EXECUTIVES MESSAGE

Welcome to a fantastic new year!  We at ECHS are energized about the many projects and student activities ahead of us in 2009.  January is a month full of accomplishments for ECHS that are key to the future of our school:

• I'm excited to report that we submitted our charter petition for Environmental Charter Middle School to Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).   We hope to have an approved Charter this fall, and we are looking for a site in the city of Gardena.  Many thanks to Rachel Ruffalo, Kami Colter, Alison Diaz, Sara Laimon, and our ECHS board members 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 help them become leaders and change agents who enact positive changes in their community.  Our presence in Lawndale allows a generation of youth to realize their inner potential which might otherwise go untapped.   

ECHS was recently recognized as one of the best high schools by U.S. News & World Report, as noted below.  This is an extraordinary achievement for ECHS and it highlights the awesome work that our teachers, administrators and students have done and continue to do.   It is an honor to be associated with such a passionate group of professionals dedicated to enhancing the lives of members of the Lawndale community.

Kennedy Hilario is the Executive Director of Environmental Charter High School.

TOP STORY

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKS ENVIRONMENTAL CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL AMONG NATION'S BEST

ECHS in top 3% of Public High Schools Nationwide

U.S. News & World Report named ECHS among the top-most tier of America’s best public high schools recently.   The news organization analyzed academic and enrolment data from 21,069 public high schools in 48 states to find the very best across the country.   School ranking scores were adjusted by poverty-performance, disadvantaged students performance gap, college readiness index, minority enrollment, and 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.    
  

ECHS’ award-winning Green Ambassadors program exemplifies our service-learning philosophy. It creates opportunities for youth to build leadership skills and address critical environmental issues facing our planet.

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STAFF SPOTLIGHT 

Gregory P. Lakey

Before ECHS: 4 years of teaching experience including instruction at Agness/Rosa Parks Elementary, and St. Albert the Great Middle School, Los Angeles.

Best ECHS Experience: ““Hearing the comments from that students that I taught in summer school. There were so many students who said that they learned a lot this summer and said that the course was a huge help." 

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 to serve as a positive role model for youth, Lakey logs extra hours with the after-school enrichment program.   In his spare time, he enjoys being with family, listening to music and writing poetry.

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Ernesto Esqueda

Job: AVID  Teacher. (see article below).

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. 

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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.   The AVID program pulls these students out of their unchallenging courses and puts them on the college track: acceleration instead of remediation.

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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.

ECHS Student A Featured Speaker at Electronic Vehicle Event

Putting her unique Environmental Charter High School training to use outside the classroom, 16-year-old Jordan Howard was a featured speaker on the program at Plug In America.  The largest event of its kind, Plug In America assembled 75 'plug-in' vehicles to rally and then drive in formation through the streets of Los Angeles.  Howard said in her speech "Automakers! please wake up and help make the next generation petroleum free." Governments can help with incentives, and consumers can pick Electronic Vehicles, she said. 

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OTHER NEWS – CELEBRATING SUCCESS

 45% Of ECHS 2009 Graduating Class Already Admitted to College!

Early applications by our 2009 seniors class have yielded impressive college acceptance results so far - and it's only January!

Partnership Struck With Real Curriculum, Inc. to Create Multimedia Lesson Modules.

To help the State of California disseminate ECHS-developed best-practices in  interdisciplinary teaching, ECHS will work with two-time George Foster Peabody Award-winning video producer, Dave Hendry to document our innovative best-practices and produce multimedia supplemental learning materials for use by other schools across the state.

The project will create a series of modules for Green Ambassadors curriculum, on-campus Earth Days, Senior Theses, and Intersession - our multi-disciplinary program conducted between school semesters.

Composting Workshop Sows a Heap of Good: Last month's composting workshop let ECHS students put ideas about environmental conservation into action.  ECHS high school students in  our Green Ambassadors program taught elementary school kids and teachers about the benefits and 'how-to's of composting organic materials.  

An elementary teacher said of the event “The Green Ambassadors provided a valuable experience in my classroom. I was really impressed with the ability of ECHS students to present to strangers and very impressed with their role as 'PR' people."

Rain, Rain, Come Again: Water Catchment System Demo Coming to Campus:  A water catchment system demonstration will be installed on campus. We will use it to provide an Environmental Learning Model for teachers, students, parents, and community members to inspire them with the  potential uses of rain water.

Green Ambassador Director Sara Laimon on National Public Radio:  ECHS Teacher Sara Laimon was among the guests on The Aware Show with Lisa Garr, a radio program on KPFK-FM Los Angeles carried on the Pacific Radio Network and NPR.  On the program Laimon spoke about ECHS' Green Ambassadors program.

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OUR PARTNERS – A BIG GREEN THANK YOU

 We thank our corporate, professional, and community partners for supporting ECHS. From generous financial and in-kind assistance, to time and expertise, your support is helping us inspire and educate like never before.

Our many sponsors and partners

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EVENTS

ECHS Students & Teachers are also participating in these
upcoming local and national events!