Hawthorne Students Find Russian Cosmonaut Is a Real Trip

SPACE VISITOR: About 45 students from the Hawthorne Elementary school district got a rare treat Wednesday--a morning of conversation with a Russian cosmonaut.

Alexi Leonov, in town to attend the History of Aviation banquet in Hawthorne on Saturday, told the students about his many space adventures, including the world’s first space walk, in 1965, and the groundbreaking joint U.S.-Soviet space mission 10 years later.

Leonov told students that from his vantage point in space he could see the Ural Mountains, the Siberian forest, the Baltic Sea and the Caspian Sea. “The sky was very black, and there were many stars, and the stars were very bright,” he said.

The cosmonaut, speaking at Yukon Intermediate School in Hawthorne, said he and his crew spent nearly three years preparing for the Apollo-Soyuz joint project in July, 1975. The two crews, made up of two Russian cosmonauts and three U.S. astronauts, linked up in space, where they conducted experiments, shared meals, and held a joint news conference during the nine-day flight.

Leonov said he considered the project a scientific and diplomatic triumph. After the docking, he said, he invited the three Apollo astronauts--Thomas Stafford, Donald Slayton and Vance Brand--to dinner.

“I told them that it was a Russian tradition to drink vodka before a meal. We had bottles which we had labeled vodka, and everybody got a tube.”

However, instead of vodka, the clear fluid turned out to be soup--Russian borscht.

Leonov used a blue marker to draw the Soyuz 19 on a plastic board and explained how the two spaceships joined.

After answering questions, he thanked the students. “I don’t know if you all understood me. Some yes, I hope,” he said, laughing.

Afterward, some students shyly eased toward Leonov to shake his hand. Milan Johnigarn, 10, like a fan at a rock concert, ran up to him, opened her red Chicago Bulls jacket and asked the cosmonaut to sign the cloth lining.

“I liked him. I think going into space is pretty neat,” said Milan, of Washington Elementary, after showing her Leonov autograph to the other students.

Science teacher Beth Petak-Aaron, the adviser of the school district’s Young Astronauts Club, said she had spoken to her classes about the historic Apollo-Soyuz mission. “But to get a chance to meet a real live cosmonaut is amazing,” she said.

The youngsters also found it unbelievable.

“I thought it was great that he came to Hawthorne, because it’s not really a place you’d think celebrities would come to,” said Jeff Clark, 11, of Ramona Elementary.

GTE AWARD: The GTE foundation recently contributed $25,000 to the California Academy of Mathematics and Science for the school’s development over the next three years.

The Academy, on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills, is a public four-year high school that focuses on math and science education.

Founded in 1990, the school will add a fourth class of students this fall, bringing the enrollment to nearly 500. More than 85% of the students are minorities, and half are female.

The school is in partnership with school districts in Long Beach, Compton, Torrance, Inglewood, Palos Verdes, Hawthorne, Lawndale and Los Angeles. It differs from the typical magnet school, said spokesman Greg Klerkx. “The magnet takes the cream of the crop, the top 5%. Often, the kids who get left behind are the ones who are just below the cream, really bright and talented, but not the superstars,” he said.

After being recruited by academy administrators, who visit other schools and give presentations, prospective students submit an essay and recommendations from teachers, and are ranked according to their academic achievement and community involvement.

Those who make it to the round of finalists are interviewed by the academy’s teachers. Parents are also interviewed.

“We meet with the parent(s) to determine if they will give the children the moral support needed to do well at this school,” Klerkx said. “We want to find out their view of their children’s future.”

Klerkx said this year’s freshman class of 125 was picked from 700 applicants, 265 of whom were finalists.

The students get a well-rounded education, but the emphasis is on math and science classes. Juniors and seniors enroll in college math and science courses at Cal State Dominguez.

Earlier this summer, Klerkx accompanied 40 academy students on a tour of college campuses. Traveling by charter bus, the 17-day trip took the students to Harvard, Dartmouth, Princeton, MIT, Notre Dame and Northwestern, as well as some smaller colleges. Klerkx said the trip was mostly financed by the colleges.

“It was a great learning experience for the kids. Some of them had never been out of Los Angeles,” he said.

SAT SCORES: California’s Scholastic Aptitude Test scores remained stable in the 1992-93 school year, but more students from every socioeconomic group took the test, according to the state Department of Education.

Since 1985, the numbers of students taking the SAT has increased 9%. Meanwhile, the number of African-American students taking the SAT has increased 49%. Latino students taking it grew by 32%.

There was a 5% increase among Asian students, and a 3% increase among Anglos.

California’s average math score in 1993 was 484, still above the national average of 478. Yet the average verbal score of 415 is below the national average of 424, and has dipped one point since last year.

This year, 120,386, or 47% of eligible California students, took the SAT, compared to 43% nationally.

Items for the weekly Class Notes column can be mailed to The Times South Bay office, 23133 Hawthorne Blvd., Suite 200, Torrance 90505, or faxed to (310) 373-5753 to the attention of staff reporter Carol Chastang.