Antelope Valley Human Relations Commission

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

By JULIE DRAKE
Valley Press Staff Writer

LITTLEROCK – The mother of a 10-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl has sued the Keppel Union School District for failing to protect the children from what her lawsuit calls continual bullying.

The suit, filed last month in Los Angeles Superior Court, says five children targeted the siblings with racial slurs, threats and physical assaults starting in August , and Keppel and Pearblossom Elementary School officials failed to stop them when the children and their mother complained.

“None of these kids, whatsoever, were disciplined,” said Valencia attorney Robert Drescher, who is representing the family. “You see these kids doing this stuff and there’s no discipline to these children, so what happens – let’s think about it psychologically – ‘If I can get away with it, let’s take it to the next level.’ ”

In addition to the Keppel Union School District, the suit also names Pearblossom Elementary School principal Lynn Boop, teachers Annette Witterance and Bridgett Turner, acting principal Theresa Gallop, Bart Hoffman, assistant superintendent of instructional services and five children.

Boop referred questions about the lawsuit to the district office.

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Tags: Education by admin
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This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Friday, June 20, 2008.

By JULIE DRAKE
Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER – Antelope Valley YouthBuild offers an alternate route to success for students who found achieving in a public school difficult.

The program graduated 10 students in a ceremony Wednesday at First Assembly of God’s AV Champions Center.

“I would say it was an easy journey, but it was not,” Executive Director Rossie Johnson said. “It’s been a lot of hard effort, a lot of sweat, a lot of motivation.”

Johnson said the inspiration went both ways, from the students to him and vice versa.

“Don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t succeed,” he told the students.

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Tags: AV YouthBuild Program, Community, Darren Parker, Education by admin
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This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Wednesday, May 21, 2008.

By JULIE DRAKE
Valley Press Staff Writer

PALMDALE – Members of the Antelope Valley Human Relations Commission will have to wait at least one more month to hear an official response from Eastside Union School District trustees regarding alleged sexist and racist remarks from one board member to another.

In April, an unidentified Eastside trustee complained to the task force that a fellow trustee referred to female trustees as “girls” who follow his directions and also said African Americans are only good at sports, according to a task force official.

After an investigation, task force President Darren Parker said the group would recommend Eastside trustees undergo diversity and sensitivity training. He also asked that trustees attend Monday’s meeting to report what measures the board took to address the complaints.

Eastside President J. Altin Ginn was expected at Monday’s meeting, but he was in Sacramento on a lobbying trip, Parker said.

“Unfortunately, most of the members of the board could not be with us tonight,” he said. “They made every effort to try to get down here, at least most of the members that were absent.”

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Tags: Diversity, Education, Sexism by admin
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This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Tuesday, March 11, 2008.

LANCASTER – Antelope Valley College, 3041 West Ave. K, will present a public forum titled “My Color is Not My Name,” to be presented by the college at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 20, in the college boardroom, SSV 151.

A panel of community members will examine the question of whether there is a “race” problem and, if so, how community members can work together to resolve it.

“During the civil rights era, Hispanics and African Americans cooperated, but that’s no longer true, as we see in national politics,” said AVC English professor Charles Hood, organizer and moderator for the event. He cited instances of Jesse Jackson and César Chavez walking side-by-side in protest marches in years past.

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Tags: Attitudes, Community, Education, Race Relations by admin
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This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Wednesday, February 27, 2008.

By JAMES RUFUS KOREN
Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER – In response to a fracas earlier this month outside an Islamic cemetery, local Islamic leader Kamal al-Khatib said he wants to educate local high school students about Islamic burial traditions.

About 150 people, many of them from Quartz Hill High School, on Feb. 1 gathered outside the Islamic Cemetery and Mortuary in Rosamond to protest the burial of Ryan Alamoodi, a 17-year-old Quartz Hill student who died in a car crash earlier that week.

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Tags: Darren Parker, Education, Task Force by admin
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‘Violence-Free Zone’ initiative begins at schools

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Wednesday, January 16, 2008.

By TITUS GEE
Valley Press Staff Writer

PALMDALE – Antelope Valley Union High School District kicked off a new anti-violence program Tuesday with assemblies introducing the Violence-Free Zone initiative to students and the public.

The initiative, an offshoot of the Washington based Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, enlists community members to walk school hallways as “student advisers” who build relationships with students and help to defuse tension between teens. At the same time, district officials announced “30 Days of Peace,” a campaign asking students to promote nonviolence and good behavior for the next four weeks.

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Tags: Community, Education, Violence by admin
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PALMDALE – The City of Palmdale will host a special panel discussion
event entitled “One Voice: Succeeding and Overcoming Obstacles in the
Face of Stereotyping and Discrimination” on Saturday, Jan. 19 from 1 to
2:30 pm at the Palmdale Playhouse, 38334 10th St. E. in Palmdale.

The event is free and is designed especially for teens and their parents.
Dr. Barbara Young, CEO of Young Enterprises, will serve as the
moderator for the panel discussion. The four panelists will include
businesswoman Helen Acosta, attorney Virgil Roberts, retired aerospace
worker and war veteran Lawrence Duplechan and school board member Ira
Simonds.

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Tags: Attitudes, Community, Discrimination, Education, Stereotypes by Darren Parker
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Violence-Free Zone kicks off at Knight and Eastside High

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Saturday, January 5, 2008.

By TITUS GEE
Valley Press Staff Writer

Organizers of an initiative aimed at reducing youth crime and violence on area high school campuses this week began final preparations for a January launch.

Officials from the Antelope Valley Union High School District and the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster met Thursday with representatives for the Violence-Free Zone initiative. The group laid plans to kick off the new program January 17 at Knight High and Eastside High, officials said.

The Violence-Free Zone Initiative, an offshoot of the Washington -based Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, enlists community members to walk school hallways as “student advisers” who build relationships with students and help to defuse tension between teens.

Program leaders look for parents raising successful kids in tough environments and those who made mistakes early in life, then got their acts together. Such people already have the skill set to help students cope, said Robert Woodson, founder of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, which runs similar programs at 25 high schools in six cities across the nation.

Under the plan, the Antelope Valley residents will walk school yards and halls as an adult resource for students and teachers. They will run tardy rooms, detention classes and in-school suspension programs, organizers said.

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Tags: Attitudes, Education, Task Force, Violence by admin
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