BEST IN A LEADING ROLE TEACHER-WRITTEN PLAY PAYS TRIBUTE TO ALL WHO MADE IT.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Not that you've got a lot of extra time on your hands, Mayor Villaraigosa, but Hank Amigo's going to be giving you a call next week with a temp job offer. He has a friend working over at Fair Avenue Elementary School elementary school: see school. in North Hollywood, where he teaches, who says she knows your barber. And there's a guy in the printing office who knows your driver, so Hank figures he has a decent shot at reaching you. Either way, mayor, I'd take the call. It's pretty important. The job is a quick walk-on role in a play that Hank and teachers Robert Arnold Robert Allan Arnold (13 August 1982), commonly known as Rob Arnold, is a postie from Wellington, New Zealand, who achieved more than his fair share of fifteen minutes of fame in a New Zealand boy band, Boyband, as the gay boy. and John Balbuena have written called ``Nobody Runs Alone.'' You'd like these men, mayor. They're your kind of guys - teachers just waiting for the chance to breathe some new life into the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. . They're outgoing, innovative, and, like you, can't sit still for a minute, either. Too much to do. The play, which runs April 28 to May 7, is a musical tribute to all the students they've taught over the years who overcame the violence and negative forces in the gang-infested neighborhoods they've grown up in. It's their generation's ``West Side Story,'' only with an upbeat ending. These kids couldn't have done it alone, mayor, you know that. They needed excellent teachers, mentors and role models - like yourself. In Hank's heavily Hispanic neighborhood, the Villaraigosa name is magic. That's why he gonna be calling. When I stopped by Thursday night to see how rehearsals were going, Hank had two of LAPD's finest from the North Hollywood Division doing a walk-on to arrest one of the bad guys in the last act. And here's the kicker Kicker A right, warrant, or some other feature added to a debt instrument to make it more desirable to potential investors. Notes: The ability to trade a bond or other debt instrument in for stock may entice investors, if they feel the stock will appreciate. , mayor, the part you'll love: The cast is almost entirely made up of former students Hank and Robert taught five, even 10, years ago at Fair Avenue Elementary and Sun Valley Middle schools Sun Valley Middle School is located in Sun Valley, a section of Los Angeles, California, and is part of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). In April 1948, school officials announced that "the most charming of all the new junior high schools" in the Los Angeles system would . The success stories. The kids who have come back to be role models to the kids sitting in those same classrooms today. Kids like Carlos Carballo, who is taking his officer training exams early next month at the U.S. Naval Academy so he can make it back to Sun Valley in time for a small role in the play. ``I know how important role models are because my friends and I didn't have any growing up besides the gangsters and homeboys who came around while our parents worked,'' Carlos told me Friday by phone from Annapolis. ``If it hadn't been for Mr. Amigo's mentoring, and his after-school soccer program, I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what would have happened to me. I certainly wouldn't be here today preparing to become a naval officer NAVAL OFFICER. The name of an officer of the United States, whose duties are prescribed by various acts of congress. 2. Naval officers are appointed for the term of four years, but are removable from office at pleasure. Act of May 15, 1820, Sec. 1, 3 Story, L. . ``I want to pay him back. I'll walk out on stage, into one of his classrooms, or anywhere else he wants me to show up in full, dress uniform to be a role model for these kids,'' Carlos said. There are other stories just like this young man's, mayor, many others up on that stage. All of them say the same thing. These teachers didn't just help them find the right road in life with just words from a textbook. They showed them what street to walk down, and then they walked part of the way with them, heads held high. The first time I met Hank in 1999, his ragtag rag·tag adj. 1. Shaggy or unkempt; ragged. 2. Diverse and disorderly in appearance or composition: "They're a small ragtag army of racketeers, bandits, and murderers" soccer team had just won the city district championship in Carson for after-school soccer programs. Only a few years earlier, most of these kids were going home to empty apartments after school because their parents were working. The thought of elementary-age kids alone for three or four hours a day didn't sit well with Hank, so he started soccer practices on the asphalt yard after school. There were no leagues to play in, so a few private club soccer teams from the suburbs invited Hank's kids to come play on their nice, grass fields with all their new equipment and experienced coaches. The kids at Fair Avenue Elementary had a few soccer balls that leaked air, and a coach who taught third grade for a living. They got murdered. ``But they hung in there and played their hearts out,'' Hank says. ``They never quit.'' Four years later, they were district champs. Then the district ended the after-school and weekend program. Budget cuts. Carlos Carballo, the kid at Annapolis now, played on that championship soccer team. He remembers what it did for him and his classmates Classmates can refer to either:
Neither has Dennis Ruelas, who has a lead role in the play. He's a student at California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an , now, but he was a wide-eyed 13-year-old in 2000 when he and his classmates rode the school bus from their Sun Valley neighborhood past the lush green lawns and million dollar homes up on the Palos Verdes Palos Verdes is often used to refer to a group of coastal cities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the Los Angeles/South Bay area of California. This affluent bedroom community is known for its dramatic views, good schools [1] extensive horse trails [2] peninsula. Robert's drama students were going up against students from some of the wealthiest schools in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , but the playing field was level. No props, no scenery, and no fancy costumes that could influence the judges were allowed. Only four chairs on a stage, and the innate talent of each kid. When the judges added up the points, the top team out of the 40 schools in the competition wasn't from Carlsbad, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. , Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. or any of the magnet arts schools. It was from Sun Valley Middle School. Now many of those same kids are back in the old neighborhood - home from college to act in a play, and help their former teachers show another generation of kids sitting at their old desks the right street to walk down. That's what Hank Amigo's calling about, mayor. Important stuff. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com IF YOU GO ``Nobody Runs Alone'' will be held at the El Portal El Portal may refer to different places in the United States:
CAPTION(S): 3 photos, box Photo: (1) Teacher Robert Arnold gives direction during rehearsal for ``Nobody Runs Alone'' at Sun Valley Middle School. (2 -- 3) Above, Teacher Hank Amigo, who co-authored the play, offers hope to students who might otherwise be playing the blues in their lives. At left, former Sun Valley students rehearsed Thursday night for ``Nobody Runs Alone,'' a play about a boy escaping the violence and hardships around him growing up. Alex Collins/Special to the Daily News Box: IF YOU GO (see text) |
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