Face-It enters its fourth year

Fifty upper school students attended the fourth annual Face- It diversity retreat Sept. 11-12. Students discussed issues of race, color, class, sexual orientation, religion and other identity characteristics with the objective of creating a more inclusive Marlborough community. This year had the highest number of returning students ever, Director of Admissions Jeanette Woo Chitjian, the faculty member in charge of the retreat, said.

“While the majority of the activities may be the same from year to year, the value of what you get out depends on what you and your classmates put in,” she said.

Haley ’10, who was on the student planning committee for Face-It, attended the retreat for the third time to prepare herself for the real world.

– Celine

Sarah Escapes Fires

The recent La Canada fire is the biggest blaze in modern Los Angeles County history.

Students who live in La Canada and in the surrounding areas were put at risk.

Sarah ‘11, who lives in Altadena, packed up her personal belongings and was evacuated for a day and a half.

“I panicked when I first found out that I might have to evacuate. The dark made the fire look like a volcano. But at the moment we got the automated voice message saying we had to evacuate, all of my relatives and I mobilized into action – we just got into cars and drove,” Sarah said.

Due to poor air quality, the school canceled sport practices, but now that the fires have been contained, practices have resumed.

– Brooke

School responds to Lily Burk’s murder

Two Wilshire Community Police Station officers will speak with the upper school this mid- October about safety in light of Lily Burk’s, a seventeen-year-old Oakwood student’s, murder.

These officers spoke with Parent’s Association Sept. 15 after parents voiced concerns. The officers gave safety tips, such as setting up a code word with family members to alert any present danger. Students should also not text and walk at the same time, they said.

“You are safe ninety percent of the time, but there is that ten percent when you have to be aware of your surroundings,” Lisa Dunn-Dern, co-president of the Parent’s Association, said.

To learn more about Lily Burk’s murder, click HERE.

– Ileana