Briefly In Education
Culverhouse outcooks Austin again
For the second year in a row, Thurston Middle School Principal Joanne Culverhouse took the crown at SchoolPower’s second annual Lumberyard Chef Challenge last week. Culverhouse’s “surf” inspired menu defeated Laguna Beach High Principal Don Austin’s “turf” menu by eight votes.
Culverhouse thanked the Lumberyard restaurant for their support and declared her intention to win next year’s event where she will be “going for the triple crown.”
Having raised $8,300 for Laguna’s schools, the Chef Challenge fundraiser has become a much-anticipated social event due to the enthusiasm of the principals and generosity of Lumberyard owners, Suzanne and Cary Redfearn, who not only host the event at their restaurant, but are also the creative minds behind the event’s premise.
SchoolPower Vice President Marcus Skenderian applauded the Redfearns and the synergy between a local business and the schools.
“This event is a great example of a local business embracing our schools and, as a result, having a very strong impact on the community as a whole,” he said.
*
Safe-Rides gets underway in Laguna
Sponsored by Laguna Beach Rotary, Mission Hospital and the Boy Scouts of America, the Safe-Rides Program is now underway for this academic year.
Providing transportation home for stranded junior high and high school students, the program has a dedicated telephone number, which has been publicized to Laguna students. The line is open to receive calls from students who find themselves in stranded or precarious situations to ask for a ride home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. most Friday and Saturday nights during the school year.
The objective is to protect the city’s young adults from injury or harm. To ensure the program’s success, all activity is conducted in the strictest confidence.
Illustrating the need, eight students were transported the first night of operation. The first team of student volunteers included Will Robinson, Christianne Kondu and Aaron Swartz. Tallie and Bill Parrish served as adult supervisors.
Safe-Rides operates from a Mission Hospital staging area in South Laguna.
*
Club offers kids a place to skate
The Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach was recently transformed into a skate park for its second annual Couch-Free Saturday event and skate competition, where Anthony Norelli, Rex Kronfelt and Wyatt Ship walked away with the grand prizes of the day.
The ramps, built by pro skater Chad Shetler, consisted of two quarter-pipes that could be made into a half pipe and a fun box equipped with a grind box. To kick off the club’s new Saturday skate hours, the club hosted a small skate competition. Prizes were generously by donated Hobie and Elemental Awareness, and everyone who participated went home with something.
A live music stage set up by The Collective Sound gave local young musicians a chance to get up and jam for a high energy audience. The Ocean Institute had a booth to educate participants on marine ecology, and the Unites Studios of Self Defense provided a fun and interactive demonstration. The club’s art department also provided a free tie-dying workshop where everyone got to make and take their very own shirt to remember the day.
The club will offer special skate hours every Saturday. First- through sixth-graders can skate the ramps from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and eighth- to 12-graders can ride the ramps from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. The annual skate fee is $25, which gives skaters access to the ramps on Saturdays all year. All skaters are required to fill out waivers with parent signatures.
To learn more about the Saturday skate hours, call (949) 494-2535.
*
Surfin’ Santa kicks off on Thanksgiving
The Surfin’ Santa’s Holiday Kick-off Celebration and seventh annual fundraiser, presented by the Laguna Beach-based Wyland Foundation and Ocean Institute, will take place from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Ocean Institute, 24200 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point. The event will feature silent and live auctions, holiday cocktails and food, live music, family holiday crafts, Surfin’ Santa’s Bounce house and custom holiday photo cards with the family, among other activities.
One of the foundation’s goals is to raise enough money to keep the Clean Water Mobile Learning Center on the road and educating kids of America about the importance of water through science and art. In partnership with the Ocean Institute, Wyland’s Mobile Learning Center will visit elementary and middle schools all over the country.
The 1,000-square-foot mobile center includes interactive exhibits — from an actual running river to falling rain over an urban watershed — to encourage students to prepare for what is believed to be a drier future in California.
“Educating primary and secondary school children about water conservation helps ensure that the message is taken home to parents,” Wyland said.
Climate models and population estimates in the state of California indicate that water supplies will become more limited. The learning center encourages students to engage, play, experiment and learn about ocean, lake and river management, non-point pollution, and the importance of water conservation and quality. The vehicle has toured outside the United States to four cities in Baja California, reaching 20,000 Mexican students, in partnership with the Sempra Energy Foundation.
Admission is $50; kids 11 and younger are free with adult admission. To learn more or purchase tickets, call (800) WYLAND 0 or visit wylandfoundation.org.