Behind the Front Page: A Man’s Gift to a Boy, Coaches Wanted, and more
A MAN’S GIFT TO A BOY—Ten-year-old Andrew Hitt eyed Justin Sturgeon dubiously when Sturgeon came to his front door Friday evening with a board to build a new skateboard. Andrew, who had built a skateboard this summer only to have it stolen after riding it just once, didn’t understand. An onlooker could almost guess what he was thinking: Why is this guy handing me an old board and talking to me about skateboarding?
That’s when Sturgeon, a 1992
“This is your pillow,” Sturgeon said, somewhat in jest but making his point. “Sleep with it every night.”
The stolen skateboard didn’t come easily for Andrew. “He saved and saved and saved,” said his mother, Autumn. He ordered the parts “piece by piece” after he saved enough for each. Knowing what a skateboard meant to Andrew, his parents gave him a jump-start on his savings after he received a perfect attendance award at Hanson Elementary School. He did odd jobs and babysat for his younger sister to earn more money. “It took awhile for him to get it built,” his mother said.
The Hitts are not sure what happened to the skateboard Andrew built. He skated with it outside his home before feeling ill and spending the next two days at home. They’re not sure whether he left it outside or brought it inside, but when he was ready to ride again, it was gone. “I even looked in the bathroom,” he said.
Autumn reported the loss on her Facebook page and on the Ramona Skatepark Facebook page. “This boy just bought and built this skateboard, himself, and it's missing,” she wrote, showing a picture of her son building it. “It has red, green and yellow underneath. Independent trucks and spitfire wheels. If you see someone skating this board this week, who didn't have it last week, tell them they can return the board at 803 Main Street, anonymously, with no questions asked and we will return it to this boy who worked so hard for it.”
Sturgeon saw the post and knew what he needed to do.
After Sturgeon presented Andrew with the new skateboard and a Local Skateshop T-shirt and stickers, the man and the boy talked. Andrew said he’d been to the skatepark in Poway and heard about the one in Lakeside and would really like to see one in Ramona. Sturgeon gave Andrew some riding tips, handed him a skateboard tool and showed him how to use it, and then watched as Andrew rode in the parking lot with Sturgeon’s sons Garin and Grayson and their friend, Cash England.
As Sturgeon left, he told Andrew, “Remember, sleep with it.”
“Thank you so much,” Andrew said quietly.
Sturgeon, a Ramona Skatepark Champion leader, said a skatepark will get riders off the streets. Skateboarding was popular when he was a boy and he remembers bringing his board to Olive Peirce Middle School, but not being allowed to have it on campus. So he and friends put their skateboards in the backyard of a friend’s house across the street. When school was over, they’d walk across the street, get their boards, and ride. They’d go to the Alpha Beta parking lot, now Albertsons, until someone would tell them to leave.
“We had a couple ‘special spots’ that said ‘No Trespassing’ and we’d skate, and the sheriffs would come and kick us out of those spots,” he said, grinning.
Ramona needed a skatepark then. It’s been nearly 30 years “and still no skatepark in Ramona,” he said.
He and a band of others are working to change that. Ramona Community Planning Group in July recommended that the county dedicate $250,000 of Ramona park money for a skatepark on land near Ramona Library. They’ve formed the nonprofit Ramona Skatepark Champions to be the maintenance entity for the project and need $75,000 for a maintenance fund for the future park. Online donations are accepted at ramonaskatepark.org.
Shortly after the Sturgeons left Friday evening, Autumn posted on Facebook that Justin Sturgeon had come to her son’s rescue. “He built him a new board and surprised him,” she wrote. “Thank you so much, Justin.”
And to the community, she posted, “Please support the Ramona Skatepark. Our kids need a safe place to ride.”
WANTED: HEAD SOFTBALL, BASKETBALL COACHES—Now that Kristina Wright is the school district superintendent’s administrative assistant, she can no longer be Ramona High School’s head softball coach. As head softball coach for the past two years, she led the Bulldog team to a league championship this spring, when the team also received the No. 1 seed in the
Wright played on the varsity softball team the four years she attended Ramona High. A Class of 2008 graduate, she was Ramona’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, Valley League Player of the Year in 2006, and on the CIF All San Diego Team in 2007. She is a 2012 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where she played softball and majored in marketing and sociology. She was a personnel technician in Ramona Unified’s Human Resources office before her promotion to the superintendent’s office, where she replaced Robyn Puckett, who retired in June.
Damon Baldwin, Ramona High’s athletic director, also needs a head coach for boys basketball. Dan Marshall, a teacher at the school, resigned as head boys basketball coach to have more time with his family.
Both coaching jobs pay $3,036 to $4,643 per season, depending on experience. See ramonausd.net under Human Resources Employment Opportunities for more information. Resumes with references go to Ramona High School Athletics Director Damon Baldwin.
JV BASEBALL COACHES—Sentinel sports reporter Joe Naiman learned this week that head baseball coach Dean Welch wants to augment his junior varsity coaching staff. These are volunteer posts. Anyone interested may contact Welch at 760-518-5135 or dwelch@ramonausd.com.
SUMMER READING—At least one Ramona grandparent takes a no-nonsense approach to reading. Committing her elementary school-aged grandson to reading at least 20 minutes a day during the summer, retired Ramona High School teacher Carmen Bedia faced some opposition at first. When her grandson refused to choose a book to read at the start of summer, she handed him a dictionary and said, “Start reading.” It wasn’t long before he selected a book.
ALREADY?—That’s likely the question many school-age children — and perhaps a few teachers — are asking. The first day of classes for the 2017-18 school year is Monday, Aug. 21. The first day for teachers is Aug. 17. The first day for teachers traditionally starts with all school district employees gathering for a quick breakfast and the opportunity to visit with co-workers after the summer break. Next come introductory and welcome back remarks, information sessions and, for the teachers, a return to the classroom to prepare for their new students.
Kindergarten screenings and assessments take place at most of the elementary schools this week, with kindergarten teas or meet and greets occurring next week. Other information is on each school’s web page. Some schools even have supply lists online.
Middle and high school parents and students experienced the drive-through method of picking up registration packets early this week with registration and photos at the schools Wednesday and Thursday.
The 2017-18 calendar is online at ramonausd.net under Shortcuts. In addition to school days, it lists holidays, vacations, grading periods, staff development days, minimum days, and semester breaks. The first day off will be Labor Day, Sept. 4.
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