El Camino Real High Unfazed By Shooting and Lockdown Yesterday

Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times

As parents arrived in cars to drop off their children at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills this morning, one can ask, "What is going on in our schools these days where shootings and lockdowns occur to be "normal"? According to the Los Angeles Times, "students walked to school with the shooting of a police officer near campus fresh on their minds."


Parents and children seemed to not be concerned about returning to school after yesterday's shooting of police officer Jeffrey Stenroos as the gunman remains at large. 

Today, several police cars were quite visible around campus, indicating to the public and community that the law enforcement presence has been implemented.

For more information, visit http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/01/el-camino-high.

Los Angeles Times|January 20, 2011|8:57 a.m.

The World Music Academy Is In Its Sixth Year of Service

Ryan Blakeley Smith

By Dupè Aleru
    The World Music Academy, founded by Ryan Blakeley Smith in 2004, is a full service music education school for students K-12, operating in Beverly Hills.
    For the past six years, WMA continues to grow and expand in both business and most importantly in the growth of the young minds of its students.
    WMA offers in-home private music lessons in all instruments from guitar, piano, and drums to voice, strings and brass.
    “We provide students with the most effective way of learning.  Each lesson is specified to the individual and we nurture the talents of each student.  We utilize many techniques and styles incorporating classical to modern, Mozart to the iPod.” “In home lessons allows parents and students the convenience of hassle-free traveling and instrument transportation, said Smith.
    For more information or to enroll your child visit                                     www.TheWorldMusicAcademy.com or call 818-434-6435.

Gardena High Suspect In Gun Shooting Stole Gun From His Stepfather, Source Says

Stated from the Los Angeles Times, according to a source, the 17-year-old student from Gardena High who brought a loaded gun to school in his backpack and then ran when it accidentally discharged, reportedly stole the weapon from his stepfather.

Unfortunately, the accident left two students injured: a single round from the 9-mill Beretta tore through a 15-year-old students neck and struck another student in the skull. Both victims, boy and girl were sitting in class when the incident occurred.

The female still remains in critical condition as the male was discharged from the hospital.

Coming from a source familiar with the investigation said that amidst the chaos, the suspect handed his backpack to a girl and another student, a male, provided the suspect with a sweatshirt to change his appearance. Another student have him money for a bus fare to flee the area. 

"The 17-year-old, along with the two students who allegedly helped him, is expected to appear Friday in Juvenile Court. Police said he’s likely to be charged with assault with a deadly weapon. The student, according to the source, is on probation for a misdemeanor battery conviction," according to the Los Angeles Times.

"As students returned to campus Wednesday, they were forced to stand in a slow-moving line that stretched down the sidewalk, while staff members scanned them with metal-detecting wands and searched backpacks and purses for weapons."

"Despite the weapons search, some parents were wary of promises of change and doubted that enforcement would be long-term."

Los Angeles Times|January 19, 2011|7:30pm| By Andrew Blankstein

The Company's Last Performance

The Company

The Company, under the direction of Frances Goritsas, held their final annual performance on Saturday Jan. 15 in K.L. Peter’s Auditorium. The Courier was delighted to attend and was thrilled with the performance. Job well done ladies and gentlemen. 

Eric’s Vision In Memory Of Eric T. Scoggins Sr.

Shonta and Eric Scoggins

By Dupè Aleru

Eric Scoggins Sr. did it all. He earned a football scholarship to USC and soon established a foundation that will later assist him in achieving his goals-playing professional football and excelling in the corporate world.

 All of this came to a screeching halt when Eric was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) in 2007. Although the news was devastating, Eric confirmed he had a strong spirit after learning the news that ALS had no cure.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. This degeneration process of motor neurons eventually die, and the brain loses the ability to initiate and control muscle movement. With voluntary muscle action affected, patients become paralyzed or eventually pass.

To date, the cause is unknown, but with new scientific findings, families are provided with hope for the future. Due to minimal funds for research, there is still no found therapy or drug to slow the progression.

 Frustrated by our nation’s lack of awareness of this debilitating disease, Eric’s close friends Ronnie Lott and Keena Turner along with the San Francisco 49er’s organization hosted a fundraising dinner in January 2008 in hopes of spreading the knowledge of this disease and to raise funds in support of its research. The event raised more than $150,000E—Eric’s Vision was borne.  

“Eric’s Vision is a nonprofit organization that funds ALS cure-driven research, and inspires further research by providing college scholarships to deserving high school students.  Since 2008 when Eric’s Vision was borne we have raised more than $450k to support organizations that are essential to ALS research and patient care,” said Shonta Scoggins, widow of Eric Scoggins.

Remember to come join “Kick for a Cure” to be held tomorrow on the campus of BHHS at 6:30 p.m. to help raise funds for Eric’s Vision.

Gun In Backpack At Gardena High School Discharges, Injuring Two Students

(CNS) Posted Tuesday January 18, 2011 – 3:18pm

A Gardena High School student brought a gun to the campus in a backpack today, and the weapon discharged -- apparently accidentally -- wounding two fellow students, one critically.

``The person that's responsible for this particular shooting came into a classroom, it appears set a backpack down on a desk and a gun that was inside that backpack discharged,' Los Angeles police Deputy Chief Patrick Gannon said.

``The round from that gun hit both of the students,' Gannon said. ``The student then that was responsible for bringing the backpack into the classroom fled from that particular classroom and went to another. We have subsequently taken him into custody.'

The 15-year-old suspect was taken to a police station for processing.

His name was not released.

Gannon said a 15-year-old girl suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where she underwent emergency surgery.

She was in critical condition. A 15-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to the neck, and he was hospitalized in serious but stable condition.

A doctor at the hospital said the boy was apparently shot first, with the bullet passing through his neck and then striking the girl.

The parents of the injured children had been notified and they were at the hospital, Gannon said. About 2,000 children were at the campus, and they were held on lockdown until early afternoon, when parents were advised to go to the gate at Normandie Avenue and 178th Street to pick up their children.

The parents were notified through an automatic phone message system.

Los Angeles Unified School District police Chief Steve Zipperman said students and teachers were interviewed, and grief counselors were sent to the campus.

``As you can imagine, this is still very preliminary as far as the investigation,' Zipperman said. ``We believe that the weapon was inside of a backback, and again, as indicated by Chief Gannon, it appears to be a possible accidental discharge as opposed to intentional, and it appears that perhaps one round was actually fired from that weapon, we don't know how it happened.'

It was unclear how the student got the backpack onto the campus, where metal detectors are manned by school staff, not police.

There was an armed school police officer on campus when the shooting occurred, Zipperman said.

The shooting occurred at 10:41 a.m. at the school at 1301 W. 182nd St.

The school was locked down as police swarmed across the campus in search of the student. Police said the weapon was recovered, and the student was arrested shortly before noon in a classroom that was filled with students and one teacher.

Gardena police Lt. Steve Prendergast said a teacher called 911 to report the shooting.

Gardena High School senior Miguel Lopez, 17, told the Los Angeles Times he was in the health class when the gun went off as a male classmate was reaching into his backpack. He said the student, who he did not know, was not pointing the gun at anyone.

Lopez said two students sitting next to him near the back of the classroom were shot.

A girl was shot in the temple, he said.

``She kind of was crying,' he told The Times. ``She fell back into her chair and fell on the floor.'

The student with the gun ran out of the classroom, and the teacher began screaming, Lopez told the paper.

LAUSD spokesman Robert Alaniz said grief counselors would remain at the campus, and there would be an increased police presence at the campus Wednesday.


By Brenton Garen, Reporter for The Beverly Hills Courier
For story, visit http://www.bhcourier.com/article/Local_News/Local_News/Gun_in_Backpack_to_Gardena_High_School_Discharges_Injures_Two_Students/74047

Keeping Dr. Martin Luther Kings Vision Alive

By Dupè Aleru

In honor of Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, middle school students at Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy studied the famous quote from Dr. King’s speech to the NAACP. The quote centered on Dr. King’s belief that all Americans had a “moral obligation to press on (with the fight for equality)…because of our love for America and…the democratic way of life.”  The students of Ilana Zadok, middle school teacher at Hillel, designed footprints symbolizing the need to “keep moving” forward with Dr. King’s vision. Each footprint holds a pledge on how each student will individually work on continuing to keep Dr. King’s vision alive.

Photo courtesy of Alexis Newman, Sixth Grade Teacher at Hillel.

In Honor of Martin Luther King Jr. "I have a dream"

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., let us all remember his purpose and what he sacrificed. Remember his words that assisted in the change of our nation and our nations schools. Embrace how far we as a society have come and yet, still to go. -Dupe Aleru

 "this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' " -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.