After 10 years of operating as a charter school and 18 months of fiscal independence, Palisades Charter High School is in the process of applying for a renewal of its charter, which must be approved by the LAUSD board this spring. The school is holding a meeting for Palisades parents, future student parents and community members who would like to know more about how the school functions as an independent charter and the renewal process on Thursday, January 13, at 6:30 p.m. in Mercer Hall, 15777 Bowdoin. The impetus behind applying for charter status 11 years ago, followed by securing fiscal independence in 2003, was prompted by the school’s former principal Merle Price, teachers and parents desire to chart their own course. At next Thursday’s meeting, school officials will outline the advantages of maintaining fiscal independence, explain the provisions of the charter and detail the manner in which the school is operated as a nonprofit corporation. ‘You just have to look at the progress the school has made since we became a charter to be 100 percent behind charter renewal,’ said 34-year PaliHi teacher and board member Bud Kling. ‘Test scores have improved, expenditure of money is four times what LAUSD spends for programs and textbooks, and we’ll probably end up with a surplus’ in June. While an independent school certainly has an operating advantage over the district itself, PaliHi still faces challenges related to taking over the administrative and business responsibilities formerly provided by the district; improving the performance gap on standardized tests between ethnic groups; working towards reducing class sizes; negotiating with the teachers union (United Teachers of Los Angeles) which represents some 90 percent of the 107 teachers at the school; and adjusting to the new governance model under the recently adopted nonprofit status. Because of its new responsibilities won with fiscal independence, the school created a new structure and hired an executive director (Jack Sutton) and chief business officer (Greg Wood) to work with principal Gloria Martinez and the administrative staff. The 11-member board of directors (three teachers, three parents, one classified staff member, the executive director and an ex officio student member) is responsible for setting policy for the teachers and 2,630 students. But according to Sutton, the backbone of the school’s goverance is represented by the seven standing committees’each comprised of 50 percent faculty members, plus parents and students. Each committee is responsible for developing recommendations for the board within its range of responsibility. The committees cover assessment and accountability, budget and finance, communications, educational programming, human resources, operations and facilities and policy. Because one of the charter renewal requirements is that 50 percent of the faculty must sign to support the charter petition, the Pali board is making efforts to encourage faculty feedback and communication. ‘The last charter renewal process to gain financial independence was contentious between LAUSD and Pali,’ Sutton said. ‘The teachers felt that they hadn’t had the opportunity to approve the final version and blamed the negotiating team rather than the district. ‘We have provided every teacher with the first draft, and planned for period-by-period conference times so that any teachers who wanted could come and talk about the charter.’ The teachers are sensitive to their representation as stakeholders in governing the school and many were disgruntled by their loss of power on the board of governors when the school switched to a nonprofit status. ‘The former board consisted of 20 members, half of whom were faculty,’ Sutton said. ‘But because they had no liability coverage, half quit. Under our nonprofit status, there is corporate liability protection, but there are only three teachers on the board. The teachers lost their perceived control, despite the fact that each standing committee has 50 percent teacher representation.’ According to board member Kling, the board is smaller and more efficient now. ‘When we were a profit-making organization, meetings took forever, nothing could get done. And the board has said that they want the school to be committee driven, and that they’re there to define, tweak and adjust. Everything is supposed to funnel through the committees.’ The school’s final challenge, said Sutton, is to encourage the teachers to take advantage and participate in the governing structure. If the faculty does not support the charter petition, the school will be forced to revert back to being a regular part of LAUSD when the charter expires June 30.
Cody, 1, Is a First Baby on the Go
(Editor’s note: The search is still on for the First Baby of 2005. As of press time on Wednesday morning, the Palisadian-Post had yet to hear of any babies born this year to Palisades parents. To report a birth, call 454-1321, ext. 26 or e-mail features@palipost.com with the parents’ names, baby’s name, date and time of birth and contact information, so we can determine this year’s winner.) Cody Michaels, the 2004 First Baby of the Year, is a baby on the move’in more ways than one. At six and a half months he learned to crawl, and began walking at 11 months. ‘He’s almost running now,’ said his mother Pam. After traveling to Hawaii in April, Cody spent 22 hours in flight to visit his grandparents and extended family in South Africa this summer. ‘He was quite a little trouper considering how long the flight was,’ said Pam, who is originally from Durban, South Africa. While there, Cody even went on safari, and was infatuated with the animals he saw, including elephants, lions, leopards and rhinos, and fascinated by the variety of birds. Born January 1, 2004 at 1:50 a.m., Cody won the Palisadian-Post’s annual contest, and he and his parents received a variety of prizes from over 60 area merchants. Cody, his mother, father Robert, and 7-1/2-year-old brother, Brandon, celebrated his birthday at a small family party at their Highlands home last Saturday. The night before they had a get-together with neighborhood friends to celebrate both New Year’s Eve and Cody’s birthday. Cody, who says Dada, Mama and bye-bye (acompanied by a wave goodbye), received some musical toys for his birthday, which are his favorite kind. ‘He could dance all day long wherever there is music on’in stores, at home or in the car,’ Pam said. He also received his own broom and brush set, since he often stole the broom and brush away from the housekeeper to play with. ‘It’s been a wonderful year,’ Pam said. ‘We absolutely enjoy him thoroughly.’ Cody enjoys copying everything his brother, a second grader at Corpus Christi, does. ‘Even soccer,’ Pam said. ‘He kicks a little ball.’ Brandon is a big help with his little brother. ‘He is very playful and cautious with him,’ Pam said. Cody has a good palate for different tastes, according to his mother. ‘He likes tofu and yogurt and he loves to eat off my plate.’ As for sleep, Pam said, ‘We made it through the first year. He wakes up all night long. Since he’s reached age one, he’s starting to do a little better with the sleep.’ ‘Other than his sleeping, he’s been great. It’s been a really lovely year.’ Cody, who was ‘the spitting image’ of his brother as a newborn, now looks just like his father, Robert, the president and CEO of Odesus, Inc., a technology consulting company.
Marquez Market Closes; Several Inquiries for Space
Marquez Market, which had been in business for eight years, closed its doors last Friday. Owner Mazen Elkhoury told the Palisadian-Post in early December that he feared he would have to shut down his store at the end of the year unless he was able to work out a new lease with the landlord, the Wilson Family Trust. Elkhoury, whose store occupied one of the prime locations in the Marquez Avenue shopping strip off Sunset, said at the time that he was still hoping ‘to reach an agreement that would work for both of us. I know how much rent I can afford to pay and still make money. Even though the store has been here a long time time I am not going to shoot myself in the foot just to pay the rent.’ The 2,500-sq.-ft. space, one of the largest retail sites currently available for lease in the Palisades, is renting for $2.75 a square foot, according to Greg Pawlik, the Coldwell Banker commercial broker who has the listing. Pawlik said he has already had several inquiries, ‘including one from an individual thinking of opening a personal training center, another from someone who wanted to open up another mini-market.’ Nayereh Rouphrvar, whose Park Lane dry cleaning and laundry business is located next door at 16648 Marquez, thinks a ‘discount store like a 99 Cents store would be good.’ Rouphrvar, who has been in business for 20 years, said she is not interested in expanding into the Marquez Market space. She currently pays $1,400 a month for her approximate 650 sq.ft. Ronny Naidoo, who owns Ronny’s Market & Liquor at 16642 Marquez, also said he was not interested in relocating. While he and Elkhoury have been ‘friendly competitors’ for years, Naidoo had the advantage of ‘having a liquor license and a sandwich deli,’ which brought in added revenue. Naidoo said he is looking forward to the proposed beautification plans to spruce up the block, which will include new signage for the soon-to-be-named ‘Marquez Village Shops’ business district. ‘The plan is to take down the big ugly signs that are over some of the storefronts now and bring the street up to Swarthmore standards,’ Bob Jeffers, of PRIDE, explained at a Palisades Community Council meeting in late November. Naidoo said he supports the plan. The improvements, expected to cost $95,000, will be done in three phases and besides the new signage, will include antique lampposts, benches and trash cans, as well as landscaping of the island triangle at the corner of Sunset and Marquez.
Golden Couples of the Palisades
Merrill and Carole Ruge – 1954
Merrill Ruge and Carole Slocum met as students their junior year at Hollywood High School. They sat in chairs opposite one another in their physiology class. In the spring of 1949, Carole bravely took the initiative to invite dashing young Merrill to a Sadie Hawkins dance. From then on the pair was inseparable. They dated throughout their college years despite attending different universities. They decided to get married after Merrill graduated from Cal State L.A. with a degree in business and Carole graduated from UCLA with a degree in education. The happy couple married on August 21, 1954 at the Westwood Presbyterian Church. Carole wore a white satin gown trimmed in lace for the wedding, a romantic, formal affair. After honeymooning in Carmel, San Francisco and Yosemite, the Ruges established a home in the San Fernando Valley. Only five months later, Merrill was called to serve in the Navy on a destroyer, the USS Fletcher, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He and Carole lived in a small apartment in Waikiki during his service time, and Carole taught first grade. Meanwhile, Merrill served his country specializing in sonar tracking on the USS Fletcher. Two years after their move to Hawaii, Merrill’s Navy service came to an end and the Ruges returned to California. In April 1957 they moved into their first house in North Hollywood and prepared for the arrival of their first child’a daughter they named Kimberly’in July. At this time, Merrill was the personnel manager at Weber Aircraft in Burbank. Carole volunteered in the community and remained active in the Junior Charity League. Their second child, another daughter named Linda, was born in February 1960. Carole enjoyed being a full-time mother to their two girls. The Ruges established a home in the upper Bienveneda area in 1972. Both of their daughters attended Paul Revere Middle School and Palisades High School. Linda married Roger Bick, another Palisadian, in 1980 and they have four children: Melanie, Desir’e, Leila and Shane. Their other daughter, Kimberly, owns a horse ranch in Simi Valley. Merrill, who retired from TRW after a career in human resources at various aircraft and software companies, plays golf and volunteers with the men’s breakfast at Calvary Church in the Palisades. Carole is a prayer chain deaconess this year at the church. The couple teach two-year-olds at Community Bible Study at Trinity Baptist Church in Santa Monica and have previously taught first grade Sunday School at Calvary Church. They both sing in the church choir. Merrill and Carole have lived in the same house for the last 33 years. The pine tree from their first Christmas, planted in the back yard, now towers as tall as the house and is as strong as the marriage. ‘My wife and I like to say we’re survivors,’ Merrill says. ‘We made a commitment and we’ve stuck to it in good times and bad times. There’s always ups and downs, but we worked really hard to make it work.’ Says Carole: ‘We have a strong commitment to family and our involvement with Calvary Church strengthens those values.’ The Ruges celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in August at a surprise luncheon held by daughters Kimberly and Linda, and Linda’s husband Roger, at Shanghai Red’s in Marina del Rey. When asked, both Merrill and Carole replied that they are still very much in love with one another.
Palisades Vocal Students Master Jazz and Blues
Concert Review
By BROOK DOUGHERTY Special to the Palisadian-Post Jazz legend Cannonball Adderley would have been proud of his great-niece, Alana Adderley, 19, as she wailed ‘You’ve Changed’ at The Dana Greene Vocal Works winter concert. His widow, Olga James, a major talent in her own right, sat in the hushed audience as 27 mostly Palisadian children brought to life jazz and blues classics such as ‘Cheek to Cheek,’ ‘Mack the Knife,’ and ‘Cry Me A River.’ (James is best known for her starring role in Otto Preminger’s ‘Carmen Jones,’ which was Hollywood’s first all-black cast of the traditional white opera. James starred with Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge. Of the three, she was the only one to do her own singing.) James is no stranger to overcoming obstacles. Her easy presence in the audience was felt by all the young performers as they climbed over their own fears and found strength in themselves and a genre of music they might not have discovered were it not for their coach, Dana Greene. The performance, entitled ‘Brushed in Blue,’ was created by Greene so that her students would not only learn the technique and style of a sound that was new to them, but also understand its cultural significance. She said, ‘Studying jazz and blues for a singer is like studying ballet for a dancer. It’s at the root of everything they listen to today.’ Dana Greene Vocal Works is located on Palisades Drive at The Adderley School for the Performing Arts, where Greene and Janet Adderley have been collaborating for the past five years. When Greene isn’t in her teaching studio, she is either on stage or in a recording studio. She is a respected and active musician and performer in the music world, and many parents of her students feel that Greene’s first-hand experience of performing makes her an effective teacher. ‘Vocal coaches used to call me every week to rent studio space, but they were never right for me,’ says the school’s founder Janet Adderley. ‘Then one day, a student of mine comes in needing me to coach her for an audition to NYU’s Tisch School. She sang only two bars when I interrupted and said, ‘You have a new vocal coach, you sound amazing!’ She said, ‘That’s right. Dana Greene.’ From there I tracked Dana down and offered her the space. She has a gentle, quiet ability to disarm children so they are free. She takes them on a journey, and at the end, there is amazing self-discovery. It is selfless on her part and self-fortifying for the children. They cocoon in her studio, then emerge their bravest, most gracious selves.’ The concert was held at The Electric Lodge in Venice on December 5, a rainy Sunday afternoon. Perfect for the blues. Accompanied by Greene on piano, and Nedra Wheeler on bass, a bunch of ordinary Palisades kids whom we see after school in Gelson’s and PaliSkates and Baskin-Robbins were transformed into reminders of Cole Porter, Dinah Washington and George Gershwin. Actress Mary McDonnell, who is the mother of two Dana Greene students, said, ‘I’ve seen kids go from being frightened of opening their mouths to being able to step on a stage and sing from the inside out. What separates Dana’s studio from other places is her ability to know a child’s soul. She doesn’t teach them to adopt someone else’s style, she teaches them to discover their heart in song, so they stay on their artistic path. Once they get that confidence, nobody can knock it out of them.’ I was skeptical about a group of Palisades kids taking such a historic musical torch and making it their own. Not only did they welcome the vocal tradition, they brought new life to its sounds. Sitting in the dark, I was reminded of how important it is to pass on our traditions, even if we’re not jazz greats. The spirit of Cannonball Adderley in the house linked the performers to an era of jazz and blues that ended before they were born. I thought he would have been pleased to see how Molly Gordon sang ‘Summertime’ as if she was channeling Ella, and Olivia Mell pounded ‘Backwater Blues’ as if she was going off to the Bayou instead of college. When Elizabeth Edel, age 7, owned ‘Cheek to Cheek,’ we could see her first slow dance, first evening gown, first love. Kids we always see in flip flops and jeans were all dressed up, like Julian Hicks in his fine suit singing, ‘Hey There,’ and Chloe Dworkin in a cocktail dress breaking our hearts with ‘When I Fall in Love.’ ‘Brushed in Blue’ passed along a musical style and the history that went along with it. Sometimes I wonder about the future of the planet. Who is going to take care of things as today’s adults get older? Watching these kids traverse their fears and stand alone with only a microphone for company, I knew we would be in good hands. There are 27 kids in our community who are stronger, and certainly hipper, than many of the adults running our planet today. There are 27 kids who ‘clean up nice.’ There are 27 kids who have already learned at such a young age that you can’t fake strength, and real power comes from the soul. With any luck, maybe one day some of them will run for office.
Braille Program Helps Local Student
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Palisadian Bethany Stark was thrilled when her 7-year-old son Julian received a Braille book and kit which helped him understand the concept of the American flag in time for the Fourth of July. The kit, part of the Braille Institute’s Dots for Tots program, came with foam stars and stripes to build a flag. ‘The whole book was about the flag, and the flag he constructed was always there for him to feel,’ Stark said. ‘Now he knows about the flag.’ The Dots for Tots program provides blind children with popular children’s books to which translucent Braille printing has been added. Children can follow along with the Braille to build literacy skills. In addition to the book, the kits come with a tape of the story being read aloud with professional descriptive narration along with sound effects, and a set of three-dimensional toys which relate to the story. Children can use the toys to act out or repeat the story. The program aims to engage blind children’s senses, such as touch and hearing, to get them involved in reading and interested in literacy. For example, ‘Miss Spider’s Tea Party Kit’ comes with true-to-life-size plastic insects and cups, saucers and everything for a tea party. The free books and kits are meant to promote literacy among blind children of preschool and early elementary age. They are equipped with beginning uncontracted Braille, where one symbol corresponds with each letter. Blind children can learn this basic Braille, just as a sighted child learns their ABCs, and later learn contracted Braille in which one Braille symbol can signify an entire word or a combination of letters. ‘The toys make abstract concepts more concrete for him,’ Stark said. ‘It’s a great program.’ The books chosen often have a rhyming quality, which is also great for children who use their sense of hearing acutely. Bethany and her husband Adam have lived in the Palisades since 1993. Their twin sons Julian and Yale, now 8, were born prematurely in December 1996. Due to complications from prematurity, Julian is blind and developmentally delayed and has motor problems and difficulty with speech. His brother Yale is visually impaired but is able to read large-print books, so he doesn’t use the Dots for Tots program. ‘It helps the children be much more interactive with books at an earlier age,’ says Bethany. ‘It reaches down and grabs the child’s interest in a way that a picture book comes alive for a sighted child.’ Bethany has used the interactive reading program with Julian for two years. ‘After we received the Miss Spider’s Tea Party kit [when he was 6], he began referring to the kit by a special nickname’ ‘bug.’ It was a word he had never said before. That may not seem like much to most moms, but this one was overjoyed,’ she says. ‘He even took the kit to school on share day and the sighted kids were amazed. That day he was just one of the kids.’ For the book ‘Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?’ each animal on the page is represented by a small plastic animal. The toys, although not to size and without the textural elements of the different animals, still can teach some concepts such as an elephant has big ears. Julian has brought this book and kit into class for share time. ‘The kids seem to enjoy the experience of looking at the Braille books and toys,’ said Julian’s first grade teacher at Palisades Elementary School, Loan Panza. The Dots for Tots program launches three new titles three times a year. Other titles in the program include ‘Go, Dog, Go,’ ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and ‘Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.’ ‘We choose popular children’s titles that are also good multisensory books,’ says Nancy Niebrugge of the Braille Institute. ‘It also helps them be more interactive with the sighted. Because the kits are colorful and fun, it makes the [blind] child’s experience not so different.’ For more information on Dots for Tots, contact the Braille Institute at (323) 663-1111. Bethany Stark (459-5566) would also be happy to talk about the program with other parents of blind or visually impaired children.
Services Sunday for Mabel Moore, 88; Travelmoore Founder
Alice Mabel Moore, a longtime Palisadian and the founder of Travelmoore, died on December 28 of cancer. She was 88. Mabel, as she was known, owned the travel agency on Antioch for 22 years until 1989. She continued to work at the agency as a consultant. A funeral service will be held in the chapel at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 1031 Bienveneda, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, January 2. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her honor to Oxfam America Asia Earthquake Fund, 26 West St., Boston, MA 02111-1206. Contact: (800) 77-OXFAM or on the Web at www.oxfamamerica.org. A full obituary will run in next week’s paper.
Royce Chezem Lived a Zestful Life
Royce J. Chezem, Jr., a longtime Pacific Palisades resident, passed away on December 21 in Nampa, Idaho, of natural causes. He was 81. Born in West Los Angeles, Royce attended Brentwood School and Pacific Military Academy and graduated from Harvard School in 1941. After high school, he worked as a shipping clerk for a candy company, then as a file clerk, bookkeeper and a teller at California Bank in Santa Monica. He was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1943 and served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, earning two Purple Hearts. In 1949, Royce married Carol Aldrich, then graduated from UCLA in 1954 with a degree in education. He taught school in the El Segundo School District for 34 years at the elementary, junior high and high school levels, teaching special education for many of those years. He served on the board of the School District Credit Union for over 30 years. The Chezems moved to the Palisades in 1955; Royce lived in the same house on Arbramar until last year when he experienced some health problems while visiting his daughter in Nampa, Idaho. His children, Jennifer, Emily and Royce III, all attended local schools’Marquez, Paul Revere and Palisades High. Royce, his wife, his two daughters, a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law all graduated from UCLA. Royce and Carol were active in the Palisades chapter of the AFS during the 1970s. The family always attended the town’s annual Fourth of July parade, followed by a family barbecue. He and Carol were married for 48 years at the time of her death in 1997. Royce was a ham radio operator and was active in the Emergency Volunteer Air Corps in Santa Monica, the L.A. County Disaster Communication Service and the Pacific Palisades Disaster Network. He served on the local election board for over 15 years. He enjoyed fishing, camping, crossword puzzles and working with radios, antennas and electronics. He could speak with knowledge on almost any subject. Royce also loved Tabasco sauce, eating barbecued ribs and a good steak. He enjoyed his family, especially spending time with his grandchildren. Although he was in ill health most of the past year, he maintained a positive, optimistic attitude. He had many friends both in Idaho and California who will miss him. He is survived by his two daughters, Jennifer Alban (husband Jack) of Nampa, and Emily Cope (husband Steve) of Colorado Springs; his son Royce III (wife Ronna) of Simi Valley; and grandchildren Dan and David Alban, Marissa and Oren Cope, and Matthew and Michael Chezem. Services were held December 28 at Gates-Kingsley-Gates in Santa Monica.
Memorable Moments of 2004
Following up on one of the top stories of the year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gets his point across’in a friendly way’to his predecessor, Gray Davis, at an L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce banquet in Beverly Hills.
Palisades Agency Finds Jobs For Back-to-Work Mothers
Many women who have chosen to stay home and raise their children, who volunteer extensively in the schools and in community circles, suddenly find themselves wanting to re-enter the job market, but only on a part-time basis. They no longer have toddlers at home, their schools don’t always want volunteers in the classrooms as they did when kids were younger, and the idea of paying for college looms on the horizon. Two Palisades moms, Denise DeSantis and Marjorie (‘Boofie’) Graham, wisely saw an opportunity to start their own business, Business Talent Agency, that would utilize these women. Starting this fall, they have been matching moms with employers who are looking for part-time or replacement help. Many employers have shifted out of full-time employment and have opted to go with part-time help, mostly for financial reasons: they don’t have to provide health insurance or pension plans. Recently, a Newsweek article even gave the term ‘sequencing moms’ to those who are returning to work. DeSantis and Graham find that many of the women they want to place are highly skilled and held high-level jobs before they opted to stay at home. One was a producer at an editing house, another had a master’s in education, and yet another owned her own business. Some of the women are nervous about re-entering the job market after being out of the workplace for so many years. That’s where DeSantis and Graham feel they can be the most helpful, by convincing employers to hire the people listed with their agency. They point out that moms are experts in multi-tasking: running the house, coordinating homework and carpools, and juggling volunteer jobs. Most of the women that they are placing will be exceptionally loyal, with very little job movement because the women are not looking for full-time work that promises advancement. Graham and DeSantis met 10 years ago at Corpus Christi when Graham was Sunday School teacher for Denise’s oldest son. As their children grew, the two women stayed friends. Both had extensive work histories. DeSantis worked for Cushman & Wakefield in commercial real estate for almost 14 years, before she chose to do volunteer jobs like AYSO soccer, president of the St. Louis League at Corpus, and auction chair at the school. Her two youngest children, Isabella (‘Izzy’) and Vincent, attend Corpus and her stepson Peter is a freshman at Loyola. Graham retired last year after working for Coca-Cola for 23 years in various areas, including marketing and human resources. Prior to that, she worked with an employment agency placing fresh college grads with consumer product companies. Her son, Alec, attends St. Matthew’s. Chatting one day about what their next life move would be, the two women came up with the idea of Business Talent Agency (BTA). Since they had so many friends who were in the same position’between being a full-time mom at home and a mom needed at home after school’they felt there was a real need to pair them with businesses who need part-time help. They registered their business name in April at the Palisadian-Post and then spent the summer getting their Web site developed (www.businesstalentagency.com), as well as starting to make business contacts. Jolyon Gisselle, a senior vice president and wealth advisor for a major investment firm in the Palisades, says: ‘The whole theory behind hiring moms on a temporary basis is that there are a wonderful, bright, intelligent group of women who have had success in the past in the workplace, who gave that up to face the even tougher commitment of raising children. They find themselves wanting to continue that commitment, but still they’re interested in expanding their horizons and keeping current in other areas as well.’ DeSantis and Graham have held several meetings at their homes with women, listening to what they need, having them focus by filling out a form stating the kind of employment they would like, and then explaining how they can help get the women back into the marketplace on a part-time basis. Contact: 573-4282.
