Author: May S Ruiz

Clairbourn School Incorporates Appreciation for Nature in Teaching

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Originally published on 15 September 2016 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and Sierra Madre Weekly

In an area like the Pasadena market which is replete with outstanding schools, setting itself apart from all the rest is a remarkable feat. However, Clairbourn School, a junior pre-K to 8th grade independent learning institution in San Gabriel, succeeds in standing out.

Headmaster, Dr. Robert Nafie, leads dedicated administrators and teachers who work tirelessly to build a strong instructional program balanced with meaningful elective courses, extra-curricular activities and after-school classes. He ensures that each student gets the best education, using all the tools available, in a caring and nurturing atmosphere.     

That children need to be children was uppermost in the mind of former head of school, Gloria Stahmer, when in 2009 she asked then 5th grade teacher, Jonathan Barner, “Don’t you think our kids need to be out in the dirt, gardening … or something?”  

“As an avid backyard gardener, I thought it was a fabulous idea,” Barner relates. “Thus began our vegetable propagation – we bought three pre-made plant beds which our maintenance crew installed and integrated with an irrigation system in the 4th and 5th grade area. They also made beds along the fence in the parking lot.

“The project was a collaboration with the other 5th grade teacher, Laurie Corwin, who taught social studies. I suggested we recreate the American Colonial period and grow corn, pumpkin and cotton – all the crops that were important to the survival of early colonists and the native Americans. Through this colonial garden students learned how early settlers struggled in the new world. 

“We planted in the spring and let it grew through the summer while the students were on their break. When they came back in the Fall, the 5th graders were learning about the Colonial period, which was so timely as we had an abundance of harvest from our spring plantings. We did some pretty cool things – we took the corn off the husk, we dried, and then ground it. A couple of times we made corn and pumpkin bread. By eating what they might have survived on, we bridged a connection with the colonists. 

“With the cotton plants, we made students separate seeds from the bolls. When they used their fingers to pull out the seed, which were actually the size of pencil erasers, they discovered it wasn’t easy. It was a perfect teaching opportunity to discuss Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton engine (gin) in 1793, that mechanized separating the seeds from the fiber.

“While students weren’t studying the physiology of plants in science, gardening became a component of our daily class. It was simply more meaningful for kids to have the hands-on experience planting seedling, watching plants grow, learning about soil quality, and fertilizing.  A couple of times we tried composting but we realized it was just too much for us to take on, on top of the gardening, much less the actual school curriculum.

“The greenhouse, which was originally put in in November 2001 by a previous science teacher, had not been used much after he left. It was upgraded in 2013 to make it usable for a class – we put in a flat area made of decomposed granite, we brought in three round picnic tables as work areas, we installed a sink with water, and we fenced it in for security. Teachers used it as a learning center.

“In 2012, a generous lady by the name of Betty Barker heard about our gardens and offered to fund the project. We used the grant to purchase two steel benches, and a couple of round picnic benches where kids could sit and write notes while other students were planting. She also gave money for the greenhouse upgrade in 2013, and made a follow-up donation in 2015,” Barner adds.

When Barner retired in 2015, Nancy Ward, Director of Communications, took on the mantle.  An enthusiastic gardener like him, she knew that an important component for success is finding partners who share her vision and help realize it.                                                      

In the spring of 2016 Ward resurrected Clairbourn School’s gardens with assistance from Farmscape, a local company that maintains vegetable gardens and home orchards. She pronounces, “I’m a big supporter of gardens because it teaches us important lessons in growing up and having successful lives. Every planting season is an expectation of good things to come – from the seed that’s buried in the ground, vegetables emanate. Then we have to devise a way to cook them, and how to put up the surplus – from dehydrating, to canning or preserving – to feed us through the winter months. We also need to learn long-term planning because if we want pumpkins for Halloween, we need to plant seeds in the summer. 

East Hall walkway at Clairbourn School | Photo courtesy of Clairbourn School

“I want gardening to be personal for the kids. When they study American history, I want them to see the crops Native Americans grew – corn, bean, and squash – three sisters planting, they’re called. There’s a symbiotic relationship where these three crops thrive at one time; the beans are supported by corn stalks and squash grow underneath, to shade its roots and keep moisture in. When students learn about Eli Whitney and the cotton gin, they can see first-hand what that plant looks like and how difficult it is to handle it.

“There are multiple areas on campus where students can go to at designated times of the school day to enjoy the flower and vegetable gardens. There is a raised bed for vegetables and a butterfly garden near the kindergarten classrooms for small students. Behind the 4th and 5th grade classrooms, there are three raised vegetable beds; plantings of cotton, corn and wheat along the walkway; and a passion fruit vine snaking up the trellis at the entrance to the garden. A greenhouse is in the middle school ‘jungle,’” Ward explains.         

Farmscape’s horticulturist, Melissa Rodriguez, teaches the after-school gardening program twice a week. Tuesday’s entry level class is composed of pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade students. They learn about the life cycle of plants and insects; plant organic vegetable seeds and seedlings;           

harvest and sample fresh produce from the garden. On Wednesday, she teaches 2nd to 5th graders in the greenhouse. Lessons include: learning about soil health and nutrition; cultivating vegetables, herbs, tropical plants, and orchids; propagating plants from seedlings and cuttings.  Students keep a journal to record plant growth patterns.

What Rodriguez usually encounters when she teaches is that students don’t know where food comes from. She illustrates, “Many kids don’t know what cucumbers, squash and tomatoes look like before they reach the supermarket. I want to build the connection between the plant on the ground to the food they have on their dining table or are served in the restaurant.”

“I introduce them to plants and vegetables that are not what they’re used to – purple and yellow carrots, red yard-long beans. I encourage them to taste the things we’re growing. I noticed that Clairbourn kids aren’t willing to try produce as readily as the other children I teach, which is a bit of a challenge. So now I grow plants with interesting taste like basil and mint, even strawberry,” Rodriguez discloses.                        

The gardens serve as outdoor ‘classrooms’ where students spend a portion of their day. Mary-Kaye Halferty, 4th grade teacher, declares, “The lessons are quite fascinating. In one class my students and I went to, the teacher pulled out all the insects and butterflies in the garden to discuss their role in either helping or hindering the growth of a plant.” 

Whether they’re learning al fresco, or merely enjoying the beautiful scenery, students get some relief from academic stress. Teachers, too, feel the gardens offer a welcome breather during the day. Those who originated the planting program and made horticulture an important component of education have their own personal views of its purpose.               

To Barner, it means valuing quality food over processed fare; an appreciation for farmers and their hard toil to produce vegetables; an opportunity for children to have a new learning environment; and taking on the responsibility to preserve this earth for future generations.     

For Ward, whose stewardship and constant presence in the gardens have inspired the kids to get their hands in the dirt, it denotes planting a seed to spark the inner gardener of every student and to serve as a regular enrichment activity that teaches great life lessons.

In his 2016-2017 mission statement, Nafie states, “The abundant nature with which Clairbourn is blessed is clear evidence of annual renewal. That success in academics, as in life, is not just a momentary event. When students get discouraged or stressed by new concepts, we can help them put down the kind of roots that will feed and sustain their success now and in the future. From the same sturdy plant, many flowers and crops will bloom in cycles of regeneration. So too, with our students, each year has its seeds, its watering, its below the surface, and its above the ground work to do. With teamwork and patient tending, the renewal of success will be assured.”

These gardens assume a significance as varied as the individuals whose lives they touch. But there is one constant  – all the students reap the fruit they have to offer.That is a Clairbourn promise.                    

Twelve-year-old Leila Wu Publishes her Second Book

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Originally published on 8 September 2016 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and Sierra Madre Weekly

In 12-year-old Leila Wu’s head, there are perfectly formed people with magical powers who inhabit earth and can also live in another world, quite apart from our idea of reality. She describes these individuals and the place they visit in vivid detail in her book, The Mysterious World of Camelot. It is the second installment in what she plans to be an ambitious 14-book series.  

It all started with Jupiter – the planet – not the Roman god. Strange as that may sound, it was a research paper on the solar system that got then first-grader and six-year old, Leila, interested in writing.

“I spent recess time researching and I learned about the red dot, a storm on Jupiter. I found it so engrossing that I wrote ten pages for what was a seven-page work assignment. My teacher, Mrs. Watts, had to stop me at that point because the class had moved on to Saturn,” recalls Leila, now a 6th grader at Clairbourn School in San Gabriel.

In 2nd grade Leila wrote a little poem for Mothers’ Visiting Day that so charmed her teacher, Denise Wreede, that she submitted it to Paw Print, the school’s student publication. Her mom, Monica, was both impressed and touched when she read it.     

“I truly believe in passion first and foremost, and then in talent,” she discloses. “I try to expose my two children to different experiences to give them a chance to find out what interests them. I told Leila she might consider writing a short story too, and she rose to the challenge. She decided to pen a novel with 12 chapters and proceeded to craft the table of contents. She even knew how many pages she would devote to each chapter.”     

Then Leila hit a bump on the road so Monica approached Wreede for assistance.  Wreede relates, “I met with her twice or thrice a week after school, giving her direction and making her focus.  She would stand by me and tell me what she wanted to write and I typed it. After we finished the first working draft, I handed it over to Stephen Rivele, who was then the Clairbourn parent staff for Paw Print.”  

A best-selling author himself, Rivele, helped Leila develop and polish the text and illustrations for the story, then took it to Amazon. And The Mysterious Book of Magic was published; Leila was eight years old. It introduces readers to the fantastic world of Jennifer and Josephine, twin sisters, and their mom, Madelin. The twins chance upon this mysterious book which a boy, named Arthur, has inadvertently lost. 

That was the beginning of a friendship and a magical journey for the three young protagonists that Leila continues in the second installment called The Mysterious World of Camelot. Here, she establishes a darker universe as Jennifer, Josephine, and Arthur travel to his home, Camelot, and meet Arthur’s evil brother, Francis, who is attempting to assert his legacy as successor to their father’s reign in the kingdom. 

This second book – at 414 pages – which Leila began in 3rd grade, took much longer to write. It required meticulous rewriting and professional editing. Monica found another Clairbourn parent, Chris Trager, to guide her through this undertaking.  

Trager says, “It was really a collaboration; Leila already knew what she wanted to write and how to go about it. I think she has found her voice – I will pick up a book 20 years from now and I would know it’s her work.”  

Leila’s fictional crusaders are children her age whom she imbued with some of her own characteristics, interests, and beliefs. She intends for them to grow up alongside her and together they will go into ever more dangerous but fun adventures. Her heroes will brandish their acquired magical powers to fight on behalf of righteousness as much as she will wield her boundless creative ability to bring endless joy into the lives of her readers.   

Crestview Preparatory School in La Canada Offers Individualized Teaching

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Originally published on 1 September 2016 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and Sierra Madre Weekly

There is a small, quiet, and picturesque community nestled between the San Gabriel Mountains and the Angeles National Forest that not too many people outside of Southern California are familiar with. It’s La Canada-Flintridge (otherwise known as La Canada), which is home to the world-renowned Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Descanso Gardens. 

For the past 30 years, Crestview Preparatory School (Crestview Prep or Crestview), a kindergarten to sixth grade co-ed school, has also called La Canada home. With a total student population of 160, it is dwarfed by three other educational institutions (Flintridge Prep, a seventh to twelfth grade school, La Canada High and St. Francis HS) on this stretch of Foothill Blvd.

Crestview Prep is the only elementary school in this area and will remain so by design. Baudelia Chavez Taylor, who is in her third year as headmaster, declares, “We only have five- to twelve-year-olds on campus. And while it would be financially lucrative to offer a middle school program, we have no aspirations to do so. Our kindergarteners as well as our 6th graders will be read to in the library. We believe strongly that children should be children. This is a foundational time for them and we want to provide a space for their innocence.”

Established by in 1986 by Vicki Dempsey and Marge Hanna, with Dempsey acting as chief financial officer and Hanna serving as head of school until her retirement in 2007, Crestview’s  mission is to provide academic excellence while encouraging students to discover their unique talents as they face challenges with confidence.

Today Crestview exhibits the same beliefs and values its founders imbued the school. As Taylor relates. “We celebrated our 30th anniversary this past school year. It was interesting to reconnect with folks who have a history with the school and find that there were such commonalities in people’s ideals of 30 years ago that attend to the present. Then, as now, it was the sense of community that was most important, and it was the first thing everyone wanted to talk about.

They reminisced about the traditions – tried and true events on campus like the walkathon, where people get up early and convene to have a great time – that parents and students enjoy to this day. They spoke about balancing the academic, social and emotional development of the child.  Hearing that sentiment was validating for me. It was yet another reason that this feels such a good fit.”

Continues Taylor, “My first year at Crestview was lovely but fast-paced and quite overwhelming. There were a lot of things to become familiar with – not just the culture, but the inner workings of the school as well. But I found everybody to be open and helpful; where there were questions I didn’t ask, they filled the gaps.”

“My knowledge of Crestview before I came onboard was just in passing because my training was mostly with West LA schools,” Taylor explains. “While we live in Pasadena, I wasn’t a parent looking in the area when my children were getting ready to go to school. Then my son decided to go to Polytechnic in 7th grade and I wasn’t able to attend any campus event because I was on the West Side. That compelled me to find a job closer to home.” 

Image taken from Crestview Prep’s website

Taylor had only worked at large institutions so this career move to Crestview was a big change. Previous to this post, she spent 14 years at the Center for Early Education in West Hollywood where there were 543 elementary-level students. She taught early childhood education through 3rd grade before being named a division head, a position she held for five years. Prior to that she worked at Bellagio Road Newcomer, an LAUSD specialty school that focused on introducing new immigrants to the American education system before being mainstreamed into the district.  This is the third school she’s worked at, and her first headship.

“Now that my daughter goes to Westridge, I am only ten minutes away from my two children.  As an educator, it’s something I’ve always had to consider – my role as a parent,” explains Taylor. “As a mother, I have always been pulled by my children. Consequently, as head of an elementary school which is foundational in a child’s development and learning, it’s my parent hat that’s front and center. It helps me understand their needs and life experience because I live it.”               

Taylor says about Crestview, “We’d love parents to understand that our focus is on the academic, emotional and social needs of the child at all times. Parents will see that some classrooms will have very traditional teaching; and in the next half hour they will witness exceptionally innovative, hands-on, forward-thinking approach in education. We’re reflective of how we’re teaching and why we’re teaching that way. It is a method or strategy that works and we’ll constantly be providing that. It’s a place of balance – it will ebb and flow into that traditional and progressive space all day, every day, but always with the best interest of students at heart.”

With so many outstanding educational institutions in the Pasadena area, Crestview nevertheless manages to shine. Taylor expounds, “What makes us different is the way we deliver curriculum;  it isn’t stagnant and it’s individualized teaching. We make adjustments, as needed, throughout the year so our curriculum is constantly evolving. We may adopt a different method from one grade level to another, based on the class dynamic. We use a program called balanced math that gives us the flexibility to target students’ need. We employ our ERB scores to look at systematic areas where we need to improve.”

Individualized teaching is the norm at Crestview which has small class sizes – the student-teacher ratio in the classroom is ten to one. Crestview has 12 master teachers, nine specialists, and five teaching assistants. Twelve teachers hold master’s degrees; all the others have bachelor’s degrees; and assistants are currently in credentialing programs. The faculty’s average length of service is 10 to15 years, with four teachers who have been there for over 20 years.

Crestview Prep has a strong program that comprises reading and language arts, math, social studies, and science. It offers a character education curriculum in addition to its robust specialist programs including technology integration, music, art, physical education, library, and Spanish.  Chrome books and iPads are used in all the classrooms to enhance students’ learning experience.

Image taken from Crestview Prep website

The demographic make-up of Crestview’s student body is 40.5 percent predominantly Armenian, 34.3 percent multi-race, 18.5 percent Asian, four-and-a-half percent Latino, and two-and-a-quarter percent African American. Graduates successfully matriculate to highly selective schools like Chandler, Flintridge Prep, Polytechnic, Westridge School for Girls, Campbell Hall, Harvard-Westlake, and Marlborough.

While Crestview Prep occupies a tiny sliver of land that’s leased from the city, it uses the property as efficiently as possible. Reveals Taylor, “We’re getting ready to embark on a very modest capital campaign to expand our facilities. Mindful of strict building codes which limit the height of structures to preserve the views, we have to be creative in how we grow and change, utilizing space laterally. We previously did it with modulars and we will continue to use them; happily, today’s modulars are better looking. We have more choices for improving the facilities that are aesthetically pleasing and that blend with the environment.”

“A recent improvement is the introduction of the science lab which we inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony,” Taylor adds. “Ideally, we would also want to make the library and music areas to be contiguous. Right now our library shares the space with the tech lab. While it works well because they co-teach so there’s no real issue, it would be nice to have a larger dedicated room. We have 10,000 books in our collection and we have been ingenious in how we display them and keep them fresh.”

As Taylor commences her third school year as head of Crestview, she ruminates, “The role of a headmaster 15 years ago was programmatic but shifted because of demographic changes. For economic reasons, heads in the past ten years became more finance-focused. However, what has fallen short is the attention to the program, the families, and students themselves. I think there is a tipping point that will force heads of school to change course. We can’t lose sight of our mission to educate and nurture a child. While we need the skills related to finance and fund-raising, priority needs to be put on families. Where before, meeting with a headmaster would have been a tall feat, now it’s going to be a regular part of everyday activity.”               

That’s the one thing that truly sets Crestview Prep apart from all the excellent schools in the area.  When parents come into the office to get answers to even the simplest of questions, like what forms they need to fill in, they ask the head of school. 

For Crestview parents, Baudelia Chavez Taylor is always their first resource. And she embodies the kind of high-touch headship all caring school administrators ought to model.                        

First Avenue Middle School Welcomes New Principal

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Originally published on 11 August 2016 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and Sierra Madre Weekly

When the class of 2019 enters the gates of First Avenue Middle School in Arcadia next week, the students will be met by a familiar face – Semeen Issa. However, Issa, who has been assistant principal at the school for the past six years, will be greeting them as their new principal.

That Issa thoroughly enjoys being at First Avenue is evident given this will be her 17th year there. Recalls Issa, “I used to work in the Los Angeles Unified School District but I decided to make a change because I wanted to spend more time with my young children. Being an Arcadia resident, I was spending much of the day commuting to work so I got a job here as a teacher. I taught 6th grade English and History; 6th, 7th and 8th grade intermediate ELD (English Language Development). I did this for ten years until six years ago when I was named assistant principal.”

“Moving up the ranks to the top position doesn’t usually happen,” Issa reveals. “There was only one other principal who started in the Arcadia Unified School District (AUSD) as a teacher.”

Hiring a principal from the outside to bring fresh ideas to the table may have its pluses but as  Issa is quick to point out, “Familiarity with the school culture and how it runs is vitally important. Having a headmaster who is aware of what the faculty wants to see in their principal is a big advantage. I know both sides of the coin, having worked as a teacher and administrator.  Additionally, my daughter went to middle school here so I was also a past parent. Having worn several hats at First Avenue gives me a multi-dimensional knowledge and perspective.”

Issa will ensure a seamless transition from her predecessor’s term to hers as she steers the course for First Avenue’s approximately 800 students. She, together with her faculty and staff, are charged with making sure that every child succeeds. She says, “The federal government mandates that we educate everyone who walks in our doors. But we at AUSD take it a step further by finding out exactly what they need and personalizing their education while they’re here.”

“This is a constant discussion we have here because unlike elementary schools which have six years to get students ready for us, we have only three before we send them off to high school,” continues Issa. “And the time they’re with us are critical years because they go through major developmental changes – they enter our gates as little kids and leave as teenagers. We not only prepare them academically, we also make sure they have transformative experiences and become leaders.”

One leadership training at First Avenue is called WEB (Where Everyone Belongs) program. Issa explains, “Eighth grade students guide 6th graders as they transition from elementary to middle school. They are chosen from 120 seventh graders who apply in May to become mentors during their last year. Based on their applications, interviews and teacher recommendations, 40 of them are selected and are charged to look after a group of 10 to 12 6th graders.”

Art electives are a major component of middle school life. Issa expounds, “When AUSD transitioned from the junior high to the middle school format back in the 1990s, the faculty and staff had been vocal about the need to focus on the whole child. That meant keeping all extra-curriculars. Athletics were reinstalled into their daily schedule to get students ready for high school sports and CIF competitions.

The many opportunities available for First Avenue middle schoolers keep students with their hands full. A rotating seven-period schedule means they have to come in during zero period in the morning for art class. And if all that weren’t enough, teachers continue to collaborate with fellow educators in the different departments to come up with ever more enrichment activities.

During her first year as principal, Issa plans to coordinate with the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) to expand something that functions well. She says, “I don’t want to fix what isn’t broken for the sake of making changes. Instead, I will work closely with the PTSA to develop more student-centered events. I want our middle schoolers to adjust comfortably to this new phase and to become responsible young people.”

Issa relates, “Often parents hover over their kids and worry, and rightly so. But during middle school, it’s helpful for adults to give children the space to mature. And, likewise, it’s a time for parents to adapt to their kids’ growing independence. This is a very exciting time for parents as well as for children. I want to provide a happy, positive, and memorable experience for everyone while they’re here.” With Issa at the helm, First Avenue middle schoolers are sure to emerge confidently prepared for high school, college, and beyond.                 

Arcadia High School Valedictorian Advocates Service to Others

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Originally published on 28 July 2016 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and Sierra Madre Weekly

When the Arcadia High School class of 2016 bade farewell to their alma mater last month during their graduation ceremony, George Hou, spoke on behalf of his classmates. In his valedictory speech he did not brag about his peers’ academic prowess, instead he lauded their empathy.

“It was our compassion that united us so quickly in solidarity after the recent shooting in Orlando; it was our compassion that brought us all together to help stop the spread of the Ebola outbreak; and it is our compassion – and how we show it – that will dictate our future and the world’s for generations to come,” George declared.

That George has been chosen this year’s valedictorian is evidence that academic excellence isn’t everything Arcadia High School stands for. As he himself confesses, “I was really surprised to be named valedictorian. I am of the opinion that this honor isn’t bestowed to the person with the highest GPA, because if that were the case I wouldn’t have had a chance. I can list ten or 20 students who have higher grades and better minds, and who learn faster than I do. I think I realized that early on when I saw my classmates grasp concepts in an hour when it took me twice as long to understand them.”

There is a message George wants to impart to students who may be like him, “To all students out there who might be struggling, know that you’re not alone. Keep your head up and take a deep breath.  It’s not a matter of who sprints the fastest. Work at your own pace, but never, ever give up. If you fall, get right back up and look at your failure as a stepping stone – a learning experience to see how you can improve. By focusing on what lies at the core of everything – your attitude and work ethic – slowly, yet surely, you will see that your potential has no bounds.”   

In his valedictory address George began by saying, “When I was in first grade, I wanted to become just like my idol, Curious George – charming, curious, cute. But somewhere along the way, I lost the inquisitiveness I always believed I had. At some points during high school I noticed there were times when I was confused about why I was studying. Why did I need to learn the Greek alphabet – alpha, epsilon, pi, sigma – to study math, for instance? I became calculated and grade-driven, singularly focused on getting a certain grade in hopes of attending a better college. I was no longer the Curious George that I once was; I was frustrated that I lacked any and all passion.”

But George knew the adults around him expected him to find his passion, and to meet expectations he went in search of it. He googled ‘how to find your passion’ and took a bunch of quizzes that claimed to provide the answer, consulted his daily horoscope for potential clues, even read fortune cookies. But nothing yielded the result he was looking for.

Image of Harvard University taken from Harvard website

“Even now I don’t think I have figured out what my passion is. But I believe the path to discovering it is an ongoing process and it starts with compassion. For me passion and happiness go hand-in-hand. And happiness to me means a healthy family, an impactful legacy, and a meaningful contribution to society,” George explains.

“That gave me the drive and the purpose to accomplish something of value,” George continues. “In my case, the impetus to find meaning to everything I was studying began with my grandfather who was hearing-impaired. While early on I questioned why I had to learn calculus when I didn’t see its importance in the future, since I didn’t want to be a mathematician, I had a sudden change of heart. I discovered that math could help develop a method to enhance hearing aids; I can improve the quality of hearing aids so people will actually want to wear them. That motivated me to apply my knowledge in the classroom to solve a real-world problem.”

George’s research ‘Separating Mixed Signals in Noise-Polluted Environments Using Global Optimization’ landed him in the final round of the 75th Annual Intel Science Talent Search competition. He was one of 40 finalists chosen from around the country who traveled to Washington D.C. this past spring to present their work. For George, being in the same room with these talented researchers was a tangible validation of his own accomplishment.  

This summer George continues his quest to build an algorithm that will separate sounds and filter out noise in hearing aids in real time. He intends to make it his life’s work to create something that will enrich the lives of the hearing-impaired.

As George heads off to Harvard University next month, he will take with him his deep-seated resolve to be of service to humanity. He may not have been the smartest one in his class, but just as he has proven, when he puts in twice the effort he can achieve whatever he aspires to.           

Comic-Con International Continues to Captivate

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Originally published on 21 July 2016 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and Sierra Madre Weekly

In 1970, a group of comic book, movie, and science fiction aficionados got together and decided to organize a small convention (which they called minicon) in San Diego to establish awareness and raise funds for a much bigger event of this nature. They held it on March 21 of that year at the US Grant Hotel and it drew about 100 attendees.

It has since evolved into the San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC) and attracts thousands of followers to its multi-day gatherings in major cities the world over. The granddaddy of them all remains to be the annual Comic-Con International: San Diego, which will be held in several venues in and around the convention center from Thursday, July 21 to Sunday, July 25, with a preview night on July 20.

The comic convention has become hugely popular that it has spawned other events like WonderCon, held from 1995 to 2014 in Anaheim; the Alternative Press Expo (APE), held in San Francisco from 2002 to 2014 and in San Jose in 1995 to 2001; Comic Book Expo; ProCon; and Con/Fusion.

Image taken from Comic-Con website

Stephen Haydon, who works at a national retail store in Pasadena and is going this year as a member of the industry, is one of the organization’s most devoted attendees. He states, “Comic-Con has a reputation that preceded it long before it became mainstream. I’ve known about it for as long as I’ve been able to lift a comic book but it wasn’t until I was in high school that I learned the particulars of the event. I happened to be talking to my uncle who lives in San Diego and he suggested that my dad and I come out for it.

“I was born and raised in Iowa so Comic-Con seemed like an impossible dream but to hear that it was in such close proximity to my family made it an attainable goal. I first attended it in 2009 with my dad for four days and preview night. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed and I was unable to make it to preview night in time that year. I’ve tried not to miss it since,” Haydon continues.

Pasadena born and bred, Rachel Miller, loves reading comic books. The 20-year-old college student relates, “I must have heard about Comic-Con through an ad or at the comic store I frequent. Heading down to SDCC has been my dream since I was about 11 or 12, but this was the first year I was able to set any plans down in stone.”

For Miller’s 19-year-old former high school classmate, Brianna Chu, going to Comic-Con wasn’t exactly a childhood wish. She discloses, “I found out about it from friends like Rach but it wasn’t until I learned that my favorite actors from TV shows and movies went to it every year that I got really interested.

“Rach and I had considered going to it together, just the two of us, but having thought more about it we decided it wasn’t such a great idea to have two girls go on their own. So I asked two friends from university if they wanted to tag along,” Chu expounds.

Tom Williams, a 20-year-old who hails from Herefordshire, England, has also known about Comic-Con for a while. He recounts, “I had heard about it from various different sources, long before I ever conceived of possibly going there one day. It’s discussed and represented quite a bit in the general media, in such forms as gaming YouTube channels. And if you’re even vaguely interested in the Marvel film franchise, for example, it’s highly likely you’ll hear about it eventually. Some friends from back home and I considered going to London Comic-Con a number of times, although we were never able to organize it properly.

“Being from England, I obviously really didn’t think about traveling to San Diego until I went to university and made new friends. We knew we all wanted to go together! In my experience it’s always the people that make an event special and I’m really looking forward to enjoying it,” Williams continues.

Rebecca Montgomery, who is 19 years old and Chu’s flat mate last year at the university they both attend in the UK, has lived all over the world where her dad’s business operates. When school isn’t in session, she resides in Singapore. She says, “I found out about Comic-Con from watching my favorite TV shows, ‘Chuck’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory.’ While I had dreamt of going to Comic-Con it wasn’t until I met Brianna and Tom that it became achievable.”

The process of getting a badge to Comic-Con proved daunting for this group of friends. Miller says, “Badge purchasing was awful! You have to register long before you can actually buy tickets just to secure a spot in the ‘waiting room.’ On the day the badges become available you log onto this ‘waiting room’ an hour at most before tickets are up and you wait to get called into the page where you purchase them. In the meantime, banners pop up letting you know when days are sold out. On top of that, you can only purchase for yourself and a maximum of two others. It was stressful!”

“It was nerve-wracking while we were all waiting to see if we could get onto the actual buying site. I honestly wasn’t expecting we’d get lucky so I wasn’t really paying much attention. Then suddenly I realized I got in the purchasing page,” Montgomery relates.

Participants at Comic-Con San Diego 20 July 2013. Comic-Con draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every year and some attend in full costume. Image taken from Comic-Con website

The four friends were at school the day badges became available – Miller was in Philadelphia while Chu, Montgomery, and Williams were in Scotland. They were all on Skype together, watching the screen and hoping one of them would get selected.

Relates Williams, “Happily, Rebecca got chosen and she nominated Brianna and Rachel, who are both from Pasadena. That left me in a bit of a pickle. I had resigned myself into missing it this year but, thankfully, I was invited as an official guest of an exhibitor at the show!”

“We planned for this event for a good six months – figuring out when everyone would be meeting up and how we’d get there, as Rebecca and I live abroad. We also had to find accommodations at a reasonable price, decide what costumes we wanted to wear, consider our meal plan. The hardest part was making sure we’d all arrive at convenient times and that we’d have enough time beforehand to work and save up some cash,” Williams goes on to say.

They’re all looking forward to a thrilling experience. As Miller says, “Hopefully, it will live up to all my expectations of fun craziness. The trip still feels like a dream – it won’t be real for me until I step onto the convention floor on Thursday! While I anticipate to get much enjoyment, I also hope to gain a sense of independence and self-responsibility, traveling without my parents for the first time.”

Montgomery pipes in, “I’m delighted to be here in California; I shall make the most of this experience. I intend to have a great time, maybe see some cool panels, and listen to people talk about interesting topics.”

Meanwhile, Chu has one priority, “The first thing I’ll do is head to the Warner Bros. booth and hopefully get some autographs from the cast of ‘Supernatural,’ one of my favorite TV shows.”

One drawback about Comic-Con’s popularity is that tickets are in such high demand. Haydon, who has been going for seven years, illustrates, “The first time I purchased them, I went on the website a mere two months before the event. It was as simple as buying a movie ticket from Fandango, if not easier. Now the process is so complicated and badges sell out within 45 minutes after they are available for purchase.

“The price has also gone up – the first time my Dad and I went it cost $50 for all four days plus preview night; it’s now $275. But Comic-Con is part of my life; it’s hard to imagine a year without it,” Haydon states.

Image taken from Comic-Con website

Comic-Con International is the largest event of its kind and is held in 19 separate rooms in the Convention Center, at hotels nearby, and in the public library. Activities for attendees range from hands-on workshops, a masquerade cosplay costume competition, film screenings, an art show, portfolio reviews, autograph area, and the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards.

People who weren’t able to purchase badges can attend events that are open to the public including booths, carnivals, obstacle courses, etc.

The presence of Hollywood celebrities promoting upcoming films and TV shows has added to the attraction and popularity of Comic-Con. David Glanzer, spokesperson for SDCC, says, “We have a wide variety of attendees, some of whom are interested in comics, writing, film, acting, producing, art, and other forms of artistic expression. It is great that those aspiring creators can meet and learn from those who are successful in their chosen field.

“In fact, I think there is a misconception that Comic-Con was originally just to focus on comic books. The reality is we always thought comics, film, and fantasy literature were areas of popular art that the public may not have fully embraced. So our hope was to bring wider recognition to elements we felt were truly great artistic forms of expression. In fact, it is heartening to see that in the 21st century, fantasy literature is so popular, that film is widely regarded with such high esteem that the US Congress established a film registry, and comic books are so popular that the public is aware of so many comics characters,” Glanzer expounds.

“The event is different for every person,” Glanzer concludes. “But we are all fans, who produce Comic-Con, so we try to create the type of show we would want to attend. We hope they learn something new and informative, enjoy the company of like-minded friends, and realize Comic-Con is a place where you can be yourself … or who you want to be.”

For the over 100,000 enthusiastic fans who will flock to San Diego this week, Comic-Con makes it so cool to be a nerd.

Interactive Children’s Tour Offered at Famed Fenyes Mansion

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 14 July 2016 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and Sierra Madre Weekly

The magnificent mansions on Orange Grove Blvd., in Pasadena, set along wide avenues and well-tended manicured lawns, are the stuff of fairy tales. The Fenyes Mansion is one such residence where kids would have so much fun playing pretend. At the same time, it is an excellent setting for today’s children to learn how people lived a hundred years ago.

From 10:30 am to noon, on Wednesday, July 20 and Saturday, July 23, the Fenyes Mansion is offering senior and junior docent-conducted and supervised immersive tours for kids aged six to twelve. Called ‘Growing up on Millionaires’ Row’, the visits offer a glimpse of what is was like to live in a grand house through the eyes of children.

Brad Macneil, Education Program Coordinator at the Pasadena Museum of History, designed the tour in hopes that this would be an occasion for grandparents to take their grandchildren on an enjoyable visit. He says, “It will be an intimate group of no more than 30 people for each session to allow for individualized attention. We will divide them into three groupings touring  different sections of the mansion. The first one will look at the public places – foyer, dining room and kitchen; the second will go into the studio and the conservatory; and the third will go to the upstairs private areas – the sitting room and the bedrooms.”

“There will be fun things to explore in each space. Obviously the kitchen is a wonderful place to see because while it looks somewhat like today’s kitchen, it is full of delightful appliances – old   fashioned toasters, ice box (refrigerator), stove – that children don’t see in their homes. We’ll show them how ancient phones functioned and how irons worked,” Macneil explains. 

“In the studio we have a Victor Victrola which we rarely use but it will be cranked up and will play music,” reveals Macneil. “It would be great to see the look on kids’ faces when they hear tunes coming out of that instead of from an iPod”.

Macneil further enthuses, “The conservatory is such an amazing place – how many people have their own private garden inside their house? How fun would it be for a child to come and play in this room devoted entirely to plants!”

“The group that will be looking at the foyer would become acquainted with how people arrived to visit – they had calling cards, for one, and they dressed far more formally than we do today. Children will get to pretend to come for a special lunch. They will see how the table is set and learn table manners. Just knowing which fork to use for certain foods require basic training; we have a book devoted solely to dining etiquette. I’m sure we’ll hear a lot of entertaining stories about that,” Macneil says with in amusement.

“Upstairs in the sitting room, children can dress up. Back then, girls and boys were taught how to be proper ladies and gentlemen.  We will have replica clothing they can put on to see what it was like – people wore different attires for various activities, including going out to tea or the theatre.  Women’s dresses had so many layers and weighed as much as 35 pounds! They carried accessories and the way they held their fans symbolized specific meanings, like if they wished to encourage conversation with a gentleman across the room. Even the flowers they received or offered to someone conveyed a particular sentiment. During the Victorian era, people  had to know the language of flowers. Who, these days, would even realize that when a gentleman gave a lady a white camellia it meant he found her adorable? And that getting back a bouquet of withered flowers was a dreaded rejection from a lady he so admired?”, Macneil adds.

“There’s so much the older generations can teach to children today, and that’s why we’re so excited about this.” Macneil continues. “We’re grateful that the Tournament of Roses gave us the funding to make this possible. Using these two sessions this year as a kick-off, we’ll evaluate how much interest it generates and if it’s successful we might make it a regular summer offering.  It is a wonderful addition to our mission of reaching out and sharing history with the community.”                      

Macneil states, “What I love about it is the sharing of information among multiple generations.  There’s nothing like observing a grandfather or a grandmother watching a child learn.  I can already hear the start of a conversation ‘When I was your age, I used to do ….’  It initiates a wonderful dialogue.”

The Pasadena Museum of History will be open to the public immediately after the tours so attendees will have the opportunity to explore the ongoing carousel exhibit, walk the grounds of the mansion, and stop in to purchase souvenirs at the gift shop. This interactive visit to the Fenyes Mansion can be a truly pleasurable beginning of a young child’s greater appreciation for history, the community, and the generations before them.                               

High Point Academy Imagines a Bright Future

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 28 July 2016 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and Sierra Madre Weekly

Carved into the foothills of Pasadena is a Kindergarten to eighth grade independent school that has consistently provided an outstanding education for its students for the past 50 years. High Point Academy (HPA), located on five compact acres on Kinneloa Canyon Road, to this day remains competitive in a market which reputedly boasts some of the most high achieving educational institutions in the state.

HPA was established in October 1965 when three women decided to open a small school for a few children. With Millicent Wilson serving as the first headmaster, it opened on Chester Avenue with 16 pupils; the following year enrollment grew to 50.  In 1967 it had 75 students and eight teachers, and another space had to be leased to accommodate third to ninth graders.      

By 1973 it became clear that their existing site wasn’t big enough for all their students; construction on its present location began. In 1974 the 15 faculty members welcomed 230 students on their first day of school in this brand-new structure that featured a sports field.  School uniforms were also introduced that year; and a $10 donation to the building fund was incorporated into the monthly statements (it continued until 1990).

The HPA library was opened and a junior high (seventh and eighth grades) science department was created in 1976. The decade between 1977 and 1987 saw more classroom and building additions; computers were installed.  When the school observed its 25th anniversary in 1990 it had 312 students, 29 teachers and three administrators. 

In 1993 John Higgins was appointed the sixth headmaster. He served in this office for 21 years and oversaw major expansions of the school’s facilities. He also ushered in the age of technology with the installation of Smartboards in every classroom, the launch of a digital library, and the introduction of laptops in junior high.

Under Higgins’s charge HPA’s enrollment reached its capacity of 350 students. The staff and faculty grew to about 55 (31 teachers, one librarian, one school counselor, one learning specialist, seven aides and student supervisors; with the rest in administrative capacities).  Sixteen teachers hold masters degrees and have an average length of service of ten years. 

Image taken from High Point Academy website

High Point offers a vast array of subjects including: math; science; history/social studies; language arts (reading and writing); world languages (K-3 Spanish; 4-8 French or Spanish); writers’ workshop; technology (coding, robotics, STEAM); visual arts and choral music; instrumental music in grades 4-7; physical education daily; library program twice weekly; and a technology class (computer lab) several times a week.

After-school enrichment courses are offered every day during the schoolyear with Kindercare for kindergartners and Eagle Club for grades 1 to 8.  Some programs include: bricks 4 kids; chess club; dance; mad science; mathnasium; robotics; STEAM; cub scouts and girl scouts. An after-school musical theatre program is likewise available. Most seventh and eighth graders are in athletic teams and play a variety of sports in five different seasons in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). 

The school holds small class sizes with an average student/teacher ratio of 11 to 1. In K-6, there are approximately 20 students in the classroom with one teacher and an associate teacher who works with smaller groups.

Forty percent of HPA’s student body is of diverse ethnic backgrounds (Asian Americans, Latinos, African Americans, and Middle Eastern) and 60 percent are Caucasians. Most of the students who arrive in kindergarten stay until they graduate in eighth grade.

HPA has a middle school placement program designed to help students and families find the perfect fit for them. Graduates matriculate to some of the most highly selective schools in the Pasadena area including Polytechnic, Flintridge Prep, Mayfield Senior, Westridge School for Girls, La Salle, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, Loyola, Saint Francis and Maranatha.       

By the time Higgins retired in 2014, HPA had gained a reputation as one of the best elementary and junior high schools in the area. The sports field was renamed ‘Higgins Field’ to commemorate his enviable legacy.

Timothy Burns was appointed interim headmaster for the 2014-2015 school year. He led HPA through the California Association of Independent School (CAIS) accreditation process where it was awarded the maximum certification of seven years. 

Gary Stern, who in 2015 succeeded Burns as the eighth headmaster, is charged with ensuring the next half century measures up to the success of the first five decades. Several events marked his first year, a milestone for HPA. On the first day of the school year students and parents got to ‘Dive into the 50th with a swim event at Gerrish.

Alumni students and parents came back on campus for the ‘Alumni Wine & Cheese’ affair. On the 50th day of the school year, the entire student body, faculty and staff gathered on Higgins Field to form an ‘HPA 50’ and photographed by a sky lift and drone for posterity. A Golden Gala was held on April 30 to celebrate High Point’s anniversary in style. 

The Earth Day and Green School Showcase in April was the capstone of HPA’s ongoing commitment to lead independent schools in the advancement of environment sustainability. The school was recognized as a flagship ‘green’ school and local dignitaries were on hand to present an award. 

During his first year, Stern hired a curriculum and innovations specialist who will work with teachers to incorporate and integrate technology in their classroom curriculum. This will pave the way for students to keep pace with technology and be able to access its power to prepare them for today’s global society.         

This fall, Stern will unveil HPA’s Strategic Five-Year Plan which outlines what’s ahead. Created in collaboration with the board of trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, parents and students, he says it will provide a clear path forward to allow High Point to remain true to its mission and core values, and successfully grow and evolve.

Stern elaborates, “First and foremost, we focus on academic excellence through awakening the joy of learning in every student. We trust that when learning is a joyful experience all students will rise to their full potential. We also believe in meeting the needs of the whole child, which means emphasizing not only the academic advancement but the social, emotional, and ethical development as well.

“Through our strategic planning process we identified four pillars that support and sustain our mission:  excellence, innovation, responsibility, and community,” Stern expounds. “These, in turn, are the cornerstones of our long-term objectives that focus on: a strong, challenging curriculum; a commitment to fiscal responsibility; fund-raising and friend-raising; campus facilities to optimize student learning; admissions, enrollment, and marketing; and recruiting, retaining, and supporting talented faculty and staff.”  

“Next year, most probably, we will undergo a campus master planning process.  An architect will be consulting with all our constituents to come up with a facilities design that will continue to support our academic program,” Stern reveals.

“Some of the upgrades we’re contemplating include:  remodeling the junior high classrooms; improving the sport court; expanding the Snack Shack; increasing technological enhancements; reconfiguring space to meet our curriculum needs; and adding more drought-tolerant landscaping,” Stern explains further.

HPA’s 50 years of establishment will be memorialized in posterity. Says Stern, “Sometime in the early part of the 2016-2017 school year, we will bury a time capsule to be opened in 2041.  Students have gathered mementos from the five decades that denoted a noteworthy event for the period. Each student included in this time capsule things that represent who we are today and their dreams and aspirations for the future. They also put in their predictions about how life will change over the next 25 years.”                                 

Another 50th anniversary commemorative is a transportable mural hanging on an outdoor wall made up of tiles individually painted by a student. It is a tangible demonstration of the importance of each piece to compose one beautiful whole.

It was indeed quite an auspicious beginning for Stern. That he came on board during this landmark year for High Point must have been predetermined by fate as he himself celebrated his 50th birthday. And just as he is looking forward to the rest of his productive life, he is likewise eager to lead this singular school to achieve greater significance in the San Gabriel Valley.                 

Marc Soong Epitomizes Gifted and Talented Youth

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 7 July 2016 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and
Sierra Madre Weekly

The word ‘gifted’ usually refers to someone who has innate intellectual or artistic abilities that surpass his or her age, while ‘talented’ is often used to describe one who works hard and accomplishes feats exceptionally well. Based on those delineations, a gifted child doesn’t put in any work while a talented kid makes some effort to achieve something spectacular.

Marc Soong, a recently graduated eighth grader from Barnhart, a K-8th grade independent school in Arcadia, is both gifted and talented. Listening to his spirited and rousing rendition of Grand Etude Paganini No. 3 ‘La Campanella’ by Franz Liszt on the piano transports you into another world and time. His amazing fingering also reveals a mastery of technique honed by hours of painstaking practice and a devotion to his craft.

This past June 28, Marc electrified as he performed the finale number at The 65th Annual Redlands Bowl ‘Young Artist Competition Winners’ where he interpreted Chopin, Rossini and Ginzburg. 

Valerie Peister, program director for the Redlands Community Music Association pronounces, “As a winner of the 2016 Redlands Bowl Young Artist Competition, Marc Soong thrilled Tuesday evening’s Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival audience with a virtuosic recital performance. His technical mastery was matched by a sensitivity and depth of expression well beyond his years, and showcased his remarkable ability to tell a musical story.”    

And again on June 30, Marc impressed at the Isaac Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall in New York, where he played Paraphrase of Figaro’s aria from the Barber of Seville by Ginzburg/Rossini. 

Marc’s outstanding musical abilities have earned him awards from the Los Angeles Young Musician International Competition, San Jose International Piano Competition, American Protégé Piano and String Competition, among other others.

Music, specifically, piano, is an important family activity for the Soongs. Marc’s mom, Alice, says “My husband and I attend all of our kids’ concerts, competitions and performances. Both Marc and Melodey, Marc’s older sister, perform at senior homes, and volunteer as ushers for concerts held at the Pasadena Symphony and Pops”.

Love of music came to Marc early on when he was three years old and heard Melodey playing the piano. He remembers that in first grade, he tagged along when his sister visited USC Thornton School of Music to meet with Daniel Pollack, a renowned professor there. When he was in third grade, he became one of Prof. Pollack’s students.

Vladimir Khomyakov, who at age 32 is an accomplished concert pianist himself, is Pollack’s assistant and has been Marc’s piano teacher since he was eight years old. From Khomyakov Marc learns technique as well as general music knowledge – history, the background of each piece, composer, style, and theory. 

“Marc is a brilliant student to teach because once he starts, he’s hungry for more.  He learns a piece on his own, asks a lot of questions, and has great initiative. While he chooses his pieces based on his personal journey, I help him build a balanced repertoire to include various genres, styles, periods, and composers, and develop a solid program as an artist,” Khomyakov states.

“As a musician, Marc is very passionate about his music. He plays from the heart – a rare trait for someone at his age, most kids do it mechanically. He has excellent ears: when he hears a noise he knows what pitch it is; when he hears a computer tone, he can play it. He absorbs all sounds like a sponge. He has what it takes to be a successful concert pianist … although I wouldn’t recommend it. It is a challenging life, with countless hours spent practicing which may turn out to be time wasted on something that might not work. It is usually filled with disappointments and stress, especially at the age of 20 to 25 when one gets into serious competitions,” Khomyakov says.

And Kyomyakov knows whereof he speaks. Like Pollack, he himself has concertized internationally as a pianist, conductor, chamber musician, and a soloist with leading orchestras including Dresden Philharmonic and Houston Symphony. He says he holds 40 to 50 concerts a year and has been all over the world except Africa. In 2009 he was chosen to be the assistant to Prof. Pollack; he teaches weekly master classes to all degree-level students.   

Music is not the only thing that Marc is superior at. According to Tonya Beilstein, associate head of school and director of curriculum and instruction at Barnhart, Marc exhibited talent and creativity for a normal fourth grader. She relates, “I began working with Marc in fourth grade, supporting his social and emotional growth. At the end of his fifth grade here we realized he was also ready for more academic challenges. I thought a solution was for him to go from fifth grade in June to seventh grade that Fall, skipping sixth grade entirely.   

“That decision didn’t come about haphazardly. We first asked his parents to get outside psychological evaluations (because we don’t have the resources on campus to do it). One of the things we do now, that we weren’t doing before, is use a tool called Iowa Acceleration Scale. It provides the rubric to help schools make effectual decisions relating to grade-skips.  Besides psychological evaluation, we look at IQ, academic assessment – capacity and performance.

“We conferred with the whole team in Marc’s life – his parents; past, current, and future teachers; school administrators. The last step we took was talk to Marc himself. He was very excited about the idea – he very much wanted to move ahead,” Beilstein discloses further.

Marc says, “I was a little nervous about being in seventh grade and being with older students but I also wanted a more challenging curriculum. My classmates were very kind to me and I developed deeper and more meaningful friendships in seventh and eighth grade. I found it easy as well as enjoyable.”

As if all these weren’t enough, Marc has been accepted to attend Stanford Online High School (SOHS) in the fall. At 13 years old, he might be the youngest person to gain admission to this highly selective institution.  Offering a distinctly innovative program, SOHS requires students to take core courses in Science, Math, English, and History. For academically advanced students, SOHS has numerous post-AP subjects, including university-level courses that typify most undergraduate programs.

“Stanford Online High School is the perfect fit for Marc,” declares Beilstein. “It’s a good choice for so many reasons – the challenge of the curriculum, the interaction he will have with like-minded students. I think, for the first time, he’s really going to be surrounded by his academic peers which he will find engaging and exciting.

“For students like Marc, who have participated in the summer program at Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, a rigorous curriculum will give them peace and confidence. This model of learning is ideal because he can study at the pace that’s right for him and gives him the time to focus on his piano – it accommodates all his needs. He’s going to be in control of his destiny now,” Beilstein concludes. 

Marc is surrounded by people who support him – from his parents who encourage him to follow his dreams and provide the means for him to do so, to school administrators who find the perfect environment to engage his mind, to his music teachers who dare him to play demanding piano pieces, to friends who supply him with equilibrium as he navigates life. Through it all, Marc has remained sanguine and has retained his inner ‘kid-ness’. He thinks the coolest thing about going to an online high school is that he doesn’t have to eat cafeteria food.                                      

Laura Skandera Trombley Marks First Year at The Huntington

/ May S Ruiz / Leave a comment

Originally published on 23 June 2016 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and Sierra Madre Weekly

The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino is a venerable institution beloved by residents in the San Gabriel Valley, recognized by scholars all over the world, and visited by tourists of every color and stripe.

At the heart of this landmark foundation is Dr. Laura Skandera Trombley, who took over as its eighth president (and the first woman to hold the title) in July of last year. She oversees an organization with so many moving parts that perfectly coalesce to make The Huntington run as smoothly and seamlessly as it is beautiful and breathtaking.

Prior to her current post, Trombley served for 13 years as president of Pitzer, one of the Claremont Colleges in Southern California. Under her tenure the college raised its U.S. News & World Report ranking, and improved its acceptance rate. In 2012 The Chronicle of Higher Education named Pitzer College the top producer of Fullbright Fellows among U.S. colleges.          

Two weeks before commemorating her first full year at The Huntington, Trombley remarks on the past eleven and a half months, “It’s like discovering the wonderful contents of a treasure box – from the people, to the objects, to the gardens. The Huntington has the most amazing way of revealing itself like the petals of a flower. You see that the totality of it is stunning but the real beauty comes in the particulars. I’ve spent the year just looking at it a little more deeply than I have ever had before … and that has been really incredible for me.”

Like most people living in the area, Trombley is no stranger to the place. She remembers that as a child, she walked through the rose garden with her mother and went to tea. Years later she came back to The Huntington as a young scholar researching for her doctoral thesis. 

Image taken from the Los Angeles Times

“I felt this strong connection to it and I thought my experience was atypical. But I soon learned that it’s not. In fact I’ve met families who’ve volunteered at The Huntington for three generations; we have someone who has been actively volunteering for 54 years. That a quarter of a million people have the same robust ties to The Huntington – that this is so widely shared – was something that I could not have anticipated,” Trombley observes.

Trombley has fully immersed herself in the operations of The Huntington. She has worked alongside volunteers to prune and deadhead the roses in the garden, meet school buses as they arrive for tours, and wrap gifts during the holidays. She says, “I don’t want to just sit in my office; part of the fun is engaging with people here.”

The work for Trombley going forward is several-fold. She wants to focus on what goes on inside the buildings – continue to expand The Huntington’s collections, increase funding for art exhibitions. Additionally, she’s thinking of putting on more outdoor art displays, making sure all  staff are well-taken care of, and imagining how to enhance the visitor experience.

As president of Pitzer, Trombley grew its annual endowment from $42 million in 2003 to $133 million in 2014, and raised its national profile. As she is quick to point out, The Huntington is already a world-class organization as well as a global cultural institution and is in an incredibly robust financial position. Her charge is to continue to grow the institution and consider carefully its physical footprint. 

The Blue Boy Installation after the conservation project | Photo courtesy of The Huntington

And as Trombley did in her previous post, she intends to make The Huntington a model of environmental responsibility. She states, “We are moving strategically towards sustainability – analyzing how much water and power we consume and looking at how we can use less of both. 

“In fact, we will be a beta site for cutting-edge drip irrigation systems that are astoundingly sophisticated – they are all computer-controlled and can actually sense when it’s time to water. We’re considering installing low-flow toilets across the board, and maybe generating our own power. 

“These things are options that are important not just because we are a very challenged area when it comes to water and power but also because more and more the state is requiring that people take measures. Beyond that, we are always a teaching institution and we want to exhibit best practice. We want to show a path for how people can become increasingly sustainable in their homes at an affordable way,” Trombley expounds.

Ten months ago, Trombley embarked on a mission to make The Huntington a food destination. She explains, “The thing that’s interesting, and at the same time is complex, is that we have so many constituents when it comes to food. We have children who want grilled cheese sandwiches, tater tots, and mac n’ cheese; adults who want an authentic fine-dining experience with chefs designing their meals; our staff who want organic food and pre-prepared meals they can take home so they won’t have to go to the market and cook dinner from scratch.

The Huntington’s Chinese Garden | Photo by Brianna Chu

“We plan to launch it in September and we hope it will be part of the attraction among the locals and particularly for our members. We want them to come for a nice walk and then enjoy an incredible meal with the best parking in Los Angeles. It would be so satisfying for me if people think of The Huntington when they want to have a world-class meal in an incomparable setting,” Trombley enthuses.

Dovetailing with this project is an expansion of their dining venues to accommodate the sheer number of people who visit. Trombley reveals they are building a second restaurant in the Chinese Garden – the Garden of Flowing Fragrance. The one that currently exists will very likely return to being a dim sum place, or become a real teahouse serving sweets and desserts, while the second restaurant would offer heartier fare. 

Trombley says further, “We have received an enormous number of requests for a place to accommodate large parties for weddings, first birthdays, even dances. Right now we only have our grass area and not everyone wants to be on grass; we also have to build a stage, which adds to the expense. To meet that space requirement, we are on the final phase of fund-raising for a 600-seat venue on the hillside of the Chinese Garden to be used for events. It will be able to support a tent so we can have events at any time of the year. It would have a spectacular view of the Chinese Garden and the two restaurants there can cater the affair.”   

There are several memorable events during Trombley’s first year that stands out in her mind. She describes her favorites, “The Huntington Ball is always lovely … I’d never been to a ball before … that was a lot of fun. It’s a fundraiser we hold every September for our members, guests and corporate sponsors. 

The Huntington’s Rose Garden – Courtesy Photo

One event they had for the first time is the San Marino Day which Trombley initiated. In April The Huntington opened its gates and invited everyone to come free of charge – about 20 percent of San Marino’s population came in that day, reports Trombley. Another favorite is An Evening Among the Roses, held for the LGBT community. She is also looking forward to the completion of the Garden of Flowing Fragrance, a grand celebration slated for 2018.

“There are so many events here … and I’m not even mentioning the fantastic speakers who have all been extraordinary,” Trombley hastens to add. “Except for the San Marino Day which we held with my coming in, these other amazing events have been going on for a long time. But it’s a place that’s very open to new ideas … to creative ideas. I find that to be one of the best parts of The Huntington.”

When asked what vision she wants people to have at the mention of The Huntington, Trombley laughs and protests, “I think it would be almost impossible for me to name just one. We have The Huntington rose, The Blue Boy, Mark Twain’s manuscript of ‘The Prince and the Pauper.’ What I’ve learned is that everyone has a different mental image of it.

But one thing that comes to mind above everything is that it’s a kind and gentle place where people are treated very, very well. And it’s a place where you could just have a sense of spontaneous exhaling and, at the same time, an inhaling of creativity. I think that’s the most special aspect of The Huntington,” Trombley opines. 

The Huntington is an institution that evokes as many different feelings and emotions as the tourists and visitors who come to experience it. And just as Trombley discovered when she came on board a year ago, every single person who steps into this wondrous oasis retains a deep connection to it.                    

While locals happily share The Huntington’s vast treasures with the thousands who come to visit annually, they are fiercely protective as they are intensely proud of this national treasure in their midst. They are also absolutely certain that in Trombley’s accomplished stewardship The Huntington will thrive and flourish for centuries to come.