Report Card

Mike Sciacca

The Marina High School academic decathlon team returned to Huntington

Beach with high marks from the recent State Decathlon tournament held in

Modesto.

More than 600 schools vied for a spot at the state final but only 51

earned the right to attend. While there, Marina flexed its academic

muscle as the school earned a sixth place team finish and garnered 14

individual medals.

Marina’s state medal roundup included: Cheran Shunmugavel winning a

gold medal in math, silver in literature and music, and bronze in

science; Lulu Wang brought home bronze medals in interview and math;

Tatiana Slater won gold in math, silver in literature and bronze in art,

Joseph Marfil won silver in math; David Murdock won bronze in interview;

Matt Smalley won bronze in art and music and Julie Vo won silver in math.

Prior to the state competition the Viking team had outstanding success

at the Orange County competition.

The group assisted Coach Robert Grebel in training and drilling their

teammates in preparation for the state tournament.

“I am just as proud of this group as with our first team,” Grebel

said. “They truly have been a family for eight months, all 16 of these

students.”

Edison will celebrate Jackie Wexler’s life

A memorial service celebrating the life of Edison High School Vice

Principal Jackie Wexler will be held on April 17 at 7 p.m. at Dave Mohs

Memorial Gymnasium on the school’s campus.

Wexler died March 18 as the result of a heart attack. She was 59 years

old.

Wexler previously served as a teacher and career coordinator at

Huntington Beach, Ocean View and Westminster high schools in the

Huntington Beach Union High School District.

In lieu of flowers, the Wexler family has asked that donations be sent

to the World Wildlife Fund, or to the Jackie Wexler Memorial Scholarship

Fund at Edison High. The fund will provide a scholarship each year to an

outstanding female athlete at Edison.

“The first thing that comes to mind about Jackie is that she had a

very positive personality,” Edison athletic director Bruce Belcher said.

“She was a great supporter of our program and we will really miss that

support and her presence.”

Golden West to host visitors from China

Golden West College’s international program will host 50 high school

principals and administrators visiting from Beijing, China.

The international program is in its third year of development and

currently has 177 international students from 35 countries.

Campus tours for international visitors are sponsored by the Coast

Community College District Vice Chancellor’s office. The district

includes Golden West College, Coastline Community College and Orange

Coast College.

“These tours are very important for the district to increase

visibility of its programs and services to prospective international

students,” said Janelle Leighton, international student program

coordinator at Golden West.

Following a welcome speech by college President Kenneth Yglesias, the

Chinese entourage will get a complete overview of the Golden West campus

and its programs, and a tour of Huntington Beach cable station KOCE.