editor@yourmonthlypaper.com
November 2012
Serving the Lafayette Community
Karr Helps Guide Students
Community Thanksgiving Breakfast
By Fran Miller “Where do you want to go to college?” This simple question, asked frequently of high school seniors, has become difficult for most to answer. It is often met with a shrug of the shoulders and the reply, “Wherever I can get in.” No longer can a qualified student assume his or her acceptance into a college of choice will occur. Record numbers of applicants are allowing schools to be extremely
The Lafayette Chamber of Commerce invites you to join city leaders, residents, and the business community for breakfast as we have done for 32 years. The 33rd Annual Community Thanksgiving Breakfast will be held on Friday, November 16th, from 7AM – 8:30AM at Lafayette United Methodist Church located at 955 Moraga Rd in Lafayette. Breakfast will be graciously provided by Dave’s Cuisine. This event is our way of bringing the community together before we all get busy with the holidays. Our new Lafayette Police Chief Eric Christensen is this year’s featured guest speaker and our Chamber President Caesar Perales will take care of the MC duties. This event is held each year in the loving memory of Barbara Bupp, who organized the first breakfast 33 years ago. Begin the holiday season in a significant and meaningful way. Reservations can be made by calling the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce at 925-284-7404 or by visiting www.lafayettechamber.org. The cost is $20 per person.
East Bay Sea Serpents
Joan Karr, Acalanes High School's college counselor, believes there is a college for everyone.
selective, and in California, budget cuts have led admissions offices to admit record numbers of out-of-state students in order to reap their out-of-state tuition fees. But according to Acalanes High School’s college counselor, Joan Karr, there is a school out there for every student. Karr’s Acalanes office wall, adorned with a multitude of school pennants from around the country, is a visual tribute to this belief and a source of inspiration to the many students who utilize Karr’s services. Karr has collected her pennants during the 16 years that she has been at the helm of Acalanes’ College and Career Center – a job she fell into, and which she loves. She had volunteered in the Center while her now grown daughters were Acalanes students. A subsequent job with the district as a special education transition assistant put her in the district “know,” and when the College and Career Center job became available, she jumped. She works a 30 hour week and is at her desk from 7:30am to 1:30pm Monday through Friday. Students and parents are welcome to make appointments, or just drop-in to her spacious office, which is filled with a plethora of resource materials. Karr also maintains a job board for student job seekers, listing job description, duties, and pay. (She usually has many requests for babysitters, tutors, and yard workers.) Parent volunteers, such as Amy Goodheart, are usually on-hand to help assist. “Students walk in with questions, and Joan knows most of them by name. No matter what their questions are, she gives them a huge smile and is always very reassuring,” says Goodheart. “She has an excellent library of books and files on most colleges.” Karr reaches out to every Acalanes student, starting in the sophomore year
See Karr continued on page 12 Local Postal Customer
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ECRWSS
By Fran Miller
One of the area’s most highly regarded swimming programs is the result of serendipity. Several years ago, Special Olympics volunteer Joleen Silverfoote was helping at a basketball game when a fellow volunteer suggested she start a Special Olympics swim team. With no formal swim training, Silverfoote found the suggestion a little crazy. “But after several weeks of being cajoled, I would say the stars lined up all at the right time,” says Silverfoote.
Sea Serpent volunteer coaches Evan Wentzel (left) and Jack Garrett (far right) assist Kevin, a Sea Serpent athlete participating in the learn-to-swim program. Photo by Deanna Wentzel
Eleven years later, the East Bay Sea Serpents swim program meets every Sunday afternoon at the Campolindo High School Soda Center, serving Special Olympics-registered athletes primarily from the Lamorinda area and Diablo corridor. A large pool of volunteers, mostly students from the area’s high schools, runs the program. There is no cost to the athletes who range in age range from 6 to over 40. “I never thought Sea Serpents would be a success,” says Silverfoote, a Moraga resident whose three grown daughters Volume VI - Number 11 all participated as coaches. “But the 3000F DANVILLE BLVD #117 program continues to be a win/win for ALAMO, CA 94507 both the athletes and our volunteers who Telephone (925) 405-6397 are mostly high school swimmers and Fax (925) 406-0547 water polo players. They get as much, if editor@yourmonthlypaper.com not more, out of their experience as the Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher participants do, and our athletes get the The opinions expressed herein belong to the and do not necessarily reflect that of Lapleasure of working with teens they con- writers, fayette Today. Lafayette Today is not responsible for the content of any of the advertising herein, sider peers, to build not only swimming
See Serpents continued on page 15
nor does publication imply endorsement.