School plans Teachers Talk for parents

Friday, May 28, 2010
By Zack Rosenfeld
Staff Writer

The first Teachers Talk series, which will allow parents from around the area to get a chance to go back to school again, is taking place Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. at the Mira Costa High School auditorium.

Four MBUSD teachers will be giving speeches to parents about the subjects that they teach. The idea originally came from Helen Codron, a Mira Costa parent who wanted to get a chance to go back to high school for a few days and realized that others did as well.

“This is an opportunity for parents to experience and share the most important resources children have: knowledgeable and passionate teachers,” Codron said.

Each speaker was chosen by Codron and Manhattan Beach Education Foundation President Erica White. The teachers were told to choose a topic that the listeners would be interested in and the teachers are passionate about  while connecting to what they teach in their classrooms.

Costa history teacher Andy Caine will  be teaching a program entitled “Perpetrators, Resistors and Survivors: Psychological and Moral Issues of the Holocaust.”

“This talk addresses those questions so that parents can discuss the issues that students care about. Many people that ask about the Holocaust want to hear about the psychology of the Nazis,” Caine said.

Robinson Elementary teachers Liz Herbert and Darri Stephens, are pairing up to present “The Teacher-Parent Partnership: Igniting That Spark In Every Student.” James Locke, a seventh grade life science teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School, titled his presentation  “The Scientific Method?”

“I chose a topic that would allow me to bring some actual class activities to my talk. It addresses the nature of science and provides me a way to connect the fellowships I have received,” Locke said.

Several parents in the community are excited for this event.  Most are anxious to see their sons or daughters’ teachers in action.

“I hope that the parents in the community will take advantage of a unique opportunity to hear our fabulous teachers in this district speak,” Mira Costa parent Shelly Heavrin said.

Parents who want to attend should gather at the flagpole near the administration building on Artesia Boulevard and from there, they will be escorted to the presentations.

“We hope to expand this concept into a series next year. There are so many interesting and charismatic educators in the South Bay, and we want to have a chance to feature them all,” Codron said.