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Santa Monica Daily Press JUNE 27-28, 2015
Volume 14 Issue 195
Olympic High principal retiring
ADJOURNMENTS:
Santa Monican, former Santa Monican, grandson of Santa Monican pass BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer
Editor’s note: This is a semi-regular feature that announces the deaths of people who lived in or impacted Santa Monica. Oftentimes the names and information are gathered from the ends of City Council meetings, when council adjourns in the memory of those who’ve passed. CITY HALL City Councilmember Pam
O’Connor honored Frank B. Jansen, who died recently at the age of 86. “One of the things Frank said is that one of the best things he ever did, he was a native New Yorker, but one of the best decisions he ever made was to move to Santa Monica,” O’Connor said at this week’s council meeting, “and he lived in Santa Monica the last 25 years of his life, where he enjoyed the city. His daughter, Jane Jansen, is a longtime resident and small busiSEE ADJOURN PAGE 8
CRIME WATCH SEE PAGE 12
BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer
OLYMPIC HIGH There was no shortage
of daily challenges for Janie Gates at Olympic High School. It’s a small campus, for one, so resources are limited. It doesn’t have the strong parental involvement that is characteristic of other campuses in the Santa MonicaMalibu school district. And its students arrive far behind in their credits with a wide variety of academic issues and personal problems. “At a school site there’s always more to do and nothing is ever complete and done,” she said. “There’s always room for improvement and renovation.” Those challenges motivated Gates as she served as principal of the district’s continuation school for 11 years, but her time with the district is coming to an end as she prepares for retirement. Her last day is June 30. The district announced in May that Gates would be succeeded by Anthony Fuller, who has been a teacher at the school since 2002. “I’m excited to ... build on the achievements of my predecessor, Dr. Janie Gates,” Fuller said in a press release announcing his promotion.
Courtesy Photo
RETIRED: Janie Gates has retired from Olympic High School after 11 years of service to the school district.
Gates aimed to avoid the spotlight during her decade-plus tenure at Olympic, but she leaves with a variety of accomplishments as she worked to elevate the school’s stature in the community and build partnerships with government agencies, nonprofit
groups and local businesses. Under Gates’ leadership, Olympic was designated by the state as a model continuation high school in California. Gates also helped Olympic and the adult education center earn accreditation by the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges. The high school received an award for its elective course offerings from the California Continuation Education Association. SEE RETIRE PAGE 11
Samohi loses longtime athletic trainer Cannon leaves Vikings for Windward BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer
SAMOHI It’s 2013 and the Santa
Courtesy Photo
LEAVING: Kermit Cannon is leaving Santa Monica High School.
Monica High softball team is reeling, left wondering what could have been after losing in the championship game of the CIF Southern Section playoffs. But Vikings coach Debbie Skaggs isn’t going to stew for long. Instead she wants to prepare for
the future, looking for anything that might give her squad an advantage the following season. Enter Kermit Cannon. Samohi’s longtime strength and conditioning coach swoops in, overseeing workouts for Skaggs’ players several times a week during the offseason. “We just wanted to add something different,” Skaggs said. “We wanted to have the kids hear from
HUNGRY?
a difference voice — even if they’re hearing the same things, it’s from a different perspective. It was a good change. They enjoyed it. It was hard work, but they loved it.” Thanks in part to their time with Cannon, the Vikings made it back to the section finals in 2014. And they engineered a different result this time, topping Ventura to SEE COACH PAGE 9
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