Reseda : Fifth-Grade Teacher Will Be Honored
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A fifth-grade teacher from Sylmar Elementary School will receive an award today from LA’s BEST board of directors.
David Mena, who also turns 29 today, will be given the 1995 Al Minturn Humanitarian Award in recognition of his contributions as site coordinator at Sylmar Elementary for LA’s BEST, a successful after-school enrichment program created in 1988 by the mayor’s office and the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Mena was recently promoted to the position of activities consultant for LA’s BEST, which runs programs at 22 elementary schools involving about 4,400 students.
Students are enrolled in the program from the end of the school day until 6 p.m., participating in homework assistance and tutoring activities, arts and crafts, computer instruction, music, theater and sports events.
As site coordinator at Sylmar, Mena instituted an annual family picnic, a popular Halloween program and consistently generated the most participation among parents and students for field trips and other events, said Tammy Simms, public information director for the organization.
In his new position, Mena will assist six other schools involved in the program with the goal of improving the activities they provide. He’ll support two schools in Canoga Park and one each in Northridge, North Hills, Sylmar and Hollywood, Simms said.
For information about LA’s BEST programs, call (213) 625-4024.
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