Four individual teachers and a teaching team each received a $2,000 Lori Petrick Educator Award from the Palisades Charter Schools Foundation in an elegant backyard reception last Saturday afternoon at the home of Evette and Dennis Richardson. The award was established in 2003 to honor the late, much-beloved third-grade teacher at Palisades Charter Elementary, who was represented at the reception by her mother, Ruth Bennett, and her two children: John, the CEO of Perennial Financial Services in West L.A., and Kimi, a nursing assistant at the Jade Healing Retreat Center in Beverly Hills who hopes to enter medical school next year. This year’s winners were Jeff Lantos (Marquez Elementary), Marlene Morris (Canyon School), Charlena TerVeer and Kathie Yonemura (team teachers at Canyon), Shari Laham (Kenter Elementary) and Larry Newman (music teacher at Kenter, Marquez, Palisades Elementary and Topanga Elementary). The awards ($10,000 total) were underwritten by the Boone Foundation, a philanthropic group whose mission is to support “passionate people who provide excellent programs to youth.” The family foundation has members residing in the Palisades and attending local schools. According to Charter Foundation member Paula Leonhauser, the award process was broadened this year in order to reach more nominees and honor more individuals who are achieving excellence in education within the Palisades Charter Complex. “Teachers, administrators and counselors who have been part of our complex for five or more years are eligible,” Leonhauser said. The Lori Petrick Award was first given in June 2003 to Bud Petrick, Lori’s husband. A year later, the honor went to former Palisades High principal Merle Price, who played a leading role in gaining charter status for all five Palisades schools. He presented the awards last Saturday, and noted that he will formally retire as an LAUSD administrator in June to become a full-time faculty member in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Cal State Northridge, “preparing future education leaders.” He will teach three classes, advise students and supervise their field work as entry-level administrators. Another speaker was Los Angeles school board president Marlene Canter, who recalled that she raised her kids in the Palisades but now lives in Westwood. “When I was first elected to the board in 2001, you had already come together as an education community,” Canter noted, meaning that all five public schools in the Palisades had gained charter status and were working together on common issues. “You continue to set the example for other communities, such as Westchester/Playa Del Rey and Venice, where parents are taking charge at their schools.” Canter emphasized that test scores in LAUSD elementary schools “are going up faster than the state average,” and these students are now moving into middle school and high school, bringing improved scores to this level.
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