Post-secondary school earns honor from OBMA
Word-Wide ESL Institute was recently awarded a 2007 Business Award by the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association during the annual OBMA Awards celebration Oct. 25.
The award recognized the nationally accredited post-secondary language school for “bringing economic life and good community business into O.B.”
In January, Word-Wide opened on Voltaire Street and found the space was formerly used as a marijuana dispensary.
“People just walked in with their prescriptions, and we’d try to get them to take Spanish,” said Word-Wide director B. Rose Anderson. By March, Anderson had acquired an ongoing English as a Second Language (ESL) school and merged it to her tutoring center.
Word-Wide now offers English, Spanish, French and German and is located at 4843 Voltaire St.
For more information, call (619) 222-6411, or e-mail [email protected].
Local campuses honored as CBEE Scholar Schools
Three local schools are among 11 campuses in the San Diego Unified School District being honored by The California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE) for their academic achievements.
Locally, High Tech High School, Sunset View Elementary and Bird Rock Elementary are among the honorees.
The CBEE is a group representing member businesses in California.
According to CBEE officials, the award is given to schools that are consistently raising academic achievement and closing achievement gaps for all students, based on data provided by Just for Kids-California.
Awards are broken into two categories: Star Schools and Scholar Schools.
CBEE officials said the local schools are being recognized as Scholar Schools, which boast students who are continually prospering academically without the economic and other challenges of Star Schools.
Scholar Schools must meet specific criteria outlined by CBEE that include a proficiency rate increase of 30 percentage points from 2004-07 in English/language arts and mathematics, according to CBEE officials.
For more information, visit http://www.jftk-ca.org/index.php?file+honorroll07/list.html.
OB resident to join post-Katrina rebuilding effort
An Ocean Beach man is currently in Mississippi aiding International Relief Team efforts to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Geoff Sheldon is part of a 21-member team providing carpentry, roofing, plumbing, electrical and drywall services to 12 homes damaged by Katrina in August 2005.
Sheldon is among 16 volunteers from San Diego who have been working in Pascagoula, Gautier, Moss Point and Ocean Springs earlier in November.
Team members were expected to return to San Diego Lindbergh International Airport on Sunday, Nov. 11.
International Relief Teams, with 19 years of experience in both international and domestic disasters, has been actively involved in post-Katrina relief efforts.
In addition to reconstruction and home repairs, IRT sponsored the deployment of more than 30 medical volunteers who treated hundreds of evacuees at the New Orleans airport.
For more information, call (619) 284-7979, or visit www.irteams.org.
Military Sealift Command slates mini job fair
The Military Sealift Command will hold a mini job fair at the Maritime Institute, 1310-G Rosecrans St. on Tuesday, Nov. 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The MSC will be recruiting for open seagoing positions.
Military Sealift Command transports equipment to U.S. Forces worldwide. The seagoing positions offer civilian mariner training, advancement opportunities and federal benefits.
For more information, contact the CIVMAR Support Center at (877) JOBS-MSC, or visit www.sealiftcommand.com.
Programs slated to help fight childhood obesity
San Diego State University’s (SDSU) Graduate School of Public Health is working to reverse the alarming rise in childhood obesity with MOVE/Me Muevo, a program designed to educate children and their parents on health and wellness.
Residents with a 5- to 7-year-old child who are willing to meet with SDSU researchers at least once a year for three years and live within one mile of Pacific Beach Recreation Center, 1405 Diamond St., or Ocean Beach Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Ave., are eligible to participate.
For more information, contact Lisa White at (619) 594-6152 or [email protected].
Airport slates ‘Terminals to Tarmac’ public tours
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has announced the start of free “Terminals to Tarmac” tours around Lindbergh field in an effort to familiarize the public with the airport site and answer any questions people may have about the Airport Master Plan, said Sharie Shipley, San Diego International Airport Authority representative.
“[The tour] gives people an opportunity for a behind-the-scenes look at the airport “¦ They can ask questions about the improvements as well as just learn interesting facts about the airport.”
The tours are part of the information campaign the Airport Authority is currently conducting while it accepts comments on the environmental impact report for phase 1 of the Airport Master Plan.
The report looks at the environmental impacts of adding 10 gates to Terminal 2, a dual-level roadway in front of the terminal and other additions, according to a statement released by the Airport Authority.
The program has been rolled out before when airport officials expanded Terminal 2 about seven or eight years ago, Shipley said.
With tour dates Thursday, Dec. 13 and Friday, Dec. 14, running from 10 a.m. to noon, attendees will meet at the commuter terminal and take a walking tour between terminals 1 and 2. The group will then aboard a red airport bus for a guided tour around Lindbergh Field.
The Airport Authority continues its outreach program in the form of a series of open-house community meetings.