“Give a Soldier a Night Off” is the theme for the annual Army Birthday Ball on the Queen Mary on June 11.
An opportunity for local Soldiers to relax, have fun at a formal military gala to celebrate the U.S.Army’s 241st Birthday going back to June 14, 1775.

The Cypress School District recently announced that A.E. Arnold, Clara J. King, Margaret Landell, and Steve Luther Elementary Schools have been named to the 2015 California School Honor Roll by the Educational Results Partnership (ERP) and the Campaign for Business and Education Excellence (CBEE).

Katella Ave. will be studied by Los Al’s Traffic Commission to determine how a “no overnight” parking restriction would effect residents who live nearby.
Parking on Los Alamitos Blvd. will soon be restricted during the hours of 2 a.m.-6 a.m. following a unanimous vote to do so by Los Al’s City Council on May 16.
During the meeting, Mayor Richard Murphy and the rest of the council agreed it was too soon to approve parking restrictions on both streets since the impact to residents that use the parking has not been studied.
“I really want to slow this down,” said Murphy at the meeting. “It’s a great idea but we are going to impact some people that we don’t know about and we should consider them.”
A few residents that live in “apartment row,” as Murphy put it, urged the city council to analyze the impact before implementing the restriction.
“You should notice people in the area because I don’t think people know this is happening,” said Gerri Mejia during the public comment period of the meeting.
Giving residents a chance to be heard was backed by Murphy as he noted the restriction felt rushed.
“We mentioned this at the last council meeting and now it’s already back to us. I feel like we’ve rushed this, we haven’t had any hearing,” said Murphy. “I’d like to kick it back to the traffic commission and let them look at it.”
The timing felt right to the city council for Los Al Blvd. and now the wheels of enforcement are currently in motion. Residents can expect the new restriction on Los Al Blvd. to begin being enforced as early as August of this year. The timeline included in the city staff report says installation of the new signs will go up in July.
Time-limited parking
Los Al’s City Council concluded another long parking debate during the May 16 meetin with the implementation of time-limited parking throughout various areas in the city. The biggest change came down right before the new restrictions were voted upon.
Mayor Murphy led the change for four-hour parking on Los Al Blvd. between Florista and Catalina Ave. Parking in front of senior living homes on Florista was changed to a three-hour time limit.

Pictured to the right is John Hughes, one of just two remaining Pearl Harbor veterans still standing and still remembering the day the United States was drawn into WWII, exactly 75 years ago. He spoke at a luncheon recently, the last luncheon of Chapter 14 of the Orange County Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, and to Los Al TV cameras. Chapter 14 is down to just two standing and publically speaking Pearl Harbor veterans in Orange County now, and Los Al TV  producer John Underwood saw the urgency to capture what these “Last Men Standing” had to say about that day and why we remember it today.
Station Manager Larry Strawther added, “We have four new shows, which have debuted within the last week or will be debuting over next few days: Pearl Harbor Survivors – produced by John Underwood.
And three shows produced by OUR Los Al with students from Los Alamitos HS
1. We care “From the Heart” fundraiser
2. Los Alamitos HS Song & Cheer Exhibition
3.  Los Alamitos Elementary Gold Ribbon Celebration”
See page 19 for Los Al TV airtime listings, or view programs online at losaltv.org.

Nike lives by 11 guiding principles, their maxims: “It is our nature to innovate,” “The consumer decides,” “Evolve immediately,” and “Do the right thing” are just four of them.

You can Google the rest; that’s how I found them all. Not only are they interesting, but they inspired me to take action.

I led a professional development meeting with my English department this week at school.

The meeting was to refine our curriculum and embed more 21st century learning.

We realized we couldn’t start this discussion until we’d decided on our English department’s maxims first.

So we set out to do just that. And we got to them by asking two guiding questions: “What are the fundamental principles that drive our instruction?” and “What type of English student do we want graduating from our department?”

Honestly, how can a department of any discipline make decisions about end goals, assessments, mastery, homework, summer assignments, or even daily lessons without knowing what they stand for.

Philosophically who they are as teachers. And, most importantly, who they want the kids to become as learners and citizens of the world when the graduate.

As our brainstorming and planning day came to an end, I began to reflect on the experiences of my own children. I wonder if their teachers are clear on their purpose. If their teachers know the type of student they are trying to create.

If their teachers talk about the driving principles of their discipline. Sometimes I wonder. When my kids come home with worksheets, packets, rote memorization tasks, and mindless regurgitation, I wonder if they feel as disengaged from the content as the work feels from real life.

I challenge you to ask, “What type of adult do your kids’s teachers’ activities intend to create?”

As a district, Los Alamitos is very clear about its brand. We ignite unlimited possibilities for students. We embrace the whole child.

We build well-rounded students with a focus on activities, arts, athletics and academics. But how does this trickle down to each school and then, most importantly, into the classroom — where the real work happens.

It’s not enough to stand for the “what” without also building the “how.”

As a parent, I want us all to start asking the questions that get our district teachers to start asking questions of their practice.

Why this assignment? Why this task? What’s the purpose? What type of adult is this activity building?
I also realized during my meeting this week that I want to more clearly identify the maxims for my family. What do we stand for? How do we make the tough decisions? How do we stay focused on what matters?

As I type, I think about phrases I say over-and-over to my kids: “Anything worth doing is worth doing well,” “Effort unlocks your potential,” “Your level of success is completely up to you,” and “Find your own purpose.”

I’m sure all of you have phrases that bounce off your walls on a regular basis, because as parents these are the principles we use to build our little adults.

The same needs to apply in the classroom.

If every teacher worked to build little scientists or thinkers or innovators or independent learners — whatever the courses’ maxims — our kids would be engaged. They would be excited about their learning.

They would be inspired to find their path.

It’s time for teaching and learning to be purposeful and meaningful every day with every assignment — because the world can be changed one maxim at a time.

Just do it.

Cathy Larson, Rossmoor resident, classroom teacher at Oxford Academy in Cypress, owner of Write Away U summer camp, www.cathylarson.com

Congressman Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) will be hosting a Service Academy Night in Los Alamitos to offer an opportunity to interested students, parents, counselors, and school officials to learn more about the United States Service Academies. Each Academy offers young men and women a free college education at a highly-ranked, nationally recognized university program while preparing them for an officer’s commission in the armed forces.
Entrance to four of the five U.S. service academies–West Point (Army), Annapolis (Navy), Colorado Springs (Air Force), and Kings Point (Merchant Marine)–requires nomination by a Member of Congress or the Vice-President. The United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, does not require a nomination. You can find out more about the Congressional nomination process on the Congressman’s website at   http://lowenthal.house.gov.
The event will be held at the Los Alamitos Unified School District Board Room at 10293 Bloomfield St., Los Alamitos on Tuesday, May 31, from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Representatives from each of the academies will be on hand to talk to attendees.
To R.S.V.P. to the event, please contact Robin McCray in Congressman Lowenthal’s district office at robin.mccray@mail.house.gov or 562-436-3828.

Los Alamitos Medical Center recently received the Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation’s secondary prevention guidelines for patients with heart failure.
Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure is a quality improvement program that helps hospital teams follow the most up-to-date, research-based standards with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing hospital readmissions for heart failure patients.
LAMC earned the award by meeting measures that include evaluation of the patient, proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies, such as ACE inhibitors/ARBs, beta-blockers, diuretics, anticoagulants, and other appropriate therapies. To learn more about Los Alamitos Medical Center, visit www.losalamitosmedctr.com.