Students check blood pressure at Willow Campus of Hacienda La Puente Adult School.

This open house could open new careers for adults in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District. Adult education was holding open houses to celebrate Adult Education Week.
Residents were invited to take a peek at the programs at Dibble Campus on March 12, Willow on March 13 and the Hudson Learning Center last Thursday. The older students had a chance to discover a number of new career choices that could help them find better jobs.
“We’re the second largest adult school system in California after Los Angeles Unified,” said Cindy Parulan-Colfer, associate superintendent for adult and continuing education.
She said the adult schools employ 85 instructors, who teach more than 16,000 older students. Many were attending on federal Pell Grants, which help low-income vocational students.
“Our student received almost $1 million in Pell Grants this year,” said Vicky Rossier, executive director at Willow Adult School.
Area residents were invited to check out the local campuses during the open house, which offered free haircuts, $30 smog tests and cooking demonstrations at the new Culinary Arts Center.
Read more in Rich Irwin’s story HOUSE. 

The Los Altos High Entertainment Unit will hold its annual Taste of Los Altos Fund Raiser and Silent Auction on Saturday, March 16, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the gymnasium.
For only $10, an international passport will offer cuisine from Asia, Italy, and Mexico, as well as the U.S. Beverage and dessert is included.
Los Altos students will provide continuous entertainment. Diners may bid on many items in the silent action.
All proceeds will benefit the band and entertainment unit.
Tickets are available in the band room, from any student, or by calling 626-922-6468

Train conductor Russ Avery never thought he’d feel the way he did when he collided with a commercial big rig that stopped on the Fairway Drive crossing last week.

“The impact was so hard, I couldn’t believe it,” the 10-year Union Pacific Railroad train operator said. “It was kind of terrifying.”

It was the first time Avery had ever crashed into a vehicle, the driver of which escaped unharmed.

“I don’t get it. Why don’t people understand?” Avery asked. “I’ve been caught by trains and it sucks, but it’s not worth your life.”

As part of its UP CARES (Union Pacific Crossing Accident Reduction Education and Safety) public safety initiative, the railroad franchise on Friday gave an insider’s look at locomotives and what its engineers go through on a typical day to avoid accidents.

Trains run alongside Santana High School in Rowland Heights and near Nogales High School.

Read more in Juliette Funes story TRAINS.

The pitter patter of rain fell gently on Rowland Elementary School. A poignant reminder to the Rowland Heights students attending a water awareness class inside.

The Youth Science Center in Hacienda Heights returned to the campus on Jan. 24 to teach the fifth-graders about water conservation and usage.

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story at WATER.

In what promises to be one of his most significant policy moves this year, Gov. Jerry Brown will pursue a sweeping overhaul of the way California schools are funded, changing the way money has been allocated for four decades.
Brown wants to simplify funding streams, giving more local control to school boards and more money to districts with low-income students and those who don’t speak English fluently.
Walnut Valley Unified, which is already suffering from a $4.7 million deficit and can’t afford to pay its bills, could face more funding shortages under the new proposal.
“Because Walnut Valley has relatively few low-income students or English learners, on the surface it would appear that the district would not benefit from the new formula proposal,” Superintendent Dean Conklin said.
“Because we are working with Los Angeles County to ensure that the district’s financial situation becomes much more solid in the next year or two, any reduction in dollars would make things more challenging for us.”