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Life & Times Transcript
10/24/05 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Crenshaw High is fighting to regain its reputation after losing accreditation, but is this one symptom of a bigger problem? Bernard Parks>> Not one of my middle schools or grade schools are performing at citywide average, so what is our expectation? If they're not performing at citywide average, do we think that when they get to high school they'll all of a sudden become better students? Val Zavala>> And then, a lofty way to spend the day at the Los Angeles Zoo and, amid the fun, there's a serious lesson. It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> Things have to get pretty bad for a high school to lose its accreditation, but that's exactly what happened at Crenshaw High School and that's especially bad news for seniors who are hoping to graduate. Now the accreditation was restored, but it's only temporary. What will it really take to get Crenshaw High back on track? Sam Louie went there to find out. Sam Louie>> It's been nearly four decades since Crenshaw High School opened in 1968. It was regarded as an athletic and academic powerhouse, but over the years, its academic prowess has slipped. Today Crenshaw High is under a cloud of uncertainty. It lost its accreditation, a dubious distinction reserved for the bottom two percent of California's schools. Its sports programs are still strong, but Crenshaw student test scores are among the lowest in the state. Last year, only one percent met state standards in mathematics. Close to thirty percent of the students do not graduate. Meanwhile, absences, tardiness and low morale plague the campus. Jacqueline Lopez>> They just would not be prepared in any way, come in late, straggling in the hallways, talk, you know, just take their sweet time. Sam Louie>> Jacqueline Lopez has been teaching at Crenshaw for the past six years. Lopez acknowledges there are some hardworking students, but she feels the majority of the students are just passing time. Jacqueline Lopez>> As an instructor, I know the student morale. They're just being -- their seriousness of the standardized tests, a lot of students wouldn't show up, a lot of students just, you know, just didn't take it serious. Sam Louie>> The culmination of sagging test scores and other problems eventually created a crisis at Crenshaw. In mid-August, the school was stripped of its accreditation. Crenshaw High School is the first LAUSD school to lose its accreditation in thirty years. Garfield High School was the last one to do so in 1975. It took that school two years before it regained its accreditation. George Bronson>> The school is not addressing the problems that have been identified quickly enough. Sam Louie>> George Bronson is with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. It is a nonprofit agency that certifies public and private high schools in California and across the United States. George Bronson>> It's kind of like a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, that the community can be assured that certain standards are being met and the school is accomplishing what it set out to accomplish. Sam Louie>> Bronson says the problems were first noted during a visit two years ago. Despite the warning, the school failed to correct the problems, problems such as low test scores and attendance, poor distribution of textbooks and a curriculum that doesn't meet state standards. George Bronson>> For example, in a history class, maybe a teacher would spend an inordinate amount of time on the Civil War and not get into other issues of United States history that are very important. By doing that, they miss key factors in the state standards that need to be addressed, that the students need to know. Sam Louie>> The state, interestingly enough, does not require schools to earn accreditation, but many colleges and universities require students to graduate from an accredited school. District Superintendent Sharon Curry was caught off-guard when the school lost its accreditation. Sharon Curry>> I was surprised because I knew we had been working hard to put some things into place. Sam Louie>> LAUSD has since filed an appeal which temporarily restores Crenshaw's accreditation. In the meantime, it's working to correct the problems. It has brought in a new principal, four assistant principals and support staff. A bigger challenge, though, will be changing the mindset of the students. Sharon Curry>> Having a strong instructional program so that kids feel like there is a purpose for coming to school. They can make a connection to why I'm coming here every day. How is this going to benefit me later? Sam Louie>> Councilman Bernard Parks represents the Eighth District where Crenshaw High is located. He wants to know what took so long to institute change. Bernard Parks>> What was really disheartening is the school told us that, two years ago -- or the administration from the school district -- said two years ago, they knew about Crenshaw having some difficulties in their accreditation. Nothing has necessarily transpired in that two years to correct it. Sharon Curry>> One of the things I think I would have done differently would have been to meet with parents early on last year, you know, as soon as school opened to bring parents in, maybe in small groups by grade level, to really share the data with them so that they could really see what's wrong with the school. Sam Louie>> But Parks feels LAUSD should be held responsible. He's particularly angry that the district did not give Crenshaw High resources until now. Bernard Parks>> Immediately upon learning of this, they found five million dollars mysteriously to invest in the school books that young people have been saying were missing for the last three to four years. They invested in the library. They made an administrative change of vice principals and principals, but they didn't invest in the prior group. Sharon Curry>> I think, in hindsight, you look back and see really maybe focus more on those operations issues, you know, that have come out as a result of all of this. Sam Louie>> The accreditation is back in place at least for now. That's good news for those seniors who are applying to colleges or other schools, but Parks worries about the long-term impact that students must deal with. Bernard Parks>> Even if you get in school, you have the stigma that you're the school that lost its accreditation. Yes, it's on appeal, but people will be looking at these young people somewhat suspect throughout their career. Sam Louie>> Crenshaw High parents are also concerned. Ernest Singleton and Carol Hart belong to the Crenshaw Cougar Coalition formed last spring as the problems were surfacing. Ernest Singleton>> We're going to make sure that we do receive our accreditation, making sure our school is running properly, making sure the administration is held accountable, making sure the district is being held accountable. Sam Louie>> The group organized a raucous community meeting with school officials days after the accreditation was pulled. Carol Hart>> Actually, I think this has almost been a blessing in disguise because there were a lot of apathetic parents and community members who just thought that it was business as usual and, now that they see that things aren't business as usual, they've risen to the occasion. Sam Louie>> Councilman Parks says the problems at Crenshaw have much deeper roots. Bernard Parks>> Not one of my middle schools or grade schools are performing at citywide average, so what is our expectation? If they're not performing at citywide average, do we think when they get to high school they'll all of a sudden going to become better students? Sam Louie>> As the former Los Angeles Police Chief, Parks offers sobering statistics on the impact to society when kids quit school. Bernard Parks>> If kids do not get educated, there's a direct correlation to the criminal justice system. We know that there's a hundred sixty thousand people in state prisons each and every morning we wake up. Sixty percent of them are illiterate. Sam Louie>> Still, the administration is optimistic about Crenshaw High's future. Sharon Curry>> Three months from now, six months from now, a year from now, five years from now, Crenshaw is going to be a totally different school. Sam Louie>> That's certainly what parents want to see, but whether it will happen depends on students, teachers and administrators all rising to the challenge of helping Crenshaw High reclaim its former reputation. I'm Sam Louie for Life and Times. Val Zavala>> When most young girls are giggling about boys, the young woman you're about to meet was struck with brain cancer. But her ordeal was made a lot easier by a mother from Beverly Hills who went through two personal tragedies of her own. Is it possible to turn pain into generosity and healing? It is. Rabei Robehen is heading to class at Glendale Community College, but classes are more challenging for her than they used to be. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> Six years ago, doctors discovered a tumor in Rabei's brain. She was only twelve. Rabei Robehen>> I heard once or twice the doctors saying "cancer, cancer" and I said, "Mom, what is cancer? What are they doing to me?" Val Zavala>> Rabei went through two brain surgeries, three eye operations, plus chemotherapy, blood infusions and, worst of all, radiation. Rabei Robehen>> They had to give me a high dose and it burned my stomach, my esophagus, my ears, the front and back of my head and half of my spine. It was just horrible. Val Zavala>> Rabei's mother was a single mom with two other children and a job, but Rabei facing cancer at age twelve needed her mother by her side. Rabei Robehen>> The first day, I remember I went. The dosage was so high that the next day I didn't want to go and I was begging my mom to not let me go in that room again. It was horrible. Val Zavala>> This is the basement office of a small foundation with a big mission. It's called the Andre Sobel River of Life and their mission is to allow single caregivers, mostly mothers, to be with their seriously ill or dying children without worrying about money or bills. Valerie Sobel>> Unfortunately, we cannot save a child's life, but we can soften a crisis by caring for the caregiver to care for the child. Val Zavala>> Valerie Sobel started the foundation five years ago. It came out of her own personal loss. Valerie Sobel>> It began because I lived the nightmare, the worst nightmare of any parent, having lost my teenaged son to cancer. I named this the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation because I love to say and to hear his name. Val Zavala>> Valerie was a successful interior designer, but when her son, Andre, got sick, she dropped everything to be with him. Valerie Sobel>> He was in school one morning. He was seventeen. I got a call that he was complaining of double vision and I asked to talk to him. I said, "Darling, you are being dramatic. You need to have eyeglasses like your dad." He went to an eye doctor and, sure enough, it was good for two days and the third day he got up with the double vision with the glasses and my soul went ice cold. In that moment, I just knew that we were into something horrid and, four hundred seventeen days later, he was dead of an inoperable malignant brain tumor. Holding Andre in my arms for three hours after he died, I knew that I was going to do for somebody else something. Val Zavala>> The foundation requires virtually no paperwork. Requests come from social workers at eleven hospitals across the country. All the foundation's administrative costs are covered by an endowment. Zoe Earl>> So when we get donations, we are able to put a hundred percent of that money immediately into the hands -- Val Zavala>> -- oh, that's fantastic. Zoe Earl>> It really is. Valerie Sobel>> It can be to rescue a mortgage, to keep a car running, a phone on, the lights on, to a last vacation. Val Zavala>> Nancy Mansfield is with the Institute for Families. She's the one who referred Rabei's family to the foundation. Nancy Mansfield>> Her mom tried to work for a period of time and Rabei was falling apart and told everybody, "I need my mother." Her mother already didn't have her own place to live. She was living with a relative, so she really had to quit her job. Val Zavala>> The foundation covered the family's expenses and allowed Rabei's mother, who preferred not to be interviewed, to be with her daughter through the long months of treatment. Nancy Mansfield>> If you have to choose between your job and your child, of course you're going to choose your child. That's what children need that are going through this. They need their mother with them twenty-four-seven. Val Zavala>> These were difficult years for Rabei. It was not only a physical test, but a spiritual one. Rabei Robehen>> I was in a big war with God over all this. You know, in our religion, it's wrong to ask God, "Why did you do this"? Val Zavala>> Rabei remembers how the kids would tease her for wearing a hat all the time until she explained her situation to the principal. Rabei Robehen>> I said, well, I don't wear it for being cute. I'm just wearing it because I'm embarrassed. I'm a girl and I have no hair and I don't want to like have my head naked. I don't want them to see my bald head. I always was leaving school for different surgeries, getting chemo and stuff, so they all got jealous because I get to leave school. I don't understand like why the kids will get jealous. I'm not going to Disneyland or I'm not doing anything fun. Val Zavala>> But she says her ordeal was tolerable with her mother always at hand. Rabei Robehen>> There isn't any mom like my mom there. Val Zavala>> When cancer strikes, it puts a tremendous stress on the entire family. For Valerie, the stress led to a second tragedy. A year after the death of her son, her husband committed suicide. Valerie Sobel>> He had very little left in his emotional arsenal to fight this with and went into a deep clinical depression. Val Zavala>> So you had two deaths to deal with. How did you deal with that? Valerie Sobel>> I am not sure, but I can tell you that, when I was able to begin this work, it has healed me. To get out of your own space, out of your own head, out of your own heart, and to look at other peoples' trials, you literally go into another space where your worries are eclipsed by somebody else's needs. Val Zavala>> Over five years, the River of Life Foundation has given financial relief to seven hundred families for as long as they need it, often within twenty-four hours. Nancy Mansfield>> When I can say your problems are fixed, it's okay, it's going to be okay, now you can focus on taking care of your baby, there's no feeling like that. Winning the lottery doesn't come close to what that feels like. Val Zavala>> These are better days for Rabei. Today she ran into an old friend, a teacher's aide from high school. Rabei still faces some physical challenges. She has to stick to a strict diet and she has a tube that drains fluid from her brain. But most important, it's been seven years and the cancer has not returned. As for her war with God, that has come to a gradual end as well. Rabei Robehen>> The more I believed in God and prayed for my soul, the stronger I got. Nancy Mansfield>> She's like the spirit and the heart of Andre Sobel River of Life and she's just a blessing in all of our lives. Valerie Sobel>> I think that you make very early on a choice whether you will turn angry and bitter or whether you somehow subliminally accept that all of it is a mystery. It is a waste of time to be angry about something and at something that is totally above and beyond you and therefore you walk the journey in this state of grace and it does become a journey of grace. Val Zavala>> If you'd like to find out more about Valerie Sobel's foundation, you can go to andreriveroflife.org. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> All this week and through October 2, Los Angeles is host to the World Festival of Sacred Music. Performers from all over the world are here, but it only seems right that the festival should be launched by America's first inhabitants, Native-Americans. Members from a variety of tribes gathered recently in the mountains above Los Angeles for a very special ceremony. [Film Clip] Kat High>> There is a Tongva word that means "the place where people come together" and we use that in two ways. We use it to mean they come to gather the bounty of the mountain and they come together to share stories, songs and gossip and sort of check out the gene pool on the other side of the hill. [Film Clip] Kat High>> Jimmy Castillo, who's a spiritual leader of the Tongva people, invited first all indigenous nations to join him and to represent their direction. So if you're a tribe from the south, you represented the south. If you're a tribe from the east, you represented the dawn in the east. If you're a tribe from the west, you represented Southern California up to Northern California. We formed a circle because we're the net of life. [Film Clip] >> "Welcome to this beautiful place, the place of my ancestors. We're the indigenous people of Los Angeles and the highlands, Catalina and San Nicolas." Kat High>> We had people from as far south and far north as the arctic circle in the village. [Film Clip] Kat High>> We use white sage to cleanse and put ourselves in the place, in a good place, to begin. The smoke goes up to the Creator and carries our blessings and our problems away with it. [Film Clip] Kat High>> The conk shell is used by some tribes to blow to bring the spirits in and to bring the people together. [Film Clip] Kat High>> A lot of people come to America that cut off their roots and then they're rootless. What we try to do is to remember that we're connected to the earth. Underneath the cement, we're still on the earth and we feel that's our mother. [Film Clip] Kat High>> We feel that we're here to help protect the earth and keep it in balance. We understand that other cultures feel the same way about their indigenous groups, so when you get to the urban area, cut that off. So here we offer people an opportunity to bring that back, to sing those songs, to feel that connection once again. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> The World Festival of Sacred Music includes forty-three events over sixteen days. For more information, go to their website at festivalofsacredmusic.org. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> If you think it takes patience to teach your dog to roll over, imagine how you teach birds to perform in front of a live audience. Well, the Los Angeles Zoo has done it and we thought we'd take our camera there to get a behind-the-scenes look at how they get our feathered friends to cooperate. John Guenther>> My name is John Guenther and I've been in charge of the bird show here for about seven years. I've been at the zoo for almost ten. I've got the greatest job. [Film Clip] John Guenther>> We have people coming to the show just hoping that they're in the show that the condor is going to be at, so it's pretty impressive and it gives -- you know, if we could do something that really impresses the audience and the kids, that they take away with them and remember, you know, that's what we're after. [Film Clip] John Guenther>> I can remember being a child, being at a bird show, and going up afterwards and talking to the guy that has just flown his Prairie Falcon and in just awe, you know. Now to have that role be reversed for me, I feel very fortunate. [Film Clip] John Guenther>> The raven routine is a great example of a routine that just allows us to demonstrate the intelligence of a raven as the smartest bird in the world and also give the children a chance to come up on stage and interact and be a part of demonstrating how smart these ravens are. >> "Okay, Alex. You find a good hiding place, whichever side you want. Tuck it way back into the bushes where we can't see it because, if we can see it, then Blackjack for sure can see it. Oh, he's looking for it, Alex. I don't know. I think he may have spotted it. He's got it. There's no stopping him." John Guenther>> Cheeks is our Goffin cockatoo and she's been doing the show for so long. >> "I need the help of an adult volunteer with a dollar bill." John Guenther>> She gets a dollar from one of the audience members. >> "Keep your arm nice and level for me. Most importantly, for this whole routine, keep your eyes on me. All right. Everyone else, please keep your hands in your laps and your eyes focused on top of the temple. Appearing will be Cheeks, our Goffin cockatoo." [Film Clip] >> "Grab the cash, Cheeks. What do you do with it? Thank you. You enjoy the rest of the show (laughter). I need an adult volunteer with a twenty dollar bill who would like to work with . . ." John Guenther>> Learning about some of the natural behaviors that these birds possess just gives you a greater appreciation for how unique they all are. >> "All the way back up to Mimi. Thank you very much for helping us out. One more time for Cheeks, our Goffin cockatoo." John Guenther>> We can all go home and realize that we're not on this planet by ourselves and that we do have to share it and, hopefully for generations to come, this planet will still be here for the wildlife as well as ourselves. [Film Clip] >> "And beautifully done." Val Zavala>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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