life
CITY
HEIGHTS
AZALEA PARK•FAIRMOUNT VILLAGE•HOLLYWOOD PARK•SWAN CANYON•CHEROKEE POINT•RIDGEVIEW•CHOLLAS CREEK
November 2015 • FREE •
LA VIDA
Volume 5 • Issue 6
CORRIDOR•FAIRMOUNT PARK•COLINA PARK•CASTLE•FOX CANYON•ISLENAIR•BAYRIDGE•TERALTA EAST•TERALTA WEST
The face of scouting Girl Scout Troop 4307 is just one example of how the refugee families are tailoring U.S. customs for their mostly American-born children. La Tropa 4307 de las Girl Scouts demuestra cómo las familias refugiadas adaptan las costumbres de EE.UU. para sus hijos, casi todos nacidos en Estados Unidos. Photo: Brian Myers, Media Arts Center San Diego
By Megan Burks KPBS
It’s a Monday evening in City Heights and Girl Scouts Troop 4307 is gathering. But instead of green and brown uniforms, the girls are wearing a rainbow of color. When it’s time for the Girl Scouts salute, they raise three fingers to foreheads covered in jewel-toned hijabs. It’s estimated that 30,000 East Africans live in San Diego, many of them in City Heights. And Girl Scouts Troop 4307 is just one example of how the refugee families are tailoring U.S. customs for their mostly American-born children. At this troop meeting: Henna and learning about East African countries. “We try to get them prepared not only to preserve their culture, but also to prepare them for the mainstream culture,” said troop leader Bethlehem Degu.
in City Heights
Degu said the specialized troop started because girls in her community wanted to join Girl Scouts but their parents had reservations. They thought maybe their daughters had to be a certain religion or would be off camping all the time, Degu said. “If their parents are always too scared to have them join this program or that program because it’s not culturally competent — they don’t have someone translating to them and helping them fill out the forms — then these girls will never get that experience those other girls do,” Degu said. After hearing it through a translator, the program’s message was something the parents could all get behind. It’s about sisterhood and respect, Degu said. “And Girl Scouts is all about confidence, so all of the things that come with the Girl Scouts but at the same time having pride in their culture
[ TROOP, P4]
School spirit By David Ogul City Heights Life
With apologies to novelist Thomas Wolfe, the Hoover High Alumni Association is proving that, yes, you can go home again. More than 1,200 active, dues-paying members from San Diego and beyond are doing everything from campus cleanups to donating thousands of scholarship dollars annually to help send Hoover High School students to college. When the 2013 Boys Basketball team won the CIF Division II title, the Alumni As-
sociation – among the largest and most active in the region – paid to provide championship rings for everyone on the squad. When last year’s football team was looking to send a group of players to a weeklong summer training camp at San Diego State University, the Alumni Association stepped up with a $1,000 donation to make it happen. “We will do whatever is asked of us,” said Alice Staninger, Class of 1956, a former Alumni Association president who volunteers
[ ALUMNI, P2]
El rostro de las scouts
en City Heights Por Megan Burks KPBS
Es lunes por la noche en City Heights y la Tropa 4307 de las Girl Scouts se reúne. Pero en lugar de uniformes verdes y cafés, las niñas usan un arcoíris de colores. Cuando llega el momento del saludo de las Girl Scouts, llevan tres dedos a sus frentes cubiertas con coloridos velos. Se calcula que unas 30,000 personas de África Oriental viven en San Diego, muchos
de ellos en City Heights. La Tropa 4307 de las Girl Scouts es uno de los ejemplos de cómo las familias refugiadas adaptan las costumbres de EE.UU. para beneficio de sus hijos, casi todos nacidos en Estados Unidos. En esta reunión de la tropa: Aprender de Henna y de los países de África Oriental. “Tratamos de prepararlas no solo para preservar su cultura, sino también para la cultura en la que viven”, dijo Bethlehem Degu, líder de la tropa.
[ TROPA, P4]
Espíritu escolar Por David Ogul City Heights Life
Mis disculpas al novelista Thomas Wolfe, pero la Asociación de Exalumnos de la Preparatoria Hoover de San Diego está comprobando que sí, sí se puede regresar a casa. Más de 1,200 afiliados activos que residen en San Diego (y más allá) hacen de todo, desde limpiezas en el campus hasta donar miles de dólares en becas anualmente para ayudar a que los estudiantes de la Preparatoria Hoover asistan a una institución de educación superi-
or. Cuando el equipo masculino de baloncesto ganó el título de la Segunda División de CIF, la Asociación de Exalumnos—una de las más grandes y activas de la región—pagó por los anillos de campeonato que recibió el equipo. Cuando el equipo de futbol americano quiso enviar a un grupo de jugadores el año pasado a un campamento de una semana durante el verano en la Universidad Estatal San Diego (SDSU), la donación de $1,000 otorgada por la Asociación de Exalumnos lo hizo posible.
[ EXALUMNOS, P2]