A Nation of Graduates

This week we will be attending the culmination ceremonies for 3 schools: Charnock Road Elementary, Braddock Drive Elementary, and Palms Elementary. Alongside their friends and families, we will proudly watch 70 of our SCORES student-athletes celebrate the completion of elementary school. Being present is more than just watching the celebration; we are showing our support as these children prepare for the next step in their education.

Speeches will be given, inspiring the graduating class to set goals -- goals that will aim to improve the current high school dropout crisis. In the future, many of the kids graduating from elementary school this week will achieve those goals. And many more will not. If the prevailing research is correct, only 44% of the students in LAUSD will receive high school diplomas. This means that 39 of the graduating SCORES students are projected to drop out of school in the next seven years.

Alarming statistics such as this one are not limited to LAUSD schools. Across the country, more than 12 million students are projected to drop out of school in the next decade. Those young people will be 8 times more likely to be in jail, and the projected financial impact to the nation is $3 trillion. Across the United States, and here in the LAUSD, students are failing their classes, and schools are failing their students.

As an organization that has joined the fight against the dropout crisis, we provide a free and safe after-school program that enriches youth with a literacy and soccer curriculum. Beyond that, it is our hope that the time we have spent with these kids has provided them with role-models, a team to call their own, and a sense of self-worth and belonging. As we watch these 70 student-athletes, we will reflect on the experiences that we have had with each individual kid. We are filled with satisfaction in what they have already accomplished and inspired by the ways that they have already strived to achieve their dreams and create change.

In 7 years, we will be sitting at high school graduations for the class of 2017. It is our goal to see all 70 of the SCORES student-athletes receive their high school diploma -- doing their part to reestablish a nation of graduates.

Congratulations Oscar!

LA SCORES Program Coordinator Oscar Gonzalez has just been awarded Los Angeles United School District's 2010 Special Education Paraeducator of the Year. Oscar has been with LA SCORES for four years. Every day Oscar works as both an educator at Palms Elementary and site coordinator of Charnock Elementary for LA SCORES. He has also organized multiple summer camps for LA SCORES, and is in the midst of planning this year's summer programming. Oscar's ability to connect with kids has been instrumental to the success of our program. Congratulations Oscar! We couldn't do it without you!

Tomorrow is JAMBOREE

JAMBOREE will take place tomorrow at Mar Vista Recreation Center from 2:30-5:30. Join us for food, fun and soccer!

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.