Career Day 2011 Will Begin For 11th And 12th Graders At BHHS

Last year's panelists for the Career Day

By Dupé  Aleru
    Lorella Cargile, the Vocational Education/Transition Service Coordinator at BHHS will host its Career Day 2011 on April 6 from 9:30-11:30 a.m at BHHS’s EDC Center.
    Every spring, BHHS hosts a Career Day, in which they invite their former students to come and discuss life after high school with current Beverly High students. The day is also a way to discuss the career choices that exist amongst their current 11th and 12th graders.
    Contact Mrs. Cargile for additional information about Career Day at lcargile@bhusd .org or 310-551-5100 x 8261.

The Music Castle Incorporates Dance and Yoga with Music

By Dupé  Aleru
    The Music Castle (TMC) founded in 2000 by Paulette Kasal, is known as Beverly Hills premier performing arts center, this year marking its11-year anniversary.
    Kasal along with The Music Castle's most amazing instructors, bring a fresh and creative approach to learning while customizing their teaching style to fit the students individual needs.
    “They are a special combination of both inspiring compassionate teachers as well as knowledgeable touring musicians, performers, dancers and songwriters. They are up to date on what's going on in the music scene, bringing their vast knowledge of theory and technique to their students as well as performance and song writing for today's market,” said Kasal.
    TMC, in addition to private music lessons, is offering Dance and Yoga classes for kids ages 5 to 18.
    The Music Castle has a special Rock Band program “Bricks In The Wall” that gives its students the opportunity to play in a live band with their peers.
    For additional information, contact Paulette Campbell at310-657-8757or www.themusiccastle.com.

Former Beverly Hills Schools Chief Pleads Not Guilty To Misappropriating Funds

By Britney Barnes|L.A. Pilot|Feb. 8, 2011|8:14 a.m.


The former superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he misappropriated $20,000 without school board approval.

Jeffrey Hubbard, who now serves as superintendent at Newport-Mesa Unified School District, entered the plea during his arraignment Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Hubbard allegedly misappropriated the funds to benefit the Beverly Hills district's facilities director Karen Anne Christiansen. E-mails between Hubbard and Christiansen show correspondence laced with sexual innuendo, pet names and terms of endearment.

The district attorney's office has alleged that Christiansen secretly negotiated to become an independent contractor while retaining her duties as facilities director and was paid more than $5.2 million by the school district between 2006 and 2009.

(Article was taken from the Los Angeles Times)

To read the full article, visit http://www.dailypilot.com/news/tn-dpt-0208-hubbard-20110207,0,971348.story

Sinai Temple College Talks

By Marla Schevker|The Beverly Hills Courier|February 4, 2011

Sinai Temple’s College Connection program and the American Jewish University are offering three programs for families with college-bound juniors and seniors in the 2011 College Conversations.

The first program, “Jewish Life on Campus: Where to Find It and How to Be a Part of It!” is on Feb. 16 from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. The program will include a panel discussion for students featuring American Jewish University, StandWishUs, Hillel, and more moderated by Rabbi Nichole Guzik of Sinai Temple and a chance to win one of three $500 scholarships.

The second program, “The J Factor: Judaism’s Role in the College Search Process” is on March 6 from 12:30 –2:00 p.m. It will be run by AJU’s Undergraduate Admissions Team and will discuss what Jewish Students should consider as they research colleges.

The third program, “Inside the Office: Tips from Admissions Professionals” is on April 10 from 12:30 2:00 p.m.  This program, will focus on how students should approach the college application process

All three programs will take place at Sinai Temple, 10400 Wilshire Blvd. (corner of Beverly Glen), Los Angeles, CA 90024.  To RSVP and request more information, contact Rabbi Guzik’s office at 310-481- 3234 or  collegeconnection@sinaitemple.org

Hawthorne's Very Own Amy Okada Places In The Junior Olympic Game

Amy Okada (in the middle)

 By Dupe Aleru

Amy Okada–7th grade student at Hawthorne School in Beverly Hills, participated in the Southern California Swimming Young Junior Olympic game this past weekend.

Swimmers from all over the Southern California took part in the games with a total of 57 teams. The qualified swimmers competed in a short course.

Okada swam in the 11-12 girls age-group, swimming for a total of  six events.

Being quite the swimmer, Okada took first place in the 50 free style and the 50 breast stroke, second place in the 50 butterfly, third place in the 100 individual medley, fifth place in the 100 butterfly, and 9th place in the 100 free style. In the 50 Free Style, Okada swam for a time of 24.90 seconds.

Overall, Okada has a lot to be proud of, receiving two golds, one silver and a bronze medal.

Amy Okada

‘The Self Aware Parent’ To Be Viewed On KBEV This Month

Frances Walfish

By Dupè Aleru

Frances Walfish, Psy.D. is  Beverly Hills well-liked child and family psychotherapist, who held a parenting workshop at Hawthorne School, discussing her new book The Self Aware Parent: Resolving Conflict and Building a Better Bond With Your Child.
  
In attendance the informational workshop gathered more than 70 BHUSD parents. The event was also videotaped by KBEV to be aired later this month.
  
Drawing from 20 years of clinical expertise and the latest research on attachment, Dr. Walfish exhibits to parents on how they can distinguish their own personality types in order to make better decisions about how they interact and raise their children.
  
Walfish’s whole-hearted style, positive sense of humor, and judicious insights have earned her a honorable reputation among colleagues and the national media.
  
As a frequent guest on top-tier TV programs, such as NBC Nightly News with Brian
Williams and KABC-TV in Los Angeles, and often appearing in major publications like Parents Magazine and  Family Circle, one can conclude that Dr. Walfish continues to lead the field with her continuous expertise and innovative strategies for parents, children and couples.  
  
For more information about Dr. Fran Walfish, visit www.drfranwalfish.com

Charlene Liebau Talks SAT Subject Tests

By Charlene Liebau
College Admissions Editor

The SAT and ACT receive attention as THE standardized college admission tests. There is, however, an additional series of tests: the SAT Subject Tests.

Complicating the admission process is the fact colleges differ in their test requirements. In addition to the SAT Reasoning, or ACT, some colleges require tests in specific subjects, other colleges leave the choice of subject tests up to the student, and still others do not require subject tests. And, news for students applying for admission to the University of California beginning fall 2012–Subject Tests are no longer required! Thus, before deciding which subject test(s) to take the student should carefully review requirements of the individual colleges under consideration.  

For students applying to colleges that do require subject tests it is useful to know there are twenty different SAT Subject Tests covering five areas of study: English; history and social studies; mathematics; science; and languages. Questions on the test are developed by high school and college teachers and are meant to cover material found in the typical high school curriculum. Each subject test follows a multiple-choice format and is one hour in length.

It is recommended that subject tests be taken at the end of the school year in which the student is completing the course.

Registration for SAT Subject Tests follows the same procedure as registering for the SAT Reasoning Test. At any one test administration a student may take up to three subject tests–that is, one, two, or three hours of testing. The basic fee for each SAT Subject Test is $10 plus $21 for a language test with listening.    

Charlene Liebau is former director of admissions for CalTech and Occidental College. She is also a finalist judge of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Teen BHEF To Host Candidate's Forum On Feb. 7

By Dupè Aleru

Teen BHEF (Beverly Hills Education Foundation) will host its City Council Candidate’s Forum–being aired on KBEV–at 5 p.m.on Feb. 7  in the John Cherney Lecture Hall at BHHS’s Science and Technology Center.

With the sponsorship from The Beverly Hilton, the forum was conceived by the BHEF‘s Steven Fenton five years ago—before he joined the Board of Education in 2007—alongwith the group  of teens.

The teens launched the forum through the BHEF in the hopes of learning about their community and philanthropy.

Teen BHEF is comprised of Beverly Hills Unified School District students in grades 8 through 12.

“The forum is a great way for Teen BHEF to connect with the City and to make other teens aware of what’s going on in our community. Teen BHEF is very excited to host this event for the third consecutive year,” said  Teen BHEF President Sammy Galen, a Beverly High junior. 

Teen BHEF members meet once a month during the school year at The Beverly Hilton.

“Since Steven Fenton and I started working on BHEF with the Hilton several years ago, I have always loved this group,” said BHEF CEO Dev Hankin.  

“I know the teens are learning valuable leadership lessons, and already understand the issues of their community and we want them to be engaged citizens. We have recently formed a Grandparents Council to further extend the BHEF community.   

“I figured, if our students start to learn the concept of ‘paying it forward’, there’s a high probability they will understand the concept of ‘pay it back.’ Teen BHEF is what I like to call an ‘anchor’ program–one in which our students become tied to our community well after they leave Beverly High. This program would never have gotten off the ground without Dev Hankin and The Beverly Hilton,” said Steven Fenton.

For more information on BHEF, Teen BHEF or the Teen BHEF City Council Candidate’s Forum, visit  www.bhef.org or call 310-557-0651.