Guest Column:Vote, and a Very Special Kid

This weekend take a stroll down the Mountain Oaks path, smell the flowers, listen to the wind blowing through the trees and take in the amazing surroundings. Walk through Montrose Shopping Park. You don't have to buy if you don't want to, just window shop. Then on April 2, take some extra time with your kids. Ask them about school, their friends and what they are learning. Then remember everything and if all of this open space, beautiful landscape and smart, happy kids are important to you take some time on Tuesday to VOTE. Those who live in Glendale can vote for the city council members, school board members, and community college trustees; those that live within the Glendale Unified School District can vote for school board and college trustees.

I attend school board meetings. Until I began writing about the district, I really didn't have any idea of how hard school board members worked. The paperwork alone is mind boggling. It is important to look closely at the school board candidates and to choose wisely. As a parent, I feel I can speak from experience on one candidate, Mary Boger. I haven't always agreed with her opinions but I have always respected her. She understands the inner workings of the education system, which is no easy task. But more than that, she understands kids and I think it is because she is a mom, not a "let someone else teach my kid" mom, but a volunteer mom.

She has seen all sides of education, from student to parent to administrator to teacher. She always has the child's interest at the forefront. I think she follows current events and is not afraid to fight for what she believes is best. She is not worried about what others think, only what will help the district and the kids. In one meeting alone I have seen her anger flare with NCLB under funding, tear up at a poignant speech by a student and laugh at Chakib Sambar's jokes. She makes the board real and isn't that what we want? Experienced people who know the school system from all angles.

Speaking of schools and the students that inhabit them, I want to call attention to one girl that has amazed me for a long time. I know we have a lot of kids that are doing philanthropic work but I would like to call attention to Rosetta Ragusa, a junior at CVHS. Her devotion for helping others highlighted her school this week with the Invisible Children assembly on Uganda.