College Bound at Banning High School

For over a decade, we have coordinated after school programs at Banning High School in Wilmington. Recently, we expanded our program there as part of our LAUSD collaboration with the introduction of our College Bound Case Manager based at Banning High School, Karina Dorado.

College Bound Case Manager Karina Dorado is now based at Banning High School.

Previously, our College Bound team has coordinated workshops, "Cash 4 College" events, SAT prep and provided guidance support at Banning High School. However, the presence of a case manager on campus will enable our program to serve more youth and provide the crucial support necessary for students to prepare for their post-graduation plans.

We extend the photography and year book programs after school.

College Bound joins our already established programming at this Club site. The Club runs drill and cheer practice as well as after school band practice to expand students' opportunities to rehearse. Our driver's education program prepares students for the written portion of the DMV test. We also run the after school photography and year book programs allowing more students to participate in these classes. All Club members receive help with their homework and daily supper.

Drum line band practice at Banning High School as part of our after school Club activities.

Our Members Launch Their First Video Game

Thanks to generous support, our digital studio program offers our students the opportunity to work with professional tools and prepare for careers in the animation and video game industries. Over the summer, a group of middle and high school students completed their first video game and launched it to the general public.

In InfectDEAD, our students imagined a town where zombies run free. The central character, armed only with a spray bottle of household cleaner, must navigate through the town to defeat zombies and save mom. Led by Digital Studio Director Alex Monita, our students completed design work and coding for the 1080p game using free Blender and Unity development software.

The game is available for free to everyone with a OUYA device and will soon be available for Android devices. Check out our clip about the development of the game! Watch it HERE.

FOCUS on Athletics

Introducing a new standard for our athletics and healthy living programs. F.O.C.U.S. represents the factors that will guide our daily athletics activities, sports clinics, sports leagues, coaches and of course young athletes moving forward. To kick off the new program, Director of Athletics Phillip Redd and his team led our members through a series of activities on the fundamentals of sports during the first two weeks of school.

Soccer activity at our Port of L.A. Club during our F.O.C.U.S. kick off.

Fundamentals: Skill building and positive outlook on competitions.
Opportunities: Seeking options for the future in sports and academics.
Character: Building quality decision makers and overcoming failures.
Unity: Consistent teamwork and uniting athletic programming at our three Clubhouses.
Sportsmanship: Enjoying sports in its fairness and sense of fellowship.

College Bound Collegiate Tour

This summer, our College Bound students have been traveling to prepare for the next stage of their lives. From local community colleges like Long Beach City College and Los Angeles Harbor College to universities like USC, UC Santa Barbara and University of San Diego, we have been taking our members on a collegiate tour of Southern California.

During our visits, students are given the opportunity to go on a guided tour, sit in on a class, hang out at social spots like the dining hall, and visit the financial aid office to explore their options. For many of our youth, this is their first exposure to college life. Often a college campus visit will inspire a student to seriously consider his or her future plans. That is why we visit a variety of colleges to expose our students to all of the opportunities available to reach their full potential.

The college visits culminated with our Senior Retreat on July 30. CSU Dominguez Hills hosted our College Bound high school seniors in series workshops coordinated by our College Bound coordinators.

Our middle school youth members visiting CSULB. Our College Bound program starts
in the fourth grade to get our students an early start in considering their path to success.

Jr. Staff Developing the Skills to Succeed

In today’s highly competitive job market, we are committed to helping our youth reach their full potential as productive, responsible citizens. Our Jr. Staff program runs year round, but expands during the summer to provide more opportunities for our youth, ages 13 to 18, to develop skills valued by employers. This summer we worked with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles and LAUSD Work Experience which provided the salaries for 56 youth from low-income families to gain work experience at our Clubs. In addition, 30 of our high school members volunteered to serve as Jr. Staff for the summer.

The majority of our paid Jr. Staff members work at our Port of Los Angeles Club which is adjacent to the Rancho San Pedro public housing community. Many Jr. Staff are our own high school members from that community.

While working as a team to keep our elementary and middle school youth engaged, our Jr. Staff are also mentored on their communication and customer service skills. They develop these skills assisting at Club front desks, welcoming visitors, and interacting with Club families. Our Port Club Jr. Staff also completed a workshop on interviewing to prepare for future opportunities.

Jr. Staff training for new members. The object in the center of the strings represents a Club youth.
It is the responsibility of our Jr. Staff to support and help our youth rise up to their full potential.

LA Lakers Promote Healthy Living at our Clubs

As our summer programs are closing out for the season, we received a very special visit from the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation at our San Pedro and Wilmington Clubs. Team trainers visited our Clubs on July 30 and July 31 to give our students a taste of the same training that professional athletes receive. Our youth ran through drills that reeducated them on the fundamentals of sports and gave them new methods of training as our sports leagues start up again this fall.

The Lakers Youth Foundation is a member of the Active Alliance, a partnership with HealthCorps and The California Endowment, focused on improving health in children through exercise, nutrition and education.

Summer Adventures Through the L.A. Harbor

 

Our Port of L.A. Club kids have been on an adventure this summer through the rich history of the Los Angeles Harbor. The local community is full of historical sights that many of our youth had yet to visit until our field trips. We visited the Banning House, Drum Barracks Museum, Old Town San Pedro, the Korean Bell of Friendship and the Maritime Museum, just to name a few.

Our elementary school site coordinator, Harvie Contreras, organized the historical themed trips and served as an educational tour guide. Our youth have a lot more pride in their community now that they have an awareness of how the Los Angeles Harbor area developed.