LOS CERRITOS
Winner of Fourteen LA Press Club Awards from 2012- 2017.
86,000 Homes Every Friday • March 29, 2019 • Vol 33, No. 44
WHITNEY HIGH ROBOTICS TEAM ADVANCES TO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BY JASON JEWIK
THE ROBOTICS TEAM: Back row (l-r), Amar Gandhi, Bryant Huang, Saketh Somayajula, Jeffrey Chang, Abhinav Ganguly, Jonathan Wang, Jason Jewik, and Captain Ian Hudson. Front row (l-r), Zunaira Baig, Eileen Chang, Tobias Kim, Luc Garcia O'Leary, Dina Li, and Varun Bharadwaj. Courtesy Whitney High.
ARTESIA'S INTERFAITH VIGIL FOR PEACE & TOLERANCE BY TAMMYE MCDUFF On Thursday, March 21, 2019 the city of Artesia held an Interfaith Vigil for Peace and Tolerance at Artesia Park in light of the recent tragedies that have
targeted people of many faiths around the world. Mayor Tony Lima delivered remarks leading the community in calling for togetherness, peace, and tolerance, and asking the community to work together to
MAYOR TONY LIMA delivering remarks in calling for togetherness, peace, and tolerance. Many members of the community joined Mayor Lima including City Councilmembers Ali Taj, Melissa Ramoso, Rene Trevino and several faith leaders.
condemn violence. Attendees lit candles in remembrance of the victims of hateful violence, and faith leaders including Pastor Bob De Leon of Calvary Chapel Artesia, Imam Yahya Asari of La Mirada Masjid, Pandit Vinod Dave, Hindu Sanatan Temple, and Rabbi David Cantor of
Temple Beth Shalom Long Beach talked about the importance of tolerance and how we can all work to promote peace in our daily lives. Lima reminded those in attendance
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BILL WOULD BAN CELL PHONES AT SCHOOLS BY BRIAN HEWS A proposed bill could ban students from using cell phones in all California schools. Assembly Bill 272, authored by 66th District Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (DTorrance), would require school boards to limit or outright ban the use of cell phones on campus during school hours. Dr. Maru Sieu, Superintendent of the ABCUSD told HMG-LCCN, “We feel that there should be additional guidelines as to the use of student personal cellphones in the District. This bill will support our District’s effort to reduce distractions in the classrooms and schools. However, we look forward to engaging with our school community to get feedback before developing a new policy.” The bill states: “There is growing evidence that unrestricted use of smartphones by pupils at elementary and secondary schools during the schoolday interferes with the educational mission of the schools, lowers pupil performance, particularly among low-achieving pupils, promotes cyberbullying, and contributes to an increase in teenage anxiety, depression, and suicide.” “We recognize and have policy re-
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On Saturday, March 9th, the Whitney High School robotics team, composed of fifteen students, competed in the Los Angeles-Southern California Regional FIRST Tech Challenge Championship at Monrovia High School and won with their robot names “Space Oddity.” The team will now compete in the World Championship in Houston, Texas this April. Meeting almost every day of the week since September 2018, the team has been working on building and programming their robot and had already competed in four qualifying tournaments and one interleague tournament prior to attending the regional event at Monrovia High. Between meets, this team spent hundreds of hours revising their design and practicing with Space Oddity to become more competitive. And the program goes beyond just creating robots, the team also promotes STEM education in Cerritos and surrounding communities through demonstrations at the Cerritos Library and local elementary schools. Additionally, they will be hosting their annual summer RoboCamp at Whitney High School this coming June and July. When asked about why he thinks FIRST Robotics is important, team captain Ian Hudson said, “It’s important because we get to learn and apply practical engineering skills in a hands-on environment. This isn’t something that we could get just by reading a textbook. On top of that, ro-
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Cerritos Colege updates progress on the parking lot on 166th and Studebaker. The lot is almost complete and the school has already garnered $275,000 in revenue. PAGE 3.
Cerritos Library seeks teen volunteers. The program is seeking responsible & dependable teens to help with the Summer Reading Program. PAGE 4. Printed with soy inks on a majority of recycled paper.
