Hamilton High

* Another school year has ended and although there is talk of a teachers’ strike, the world somehow needs to know that so many forces for good are pulling together to give our children exemplary experiences in education. As the principal of the Hamilton High School Complex, I will never forget this June’s commencement and the honor of whispering in each student’s ear as he/she came to the podium “Go forth into this world and make a difference . . . do good.” Much of the emotion of that moment came not only from the affection I feel for these students, but also from the commitment and inspiration from the many LAUSD teachers and support personnel who were my companions on this 10-month journey. Under the extraordinary circumstances of earthquakes and urban tensions, we still got through “Gravity’s Rainbow,” the last chapter in the calculus text, and prepared students for the transition to work or college.

What makes this school year ending even more sweet is the knowledge that corporate benefactors, 20th Century Fox (Peter Chernin and Dennis Petrosky) and Westwood One (Norm Pattiz) will provide us funds to go forward in the development of our music and film arts programs. We begin the building of a new film/communication arts center at Hamilton this summer. These fine men helped to garner over $400,000 from other music and film industry benefactors. And lastly the social stability that we enjoyed on campus this year was largely due to the efforts of the Martin Luther King Mediation Center, the Urban League, Project 10, the Coalition of Christians & Jews, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, the Parent Booster Club, the Parent & Student MultiCultural Coalitions and our new Alumni Assn.

There is great community in Los Angeles, and we are blessed that so much of it came together on the Hamilton campus.

NINA K. RUSSO

Los Angeles