7/21/13 Environmental Charter High School - January 2009 Update This email contains images. If you are hav ing trouble v iewing it please click here | Forward this to a friend EXECUTIVES MESSAGE Welcome to a fantastic new year! We at ECHS are energized about the many projects and student January 2009 activities ahead of us in 2009. January is a month full of accomplishments for ECHS that are key to the future of Executive Message our school: Top Story ECHS Green I'm excited to report that we submitted our Ambassadors charter petition for Environmental Charter Middle Staff Spotlight School to Los Angeles Unified School District Inspired Students (LAUSD). We hope to have an approved Charter this fall, and we are Other News looking for a site in the city of Gardena. Many thanks to Rachel Ruffalo, Partners Kami Colter, Alison Diaz, Sara Laimon, and our ECHS board members Events for their help putting this five-inch binder together. Our strategic business plan calls for building eight schools over the next ten years. Over the Holidays we also completed a $250,000 charter school start-up grant from the Walton Family Foundation. As we start the new year, I also want to remind you why ECHS exists. ECHS is a team of very passionate people behind three key causes: we empower youth to go to college, transform them into environmentally conscious citizens, and Environmental help them become leaders and change agents who enact positive changes in Charter High School their community. Our presence in Lawndale allows a generation of youth to realize their inner potential which might otherwise go untapped. (ECHS) ECHS was recently recognized as one of the best high schools by U.S. News & ECHS is an award-winning World Report, as noted below. This is an extraordinary achievement for ECHS public charter high school and it highlights the awesome work that our teachers, administrators and with a unique experiential students have done and continue to do. It is an honor to be associated with learning design for college such a passionate group of professionals dedicated to enhancing the lives of prep. ECHS serves Lawndale, members of the Lawndale community. California and surrounding communities in Los Angeles. Kennedy Hilario is the Executive Director of Environmental Charter High School. We provide a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum combined with unique real-world field-study TOP STORY experiences so students graduate with the knowledge, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKS ENVIRONMENTAL CHARTER HIGH values, and skills to become SCHOOL AMONG NATION'S BEST life-long learners and quality stewards of their ECHS in top 3% of Public High Schools Nationwide communities. hosted.verticalresponse.com/329465/8164ce3e38/TEST/TEST/ 1/7 7/21/13 Environmental Charter High School - January 2009 Update Our Unique Approach U.S. News & World Report named ECHS We inspire our students to among the top-most learn about environmental tier of America’s best issues facing our planet, how public high schools to become effective agents for recently. The news change, how to implement organization analyzed academic and enrolment data from local solutions to help 21,069 public high schools in 48 states to find the very best across the country. address world issues, and School ranking scores were adjusted by poverty-performance, disadvantaged how to educate others about students performance gap, college readiness index, minority enrollment, and these issues. disadvantaged student enrolment. GREEN AMBASSADORS ECHS’ Sara Laimon Wins Educator of the Year Award at Green Technology’s California Schools Summit A shining example of ECHS’ unique team of educators, Sara Laimon, Director of our Green Ambassadors program, was recognized at an awards ceremony last month. Honoring Laimon for her passionate commitment to inspiring students, and her outstanding leadership in environmentally-themed teaching, Rosario Marin, California Secretary of the State and Consumer Services presented Laimon with The Green Apple award at the Green Technology’s Green California Schools Summit and Exposition (see photo). Photo: Rosario Marin, Secretary, State and Consumer Services Agency of California presents Educator of the Year Award ‘Green Apple’ to Sara Laimon. Plant a Seed Today - ECHS’ award-winning Green Ambassadors program exemplifies our service- Join Us learning philosophy. It creates opportunities for youth to build leadership skills and address critical environmental issues facing our planet. Learn how you can help Back to top ECHS and its unique programs inspire, grow, and prepare future civic and environmental leaders. STAFF SPOTLIGHT Your investment will help Gregory P. Lakey students get the skills and knowledge they need for Job: Algebra teacher. After-school enrichment college, work, and the world. program. 1 year at ECHS. You will also help the communities our students Educational Background: B.A. in Business serve. Administration with an Emphasis on Computer Through our green technology Information Systems. California Teaching and environmental projects Credentials: multiple subjects. you will be helping us conserve resources for future Before ECHS: 4 years of teaching experience including instruction at generations. Agness/Rosa Parks Elementary, and St. Albert the Great Middle School, Los Angeles. Contact hosted.verticalresponse.com/329465/8164ce3e38/TEST/TEST/ 2/7 7/21/13 Environmental Charter High School - January 2009 Update our Executive Director Best ECHS Experience: ““Hearing the comments from that students that I taught Kennedy Hilario in summer school. There were so many students who said that they learned a at 310-214-3400 lot this summer and said that the course was a huge help." or email: [email protected] On ECHS: “Effectively teaching math skills is critical for getting our students into college. That’s why I take my job to continuously improve our student’s math scores year-over-year so seriously. It’s an extremely important part of ECHS’s rigorous curriculum, but also near and dear to my heart.” When Extracurricular: Lakey towers above the rest of ECHS staff – by a foot or more. He has the unique distinction of being a former basketball pro and one of the top ten players in Lebanon during his 2 years living there. Always eager Environmental Charter to serve as a positive role model for youth, Lakey logs extra hours with the after- High School (ECHS) school enrichment program. In his spare time, he enjoys being with family, listening to music and writing poetry. 16315 Grevillea Avenue Lawndale, CA 90260 Back to top 310 214 3400 http://www.echsonline.org Ernesto Esqueda Job: AVID Teacher. (see article below). Educational Background: B.A. History and Chicano Studies, UCLA. Before ECHS: Ernesto worked for two years at the #1 Spanish-language cable television network, Univision Networks, as well as three years in the Whittier Union and El Monte Union High School Districts in Southern California. Best ECHS Experience: “What’s been most rewarding to me has been that students truly enjoy my class and say that I push them to do better. I understand how subjects like English can be challenging when you come from a household like some of our students, where not only are they the first in their family to hopefully go to college, but also where English is not their first language.” On ECHS: "It's a great school, doing great things. The innovative, creative, and an incredible can-do attitude at this school makes it a great place to teach. When Extracurricular: A student of the Hispanic-American experience – from his College history major days at UCLA where he co-founded a Hispanic students fraternity - to his love of popular culture in television and film since his days at Univision, where he won a Rising to the Challenge Award for his work in cable affiliate relations – Ernesto also enjoys following sports and politics outside of work at ECHS. Back to top What is AVID? Advancement Via Individial Determination AVID is a fourth-through-twelfth-grade system to prepare students for four-year college eligibility. It has a proven track record in bringing out the best in students, and in closing the achievement gap. AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. AVID targets students who have the desire to go to college and the willingness to work hard - but are falling short of their potential. They may be the first in their families to attend college. Many come from low-income or minority families. hosted.verticalresponse.com/329465/8164ce3e38/TEST/TEST/ 3/7 7/21/13 Environmental Charter High School - January 2009 Update The AVID program pulls these students out of their unchallenging courses and puts them on the college track: acceleration instead of remediation. Back to top INSPIRED STUDENTS ECHS Senior Daisy Villa Named Posse Foundation Scholar Awarded $100,000 scholarship for College Sixteen-year-old Daisy Villa was named a Posse Foundation Scholar, receiving an award at a ceremony in December. The Gardena, CA-born ECHS senior was selected from a list of 1300 nominees, based on academic performance, leadership potential, and financial need. The scholarship will pay for her 4-year enrollment in Kalamazoo Collage, Michigan. Villa credits ECHS and her teachers such as Mandy Breuer, who nominated her for the award. “My teachers really inspire me to do more. I come from a background where I don’t usually hear ‘you can do this.’ ECHS teachers make me realize I really can make changes in the world. It is not like other schools. Because it’s small, I feel very confident in doing what I do and don’t feel the typical high school peer pressure.” “I think ECHS gives you a lot of opportunity that you can’t get anywhere else,” adds Villa, who plays on ECHS’ girls softball team and thinks she’ll major in anthropology in college.