Workers Give Shot in the Arm to Free Immunization Project

BEING OF SERVICE: Members of President Clinton’s national service program spent Wednesday completing one of the most important tasks of their summer experience--reminding Inglewood residents and their children it’s time to get their shots.

The 10 “Summer of Service” employees went door to door, talking to people in English and

Spanish, inviting them to the free health screening and immunizations for children Saturday at the American Red Cross center in Inglewood.

Saturday’s event is a preview of a larger Kids Care Fair, to be held Sept. 10 to 12 at 35 different sites throughout Southern California. According to the Red Cross, more than 2.1 million children in California have no health insurance, and more than half of children younger than 3 have not had adequate immunizations.

Since June 19, about 150 Summer of Service workers from 17 to 25 have performed community service work in schools and health and social service agencies in Los Angeles County. In addition to earning minimum-wage pay, they will receive a $1,000 stipend to be used for college expenses this fall.

Leuzinger High graduate Seabron Ross, 17, said he has been working at Purche Elementary in Gardena, tutoring students in math, reading and writing. He also helped the students grow vegetables in a garden on the campus. Ross said the students will sell the vegetables to raise money for the school.

Telling people about the free immunizations, he said, was one of many fulfilling experiences he’s had this summer. “It makes you feel good, to know you are doing something worthwhile,” he said.

The health screenings and immunizations are available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the American Red Cross, 610 N. Eucalyptus Ave., in Inglewood. Information about the Kids Care Fair in September: (800) 870-5437.

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SCHOLARSHIPS: Recent graduates of Inglewood High and Morningside High received scholarships from the Inglewood/Airport Area Korean Merchants Assn.

The $1,000 scholarships were presented to the six students for their service to the community and schools and for their academic achievements. From Inglewood High, the winners were Desmond Moore, Missmary Pettis and Marc Thompson; from Morningside, Dennis Savage, Kimberlee Snowden and Edward Turner.

Moore will attend UC Berkeley in the fall. Pettis and Snowden will attend Cal State Long Beach, and Thompson will go to Stanford University. Savage plans to attend San Diego State, and Turner will study at the University of Washington.

This is the second year that the association, which formed in 1990, has awarded scholarships to high school students in Inglewood. Chairman Brian Lee said the group is making efforts to improve relations between Korean business people and the Inglewood residents they serve.

Supporting these students, said Lee, “is a way to reinvest in the community.”

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TORRANCE GRANT: Torrance High has received a $245,000 grant from the state to continue a five-year redesign of its curricula.

Principal Mary McCullough said the award will allow the school to upgrade classroom equipment and train teachers to “make Torrance High a place that better serves the needs of the students.”

Last year, Torrance High used an initial $130,000 grant under the program to reduce class size and improve classroom technology for ninth-graders. About 160 students worked, in clusters of 10, with 16 teachers, studying math, science, English and social studies. A computer was purchased for each of the 16 teachers, and a new computer lab was built.

This year’s grant will be spent developing a similar program for 10th-graders. “Instead of multiple-choice testing, the students will keep a portfolio of their work. They can assess their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s a student-centered kind of approach, where the teacher becomes a coach,” McCullough said.

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DONATING BACKPACKS: Volunteers from the Torrance Unified School District and the Torrance Salvation Army are preparing 300 backpacks filled with food, restaurant coupons and school supplies for needy students in the Torrance area next month.

“Operation Backpack” is being organized by members of His House, a service arm of the Salvation Army that provides assistance for more than 2,600 families a month in the Torrance area.

“We got a list of families from Torrance Unified, and sent out letters inviting them to the event,” said Dave Risher, director of social services for His House.

Risher said he hopes to give out 300 backpacks, but the organization needs donations to reach that target. He added that hard times have hit many in the Torrance area.

“We have (clients) who used to be donors, former aerospace workers, who say, ‘I never thought I’d be here,’ ” said Risher, speaking of Torrance residents seeking assistance at His House.

Information: Dave Risher at (310) 782-8841.

Items for the weekly Class Notes column can be mailed to The Times South Bay office, 23133 Hawthorne Blvd., Suite 200, Torrance 90505, or faxed to (310) 373-5753 to the attention of staff reporter Carol Chastang.