Mark Keppel

TUESDAY GIRLS? BASKETBALL ?Glendale vs. Mark Keppel in Burroughs Tournament, 8 p.m. ?Holy Family vs. Viewpoint in Providence Tournament, 9 p.m. ? BOYS? BASKETBALL ?Hoover vs. Panorama in Burbank Tournament, 5 p.m. ?Glendale vs. St. Francis in Burbank Tournament, 7 p.m. ?Crescenta Valley vs. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in Burbank Tournament, 9 p.m. ? WEDNESDAY GIRLS? BASKETBALL ?Hoover vs. Mark Keppel in Burbank Tournament, 3 p.m. ?

PASADENA ? Turnover problems and shooting woes suffered by the Hoover High boys? basketball team on Friday afternoon served as fuel for the engine of a speedy Mark Keppel squad that used an up-tempo transition game to race to a 71-47 win in the opening round of the 2008 La Salle/Temple City Holiday Classic at La Salle. The Tornadoes gave the ball away a total of 26 times and went through an agonizing spell spanning the entire second quarter and the first five minutes of the third in which they converted just one field goal.

BURBANK — There was rarely a foul called that Crescenta Valley High girls’ basketball Coach Jason Perez didn’t argue or a play downcourt by the Falcons that he didn’t critique. But when all was said and done and the Falcons had fallen against Mark Keppel, 38-28, in the first round of the Bellarmine-Jefferson Summer League Tournament, Perez was plenty happy with what had transpired. “Overall, I was real happy,” said Perez, who coached the Falcons to a berth in the CIF playoffs after a fourth-place finish in the Pacific League.

Three elementary schools promoted fifth- and sixth-graders to middle school for the first time in 15 years on Friday, as the schools prepare to return to a traditional school schedule in September because of the declining number of students in Glendale. Richardson D. White, Mark Keppel and Horace Mann elementary schools will follow a traditional school schedule that is followed by all of the Glendale Unified schools. In a traditional schedule, the first day of school is in September and the last day of school is in June.

Students who finished a new, 10-week Korean conversation class at Mark Keppel Elementary on Thursday left the enrichment session with some practical knowledge of a new language and a hearty appetite for Korean food. The school, which began a Korean Dual Language Program with a group of kindergartners this fall, started a distinct, weekly Korean language class in late February to introduce students who aren?t in the dual-language program to Korean. Parents had asked for a way to offer their children some exposure to the language, so educators responded by creating the conversation class, which was open to Keppel students in every grade level, said Naehi Wong, who coordinates the dual language program.

There is something that happens to Shelley Gupilan every time she steps onto a basketball court. It is a transformation of sorts, not of the physical nature, but instead an alteration of her personality. And when the Bellarmine-Jefferson High standout basketball player flips the switch, the change is instantaneous. ?When I?m not playing basketball, I like to joke around a lot with people,? said Gupilan, a self-described prankster. ?I just think that some people are way too serious all the time and they should enjoy things a little more.

Since taking over the reins of the Hoover High boys’ basketball program last spring, Henrik Sardarbegian has had a clear agenda for the Tornadoes — aside from that of putting together a winning season on the court. Beginning with his push to involve his players in a trash pickup and street beautification project in the immediate area surrounding the Hoover campus — an endeavor for which the Tornadoes received a commendation from the Committee for a Clean and Beautiful Glendale at a November banquet at the Glendale Elk’s Lodge — the first-year coach has put a high priority on community service.