Week Without Walls Photography

Professional Graduation Pictures Ready for Viewing and Purchase

If you would like to view and buy pictures from graduation, go to cliftonphotography.printroom.com. These pictures turned out great! Be sure to let your parents know!

Graduating Senior Portraits

These were a big hit yesterday at graduation. Looking good, seniors! If you'd like to download or buy prints of these photos, go to http://lpsrichmond.shutterfly.com/

Presenting The Class of 2009...

And here they are!

Family Meeting - 6/5/2009

We had our last Family Meeting of the 2008-2009 school year on Friday, and it was quite a show. From the rock band, to the dance class, to the PUMA winners, and finally, the Step Team, every performer gave it their all.

Thanks for another year of fantastic performances at Family Meeting!

We, the teachers at LPS, are extremely grateful.

The administration of LPS-Richmond for the past two years has been exceptional in their commitment to supporting students, teachers and the overall success of the school.

Ms. Benjamin, our principal, has led us through some hard times such as getting a new campus, helping to create a stronger learning environment, and building a cohesive staff.

Mr. Madway actively communicates with teachers about students, plans and organizes family meetings, and continues to be a presence around campus at all times; we appreciate Mr. Madway because he is thoughtful and conscientious when making important decisions about our school.

Ms. Kim has been a great asset to the administration by bringing fresh new ideas to our school such as tutor tickets and the learning center while at the same time supporting students’ efforts by rewarding them.

Ms. Ram who did an extraordinary job helping our seniors meet their graduation requirements. Ms. Ram also developed the Peer Listeners, empowering our students to be peer counselors for other students.

Mr. Garland supports his students to be successful in their academic classes by opening up his classroom so students have a quiet place to work and communicating with teachers about important assignments.

Ms. Montes is the backbone of our school; without her, our school would collapse. She does everything under the sun, so our school can run successfully.

Mr. Bryan has been priceless at our school; for the past two years, Mr. Bryan has stepped in mid-year to take over art classes for teachers who had to leave. He monitors students during lunchtime, before and after school to ensure school safety. He also facilitates the after school soccer club along with setting up our daily announcements.

With Ms. Wolfe’s diligence, she has already secured all available slots to incoming freshmen; in addition, for the first time in our existence at LPS-Richmond, we have a waiting list for incoming freshmen.

Mr. Figueroa, as college counselor, has helped numerous seniors get admitted into some of the top schools in the state and nation. He helped organize our second Southern California College Tour. He’s been relentless in keeping students on track with important deadlines.

Mr. Hatcher has dedicated endless hours organizing our after school program. Because of Mr. Hatcher, we have sports teams, Model UN, dance, music, and STEP at our school. He is an integral part in building the school culture at LPS-Richmond.

We, the teachers at LPS, are extremely grateful for all the hard work and effort from our admin team.

Fight Night Round 4

On 6-29-09 Fight Night Round 4 comes out. This game is the best boxing game out there. If you played round 3 and thought it was boring well this is not the same. There is way different gameplay. In the round 3 all there was about the gameplay was punch and block. Now with this game the gameplay it takes a lot of technique because not every boxer is the same and every one fights different. This game you can punch through blocks. Height and reach do matter. On the round 3 there was like an invisible shield that kept the boxers from  getting close to each other. In this game you can get as close as you want. I tell you all from experience because I played this game. The graphics and gameplay are great. 

The 2009 Prom Video

Girls Bathroom

  Do you guys remember how everyone was on the guys case about keeping the boys bathroom clean? Well, this time it's the girls that are not keeping their bathroom clean. It sometimes is a little disturbing walking in there. There are used toilet papers on the floors, also used pads in plain sight, and sometimes even urine on the toilet seats. Also, I know that there are no trash cans inside the stalls, and that obviously might make it hard to dispose of used toilet paper and even pads, but the one thing that would most likely help this situation is using the seat covers. I know many people are hygienic and really don't like siting on public bathrooms, but that is what toilet seat covers are for, to put on toilet seats so you wont have to sit on the bare toilets. This would help the problem of urine on the toilet seats. Now, don't get me wrong and think that I'm calling out the girls and blaming them for the bathrooms being messy and dirty, the main situation and problem is that we need resources such as trash bins in the stalls, so there wont be used toilet papers on the floor.

If anyone has any ideas on what we can do to keep the girls bathroom cleaner and neater, please leave a comment. 

U.F.O.'s

Just a few month ago, President Obama's staff had a meeting with the pubic talking about U.F.O's and the information the government keeps sealed up from the public. This includes Area 51 that is a military base located in the southern portion of Nevada, North of Las Vegas, that was active in the 1960's where people still report strange lights in the sky of Nevada.

I think President Obama has taken a great leap forward for the public confidence because his staff is releasing information about the unknown military base "Area 51". President Obama has done a great job because it was time for a president to release information about the unknown files that have been hidden.

Alzheimer's Action Alert!!!

Action Alert!

what: Call in to KEY State Legislators about the State Budget

when: By 5:00 PM Tuesday, June 2, 2009


California has reached a crisis of monumental proportion in the Budget and at this time the Governor is recommending to ELIMINATE State funding for the Alzheimer's Research Centers of California -- this would include UC Davis, Stanford, Martinez, UCSF and Fresno in the Northern California region and 6 others throughout the State. It is also recommended that Alzheimer's Day Care Resource Centers Funding be ELIMINATED. These are very tough economic times and we understand cuts, but we cannot stand by and have critical services eliminated without future recourse for the families and individuals who are touched by Alzheimer's disease.

There are several key members who are decision makers in this process. Their names and phone numbers are included below. Please call these members and ask that they not Eliminate funding to these critical programs. If you are within the district -- that is best, but otherwise call the one nearest to you and others if you choose. We'd like them to be inundated with calls on this topic. You should call Sacramento, but if you are in the district, it is helpful to also call the district office closest to you with the same message.

Senator Mark Leno: Sacramento (916) 651-4003, San Francisco (415) 557-1300, San Rafael (415) 479-6612

Assemblyman Jerry Hill: Capitol Office (916) 319-2019, San Mateo (650) 349-1900

Senator Elaine Alquist: Capitol Office (916) 651-4013, San Jose (408) 286-8318, Gilroy (408) 847-6101

Assemblyman Jim Nielsen: Capitol Office (916) 319-2002, Redding 530-223-6300, Yuba City (530) 751-8351

Assemblywoman Noreen Evans: Capitol Office (916) 319-2007, Santa Rosa (707) 546-4500, Napa (707) 258-8007, Vallejo (707) 649-2307

Assemblyman Roger Niello: Capitol Office (916) 319-2005, Sacramento Office: (916) 349-1995

Assemblyman Dave Jones: Capitol Office (916) 319-2009, Sacramento Office: (916) 324-4676

When you call in please ask:

· Please do not eliminate the Alzheimer's Research Centers (ARCCs). The ARCCs provide services and education to families, particularly minorities, to veterans and to health professionals—these services are not provided by others.

· Please do not eliminate the Alzheimer's Day Care Resource Centers—the only community-based program designed to keep people in the middle and late stage of Alzheimer's out of more costly nursing homes.

The Alzheimer’s Research Centers stimulate California's economy in multiple ways—they should not be regarded as a cost center in the state budget:

In over the 22 years the Centers have been funded by California, the state's investment has resulted in a return more than six-fold—they are a means to leveraging millions in federal dollars.

The following Centers will close: USC-Rancho Los Amigos (only ARCC at a County Hospital), UC Davis-Martinez, Stanford, UC San Francisco-Fresno (only rural Center), UCLA Olive View Site (30% of UCLA clients no longer served)

Martinez VA Facility will lose more than $1 million in federal funding.

The Alzheimer’s Day Care Resource Centers provide key home based care; someone with Alzheimer's disease costs Medi-Cal 2.5 times what it costs to provide care to someone without dementia—most of this difference is accounted for by nursing home expenditures.

Currently less than 6% of people with Alzheimer's live in a nursing home—more than 70% live at home, cared for by family

Elimination of the Alzheimer's Day Care Resource Centers, which receive no federal funding, will rapidly escalate Medi-Cal costs—this runs counter to your budget balancing strategy.

Mars Inc. Kills!!

Everybody loves Snickers! However, Snickers and other candies made by Mars Inc. have a terrible secret: they test their products on ANIMALS!! Shocking right?

These animals are force fed the chocolate ingredients by shoving plastic tubes down their throats and cutting them open to see the effects on their arteries. This clamps their blood flow. This is crazy because WE'RE NOT THE SAME! We don't have the same bodies as rats do. Also, this experiment was already tested and approved on a human.

Another experiment that Mars funded was feeding rats cocoa that is anesthetized with carbon dioxide to collect blood from the heart by injecting them with a needle directly to the heart. If they miss the heart, the rats suffer internal bleeding and are later killed.

There are many other experiments that Mars uses that is unnecessary and kills animals. There are many other ways to test out the candies' ingredients but for some reason Mars Inc. wants to do it the hard way.

Other major food corporations—including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Ocean Spray, Welch's, and POM Wonderful—have publicly ended animal tests after hearing from PETA.

You can help by telling Mars to stop unnecessary tests on animals by going to this link,

www.marscandykills.com

A voice is the help these animals need. PLEASE don't eat Mars candies!!

They are:

-Snickers -M&M's

-Skittles -Twix

-3 Musketeer -Starburst

-Milky Way -Lucas

-Dove -Munch and M-Azing

LPS Richmond Prom 2009

As all of those in attendance last night know, the 2009 version of the LPS Richmond Prom was a huge success. We had the largest turnout for an LPS prom ever, as about 100 Pumas got dressed up and danced the night away.

A big thank you goes to the Peer Leaders who helped set-up for the big event - Julissa Otzoy-Medrano, James Willford, Marlin Willford, Maria Ortega, Barbara Mejia, Arturo Manzo, and Marco Cervantes. The prom could not have happened without them!

And of course, we couldn't have done it without all of the chaperones. Thanks to Ms. Kim, Ms. Benjamin, Ms. King, Mr. and Mrs. Bryan, Mr. Jernigan, Ms. Ram, Ms. Gittis, Mr. Rozeville, Mr. Figueroa, Ms. Lac, and Mr. Hatcher.

To download or buy prints of the pictures below, go to http://lpsrichmond.shutterfly.com/ Also, if you have prom pictures that you would like to post so that others can download or purchase prints, you can add yours here as well.

WWW Movie Making

I got a chance to spend the morning the other day with Mr. Russell's WWW group as they worked on their soon-to-be released documentary on Richmond. I was really impressed with their maturity and professionalism - like real movie makers!

Here are a few photos to give you a sense of what they were doing.

Yearbooks 2008-2009 Sale

Thanks to all that made the yearbook possible this year. The yearbooks are 35$ and checks can be made out to Leadership Public School Richmond. (The image above is the cover of the 2008-2009 Yearbook!!!)
Here is a link for a great typing program that will teach you how to type.
(Click Below.)

Online Typing Program

There are games after you learn the basics.

Thank you Victor M. and Uriel C. for trying it out!!!

The School Year is Almost Gone

How many weeks are left of school? For Seniors, the last day of school is June 5th, which means only 3 more weeks of instruction and Week Without Walls. And, as for the rest of the LPS students, the last day of school is June 11th. Meaning that they have 4 more weeks of instruction and Week Without Walls.

However, all of us have to be working hard to maintain those high grades and to end the year strong. Here is some advice for those students who might be scared that they might fail: "Talk to your teachers and figure out ways to improve your grades... Teachers are here to try and help you succeed not fail." It's never too late to bring up your grade! Because you do not want to be in summer school while everyone else is having fun.!

A Milestone

Here at Voices of LPS Richmond, we don't spend much time patting ourselves on the back. But for this, we'll take a second to toot our own horn.

A few days ago, we had our 20,000th site visit. Now, that may be nothing to YouTube or Facebook, but to us, that is a large number.

We also just learned that people from as far away as Pakistan, The United Kingdom, India, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Finland and Germany have visited our site in recent days. Who knew that LPS Richmond was worldwide?

Anyway, thanks for reading throughout the last year, and thanks for your support. We've got a great little team of writers for the next week, so expect some amazing stuff!

Skating

 Looks like the weather is going to clear up, so skaters get to skating. If you want any tips, leave a comment telling me what trick you want to do. In our school this is the first year where we had a big group of skaters to skate in school. I will also be blogging about other things like video games, sports, and other things that happen. If you want to see skating videos or any kind leave a comment.