Three schools head to D.C. for Blue Ribbons

Delegates from three Huntington Beach schools will travel to

Washington, D.C. next week to accept the nation’s highest educational

honors.

Marine View Middle School, Isaac Sowers Middle School and Pegasus

School have all been named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S.

Department of Education.

It is the highest distinction a school can receive from the

federal government, and one that takes time and dedication from the

administration, staff and parents to earn, Marine View Principal

Elizabeth Williams said.

“I think it would be very difficult for a school to be a Blue

Ribbon school without all those folks,” she said. “It was the

teamwork.”

Developed by the secretary of education in 1982, the Blue Ribbon

program was designed to identify and give recognition to outstanding

schools nationwide.

Before any school can claim a Blue Ribbon, it must earn the honor

of being a California Distinguished School. Once a school receives

that award, it is invited to apply for the national award. Those

applications are evaluated by the state Department of Education,

which determines finalists to be forwarded for the national

evaluation.

“They all contributed to making that school outstanding,”

Huntington Beach City School District Supt. Gary Rutherford said of

Sowers’ staff. “This group of people doesn’t see this award as an end

product. They’re still looking at improvement.”

Pegasus School Founder and Director Laura K. Hathaway was

“stunned” by the news that her school was honored.

“It’s exciting to be in that category of schools,” she said.

“We’re very honored to have been chosen. We worked very hard for it.”

Beauty and brains

at the beach

Applications are now available for the 2003 Miss Huntington Beach

Scholarship Pageant. This year’s theme is “Beauty and the Beach.”

Young women between the ages of 17 and 24 who live, work and attend

school in Surf City are encouraged to apply for the pageant, which is

part of the Miss American Organization.

The pageant began in 1963 under the guidance of the Women of

Action/Sand Dollars of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce.

It was originally started as a traditional beauty pageant, but

that changed in 1994 when the Women of Action bought a franchise with

the Miss California Organization. Obtaining scholarship money for

participants then became the pageants main objective.

Young women interested in competing can pick up an application at

the Huntington Beach Chamber or Commerce, 2100 Main St., Suite 200.

Applications must be turned in by 5 p.m. Nov. 15. For more

information, please call (714) 536-8888.

Union high district leaders mastering governance

Huntington Beach Union High School District board members Matthew

Harper and Susan Henry recently completed the California School

Boards Assn. Master in Governance program.

Both received their masters in governance certificates after

completing 56 hours of training as part of the governance program.

The goal of the program is to provide school trustees and

superintendents with the knowledge and skills to effectively function

as teams. There are nine sessions administered over a two-year

period.

Ocean View teacher learns to create leaders in students

Ocean View High School teacher Brenda Clark was one of 23 teachers

from across the nation to participant in the Presidential Classroom

Scholars program.

The teachers visited the White House and foreign embassies and

spent two days on Capitol Hill learning hot to prepare high school

juniors and seniors to be responsible citizens and leaders.

Clark took part in a d debate about the framework of federal

government, Washington culture and democracy and helped direct small

group discussions on current issues such as juvenile justice, human

rights and the role of the media in politics.

She will apply the skills she learned to her work as a language

arts teacher and involve her students in similar debates and

discussions.