Zac Champommier Memorial Concert

Zac Champommier

 Jan. 21, 1992 - June 24, 2010

The Facebook invitation arrived on Saturday, and now we are sharing the details of this event with you-- a memorial concert in honor of Beckford alum, Zachary Champommier; here are the details from the Facebook event page:

The Granada Hills Charter High School Highlander Band is having a concert at the school to remember and honor our dear friend. We would love if you all could make it.

Zac's biggest regret in band was not playing as many solo's as he could have, so to make it up to him, we've gathered numerous pieces featuring a soloist in each section.

The concert is this Thursday, May 10th at 7:00 p.m. Granada Hills Charter High School is the location. We wouldn't miss this for the world. We anticipate seeing many of our Beckford family there too.

Miss you, Zac.

A Tale of No Gift Cards

So we all know by now that our excitement over the Donors Choose-Wasserman Foundation- Starbucks gift card giveaway (pdf file) was premature. There were no local Starbucks participating in the North West Valley, nor the East Valley or anywhere near the two.

But why?

Two tales; one sent from a reader who received the following response from someone named Gwendolyn from the Donors Choose organization, and another from our Board of Education representative, Tamar Galatzan.

From: Gwendolyn - DonorsChoose.org <customer-service@donorschoose.org>

Date: Mon, Jan 23, 2012 at xx:xx PMSubject: Re: (Case XXXX) OtherTo: xxxxxxxxx <xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com>

Hi Xxxxxxxx

Thanks so much for writing in and providing this feedback. I'm truly sorry for the frustration. Please know our staff really takes to heart any challenges people have with our program. For this partnership with the Wasserman Foundation, the goals that we're trying to accomplish are both to give parents the opportunity to support their children's education and also to encourage citizens of Los Angeles who do not necessarily have a specific school affiliation to become citizen philanthropists and support education throughout the county.
In order to accomplish this, the funding that the Wasserman Foundation has so generously provided is being distributed in a variety of ways including gift cards given to all parents, the Double Your Impact offer, and now the gift cards available through Starbucks.
The goal of these Starbucks gift cards is to get the word out to individuals who (unlike parents) are not directly connected to one school, but may find and support a projects anywhere in Los Angeles that inspire them. We searched for a partner who would be able to help us achieve that and Starbucks really stepped up for us by donating their staff's time to help us connect with the citizens of Los Angeles. We're grateful for the locations that they were able to offer. While we're not able to distribute gift cards in every single Starbucks location, citizens who obtain these cards will not necessarily have ties to schools in the area where they happen to receive the card. Rather, they'll be visiting DonorsChooseLA.org and looking at projects from the entire county as opposed to just a specific school.
We certainly recognize your frustration and it's frustrating for us as well when folks are struggling to take part or feeling dissatisfied with the opportunity. We'll make every effort to avoid this confusion and distribute information more clearly in the future.
We know that there are other parents like you who are hoping to take advantage of these gift cards in addition to the cards distributed through schools, and in order to help however we can we've posted a list of all Starbucks locations where the cards are available. The list can be seen at the following link and does include a variety of locations in Glendale, Calabasas, and Burbank: http://help.donorschoose.org/app/answers/detail/a_id/388
Please do know that with these gift cards now available to a new group of potential citizen philanthropists, the teachers at your daughter's school who have posted projects still have a great chance of benefiting from these cards and having their projects fully-funded!
Please let me know if you have additional questions or further needs.
Thanks again for writing,Gwendolyn
--from Gwendolyn - DonorsChoose.org
P.S. If you reply to this email, please do not modify the subject line.

and then this from Tamar, a response on Facebook to the card situation:

It’s a foundation donating money to LAUSD & we don’t have much say over how the gift cards were distributed. I agree that they selected odd locations and have voiced my concerns.We talked to those in charge here at LAUSD & it turns out the Starbucks/Wasserman/DonorsChoose campaign is separate from the LAUSD/DonorsChoose/Wasserman campaign. The campaign that kicks off Monday is Starbucks’ effort to give back to the teachers, parents & communities of the entire LA region. Starbucks is trying to encourage everyday citizens to be mini-philanthropists at their schools. The decision of which Starbucks participate was between Starbucks & DonorsChoose.

Ok, so then which is it? This (bold emphasis mine)....

"The goal of these Starbucks gift cards is to get the word out to individuals who (unlike parents) are not directly connected to one school, but may find and support a projects anywhere in Los Angeles that inspire them. We searched for a partner who would be able to help us achieve that and Starbucks really stepped up for us by donating their staff's time to help us connect with the citizens of Los Angeles. We're grateful for the locations that they were able to offer. While we're not able to distribute gift cards in every single Starbucks location, citizens who obtain these cards will not necessarily have ties to schools in the area where they happen to receive the card. Rather, they'll be visiting DonorsChooseLA.org and looking at projects from the entire county as opposed to just a specific school." -- Donors Choose

or this...

"Starbucks is trying to encourage everyday citizens to be mini-philanthropists at their schools." --Tamar Galatzan 

You know what, go ahead and pick whichever excuse you'd like. I already feel bamboozled by the whole  thing. I can't figure out if I've been shilling for the Wasserman Foundation or Starbucks.

If you look at the map of Valley Starbucks giving out the goods.... you can see it's at places they need the foot traffic. Warner Center Marriott? I'm going to pay $8.00 in parking to pick up a $10.00 card?

Philanthropist, please.

Happy Birthday, Zac

Today would have been Zac Champommier's 20th birthday.

We remember him today and always.

Love you, Zac.

Mitch Englander to speak at NWNC meeting at Beckford

photo by: j.f. mailander

Tomorrow night will mark the Northridge Neighborhood Council's first meeting of the year. Councilman Mitchell Englander will be the guest speaker. If you've never been to one of our Neighborhood Council meetings, plan on coming to tomorrow's meeting-- it should prove to be an informative one. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm. and all meetings are held in the auditorium at Beckford. 

Here's your chance to hear Councilman Englander speak on the issues affecting our community and also to ask any questions you may have regarding the future of  CD12 (redistricting, for example?).

WHAT: Neighborhood Council meeting

WHEN: Tomorrow night (Jan. 10)

WHERE: Beckford Auditorium

Special Guest Speaker: Councilman Mitch Englander

Hallmark in Porter Ranch set to close

After ten years in business, the Porter Ranch Town Center will be losing one of our favorite little stores, Hallmark Creations. The Closing Sale signs were noticed last week. We don't know exactly when the store will close its doors for good but the shelves are already beginning to thin out. Our sources tell us the owners of the Porter Ranch Hallmark were not offered the chance to renew their lease and they are "heartbroken" at the decision of the property owners, who informed the Hallmark owners of their decision right before Christmas.They will not be relocating and will sadly close their doors forever. It's been a lovely decade having them there at the Porter Ranch Town Center, and it won't be the same without them. It was the most charming little store to buy cards, stationery, wrapping supplies and sweet gifts. Go by and say your so-longs while you still can.

This Week At Beckford

Tomorrow night the Northridge West Neighborhood Council welcomes special guest speaker, Los Angeles Fire Dept. Chief Scott Mottram. Chief Mottram will be on hand to discuss safety issues unique to our community. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. and takes place in our auditorium. All NWNC stakeholders (you are a stakeholder if you live, work, or otherwise do business in the area) are welcome to the Neighborhood Council's monthly meetings.



From Councilman Mitch Englander's newsletter -- the councilman would like us all to know that the City Council has voted to change the procedures in dealing with nuisance dog hearings:

Before, a citation could only be issued for licensed dogs because the citation was attached to the license. The owner first had to be forced to get a license. Under the new code, Animal Control officers can now issue citations even if the dog is unlicensed. (The dog owner must still get a license.)

A dog is a "nuisance" if it barks continuously for 10 minutes or for 30 minutes in a three-hour period. The owner first receives a written warning allowing them to improve the situation. If it persists, a hearing is held where the owner could get a $250 fine for the first offense, $500 for a second offense and $1,000 for a third offense.

Also from the CD12 News, a list of Veteran's Day activities and Volunteer Opportunities:

Our Veterans need our help and support. They are disproportionately represented among the homeless population, and many of them return from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan with lasting physical and emotional wounds.

WAYS YOU CAN HELP:

Donate or volunteer with Veterans Affairs of Greater Los Angeles.

The National Coalition on Homeless Veterans offers these tips to support Veterans:

Volunteering at a shelter, be a mentor or offer legal aid

Organize a Stand Down program

Develop a Veteran burial program

Volunteer or donate to community-based Veteran support organizations in your neighborhood

Advocate for homeless Veterans

Donate to the National Coalition on Homeless Veterans

Once again, Beckford will be closed on Friday. Enjoy your day and remember to thank a Veteran.

OHMYGAWD.... I wish this was tonight. It's certainly one of the hottest First Day of School I can ever remember. And I don't mean the "good" hot. I mean the very bad, hell-like, oven in your pants hot. Oy. Please send snow, kthxbai.

Beckford Beach Day at Zuma

So, are you going to come this Friday or what?

Additions

A view of the new railings which have been installed in the front entrance of Beckford. There is also work still being done in the staff parking lot as well.

This will work out nicely when we parents want to stay and chat outside after we dump drop off the little darlings in the mornings! I can totally see myself sitting on this or leaning up against it!

Around Beckford

rearview of the corner of beckford st. & los alimos

There's been lots of construction going on both on campus and around campus. We'll be posting pics of some of the work going on.

The pic above shows some of the work being done on the northeast corner of Beckford and Los Alimos. The corners are being redone so that they may be compliant with current accessibility codes. Of course, this would have been really helpful 18 years ago (as well as ten years ago) when I was pushing a baby stroller around the neighborhood, but that's neither here nor there. I'm glad to see them there now.

Here is a picture of the (almost) finished corner. I think there's a bumpy yellow plate that needs to be installed at the edge of the corner. Don't know if you can make it out.... but the street has also been torn up and reduced to loose gravel. Hopefully, it will happen before school starts. But then, that would make too much sense, wouldn't it? :)

More pics coming soon!

Open for business

The Ladies of the Office, Aug. '10

The Beckford office will officially open for business on Monday, August 22. Stella and Maureen will be there to help with new enrollments and other school business.

Remember: School starts on Wednesday, September 7th!

The Back to School Picnic is still going to happen.... the date had to be changed, and will be announced shortly!

Movie Night - Despicable Me June 10th

The Beckford PTA cordially invites our Beckford families, neighbors and community-at-large to our Movie Night on June 10th!

We will screen "Despicable Me" out on the playground field.

Pizza, popcorn and other treats will be available for purchase.

It's going to be a great night, but we also need volunteers to help make the evening run smoothly and safely.

Pink Hearts, Not Pink Slips

pink friday 2009, shelly clark

In support of our pink slipped teachers, we are asking our Beckford Community to wear pink on Wednesday, March 16th.

We'll also be "pinking" Beckford, Tuesday after school, in preparation for our Pink Day the following day. We will need pink hearts, signs, balloons (we just filled the helium tank if anyone would like to donate the pink balloons!) ribbons, bows, streamers, etc. We also need parent help for a special project on the playground; set up for this will happen Tuesday after school and the children will complete the project on Wednesday.

You may write us at beckfordparents@gmail.com for more information.

Real Appreciation

click image to enlarge

Tomorrow begins our annual Teacher Appreciation Week. Invitations will be delivered and the staff will finally get to discover this year's theme! Monday will start the party in earnest and will end on Friday with our Staff and Parent Luncheon. Thank you to Summer Shami, Trisha Witwit, Starlet Wagman, Mary Medina and the entire Teacher Appreciation Week committee.

Next Tuesday, March 15th, will offer us yet another chance to show our Beckford teachers how much we value them. Our Beckford teachers will picket and pass out information to parents, before school, in protest of the RIF's some of our teachers received this week.

Many parents are plannng to stand with our teachers in solidarity against these Reduction In Force notices. Please join us and show our teachers how much we value them and how much we truly appreciate them.

TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 15 BEFORE SCHOOL... STAND WITH OUR TEACHERS!