Lawndale school among contenders for Obama speech

An eight-and-a-half-year-old Lawndale charter school is one of six high schools among more than 1,000 applicants across the country left in a competition to have President Obama speak at its commencement.

The list will be winnowed to three Friday after the results of online voting are tallied, with the president choosing the winner May 4.

“After the ‘wow’ wears off, it’s even more memorable because we’re setting an example for the rest of the country on what innovation in education can be,” said Alison Suffet-Diaz, a former lawyer who is Environmental Charter High School’s founder and executive director.

The finalists will be chosen based on the ratings given to the schools’ essays and videos from those visiting the White House website. Voting continues until 9 p.m. Thursday.

Showing their own entrepreneurial skills, the students involved in the project caught up with businessman Sir Richard Branson, who made a video supporting their effort. Basketball star Shaquille O’Neal and “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest have tweeted their support.

The idea to enter the Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge came after senior Jordan Howard read about it on the White House’s Twitter feed and Facebook page. Five students put together the video extolling the school and e-mailed it to the White House.

“Honestly, we knew our school was good, but deep down inside we thought our chances were slim; it’s nationwide,” Howard said.

Then the White House called Principal Jenni Taylor. She called in the students who worked on the project, and two of them broke into the “Star Spangled Banner.”

But making it into the top six meant that the students had to produce another video about their school, this one three minutes long. As part of the program, the entertainment company Viacom sent a producer to supervise. The students were allowed to spend a maximum of 10 hours on shooting it and another 10 editing it.

“I think we capture everything we wanted to share, our creativity, our education,” said senior Tyler Garber, who will attend Bryn Mawr next year.

The other schools in the competition are in Miami; Cincinnati; Overland Park, Kan.; Kalamazoo, Mich.; and Denver.

Suffet-Diaz said that Environmental Charter has the most low-income students among the finalists, with 78% of the 464 students eligible for free and reduced-fee lunches.

The school has shown impressive academic achievement, as 92% of last year’s graduating class was admitted to four-year colleges, Suffet-Diaz said.

The school tries to live up to its environmental mission. A recirculating stream stocked by rain passes through campus. There are 70 fruit trees, including banana, figs, nectarines, avocados and pears, along with compost bins. There is a garden in which ingredients for salsa are grown.

There are murals of sea turtles and squids. One says, “Love This Planet.” Another depicts Obama.

In one classroom, students have made solar ovens and are working on a boat whose engine will be driven by solar power.

Suffet-Diaz said that when Obama was elected president, the atmosphere at the largely minority campus was “the most memorable moment in my lifetime, other than the birth of my daughter. It changed their vision of what was possible in their future,” she said

The school is now trying to persuade people to vote. The founder passes out business cards saying, “Help us get President Obama to speak at our graduation!”

Banners on Hawthorne Boulevard encourage people to vote for the school, as do messages on a giant electronic billboard off the 405 freeway.

There’s a fallback position if the president goes elsewhere.

“If he doesn’t come, we hope Michele Obama will come,” said Sara Laimon, director of the Green Ambassadors program.

jeff.gottlieb@latimes.com