ECCLA Launches New School Liaison Program

Jay Adams, Executive Director of 24th St. Theater, leads teachers
and administrators through a work place tableau.

ECCLA welcomed the first inaugural school liaison class on Thursday, March 3^rd, 2011 at the Kick-off event which took place at 24^th Street Theatre from 4-6pm.  

The kick-off event was the perfect way to welcome our 22 participating schools into the program.  There were over 50 people in attendance including Liaisons, Principals, Local Resource Providers and ECCLA Board Members and Staff.

The newly designated school liaisons and their principals had the opportunity to network amongst each other as well as take part in the mini resource fair with some of the local providers in attendance including California Science Center, Mouth Saint Mary’s College, Natural History Museum, the University of Southern California and our venue host, 24^th Street Theatre.

Jacqueline Hamilton, ECCLA Executive Director, and museum
representatives brief attendants on current programs and resources.

Interactive icebreakers, and small breakout sessions to discuss the challenges each school faces and what types of resources the school  is lacking were a great way to create consensus on how to make this program most successful and beneficial for all those involved.

Teachers and administrators act out workplace
dialogues.

About School Liaison Program:

The goal of the program is to enriched classroom experiences for students and teachers by providing effective and timely communication:

·        between central L.A. educators and museums, colleges and community organizations in the nearby region;

·        about ECCLA’s programs and partnerships; and

·        regarding classroom, field trip, fundraising, and other programs to enhance instruction.

The complete list of schools includes who are participating include:

·        32^nd Street Visual and Performing Art Magnet School

·        Bishop Conaty / Our Lady of Loretto High School

·        Douglass-Marshall Middle School

·        Downtown Value School

·        George Washington Carver Middle School

·        Gertz-Ressler College Ready High School

·        Holy Name of Jesus Parish School

·        Hooper Avenue Elementary School

·        James Foshay Learning Center

·        John Adams Middle School

·        Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School

·        New Designs High School

·        Normandie Avenue Elementary

·        Para Los Ninos Elementary School

·        Richard Merkin Middle School

·        St. Thomas the Apostle Parish School

·        St. Vincent Parish School

·        Synergy Kinetic Academy

·        Thomas Jefferson High School

·        Tom Bradley Environmental Science and Humanities Elementary School

·        Vermont Avenue Elementary School

·        William J. Clinton Middle School

For additional information about the School Liaison Program please contact Vanessa Ramirez at vramirez@eccla.org or Jacqueline Hamilton at jhamilton@eccla.org or call (213) 743-4516.

School Budget Cuts Could Be Detrimental

The big if is lingering in the shadows for public schools if the June tax extension does not pass.  If the tax extension does not pass funding for K-12 schools will mean millions of dollars of statewide cuts amongst local schools.  This could mean detrimental cuts to teacher's salaries, loss of employees, and shorter school years/days depending on the district.  Surprisingly, K-12 education is the largest expenditure of the state's annual budget, but California has also not provided "funding for public education since 1981 above the national average," said Linda Luna, superintendent of the Millbrae Elementary School District.  During the great recession California spent thousands below to the national average, and it is simply getting worse.  "Teachers and students are doing incredible work with less," said Luna.  

To read the full article this blog post was derived from click HERE.

What are you thought regarding the tax extension? (Also, don't forget to educate yourself about the effects of how powerful your vote can truly be when casting it in June!) 

Apply Now to the USC Shoah Foundation Institute's Teaching with Testimony Summer Workshop with ALL Expenses Paid

Founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg the USC Shoah Foundation Institute is currently accepting applications for its 2011 Master Teacher Workshop, Teaching With Testimony, which will take place July 18 to July 22, 2011.  This five day workshop is an all expense paid experience geared toward secondary school educators. Successful candidates will receive a stipend, Certificate in Teaching with Testimony, and twelve graduate-level continuing education units (CEUs) at USC's Rossier School of Education.

During this workshop participants will actively engage in the power of visual testimonies of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses and explore the methodologies and practices for bringing these moving stories into the classrooms to help today's students think deeply about the implications of prejudice, intolerance, and bigotry in their everyday lives.  Through these powerful testimonies participants will then be asked to develop a testimony-based project and present it in their schools, communities or through their professional organizations.      

Do not miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity!  Deadline is May 2, 2011...feel free to pass this along to educators you think may be interested!

For more information and to download the application click HERE! Or email Melissa Jones at mcnear@usc.edu.

Keep Your Classroom Up-to-date About Egypt!

In an increasingly fast paced world, where new discoveries are made constantly and changes take place abruptly, it’s important to adapt your curriculum to current events. Recently, the Middle East was engulfed by rioting. Egypt has been an epicenter of this revolution and keeping students informed is of great importance. There are helpful lesson plans available online to facilitate these discussions. 


A beneficial resource is The Choices Program which you can find here. They have comprehensive lesson plans and curriculum guides explained in great detail.

The New York Times also has a great resource if you are having difficulty integrating Egypt into your lesson plans. It includes interactive examples, fun projects, and handouts to encourage sharing of thoughts and discussion.

PBS has also done its part to encourage awareness of the Middle East revolutions. They have created and complied a great amount of videos and other resources that are helpful in analyzing Egypt and the democratic government that is being established.

Garbage Dreams Trailer- Documentary about youth who pick garbage in Egypt for a living.

In addition to the videos, you can obtain more visual media, mostly maps and charts, from Thinkfinity. They have a great deal of information regarding Egypt as well that is readily available here.

Jessica Elsayed, 17-year-old Egyptian journalist.

To give students a youth perspective, you can show them Jessica Elsayed’s blog on Youth Journalism. She is a 17-year old girl covering stories about Egypt and giving her insight into the changes being seen in the country.

Beautiful Machine- artwork by students from USC Family of Schools

When: ~ Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Location: University Village Shopping Center
3375 South Hoover Street Los Angeles, CA 90007

E-mail: fmoa@usc.edu

Web Site: http://fisher.usc.edu

Free!

Student artists from the USC Family of Schools portray machines that positively impact people or the environment.

Each academic year, the USC Fisher Museum of Art plans, curates and professionally installs four temporary student art exhibitions at the University Village Shopping Center food court for the Art in the Village program.

For this show, elementary school kids belonging to the USC Family of Schools (32nd Street/USC Magnet, Foshay Learning Center, John Mack, Norwood, Vermont and Weemes) and two parish schools (St. Agnes and St. Vincent) were asked to think about a machine that does something to impact their lives or the environment in a positive way and submit art matching the theme “A Beautiful Machine.”

Each exhibition kicks off with an opening reception at which the student artists are the stars. The children have the opportunity to speak with family, friends and community members about their artwork. They are congratulated on their achievements during an awards ceremony, at which they receive a certificate recognizing their participation.

Funded in part by a USC Neighborhood Outreach Grant, Art in the Village represents a partnership between the USC Fisher Museum of Art, the University Village Shopping Center and the USC Family of Schools. Visit Site