Page 4 October 3, 2019 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
School Spotlight
Sports
Eagles Capture
Nike XC Invitational
Wiseburn Board Views
CARE Presentation
By Duane Plank
The only special presentation at last Thursday’s
Wiseburn School Board meeting was from
elementary counselors Dr. Monique Ingram and
Julie Walker, who spoke of their Counseling
and Access to Resources in Education (CARE)
program. A major component of the counseling
program is dealing with issues involving students
deemed “at-risk” for certain issues. The
presentation was well-timed, with a recent
article noting that 20 percent of high school
students who had responded to a survey had
contemplated suicide.
The presentation began with the duo delineating
their three-tiered pyramid programs goals
and foundation for action that starts with all
students on the bottom tier, students with some
risk factors listed on the second tier, and the
top tier targeting those perceived at high risk.
The presentation noted goals, including supporting
academic and social/emotional growth;
embracing diversity while acknowledging
individual need; building partnerships; and
promoting a family-like atmosphere.
Ingram and Walker shared the results of
need assessment surveys at the three Wiseburn
Unified School District elementary schools in
which teachers had participated, giving their
opinions on myriad areas where students
need to build skills. Areas listed included
self-control, bullying, expressing feelings,
promoting confidence, and communication.
The presenters spoke about supports offered
to date, including parent/guardian coffee with
the CARE team at all school sites, parent
workshops and PTA presentations, intakes
with new and existing families, and crisis
support and collaboration.
“I am excited about the work that they have
done,” Superintendent Dr. Blake Silvers said
prior to the meeting. “It has really brought a
comprehensive approach to counseling and
student health at the elementary level. The
goal for us as a school district should be
addressing kids’ social and emotional states
early on their lives so that we can continue
to support well-prepared students. Early
intervention is key. I believe we are on the
cutting edge of elementary mental health
by bringing in two phenomenal experts in
the field.”
The presenters said they were excited that
students had finally arrived on campus, and
that they could meet with them. It was noted
that the Care team tried to be as visible as
possible to the students and staff in the rollout
of the new program.
Juan Carbrillo Elementary Principal Lisa
Wilberg next praised the Cabrillo PTA for
its tireless work in helping to raise money
in the recent Jog-A-Thon.
During member reports, Dr. Neil Goldman
said he attended a District Facilities Master
Planning meeting and called it a “good opportunity,
a positive day,” in planning what
is upcoming for the District. He added “We
are privileged to be a school of choice,”
but he also wanted to gather information
on why Wiseburn had lost some students in
the 2019/20 school year. He thought it was
an “exploration worth pursuing… why did
certain students not stay in the District?”
Board President JoAnne Kaneda spoke
about the success of the recent STEM event
involving students working with corporate
mentors and said she received a request
to try to involve students who may be not
versed in, or “afraid” of delving into, STEM
opportunities.
In his comments, Silvers spoke about
the recent story about students who have
considered suicide. He gave kudos to the
start-up work of the CARE team, citing how
important it is to have “early and successful
interventions.” He also spoke about student
retention and the need to face that challenge.
He mentioned the recent R. H. Dana Middle
School open house, and how the District
teachers instill a tremendous environment
for students and parents.
A somewhat skinny approval agenda faced
WUSD
By Gregg McMullin
For more photos go to Facebook/esherald
and Instagram@esherald
The El Segundo High School cross country
program has rapidly become one of the best
in the South Bay. Winning Ocean League
titles has become an annual occurrence as is
advancing to the end-of-season CIF state meet
for the girls team. The boys team has steadily
been successful and getting better. Both squads
traveled to Portland, Oregon to compete against
some of the top Northwest high school programs
in the Portland Nike XC Invitational.
The Nike Portland XC is one of the premier
events in the Western U.S. with teams from
eight states coming to compete at Blue Lake
Park in Portland. Several highly-ranked teams
from California make the trek each year to see
where they stack up against some of the best
in the Pacific Northwest. In a rare feat, each
team won its respective races in Division 2.
The boys team finished first out of 42 teams
in the Division 2 race. Arend Verfaillie led
the pack until the final 400 meters. He ended
with a second place overall finish with a time
of 16:15. For the second consecutive week,
Lukas Lux finished second for the Eagles by
running a personal best 17:41. The key to
victory this week was El Segundo’s 3-5 runners
who managed to stack themselves closely
together with only an 8-second gap between
them. Cole Sterba, Niall Glynn, and Ryu Iguchi
helped cement the Eagles’ victory with their
efforts. Jonny Felker and Marcus Ortiz were
close behind to help the Eagles to the podium.
The Lady Eagles have more depth this year
than in previous seasons and after capping 2018
with a podium finish at the state event. They
came out and showcased their depth well at
Woodbridge Meet two weeks ago where they
had their best cumulative time in school history.
For the second consecutive week, Sophia
Zago led her team -- this time with an overall
second place finish. The Matlosz sisters had
another strong showing with James finishing
eighth overall and Tyler close behind in 11th.
Ami Jacobson was El Segundo’s fourth runner
to finish as she worked her way up the pack
after a slow start and ended at 34th. Isabella
Mai rounded out the scoring for the top five
and finished 38th, while Erin Rifkin and Leah
Guzman finished strongly. The Lady Eagles
won in convincing fashion with an impressive
87-point spread.
With two impressive showings to start the
season, it sets up for another successful year
and eye on winning an unprecedented fifth
consecutive league title. Next up for the Eagles
is the Central Park Invitational in Huntington
Beach on Saturday
Eagles Dominate South Torrance
The El Segundo High football team seems
to have righted a rocky ship that plagued the
Eagles to start their season. After losing their
first three games, the Eagles have won two
straight including their 23-3 win over South
Torrance.
El Segundo’s ball control strategy certainly
worked against a South Torrance Spartan
team that had been impressive on defense in
the first four games. El Segundo’s balanced
offense and long, sustainable drives kept the
Spartans’ high-octane offense off the field.
The time-consuming Eagle drives left South’s
defense panting.
The opening drive of the game, directed
by sophomore quarterback Conor Hochberg,
consumed nearly seven minutes. Hochberg
completed four of four passing attempts, including
a 20-yard pass to Arman Sayson on
third and 18. Six plays later, Sayson connected
on a 35-yard field goal when the drive stalled.
Each team had a takeaway interception. Kyle
Myers wrestled the ball away from South’s
6’5” Bryce Caufield. El Segundo gave it right
back when Caufield stepped in front of Scott
Melton on a deep pass. That interception led
to a 23-yard field goal to even the score at
3-3 with 1:40 remaining in the first quarter.
El Segundo’s 9-play drive was stopped when
Arman Sayson carries the ball for the Eagles and helped lead the
team to an impressive win over South Torrance last weekend.
the Eagles failed on a fourth down attempt. The
Spartans took over and drove to the ball inside
El Segundo’s 2-yard line. The turning point of
the game came on the next play when Spartan
running back Carson Hollandsworth was met
at the line of scrimmage. He dove towards the
end zone where Eagle safety Nick Villa met
him and took the ball away at the 1-yard line.
After some discussion by the officials, it was
determined that Hollandsworth was not down
and the ball was stripped away.
That takeaway led to a school record-tying
longest drive of 99 yards. Hochberg completed
passes of 24 yards to James Fraelich, 12 yards
to Sayson and 31 yards to James Pearson that
helped set up a 1-yard TD dive by Hochberg
with :40 remaining in the first half and a
resulting 10-3 lead.
The Eagles played with a purpose in the
first half. It was a different look that thrilled a
large home crowd dominated by an enthusiastic
and boisterous student section. The second
half was even more entertaining, led by an
inspired defense that allowed six plays to go
for negative yards. The Spartans had a net two
yards of offense when you factor in all of the
quarterback sacks and loss of yards on plays.
El Segundo took advantage of great field
position that started on South’s 33-yard line.
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See Wiseburn, page 10
See Eagles, page 9