Santa Monica, a Lifelong Learning Community
Lifelong Learning Community News - JUNE 2010
I am fundamentally an optimist or I would not be spending my time writing this newsletter but, any way you spin it, May was a REALLY terrible month for our lifelong learning community.
Santa Monica High School Athletic Director and Coach Norm Lacy passed away suddenly from a heart attack last Saturday, May 29, while on vacation with his family. Coach Lacy has been a fixture and a pillar of support for high school athletes and athletics for years, both at Santa Monica High School and at Saint Monica’s. His passing is a huge personal loss for countless students and parents and for our educational community. A very moving memorial service was held at St. Monica’s on Wednesday, June 2.
Coach Lacy’s family has established a scholarship fund in his memory. Contributions will benefit Samohi athletes and athletic programs for generations to come. If you would like to make a contribution, please make your check out to: Santa Monica High Scholarship Fund, write “Norm Lacy Memorial Fund” on the memo line, and mail to:
Norm Lacy Memorial Fund
Santa Monica High School
601 Pico Boulevard
Santa Monica 90405
You can read more about Coach Lacy at http://www.smdp.com/pdf/053110.pdf.
In other bad news....
The state budget continues to be a huge problem. The City of Santa Monica was required to send $21 million of redevelopment money to the state. Some of that money was intended to support lifelong learning facilities like the Virginia Avenue Park Library, the Civic Center Early Childhood Development Center, and the Civic Center/Samohi Arts and Recreation Campus. Hopefully the City Council will maintain these projects as priorities and they will continue to move forward. For more information, please read
http://www.smgov.net/Content.aspx?id=14430
The Governor's May revise dealt more immediately devastating impacts - the proposed elimination of subsidized full day and after school childcare!! At their last meeting, the Santa Monica City Council passed a resolution opposing this proposal. Their resolution notes that more than 675 children of low income families living and/or working in Santa Monica will lose their childcare services. If this proposal stands, it will be devastating to low income families across the state. Both the assembly and the senate have rejected this proposal but identifying funding to maintain these and other important programs is very, very challenging.... The state budget wrangling is expected to continue through the summer....
Our K-12 system is also reeling from the State's funding crisis. Here in Santa Monica Malibu, efforts to pass a school funding measure to help bridge both the funding gap and the (hoped for) time needed for the economy to improve, failed. Measure A did not pass. A whopping sixty four percent of the voters supported it but it required a supermajority of 2/3rds. The cuts that must be made are very deep and painful. According to an article in The Lookout, the cuts include:
- Reduction in conference and travel expenditures ($40,000)
- Elimination of seven middle and high school counselor positions ($630,000)
- Reduction of summer school ($100,000)
- Reduction of one security officer at Santa Monica High School ($50,000)
- Elimination of funding for reading specialists ($240,000)
- Reduction of four student outreach specialists at Santa Monica High School ($260,000)
- Reduction of two nurses district-wide. ($160,000)
- Reduction of all elementary school library coordinators, one certificated librarian position and three library assistants ($355,000)
- Postponement of 2011-12 textbook adoption ($250,000)
- Reduction in energy/utility expenses ($100,000)
- Reduction of four elementary music teaching positions ($320,000)
- District office reductions, including the elimination of the director of maintenance and operations, the coordinator of student support, a custodian, a utility worker and a painter, as well as other reductions ($400,000)
- Reduction in outside contracts ($200,000)
- Elimination of secondary schools classroom teacher positions that will increase class size from 33:1 to 35:1, except at John Adams Middle School (which is a Title I school), where the increase will be from 31:1 to 33:1. ($1,600,000)
- Elimination of elementary school classroom teacher positions that will increase non-Title I school class sizes for K-3 from 23:1 to 27:1; class sizes for grades 4 and 5 at those schools will remain at 30:1; Title-1 schools will increase to 27:1 for K-5 from 23:1 (K-3) and 25:1 (4-5) ($1,680,000)
- Reduction in contribution to Child Development Services ($75,000)
- Elimination of two advisor positions at Santa Monica High School ($165,000)”
To read the full article, please go to http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2010/May-2010/05_29_2010_School_District_Funding_Measure_Loses.html
Along with losing teachers, counselors, nurses, librarians, and reading specialists along with other positions and programs, SMMUSD schools will let out five days early this year and have four fewer days next year. At least that means the happy occasion of graduation is coming soon!...
Looking ahead – because that is where we need to go....
On Thursday, June 17, close to 700 students will be graduating from Santa Monica High School and another 224 students will graduate from Malibu High School. These students have once again done us proud. They have been accepted at all of the top schools across the nation. Congratulations to all of these students and to their families!
For a list of the campuses Samohi Class of 2010 grads will be attending next year, please go to http://www.samohi.smmusd.org/Students/seniors/colleges10.htm
Santa Monica College is also busy celebrating graduating students this month! SMC’s Commencement Ceremony is Tuesday, June 15. Doors drummer and SMC alumnus John Densmore will be the commencement speaker and alumni Allan & Sally Young will be honored for their years of extraordinary community service. For more information about these distinguished alumni and this year’s SMC Commencement, please go to http://www.smc.edu/infoatsmc/stories/DoorsDrummerDensmore.html
And, if you too are an SMC alumn, please let me know! I’m not sure we have a butcher, a baker, or a candlestick maker but, along with John Densmore, Sally & Allan Young and their two adult children, SMC alumni include a Nobel prize winning scientist, a two time Oscar winner, Olympic athletes, the governor, and an astronaut! These are just a few of the thousands of people who have been served by Santa Monica College over the years. If you are also an SMC alumnus, please let me know.
I have been remiss in my coverage of SMC events these past few months - I was focused on the needs and accomplishments of the school district in anticipation of the Measure A election – but for more information on SMC, please visit the website (www.smc.edu), the calendar of events (www.smc.edu/events), and the online SMC news magazine (www.smc.edu/infoatsmc).
Despite the huge steps backward for State dependent programs, we continue to have interesting and exciting lifelong learning community events to attend here...
Saturday, June 5, 8:00pm – 10pm
FOR THE ARTS Benefit Concert: VENICE & Special Guests
Santa Monica High School, Barnum Hall
601 Pico Boulevard
Tickets are $25, $50, $100, $125 and $175 and may still be available at the door
For more information: 310-396-4557
Help Save Music in our public schools, and be entertained while you do it! The lead singers from MEN AT WORK, TEARS FOR FEARS & THE TUBES join VENICE and our SMMUSD Student Musicians for one incredible evening of all-time hits! The night will also feature an exciting LIVE AUCTION that will help raise funds for the arts in our public schools. Come, enjoy and be generous! This event is sponsored by the Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation. For more information, please go to www.smmef.org or call 310-396-4557.
Online sales have ended for this event. Tickets may still be available at the door.
If available, tickets will be sold at the door on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7pm, concert begins at 8!
Tuesday, June 8, polls are open from 7am-8pm Election Day!!
Tuesday, June 8, noon – 1:30pm
Investing for the 21st Century _ How You Can Thrive Amidst the Chaos
Santa Monica Family YMCA, DeWind Room
1332 6th Street
Free
Speaker: John Medlin, RIA Tetrahedron Investment Management discusses Winning strategies for investors, Factors in determining Value, Current situation, Comparing rates of return on investments, and Future expectation.
For more information, please email lidiam@ymcasm.org
or call (310) 393-2721, ext. 129
Wednesday, June 9, noon – 1:00pm
Senior Fraud Prevention
Santa Monica Family YMCA, DeWind Room
1332 6th Street
Free
Presented by WISE & Healthy Aging. For more information, please email lidiam@ymcasm.org or call (310) 393-2721, ext. 129
Wednesday, June 9, noon - 1:30 pm
The 5 Most Important Secrets Parents Need to Know to Keep Their Children Healthy
YWCA
2019 14th Street
Free. RSVP required.
This program is part of a new partnership for the YWCA Santa Monica /Westside with First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" Campaign, bringing together parents, children, schools, agencies and individuals to fight childhood obesity. Registration is required. To register, please call (310) 452-3881 or contact Sharon Donaldson at sdonaldson@smywca.org. For more information on this and other YWCA events, please http://www.smywca.org/
Wednesday, June 9, 2:00- 3:30 pm
UCLA Healthcare 50 Plus seminar: Your Marriage and Your Health
Senior Recreation Center
1450 Ocean Avenue
Free. RSVP: (800) 516-5323
Learn how your marriage affects your health, and tips for maintaining a healthy marriage. This event is a UCLA Healthcare 50 Plus health seminar.
Friday, June 11, noon – 4pm
YMCA & Saint John_s Health Center Blood Drive
Every three seconds someone needs blood. You can make a difference!
Santa Monica Family YMCA, DeWind Room
1332 6th Street
Free
For more information, please email lidiam@ymcasm.org or call (310) 393-2721, ext. 129
Friday, June 11, 7 pm
Santa Monica High School Spring Choral Concert: Love Songs on the Coast
Santa Monica High School, Barnum Hall
601 Pico Boulevard
$5 Students, $10 Adult (Tickets sold at the door)
Come hear beautiful music performed by the Samohi choral students and experience this outstanding choral program first hand.
Saturday, June 12, 8am-4pm
2010 Santa Monica Pier Paddleboard Race
Santa Monica Pier
200 Santa Monica Pier - Event on Pier Parking Deck Beach Area to the South
Registration Fee for Race Participants
The Santa Monica Pier will kick off the summer with a Paddleboard race, featuring up to 250 paddle contestants, a dory competition and a paddle gear exhibition. Event benefits Heal The Bay. For more information, please go to www.pierpaddle.com
Saturday, June 12, 8:30am – 4pm
SMMUSD Strategic Plan Advance
The school district will present the “advance” findings from the strategic planning process. Details about this meeting are not yet available so please check in at
http://www.smmusd.org/board/StrategicPlan2010.html for more information!
Sunday, June 13, 3-6pm
Discover Palisades Park
Tickets: $10 for Conservancy members, $15 for non-members
For the first time ever, the Santa Monica Conservancy presents a one-mile walk through Palisades Park, revealing its storied personalities, landscape design, works of art, commemorative monuments and historic structures, unfolding alongside dazzling vistas of the coastline!
Space is limited for this first time event. Tickets will be sold on tour day at the Visitor Center only if space is available. For more information including how to begin a member and reserve a ticket, please email info@smconservancy.org, call 310-496-3146, or visit www.smconservancy.org
Wednesday, June 16, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
UCLA Healthcare 50 Plus seminar: Get an Energy Boost!
Senior Recreation Center
1450 Ocean Avenue
Free. RSVP: (800) 516-5323
Irene Kim, L. Ac, OMD, will explore ways to help you get more energy, and feel less tired by integrating sleep, exercise and diet into your life. This event is a UCLA Healthcare 50 Plus health seminar.
Wednesday, June 16, 7pm – 9pm
SMC PPI Event: “Public Policy on Broadway”
Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, Edye Second Space
11th Street at Santa Monica Boulevard
Free. Reservations required.
The Santa Monica College Public Policy Institute is proud to present its second community event - “Public Policy on Broadway: A Socratic Dialogue on Public Policy Issues in Broadway Classics.” The program will include the performance of three selections from Broadway musicals by the students and faculty of the SMC Musical Theater Workshop. Following each song, Public Policy Institute Founding Director Sheila Kuehl, former State Senator, will lead a Socratic dialogue with the audience using the show tunes as a catalyst for discussing pressing issues and their impact on our lives.
The mission of SMC’s new Public Policy Institute is to engage the community in analyzing issues of public policy, especially those that affect local jurisdictions like cities and counties, and to provide forums such as this for civic engagement.
Seating is limited, and reservations are required. To RSVP, call (310) 434-4003 or email ppi.rsvp@smc.edu.
For more information about the institute and its activities, please call (310) 434-4303 or email Kuehl.website@gmail.com.
Saturday, June 19, 6pm – 8pm
Opening Reception: SMC Student Art Exhibition V.03
SMC Performing Arts Center, Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery
Santa Monica Boulevard at 11th Street
Free
The highly selective Santa Monica College Art Mentor Program will showcase the work of its talented students in an exhibit called “V.03.” This is the third consecutive year that the show has been juried by an external curator, and is therefore named “V.03” which stands for “Version.03”.
The exhibit is curated by Meg Linton, Director of Galleries and Exhibitions at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.
The Art Mentor Program is a unique yearlong program for a select group of students, selected by SMC art department faculty.
The program – in many ways similar to a graduate school program – was created to serve as a stepping stone for students to become better prepared and more competitive. This is accomplished through an innovative approach that allows them to explore a variety of art forms, professional practices and critical theory, while working intensively with faculty, visiting artists and fellow students as they develop individual bodies of work. The program includes frequent visits to galleries, museums and artist studios.
Art mentor alumni have gone on to prestigious schools throughout the nation – including the Rhode Island School of Design, California Institute of the Arts, UCLA and Claremont Graduate School – and to successful careers.
The show runs from June 15 – 26. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call (310) 434-3434.
Saturday, June 19, 2:30pm _ 3:45pm
5th YMCA Intergenerational Showcase: Youth, Adult and Senior Talent Show
Santa Monica Family YMCA, Cayton Room
1332 6th Street
Free
Dance, violin, guitar and singing performances!
For more information, please email lidiam@ymcasm.org or call (310) 393-2721, ext. 129
Saturday, June 19, 2010 - 12 Noon to 5:00 p.m.
18th Annual Juneteenth Celebration
Virginia Avenue Park
Corner Pico and Cloverfield
Free
The City of Santa Monica and Juneteenth Celebration Committee, Inc. proudly present the 18th Annual Juneteenth Celebration, “Sustaining Family, Faith, and Community”; commemorating June 19, 1865, the day the last African-American slaves in Texas were notified of their freedom 2 _ years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. The thread of hope from the newly freed slaves has been sustained within the African-American history through the family, faith and community for 145 years. The festival will celebrate “Sustaining Family, Faith and Community” with music, cultural art and history.
This year’s celebration promises to be a wonderful event. For more information, please go to http://www.smgov.net/Content.aspx?id=14719
Monday, June 21 – Wednesday, June 23, 9:30am - noon
Session 1: UCPlay workshop
Memorial Park Gym, Cab Room A, B, C
1401 Olympic Boulevard
$156 resident, $172 non-resident
Day rate: $54/resident, $59 non-resident
Olivia Karaolis writes: “The UCPlay Project is United Cerebral Palsy’s theatre and creative arts program that is designed to address the core learning needs of children with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder and other related disabilities. We currently bring classes to children in special day classes in the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District. Our Summer program with the department of Parks and recreation is an expansion of our work in the city.”
This three day workshop (single day registration available) is designed for students between the ages of 7 and 12 who have an autistic spectrum disorder and other related disabilities. The program’s goal is to assist students to learn how to communicate, make friends and feel part of a peer group, improve their sense of worth, and improve their capacity for achievement through art and performance. To register, please go to http://recenroll.smgov.net
For more information please contact Olivia Karaolis at okaraolis@ucpla.org or 818-782-2211, ext. 605.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Thursday, June 24, 2010, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Your Brain—Your Health- Featuring Medical Advances and 360° Minimally Invasive Brain Surgery
Santa Monica Public Library, MLK Jr., Auditorium
601 Santa Monica Blvd
Free
Reservations required: Contact Community Education at 310-829-8453
Join Saint John’s Health Center for this free educational program as a team of clinicians and neurosurgeons from the Neuroscience Institute and Brain Tumor Center talk about the brain in health and disease. Brain, pituitary, and skull base tumors, aneurysm, stroke and “multi-infarct disease”—the second leading cause of dementia after Alzheimer’s Disease, will be discussed, in addition to nerve disorders and swallowing disorders associated with some brain tumors, stroke, and neurological disorders.
For more information, please contact Michele Bonant at Michele.Bonant@stjohns.org or 310-829-8851 (ext. 8851)
Thursdays, June 24 – August 12, 10am – 10:45am
UCPlay-to-Learn Parent/Child Summer Camp
Memorial Park Gym
1401 Olympic Boulevard
$97 resident, $105 non-resident
UCPlay-to-Learn is a series of workshops for parents and children between the ges of 18 months to 3 years of age. The children in these workshops are diagnosed with, or at risk for, an Autistic Spectrum Disorder or other developmental disability. The classes are desgined to sustain attention, foster engagement, elicit communication, develop social relatedness, and encourage creative expression. To register, please go to http://recenroll.smgov.net
For more information please contact Olivia Karaolis at okaraolis@ucpla.org or 818-782-2211, ext. 605.
Saturday, June 26, 11am – 2pm
Picnic & Celebration: The Growing Place turns 25!!!
Picnic at Marine Park
1406 Marine
Free
Parents, alumni, teachers, and Growing Place families are welcome to come celebrate 25 years of “educating children for a diverse future!” Congratulations to Ellen Khoka and everyone who has helped make the Growing Place such an important part of our lifelong learning community!
Saturday, June 26, 6pm - dark
Celebrate America!
Santa Monica College, Main Campus Quad & Corsair Field
1900 Pico Boulevard
Free
This year’s Celebrate America community picnic and fireworks display is early so be sure to mark your calendars. SMC will be trying out a slightly different format since the new artificial turf field unfortunately does not accommodate picnics. This year, the community is invited to gather on the beautiful new main campus quad for food, picnicking, and entertainment followed by a spectacular fireworks display over Corsair field. More details about this year’s Celebrate America will be forthcoming but I wanted to give you a heads up now to save the date!
Tuesday, June 29, noon – 2pm
Potluck
Santa Monica Family YMCA, Community Room
1332 6th Street
Guest fee is $3 and a dish for 8 people. Picture ID is required.
For more information, please email lidiam@ymcasm.org or call (310) 393-2721, ext. 129
The Ocean Park Neighborhood Association is once again organizing a community 4th of July Parade. OPA is looking for personal contributions and sponsorships to help support this year’s parade since sponsorships are down. To contribute, to participate, and/or to get more information, please go to www.opa-sm.org/parade
Now.... for all those things I’ve forgotten!!! Please bookmark, visit, subscribe to the following:
Newly Updated!! Santa Monica Connect
Get connected with the city around you!
What's going on in Santa Monica? How can you find out about art openings, performances, and special events? And if you need help — with child care, job assistance, health programs, or more — where can you turn?
Santa Monica Human Services Department has designed Santa Monica Connect to connect you with your city. Through this blog and its free email newsletters, Santa Monica Connect links residents with dozens of programs in the arts and in social services. We take you behind the scenes to meet the people and the programs that are already here for you.
Read the blog. Sign up for the newsletters. Discover your city.
Please spend some time exploring Santa Monica Connect at http://santamonicaconnect.org/
Santa Monica Youth Collaborative is using facebook to try to establish a community dialogue and community bulletin board for youth-related events and concerns. Please become a fan/member of the Youth Collaborative by signing up at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Santa-Monica-Youth-Collaborative/10150154725825414
If lots of individuals and organizations begin using this very easy-to-use tool, who knows, maybe we’ll know what’s going on!!! Please give it a try.
SMMUSD press releases --- to keep up to date with at least of few of the many achievements of our local schools, please regularly visit http://smmusd.org/press/ . You can also sign up for Twitter announcements!
Santa Monica College special news items are regularly posted (including great photos) in an online newsletter, Info@SMC, that for the fourth year in a row, won first place in the statewide Community College Public Relations Organization competition. Stay abreast of SMC news at http://www.smc.edu/infoatsmc
Santa Monica College (www.smc.edu/events,) the Santa Monica Public Library, (www.smpl.org,) and The Broad Stage, (www.thebroadstage.com) are all in full swing now with many, many engaging events scheduled. Please check their websites now and regularly for more information.
City Master Calendar: The City of Santa Monica now has a master calendar, sortable by locations, event type, and age group. It includes a LOT of information. Please bookmark it and use it! You can get to it from the City home page, upper right hand corner, or just go to http://calendar.smgov.net/city/eventcalendar.asp
To receive weekly emails from the City of Santa Monica highlighting upcoming arts events, please subscribe to the Santa Monica Arts Palette at
http://www.patronmail.com/pmailweb/PatronSetup?oid=902
At this same site, you can also sign up to receive emails about events at the Annenberg Community Beach House, at Miles Play House, at the Civic Auditorium, and Festivals. Please don’t rely on me. Sign up!
To receive emails about upcoming events at the Santa Monica Pier, please subscribe at http://www.santamonicapier.org/subscribe.html
Lifelong Learning Community Links provide additional useful websites including local theatrical companies – listed under “Local Museums and Special Venues.” To stay current on upcoming events and to keep abreast of these wonderful local organizations, please bookmark Links at http://smllc.org/links.html
Whew. That's all for now. I hope that everyone appreciates the end-of-the-school year festivities and that we all have a restful and rejuvenating summer.
Thanks, Cheers, and Onward,
Louise Jaffe
Thank you for forwarding this email to others who may be interested.
Louise Jaffe
If you would like to receive Lifelong Learning Community eNews, please go to http://smllc.org/subscribe.html
To post an event, please fill out and submit the form at http://smllc.org/inform.html
To be removed from this E-mail list, simply reply to LCJaffe@aol.com and ask to be removed.
For more information about the Lifelong Learning Community, contact
Louise Jaffe
lcjaffe@aol.com
310-450-2487
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