The Polytechnic Kindergartners at Caltech

Last week the Class of 2024 paid a visit to three Caltech professors, coincidentally, all with students in the kindergarten class. First stop was to the recycling center, where John Onderdonk showed the students a solar car, discussed the concept of reducing one’s carbon footprint and gave the kids a challenge to properly recycle a few items in the recycling center. The students then had lunch and spent some time searching for turtles in the ponds and writing in their science journals.

Professor Rangel was eagerly waiting to show them his lab and lecture hall, where he prepared crafts and two small experiments to show how the brain works. To finish the day, Professor Adkins showed young visitors the newly restored geological and planetary science building and gave the kids a look at some of the research from his department.

Bronwyn Adams-Cohen ’13, Melene Agakanian ’13 and Sophie Wellen ’13 all received the honor for their many hours of volunteer service and school involvement.

Bronwyn was recognized for her more than 5,000 hours of nonprofit work, including her bronze, silver and gold awards as a Girl Scout. Melene won the FSHA varsity basketball team’s 2011-2012 Coaches Award for her team commitment and is an active participant in the Crescenta Valley chapter of the Armenian Youth Federation. Sophie is part of the YMCA’s Youth & Government program and has worked with the San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity to bring the Shantytown event to the area.

The 50 teens were recognized at a reception on May 6 as well as in a special issue of The Magazine Pasadena Foothills.

Summer Basketball 2011 photos

Come and join in the third year of Jr. Titan Basketball Clinics. San Marino High School’s Head Basketball Coach, Mihail Papadopulos, will share with the San Marino youth the fundamentals of basketball! The SMHS Girls Head Coach, Kenny Fisher, will be running the girls camp at the same times. There will be a limited number of players this year so sign up quickly and don’t miss out!

Each new player will receive a basketball and a t-shirt! For further questions please contact Stephanie Perry at sperry1@socal.rr.com Go to smyouthsports.org to register.

SMCAA Titan Basketball Academy $145 per session or $520 for all four sessions ($80 prorated fee available for only 1 week of a session)

Grades 3-5 Youth Titans
Grades 6-8 Junior Titans All Sessions are Monday through Thursday from 3 to 5 pm at San Marino High School Gym

• Session 1, June 11 to 21: Ball Handling, Dribbling and Driving – Learn To Become Unstoppable
• Session 2, June 25 to July 5: Defensive Fundamentals – Learn To Be The Best On Ball Defender
• Session 3, July 9 to 19: Shooting and Triple Threat – Learn To Make It When It Counts
• Session 4, July 23 to August 2: Offensive Skills – Learn How To Get Open & Get A Shot

The San Marino Schools Foundation encourage all District parents to support their children’s quality education with a donation to the Foundation — The foundation cannot reach its goals without the help of the community. Please join the families in Carver Kindergarten listed below by making generous donation to the Annual Campaign. A donation by May 22 ensures a yard sign will be in the donor’s yard on May 30 signifying the family as a supporter of quality public education in San Marino.

Donate here or call (626) 299-7014.

For more information, visit www.smsf.org.

This weekend’s activities raised over $83,000 in support of the fight against cancer. The St. Francis community would like to thank those Golden Knights who gave of their time on behalf of this important cause!

For more information, visit www.sfhs.net.

Austin Hamilton and Skyler Payne

The St. Francis High School mountain bike team competed in the fifth and final regular season event of the SoCal league series at Lake Arrowhead, CA on May 6th. The race was crucial for overall season awards and the “thin-air” of the mountains tested all of the riders. Once again, the Golden Knights rose to the challenge and finished strong in this race, and overall for the season.

Sean Bird

The Lake Arrowhead course turned out to be very dry and dusty, unlike the muddy course that the riders faced last year. Besides the altitude and dust, the riders faced a tough 1.2 mile long fire road climb at the end of each 6-mile lap. This climb tested the resolve and strength of all of the racers.

In the Freshman Division 1 class, Golden Knight rider Austin Hamilton was looking to a secure a strong result and a podium position for the overall SoCal league results. Along with teammate Skyler Payne, Austin and Skyler worked hard to finish in 5th and 7th place, and secured the final two season overall podium positions in 6th and 7th place. Philip Saulney and Remi Roth battled all day against each other and finished in 11th and 12th position. Remi proved that his fitness is improving with his best result of the season. Nick Bedford also had a strong result, placing 19th out of a deep field of 38 riders, with Nathaniel Blakely working hard for 24th. Overall, this was the best race for the freshmen who have improved all season long and are looking to peak at the State Championships on May 20th.

In the Sophomore Division 1 class, Daniel Balsam struggled through an illness to finish in 6th position and secure a very impressive 3rd place overall in the SoCal series. Hunter Nalley has steadily improved all season and finished in 19th, with Keenan Koch and Will Towne finishing in 21st and 22nd.

The Varsity and JV race had many interesting side-stories that the riders and coaches were trying to manage all day long. In the JV race, Sean Bird needed to finish ahead of two other riders that he had battled against all season to secure a 3rd place overall result for the season. Sean managed his race to perfection and finished in 3rd place, securing 3rd overall for the season. Racing in his final SoCal league race, JV racer Cameron Aubert had his best result in his 4 seasons on the team to finish in 14th, with Connor Haas and Scott Marshall close behind in 17th and 19th. Matt Kubly persevered through another race filled with mechanical problems, losing 10 minutes to bike repairs, to battle back for 21st position. After crashing hard during practice the day before the race, Steven Ayoob worked through the pain of his injuries to finish in 25th. Like Daniel Balsam in the sophomore race, Varsity racer Christian Breitschwerdt struggled with illness but finished in 26th. The nail-biter of the day in the Varsity race was all about Matt Misetich. Matt has raced in the SoCal league for 4 years, and needed a solid result to qualify for the State Championships. Matt was two positions behind the result he needed during his first three laps, but pulled out a great final lap to qualify for the State Championships with a finish in 23rd position.

At the end of the day, the Golden Knight mountain bike team had achieved many impressive results. For the race, there were two more podium finishes, and for the overall season result, there were four podium finishes. In all, the team had 16 podium results and 22 top-10 results for the season, more than their previous three seasons combined. Also, all 21 members of the team had qualified for the State Championships. Coach Bird commented “I am most proud that for the fourth straight season, we had no DNF’s”. “This is an incredible achievement and proof that the members of our team are special guys who will not give up.”

The Golden Knights head to Los Olivos to finish off the season and compete against high school teams from the NorCal league at the State Championships on May 20th.

The Golden Knights mountain bike team are very grateful for the support that they have received from the school and administration, along with their sponsors: Design Imports, Hollandays, VCA Arden Animal Hospital, Merchants Building Maintenance, Bell Helmets, Mountain Pine Shutters, Strategic Law Partners, Nu-Hope, Kevin Martin/UBS, Stratz & Company, Financial Guaranty Insurance Brokers, City National Bank, and JoBesh International. Go Knights!

If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please call (818) 790-0325 ext. 513 or email burghdorfa@sfhs.net.

“The safety of our staff and students is the first priority at PUSD. Any decision about the future use of San Rafael should be viewed through the lens of our inability to make any improvements on an aging facility that needs upgrades,” said Gundry. “I also want to state my commitment to preserving the academic programs of San Rafael. With the end of the school year just a few weeks away, we want students, families and staff to be fully informed about this development. I want to emphasize that the dual language and other programs will not be changed and will remain at San Rafael for the 2012-2013 school year.”

According to state law, schools cannot be modernized or rehabilitated within 50 feet of earthquake faults that have shown signs of activity within the last 10,000 years. Education Code Section 17212.5 states that “no school building shall be constructed, reconstructed, or relocated on the trace of a geological fault along which surface rupture can be reasonably expected to occur within the life of the school building.” (See CCR, Title 5, Section 14011(g)).

A community meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the McKinley School auditorium, located at 325 S. Oak Knoll Ave., Pasadena. Parents, community members, and PUSD administration will discuss options for the school going forward, answer questions to alleviate concerns and begin to develop a solution that is best for the current and future students of San Rafael. USGS seismologist and former San Rafael Elementary parent Dr. Lucy Jones will be part of the discussion.

In a letter to San Rafael parents and staff Gundry said, “I realize that this will be a difficult time for students, staff and families and urge you to continue to maintain a calm learning environment on campus and at home so that children are not unduly alarmed. Teachers will be provided with curriculum resources to help students understand earthquakes and how they can be prepared.”

Visit srfaults.pasadenausd.org for more information.

If anyone loves to sing and would like to show off their talent, then this is the time to shine. Win prizes and maybe they can be the next Pasadena Idol!

Auditions for this event, will be held tomorrow, May 12th from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Paseo Colorado, East Colorado Boulevard. Pasadena Idol will be held on Sat., August 18th.

For more information go to facebook.com/PasadenaIdol or call (626) 744-7507.

Sequoyah School Community Auction

Sequoyah School will hold its community silent auction and bar on the 19th of May, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. at its campus located at 535 South Pasadena Avenue, Pasadena.

And yes, the trucks are coming too! If any student have not received their invitations for the May 19th auction, please contact Elena at ephleger@sequoyahschool.org.

For more information call (626) 795-4351 or visit www.sequoyahschool.org.

The children raised funds by creating chore coupon books. Each child created a book of coupons with household chores redeemable for $1 per chore. In addition fourth grade teacher, Mrs. St. John organized a donation of 82 MJS sweatshirts. Speaking on behalf of the Kenyan Consulate, Mr. Thuo thanked the children for their assistance and friendship and spent some time answering the students’ questions about Kenya.

Edmund & Mary Fry, who own Rose Tree Cottage, created Bloom Where Planted, a charitable foundation, to support Longonot School after they visited the school during a safari trip to Kenya in 2003. Since then, the couple has devoted their time and energy to improving the school and the quality of life for its students.

Mayfield’s fourth graders became pen pals with the children of Longonot School in 2009 when they were in the second grade. Mrs. Fry and Mayfield parent Martha Williamson, whose daughter Abby Anderson is in the fourth grade, organized the project and the children have been corresponding ever since.