Category: Education

By Lynne Miller

In 21st Century USA, it is unlikely to find a rite of passage into adulthood. Hawaiian boys living in the 1700s plunged from high cliffs into clear water as a passage ritual.  Point Loma high school seniors sign up for Larry Zeiger’s English class where they write, direct, sing and dance their way to graduation. At least they did for 33 years, until Zeiger retired.

For 7 nights, right in the middle of studying for finals, the Zeiger seniors performed to sellout crowds. Every parent in the audience watched in amazement as their child dove off the cliff through the Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance portal. Jocks, poets, artists and nerds write the musical, make the sets, discover hidden talents and rehearse for months. 

Here are the Pointers recently inducted into Point Loma High School Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024.

Margaret Avery

PLHS 1961: Academy Award-nominated film, stage, and TV actress. She was nominated in the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category for her role as Shug in the 1985 period drama film “The Color Purple.” …

Ned Chambers

PLHS 1969: A native Point Loman, Chambers stood out as a star athlete (football and track), was a top student, ASB president, and was voted “Most Likely to Succeed.”

OB Elementary — in the heart of the village — has two enticement to its returning students for the new school season.

There’s a revamped school mural and an outdoor space called the “Zen Zone” to greet the students.

The mural was originally painted over 20 years ago, but it now has been “updated” by local artist Rob Tobin. It includes language associated with the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” from The Leader in Me program and was supported by the school’s PTA and and family volunteers. Numerous workshops were held and the school’s families worked on it, placing tiles with glue in a series of intricate mosaic sea animals.

Public Service Announcement

The new school year begins Monday, Aug. 12 for Point Loma Cluster and its nine schools – Cabrillo, Dewey, Loma Portal, Ocean Beach, Silver Gate, and Sunset View elementary schools, along with Dana and Correia middle schools, and Point Loma High School.

The Point Loma Cluster is part of the San Diego Unified School District, the second-largest school district in California, which includes 121 elementary schools, 24 middle schools, 21 high schools, and two atypical schools.

The Point Loma Cluster serves over 6,400 students in grades K-12 and its student population is diverse. Over 40% of the cluster’s student population qualifies for the federal free and reduced lunch program. About 25% of students come from outside the cluster, while 14% are English learners.

Not everyone is happy with Point Loma Nazarene’s appointment of a new president.

Longtime provost and chief academic officer Kerry Fulcher was picked after a long and national search for a new leader for the conservative religious campus. Yet, the choice has sparked controversy due to Fulcher’s role in a controversial firing in 2023 of Mark Maddix, PLNU’s dean of theology, due to Maddix’s backing of a former teacher who supported LGBTQ+ people.

The Union-Tribune reported:

A coalition of LGBTQ+ alumni and donors condemned the selection, saying it would hinder the university’s already strained relations not just with some students and faculty but also with San Diego’s LGBTQ+ community …

In some great satirical news, UC San Diego is offering space for on-campus housing during Comic-Con International, held in San Diego this year from July 25 through July 28.

Colleen Kollar Smith, the executive director of UCSD’s Campus Performances and Events Office, announced that the university will make available dozens of tents — slightly used — that it has for use during the event in downtown San Diego.

The tents were collected during an episode on campus about a month ago. Some tents have slight tear and some have a slight smell of teargas (these are from UCLA).

by Khari Johnson / Cal-Matters / June 3 Updated June 6, 2024

[Please see original for links]

Your children could be some of a growing number of California kids having their writing graded by software instead of a teacher.

California school districts are signing more contracts for artificial intelligence tools, from automated grading in San Diego to chatbots in central California, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

KPBS/ June 3, 2024

A rolling strike by unionized academic workers upset about the University of California’s response to pro-Palestinian protests at various campuses will spread to three more campuses this week, including UC San Diego Monday, June 3.

According United Auto Workers Local 4811, workers will hit the picket lines Monday morning at UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara, with UC Irvine workers joining the lines Wednesday.

The following was a talk given at a May 4, 2024 march in solidarity with Palestine in Olympia, Washington, and updated May  14.

By Peter Bohmer

Student movements have played a major role in radical history and revolutionary struggles.  For example, France in May 1968 began with a student strike and then spread to worker occupation of many factories. They didn’t win their demands although they gained substantial increases in student rights and wages.

On May 4, 1970, 54 years ago from the day of this demonstration, four students were killed at Kent State University for protesting the US invasion of Cambodia by the Ohio National Guard. 

Here are two statements made this week by UCSD faculty and graduate students in response to the use of law enforcement to make arrests and break down a tent encampment in solidarity with the people of Gaza. The faculty call for Chancellor Pradeep Khosla’s immediate resignation.

UCSD Faculty Call for Chancellor’s Resignation

Faculty of the Ethnic Studies department at UC San Diego are outraged at the vicious suppression of students by our administration under the leadership of Chancellor Pradeep Khosla. This morning, May 6, 2024, Chancellor Khosla called on the UCPD, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, and California Highway Patrol in military riot gear to raid an encampment of peaceful demonstrators exercising their free speech

The push back is growing against the UC San Diego administration’s violent crackdown on the peaceful Palestine solidarity encampment on Monday, May 6.

65 people were arrested when UC police, Highway Patrol and County Deputies confronted students and supporters and tore down the tents, placing dozens in zipties.

Also, there are mounting calls for UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla to resign for his role in bringing in law enforcement