By Isiah REYES

Friends and family gathered at Glendale Community College on Wednesday, June 11 to celebrate the commencement of the class of 2014.

The class included 766 students receiving 309 Associate of Arts degrees, 269 Associate of Science degrees, and 334 certificates of completion. The youngest graduate was 18 years old and the most senior graduate was 83 years old.

“We do believe in life-long learning at Glendale Community College,” Superintendent/President Dr. David Viar said. “You can never stop learning.”

“The Star Spangled Banner” was sung by Danielle Miyazaki, followed by a performance of “You Raise Me Up” by the Glendale College Chamber singers.

The student commencement speaker was Sindura Subanemy Kandasamy, who is originally from Sri Lanka. She served as the vice president of Administration for the associated students of Glendale Community College.

“As a 20-year-old, I came to America alone,” Kandasamy said. “The transition was frightening. I had no connections. Subsequently, I said yes to opportunity and joined the associated students of Glendale Community College.”

There, she said, she felt the nurture of friends and teachers that made the college a home away from home. Her main message to the graduates was to make as many connections as possible in addition to excelling in academics.

During the ceremony, three awards were presented to faculty. The first was the Distinguished Faculty Award, given to Christine Kloezeman from business. The William L. Parker Exceptional Service Award recipient was Mike Allen of math and the Exceptional Adjunct Faculty Award was awarded to Steve Parker from sociology.

The college provided a moment of silence in memory of colleagues who have passed away in the 2013-14 academic year. Those colleagues were Dr. John Davitt, superintendent/president of GCC from 1968 to 2006; Marianne Nikodem, adjunct instructor of business from 2006 to 2014; Paul Tomasek, adjunct instructor of microbiology from 2006 to 2012; and Ronald Wright, adjunct instructor of life skills noncredit business from 2004 to 2014.

After the graduates walked the stage, president of Academic Senate Davit Avagyan had them recite the graduation pledge of social and environment responsibility. Initiated at Glendale Community College by the Center for Student Involvement and adopted through the shared governance process in fall 2009, the pledge is intended to provide graduates with a lifelong reminder of their commitment to practicing and promoting social and environmental consciousness.

The pledge reads: “I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequence of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organization for which I work.”

The closing of the ceremony featured the Glendale College Chamber singers performing the alma mater.

“I am especially proud to congratulate all the students who walked this stage today,” Avagyan said. “They have worked tirelessly, and truly deserve to be honored for their academic achievement. I hope that this will be one in many more to come.”

A reception was held in Plaza Vaquero for graduates and their families following the commencement.

The Mountain Avenue Elementary School sixth grade class traveled to Washington, DC from May 11 to May 17. The annual sixth grade trip is a highlight of the graduating class.

The class visited the White House, the Capitol building and several monuments, including Mt. Vernon and Monticello.

Traveling to Washington were 77 kids and 37 chaperones. The trip  organizer was sixth grade teacher Kelly Schroeder.

Submitted by Stephanie HOSFORD

Children at the La Cañada Flintridge Community Center preschool enjoyed a visit from local firefighters and policemen during LCFCCP’s Safety Week.

Firefighters from Station 82 explained how to “stop, drop and roll.” Children were each given the chance to hold the fire hose with one of the firemen. They learned how to aim the water in a pretend fire drill. In addition, Dep. Dan Cortes spoke about what to do whenever there is an emergency: call 911. They also discussed stranger danger.

The preschoolers toured a police car and listened to the siren. Children also discussed other safety topics during the week including home safety, bicycle safety and the importance of wearing a helmet.

For more information about the LCF Community Center Preschool visit lcfccpreschool.com.

As in the past, the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada (Noon) partnered with the LCHS Key Club and the LCHS Builders’ Club to educate local residents about a deadly disease that affects mothers and their newborn infants throughout the world.

With the support of Ralphs La Cañada and Gelson’s Market, young and old members of the Kiwanis family gathered at those two locations in May to share with shoppers in the global campaign to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) throughout the world.

Kiwanis members worked hand in hand with the young people to sell a record number of Kiwanis peanuts to raise money for Eliminate.

Submitted by Al RESTIVO

The American Academic Competition Institute (AACI) recently released the results of the 3rd Annual National High School Sports Medicine Championships that took place in May. AACI’s goal is to give students from across the nation an opportunity to excel in their chosen areas of study through online competition and testing. Therefore, AACI developed the online National High School Sports Medicine Championships to help test and celebrate high school students’ sports medicine/athletic training knowledge.      Hundreds of students from high schools across the country competed in this year’s national championships after qualifying from a field of thousands of students from over 200 high schools at the regional level. St. Francis High School announced that its Golden Knights performed extremely well at the national level, earning the title of National Champion of the Alert Services (Small Schools) Division for the third year in a row. In addition, 13 St. Francis students also achieved All-American status by placing in the top 25 of the division.

In an effort to reduce the high costs of creating a national championship, and to ensure that all qualified participants have the opportunity to compete at the national level, AACI created a unique online event to challenge the minds of high school students. Schools that competed in a state/regional sports medicine competition and placed in the top 10 in their division were eligible to participate in this National Sports Medicine Championships Competition. St. Francis qualified for the national championships earlier in the semester and 15 students tested in mid-May.

St. Francis took the top three spots in the All-American – Alert Services Division. First place was Harout Markarian, second was Andrew Cesta and tied for third were Paola Ramirez and Philip Jaeggi-Wong. St. Francis member James Membreno placed sixth and Marco Miravite placed eighth.

By Joyce LEE

The novice members of CVHS speech and debate team showcased their speech and debate dexterities for the last time in the 2013-14 school year at the Speech and Debate Novice Champs on May 16 and May 17. It was the last tournament of the school year and provided a measure of how much the novices grew and improved over the course of the year. Schools from various districts competed, such as Arcadia High School, San Gabriel High School and Gabrielino High School.

The debate competition was held at California High School in Whittier. The categories included student congress, parliamentary debate, public forum, Lincoln-Douglas, and policy debate.

Congress debate mimics the style of the U.S. Congress, as it involves an entire room of speakers who each have a certain amount of time to speak and to answer questions from other students. Lincoln-Douglas debate is a one-on-one debate, requiring extensive research about an ethical issue. Parliamentary debate mimics the style of Britain’s parliament, emphasizing spontaneous thinking and speaking in which two teams of two students only have limited time to prepare for their resolutions before competing. Policy debate is the longest team debate, lasting 90 minutes with the students having the resolution at the start of the year. Public forum is another team debate, in which the resolution comes out a month before competition and involves short speeches with a lot of evidence and direct cross fire, or Q&A, between the competitors.

Students were excused from their sixth periods to arrive at the tournament on time, with registration at 3 p.m. and round one at 4 p.m. Unfortunately the heavy traffic caused several students to arrive late and forfeit the first round of debate.

Although the competition started off on a discouraging note, it progressed with each round. In the blistering heat, the competitors had to prepare their cases wearing heavy suits. Despite these challenges, four teams from CVHS prevailed. Cameron Tenner, sophomore, and Brendan Caver, freshman, won fourth place for parliamentary debate. Sunho Yoon and Ariel Rezazedeh, both sophomores, won sixth place for parliamentary debate. Nicholas Mayer and Alexander DeRoche won sixth place for public forum debate.

“My partner, Cameron, and I put in a lot of work for preparation and worked hard during all of our rounds [parliamentary debate]. By the end of the day, we were both exhausted, but we were overjoyed to have gotten recognized,” novice member Caver said.

The speech competition took place on May 17 at Gabrielino High School in San Gabriel. The events were divided into three categories: interpretative, spontaneous and original. The interpretative events included interpretations in humor, drama, thematic, oratorical and duo. This style of speaking give students the opportunity to showcase their acting skills, as all scripts are derived from books, plays, or movies.

The spontaneous events consisted of impromptu speaking and national and international extemporaneous speaking. The original events included original advocacy, original oratory, and expository. These speeches allowed for students to flaunt their creative writing skills as they are entirely student produced.

Students arrived at 7 a.m. at Gabrielino High School for registration and round one started at 8 am. Despite the students’ fatigue, three CVHS teams moved onto the final round. Joyce Lee and Grace Oh, both juniors, won sixth place for their duo interpretation of “A Very Clean Place’ by Gale Mena and John Peat. Nicholas Mayer, junior, won sixth place for international extemporaneous speech. Mitchell Bayless, sophomore, won seventh place with  his humorous interpretation of “Finding Ryan” by Dave Cameron.

“I played the role of Benji, an older brother who is diagnosed with Down syndrome and leukemia. At first, it was difficult for me to think of creative facial expressions, voice and motions. But as my partner and I practiced more, I naturally transitioned into this character. It was an unforgettable experience and I will never forget Benji,” novice member and junior, Grace Oh said.

While the novice members competed, the CVHS varsity members judged the rounds of both speech and debate events. The judges have the role of determining the relative ranking of each round of competition. To judge the final round, a varsity member must have qualified in either state or nationals tournament in the event they are judging. In terms of ethics, the varsity member must be able to look beyond school biases and to give their full attention to the students. Furthermore, they must provide helpful critiques on each of the contestants’ critique sheets.

“I was able to judge a good majority of the rounds, so I did see students from a variety of schools. What sets our CVHS team members apart from other school teams is that they pour a lot of their personalities into the speeches,” said varsity member and junior Chelsea Lee. “It is a kind of a vulnerability that makes our students charming.”

For some varsity members, this competition marked the last for the seniors graduating earlier this month.

“For me, it was a sort of last hurrah. This was the last major competition with most of our team, so I wanted to take the opportunity to appreciate the company of some of my best friends at a competition one last time,” said CVHS speech captain and senior Jacob Wisda. ‘More than anything else, I was proud to see how independent and skilled our novice team has become.”

Liam Arnott Huber

Liam Arnott Huber, 17, of La Crescenta, earned the highest advancement award the Boy Scouts of America offers to Scouts, the Eagle Scout Award. In recognition of this accomplishment, an Eagle Scout Court of Honor was held for him in May at Lincoln Elementary School, where Liam began his scouting journey.

A member of Troop 319, Liam is one of approximately 4% of all Boy Scouts who attain the Eagle rank. Each candidate must earn 21 merit badges and successfully complete a community, church or synagogue related service project to earn his Eagle.  Liam earned a total of 36 merit badges and completed his Eagle project by coordinating and hosting a community blood drive in cooperation with the American Red Cross. Liam’s own medical struggles with a chronic, autoimmune bleeding disorder, as well as his desire to rally his community around a humanitarian cause, inspired the project that was held at Dunsmore Elementary School in September. His successful drive collected 57 units of blood – enough blood to potentially save the lives of 171 people.

Liam joined Cub Scouts with Pack 310 as a Wolf Scout in the second grade.  He progressed through the Cub Scout program, earning its highest award, the Arrow of Light, before bridging to Boy Scout Troop 319. Liam held several positions within the Troop including senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader and three terms as troop historian. He especially loved backpacking with the troop and has logged over 300 miles of hiking, including a 10-day, 90-mile backpack trip in Philmont, New Mexico last summer.

Liam finished his junior year at Crescenta Valley High School where he was active in the Theatre Dept., Comedy Sportz and the National Honor Society. He is also co-president of the Science and Medicine Academy.

BSA Honors Scoutmaster

Dr. Michael Devine, Scoutmaster of Troop 507 for 10 years at St. Bede’s Catholic Church in La Cañada, was honored in May with the National Eagle Scout Association Outstanding Eagle Scout Award. The recognition was part of the 54th Annual Eagle Scout Banquet. The award recognizes Eagle Scouts who have brought great honor to the highest rank of the Boy Scouts of America through their personal and professional contributions at the local, state and regional levels.

Professionally Devine retired as a NCIS Special Agent. As a United States Naval Reserve captain, he is the deputy chief staff officer for Inspections. In addition, he was honored as the San Diego County Child Abuse Investigator of the Year for his work protecting the welfare of children.

Devine has also volunteered his time as Scoutmaster for a Jamboree Troop (804) that attended the 2010 National Jamboree at Fort AP Hill in Virginia and a Jamboree Troop (C411) at the 2013 Jamboree at Bechtel Summit in West Virginia. He was recently selected to lead a troop from the United States to the 2015 World Jamboree that will be held in Japan.

Two hundred and seventy Eagle Scouts from the Class of 2013 were honored from the San Gabriel Valley at the banquet. Eagle Scout class of 2013 honorees from Troop 507 included Makoto Inouye, Kyle Thomas, Samuel Weinberger, Brent Hamada and Jamie Walker.

Allison Zadravecz

The Girl Scout Council of Greater Los Angeles recognized Allison Zadravecz recently at the Gold Award ceremony at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

Allison completed her Girl Scout Gold Award project, “Growing Friendships at Hope Gardens,” by leading a summer camp for the children at Hope Gardens Family Center. Hope Gardens is a transitional living shelter for homeless women and their children. Working with children ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade, she taught them fun and educational crafts, activities, and games over the course of five themed weeks of camp. Her activities helped the children develop important life skills and inspired them with memories that they will never forget. She donated a book of her activities and supplies and toys to Hope Gardens so that her project could be sustained.

Allison’s favorite part of her Gold Award project was the friendships and special memories that she created with the children. She hopes to have motivated them to achieve success in their future lives through her project.

Allison will be a senior next year at Crescenta Valley High School. She was vice president and section leader of string orchestra, publicist/secretary of Autism Speaks Club, and a member of the California Scholarship Federation and French Club. She looks forward to serving more leadership positions next year at school.

Allison has been an active Girl Scout for 12 years, earning her Bronze, Silver, and Gold awards. Allison received the Violet Richardson Award this year from the Soroptimist International Club of Glendale for her service to women and children. She plans to attend a private, four-year university and pursue a field that involves math, computer science or engineering.

Cub Scouts Bridge to Next Level

Eighteen accomplished boys from La Crescenta Cub Scout Pack 360 earned Cub Scout’s highest award, the Arrow of Light, which was presented to them recently in a ceremony held in the Dunsmore Elementary School auditorium.

Calling themselves the “The Dragon Patrol” and “The Scorpion Patrol,” the boys from these two dens, under the guidance of den leaders Frank Kim and Ron Stickar, completed up to 20 different activity badges in skill areas such as outdoors, community, technology and mental/physical fitness.

The Arrow of Light Award displays a universal symbol for the sun and, below it, an arrow. The seven rays of the sun represent each day of the week and remind each boy to do their best each day as they follow the arrow that leads to Boy Scouting.

Upon receiving their Arrow of Light award, each boy walked across a wooden bridge, embossed with each word of the Scout Law, “bridging” across it to representatives from various Boy Scout troops. Boy Scouts from each troop replaced their Cub Scout neckerchief with one from their troop as they welcomed them into the next level of scouting.

Pictured Below: On the Arrow of Light bridge are Nathan Alexander, Mitchell Doom, Jun-Huyn Kim, Sun Jun Lee, Jack Myers, James Phagoo, Nathan Milley, Michael Rhyoo, Gavin Ventura, Vincent Stickar, George Kamar, Adam Sharp, Andrew Ortiz, Eric Kruegermann, Evan Aceytuno, Andrew Kim, Ian Baik and Brendan Seo. Also pictured are den chiefs Ricky Phagoo, Alexander Aceytuno and Ethan Sharp along with den leaders Ron Stickar and Frank Kim.

The Glendale Elks honored 23 seniors attending local high schools with $68,800 in scholarships during their 84th annual awards ceremony held recently at the local lodge. Over the past 18 years, the Lodge has awarded over 380 students a total of $562,800. The 24-page application requested the student’s involvement in activities including academics, SAT/ACT scores, Advanced Placement courses, leadership in both the school and community, employment, honors and awards, grades for the years of 10-12 and completion of an essay.

Those students with the highest levels of achievement advance from the Glendale Lodge to the Metropolitan District. Those top students then compete at the state level and, finally, the top 72 students from California and Hawaii compete for the top 500 awards from the Elk’s National Foundation. The foundation awards $2.44 million annually in scholarships that range from $4,000 to $50,000 to the national finalists over a four-year period of college attendance. By receiving these scholarships, these young men and women are given the opportunity to fulfill their potential and their dreams through the generosity of the Elks at the local, state and national levels.

Teens from Prom Plus Club, Fire House youth center and Crescenta Valley High School Robotics Club spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday learning what to do in case of an earthquake, fire or other disaster.

Captain of CV CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Paul Dutton and member Lisa Dutton began the training in a classroom at the CV Sheriff’s Station. The kids took their final examine on Sunday with a hands-on disaster drill.

Several adults, including CVW publisher Robin Goldsworthy and former CV Town Council president Cheryl Davis, volunteered to be victims for the drill. Realistic make up was applied by Jennifer Dutton.
Photos by Mary O’KEEFE

All three La Crescenta CSA All Star Teams brought home trophies from the USSSA All Star Extravaganza held at the Chino Hills Big League Field of Dreams. Playing in replica fields of major league baseball stadiums, the 11U team took second place at Wrigley Field, the 10U team took second place at Ebbets Field and the 8U team took second place at Fenway Park field.

The 11U team achieved trophy status by playing four games in their eight-team bracket with wins against the Naval Base Ventura County Stingers 4-3, Simi Demons 11-1, and the Cypress Blue 4-2. The team faced the Naval Base Stingers again in the championship game where the Stingers came out on top.

Submitted by Melody McCORMICK

The Boy Scouts of Troop 317 went on a camping trip to Sequoia National Park last June 20-22. The troop learned many scouting skills and had a great time. Scoutmaster David Januzik meets with the troop at 7 p.m. every Tuesday at Holy Redeemer Healy Hall at 2361 Del Mar Road, Montrose.

Submitted by Roly QUIZON

Foothill Municipal Water District (FWMD) congratulated the winners of its third annual “Water Is Life” student art competition. Taking first place was Derek Jiang, a fifth grader at La Cañada Elementary; second place was award to Shelby Perez, also in fifth grade at La Cañada Elementary; and third place was presented to Joanne Lee, a fifth grade student at Monte Vista Elementary.

Honorable mention was given to Rachel Lee, a fourth grader at Lincoln Elementary, Carolina Clevas, a sixth grader at Eliot Middle School and Gyuri Hahn, a kindergartener at Elite Art School.

These top entries received recognition at an FMWD board meeting on May 19 when students received their prizes that included gift certificates from fellow contest sponsor Los Gringos Locos Restaurant. The contest was open to all students in grades K-12 who attended a school located within the service area of a member water agency that Foothill Municipal Water District serves.

The District received 105 total entries this year and the top entries were submitted to the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) for further consideration to be included in the 2015 “Water Is Life” calendar.

Winners will be selected in the fall and honored at a student art exhibit and recognition event sponsored by MWD. Criteria for judging the art pieces consisted of addressing the theme of the contest, originality of the piece and slogan, and degree of visual and word clarity.

FMWD provides imported water to Crescenta Valley Water District, La Cañada Irrigation District, Mesa Crest Water Company, Valley Water Company, Lincoln Avenue Water Company, Las Flores Water Company and Rubio Cañon Land & Water Association. Kinneloa Irrigation District, another retail agency, takes no water from Foothill.

Who wouldn’t have fun in dizzying monkey cages or spinning inside a giant bear? How about whizzing down a huge three-story pink slide or sitting atop the highest point of a Ferris wheel? Patrons of Our Lady of Lourdes Family Fun Days did this and much more at its annual event held in May.

Not only did organizers Bring Back the ’80s with a retro theme, but everyone’s tastes were satisfied with fiesta nachos, spicy tacos, tangy German kraut sausages, Filipino pancit and good old American burgers.

Kids enjoyed the games with a favorite being the confetti egg attacks. It was hard not to see a kid without the colorful remnants of confetti in their hair.

OLL Principal Jennifer Ratner said the goals of the FFD Committee were to reach more of the community, make rides more affordable and provide a safer environment.

“We wanted to bring community members together in a safe environment to enjoy rides, entertainment and games,” said Ratner.

The presence of LAPD and additional security provided by OLL parents at all gates ensured a safe, party atmosphere.

“We wanted our community to be excited,” added FFD chairperson Denise Byer.

Families enjoyed the ’80s cover bands FM Radio and Young Guns along with a mariachi on Sunday. Anyone near OLL could hear great the music during the weekend.

Byer said she looks forward in the future to building a larger game area with more games for older kids, and having more food options. She added that, as her first year as chair, “It was a lot of fun. A huge credit goes to all the committee members and ministries.”

Ratner extended her gratitude to the parish ministries, school families and sponsors.     “This event would not be possible without their support,” she said.

Sponsors for the fair included Santa Clarita Electric, Allen Lund Company, Climatec Inc., Griffith Park Pony Rides, Law Offices of Nigel Burns, Parasec, Tanker T.V. Inc., Up The Hill Cocktails and many OLL families.

Proceeds benefitted Our Lady of Lourdes school and parish.

Submitted by Sonya MARQUEZ

On May 31, at a small ceremony for 20 family members, faculty, and trustees, the David S.K. Lee Family Plaza at Flintridge Prep was dedicated in honor of a historic gift from the David and Katherine Lee. The Lees’ gift will provide enduring support for the school’s leadership and risk- taking programs for seniors. Among the programs that will benefit from the endowment are retreats, peer counseling, student government and the Athletic Council on Leadership.

At the ceremony, Board Chair Kris Leslie and Headmaster Peter Bachmann thanked the Lees for their commitment on behalf of the school. The timing of the ceremony was perfect, as the Class of 2014, which includes the Lees’ daughter, Rachel, had just arrived back from their senior trip and was assembling on the other side of campus to celebrate the school’s 81st Baccalaureate.

By YooJin SHEEN, intern

Summer vacation, which started last month for most schools within the Glendale Unified School District, does not always mean time spent in the sun for students. In fact, about 30 different summer school classes will be winding up tomorrow, Friday.

Summer classes offered included various academic subjects including math, science, English, history, and electives but do not include any Advanced Placement classes. The first of two semesters of summer school began on June 9 and, due to the limited amount of days during the summer, students are in class from 7:30 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. for days of intense study.

“Summer school is, simply put, long and demanding. A lot of hours are put into hard work,” said sophomore YuYoung Suh. “You’ll either make it or break it, study or fail.”

The reasons students take these classes are diverse. Some wish to earn credits for graduation or to make up for any failing grades they earned during the past school year. Grace Oh, a senior at Crescenta Valley High School, chose physical education during the summer to make up for credits needed for graduation.

“I basically go to summer school twice a week and record my physical education. We often write summaries and opinions about health, too,” said Oh about her workload.

Others take summer classes in order to get ahead of the upcoming school year by taking prerequisite classes. Anna Shim, an incoming freshman at CVHS, took summer school biology in order to be eligible for advanced courses during the regular school year.

“There was a lot of work and I hated waking up early, especially in the summer, but it was worth it,” Shim said.

The regular school year begins for GUSD students on Aug. 11.

CV High School students Amy McFadden (in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final shirt) and Hannah Weingarten took
CV Weekly with them while in the Dominican Republic with La Crescenta Presbyterian Church.

CV Weekly loves to travel! Take us along on your next trip and send us a photo. You may find yourselves on the pages of the community’s favorite newspaper.

By YooJin SHEEN, intern

While summer vacation for most high school students may represent sleeping for endless hours, some students have pursued other interests, achieving numerous feats. For their achievements in the field of science and technology, Crescenta Valley High School students Shaunt Mehdikhani and Kyle D’ambrosio received medals from the LA County Regional Occupation Program (LACOROP) 2013-14 Outstanding Student Recognition Program.

LACOROP awards one outstanding student from each ROP class per school each year. Mehdikhani was selected as the student to represent the EMR (emergency medical responder) class from CVHS, while D’ambrosio was selected to represent the biotechnology class from CVHS. Both classes are ROP courses offered at CVHS through the Academy of Science and Medicine, a program directed by teacher Orenda Tuason.

Once selected by LACOROP, the student then competes against others chosen from the entire county. A panel of four judges during an interview judges students as they present a work product. Mehdikhani won bronze in the category for health science and medical technology after presenting his demonstration of basic EMR techniques, creating a resume for a job in their field, and filling out a job application.

Deciding how to present during the interview was a challenge.

“Determining which method of presenting my work product would be the most effective and impressive for the interview was the biggest challenge,” Mehdikhani said. “In the end I chose to just set up scenarios and carry out the specified first aid.”

Despite the challenges he encountered, Mehdikhani’s enthusiasm was steadfast.

“I loved the program and thought that allowing students to be recognized out of their class at the county level is a great way to show the determination that students have in their fields of study,”

Despite the challenges he encountered, Mehdikhani said. “It was also really fun to meet students from other high schools who are very passionate about their interests.”

Mehdikhani plans on attending either Johns Hopkins University or UCLA after high school to study biology in the pre-med program to specialize in pediatrics.

For his presentation, D’ambrosio used the basis of biotechnology, which is to manipulate biological organisms in order to produce a desired output. His project, named “Chimera,” was his creation of a biological system to perform a desired function. He accomplished this through complex methods that earned him the gold medal in the competition.

“I accomplished my project by first harnessing a natural vector that produces toxins on its own and then transforming DNA into that vector that coded for an inducible gene for cell death,” D’ambrosio explained. “This gene is activated by a simple sugar called arabinose. However, if the production of toxins needs to be stopped for any reason, one only needs to introduce arabinose to the cells, which will activate the gene and kill the cells thus ceasing the production of toxins, rendering the weapon – that I named Chimera – inert.”

D’ambrosio was ecstatic about his achievements.

“The recognition I received both from being nominated to represent my district and then to win the gold medal made me feel extremely grateful to my teachers and guiding figures at school and at home,” he said.

“I also felt very accomplished and proud of myself and the work I had done to achieve such an accomplishment. To have a physical means of recognition for all of the hard work I have been putting into my schooling means the world to me,” he added.

D’ambrosio plans to graduate with a masters degree in biology, specifically kinesiology, and then move on to medical school to become a surgeon. He sees himself either serving his community at a local hospital or serving in military if he is accepted into the Naval Academy.

By Mary O’KEEFE

rom Plus is an organization that started at Crescenta Valley High School that gives high school seniors and their guests an alternative to an unsupervised after prom party. Five years ago, the Prom Plus Club, a student-led club, was formed. Since its formation, it has evolved into an active volunteer service organization.

“This last weekend, Prom Plus Club was very busy,” said Temoc Ramirez, co-vice president of Prom Plus Club. “We had the 4th of July event, one of our biggest fundraising events. That was on Friday. Then on Sunday we helped with the Montrose Car Show.”

Ramirez said the car show is always fun because the club members dress in the era of the classic cars. And next weekend they are volunteering at Cowboy Church to help out the Center for Spiritual Living – La Crescenta.

“This is the first time I will be at that event,” Ramirez said. “We act as waiters and just help out with the Cowboy Church.”

Cowboy Church is a service dedicated to the spirit of the Old West and includes country music, a steak barbecue and lots of tall tales about the romantic Old West. Prom Plus Club members wear neckerchiefs, don cowboy hats and have even been known to do a little square dancing.

Last year, the club accumulated over 2200 hours of community service by volunteering for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Taste of Montrose, the Christmas Parade and many other events.

“We like doing this because it’s fun and we get to volunteer with friends,” Ramirez said.

Co-Vice President Katie Davis agreed and added that volunteering helps prepare a student for college.

“It looks good on a college resume to be part of such an active and good club,” Davis said.

By Mary O’KEEFE

If there is one thing Californians know about it is surfing. In Redondo Beach there is even a statue to the “First Surfer in the United States,” George Freeth. The story is Freeth, of Hawaiian and Irish ancestry, was born in Honolulu in 1883. One day in 1907, Henry E. Huntington saw Freeth surfing and invited him to Redondo Beach. People, numbering in the thousands, came to see this new phenomenon and surfing became part of the California culture, extending even into music.

“Hey, surfing’s getting really big. You guys ought to write a song about it.”

~ Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson to his brother Brian and Mike Love in 1961.

Beyond the movies and music is the feeling that surfers get from catching the perfect wave.

“It’s hard for me to imagine not surfing. It brings me the most happiness of anything I have ever done,” said Garrett Leum.

Leum, a Crescenta Valley High School 2014 graduate, has been surfing since he was 6 years old. He, his older brother Hunter, dad Mike and mom Nancy spend a lot of time at the beach. For years the Leums have volunteered with Life Rolls On/They Will Surf Again, sharing their love of surfing with those who have never been on a surfboard and others who thought they would never surf again. On July 12, they once again volunteered with LRO/TWSA.

Jesse Billauer sustained a spinal cord injury while surfing, which resulted in quadriplegia, started LRO. His injury did not stop his love of surfing and in 2001 he teamed up with They Will Surf Again, a foundation with similar goals to introduce adaptive surfing for the paralysis community, according to the Life Rolls On website.

Seven years ago, Hunter’s CVHS swim coach took the team to volunteer with LRO/TWSA.

“That was the first time I [heard of the organization],” Hunter said. “Until then I had no idea [this program] existed.”

At that point, Hunter introduced his family to the organization and they have been volunteering ever since.

The volunteers work in deep, mid-level and shallow water as well as on land. Participants are quadriplegic and paraplegic people of all ages. Some have surfed in the past and, for others, it is their first time. They are helped onto a specially designed surfboard and the mid-level water volunteers take them to the deep-water volunteers.

Then, just like all surfers, they wait for that perfect wave and, with the help of a volunteer guiding the board, they ride the wave to the shore where the shallow water volunteers grab the board, turn it around and the surfer goes back for another wave.

“A lot of the surfers are skeptical, but once they [try it] they want to go again,” Garrett said. “[It’s great] seeing how happy the surfers are once they get a wave.”

“The [surfers] look forward to it,” Hunter said of those who participated before.

In fact, some like it so much they can’t wait for the next TWSA. Over the years, the Leums have made friends with some of the surfers. One is a woman from northern California who came back to Southern California beaches to surf again with the Leums.

“She didn’t even like surfing [at first],” Garrett said, but being in the water “made her forget she couldn’t use her legs.”

“It’s such a humbling experience,” Hunter said of volunteering. “It makes you feel good.”

The love of surfing and the freedom it can offer is universal, and those who volunteer for LRO/TWSA are inspired as they share that feeling with others.

To find out more about Life Rolls On, visit www.liferollson.org.