Penny Lane Dedicates Learning Laboratory

Penny Lane, a national nonprofit foundation serving severely emotionally disturbed foster children, dedicated a learning laboratory at its Rayen Street headquarters Wednesday.

The new educational facility features computer terminals, a library, story-time corner and study area for after-school tutorial sessions.

The learning laboratory was funded through a $20,000 grant from the KTLA Charities Fund / Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation, said Larissa Reynolds, chief deputy director of the foundation’s Foster Family Agency.

“The learning laboratory is an opportunity for foster children to catch up because many of them come from economically and academically disadvantaged backgrounds,” Reynolds said.

“For other kids, it will be an opportunity to move ahead. We can give the younger children a head start in their schoolwork.”

At Wednesday’s grand opening, several staff members’ children sat at tables and read books in the story-time corner or worked at computer terminals.

Reynolds said foster children served by the foundation were not present at the ceremony, in order to protect their privacy.

Although they were not on hand, Reynolds said she expects the foster children to make use of the learning laboratory, which will be staffed by volunteer tutors and mentors as well as paid social workers.

“Our intent is to give the children the resources they need to achieve their goals,” she said.

The foundation also used the occasion to recognize 10 teenagers in foster care who graduate from high school this year.

They were saluted by actor Dennis Haskins, who played the principal on the Saturday morning sitcom “Saved by the Bell.”

The foundation’s “I Make a Difference Award” was given to Ray Gonzales, director of community affairs for KTLA TV / KTLA Charities.

Penny Lane, officially known as the National Foundation for the Treatment of the Emotionally Handicapped, was founded in 1969. Its nickname was drawn from a 1967 Beatles song.