By So Asiddao
Staff Writer
Doing community service is often thought of as a punishment, like a kind yet exhausting, back-breaking task, but for Karl Kurz, it’s a privilege.
Karl Kurz has been a science teacher at Mira Costa for nine years, but when he isn’t teaching, he is part of the 2015-2016 Leadership Hermosa Beach class.
Kurz is part of Leadership Hermosa, an organization in which members learn about the way the Hermosa Beach community works. It is also a way for aspiring local political leaders to learn more about the community and become more prepared for the job.
“I joined Leadership Hermosa because I figured that I lived in the city, and I might as well know the inner workings of it,” Kurz said. “I wanted to know how everything came together and learn about things like parks and recreation of the community.”
Every year, the class decides on a community service project that they must finish by the time they graduate. Members have meetings once a month in which they discuss community problems and solutions. They also travel around the city to see its needs first-hand.
“The projects are usually some kind of community service,” Kurz said. “The idea has to go through the town council and other board members before it can be approved. It’s teaching us members how rules and laws started out as ideas.”
This year’s project is called “Wrap it!” The members and local artists will paint art onto local electrical utility boxes.
“Color literally brightens up the spaces the community interacts in,” Hermosa Beach resident and Mira Costa freshman Kira Walker van-Aalst said. “It brightens moods and brings a topic of conversation to people, strengthening community bonds.”
Some examples of projects from the past include putting art on Hermosa’s beach volleyball courts and making maps of the city. According to Kurz, he is proud and enthusiastic to be a part of this year’s project.
“I’m really excited to do this project and participate in something that connects with me on a personal level,” Kurz said. “I got lucky that this year’s project is so interactive and fun.”
Although Kurz mainly keeps his teaching job and work with Leadership Hermosa separate, he wishes he could get Costa students to participate. Unlike most Leadership programs, Leadership Hermosa is a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization and cannot afford to have a youth program.
“Only adults can join,” Andrea N. Giancoli, director on the Board of Directors of Leadership Hermosa and program facilitator of the organization, said. “We wish we had a youth program, but high school students are too young to join.”
People have their own reasons why they join organizations like Leadership Hermosa. They might want to become a local political leader, make a change, or simply want to learn about communities like Hermosa Beach. According to Karl Kurz, it’s all about connection.
“It’s like when a child is at a park and breaks a piece of equipment, say, a swing. Who fixes it?” Kurz said. “That’s the type of thing we learn in Leadership Hermosa.”
Leave a Reply