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THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2009
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 14, Number 32
Parent groups partner as SDUSD eyes foundations BY ALYSSA RAMOS | VILLAGE NEWS
About ten parents representing foundation organizations from several San Diego city schools — including Torrey Pines and La Jolla elementary schools — gathered Monday, June 15 outside a Scripps Ranch Starbucks to discuss concerns regarding an agenda item slated for Tuesday’s school board meeting taking aim on “Foundation-Funded Teachers.” Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs) use school foundations to raise money, in many cases writing checks directly funding programs such as choral, art, computers and libraries. In addition, La Jolla’s Torrey Pines Elementary School (TPES) and other schools use the funds to hire support teachers in an effort to reduce class sizes.
During Tuesday’s San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) board meeting, board members voted to form a committee scrutinizing policies regarding hiring teachers through foundation-raised funding. SDUSD board member John de Beck said the board intended to set up a policy allowing “funding support for regular district positions that include all the benefits and rights of certificated positions — except tenure and transfer portions — when the source of funds are not regular district monies.” SDUSD education board members held a special meeting June 16 that included taking “direction” on foundation-funded teachers. Board members voted to form a committee that included represenSEE PARENT, Page 4
HOORAY FOR NEW MUSIC Athenaeum hosts soundOn fest BY CHARLENE BALDRIDGE | VILLAGE NEWS
Hooray for new music and hooray to the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library for hosting the third annual soundOn Festival of Modern Music, produced in conjunction with San Diego New Music. The festival takes place today, June 18, through Saturday, June 20, at the Athenaeum, 1008 Wall St., which for three days becomes a hot bed of what’s new. Why are people still frightened when they hear the words “new” and “music” in close juxtaposition? We asked composer/performer Christopher Adler, a co-founder of soundOn, pianist and composer-inresidence with NOISE, San Diego New Music’s resident ensemble, and a professor of music at University of San Diego. “Those two words got a bad name that’s not justified,” Adler said. “There’s quite a bit of new music going on here in San Diego,” he added, mentioning his own university, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and San Diego State, then giving credit to Steven Schick of La Jolla Symphony and La Jolla
VILLAGE NEWS | PAUL HANSEN
SCHOLARS & CENTS University City High School senior Sugi Min plays violin in the band (above) before the June 12 graduation ceremony at the school’s outdoor stadium. A senior waves to the crowd (right) while walking onto the field prior to the ceremony. School board trustee John Lee Evans was the presenter.
Festival of the Arts spreads its wares BY ALYSSA RAMOS | VILLAGE NEWS
The Athenaeum’s third annual soundOn Festival of Modern Music is June 18-20 at 1008 Wall St.
Music Society for their interest in and programming of new music. “SoundON is one of the only festivals of chamber music entirely dedicated to music that’s being written today,” he said. “Our main interest is to support younger composers, the work of more established composers whose works aren’t heard in other venues, and to keep the living branch of the classical tradition alive by promotSEE NEW MUSIC, Page 8
The 23rd annual La Jolla Festival of the Arts makes its annual visit to La Jolla this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, June 20 and 21, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University of California, San Diego at Genesee Avenue and Campus Point Drive. The Torrey Pines Kiwanis Foundation continues to sponsor the arts extravaganza, donating proceeds from the event to 35 different charities that benefit San Diegans with disabilities. This year’s festival features Calle Color, a collaboration of about 200 American and Mexican street artists, or “madonnari,” using chalk as their
medium. The group includes first-time festival participant Liliana Mai. “Mai has always held a passion for the arts but only began sharing her talent with the public three years ago,” said Melissa Holden of SpearHall Advertising & PR, which is coordinating media coverage for the event. “Mai works mainly with oil and acrylic paints, graphite pencils and colored pencils.” Mai — a Vietnamese immigrant — will join chalk artists during the weekend’s festival. Mary Darwall will debut ocean- and desert-inspired jewelry during La Jolla Festival of the Arts this year. Darwall taught special education and second grade for about 30
years, according to Holden. She then started creating sculptural jewelry. “Compulsive passion drives my very labor-intensive creations to handneedle-weave one bead at a time to make unique personal adornments,” Darwall said, in a press release. While Mai and Darwall will debut their various talents during this year’s festival, husband and wife team Ken and Ingrid Hanson return to the festival for the third year, showcasing their talent: handblown glass. “The two met at San Francisco State University in 1992 and have been blowing glass together since,” Holden said. SEE FESTIVAL, Page 4