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Temple Tribune CITY
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MONDAY, AUGUST 24 - AUGUST 30, 2009 VOLUME 2, NO. 34
MONDAY EDITION An edition of the
Monrovia WEEKLY &
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Sheriffs Help South El Monte Kids Experience the Great Outdoors BY TERRY MILLER Recognizing the need to get kids off the streets and doing constructive activities this summer, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept., Temple Station, is on a mission . This mission is to help children who otherwise might not get the outdoor experience in keeping with the “California Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights.” On Thursday afternoon, the Temple Station Sheriff's took 25 South El Monte children to swim at Santa Fe Dam, then they were all treated to lunch at Joe's Place in Duarte for a healthy, educational lunch. Owner Lisa Magno was contacted by the Deputy Rick Curiel about a week ago to see if they could arrange lunch for the kids. Lisa told some of her Duarte friends and customers about the plan and they decided to expand on the kids' outdoor experience for
the day by creating a realistic campsite area behind the restaurant complete with tents, foliage, gold panning, a fifth wheel, etc. The attentive children watched the Miner pan for gold nuggets. They learned about the California Missions and each had an opportunity to make smores by the campfire. Magno and all involved, ever with the big heart especially for children, went above and beyond the call of duty in creating a campsite in an urban backdrop. This was a totally spontaneous act of fun and adventure by the friends of Joe's Place, and fits in so well with the City of Duarte's current banner theme, “A kid's kind of place too.” Duarte is also an America's Promise “Community of Promise” for kids.: Alan Cook, Brian Lister, Stafford Barker, Kyle Mathison, and Sophia's Garden were just a handful of the people involved
who helped make the children a little more aware of their surroundings and appreciate nature. The intent of the California Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights is to encourage children to participate in outdoor activities and have a healthy lifestyle. Many inner city children don't often get to experience much nature - however, with programs like this, hopefully that will soon become history. There are “10 rights” in the “Outdoor Bill of Rights”: Every child has the right to: Discover California's past; Splash in the water; Play in a safe place; Camp under the stars; Explore nature; Swim; Play on a team; Follow a trail; Catch a fish and Celebrate their heritage. Thanks to the Temple Station Sheriff's dept. and concerned citizens like Lisa Magno in Duarte, at least 25 young people got exposed to a day of nature they might not otherwise have experienced.
-Photo By Terry MIller
11th Annual Back To School Temple City’s Half Schools Chief Jack Giveaway Draws 1700 Century Celebration O’Connell Comments Children to Santa Anita Park Planning Underway on ACT Scores for 2009
-Photo By Terry MIller
BY TERRY MILLER Foothill Unity Center's annual back to school distribution provided new school supplies and clothing, including uniforms, underwear, as well as shoes and socks, to kindergarten through 12th-graders from area lowincome families. This year's event served nearly 1700 students, a record
for the 11-year event, according to Foothill Unity Center's director Joan Whitenack. Officials told the Weekly that this year the need was the greatest they've ever witnessed. In fact, they saw people who donated last year actually asking for help this year. Private donations and
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At last week’s Parks and Recreation Commission meeting the planning for the half century celebration began as authorized by the City Council. During the budget session the city allotted $50,000 as the budget for the festivities. The Commission decided to tie in the 50 year marker for the entire year of 2010. To start the planning the Commission decided to create four sub committees, including Publicity, Merchandising/ Commemorative, Activities/ Special Events, and Ways and Means/Finance. Only two commissioners were selected for each committee to be in accordance with the Brown Act. Council members Tom Chavez and Cynthia Sternquest were selected by the city council as the liaisons between City Council and Parks and Recreation Commission for this event, respectively. The town of Temple was founded on May 30, 1923
when approximately 285 acres of land were purchased by land developer Walter P. Temple. A one-year celebration for the Town of Temple took place in September 1924 with a rodeo and became officially designated as Temple City in 1928. The redundancy in the name City of Temple City came when Temple City incorporated on May 25, 1960. Behind the story of the proud family bearing the name of Temple lies the romance of missions and ranchos, the gallantry of the pioneering dons and beautiful senoritas and indeed the history of the San Gabriel Valley down to the derivation of many of the street names in Temple City. Temple was the son of Pliny Fisk Temple who was born in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts on February 12, 1822. He was a descendant of Abraham Temple who had landed in
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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today issued the following statement regarding the release of the 2009 ACT results for California students: “I am pleased to see that a record number of California students this year took the ACT college readiness exam. This continued increase is a clear indication that each year growing numbers of our students are setting and reaching a higher standard and making the decision to go on to college. As is also becoming the trend, California students continue to outpace their peers across the country on average ACT scores in all subject areas. “While the news is good, generally, we must remain committed to increasing the college readiness of all students. That’s because there is a sizeable gap in college readiness between students who are white or Asian, and
those who are African American or Latino. The root of this problem is the achievement gap, which is leaving far too many of our students of color behind their peers. From an economic, social, and moral perspective, we simply cannot afford to allow these gaps to persist. We must effectively prepare all of our students to meet the challenges they will face in the increasingly competitive global economy. “The downturn in both our state and national economies has placed a heavy burden on California’s finances, and public education has been dealt a major blow in the form of billions of dollars in state budget cuts this year. However, we cannot allow this to detract from our work. We will be forced to do more with less, but we must remain focused and committed, more than ever before, to increasing student achievement, closing
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