7 Receive Symbolic APPLEs for Helping Kids Outside Class

One is a music teacher who built his school’s band from 30 students to 300. Another is a parent who returned to her childhood elementary school and established a home reading program.

In one way or another, the seven San Fernando Valley recipients of Los Angeles Unified School District APPLE awards for District 4 have added to students’ education through their work outside the classroom.

The APPLEs, an acronym for Appreciation for People who Promote Learning, were awarded Wednesday by LAUSD Board Member Valerie Fields, who revived the awards in her district last year. They were presented citywide during the administration of former Mayor Tom Bradley, when Fields was one of his education advisors.

“I would characterize all these winners as people who care deeply about youngsters and give much of themselves for the youngsters they care about,” Fields said. “I revived this event because I saw how much it meant to the people who work really hard and seldom get any recognition. Sometimes they’re lucky to get a thank you.”

Jeremy Chung, fresh out of USC, took over Lawrence Middle School’s music program three years ago. He started with about 30 students and even fewer instruments for the band. The band has grown to more than 300 students and Chung has raised more than $20,000 to make sure every kid has an instrument. The waiting list now has more students on it than the band he inherited.

Two weeks ago, the Chatsworth school’s band took first place at the National Band Concert and Festival in Hawaii.

“I keep trying to add more enthusiasm to get as many students as possible involved,” Chung said.

The group, with a repertoire including Santana’s “Smooth” and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, has become so popular it can no longer hold performances in its 600-seat auditorium. A June 9 performance is scheduled for Shepherd of the Hills church’s 1,500-seat performance hall.

“He put our school on the map,” Lawrence Assistant Principal Brenda Winter said of Chung.

Two of the other APPLE recipients, Norman Huberman of West Valley Occupational Center and Christine Zinnato-Wika of Calabash Street School, were once students at the Woodland Hills schools that nominated them for their awards.

Huberman, retired former chief executive officer of International Demolition and Salvage, was enrolled in 1989 in auto body classes at the occupational center he calls “the Valley’s best-kept secret success” when someone at the school took note of his business background.

He was invited to teach classes, and in the ensuing 10 years, he helped nearly 3,000 students earn construction contractor’s licenses.

In his new position as job placement director, Huberman helps 60 to 100 students each month land jobs in their fields. He said he had no idea how much his work meant to his students until he was hospitalized with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“My wife wondered, too, why I was working after retirement,” Huberman said. “But when 400 students came to the hospital to visit me, we saw just how much they respected me.”

Also returning to her old school, Zinnato-Wika, mother of two Calabash students, has worked to bring science and arts programs to the campus. She and fellow Parent Teacher Assn. officer Jenny Lehr, also an APPLE recipient, realized some of the kids at the school were from homes of modest means, although their western Woodland Hills neighborhood has an affluent reputation. Much of their fund-raising focuses on equalizing opportunities for the well-off and the poor.

Lehr was instrumental in collecting donations to stock an on-campus emergency pantry.

Other Valley APPLE winners include Dr. Aaron Yusem, a physician who has led budget reforms at El Camino Real High School; North West Valley PTA Council President Delle Goodman, who has volunteered at four schools over 13 years; and Pat Ferrin, who helps Calvert Street School fifth-graders grow roses in a campus garden.

Also earning APPLEs were seven educators and volunteers from schools in West Los Angeles, which is also part of Fields’ district.