the first week of school won’t be your best friends when you graduate.
8. Never forget that despite bravado, every other new student is just as nervous as you, except for the ones who are repeating the grade. And they should be nervous.
9. Schoolwork first, boyfriend/girlfriend second.
10. Review, review, review — starting with 1 through 10!

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Where to get extra textbooks for the kids

Posted on 01. Sep, 2007 by kchristieh in books, education, shopping

The first thing my daughter did after receiving her textbooks this week was to write down their ISBN numbers. We typed them into Froogle and purchased the cheapest used copies of the textbooks we could find. Actually, two of the books we purchased came from Valore Books, so you could even try going there first. Having an extra copy of the book at home means she has a copy she can write in and highlight when she studies, and that she doesn’t have to carry all her books back and forth each day.

We’re not the only ones who do this: see Michelle Slatalla’s amusing Wall St. Journal article, Knowledge Is Priceless but Textbooks Are Not. She mentions even more resources for finding used textbooks.

I just signed our high school PTSA up for BigTent.com. Hopefully we’ll get the Bazaar feature going soon so that people can buy/sell goods within our school community.

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Newsweek’s ridiculous high school ranking system

Posted on 23. May, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, education, startling statistics

Here’s how Newsweek says it ranks America’s public high schools in this week’s issue:

Public schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2006 divided by the number of graduating seniors.

What if a school has a high dropout rate? It wouldn’t be penalized by this system. In fact, getting rid of the kids less likely to take AP tests would increase a school’s ranking. Also, what if the kids that take the test don’t pass it? (Click here for the author’s explanation of his grading process.)

There are some surprises on the list regarding the schools in our area. Marshall Fundamental School (#123) in Pasadena ranks higher than Palos Verdes (#156), La Canada (#162), Corona del Mar (#237) or San Marino (#239).

The Newsweek ranking doesn’t jive with other data. GreatSchools.net says that Marshall’s average Academic Performance Index (API) score of 699 (with a state ranking of 6/10) is far below that of La Canada (898, 10/10). In fact, GreatSchools gives Marshall a 4/10 rating overall, but it gives La Canada a 9/10 rating. Also, the Pasadena Star News reports that Marshall’s AP pass rate is only 26%. (La Canada’s pass rate last year was 84%.) It looks like Marshall does an admirable job given the demographics of the kids it serves, but I think that Newsweek’s rankings are misleading.

By the way, here are a few surprising statistics from GreatSchools.net:

• La Canada spends $6,875 per pupil, but Marshall spends $8,460 per pupil.
• Average class sizes in grades 9-12 range from 30-36 in La Canada, and from 28-29 at Marshall.
• Percentage of English Language Learners: La Canada (2%, of whom 67% speak Korean); Marshall (12%, of whom 88% speak Spanish)

Home Tour reflections

Posted on 04. May, 2007 by kchristieh in education, my life

held its big (only!) fundraiser today: a tour of four extraordinary local homes. The homes were all amazing and unique, and the day went smoothly. A few lessons learned/confirmed:

• Put the right people in charge and magic will happen. The chairs paid great attention to detail, yet maintained a calm, cheerful demeanor that was infectious.
• Even if a home isn’t in my favorite style, I’ll still like it if the style is consistent throughout.
• Do these people always have such clean houses? Where are the books? Where are the piles of bills? Why aren’t there magnets on the refrigerator?
• Everything is relative. These homes seem big to me, but my home would seem big to others. As my parents taught me, there will always be someone richer, prettier, and smarter. No big deal.
• The best part about Home Tour is seeing friends.

Down Syndrome speakers at junior high

Posted on 23. Apr, 2007 by kchristieh in education, health, my life, parenting, work

Science has changed so much that even 7th graders now study genetics! Part of that curriculum at our  includes a discussion of Down Syndrome. When I heard that last year, I asked one of the teachers, Barbara Leach, if she’d like for me to arrange for representatives from one of my website clients, the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles (DSALA) to come speak. She liked the idea, and Gail Williamson, the executive director, and her actor son, Blair came to speak.

Today we did it again! Gail and Blair spent the whole day at the school, and spoke to five classes. They were very honest about Blair’s limitations and capabilities, and Gail carefully explained what Down Syndrome meant for different people. The kids paid rapt attention, asked intelligent questions, and were very respectful. Best of all, they laughed at all the right times at Blair’s impeccable comic timing, and really appreciated learning something new.

Blair’s an amazing guy. At 27, he’s an accomplished actor, with a string of commercials, tv shows, movies and even a music video on his resume. Of course, Gail is an amazing woman, too. She was the 1999 California Mother of the Year, and went on to become the U.S. Mother of the Year. Both are very humble, and have very good hearts.

It was a privilege to help facilitate this, and even though both my kids will be in high school next year, I hope to do this many more years! I hope that what Blair and Gail said today will stick with the kids, and they’ll remember it someday when they’re deciding whether to keep a pregnancy, defend someone against bullying, or even make a hiring decision. The seeds have been sown, and I’ll never know where they grow…but I’m confident that they’re good seeds!

Of course, I couldn’t let an opportunity to take a Flat Louise picture pass me by! Here’s a picture of Gail Williamson, Blair Williamson, and Barbara Leach with Flat Louise:

Blair even signed his headshot for Louise! Very cool!! 

It ain’t your momma’s PTA

Posted on 23. Feb, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, education, feminism, my life, parenting, things that bug me, work

My mom says that my NJ elementary school’s PTA raised several hundred dollars a year in the early 70’s. Oh, how times have changed! Today’s NYTimes article by Winnie Hu, , says that some PTAs in the NY area have budgets of $45,000 or more. That’s a fraction of what some of our town’s PTAs raise to try to make up for all the programs and services that have been cut back since Californians passed Proposition 13 in 1978. When you add what our Educational Foundation, Boosters and other groups raise, a significant percentage of our school district’s budget comes from parent donations.

As the article points out, you can’t make that kind of money if PTA meetings are just a fashion show. Many suburban towns have a very talented pool of working and non-working parents (mostly moms) who bring a high level of professionalism to their assigned tasks. They continually raise the bar, which is wonderful but also challenging to those who come behind them. When I was an elementary school PTA president, I had about 90 board and committee chair positions under me. From the art docent chair who organized a parent to teach art lessons in each classroom each month to the carnival chair who raised tens of thousands of dollars on a single event, I was blessed with a board that could have run a Fortune 500 company. Being our president is much easier, since we don’t have as many activities, but the people who work with me are just as qualified.

The article says that parents are often an annoyance to administrators and teachers, letting districts know what they think needs to be changed. I see how that can be annoying, but I also see that some good things can happen when you push people out of their complacency. Parents who have worked in the business world, where bad ideas can be thrown out and poorly performing workers can be fired, get very frustrated at the bureaucratic walls they find in school districts and the educational codes they need to follow.

Some of the parents the reporter talked to said they thought their PTAs were run by cliques. I can see how that can happen – when you want a job done, you’re more likely to turn to someone you know can do it well. Still, that doesn’t make it right. I try to open things up by publicizing volunteer opportunities via our printed newsletter and my regular emails, which go to over 1,000 parents. We’ve had good success in getting some new faces to volunteer for jobs, and at least when they don’t, we know they had the chance to.

Of course, if I really cared about my career, I wouldn’t admit that I’m a PTA president. Yesterday’s NY Times article, Mom’s Mad. And She’s Organized, relates how working moms are organizing to fight for their rights. Here’s the part that I could relate to the most:

But many studies indicate that, legal or not, a woman’s status as a mother hurts her at work.

In one study, to be published next month in the American Journal of Sociology, Cornell researchers sent out résumés and cover letters to real employers for hypothetical job applicants. All had the same credentials, but the packages included subtle cues to indicate that some of the applicants were parents. (For example, a résumé might note that an applicant was an officer in a parent-teacher association.)

The goal was to find out if employers are less likely to pursue an interview if they find out that a candidate is a parent, said Shelley Correll, an associate professor of sociology at Cornell, who helped conduct the study. And the answer was “yes for mothers, no for fathers.”

I’ve remarked lately that I seem to not be able to charge as much on my own for a website as I can when I have my older, taller, male business partner bid on them. It’s frustrating, but a 40-something mom is sometimes just not the image people have of someone they want to design their website. So much for my degrees, experience and talent! Anyway, I’ll check out the site this article refers to, MomsRising.org. And of course, I’ll keep trying hard to prove I can do it as well as any 22-year-old male recent art/technical school grad…

The clipart above is courtesy of http://www.larryjonesillustration.com/