Neighborhood Program Yields New Library at School

It was “show and tell” for fifth-grader Azusena Cardenas at Glendale’s Edison Elementary School on Wednesday.

For her teachers too.

Azusena, student council president, gave her first speech as the school showed off its new library, the first tangible result of an unusual partnership between the city and local schools.

The library was upgraded as part of the Edison Pacific Model Neighborhood Development Plan, run by community leaders and elected officials who have pooled resources to improve one of Glendale’s neediest neighborhoods.

Work on the school was the first phase of a $17.3-million neighborhood development plan.

Principal Joanna Junge and a bevy of local and state officials, including state Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, who praised the program as unique, attended the event. Improvements in schools, parks and a community center also are planned.

Eastin said the Glendale experiment, if successful, could be repeated across California.

“I really like people who are wild about education,” Eastin said. “Your willingness to lead the state . . . is commendable.”

Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles) said he plans to introduce a bill next month asking the state to contribute $2 million toward the project.