Storm disrupts power in South LA + Clippers donate $3 million to City Year

September 16, 2015 By Leave a Comment


Los Angeles neighborhoods suffered power loss after a record storm. (Caitlyn Hynes / Intersections South LA)

Los Angeles neighborhoods suffered power loss after a record storm. (Caitlyn Hynes / Intersections South LA)

Storm Knocks Out Power To 8,200 LADWP Customers: Rain and wind caused power outages across Los Angeles. South LA was especially hard hit with 1,636 customers in the dark, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. (CBS Los Angeles)

Donors raise nearly $40k for brothers stabbed to death in South LA: Donations poured in to a family grieving the loss of three brothers after police say they were killed by their father last week. A relative’s GoFundMe campaign successfully raised enough money for the funerals and to move the boys’ mother’s grave to be near theirs. (Daily News)

Clippers’ $3 million gift helping City Year’s work in 26 LAUSD schools: South Los Angeles schools that host AmeriCorps City Year teams will benefit from a generous gift from the Los Angeles Clippers. The $3 million gift to the nonprofit will allow the Los Angeles chapter to hire more staff to serve students in under-performing schools. (LA School Report)

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LAUSD superintendent’s South LA legacy

November 14, 2014 By Leave a Comment


John Deasy speaks at a City Year event in 2013. | City Year

John Deasy speaks at a City Year event in 2013. | City Year

High school seniors in the Los Angeles Unified School District graduating in 2015 have attended school under five different superintendents since they began kindergarten in 2001. That statistic punctuates the departure of Superintendent John Deasy, who resigned last month following a three-and-a-half-year term that included both peak performances and steep pitfalls in the district.

As the door closes on Deasy’s high-profile leadership as LAUSD superintendent, Intersections explored how Deasy’s work influenced the experience of students in South L.A.—home to some of the district’s lowest performing schools.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, More on Intersections Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

South LA high school curbs suspension rates with restorative justice

November 6, 2014 By Leave a Comment


A student at Augustus Hawkins. | Sarah Zahedi

A student at Augustus Hawkins. | Sarah Zahedi

At most high schools, getting into a fight means getting suspended. But for many students, suspension isn’t a helpful solution. That’s why Augustus Hawkins High School in South L.A. is taking a new approach.

Learn more in an audio story from Annenberg Radio News:

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Homecoming for Animo Inglewood alum running for state superintendent

October 17, 2014 By Leave a Comment


 

TuckAnimoCharterMarshall Tuck, candidate for state superintendent of public instruction, checked up on Animo Inglewood Charter High School Thursday as part of his statewide bus tour. The campaign stop was extra special for Tuck, as he helped found the school in the early 2000s.

Take a listen to his visit in an audio piece for Annenberg Radio News:

Tuck and incumbent Tom Torlakson are in a tight race for the nonpartisan superintendent job, with Tuck up by three points in the latest poll. The race has crystalized divisions within the Democratic party over education reform.

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Students at South LA’s Manual Arts High react to superintendent’s resignation

October 16, 2014 By Leave a Comment


John Deasy speaks at a City Year event in 2013. | City Year

John Deasy speaks at a City Year event in 2013. | City Year

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy resigned on Thursday, ending a controversial, much-discussed tenure. The word about his resignation spread quickly through South L.A., which is home to some of the lowest performing schools in California with some of the nation’s lowest graduation rates.

Students at South L.A.’s Manual Arts High School, which in 2012 had a graduation rate of about 65 percent and a dropout rate of about 26 percent, are hopeful that a future superintendent can be a model leader, and bring resources to their school.  [Read more…]

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LA School District endorses Proposition 47 to reduce punishment for common crimes

October 16, 2014 By Leave a Comment


A student pushes for Proposition 47 with a sign reading "Smart Jusice." | Kate Guarino

A student pushes for Proposition 47 with a sign reading “Smart Jusice.” | Kate Guarino

More than 100 youth and community leaders gathered Tuesday in Downtown L.A. to rally in support of Proposition 47. Those who marched were hoping that the Los Angeles Unified School district would pass a resolution voicing support for the measure, which would reduce the penalty for some of the most common crimes in California including drug possession, petty theft, possession of stolen goods, shoplifting, forgery and writing bad checks.

LAUSD voted 5 to 1 to support and endorse the proposition Tuesday evening.

Under the referendum— which will be voted on in November—these crimes would be downgraded from felonies to misdemeanors and sentences would drop from a potential of three years to a maximum of one.

The Brothers, Sons, Selves coalition, which hosted the rally, said LAUSD’s support is an important step to gain momentum for the referendum. [Read more…]

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From Watts to Walla Walla: The burdens and the blessings of my college education

July 28, 2014 By 3 Comments


Alisha Agarde (l) and author Ashley Hansack (r) at a First Generation Mentorship Program Dinner at Whitman College in 2013

Ashley Hansack (right) with a fellow student at a First Generation Mentorship Program Dinner at Whitman College in 2013. | Ashley Hansack

During the fall of 2010, I applied to eighteen colleges and universities across the United States. As a first-generation, working-class, Latina applicant, college counselors prompted me to highlight my diversity in my college essays.

“You are different,” they would say. “Use that to your advantage,” their smiles would imply. Essay upon essay, I would highlight characteristics about my family, my school, and my community that seemed trivial and unimportant to my identity. Yes, my blood runs with 100% Mexican heritage. Yes, my mom raised my four sisters and me on her own under a housekeeper’s salary. Yes, I grew up living in the ghetto streets of communities like Watts and Compton. Yes, unemployment and food security were at the forefront of many family discussions. I would be praised by my mentors and counselors, who urged, add more details here, a little more pity there, and girl, you have yourself an award-winning essay. [Read more…]

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South LA gets a taste of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

April 17, 2014 By Leave a Comment


The wellness and diabetes group from the Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center has climbed on board to take part in celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s food revolution.

The lesson today, “Fish Made Easy,” included a basic red sauce sautéed with garlic, olives, and basil baked over a white fish and served with what the cooks called “brilliant broccoli.”

Caroline Snow, one of the instructors giving free lessons to community members out of the Big Rig Mobile Teaching Kitchen parked on East 120th Street in front of the medical center, offered simple directions: “We’re using the canned tomatoes sauce here on the rig, but you can use fresh tomatoes and with the summer season coming and growing new gardens its great to pick your own tomatoes, puree them, and use that. Then we’re making the sauce, putting the fish with it and baking it for a few minutes.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Education, Environment, Health, Inglewood, More on Intersections, Neighborhood, Neighborhoods Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Los Angeles magnet school shows off successful STEM and AP program

April 14, 2014 By Leave a Comment


LACES-ARNThe Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, a prestigious magnet school focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematic curricula, is breaking the mold for lower-income, minority students.

Studies show that STEM courses give high school students access to better colleges and higher-paying jobs, but minority students don’t have as many opportunities to pursue STEM topics. Meanwhile, white, middle-income students are twice as likely to go to a school with a full array of AP courses versus lower-income, minority students.

That’s where LACES comes in.

Learn more in a story from Annenberg Radio News:

Most of its 1,600 students have above a 3.5 GPA and over 85 percent are accepted into successful four-year universities.

[Read more…]

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South LA loses trees in Crenshaw/LAX Metro line construction

April 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Construction for the new metro rail line on Crenshaw blvd.

Construction for the new metro rail line on Crenshaw blvd.

The new 8.5 mile Crenshaw/LAX light rail line could change the look of South L.A. by bringing an influx of businesses and pedestrian traffic. It could change the South L.A. landscape in another way, too: By cutting down about 100 trees along a two mile stretch of Crenshaw Boulevard between Exposition and 48th street to make room for the train.

Romell Pace, a local who sells shirts at the corner of Crenshaw and Slauson Boulevards, said the trees need to stay.

“Once the trees are removed… it’s going to be slow on business,” he said. “I believe that the trees should stay there because they are landmarks.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Baldwin Hills, Community, Crenshaw, Environment, Expo Park, Hyde Park, Jefferson Park, Leimert Park, More on Intersections, Neighborhoods, South Central LA, Uncategorized, University Park, Vermont Knolls, Vermont Square, Vernon-Central Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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