LA SCORES Poets Turned Songwriters

Last fall, students at Palms Elementary School were given the opportunity to work with song writers from ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) to write and record their own song. Our kids produced a great song entitled "The Happiness and Sadness of Love". This song is now available to listen to online, along with more songs written and recorded by students from other America SCORES sites. Click here to listen to "The Happiness and Sadness of Love".

Pali Blues' Victory for Kids

Saturday, May 22, the Pali Blues, a womens' team from the United Soccer League's W-League, invited students and families from LA SCORES to attend their final pre-season game against Santa Clarita on their home field, Stadium-by-the-Sea at Palisades High School. It was an exciting game with the Pali Blues finishing on top with a final score of 3-1.

At half-time, hundreds of fans took to the field to participate in an event dubbed "Beat 627", an attempt to beat the Guinness World Record for the number of people juggling soccer balls at once. Fans brought their own soccer balls to the field, and after the event, donated them. Over 400 soccer balls were collected for nonprofit organizations like LA's Para Los Ninos and the international Balls Without Borders.

For more information about the Pali Blues, check out their website.

Kids Helping Kids at Braddock Elementary

Students at Braddock Drive Elementary chose to do a clothing drive for homeless teens as their service learning project this season. They have worked hard over the past few weeks to collect new and gently used garments to donate to a shelter that give homeless teens in Los Angeles a safe place to stay. As of now they have collected over four large bags to donate.

The organization that will benefit from this project is called the Los Angeles Youth Network. LAYN is located in Hollywood and helps kids all over Los Angeles from ages 12 to early 20's. Among LAYN's services are a temporary shelter for teens who need a safe place to stay, a smaller long-term house for those who need it, and an apartment program for teens after they graduate high school.

A few times a week, people from LAYN also drive around Los Angeles with food and water looking for homeless teens to spread awareness about the organization, its shelters, and how they can help.



On Wednesday, a representative from LAYN came to Braddock to talk to the students about the organization. The students learned how their donations would help out kids from all over Los Angeles. They were also able to ask questions about the program such as, "What do the kids do on holidays?", "What kinds of movies do they like to watch?" and "What do they do after school?" Learning about LAYN was inspiring for the students at Braddock, who were interested in finding out how to donate more items even after their LA SCORES clothing drive.

To find out more about the Los Angeles Youth Network, visit their website at http://www.layn.org/

Palms Students Organize Beach Clean Up

Last Saturday, students from Palms Elementary teamed up with Heal the Bay to organize a beach clean-up for their service learning project this season. The kids took a bus from school and spent the morning walking along the beach and picking up trash at Dockweiler Beach. Heal the Bay provided trash bags and gloves, and the kids provided the time. The kids had a blast while making a difference.

One the biggest problems that LA's beaches face is pollution from urban runoff. Urban runoff is the result of rain water washing pollutants like motor oil, gasoline, pesticides, and litter into the ocean via storm drains. According to Santa Monica Baykeeper, an organization dedicated to protecting LA's beaches, many local industries have significantly "reduced their input," however, pollution from urban runoff is continuing to increase.

Here are nine simple things everyone can do to protect the bay:

1. Cover outdoor trashcans at home and work so that litter doesn't blow into storm drains
2. Recycle at home and work as much as possible
3. Pick up after pets, and encourage others to do so also.
4. Do not release balloons into the air: they can injure marine animals who think they are food
5. Do not rake or blow leaves into the storm drains, bacteria grow on this organic matter.
6. Do not use pesticides on lawns and gardens
7. Maintain the family car so that it doesn't drip oil into the streets or release excess air pollution.
8. Do not wash your car on impervious services such as driveways, which allow runoff to streets.
9. Do not hose down gutters or drive ways - sweep up and put debris in the trash.

Source: Santa Monica Baykeeper.