By Mary O’KEEFE

Crescenta Valley High School students spent sixth period and time after school on Thursday learning of pre- and post-graduation career and internship opportunities at Teen MOVE.

The Foothills YMCA sponsored the event with support from CVHS PTSA. Representatives from non-profit, government and businesses were on the campus with information on their respective organizations. This year, the Y coordinators invited students from both La Cañada and Verdugo Hills high schools to the event.

Information on internships from Congressman Adam Schiff and State Assemblymember Mike Gatto were available. Gatto stopped by the event to show his support and answer questions not only about internships but college financing as well.

AHEAD (Accelerated Habilitation Education and Development) with Horses was one of the non-profit organizations that offered volunteer opportunities to students. The organization is located in Shadow Hills and for 45 years has provided highly motivated and effective therapy, education and recreation using horses and related experiences to disabled/disadvantaged/at-risk/special-needs children.

By Isiah REYES

The Crescenta Valley High School Team 589 Falkon Robotics and the Clark Magnet High School Team 696 Circuit Breakers will participate in two different FIRST – For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – robotics competitions this month.

The first is the Los Angeles Regional from March 13 to March 14. The event will be in Long Beach and there are currently 42 teams registered. The competition is open to the public. Students will get to learn from professional engineers and build and compete with robot designs of their own to earn a place in the world championship and qualify for more than $20 million in college scholarships.

"Our bottom line goal is to have kids participate and learn, be inspired and to be good humans," said Lyn Repath-Martos, who has been mentoring the CV Falkon Robotics team for the past four years. "I mean good humans in all senses in the word. We offer a very open, accepting environment and we expect every kid on the team to treat every other kid on the team with that same level of respect and openness."

Director of the Robotics Program at Clark Magnet High School David Black will be making final preparations for the regional events in the days leading up to the event, including redesigning the Clark robot’s forks, applying vinyl graphics to the robot’s sponsor panels and team vehicles, manufacturing spare parts and assemblies, and rendering a 4K-resolution 3D animation that showcases the robot’s mechanical design from several different angles.

All teams competing have the same challenge called Recycle Rush. Robots score points by stacking totes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers, and properly disposing of pool noodles, representing litter. It is played by two alliances of three robots each. Since the teams are randomly assigned their alliances, there’s no way for the students to know the capabilities of the other robots they will be playing with until they get to the tournament and see for themselves.

The challenge was released on Jan. 3. All the teams in the country received the same release date and had until Feb. 17 to design, strategize and build the robots.

The second regional competition for both teams will be the Ventura Regional Competition held on March 28 and March 29. Both competitions begin with opening ceremonies then qualifying matches and alliance selections. Following that are the final rounds and finally the awards ceremony. Some of the awards include Creativity Award, Engineering Inspiration Award and Industrial Design Award among many others.

"Our goal at the L.A. regional would be, of course, to win," said Martos. "But we feel a successful season is more defined by the journey and not defined by the destination. We’re already thrilled because we’ve already had a successful learning season."

Near the end of January, Crescenta Valley High School speech and debate teacher Shannon Marshall gave students the option to compete in the ACSA – Association of California School Administrators – (Region XV "Keep Calm and Lead On") speech competition.

Students were tasked with writing and presenting a speech based off this year’s prompt as an in-class assignment, but they could also use it to compete if they wanted to.

There were multiple levels of competition. The first competition was held at the school-level, and only three students would be picked to move forward from it. From this competition, CVHS judges chose Will Bleveans, Naomi Vakharia and Brett Tyler.

The next competition was held at the district level, and only one student would be picked to move forward. The competition was held on Feb. 24 in the Carlson Fellowship Hall at the Glendale First United Methodist Church. There were 12 different competitors from GUSD high schools. Tyler won this competition and moved on to the Region XV student oratory contest.

The Region XV student oratory contest was the final level of competition. Here 24 students came from all over Los Angeles County who had won at their school and district levels. At this final level, only six students would be named finalists and receive a $500 scholarship, while everyone else who competed would receive a $100 scholarship for achieving that level.

The competition was held at the American Legion Hall in Pasadena to a full house.

Upon entering, each student competitor checked-in and picked a random ticket to determine their order. They also each received a "stress-pack" that contained a pack of gum and a candy bar.

The event began with introductions, then the students were told that one of the scholarship donors made it possible for each of the six finalists’ $500 scholarships would be doubled to $1,000.

"It was really interesting to see how each student interpreted the same prompt in their own way," Tyler said as the speeches began. "One potential problem I realized was ‘blocking.’ Every presentation before this I had given my speech on a stage and mapped out precise movements to match the speech accordingly. But at the [American Legion Hall] there was a podium with a microphone taking up the center. So while the speakers before me presented, I calculated new movements and blocking for my speech. When finally it was my turn to speech, there was a definite and wonderful sense of everything coming together exactly as I had practiced it."

After all the speeches were over there was an intermission. The students could finally relax and get to know each other.

"Everybody I met was very nice, and it was great to have a chance to break the ice and get to know these fellow students," he said.

Our Lady of Lourdes School is hosting an open house on Sunday, March 29 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Along with visiting classrooms, visitors can meet teachers and staff, have fun on a jumper slide and enjoy food from food trucks, and music. There will also be a sneak peek at the upcoming junior high play, "Aladdin." Our Lady of Lourdes has the honor of having Bishop Wilkerson presiding at the 10:30 a.m. mass right before open house.

Our Lady of Lourdes is located at 7324 Apperson St. in Tujunga.

By Mary O’KEEFE

Whether young or old, running or walking, 21,957 athletes crossed the finish line at the ASICS Los Angeles Marathon on March 15.

The "Stadium to the Sea" 26.2-mile run began at Dodger Stadium and ended close to the Santa Monica Pier. The runners not only faced "hitting the wall" – a sudden fatigue and loss of energy that strikes each runner at a different point – but they also ran in record-breaking heat. In fact, it was due to the high heat that the start of the race was moved up 30 minutes to 6:55 a.m. But, according to reports, several people were still hospitalized, most related to the heat.

There was celebration for those who did cross the line, which included 13-year-old Ashley Sanford.

"My sister [ran the marathon] when she was in eighth grade," said Sanford. "And I wanted to try it … I wanted to see if I could last that long."

Sanford is a student at Mt. Gleason Middle School in Sunland-Tujunga.

She started training at the beginning of the school year, joining several of her friends, but in the end only two friends stayed with the program.

She ran with Students Run Los Angeles, an organization that helps support mentors to train students in middle and high school to run the L.A. Marathon. SRLA trains students by covering the costs for several prerace runs, including an 18-mile run at Hansen Dam.

Sanford had a lot of encouragement from her father and the friends who stayed in it with her. She was a runner prior to the L.A. Marathon but had never run 26.2 miles.

"My dad made me run a mile every day," she said of building her stamina prior to the big race.

Along with the heat she had to contend with other issues along the way.

"About mile 20 my foot started hurting," she said. "I walked a little. My friend’s legs were hurting [at the end]."

After crossing the finish line, Sanford was not certain if this was going to be her last as well as her first marathon.

"I was happy it was over and I can finally say I have done a marathon," she said. "I am still deciding [whether to run the L.A. Marathon again]."

But then she went to the luncheon with her coach and team.

By Mary O’KEEFE

There are two new benches in front of two local schools in La Crescenta thanks to the Crescenta Valley Town Council and Crescenta Commons.

The Crescenta Commons at the corner of Orange and Rosemont avenues was completed in November 2014. Among the California native plants and rocks at the site are benches where community members can sit and enjoy the Commons. The benches were donated by local residents and organizations but, in typical Crescenta Valley style, too many people wanted to help so the CVTC had two benches too many for the Commons.

"We had one bench that was purchased by Leslie Dickson’s family and one by Crescenta Valley Town Council," said CVTC President Robbyn Battles. "They were supposed to go into the Commons but we had no room."

CVTC members worked closely with Monte Vista Elementary School, which is next door to the Commons. Battles worked with the school’s principal Suzanne Risse and together they invited students to be part of the Crescenta Commons Kids. The students, about 35 from first to sixth grades, keep the grounds clean and help take care of the plants.

"About two years ago I spoke to [previous principal] Susan Hoge. She told me there was no place for grandparents to sit while [waiting for students] at the school," Battles said. "I kept that comment in the back of my mind."

When it turned out that the Commons had extra benches, Battles thought a good place for one of them would be in front of the school near the kindergarten playground.

"It was red, which was perfect for Monte Vista," she added. Monte Vista’s school color is red. A plaque with the words Dickson Family was placed on the bench and it was placed at the elementary school.

The other extra bench was blue – Falcon blue – so it seemed natural that the bench would be donated to Crescenta Valley High School.

"I had been at the Prom Plus 20th anniversary [celebration] and thought we should dedicate it to [one of the] Prom Plus founders Marian Mirsky," Battles said.

Prom Plus is an organization that offers an after prom party for CVHS seniors and their guests. Mirsky was a tireless supporter of Prom Plus. She held bake sales at the school to raise money for the organization and lived across the street from the school. She and her husband were named honorary grandparents of CVHS and kept a watchful eye on CVHS kids.

Both Marian and her husband Joe have passed away, but their legacy continues. The plaque with Mirsky’s name is being completed.

"[CVTC] was able to purchase the bench through funds left over from the military banners," Battles said.

CVTC had created banners honoring local residents serving in the military, which were hung along the unincorporated section of Los Angeles County along Foothill Boulevard. There was more money donated to the fund than was needed for the banners, so the CVHS bench will have two dedication plaques.

"We are going to add a plaque to the bench that reads ‘We Salute the Military,’" Battles said.

The Dragon Faire, an annual fundraiser at St. George’s Preschool, is landing on the school’s campus on Saturday, April 25. The day’s activities go from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the public is invited.

This year’s Dragon Faire will feature game booths and prizes, an inflatable maze, pony rides, dragon snacks, a raffle and much more. The Habit Burger Grill Truck will be on site for lunch.

St. George’s preschool is located at 808 Foothill Blvd. in La Cañada. For more information call (818) 790-3842 ext. 12.

By Vincent PAGE, intern

From March 20 to March 23, Crescenta Valley High School junior varsity cheer competed in the USA Nationals Cheer tournament in Anaheim. The team placed third, an impressive accomplishment for the team. This competition is the squad’s main focus throughout the year, as Coach Jessie Moorehead has trained her team the entire year, while finalizing the routines the week before the girls competed.

Since the competition was held over spring break, some girls had trouble making every practice, which was a disadvantage for the girls, because they’ve been building chemistry with their specific groups during the school year. When one girl is unable to be there that chemistry is thrown off, as a different cheerleader must replace the missing one. This happened often over the course of the tournament and the practices leading up to it, but Moorehead was more than impressed with the way her squad handled the situation.

"Every time we had an obstacle the girls were very mature and professional, and that made Nationals a great event," Moorehead said. Captains Stephanie Hwang and Alithea Valdez were in a mutual agreement about how their coaches did in training them and their teammates for the event.

"A lot of JV teams only learn the basic skills needed to cheer but our coaches really worked us hard and made sure we knew some advanced stuff to really be impressive during the tournament," Hwang said. "We practiced for this tournament every day and all of spring break and being such a success was all worth it."

While most people believe cheerleading is not a sport and not very physically demanding, these two disagree entirely.

"Most people just think we go and jump around and cheer for other teams, but they don’t realize how often we stunt, which is extremely demanding physically and mentally. We practice that an hour every day, so dedication is a big factor as well," the pair explained.

Cheerleaders attending a football game is part of the job, but the real focus is on competitions such as Nationals, which is the Super Bowl of high school cheer. Placing third is already a huge accomplishment, but there were bumps and bruises along the way, which made it all the more memorable for Coach Moorehead. When asked how this tournament ranked for her and her team, she responded enthusiastically.

"Ten beyond 10! If I could have a team every time that walked off smiling, hugging, and congratulating each other, I know I’ve won, despite the outcome, and so has the team," Moorehead said.

By Mary O’KEEFE

ast weekend, robotic teams from Clark Magnet, Crescenta Valley and La Cañada high schools competed in a FIRST [For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology] contest in Ventura. It was the first time Ventura had hosted a FIRST competition and, for three local teams, it was a successful outing.

Against a field of 40 other competitive teams, Clark Magnet’s Team 696 robot, Centurion, came in third place. The team, the Circuitbreakers, was named alliance team captains.

Crescenta Valley High School Falkon team 589 ranked 12th at the end of the qualifying matches and was given alliance selection process, which moved them into the eighth seeded alliance captain.

La Cañada High School’s team 2429 was chosen by the fifth seeded alliance to join their team.

Each year FIRST organizers design a game for the competition. This year’s game is called Recycle Rush, in which a robot had to be built for the purpose of stacking totes with recycling cans on top and earning as many points as possible.

Robotics teams around the world learned about the game and had six weeks to discuss how they would like to approach the game – offense or defense – and engineer a robot that could achieve those goals. Although this year was a little different, the same basic rules applied, including each team working with other teams, or alliances. After two days of competition, the top teams then choose other teams to join their alliance and they all compete in the final rounds.

The robotic teams are not just about competition; FIRST also inspires social responsibility, which includes outreach programs like mentoring local elementary schools in Lego League robotics.

FIRST also honors mentors who devote their time and talents to high school teams. This year David Black, the teacher/mentor for Clark Magnet’s team, was chosen to receive the Woodie Flowers Award that recognizes an outstanding mentor in robotics competition that best leads, inspires, teaches and empowers their team using excellent communication skills.

Dr. Woodie Flowers is the pappalardo professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a distinguished partner at Olin College. He helped create the "Introduction to Design" course at MIT and was the host of a PBS television series "Scientific America Frontiers."

Flowers was at the event in Ventura and presented Black with his recognition.

"I cannot express in words how much it means to me," said Black. "Being selected for this award alone was quite an honor, but to have it happen at an inaugural event where Woodie Flowers himself was there to present it was an experience I will never forget."

Black’s team was awarded the Quality Award that celebrates machine robustness in concept and fabrication.

Clark Magnet students considered the competition a "huge learning experience" for all of the 31 students that attended.

"This robotics competition was a success. Since this is my first year on the team, I had an amazing experience filled with learning opportunities at every corner," said Clark Magnet freshmen Karin Najarian, a part of the business group on the team.

CV students echoed those thoughts.

"[Falkon Robotic Club] 589 had a terrific time. We integrated our elevator to the robot and it performed superbly," said Lynn Repath-Martos, a mentor for the Falkon team. "Our drive team, captained by Jacob Poole, included Daniel Rhyoo, Justin Park, Manav Vats and Sun Key Cho, maneuvered expertly and used all of the toolsets at hand to move totes and recycle bins into place."

The robot had human players, Sam Linkchorst and Lucas Martos-Repath, to help them during a portion of the game that required pool noodles to be "javelined" across the playing field.

"True to FRC 589’s spirit of community service and volunteerism, more than half of our team participated in a very special community service project in Old Town Ventura on Friday," Repath-Martos said. "We learned that there were two egregious acts taken by a gang of youths against homeless individuals very close to Ventura’s Old Town – one person was severely beaten with a baseball bat, and another was set on fire. We wanted to make it clear to the community that not all young people are bad seeds and show our concern for the many individuals facing homelessness. Team members from FRC 589 conducted a toiletries and food donation drive at Ralphs La Crescenta on March 20-21; we collected so much that we were not able to take it all to Ventura with us. We delivered nine bags of food items to the Glendale Salvation Army and delivered more than 300 pounds of much needed toiletries with us to a meeting with representatives from the Ventura Salvation Army and Project Understanding organizations. We spent an hour learning about the homeless populations and the challenges they and social workers that work with them face. It was amazing to participate with the team in this endeavor."

Members of Clark Magnet team 696 can be found at the Hometown Country Fair on April 25 at CV Park, 3901 Dunsmore Ave. in La Crescenta where they will demonstrate their robot Centurion.

By Samantha SLAYBACK

When imagining what an 11-year-old boy might do in his spare time, few would picture him gambling in a retirement home. However, that’s just what sixth grader Jack Bright looks forward to each week.

Jack began visiting Mountview retirement home in Montrose last August and fell in love. He initially started going there out of a need to earn community service hours. Because his father is of Hawaiian heritage, Jack is eligible to attend the prestigious Kamehameha School located in Hawaii. After attending a summer school program with Kamehameha last year, both Jack and his parents were hopeful he would be able to start his seventh grade year as a student there. But not everyone who applies is admitted into Kamehameha, so many volunteer hours are required to be considered.

"He started there by bringing the residents beverages, helping them with bingo and just visiting with them," said Jack’s uncle Gary Gibson. "He looked forward to going after school every day."

What started as a need for community service hours led to a fun weekly hobby when one of the residents asked Jack if he played poker. An avid poker player, Jack took interest in the card game when he was only 6.

"His dad taught him," explained Jack’s mother April. "He loves the game and will never turn down an opportunity to play."

Since then, he has become a part of the residents’ regular Friday poker game.

"Some of the ladies [who] sign up to play won’t play unless they know I am coming – that feels nice," said Jack. "They are fun to be around – it’s like being with friends."

Jack’s relationships with the Mountview residents have grown over the months and not only are they excited to see him, but he’s excited to see them as well.

"Most people think its scary being around older people," said Jack. "I don’t mind – they have a lot of good things to say."

Recently, Jack had an interview with the Kamehameha administration.

"When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said if he didn’t make it as a professional soccer player, he wanted to operate a retirement home," shared Gibson. "I was told that it brought a tear to the eye of the woman conducting the interview."

Besides his usual visiting days – Thursday for resident mingle and Friday for their poker game – Jack also spent his birthday with the residents at Mountview who celebrated with a Hawaiian luau. He also visited on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and St. Patrick’s Day.

"On Christmas Eve I read ‘The Night Before Christmas’ to the residents using a microphone," Jack said. "Since they didn’t have a Santa suit for me to wear, they gave me a clown suit to wear instead [and] everyone had a great time."

Aside from playing poker at the retirement home, Jack also enjoys playing guitar, drawing, spending time with his family and friends and, especially, playing soccer.

The Brights are planning their move to Hawaii and will find out later this month whether or not Jack will be attending Kamehameha in the future.

"I would like to keep volunteering," Jack said. "Wherever I live I want to be able to help people."

For the seventh year, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy partnered with the Pasadena Salvation Army to collect prom dresses for the annual "Cherished Memories" campaign, which provides prom dresses to local disadvantaged high school girls. During the week of March 9-13, students at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy collected 163 dresses for the campaign.

"As a school community, it gives us great joy to share our blessings with other high school girls and provide them with the opportunity to attend prom and create meaningful memories," said sophomore (and participant) Sloan Elmassian.

This year’s campaign included a competition among the classes to see who could donate the most dresses. During the week of collection it appeared the sophomore class was a sure winner, but the seniors stepped up their game on the last day to nearly exceed the sophomore’s donations. As generous as the seniors were, the sophomore class prevailed donating four more dresses than the seniors and also earning a free dress day.

Sophomore class president Samantha Cremer and Elmassian presented the dresses to the Salvation Army on behalf of Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy.

"It makes me especially proud of my sophomore classmates who recognize how important it is to be generous and serve the needs of others," said Cremer.

Contributing to the success of the campaign was chairperson Robin Elmassian and many dedicated volunteers including Sandra Dasaad-Farac, Elizabeth Valdivia, Carla DeLaTorre, Mary Minassians, Laura Leyva, Shab Caley, Shannon Ruder, Colette McCreary, Monica Yeh, Grace Galanto, Toni Garcia, Michele Marquez, Dana Burnham and Sue Gray.

By Isiah REYES

tudents in Dominique Evans-Bye’s environmental geographic information science class at Clark Magnet High School have won first place in the final challenge of the Lexus Eco Challenge. The team includes seniors Virginia Aviles, Henry Bagumyan, Laura Dandachi, Xochil Garcia, Kamran Jahadi, Trevor Norman, Biura Markarian, Maya Ramamurthy and Mary Rshtouni.

The Lexus Eco Challenge is a STEM contest for students in grades six to 12 built on environmental issues and practical solutions. This year’s Kelp Huggers team won the regional contest with a project to identify and collect underwater trash at the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard. They used an underwater remote-operated vehicle to find the trash and used Instagram to get the word out on the dangers of litter to river and marine life.

"The project required me to apply skills I’ve learned in biology, chemistry and English classes such as scientific research procedures and effective communication," said Kelp Hugger member Ramamurthy. "The project was a lesson in team management, data collection and organization. I have gained valuable experience in leadership and other skills that most high school students do not acquire in a traditional classroom."

To help spread the word about their work, the team and teacher advisor Evans-Bye started a movement to "Bust the Bead" that educated people about the problem of microplastics in the ocean. They created posters, which they sent to 55 different schools and organizations around the world, with a lesson plan culminating in students signing the poster to pledge not to use products containing microbeads.

Finally, the team increased contributions to the social media movement Litterati and picked up over 3,500 pieces of trash in collaboration with project partners around the globe. They also examined sand, and the digestive and respiratory tracts of bait fish to document the presence of microplastics in the local environment. The Kelp Huggers found several pieces of plastics in the samples they worked with.

This phase of the competition brought the team of nine students $15,000 and a grand total this year of $25,000.

"I’ve been working on this program since its inception and I would say the students get amazing teamwork opportunities in addition to making a difference in their community," said editorial director of Scholastic National Partnership Jessica Quinones. "It’s not just a matter of coming up with the idea but it’s a matter of implementing the idea and then reporting back on the results. So teams really commit anywhere between six to eight weeks to complete a project and see it through to the end. So they are making a difference and they’re seeing tangible results."

The idea behind the challenges is to do more than just memorizing facts by engaging students in a project that allows them to see how hard work can leave a social imprint on the community. For example, middle schoolers in New Jersey reduced their community’s mosquito population by adding holes to garbage cans while Ohio students studied fracking in their town and applied their findings to help people in rural Guatemala. Through this competition, students build a deeper understanding of concepts taught in school and really enjoy the process of making a difference for the environment.

The focus is on project-based learning and teamwork as teams compete for scholarships and grants. The teams go through multiple steps before the project is complete. The first step is to choose the right topic, then comes creating an action plan and lastly the teams must reach out by doing public service announcements or by writing letters to government officials and environmental organizations.

Overall, $500,000 was awarded this past year and, since the competition was created by Scholastic and Lexus eight years ago, $5.5 million in scholarships have been awarded.

In the past, Clark’s Eco Challenge teams have tested for heavy metals in the Los Angeles harbor and shared their findings with divers up and down the coast, including Navy S.E.A.L.s who spend a lot of time in those waters. Evans-Bye’s teams have won first prize at the regional level five times out of eight. In 2011, the Eco-Savers team won the grand prize with a project identifying and mapping contaminants in lobster from around the world.

The future of all the students involved with Evans-Bye’s class is very bright.