Life Skills

GLENDALE — A division of special education at Glendale Unified was honored by the state Friday for its innovative instructional programs. The Foothill Area Community Transition Services, or FACTS program, was selected by the California Advisory Commission on Special Education, which presented the award in Sacramento. The program is for 18- to 22-year-olds from Glendale Unified or La Cañada Unified who've finished high school but need further social or developmental skills, said Amy Lambert, the assistant superintendent of special education for Glendale Unified.

Gary Moskowitz NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Encore, an institute for learning in retirement, will host its fourth annual open house Saturday. The open house will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Life Skills Building at Glendale Community College, 1500 N. Verdugo Road. Encore is sponsored by GCC, the Elderhostel Institute Network and the Greater Glendale Council on Aging. Membership in Encore is $50 each year and includes free parking, an identification card, access to GCC classes, GCC library privileges, meetings and a holiday open house.

Raising a child is no easy task. For 57 years, Glendale Community College’s Parent Education Program has been educating parents on age-related behavior traits, how to build self-esteem in their kids, philosophies of parenting and how to practice positive parenting skills. Classes are at the college’s Life Skills building and at sites in Glendale and the Crescenta Valley. Having the parent education program across many sites all but eliminates waiting lists, organizers said.

GLENDALE — A division of special education at Glendale Unified was honored by the state Friday for its innovative instructional programs. The Foothill Area Community Transition Services, or FACTS program, was selected by the California Advisory Commission on Special Education, which presented the award in Sacramento. The program is for 18- to 22-year-olds from Glendale Unified or La Cañada Unified who’ve finished high school but need further social or developmental skills, said Amy Lambert, the assistant superintendent of special education for Glendale Unified.

Glendale High Golf Tournament The Glendale High Golf Tournament will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Pacific Palms Resort, One Industry Hills Parkway, City of Industry. Check in will be at 11:30 a.m. The cost is $175 per person or $700 per foursome. The price includes range balls, lunch, buffet dinner, prizes and more. All proceeds will benefit the Glendale High School athletic program. For more information, contact Brent Forsee at (818) 242-3161, ext. 1199 or by e-mail at bforsee@gusd.

Rosette Gonzales Manuel Alvarez held a young cabbage plant in his hand and prepared it for the garden soil. He gently wiggled the roots, loosening them so they would spread easily into the ground and grow. This is just one of the many gardening techniques taught to Alvarez, 14, and other developmentally disabled students through the Harvest Garden Program at Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge. In one of the oldest programs at Descanso Gardens, students from 20 local schools develop various life skills through daily gardening taught by volunteers.

Denise Wright, 22, told the crowd at her graduation ceremony Thursday in Glendale that she was ready to embrace a more independent lifestyle. During her years in the Foothill Area Community Transition Services program — a post-high school program for students with disabilities — Wright had learned how to take the bus independently to places like Hollywood and Pasadena. She had also dabbled in ballet and cycling by taking classes at Glendale Community College, had seen Cirque du Soleil and watched the Dodgers play baseball on school field trips.

Jesus Rodriguez used American Sign Language Wednesday to tell classmates and guests at his graduation about what he’d learned over the last four years as a student in the Foothill Area Community Transition Services program — a post-high school program for students with disabilities. Rodriguez, 22, learned how to take care of a garden, cook for himself and his family, and catch buses to travel between Glendale and nearby cities. He also tried out several jobs, he said through his interpreter, Susan Bloomfield, during his graduation speech.

Why would teens want to learn good manners? Some teens feel that manners are stuffy, snooty, adult manipulated and, in general, "non cool." But, what about teens who aspire to a higher calling in life? With good manners teens will have a practical knowledge of Life Skills that will help them learn what to do and what to say to others. These rules are the same as when they are an adult, and they last a lifetime. Manners are traditions handed down from ancient times by warriors, presidents, kings, queens and knights.

GLENDALE — Pam Zamanis' students divided themselves into three groups — the pros, cons and undecideds. A few minutes later, two students argued the benefits of euthanasia against more than a dozen of their classmates who politely and articulately disagreed. It was controversial and revealing as students made their case. "It's really selfish," eighth-grader Cynthia Ramirez said. "You'll affect everyone if you take your life away. " If the debate seemed high-brow, that's by design, Zamanis said.

GLENDALE — A division of special education at Glendale Unified was honored by the state Friday for its innovative instructional programs. The Foothill Area Community Transition Services, or FACTS program, was selected by the California Advisory Commission on Special Education, which presented the award in Sacramento. The program is for 18- to 22-year-olds from Glendale Unified or La Cañada Unified who’ve finished high school but need further social or developmental skills, said Amy Lambert, the assistant superintendent of special education for Glendale Unified.

GLENDALE — A division of special education at Glendale Unified was honored by the state Friday for its innovative instructional programs. The Foothill Area Community Transition Services, or FACTS program, was selected by the California Advisory Commission on Special Education, which presented the award in Sacramento. The program is for 18- to 22-year-olds from Glendale Unified or La Cañada Unified who've finished high school but need further social or developmental skills, said Amy Lambert, the assistant superintendent of special education for Glendale Unified.

Raising a child is no easy task. For 57 years, Glendale Community College’s Parent Education Program has been educating parents on age-related behavior traits, how to build self-esteem in their kids, philosophies of parenting and how to practice positive parenting skills. Classes are at the college’s Life Skills building and at sites in Glendale and the Crescenta Valley. Having the parent education program across many sites all but eliminates waiting lists, organizers said.

Glendale High School sophomore Nicole Marzucco spent many hours of her summer clearing overgrown brush from the city’s hillsides. Nicole, who hopes to join the U.S. Air Force and attend college to study nursing, said the program taught her about responsibility and teamwork, skills that will help her with her future endeavors. She is saving the money she earned for her future education. “I haven’t spent 1 cent,” she said Wednesday, standing on a hillside.

Glendale High Golf Tournament The Glendale High Golf Tournament will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Pacific Palms Resort, One Industry Hills Parkway, City of Industry. Check in will be at 11:30 a.m. The cost is $175 per person or $700 per foursome. The price includes range balls, lunch, buffet dinner, prizes and more. All proceeds will benefit the Glendale High School athletic program. For more information, contact Brent Forsee at (818) 242-3161, ext. 1199 or by e-mail at bforsee@gusd.

Jesus Rodriguez used American Sign Language Wednesday to tell classmates and guests at his graduation about what he’d learned over the last four years as a student in the Foothill Area Community Transition Services program — a post-high school program for students with disabilities. Rodriguez, 22, learned how to take care of a garden, cook for himself and his family, and catch buses to travel between Glendale and nearby cities. He also tried out several jobs, he said through his interpreter, Susan Bloomfield, during his graduation speech.