Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Two local high school seniors earn the highest award in Girl Scouting by assisting a local domestic violence prevention organization and encouraging literacy.
Two local seniors have earned a Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting, for their efforts to help the community. Kylie Nicole Tettemer, soon to graduate from El Toro High School, and Cheyanne Nicole Hall, who attends Trabuco Hills High School, both received the Girl Scout Gold Award at a May 12 ceremony at Lake Forest City Hall. The Gold Award is the most prestigious award Girl Scouts can earn. To earn a Gold Award, Girl Scouts must identify an unmet need or core issue in the community, research and investigate it, recruit volunteers to build a team to create a plan to address the issue or need. Kylie chose to help Laura's House, an organization that serves victims of domestic violence and educates others about the impact of …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Before converting to Christianity, Waffen SS Lt. Werner Langer fought for the Germans in World War II and shook Hitler's hand. On Monday, he spoke with a Rancho Santa Margarita classroom.
He's 87 years old, one eye is mostly closed, and he's wearing an American flag lapel pin. His accent is strong, his humor self-deprecating and his message is clear. Lt. Werner Langer fought for the Germans in World War II. On Monday in a Santa Margarita Catholic history class, Langer fought the stereotype. He wasn't exactly what the kids expected from a former Hitler Youth and Nazi soldier, a caricature they had seen only in movies. Yet, for the better part of an hour, Langer regaled the mostly senior class—primarily boys, a handful of girls—in Scott McIntosh's class, which devotes one semester to the Civil War and another to WWII. As an officer in the Waffen Secret Service—which Langer likened to the Marines—he fought against the Russians…
Monday, May 14, 2012
If voters shoot down a November initiative to temporarily raise taxes, school districts statewide would face $5.5 billion in cuts, about $700 million worse than what the governor estimated in January.
Gov. Jerry Brown continues to lay his hopes for state fiscal soundness on a November tax initiative, but if it doesn’t pass, schools will face additional cuts that could chop three weeks off the next school year. On Monday, Brown revised the 2012-13 budget he first released in January. Called the May revise, his new figures reflect tax revenues that have fallen far short of earlier predictions. “It’s a difficult budget,” Brown acknowledged in a press conference. If voters approve his temporary tax hike measure, Brown’s revised budget would actually increase funding for schools by $15 billion in four years, or $2,500 per student. Brown called the tax initiative reasonable. “I think it’s fair, and I think it provides a reliable source of …
Friday, May 11, 2012
More than 200 people showed up for the "Adventure Under the Stars" fundraiser in support of the Lake forest school's library, technology and arts programs.
Holding Portola Hills Elementary School’s annual silent auction at Rancho Las Lomas on Thursday boosted attendance, bringing in more attendees in support of the school's programs than in previous years. This year's auction, dubbed “Adventure Under the Stars,” aimed to raise $20,000 for the school’s computer lab, library and cultural arts programs to make up for money lost due to state budget cuts. Guests at the Silverado venue enjoyed a zoo tour, bar, music, and appetizers from Outback Steakhouse. Parents, grandparents and other school supporters attended the event to support the school's library, technology and arts programs. “[There should be] arts and music,” said Kathleen Dabney, 49, of Mission Viejo. “They still have a little bit, but…
Find out who the big winners were.
The local Elks recently gave out $4,000 in scholarships to Mission Viejo's outstanding students, as well as savings bonds and certificates. Some of the students are heading to such top schools as UCLA, Stanford and Harvard. Mission Viejo Mayor Pro Tempore Rhonda Reardon was there to honor the outstanding students, too. Here are the top scholarship winners: John Dellos also recognized a sixth student, Karli M. Thompson, Rancho Santa Margarita, Trabuco Hills High School, who was awarded an $800 scholarship at the state level competition. "I was astonished by the tremendous academic and community service accomplishments of the foregoing student scholars," Dellos said. "It is not surprising that have been accepted at such prestigious …
33.59871
-117.65729
Mission Viejo Elks Lodge 2444
25092 Marguerite Pky, Mission Viejo, CA
/articles/outstanding-students-win-elks-scholarships
2053792
/locations/6984737
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The annual list is compiled by U.S. News and World Report.
U.S. News & World Report released its annual list of the nation's best schools, and El Toro High School wound up at number 1,689. That may not sound too impressive, but it's noteworthy considering that the publication reviewed 21,776 public high schools, through data collected via the U.S. Department of Education and other sources. The spot earned El Toro High a silver medal in the publication's ranking system. Among California high schools, ETHS landed at number 354. Lake Forest's sole public high school beat out Trabuco High, which made it to 371 in this year's rankings, but fell short of Mission Viejo High (254) and Laguna Hills High (175). According to the report, El Toro High's student body of nearly 3,000 students is 52 percent male …
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The evening fundraiser at Rancho Las Lomas in Silverado will raise money for Portola Hills Elementary School's library, technology and arts programs.
Supporters of Portola Hills Elementary School will gather Thursday evening for "Adventure Under the Stars," an adults-only fundraiser at Silverado event venue Rancho Las Lomas featuring a silent auction, live music and optional zoo tour. Money raised at the "Under the Stars" event, organized by the Portola Hills Elementary Parent Teacher Association, will benefit the school's library, arts and technology programs, according to organizers. Community businesses, such as Farrell's Ice Cream, JP's Surf Camp, The Cupcake Store, Laser Quest, Seattle's Best Coffee, have gifted good and services to the silent auction. Among the bigger items donated for auction are a Nirve bicycle, Toshiba laptop, and private dirt bike lesson, according to …
Monday, May 7, 2012
Under a proposal coming before the school board, some area high schools would introduce beginning Mandarin Chinese courses.
Local high school students may get the chance to study Mandarin Chinese next year if a proposal to add beginning courses in the language is approved by the Saddleback Valley Unified School District board. The school board is scheduled to review the proposal Tuesday evening at its monthly meeting in Mission Viejo. If the board approves the new courses, "some high schools" in SVUSD could offer them for the 2012-2013 school year, according to the staff report. The report does not specific which schools are interested in adding Chinese classes to their course catalog and attempts to reach the district for more information were unsuccessful. According to the report, enrollment, site funds for textbooks and materials and the availability of …
Friday, May 4, 2012
Lake Forest's Serrano Intermediate School delves into American history with its annual Civil War exhibition.
Students dressed in Civil War-era outfits Wednesday to share their historical knowledge about the area with their Serrano Intermediate School peers during the school's annual exhibition. Eighth-grade educators Bill Sheak and Linda Zielinski organized the annual event, the culmination of five weeks of research by a group of honors students. Each student selected a topic related to the Civil War and a historical person connected to that topic to research. They wrote research papers and created presentation boards on their topics to use at the exhibition. On Wednesday, the Serrano students dressed up as the person they had researched and delivered speeches about their research topic.
33.630516
-117.692975
Serrano Intermediate School
24642 Jeronimo Rd, Lake Forest, CA
/articles/photos-civil-war-exhibition-engages-middle-school-students
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/locations/6941424
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Essays by students from local high schools describe a favorite hometown memory and vision for Lake Forest's future.
Three local students have won scholarship money from the city of Lake Forest in recognition of their writing abilities. The seniors' essays describing a favorite Lake Forest memory and their hopes for the city's future were selected from a pool of 17 submitted to the city as part of its 20th anniversary celebration. El Toro High School's Zoe Vanderlinden took top honors—and $1,000 for college. Second place went to Shawna Etemadi, of Trabuco Hills High School. She won $750. Bryce Kelly, from El Toro High, earned $500 for school with his third-place essay. Each high school student mentioned the city's 4th of July parade as holding a special place in their memories of growing up in Lake Forest. The three students were recognized Tuesday …
Ian Spindler
4:57 am on Thursday, May 17, 2012
What I find a little hard to swallow is that Lt. Langer is referred to as a "Nazi" .... just because he was in the Hitler Youth (same as any youth group found in most countries around the world, here in Britain the 'Bot Scouts'), and because he was in the Waffen-SS? Seems to be that dropping the word "Nazi" into a story adds the sensationalism that the story needs to get people reading it. I can … more ›