Category: Education

COVID to Code Academy offers free software skills training to the unemployed By Srianthi Perera A Culver City-based tech company has a unique response to the unemployment caused by the pandemic. Sabio, a software training company that runs coding bootcamps for aspiring information technology engineers, has created the COVID to Code Academy, a free course for those who were recently fired or furloughed. Participants, who may be located anywhere in the country, will receive free online software skills training to get a job in the booming industry of information technology. They will learn foundational knowledge of JavaScript and must...

SMMUSD Board appoints Keith Coleman By Kamala Kirk On Jan. 14, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School approved the provisional appointment of Keith Coleman, current co-chair of the district’s intercultural equity and excellence district advisory committee, to fill a vacancy on the Board of Education. He will serve on the board until the next regularly scheduled election of school board members in November 2022. The vacancy was created when former board member Oscar de la Torre was elected to the Santa Monica City Council in the November 2020 election. “Keith has a powerful personal story that speaks to the need...

Santa Monica students prove they’re the best at keeping things green By Stepan Sarkisian Upholding its commitment to environmental advocacy, Santa Monica High School achieved a 21st place finish in its first year participating in the Project Green Challenge. The international competition featured 758 schools across 85 countries with participating students acquiring points by engaging in daily environmentally-themed challenges. Each challenge centered around an issue related to sustainability and tasked students to examine their individual ecological footprints in a variety of ways including measuring water and food consumption, carbon impact and making ethical fashion choices. Along with answering questions,...

Local music schools get creative in the wake of COVID-19 By Kamala Kirk When COVID-19 first prompted the lockdowns back in March, Green Brooms Music Academy in Santa Monica and South Pasadena Arts & Music Academy (SPAMA) in South Pasadena immediately pivoted to a virtual format with their music lessons and recitals. Gyllian Morris Lozano, owner of Green Brooms, reached out to every client to secure their spots in the schedule and organize their preferred virtual platform. She loaned instruments to teachers and worked to help them quickly launch their home teaching studios. “Our teachers began teaching from their...

Students’ futures are top of mind for LAUSD heading into election day and beyond By Nick Melvoin Melvoin represents District 4 on the school board of the Los Angeles Unified School District. What was the witch’s favorite school subject? Spelling. Classes at the Los Angeles Unified School District — including spelling — remain virtual for now and as we are doing our best to help our students celebrate Halloween distantly, it’s just a further reminder about what a tough year this has been, particularly for our students, families and school communities. And as the months ahead hold plenty of...