Memorial Day
Redondo Beach will observe Memorial Day on Monday, May 27, at 1 p.m. at the new Veterans Memorial in Veteran’s Park. Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi will deliver a speech, and the Redondo Union High School band and Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Band will provide music. The service will be followed by a barbecue picnic sponsored by the Redondo Elks. For more information, visit www.RBVeteransMemorial.com.
Project Now!
“What if you had one minute? One hour? One day? One entire school quarter to change the world for the better?”
This was a question a Parras Middle School teacher posed to her eighth-graders, who took up the challenge and spent months researching, writing letters, interviewing experts, crafting speeches, and creating multimedia public service campaigns related to subjects like gun control and the impact of divorce on children.
Against a backdrop of school shootings, police manhunts, international and national terrorism and the impact of erosive school budgets, the class of 2012-13 decided that if the world was going to get better, they – not adults – had to be positive conduits of change.
Like scientists huddled in a language arts laboratory, Parras Middle School eighth-graders birthed Project Now!, a showcase designed to inspire even the harshest cynic.
“Let’s just say, as adults crab about the world going to hell, well, my students are right behind them brushing up their debris of despair and reformulating it into chest-swelling hope,” said language arts teacher Janet Barker.
“…Now they want to take their inspiration to the public and inspire adults to believe, like they do, that we can transform America into the land of our dreams.”
On Wednesday, May 29, 2013 at 6 p.m. at Parras Middle School, students will sing, dance, theatrically perform speeches, monologues, poetry, and premiere original documentaries during a passionate teen-inspired evening celebration of hope.
Visit www.projectnowshowcase.com for more information.
Academy bound
Devin Nathan has been accepted to the United States Military Academy for the fall of 2013 based on his academic achievement, moral character, and athletic ability. A 2012 graduate of Redondo Union High School, he attended California Maritime Academy and earned a 3.9 GPA whilst there.
Mayor Mike Gin recognized Nathan at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, telling him the community is proud of him.
Rockin’ reptiles
The South Bay Galleria is hosting a free event for kids on Wednesday, May 29, at 10:30 a.m. Kids can hear from the Lizard Wizard about creepy crawly things and get up close and personal with snakes, lizards, turtles, and frogs. For more information, visit southbaygalleria.com.
