At-Risk Students Escape Gritty Life in Neighborhoods for Ocean Outing

They traveled just 10 miles off the shore of San Pedro in an aging 65-foot fishing boat to learn about sea life.

But for many of the 30 teen-agers who stood in the ocean breeze at the bow of the boat, far from the gritty neighborhoods of Sun Valley and North Hollywood where they live, it was the excursion of a lifetime.

“I don’t even know how to swim,” said 18-year-old Alma Sandoval of North Hollywood as she clutched the bow rail while the boat rolled over three-foot swells.

“But I’m not nervous, I’m excited.”

The teen-agers, from Amelia Earhart and Robert Lewis continuation high schools in North Hollywood and Sun Valley, took part in the three-hour tour Monday as part of a monthlong math and science program.

The program, which aims to interest at-risk students in math and science, was launched in September by the Los Angeles Unified School District and the California National Guard with funds redirected from military downsizing.

The Guard allocated about $10 million to the LAUSD for similar programs from funds once earmarked for military research and development.

The program included four weeks of math and science classes at the Delevan Center in Eagle Rock and four field trips, all with California National Guard instructors.

The ocean excursion was the final field trip of the program, and for many students the first time they had ever been on a boat.

Unaccustomed to the rolling waves, some students moved immediately from the bow to the stern of the boat and sat with their heads in their hands until the boat turned back to shore.

But even the seasick perked up when the boat circled a bell buoy near the entrance of the harbor where nearly a dozen California sea lions lay, dozing and warming themselves in the sun.

Ivon Kovachev, 17, rushed to the bow of the boat with her camera pressed to her face.

“Can you move?” she asked her classmates. “This one is for my daughter.”

She snapped close-ups of the cooperative sea lions, who tilted their heads and dove into the water.

“Things like this keep me coming to school,” Ivon said, explaining that she dropped out of school while she was pregnant with her year-old daughter. “It’s much better than staying at school all day.”