Recently in Fairplex Category

The Los Angeles County Fair Association announced today (June 25) that three new members have joined the organization.

Heidi Gallegos of Walnut, Thomas Hsieh of Pomona and resident Darryl Porter of Sherman Oaks are the new members, according to a statement from the association.

The association now has more than 50 members and an 11-member board
of directors.

The association consists of local leaders who have a wide range of
expertise, community involvement and knowledge.

The not-for-profit association is involved in various projects that
have a focus on education, young people and community service. It is
also responsible for the L.A. County Fair, Fairplex's signature event.

Gallegos is vice president of the Rowland Unified School District
board. She is a delegate to the California School Board Association
Region 23 and a member of the Regional Economic Association of
Leaders of California's Education Subcommittee.

Gallegos is also president and chief executive officer of the Regional Chamber of Commerce San
Gabriel Valley; secretary/treasurer of the Los Angeles County
Business Federation; chairwoman of the Mt. San Antonio Community
College Bond Oversight Committee; and a member of Rotary Club of
Walnut Valley.

In addition, she is a recipient of the California
PTA's Golden Oak Service Award and was named 2008 Woman of the Year
for the 60th Assembly District.

Gallegos served in law enforcement as a peace officer and trainer at
the Los Angeles Police Academy for 12 years. She is a graduate of
Biola University, Glendale Community College and the Los Angeles
Police Academy.

Hsieh served more than 10 years with EarthLink before starting his
own company, SplinterRock. He managed more than 450 employees with
EarthLink as vice president of engineering.

His community involvement with nonprofits includes founding president
on the board of Pomona Hope, which grew to have a community center,
after-school program, computer lab and job creation as well as an
economic development program in partnership with Pomona. He also
serves on the board of Servants Partners.

He received an executive MBA from the Drucker School of Management
and a bachelor of science degree in physics from Harvey Mudd College.
Porter is co-chief executive officer and founder of
PorterGeller Entertainment in Hollywood. The company
focuses on film, television and new media projects based on iconic
brands and trademarks.

Porter previously was senior vice president with the Tribune
Entertainment Co. Business Group and senior associate at McBride,
Baker & Cole in Chicago.

He is a graduate of DePaul University College of Commerce, and the
University of Illinois College of Law.

Actors at least 18 years old who have a talent for frightening others
may want to take part in an open casting call between 9 a.m. and 2
p.m. Saturday (June 26) at Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave.

Candidates will go before an American Idol-style panel of judges.
The successful candidates will be offered the role of a ghoul or
monster at Nightmare at Scareview Farms, the annual Halloween
attraction at Fairplex.

"Monsters don't need anything but their screams and howls. We will
provide the costumes," said Ed Mendez, who represents RWB Party
Props, the production company that puts on Scareview Farms.

"Scareview Idol," as the event is being billed, will be in the Big
Red Barn, the home of Scareview Farms. A temporary haunted maze has
been set up for the audition.

Participants in the casting call can enter Fairplex through Gate 1 on
McKinley Avenue.

Nightmare at Scareview Farms will include five mazes -- "The Bride of
Pitchfork," "Cleopatra's Tomb," "Transylvania Terror," "Skull Island"
and "Zombies of the Grave."

Halloween Nightmare at Scareview Farms is from 7 to 11 p.m. Oct.
14-16, Oct. 21-23 and Oct. 28-31.

Enjoying an evening of fine wine and classic cars can help support educational activities at Fairplex. 

POMONA -- In summer 2008, Justin Castruita had just graduated from Bonita High School and was working in a machine shop testing hydraulic parts when he heard about a course being taught at Fairplex.

The six-week, eight-hours-a day water technology course was the first class offered as part of the Fairplex Educational Foundation's Career & Technical Education Center program, also known as CTEC.

Castruita wasn't enjoying his work at the machine shop and thought he'd give the class a try.
The class led to a job with the East Pasadena Water Company and what Castruita sees as the start of a career in water utilities.

"I'm trying to get experience and as much knowledge" as possible, the 18-year-old La Verne resident said.

The company he works for is small, which is good as he starts his career, and offers a variety of duties.

"I do customer service and work on water mains and water leaks," he said. "There are places where people don't do half of what I do."

Castruita is a success story Dan Harden points to when he talks about CTEC.

Harden, director of education for Fairplex, can envision more young people having similar experiences to Castruita through CTEC.

The program has been designed to give students an opportunity to develop technical and vocational skills that will allow them to take entry level jobs in well paid fields with room to move up with additional training.

Castruita is one of 15 students who took part in the inaugural water technology course and completed it successfully, Harden said.

Seven members of the class, which is part of CTEC's Environmental and Regenerative Studies career path, now work in the water industry, he said.

Castruita was one of several class members who interviewed at East Pasadena with the help of Patti Latourelle, an employee of the water company who is both a board member of the Bonita Unified School District and its representative on the San Antonio Regional Occupational Program.

Latourelle said she followed the progress of the water class and when an opening at the utility come became available suggested students be considered for the spot.

Castruita has been with the utility a little more than a year and in that time has proven to be "a wonderful employee."

Before he enrolled in the water technology class Castruita considered going into law enforcement.

Working for the water utility has afforded him many of same benefit those in law enforcement are entitled to "but it's a lot less dangerous," he said.

His job allows him to work outdoors, carry out different responsibilities and comes with good wages, Castruita said.

The utility company pays for continuing education classes in addition to paying for college courses as long as he earns a C or better, he said.

Castruita is taking advantage of the latter. He's taking courses at Citrus College as he learns more about the water industry.

His goal is to move up in the industry and some day work at a water treatment plant and maybe even move into a management position, he said.

POMONA - Matthew Doss enjoys working with clay and a potter's wheel to create ceramic pieces of art.

"This is something I truly love," the 20-year-old Covina resident said recently while taking a break from working on a vase in gallery 5 of the Millard Sheets Gallery at Fairplex.

The gallery is one of the classrooms in the Career & Technical Education Center program offered at Fairplex.

Students in the ceramics course, part of the art career path, have a chance to work with the tools their crafts require and interact with other artists, said Scott Stragier, who teaches the ceramics courses.

Stragier said his course provides an avenue for young people to develop their artistic skills, and it does something else.

"It's about changing lives and giving them experiences they wouldn't have otherwise," he said.

"When someone brings in their first (art) piece they'll remember that forever."

Doss tried ceramics in high school and found he enjoyed it. After graduating from high school he tried community college but he didn't really know where he was headed.

Then he ran into his high school ceramics teacher, Stragier, who invited him to enroll in his class at Fairplex.

Doss found himself working with his mentor in a setting far different from high school.

"Here it's actually more relaxed. It's a different environment. It's not high school....People want to be here," Doss said.

What Doss is doing is more than just creating art pieces. He would like to make a living as a potter and one day open a ceramic art studio. For now he's weighing his options and trying to determine which area two-year college would be best as he continues to develop his craft.

Stragier said Doss and other students in the class are learning "to express themselves creatively" but they are also learning about the business side of art and how "you have to produce something that someone else would like to buy."

The same day Doss was working at the potter's wheel a group of students from Pomona's Village Academy High School were at the Sheraton Suites Fairplex putting the final touches on dinner tables elegantly set for a banquet.

The students in CTEC's hotel and restaurant management course, part of the business career path, have worked in the Sheraton's kitchen, have assisted as servers at banquets and will have opportunities to work the front desk and other aspects of the hotel's operations, said instructor Carlos Hinostroza.

"They will learn how the entire hotel operates first hand by doing the work," he said.

Hinostroza's students have been in his Village Academy hospitality and culinary arts class which includes running a small coffee shop and restaurant.

The CTEC class is an extension of the Village Academy class, he said.

Ruben Chavez, 17, is among the students in the hospitality management course.

"I want to see how it is to work in hospitality," Chavez said. "I want to see how (one) works with people."
Although Chavez is planning to pursue a career as a computer engineer the skills he picks up through the course will be useful in his field of choice.

"How to communicate with people will help me in business," he said.

John Gilbert, the hotel's general manager, regularly meets with the students and on the night of the banquet he offered tips on paying attention to details on the dinner tables and how to serve dinner guests.

What he and others are doing is mentoring, Gilbert said.

"It's about mentoring them into trades and professions they can go out and make a great living," he said. "My goal is to give them skills they can take anywhere."

POMONA -- To many people Fairplex is a place to have a hot dog and ride a gigantic Ferris wheel during the L.A. County Fair.

For dozens of teens and young adults Fairplex is a school campus.

Fairplex "is the ultimate community classroom," said Mark Maine, Pomona Unified School District's director of regional occupational programs.

Young people enrolled in programs through the Career & Technical Education Center, or CTEC, take classes on the grounds of Fairplex where any of its facilities can serve as a classroom or lab, said Dan Harden, director of education for Fairplex.

"We call it a classroom without walls," he said.

Students are able to take courses where they can develop marketable vocational and technical skills in any of six career pathways: agriculture, arts, automotive, business, construction, and environmental and regenerative studies.

CTEC, a program of the Fairplex's Education Foundation, runs in partnership with the San Antonio Regional Occupational Program, which serves Pomona and Bonita unified school districts.

The program meets state standards so students earn vocational education credit for their course work, Harden said.

Fairplex's Education Foundation supports the program by raising the necessary money to operate and Fairplex provides materials and access to facilities where students can get the hands-on experiences that will prepare them for their careers, he said.

That means students have access to places such as the kitchen and front desk of the Sheraton Suites Fairplex, the galleries of the Millard Sheets Gallery or the vehicles and equipment of Fairplex.

"What we offer here (schools) could not offer in the classroom," Harden said. "We are in the real-world workplace schools so often talk about."

Harden has hired top-notch instructors in their fields to teach the classes but they aren't the only ones doing the teaching.

Students have access to Fairplex professionals and journeymen tradesmen as well as leaders of local businesses with years of experience willing to share their knowledge, said Dwight Richards, Fairplex vice president of operations.

By the time students complete the courses in their chosen career paths they will have solid technical skills they can use to secure jobs after high school. Additional training at a two-year or four-year college will lead to even better opportunities, Harden said.

Students who may have struggled with academics or questioned why they needed to understand math or science often find out through their hands-on work what the practical applications of such subjects are, he said.

The idea for a program such as CTEC has been around for some time and was spearheaded by Los Angeles County Fair Association members Don Hendrick and Jil Stark, both of whom are also Education Foundation members, Richards said.

Both see the value of vocational education but noted it is something schools are rarely able to offer, he said.

"We believe we at Fairplex could fill that void," Richards said.

In the past, Fair Association President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Henwood has worked with Pomona Unified to bring students to Fairplex who had participated in a school district program, such as its hospitality course, to continue their training there, Harden said.

CTEC will allow such efforts to expand and include additional career choices, he said.

Playing a part in educating young people is not a stretch for Fairplex.

"This fits right in with our overall mission," Richards said. "Education is 50 percent of our corporate mission."

Representatives of Pomona Unified said recently the work being carried out by Fairplex and the Education Foundation is gaining strength at a critical time.

As school districts see their budgets shrink and struggle to provide new options for their students, CTEC is growing and providing much needed educational opportunities.

"The Educational Foundation has made a huge commitment," said Cindy Walkenbach, a consultant for the school district and its retired director of secondary education. "To be an educational resource ... I think they're coming back to that mission in a very big way."

The commitment to raise funds for such an educational purpose is also significant because it ensures the program will continue living, Walkenbach said.

Pomona Unified has about 40 students enrolled in CTEC courses.

More students could benefit from CTEC but transportation has been a challenge for some who find it difficult to get to Fairplex, Walkenbach said.

Another challenge is parents aren't always comfortable allowing their children to attend a class at Fairplex, she said.

To give students and parents a better understanding of what Fairplex has to offer, Pomona Unified is planning a career fair on the Fairplex property where parents and students can learn more about CTEC and the resources available to students enrolled in its courses.

"People have to see things to feel comfortable," Walkenbach said.

Bonita Unified School District has a number of students enrolled in CTEC courses and areas of concentration.

"We have students in everyone of those concentrations," said Lois Klein, assistant superintendent of educational services at Bonita Unified.

The programs have drawn the attention of both high school level students and adults alike, said Melissa Smith, senior director of student support services at Bonita Unified.

Part of the appeal is the small class sizes and the chances students have to interact closely with the instructors, Klein said.

In addition students are working in surroundings suited to the particular course of study, she said.

Students in the ceramics programs "are working in a building set up to exhibit art," Klein said, adding most high school classes don't have such resources.

"The Fairplex provides this huge campus with all these opportunities," Smith said. "It's this beautiful setting for our students."

The program has also served to help students explore potential career opportunities, Smith said.

Students have used the program to find out if a field they have an interest can be a career to pursue or if they should look elsewhere, she said.

Maine, of Pomona Unified, said CTEC offers students a great deal aside from career training.

"I think a lot of these programs give (students) confidence for the next step," Maine said.

Programs such as this one encourage students to pursue a high school diploma. Although some may have left higher education out of their plans, ROP and CTEC classes can change that, he said.

As students start to see the possibilities open to them with additional education, "it connects them to the post-secondary experience," Maine said.

He said that as the program grows there may be opportunities to launch courses in areas such as health careers as well as engineering and design, areas the district has started to focus on.

As people in the public sector and private industry hear about CTEC, they have approached Fairplex with suggestions for career programs that could be offered, Richards said.

"People are coming at us but the funding is the only challenge," he said.

One program that is being developed is conservation and wildland fire science, a course that would include training in ecology, soils, water, forests and problems such pollution and animal extinction.

The program could lead to job opportunities in government, the National Parks Service and agribusiness.

POMONA - The first L.A. County Half Marathon on Dec. 13 on a course winding through Pomona, La Verne and San Dimas may be the first step to an annual full marathon race in the area.

The 13-mile run will involve numerous local partners and is being organized by former Olympic pole vault champion and Pomona native Bob Seagren and his company, International City Racing. 

The announcement was made Monday (Nov. 16) afternoon at Fairplex, which will serve as the starting and ending point of the running event.

The cultures of Central America will be showcased this weekend as part of activities at the L.A. County Fair, which opens today.

Folkloric dancers and musicians representing Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama will be performing throughout the weekend at Fairplex's Plaza de Las Americas.

La Casa de la Cultura de Guatemala, (the Home of Culture of Guatemala), has organized its cultural festival, Una Guatemala por Conocer (A Guatemala to be Known), at the fair.

More than 60 Guatemalan artisans will display hand-made crafts and textiles from across Guatemala, according to a statement from La Casa de la Cultura.

La Casa de la Cultura will also name Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Ontario, an honorary guest of the festival. Torres is a native of Guatemala.

Opening ceremonies for the Central American activities are scheduled for 2 p.m. today and are expected to be attended by Torres and the counsel generals of the different Central American countries, the statement said.

For information on Fair activities go to www.lacountyfair.com.