 Saying Hello…Welcome from the Santa Monica College faculty. This year we’ve hired a full-time archeologist who had to hike in from his encampment with students in Belize to learn of his appointment. We faculty have many exotic stories, as well as quieter ones, but at heart, we’re proud and honored to help our students learn. And, by the way, did you know that when our students transfer to the University of California, they have a grade point average for their junior year comparable to that of continuing UC students? I hope you enjoy reading the stories of the college and our local schools that are in this issue of The Education Standard. — SMC ACADEMIC SENATE PRESIDENT GORDON DOSSETT |
The City of Santa Monica’s new aquatics center at SMC opened July 17 to enthusiastic crowds. Built at a cost of $8.3 million, the new center includes two pools—a 50-meter Olympic size pool and a ten-lane, 80-foot by 75-foot recreational pool—and increased locker room and meeting room space.
To create a more open, inviting atmosphere, the blue-tiled structure has large circular windows at street level beckoning passers-by to look in and watch people swimming. Everything in the design of the new facility is state-of-the-art, and will help competitive swimming at the College. SMC has already produced many swimming and diving greats, including three-time Olympic Gold medallist Lenny Krayzelburg.
“I think the new facility will have a profound impact on our teams and their times,” said Charlie Wright, SMC’s Director of Athletics. “This new pool will be a tremendous boost in recruiting. No other community college will be able to offer a facility like it.”
The College and City have signed an agreement to optimize pool use while keeping down costs. Swimming classes will be offered to over 3,000 people a week, and the pools will be open to the public daily for lap swimming and diving. In addition, nearby John Adams Middle School will now offer aquatics as part of its PE program.
Santa Monica College creative writing instructor Jim Krusoe has been earning rave reviews for his unusual debut novel Iceland. In 1997 Krusoe, the founding editor of the Santa Monica Review, released Blood Lake, a book of short stories that spent six weeks on the LA Times bestseller list, but Iceland is his first novel.
This unusual plot combined with Krusoe’s sharp satirical observations has critics lining up to praise him. The LA Times book review noted, “This is literature at its most audacious and imaginative.” Booklist said, “Krusoe’s offbeat style and the occasional monstrous metaphor hold the story together and make for dizzying satire.”
“It’s fantastic that the book has been so well received,” said Krusoe. “I started in poetry so that makes it even more delightful that people are enjoying my first novel so much.”
But even with the success of his novel Krusoe won’t be giving up his day job. “I’m nothing but proud of my students, especially in the night classes,” explained Krusoe. “There’s such a great cross section of people who are all absolutely professional. It’s so gratifying because my students bring such vast experience in life to their writing efforts.”
Some 25 SMC Communications students got a unique opportunity to see how media is viewed in the rest of the world when they traveled to Norway this summer. Housed outside Oslo at the Danvik Media School in Drammen, students experienced Norwegian media first hand—particularly the Internet.
Students used the facilities at the media school to keep everyone back in Santa Monica up to date on their trip; students sent stories and photos to the SMC student newspaper The Corsair. They also wrote newspaper stories and created mini television news broadcasts based on their travels. All this can be seen at www.smc.edu/corsair. Students also got a behind-the-scenes look at the NRK Television network and VG, the nation’s largest newspaper.
“It was a very worthwhile experience for the whole group,” said Journalism Professor Barbara Baird. “We were able to get a different perception on what is ‘news.’ The media house in Drammen was an amazing combination of all the different media from print to television to radio to the Internet. We would love to replicate that at SMC.”
This fall Santa Monica College is celebrating Russian culture and heritage with programs of art, music and more throughout the community.
RussiaFest 2002 will showcase art exhibits, poetry, spoken word, lectures, and music—many events free of charge—over a four month period starting in October. The major highlight is sure to be a free performance by the world-famous Kirov Opera on Santa Monica Pier October 25.
For more information about RussiaFest 2002 event dates and locations see this month’s calendar section or visit www.smc.edu.
Santa Monica College student Lisa Little of Venice won “Best of Show” in the College’s annual Photography Show for her image of the Venice Boardwalk. The image was painstakingly created from hundreds of shots taken from dawn to dusk.
Little shot 15 rolls of film over the course of a day. From those 540 prints, she selected small pieces and layered them together in Adobe PhotoShop.
Other winners in the show were Tina Melberg, Best Color; Odessy Barbu, Best Black and White; Michael Witcher, Best Experimental; John Toal, Best Digital; Tena Olson, Best Commercial Image.
Hundreds of people gathered August 3-4 on SMC’s Corsair Field to take part in SMC’s first annual Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The 24-hour marathon event helped raise $60,000 for cancer research, double the group’s initial goal.
SMC joined more than 3,200 relays taking place across the nation this year—140 in California alone. The relays give participants not only an opportunity to raise money for research, but also to raise awareness of the disease in the community.
“This is an important event. It gives the community a chance to realize that cancer doesn’t care about race, gender or economic status,” said Maxine Tatlonghari, spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. “It is also a great chance for the community to come together and learn so much about each other.”
Participants formed teams and took turns walking around the track for 24 hours—a human version of the famous Le Mans race in France. But unlike that event, this time all 300 participants were winners. Cheering supporters and well-wishers showered them with food and to show their gratitude.
“It was a fantastic event and everyone had a great time,” said SMC’s Tony Prestby. “We’ve already got a date set for next year—July 26—and hope to raise even more money for this worthy cause.”
Marking a milestone in the history of Santa Monica College’s acclaimed Emeritus College, the SMC Board of Trustees voted unanimously earlier this summer to purchase a brand new office building in downtown Santa Monica as a permanent home for the program.
The purchase of the sleek four-story, contemporary glass building for $8.65 million marks the first project included in Measure U, the $160 million bond passed by Santa Monica-Malibu voters in March 2002.
“The college made it clear that its No. 1 priority for the use of Measure U funds was a new and permanent home for Emeritus College,” said SMC President Dr. Piedad F. Robertson. “This action fulfills that promise and opens a new and exciting chapter in the history of this wonderful program.”
Emeritus is the acclaimed program that provides a wide range of classes—ranging from the arts to current affairs to health—designed for older adults. In its 27-year history, it has grown from less than 200 students to a current enrollment of 2,900, with about 80 instructors.
The new facility—located at 1227 Second Street between Arizona Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard—is 24,000 square feet, four times larger than the current Emeritus facility at 1433 Second Street. The current space is rented from the City of Santa Monica and is, at ground level, under a municipal parking structure.
“This new facility is going to be terrific. We will no longer have noise from cars overhead, no more noisy buses practically right at our doorstep, and much more space,” said Maggie Hall, associate dean of Emeritus College.
In addition, College officials have pointed out that Emeritus will no longer be subject to the uncertainties of renting space, particularly on a month-to-month basis.
The new building will feature a 725-square-foot art gallery at street level, clearly visible to passersby; a large lobby and registration area; a multi-purpose room; classrooms; conference rooms; lecture halls; and more. Located next to a large parking structure and right on bus routes, the building also features outdoor patios and balconies.
The structure is still under construction because the developer, Beitler Commercial Realty Services, is building it to meet the strict architectural standards applied by the state to educational facilities. The architect is RTK, well known in Santa Monica for its many commercial and residential projects.
College officials hope to move the Emeritus program into the new building in late November.
Emeritus College courses are currently offered at its Second Street location, at SMC’s Madison campus at Santa Monica Boulevard and 11th Street, and in parks, community centers, churches and other locations throughout Santa Monica.
Hall said the new facility will be able to handle the bulk of Emeritus classes but the program will continue to offer classes in various neighborhoods because students often like to have classes near their homes. In addition, a number of community service classes—primarily night classes—currently offered at Madison will likely be moved to the new site.
“Emeritus College has moved 13 times in its 27-year history,” said Hall, who has been with the program since it was started. “Imagine how thrilled we are to have a beautiful, permanent home. It’s a dream come true.”
Santa Monica College, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and Easter Seals Southern California joined forces this summer to begin providing innovative childcare for more than 125 children—including those with special needs. The new child care program run by the Santa Monica Preschool Collaborative will provide integrated childcare and development services to children from 2 to 5 years old.
“There is such a need out there for good quality childcare,” said Jenny Trickey, SMC Director of Childcare Services. “And it is wonderful that we can all work together to provide this service.”
The new collaborative will provide childcare at three sites including the brand new SMC Child Care Center. Two district childcare centers at John Adams Middle School and Lincoln High School, which had announced six months earlier that they would have to close due to lack of money, have found a new lease on life through the partnership.
“This is an innovative solution to a growing problem of providing adequate child care services in an era of budget cuts and increased costs,” said SMC President Dr. Piedad F. Robertson. “By pooling our resources, the three organizations can provide the best care to the most children, including children with special needs.”
Under the collaborative arrangement, Easter Seals will be responsible for staffing, management, oversight, and compliance with State Department of Education regulations. Easter Seals is the nation’s largest nonprofit provider of inclusive childcare—providing care for disabled children in a setting where all children participate.
“We’re thrilled to have this opportunity,” said Easter Seal’s Andrea King. “Caring for disabled children in an inclusive environment is beneficial for everyone. When both groups of children get to mingle together they learn to accept each other and both can grow from the experience.”
Funding will come from a variety of sources including the State of California as well as the three partners. SMC is committed to providing up to $100,000 a year to the collaborative.
SMC is contributing the new SMC Child Care Center facility on 15th Street to the collaboration. The site has been leased from the Santa Monica Assistance League. The 1,500-square-foot brick building has two classrooms, an activity room, and a new playground. It will replace the College’s former childcare center, which was closed several years ago due to a lack of funding. The College will also provide the services of pre-school teachers currently employed by SMC. And child development students can serve their internships at the centers.
All the sites in the collaborative will be open weekdays from 7:30 am to 6 pm. Families who meet the State guidelines for subsidized care and those who qualify through the CalWORKs childcare program will have enrollment priority. Any available slots will be offered to the public for a fee.
With quality daycare at such a premium in the Westside, the collaborators hope the program will expand to help even more children in the area.
For the past five years students across Santa Monica and Malibu have been celebrating as test scores continue to rise. The latest SAT-9 test results for each grade have just been released and they are among the best ever for the district. That adds to the impressive Academic Performance Index (API) scores from earlier this year for each school.
“These results show that our efforts to focus on literacy and mathematics are paying off,” said District Superintendent John Deasy. “And the results confirm our belief that given the right atmosphere and support all students can and will learn at a high level.”
Since 1998 district scores have risen in all grades and in all subjects—a remarkable feat. And they have reached some extraordinary levels—this year more than 80 percent of Santa Monica and Malibu elementary school students scored above the national average in math.
Figure 1. Percentage of Students Scoring At or Above
50th Percentile Nationally By Grade Level and Subject (1998-2002)
Reading – Percentage of Santa Monica & Malibu Students At or Above National Average
|
Grade |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
|
2002 |
77% |
72% |
74% |
75% |
73% |
73% |
74% |
56% |
51% |
52% |
|
2001 |
78% |
71% |
73% |
75% |
74% |
73% |
73% |
53% |
54% |
53% |
|
2000 |
75% |
71% |
73% |
71% |
70% |
72% |
72% |
56% |
51% |
53% |
|
1999 |
68% |
68% |
69% |
68% |
71% |
69% |
68% |
53% |
49% |
48% |
|
1998 |
61% |
64% |
63% |
68% |
67% |
64% |
68% |
47% |
46% |
51% |
Math – Percentage of Santa Monica & Malibu Students At or Above National Average
|
Grade |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
|
2002 |
80% |
80% |
81% |
81% |
76% |
71% |
66% |
71% |
63% |
62% |
|
2001 |
82% |
74% |
79% |
79% |
78% |
70% |
68% |
70% |
63% |
57% |
|
2000 |
80% |
76% |
75% |
76% |
72% |
71% |
65% |
74% |
62% |
65% |
|
1999 |
69% |
67% |
71% |
68% |
70% |
61% |
62% |
68% |
58% |
55% |
|
1998 |
63% |
61% |
62% |
68% |
61% |
63% |
57% |
60% |
52% |
56% |
For Comparison – Reading – Percentage of California Students At or Above National Average
|
2002 |
54% |
47% |
49% |
47% |
48% |
48% |
49% |
34% |
34% |
37% |
For Comparison – Math – Percentage of California Students At or Above National Average
|
2002 |
62% |
62% |
58% |
57% |
60% |
52% |
50% |
52% |
46% |
47% |
“We began to really focus our efforts four years ago,” explained Dr. Steven Frankel, Director of Standards, Assessment and Data for SMMUSD. “So these figures give us a good comparison of how our efforts are helping and where we need to target more support.”
Schools with particularly impressive growth patterns over the last five years include John Muir, Grant and Will Rogers elementary schools, and John Adams Middle School.
SAT-9 scores are blended with California Standards Tests, the California High School Exit Exam, and other factors using state formulas to calculate a school’s API score. The state’s target is a score of 800 on a scale of 200 to 1,000. In 1999, SMMUSD had four schools that achieved the target figure. This year that number doubled.
The district’s best performing school is Franklin Elementary in Santa Monica, which scored 902 in the latest round of API results. Also surpassing the 800 score were Juan Cabrillo Elementary, McKinley Elementary, Point Dume Marine Science Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary, Webster Elementary, Lincoln Middle School, and Malibu High School. Every other school in the district scored in the 700s and climbing.
“For all children to be successful they must have access to high quality teachers and a rigorous curriculum,” said Board member Pam Brady. “Success doesn’t happen overnight. It is dependent on quality work from everyone—students, teachers, and parents—the whole community working together in partnership.”
While Santa Monica student scores compare favorably nationwide, they also look very good next to students in LA County and throughout the state. Districtwide, 67 percent of SMMUSD students are reading at or above the national average and 73 percent are at or above the national average in math.
Figure 2. Percentage of Students Scoring At or Above 50th Percentile Nationally (2002)
|
|
SMMUSD (All) |
LA County (All) |
California (All) |
|
Math |
73% |
49% |
55% |
|
Reading |
67% |
38% |
45% |
Although all grades have shown improvement, some have been more spectacular than others. Leading the way in improved test results have been the elementary schools where a statewide initiative to increase achievement through smaller class sizes was warmly embraced throughout the district. This extra money went only to grades K-3 where class sizes are about two-thirds the size of higher grades.
“It is clear that the bulk of our efforts is in the elementary and middle schools, which have had the advantage of many of the state’s education reforms,” said Delaine Eastin, State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Figure 3. Average Class Sizes at Santa Monica and Malibu Schools (2001)
|
Grade 1 |
19.8 |
|
Grade 2 |
19.9 |
|
Grade 3 |
20.1 |
|
Grade 4 |
29.3 |
|
Grade 5 |
28.9 |
|
Middle & High School |
28.7 |
“Although there is still some debate about whether smaller class sizes do in fact lead to better results there is no doubt that both teachers and parents think that it works,” explained Brian Stecher, an expert on testing in the education analysis and research division of RAND. “The district is doing a good job in keeping its focus on instruction. So many other districts, especially bigger ones, get sidetracked and lose that focus.”
For a closer look at these test results and the other District assessment reports, visit the Santa Monica and Malibu Schools’ website at www.smmusd.org.
Blue Ribbon schools are nationally recognized as centers of educational excellence — and in the last six years SMMUSD has been home to two of them.
The first was Will Rogers, which was recognized back in 1997. Then in 2000 Lincoln Middle School Santa Monica joined the list. After winning the award, schools must wait five years before being allowed to enter again.
The Blue Ribbon program has been running since 1982 and has three main purposes.
• Identify and recognize outstanding schools across the nation.
• Make research available to all schools so they can assess themselves and plan improvements.
• Encourage schools to share information about best practices.
Blue Ribbon schools are models of both excellence and equity. To be recognized, a school must demonstrate a strong commitment to educational excellence for all students.
The process of becoming a Blue Ribbon school is a long and arduous one. First a school needs to be nominated by its state for being of a particularly high standard. Then, after being nominated, a school is evaluated by a panel of 100 outstanding educators from the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels. Those that survive the evaluation are visited by experienced observers who write a report on the school. After a final review the U.S. Secretary of Education announces the names of the schools selected for recognition.
The goal of educating educators took a giant step forward this summer with the announcement that the district had received a major grant for professional development.
The Stupski Family Foundation has pledged more than $300,000 a year to help SMMUSD improve instructional leadership. The money will be used to hire leadership coaches for administration staff and principals. Three literacy coaches will also be hired to help teachers raise literacy standards in elementary schools.
“This money will help with our long-term focus which is developing instructional leadership,” said Steve Cennel from the district’s education services division. “With these measures we feel confident in not just achievement for all but in also helping to close the achievement gap.”
And the support doesn’t just end with funding. The Stupski Foundation will provide technical assistance and other support for the district over the next three years. Based in San Francisco, the foundation works closely with only a handful of districts across the nation and chooses only those committed to closing the achievement gap.
California’s Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA) requires all K-12 schools to measure their academic performance. The cornerstone of the Act is the Academic Performance Index (API), which is a single number on a scale of 200 to 1,000. The API performance target for all schools is 800. The program began in 1999.
The API score is a blend of several tests, including a national norm-referenced test (currently the Stanford 9, Form T, all content areas test—a different test will be used beginning in 2003), California Standards Tests, and the California High School Exit Exam.
The tests measure student proficiency in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Social Sciences, as well as History and Science for grades 9-11. Some of the results of the Stanford 9 tests for Reading and Mathematics are provided in Figure 1 above. Results for all schools can be found on the California Department of Education’s website at www.cde.ca.gov.
Each school district in California is required to prepare annual “report cards,” which provide parents with the information needed to make meaningful comparisons between public schools.
The Santa Monica and Malibu Schools publish these accountability reports in a visually attractive format for each of the individual schools and for the District as a whole. These reports are available on the school website at www.smmusd.org.
Each report provides a narrative description of the school and its programs, demographics, test results, curriculum, information about teachers and staff, financial data, and school safety.
Academic Performance Index (API) scores are provided yearly for each school beginning in 1999. (The data for 2001-02 is not published in final form until February 2003.) Some school sites are not included in API Base Data reports for technical reasons (these sites are included in Stanford 9 and California Standards testing).
Eight of the 13 schools in Santa Monica and Malibu are above the California Statewide Performance Target, and the others have made considerable progress toward meeting this goal!
Figure 4. California Academic Performance Index Scores (Scale = 200 to 1,000; Target = 800)
|
|
1998-99 |
1999-00 |
2000-01 |
|
Cabrillo |
792 |
837 |
836 |
|
Franklin |
884 |
897 |
902 |
|
Grant |
754 |
786 |
796 |
|
McKinley |
753 |
809 |
825 |
|
Muir |
602 |
683 |
721 |
|
Point Dume |
856 |
901 |
889 |
|
Rogers |
665 |
727 |
740 |
|
Roosevelt |
777 |
839 |
831 |
|
Webster |
824 |
873 |
861 |
|
Adams Middle |
646 |
679 |
716 |
|
Lincoln Middle |
830 |
850 |
839 |
|
Malibu High |
793 |
799 |
800 |
|
Santa Monica High |
683 |
717 |
711 |
• High school dropouts are at an all-time low, with only a 0.2% dropout rate in 2000-01. In 1992-93, the dropout rate was 9.1%.
• The district excels at preparing students to continue studies in higher education. 60% of district high school graduates have passed courses required for UC and CSU admission, compared to 39% for L.A. County and 36% for the state as a whole.
• More than 55% of district teachers have a Master’s Degree or higher, compared to 36% for L.A. County and 37% for all of California.
“Doug is one in a million. Being one of the best high school players in the history of California, he’s brought a different dynamic to our team. He’s an inspiration and put our team on the map,” says Malibu High School head tennis coach John McCampbell. McCampbell is talking about Doug Stewart, 2002 graduate of Malibu High School, rated the #1 high school tennis player in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times and a High School All American—an honor awarded to only 10 students throughout the U.S.
Stewart had a stellar year with a 63-1 record. His participation helped the Malibu High team make it to the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) playoffs this year.
“Being part of the team was really fun,” says Stewart, who unlike many of the nation’s other competitive teen players, chose to attend school and be a member of the school’s tennis team for all four years. (He did take time off to compete in national and international tournaments: he represented the U.S. in Japan in the Junior Davis Cup in 1998.)
“Tennis is an individual sport. Usually you don’t get to experience camaraderie. But Coach McCampbell helped me through a lot of tough matches,” he says.
That same sentiment is echoed by another top Malibu High player, Leif Sunderland, first place winner among 14-year-olds in a national tournament last spring in Ojai. “When you’re playing with the team you don’t have to worry as much about winning or losing. People are always cheering you on,” says the 6’ 3” Sunderland.
Less than a decade old, Malibu High School is a latecomer to the local athletic scene. While football and basketball teams were formed when the high school began, the tennis team was not instituted until a few years later. In the beginning the teams were coed because there weren’t nine players of either sex to form a team. Today there are both a boy’s and a girl’s team.
Evolution of teams, like MHS’s tennis team, is a priority in the SMMUSD. “The athletic programs in the district,” says Chris Corliss, Physical Education Coordinator, “are an important component to children’s fitness. There are physiological and psychological benefits of participating in any kind of physical activity—including improved academic performance.”
Almost 50 percent of students at Malibu High are involved in athletic programs. And in the last two years alone there’s been a 30 percent increase in girls’ involvement at MHS, notes Corliss. “It’s important to us that we have a balanced program serving both boys and girls.”
Assistant coach Chris Reutinger adds, “Five or six years ago we’d take people who didn‘t even know how to play. This year the seniors were the ones we brought up from freshmen and both the boys and girls teams went into the first round of the CIF playoffs.”
When they started, Malibu was competing against much larger schools like neighboring Calabasas High School. But the students know that winning isn’t everything. Andrew Martin, who’s played for the past four years, says, “It was fun to experience all different levels of competition.”
His father was pleased as well. “Being on the team was a positive experience for Andrew and the other kids,” says Daniel Martin. “They had a few really good players. The coaches had a good attitude about the kids and didn’t push them to the point of exhaustion or exasperation.”
One team last year lost their first eight or so sets and then they won one, noted coach McCambell. “They were so excited, so proud of themselves. I think, ultimately, that’s what high school athletics is all about—the participation.”
And with Doug Stewart heading off to the University of Virginia, after placing second in the nation among 18s at the United States Tennis Association Supernationals in early August, it’s time for others to carry the racket for the MHS Tennis Team. One of those is Doug’s younger sister, Kelly Stewart, who distinguished herself last spring by getting to the semi-finals in the national Ojai tournament.
Kris Stewart, mother of both Doug and Kelly, says, “All kids should try to do something besides school. They’re the better for it.”
The halls of John Muir Elementary are alive with the sound of music thanks to a pilot program to bring music back into the classroom. Under the program, every child at the Santa Monica elementary school will be assigned a musical instrument and receive music lessons once a week.
For the innovative public/private partnership the Santa Monica-Malibu School District has teamed up with P.S. Arts, a local non-profit arts organization dedicated to restoring arts education in public schools. Now in its eleventh year, P.S. Arts currently offers art instruction to over 5,000 children in some of LA’s most underserved schools.
Two corporate partners, Adelphia Communications and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, will provide the instruments.
“Everyone—children, parents and staff—are really excited about being given the chance to participate in this program,” said John Muir Principal Patty Flynn, at the program’s launch last May. “This is a wonderful program and a great partnership.”
P.S. Arts is no stranger to John Muir Elementary. The organization also partners with Old Navy to run a successful visual arts program at the school.
“This new program is the natural progression for us,” said Lizzy Moore, Development Director for P.S. Arts. Moore, a former SMMUSD teacher, continued: “Our hope is that every arts discipline will eventually make its way back into the curriculum.”
Despite its excellent track record in nurturing young musicians, SMMUSD’s music programs suffer from scarce funding. However, the partnership is specifically designed to buffer children from the rash of budget cuts that generally strike arts programs first.
“I wasn’t lucky enough to have the opportunity to play an instrument when I was in school,” noted district Superintendent John Deasy. “But the district realizes the importance of bringing music back into school, and with our partners we aim to give our students the opportunity most of us never had.”
SMC’s recent production of I Never Saw Another Butterfly dealt with powerful emotional issues and personal tragedies—both on stage and off.
On stage Butterfly recalls the lives of those who lived in Terezin, a model Jewish ghetto during World War II. And off stage the performance is part of a unique collaboration between Santa Monica College’s Theater Arts Department and Beit T’Shuvah, a Santa Monica based Jewish rehabilitation center.
Butterfly is the brainchild of SMC adjunct faculty member Pat Train Gage, who is currently studying for her masters in theater arts at Antioch University.
“I’m a firm believer that people can gain a lot of confidence through performance art,” explained Gage. “Thematically the play addresses the issue of survival and I think that sits well with the theme of the whole project. The idea is to build confidence and self-esteem from a job well done.”
Terezin, located near Prague, was where the Nazis shipped in Jewish musicians, artists and performers to create a smokescreen of respectability to the rest of the world. But as soon as the Nazi propaganda machine had exploited them to the full the prisoners were shipped off to death camps. So many were sent to die that Terezin gained an unfortunate reputation as “The Gateway to Auschwitz.” Out of the 15,000 who passed through Terezin, fewer than 100 survived.
Gage’s choice of I Never Saw Another Butterfly stemmed from a visit she made with her Jewish husband to the death camps of Poland. “After visiting them I knew I would never be the same again. One night we heard a performance of music that was composed at Terezin. It was an amazing experience and it has always stayed with me.”
Gage approached Beit T’Shuvah and asked if they were interested in performing alongside SMC students. Beit T’Shuvah (Hebrew for ‘House of Return’) is the only residential Jewish addiction rehabilitation center in the country. Gage felt that the opportunity to use performance art as part of their rehabilitation, plus the nature of the material to be performed, would be ideal for the center’s residents.
“It’s been a great experience,” said Beit T’Shuvah’s David Rosenholz who played the role of Peter. “I’ve been involved with the theater all my life but never in a project quite like this.”
And Gage too was delighted with the results of the partnership—one that she hopes to build on throughout her time with SMC. Overall there were five performances between August 9-12, culminating in a legal seminar following the final performance.
“The results have been astonishingly positive,” Gage said. “The friendship and care between the Beit T’Shuvah residents and the SMC students have led them to discover the truths that the inmates in the play found: artistic pursuits strengthen the human core.”
Teaching in South Central after the Watts uprising, studying the Sissala people of West Africa, and writing a book on the LAPD has been an interesting journey for SMC Anthropology Professor Dr. Joan Barker.
Now Barker is about to embark upon another journey as the recently named recipient of the John F. Drescher Chair of Excellence. Barker will receive $5,000 a year for each of the next three years to aid her teaching. She plans to use the funds to conduct further research in West Africa and establish an anthropological exhibit on campus.
Barker studied anthropology at Cal State Northridge then went on to UCLA to study for her Masters degree. But when Barker’s father died and her mother fell ill with cancer immediately following the Watts uprisings of 1965, she took a job as a third grade teacher in South Central LA to support her two younger siblings.
“I had the world’s greatest kids. It was a very fulfilling experience,” explains Barker. “But we didn’t just study the usual. I also managed to teach them some African history and share some of my love of anthropology.”
Eventually she returned to her studies and began teaching part-time at Cal State Northridge. And then in 1976 Barker began teaching part-time at Santa Monica College.
The following year Barker finally fulfilled a dream and traveled to Africa. The journey was, she says, “going home for me.” She went to Northern Ghana where she studied the Sissala people. Western Africa is home to an unusually high number of twins and Barker wanted to research the attitude of the people towards them. In some tribes they are considered a blessing and in others a curse.
“They had rituals that were built around twins. If one twin died early in life then the mother built a small childlike sculpture to hold the soul of the dead twin. She would then carry the sculpture around with the healthy twin until it was old enough to be more independent.”
“They were wonderfully friendly. Very kind and generous and accepting of this stranger who had just walked in on their life. Some people ask if I was ever uncomfortable there. But I felt safer wandering around Africa than I ever have in Los Angeles!”
By 1979 she was concentrating on her teaching career and on earning her Ph.D. from UCLA. The two combined in a fateful way when a student of hers asked if Barker would be interested in studying a fascinating group of people right here in LA—the members of the Los Angeles Police Department.
One of the things she discovered is that the vast majority of policemen start out as idealistic and want to do good. But then the pressure of the job gets to them and they become disillusioned. Barker claims she can tell how long an officer has been on the job just by talking to them for a few minutes. Her research led to the discovery that officers go through distinct phases as they progress through their career. The study formed the basis of her thesis and also led to the publishing of a 1991 book entitled, Danger, Duty, and Disillusion: The Worldview of Los Angeles Police Officers.
“Anthropology is a tremendously engaging subject,” Barker said. “Right now life is good—I’m getting to do exactly what I love and I get to pass that love onto others. It’s wonderful.”
This is the fourth Chair of Excellence created and awarded in the past two years at SMC. In 2000-01, physics professor Richard Masada was named recipient of the Marvin Elkin/Northrop Grumman Chair of Excellence and biology professor Douglas Allan received the Avaya Inc. & Anixter Inc. Chair of Excellence. Last fall, music professor David Goodman received the Ilona Katz Chair of Excellence.
Friday, September 13. Jon Mayer Trio with Stephanie Haynes. Santa Monica College Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Pianist Jon Mayer, the playful and superbly inventive bebop-based pianist, opens SMC’s Fall Jazz Series with drummer Roy McCurdy, bassist Darek Oles, and special guest artist Stephanie Haynes. Admission $10. (310) 434-3000.
Tuesday, September 24. Michael Sellers. SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Recital by internationally acclaimed pianist known for his poetic performance style. Admission Free. (310) 434-3000.
Friday, September 27. The Eternal Feminine. SMC Madison Campus, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica. Featuring the Los Angeles Master Chorale under the direction of Maestro Grant Gershon. The concert, featuring a 16-member choir and string chamber orchestra, will also premier a new commissioned piece by well-known film composer and SMC alumni, Cliff Eidelman. This presentation is an official event of the World Festival of Sacred Music-Los Angeles taking place throughout Southern California from September 14-29, 2002. Admission Free. (310) 434-3431.
Friday, October 4. Larry Nash Quintet. SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Larry Nash, the versatile jazz pianist with a wealth of experience performing with such artists as Al Jarreau, Teddy Edwards, Etta James, and Joni Mitchell, leads this talented quintet. Admission $10. (310) 434-3000.
Sunday, October 6. SMC Symphony Orchestra. SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Features great orchestral music, including the “Consecration of the House Overture” by Beethoven and a musical tribute to America. Dr. James Smith, Conductor. Admission $10. (310) 434-3000.
Friday, October 11. An Evening with Sue Ann Pinner. SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Emmy-winning opera star and recording artist performs favorite selections from musical theater and opera. Admission $15/$10. (310) 434-3000.
Sunday, October 13. SMC Jazz Band. SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Ensemble performs music contemporary to the “Big Band Jazz” genre, composed by Duke Ellington, Oliver Nelson, Bob Mintzer, Leslie Drayton, and others. Keith Fiddmont, Conductor. Admission $10. (310) 434-3000.
Sunday, October 20. SMC Concert Band. SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Ensemble performs traditional and contemporary musical “literature” written specifically for the concert band. Kevin McKeown, Conductor. Admission $8. (310) 434-3000.
Friday, October 25. Emeritus College Concert Band Fall Concert. SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Ensemble from SMC’s Emeritus College for older adults performs a selection of musical works. Wallace Umber, Conductor. Admission Free. For details, call (310) 434-4306.
Friday, October 25. Kirov-Mariinsky Theatre Opera. Santa Monica Pier. Join us for a performance featuring guest artists from the acclaimed Kirov-Mariinsky Theatre Opera of St. Petersburg, Russia, under the direction of world-renowned Conductor and Artistic Director Valery Gergiev. Admission Free.
Saturday, October 26. Eldar Djangirov. Santa Monica College Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Performance by jazz trio led by the phenomenal 15-year-old pianist born in Kyrgystan. Admission Free.
Tuesday, October 29. Liuba Sorochkina: Piano Recital. Santa Monica College Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Master pianist is a graduate of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, with a distinguished career for over 40 years as a performer and a music professor at the Glinka Conservatory. Admission Free.
Tuesday, September 3 – Friday, September 27. SMC Faculty Art Show. Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery, SMC Madison Campus, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica. Original works by SMC faculty members. Opening reception on Friday, September 6. Admission Free. (310) 434-3434.
Saturday, October 5 – Friday, November 1. Irving Norman: Visionary & Satirical Views on Contemporary Society. Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery, SMC Madison Campus, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica. Outstanding examples of art used as an expression of social activism. Opening reception on Friday, October 4. Admission Free. (310) 434-3434.
Saturday, November 9 – Saturday, December 7. Extreme Prints: Developing Concepts in Print from Computer to Hand Worked Images. Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery, SMC Madison Campus, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica. Opening reception on Friday, November 8. Admission Free. (310) 434-3434.
Thursday, September 26. Updates on the Most Critical Global Environmental Issues. SMC, Science 140, 1900 Pico Blvd. Meet Global Green’s Matt Petersen and SMC’s Professor Alan Buckley. Admission Free. (310) 434-4003.
Friday, September 27. Goya. SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. This illustrated lecture focuses on the life and work of a tragic figure in Spanish art history. A magician with color, Goya used his pen and his brush to skewer his countrymen for their folly and social insensitivity. Lecture by Art Historian Mario Semere. Admission $10. (310) 434-3000.
Thursday, October 3. How Did Our Innate Immune System Develop? SMC Science Lecture Hall 145, 1900 Pico Blvd. Lecture by Dr. Edwin Cooper, Senior faculty, UCLA Department of Neurobiology. Dr Cooper is a pre-eminent neurobiologist and internationally published author who has taught and spoken all over the world on developmental and comparative immunology. Admission Free. (310) 434-4003.
Thursday, October 3. Finding the Connections to Heal Santa Monica Bay. SMC, Science 140, 1900 Pico Blvd. Heal the Bay representatives discuss their efforts to return Santa Monica Bay to swimmable and fishable condition. Admission Free. (310) 434-4003.
Thursday, October 10 – Friday, October 11. The Paintings of Irving Norman. SMC Madison Campus, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica. The iconography and political, social, and moral overtones in the artist’s complex visual narratives. Lecture by Scott A. Shields, Curator of Art, Sacramento’s Crocker Art Museum. Admission Free. (310) 434-3000.
Thursday, October 17. Air Quality: The Good, the Bad, & the Possibilities. SMC, Science 140, 1900 Pico Blvd. Meet Coalition for Clean Air’s Tim Carmichael and Western States Petroleum Association’s Michael Wang. Admission Free. (310) 434-4003.
Friday, October 18. Norman Rockwell lecture. SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Norman Rockwell’s images define an ideal of what it means to be an American. His wistful images evoke a sentimental nostalgia for a time when life was kinder and simpler. Lecture by Art Historian Eleanor Schrader Schapa. Admission $10. (310) 434-3000.
Thursday, October 24. Building Green: Towards Sustainable Architecture. SMC, Science 140, 1900 Pico Blvd. Meet Isabelle Duvivier, developer of the Santa Monica and Ballona Watershed Green Map, and architect Robert Rees, of the City of Santa Monica’s Task Force on the Environment. Admission Free. (310) 434-4003.
Friday, October 4 – Sunday, October 13. Bad Seed. SMC Main Stage, 1900 Pico Blvd. On the surface, Rhoda is sweet, charming, full of old-fashioned graces, loved by her parents, and admired by her elders. Her mother has an uneasy feeling about her, however, and becomes alarmed when one of Rhoda’s schoolmates mysteriously drowns. Does Mom have reason to be worried? Written by Maxwell Anderson. Based on the novel by William March. Admission $11/$8. (310) 434-3000.
Sunday, October 6. 1600 Transylvania Avenue. Santa Monica Pier. The Tony Award-winning, anything-but-silent San Francisco Mime Troupe presents a comic chiller about Corporate Bloodsuckers. Admission Free. (415) 285-1717.
Saturday, October 26. Ferdinand the Bull. Smothers Theater, Pepperdine University. Peace-loving Ferdinand loves lounging around, smelling the flowers. But when a bee sting brings out the toro in him, he wins a contest to find the greatest bull in Spain and ends up facing a matador in a real bullfight! This lively musical with a surprise ending features bilingual (English/Spanish) lyrics and dialogue. Ages 4 and up. Admission $17.50. (310) 506-4522.
Saturday, October 26. The Witch’s Brew. SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Performed by Jim Gamble Puppets. A very funny variety show brimming with handcrafted marionettes of friendly ghosts and goblins spotlights Wisteria the Witch and the entertaining characters that become the ingredients of her famous “brew.” It’s a perfect Halloween treat! Admission $5. (310) 434-3000.
Saturday, November 2. The Perfect Symbol of Love: A Fable of Self-Esteem. SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Performed by Gary Jones and the Blackstreet USA Puppet Theatre. A high-energy performance of an original folktale features 3-foot-tall rod puppets and a variety of eclectic dance styles silhouetted by classical, rock, and jazz music. Children from the audience will be invited onstage to help operate the puppets in this ingeniously interactive show that’s especially suited to kids age 4 to 12. Admission $5. (310) 434-3000.
Friday, December 13. Youth Arts Festival. SMC Madison Campus, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica. Join us as we celebrate youth and their many forms of creative expression in our first Youth Arts Festival. Performing groups will include the culmination of the Los Angeles Opera and Santa Monica College Youth Opera Camp, selections of Broadway favorites from ETC Theatre Company, a top-notch youth musical and classical theatre ensemble with a growing reputation for delighting audiences age 5 to 105, and a few other surprises! Admission Free. (310) 434-3431.
CALENDAR offers a selection of events from area schools and cultural institutions. For a complete listing of Santa Monica College events, please go to events.smc.edu.
THE EDUCATION STANDARD is published five times a year in January, March, May, September, and November, providing information and comment about Santa Monica College, Santa Monica and Malibu schools and educational topics.