Designing a path to college

Lara Pickle, 17, and her mom Janet munched on cookies at the

Laguna College of Art and Design. They weren’t there to check out the

campus as a prospective college. Instead Lara was one of 40 students

who finished a college course for high school art students.

“I only had one semester of beginning art before,” Lara said.

“When I first came to this class I thought everyone would be better

than me.”

The five-week scholarship program not only allowed these students

to earn two units of college credit, but also gave them a peek into

what college life is like.

All students were nominated by their high school art teachers and

the program is fully funded by the college. Full-time college

faculty, including Jonathan Burke, the dean of fine arts, taught the

classes.

“They come here to learn how to draw from life,” explained Anthony

Padilla, dean of admissions. “Drawing is the backbone of what all

artists need to know.”

When Jessica Bulinski, 17, returns as a senior to Granite Hills

High School, she plans to focus her energies on getting accepted to

the college.

“They asked a lot more of us than in high school,” she said. “I’m

still unsure of what I want to do with art. Maybe I’ll be a book

illustrator.”

Even though Lara doesn’t plan to pursue an art career, she hopes

she can integrate her skills with marine biology or whatever path

she’ll chose to follow. Her mom, Janet, is quite proud of her

achievement.

“This is another door that has been opened to her,” she said. “But

then, she’s really bright anyway.”

Lara rolled her eyes, whispering to her mom to stop.

-- Mary A. Castillo

School projects get $69,604 in funding

The Laguna Beach Education Endowment and Capital Fund (ECF)

recently awarded $69,604 in grants to nine special projects for the

2003 school year.

“ECF is proud to fund grants for innovative educational ideas that

provide a positive contribution to the learning experience of our

children,” said Bob Earl, president of ECF.

The winners are: Jim Garvey of Laguna Beach High School for

Passport to Success ($34,250); Nancy Blade of Laguna Beach High

School, Drug and Alcohol Counseling ($17,000); Wendy Hughes of

Thurston Middle School for Project Adventure ($7,375); Mark Dressler

of Laguna Beach High School and Thurston Middle School for Drama

Video Library ($2,844); Heidi Lemon of Top of the World Elementary

for the Local History Project ($2,375); Chris Duddy of Thurston

Middle School for Art’s Alive ($1,800); Mario Morales of Laguna Beach

High School for athletic equipment ($1,500); Linda Barker of Top of

the World Elementary for Social Studies ($1,435); and Lila Samia of

Special Education for the Bibliotherapy Lending Library ($1,025).

Teachers and administrators applied for the grants last February,

said Earl. The allocations committee reviews each application and

calls in applicants for short interviews. Founded in 1986 as an

affiliate of SchoolPower, the ECF awards grants on an annual basis.

The endowment receives funds from donations, special fund-raising

events and the Irvine Company. A professional brokerage firm manages

the endowment under the direction of an investment committee.

“We’ve grown the endowment to $1.7 this year,” said Earl. The

$69,000 award in grants represents interest gained over the year. ECF

plans to repeat the series of investing and estate planning workshops

early next year.

“We bring in the experts to cover specific topics,” said Earl.

“They’re very informative and free to whomever wants to participate.”

-- Mary A. Castillo

An education in curriculum

Starting this month the teachers will be going back to school as

part of the Laguna Beach Unified School District staff development

program.

“This is as good as it can get among school districts,” said

Steven Keller, assistant superintendent.

The program focuses on aligning curriculum among the elementary,

middle and high school levels, technology, student-led conferences,

children in crisis, art history and more.

“We look at the whole child,” he said. “The SAT-9 scores are

important but it’s only one component to the entire picture.”

Keller credits the school board, the superintendent and staff for

the resources and feedback to create a comprehensive training

program. Teachers are surveyed to find out what topics they would

like to cover, and have responded with praise about past workshops

and seminars. The primary focus of the “buy-back” day is aligning the

math curriculum among the different levels to meet the new state

content standards. The district worked last year to find a new math

curriculum that best met those standards and purchased new math

textbooks.

“We will see increased math scores,” Keller said.

This year Keller will lead a committee that will seek a new

English Language Arts curriculum to meet state standards in

preparation for Fall 2003.

“We realize that our staff are the most important aspects of a

child’s education,” said Keller. The district will announce new staff

development opportunities for spring 2003.

-- Mary A. Castillo