The Claremont Colleges will celebrate commencements next weekend, marking the end of another busy academic year. Briefs on keynote speakers for the 2013 ceremonies, set to take place Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19, are highlighted here. The Pitzer senior class, for example, has selected writer and comedian Jon Lovett as this year’s keynote speaker. He is the co-creator and head writer for the NBC sitcom 1600 Penn.
Prior to 1600 Penn, Mr. Lovett spent 3 years writing speeches for President Barack Obama.
The Graduation Committee—which includes teachers, staff, parents and students from Claremont High School, El Roble Intermediate School and elementary schools throughout the Claremont Unified School District—has been meeting throughout the year to assess the district’s graduation requirements.
A few weeks ago, these district stakeholders came up with some recommendations, which were shared, for informational purposes only, at the Thursday, May 2 meeting of the Claremont school board.
The Graduation Committee has been mulling over 4 key questions. The first is whether CUSD should change its graduation requirements to reflect the so-called “A-G” requirements.
On a “scale” of one to 10, lizards and snakes are a 10, according to Chaparral Elementary School kindergartner William Roby Unkovich.
One of 85 Chaparral students who took part in a kindergarten-wide trip to the Los Angeles Zoo on Monday, April 29, William was delighted to stop by the Living Amphibians, Invertebrates and Reptiles habitat, better known as the LAIR.
Noah Smelser and James Butz, 2 other aficionados of cold-blooded critters, also savored the sight of animals basking and paddling in the LAIR, which opened its doors just last year.
General Manager Stephen Hogan holds his daughter Ella, 3, as she selects the winning entry in the Claremont Educational Foundation’s 2013 Prius Raffle on Sunday at Claremont Toyota. The winner of the car is Jared Anderson, who was not in attendance for Sunday’s drawing but will be contacted by CEF to collect his prize.
Students and staff at the Claremont Colleges recently got a lesson in the importance of emergency preparedness, right in the middle of a safety drill.
The 5 Cs had just concluded a 10-minute cross-collegiate practice lockdown when news of the stabbings at Lone Star College in Texas hit.
After retiring as Pomona College dean of students in 2011, Neil Gerard now serves as senior project manager for the college. At 11:30 a.m., he was helping conduct a training session in Pomona’s Emergency Operations Center when staff members—many of whom had their laptops open—began hearing about the horrific attack via the Internet and text messages.
Claremont High School student Christian Tanori and Jessica Perry interview World War II veteran Ben Bennedsen during a recent student field trip to Pilgrim Place. The students will be writing essays about the veterans’ war experiences as part of their California Exit Exam English class.
The teens—hailing from Lisa King’s CAHSEE English class for students who have not yet passed the high school exit exam and may need extra support in writing—were paired up with members of the Peace Vigil Committee of Pilgrim Place.
These local peace activists have gathered on the corner of Indian Hill and Arrow each Friday for 12 years, signs in hand, calling for the end of US conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and advocating for non-violent resolution. COURIER photo/Steven Felshundneff
“The History of Pharmacy,” a mural by local artists Paul Coates and Diane Divelbess, will be unveiled in the Founders Room of Keck Graduate Institute on Saturday, April 20 from 2 to 5 p.m.
Mr. Coates and Ms. Divelbess, both of who earned MFAs from Claremont Graduate University in 1960-61 during the “golden age” of southern California mosaics and murals, painted the 45’ by 8’ mural. It was originally installed on the wall of the former Hendrick’s Pharmacy building.
Consisting of 12 Masonite panels, the mural—which depicts the history of pharmacy, medicine and healing—is divided into 3 sections.
The Claremont Graduate University may already be underway with its 20-year master plan, but school officials are electing to take a step back before continuing the university’s move forward.
CGU administrators held the first of 2 neighborhood meetings this week as the graduate university seeks input from residents prior to taking the next step with environmental consultants. A second open meeting will take place on Monday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m. in the Tranquada Student Services Center, 757 College Way.
A Claremont High School alumna Pam Dahl sings “Just You Wait” from the musical My Fair Lady on Saturday during the Alumni Gala at the Don F. Fruechte Theatre for the Performing Arts. The show, which featured a mix of vocal performances and remembrances from graduates, was the first at the newly renovated theater. Check out our complete story with photo gallery from the event. COURIER photo/Steven Felschundneff
At the next meeting of the Claremont Unified School District Board of Education, the board will vote on a resolution to deny a second petition for the establishment of a new charter school, the Embracing the Whole Child Arts and Technology Academy.
The petition, a revised version of a previous petition denied by the school board several months ago, was presented at the February 7, 2013 school board meeting.
Nearly a year after Harvard Square closed up its kitchen, a second longtime Village shop has called it quits. On March 1, Claremont residents said goodbye to Raku, an eco-centric boutique whose paper goods and knickknacks have added character to Yale Avenue for the past 30 years.
But as one Claremont niche shop closes, another opens, with an abundance of a different sort of paper good. On the other end of the Claremont Village, residents are welcoming in the latest quirky Claremont business: comic book extraordinaire A Shop Called Quest.
The Friends of the Claremont Library has announced Susan Straight’s novel Take One Candle Light a Room as its 2013 selection for the citywide “On the Same Page” (OSTP) reading program.
The goal of this annual event is to engage community residents in a public discussion regarding a work of fiction, or non-fiction, that forms the foundation for a common experience and encourages the pleasure of reading.
Selections from previous years have included The Soloist by Steve Lopez, Into the Beautiful North by Lluis Alberto Urrea, and last year’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
Three community members took to the podium at the Thursday, March 21 meeting of the Claremont Unified School District to express concern about the board’s recent decision to declare 2 pieces of district property surplus.
The first of these was Barbara Solorzano, who teaches “Mommy, Daddy, Grandparents and Me” parenting classes through the Claremont Adult School, which are designed for children ages 18 months through 5 years and their caregivers.
Ms. Solorzano said she came to “clarify a misconception,” which was printed in recent Claremont COURIER articles, that the site of the La Puerta Intermediate School had been abandoned in recent years.
With Governor Jerry Brown proposing a new K-12 funding system, the future of the Baldy View Regional Occupational Program is uncertain.
At the Thursday, March 7 meeting of the Claremont school board, board president and Baldy View ROP Commissioner Mary Caenepeel reported that employees of the local Joint Powers Authority—which provides career technical education (CTE) to residents of Claremont, Upland, Chino and Chaffey Joint Union school districts—have all been given pink slips.
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