Persistent Parents Pool Their Efforts and Get Results--at Last

WADING IN: The wading pool next to William Green Elementary in Lawndale reopened last week after being dry for three years.

With classes about to start, the pool will close Friday and remain empty until school lets out next summer. But community activists and parents

consider the two weeks of late-summer splashing a victory. All summer, they had been lobbying city officials to reopen the pool, which is in a park next to the school, arguing that it would help keep kids out of trouble.

“They gave us 20 reasons why they couldn’t do it,” said Herman Weinstein, a local real estate agent and community activist who is also a member of the Lawndale Parks Commission. “We figured if (children) are not at the pool, they might be doing graffiti.”

The pool had closed three years ago, during the drought. Weinstein, while campaigning to get the pool reopened, hired a contractor to sandblast it, since it had fallen into disrepair. The company, A1 Sandblasting of El Segundo, did the job free.

Public Works director Mike Kapanpour borrowed water from the Metropolitan Water District. The one-foot-deep pool, reopened last week and used from noon to 3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, has drawn about 30 children a day.

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PRESCHOOL ENROLLMENT: Ambler Elementary school in Carson is enrolling children in its pre-kindergarten. Children must be 4 years old or reach that age by Dec. 2.

The preschool program will have two sessions, Monday through Thursday, with 16 children in each. The first session will start at 8:20 a.m., and the second begins at 11 a.m. Each session is two hours long.

A parent orientation will be held at 9 a.m. Sept. 9. School starts the next day. Information: Janet Davis at (310) 532-4090.

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SPECIAL FRIENDS: After his retirement from Mead Data Central’s marketing department, Torrance resident Ralph Pearson turned to volunteerism. He worked with the South Bay Literacy Council and Torrance Memorial hospital.

Cuts in school programs worried him, so he decided to organize his own volunteer group.

“Older folks have a wealth of experience and resources to share, and I understand the inherent trust between young children and older people,” Pearson said. So he approached the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) with his idea.

The result was “Special Friends,” a program run jointly with the Torrance Unified School District and RSVP. Since March, 1992, retirees have been working part time in 10 of Torrance’s 17 elementary schools, supporting teachers by tutoring children in reading or math, helping out as playground monitors or assisting in computer labs.

At the beginning of the school year, each volunteer meets with a principal to determine the needs of the school and the interests of the older adult. The volunteer then works with a teacher for at least two hours a week in the classroom.

RSVP, which is funded by the federal government, provides transportation for the volunteers and liability insurance.

Pearson started out at Walteria Elementary when the program got under way, helping teach youngsters how to read. He later worked as a library assistant.

“One of the most enjoyable parts is reading to the children and bringing the stories to life,” he said. “They (the children) just love it.”

Carol Riley, assistant superintendent of the school district, said the Special Friends have made a difference. “The teachers are so appreciative, and the children have really taken to the volunteers,” she said. “The program has been incredibly successful.”

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.