Dr. George J. McKenna III began his career as an LAUSD math teacher and navigated his way to an appointment as principal of Washington Prepatory High School in South Central Los Angeles. In a matter of four years, he successfully changed an inner-city high school that had been torn by violence, low achievement and lack of community confidence into a school with an attendance waiting list, and nearly 80% of the graduates enrolled in college.

He left LAUSD to lend his expertise to several districts. He served as Superintendent of the Inglewood Unified School District in California, Deputy Superintendent in Compton, California, Local District Superintendent in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools in Pasadena, California.

In 2009 he returned to Los Angeles Unified as Local District 7 Superintendent serving nearly 65,000 students in over 70 Title I eligible schools in central Los Angeles. During his tenure, he was able to accomplish double digit API test score growth in 75% of the schools with one achieving 900 and several exceeding 800 despite successive and severe annual budget and personnel reductions, increases in class size, and loss of professional development resources.

Because of these accomplishments, Dr. McKenna is the subject of the award-winning CBS television movie entitled, “The George McKenna Story” starring Denzel Washington.

GSEP is also pleased to recognize two “Superintendents of Distinction” for their outstanding service in school leadership. Dr. Larry L. Powell, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools and Dr. Susan C. Parks, retired Superintendent of San Gabriel Unified School District will also be honored at the January 26th dinner and reception.

Referred to as “Reverend” by his colleagues, Dr. Larry L. Powell is distinguished by his well-rounded background. He’s a minister, singer, golfer, gymnast and motivational speaker delivering over 2700 speeches throughout California. Powell also serves on 12 non-profit boards and as a Member of the Board of Trustees for Fresno Pacific University where he also taught as a member of the Adjunct Graduate Faculty. He is on numerous advisory boards for California State University, Fresno. He is currently the Chair of California’s Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team (FCMAT). Powell made headlines last year when he forfeited $800,000 of his salary over three years to help his struggling district.

Upon graduating from USC, Dr. Susan C. Parks began her teaching career at LAUSD. She saw how important quality leadership was for the success of schools, teachers, students and families and set her goal to become a principal and eventually superintendent. Her first step towards realizing this dream was her appointment as principal of Walnut Grove Elementary School. Parks became K-12 curriculum director, elementary education director, assistant superintendent, for educational services and personnel services and deputy superintendent in Simi Valley. In 1997, she became superintendent of the Baldwin Park Unified School District where she established the “I’m Going to College” program. When she retired in 2002, she took on the responsibility of program director for Pepperdine University’s new Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy (ELAP) doctoral program, for her a valuable time of learning as well as teaching. In 2006, Parks gave up her retirement to become Interim Superintendent of the San Gabriel Unified School District. After over four years of service, she retired in December of 2011.

Past recipients of the Superintendent of the Year Award include:

Mrs. Cynthia Cervantes McGuire, superintendent of Azusa Unified School District

Dr. Gwen Gross, formerly with the Hermosa Unified School District

Dr. Robert Fraisse, formerly with the Conejo Valley Unified School District

Dr. Joseph Condon, formerly with the Lawndale Elementary School District

Dr. Jody Dunlap, formerly with the Oxnard Union High School District

Dr. Sharon McClain, formerly with the Del Mar Union School District

Dr. Trudy Arriaga, from the Ventura Unified School District

Past recipients of the Superintendents of Distinction Award include:

Ms. Judy Burton, president and CEO of Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools

Mr. William Habermehl, Orange County superintendent of schools

Dr. Johanna Vandermolen, formerly with the Campbell Unified School District
Dr. Jeffrey Felix, from the Coronado Unified School District

Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) is an innovative learning community where faculty, staff, and students of diverse cultures and perspectives work collaboratively to foster academic excellence, social purpose, and personal fulfillment.

Through its integrative course work and practical training, GSEP prepares students to serve the needs of others through skilled leadership. GSEP offers seven master’s and four doctoral programs across its five graduate campus locations throughout Southern California and online. Programs are fully accredited by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and the American Psychological Association.

For more information, visit: gsep.pepperdine.edu.

CAL FIRE and other fire agencies increased their preparedness by staffing additional state wildland fire engines, dozers, fire crews, and aircraft. These state resources are positioned throughout the state to allow for rapid response into communities and watershed areas that may be affected by a fast moving wildfire. The increased staffing includes the county fire departments of Ventura, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Kern and Orange, who CAL FIRE contracts with for fire protection of State Responsibility Areas.

Residents are encouraged to exercise extreme caution when in or near the wildland or open areas to prevent a fire. It is important that everyone monitor the weather and be on the lookout for fires. If fires occur in the area be prepared to follow all instructions of fire and law enforcement officials if an evacuation is ordered. Winds of the forecasted velocity can cause conditions to change rapidly and the public is encouraged to review “Ready, Set, Go” procedures at www.ReadyForWildfire.org. Each person and family should insure that they are “Set” for a potential emergency situation and prepared to activate the “Go” (evacuation) portion in a calm and safe manner.

“The recent devastating wildland fire in Reno, Nevada is a reminder that fires can burn during the winter months even when temperatures are low,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, CAL FIRE director. “With the strong winds forecasted the fire danger will increase in many areas and we will have extra firefighters on duty so that we can respond to any new wildfires that may ignite.”

She taught for 35 years and believes that teachers need to take back their profession by speaking out more forcefully for what’s best for children. “We’ve had enough.”

Charlene says that for too long, teachers have allowed other people to say what the teaching profession does, or should do, and it is time for teachers to step up and let their voices be heard.

The Monterey Jazz Festival has been a leader in jazz education since its inception in 1958. The 8th Annual Next Generation Jazz Festival, featuring the nation’s most talented middle school, high school, conglomerate school, and college jazz musicians and vocalists, in historic downtown Monterey runs from March 30 to April 1, 2012.

Now in its eighth successful year in downtown Monterey, the Next Generation Jazz Festival evolved from the Festival’s California High School Jazz Competition, started in 1971, and held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds for 35 of its 41-year history. Now named the Next Generation Jazz Festival, the weekend salute to the future of jazz has expanded to include middle school, conglomerate school, and college level musicians and vocalists.

The Next Generation Jazz Festival is now accepting applications from middle school, high school, and college big bands; from high school and college level conglomerate bands; from open combos; and from high school combos and vocal jazz ensembles through January 22, 2012. Application forms may be downloaded at the Monterey Jazz Festival’s website, montereyjazzfestival.org. The application process is free of charge, as is participation in the prestigious event.

Next Generation Jazz Festival finalists are selected through recorded auditions reviewed and ranked by faculty from the Berklee College of Music, and will include 12 big bands, six combos, and eight vocal ensembles in the High School Division. Six college-level big bands and six college vocal ensembles will also be selected, in addition to six conglomerate and six middle school big bands, and six Open Combos. In addition, specially-invited groups will also perform. In 2011, over 54 groups from across the United States and Japan attended the Next Generation Jazz Festival.

The high school, conglomerate school, and college divisions of the Next Generation Festival Jazz Competition are open to superior rated big bands, combos, and vocal ensembles. The top big bands, combo, and vocal ensemble will win cash awards and be invited to perform at the 55th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, September 21 – 23, 2012.

Auditions will also be held for chairs in the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, which is slated to tour at jazz venues and festivals throughout North America, as well as being featured on the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Sunday afternoon Arena/Lyons Stage.

The event also includes a big band composition competition, open to high school composers. Judged by college faculty from leading music schools across the country, the winning composer will receive the Gerald Wilson Award and a cash prize, with the winning composition to be performed by the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra on the final day of the 55th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, Sunday, September 23, 2012, on the Jimmy Lyons Stage in the Arena before a crowd of thousands.

All Next Generation Jazz Festival events and activities — from Friday night’s Kick-Off Concert through Saturday and Sunday’s High School Jazz Competition — are open to the public, free of charge. The Festival will also conduct clinics, workshops, jam sessions, and auditions in the heart of historic Monterey, with music to be performed at the Monterey Conference Center, the host Portola Plaza Hotel, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Cannery Row.

Interested schools and students should visit montereyjazzfestival.org for instructions on how to apply to the Next Generation Jazz Festival. Applications with an audition tape/CD should be mailed to: Next Generation Jazz Festival, c/o Jazz Education Director, 9699 Blue Larkspur Lane, Suite 204, Monterey, CA, 93940.

Featured during the weekend of music will be the award-winning trumpeter, Ambrose Akinmusire, who has been selected as the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Artist-In-Residence for 2012. Akinmusire will work with young student musicians in performance, clinics and one-on-one sessions at the Next Generation Jazz Festival and the Festival’s Summer Jazz Camp, in addition to performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival and at other concerts and events throughout the year.

Started in 2004, the Artist-In-Residence program has brought Regina Carter, Branford Marsalis, Kurt Elling, Terence Blanchard, Christian McBride, members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Dianne Reeves and Joshua Redman to the Monterey Bay; their involvement and interaction with students provides a unique educational opportunity through mentorship that will last a lifetime.

Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, winner of the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition, recently made his major-label debut on Blue Note Records.

The Oakland, California-born trumpeter attended Berkeley High School and was a member of the 1999 and 2000 Monterey Jazz Festival’s High School All-Star Band. While still in the Berkeley High School Ensemble, he caught the attention of the visiting saxophonist Steve Coleman, who later hired Ambrose as a member of his Five Elements band for extensive European tour. Akinmusire was just 19 years old.

After graduating from Berkeley High School in 2000, he moved to New York to begin a scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Vincent Penzerella, Dick Oatts, Lew Soloff, and Laurie Frink. He performed publicly with Lonnie Plaxico, Stefon Harris, Josh Roseman, Vijay Iyer, Charlie Persip, the Mingus Big Band, and the San Francisco Jazz Collective, to name a few.

Ambrose returned to the West Coast in 2005 to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and simultaneously attended the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. His teachers include Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Billy Childs and Gary Grant. He has worked with such artists as Jimmy Heath, Jason Moran, Hal Crook, Bob Hurst, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ron Carter, Jason Moran, Wallace Roney, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter. After graduation in 2007, Ambrose won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition in the space of one week.

After making appearances on recordings by Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Alan Pasqua, Walter Smith III, Josh Roseman, Esperanza Spalding, Aaron Parks, and more in the 2000s, Ambrose made his major-label debut in 2011, releasing When the Heart Emerges Glistening on Blue Note Records. Pop Matters said that the record “…should send shivers up every jazz fan’s spine” and Jazzwise Magazine said “…Akimusire is already showing signs of being a major creative figure in the making.” The Los Angeles Times wrote “…he seems practically predestined for a breakout in 2011.”

The 54th Monterey Jazz Festival partners include Verizon, Yamaha Instruments, Remo, Gallien-Krueger, Inns of Monterey, Carmel Road Winery, North Coast Brewing Company, DownBeat Magazine, KGO Newstalk 810 AM, San Jose Mercury News, Amoeba Music, The Jazz Cruise, KUSP 88.9, StreamGuys, Alvarez Technology Group, and Meraki.

Monterey Jazz Festival also receives support for the Festival and its Jazz Education Programs from the Hearst Foundations, National Endowment for the Arts, Verizon, AT&T, Nancy Buck Ransom Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Quest Foundation, D’Addario Music Foundation, Joseph Drown Foundation, Harden Foundation, William McCaskey Chapman & Adaline Dinsmore Chapman Foundation, Dunspaugh-Dalton Foundation, Inc., Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Pebble Beach Company Foundation, Rotary International, Robert & Audrey Talbott Foundation, Community Foundation of Monterey County, and generous individual contributors.

Jimi Hendrix “Killing Floor”

Wild Thing followed by Hendrix’s guitar sacrifice.

The Monterey County Vintners & Growers Association (MCVGA) has announced participation with Sunset magazine (www.sunset.com) at Sunset SAVOR the Central Coast 2011 in San Luis Obispo County.

The heart of Sunset SAVOR the Central Coast 2011 is the Main Event which takes place at the historic Santa Margarita Ranch, where visitors will be treated to a taste of the good life on the Central Coast, with gardening seminars, food and wine pairings, discussions on sustainability, backyard farming exhibits, and cooking demonstrations featuring celebrity chef, Cat Cora. Participating Monterey County wineries and the MCVGA will pour Monterey’s best to represent the distinctive qualities of Monterey’s nine American Viticulture Areas (AVAs) and to bring awareness to the region’s spectacular winemaking.

“We are ecstatic to be part of such a high profile celebration of all things Central Coast,” said Rhonda Motil, Executive Director of the MCVGA. “The aromas and flavors of Monterey County wines are sure to paint an enticing portrait of our region for the visitors who taste them.”

Wineries representing Monterey County with their own booth at Sunset SAVOR the Central Coast 2011 will include:

• Estancia Estates Winery (www.estanciaestates.com)
• Hahn Winery (www.hahnestates.com)
• Lockwood Vineyard (www.lockwood-wine.com)
• Michaud Vineyard (www.michaudvineyard.com)
• Paraiso Vineyards (www.paraisovineyards.com)
• Scheid Vineyards (www.scheidvineyards.com)
• Wrath Wines (www.wrathwines.com)

In addition, the MCVGA will have a booth which will pour wines from the following wineries:

• Delicato Family Vineyards (www.delicato.com)
• Pierce Vineyards (www.piercevineyards.com)
• Chateau Julien (www.chateaujulien.com)
• Wente Vineyards (www.wentevineyards.com)
• Tamas Estates (www.tamasestates.com)

Hahn Winery (represented both individually and as part of the MCVGA table)While the Main Event is the largest gathering during Sunset SAVOR the Central Coast 2011, the event will offer several other complementary experiences to excite the senses. The complete weekend – Thursday, September 29 through Sunday, October 2 – will bring the beauty and bounty of California’s Central Coast vibrantly to life with adventure excursions, culinary tours, and farm-to-table meals. Some events include an Opening Night Reception beside the Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle on Thursday, September 29, the Sunset Western Wine Awards Gala on the Pismo Beach Pier, Friday, September 30, and kayak tours across the Morro Bay Estuary, hikes through Moñtana de Oro State Park and the Oceano Dunes, and an aerial tour of Paso Robles wine country by hot air balloon with Sunset Publishing President, Barb Newton.

Sunset magazine has partnered with the San Luis Obispo County Visitors & Conference Bureau to host Sunset SAVOR the Central Coast.

For more event information and ticketing, visit www. www.SavorCentralCoast.com or call 800?768?6653. Become a fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SavorCC, or follow sunset on Twitter (@SavorCC). Ticket proceeds and sponsorships are considered donations to the San Luis Obispo County Visitors & Convention Bureau, a 501 c 6 non-profit tourism organization promoting San Luis Obispo County.

“We’re hoping for the best for all of those in the path of Hurricane Irene and we urge residents to take this storm seriously,” said Cal EMA Acting Secretary Mike Dayton. “California stands ready to provide assistance to our sister states as they prepare for this natural disaster,” said Dayton. “We’re appreciative of the help we received in the past and are glad to provide help in their time of need.”

In anticipation of the storm’s impact, several eastern states have requested assistance through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), a congressionally ratified agreement that provides form and structure to interstate mutual aid.

Through EMAC, Cal EMA is in discussions with New York state to deploy possibly six emergency service coordinators with experience in Emergency Operation Centers and an Incident Management Team (IMT) to assist in emergency response, remaining there until the situation stabilizes. The IMT is the Easy Bay Type 3 Incident Management Team and consists of 36 first responders from Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Expenses for the deployment will be covered by the state(s) requesting assistance. Cal EMA will be in constant contact with emergency management staff on the East coast for future requests.

California has also deployed several members to form an Urban Search and Rescue Task Force (US&R). These are common requested organized by FEMA and have responded to various disasters around the world. California Task Force members deployed to the east coast include one member from CA-TF6 (Riverside), two members from CA-TF2 (Los Angeles), three members from CA-TF8 (San Diego).

It was notable as hosting the first major American appearances by Jimi Hendrix and The Who, as well as the first major public performances of Janis Joplin and Otis Redding.

The Monterey Pop Festival embodied the themes of California as a focal point for the counterculture and is generally regarded as one of the beginnings of the “Summer of Love” in 1967.

It also became the template for future music festivals, notably the Woodstock Festival two years later. Canned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, USA, in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists.

It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and Bob Hite, who took the name from Tommy Johnson’s 1928 “Canned Heat Blues”, a song about an alcoholic who had desperately turned to drinking Sterno, generically called “canned heat”.

The Monterey International Pop Festival Foundation, Inc., and Pennebaker Hegedus Films, Inc.

The Who had difficulty that night using borrowed amps, and couldn’t quite get their trademark sound to come through, resulting in a tinny-sounding set.

Notice Keith having his snare drum restored after the song was finished.