Learning Centers

One youngster arrived at the clinic's front doors with vision so blurred she could only read the big E on the eye chart. Another showed up wheezing from asthma that hadn't been treated in months. At the "family center" next door, a parent sought advice about broaching the subject of drugs with her children. Another mother simply came to learn English, in hopes of helping her daughter with homework.

The Bolsa Chica Conservancy's new interpretive center building opened Saturday with ribbon-cutting ceremonies and an open house at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. The center is at the wetland reserve's parking area in the 3800 block of Warner Avenue, near Pacific Coast Highway. The new building has exhibits and educational displays showing the value of coastal wetlands.

A foundation dedicated to keeping Californians healthy is adding a new weapon to its arsenal: computers. High-tech skills lead to well-paying jobs, and more money equals better health, California Wellness Foundation officials have concluded. To give low-income youngsters a better shot at good jobs, the foundation is pouring $6 million into programs that help them learn computer technology.

In a move that she said would help the area's brightest students qualify for top universities, Vaughn Next Century Learning Center Principal Yvonne Chan has proposed transforming the pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade charter school into a 12-grade college preparatory campus. The expansion, which would require the approval of the Los Angeles Board of Education as well as the school's parents, teachers and staff, could go into effect as early as next year, Chan said.

Coastline Community College celebrated the opening of its Garden Grove Center on Wednesday with tours and a dedication ceremony. The center, at 12901 Euclid St., is the first permanent facility for Coastline. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including multi-functional computers, Internet access, a multidiscipline science lab and a specialized art classroom.

Plans for an experimental environmental learning center are expected to move one step closer to reality today as the Los Angeles City Council considers a motion to change zoning designations on the Foothill Boulevard site of the proposed facility. In the planning stages for about 18 months, the Los Angeles Environmental Awareness Center would be part of a $6-million project that would also include Lake View Terrace's first public library.

The Southern California Regional Occupational Center in Torrance, the first in the state, on Wednesday celebrated its 30th anniversary and its success in preparing thousands of students for the working world. The center opened its doors to the public to walk through the classrooms and view exhibits. Instructors fielded questions about the numerous programs that the job-training program offers.

Four Los Angeles schools that operate independently under charters have generally outperformed comparable non-charter schools while building strong parent and staff appeal, according to a study released Thursday. Researchers who conducted a comprehensive analysis of the district's charter schools told the Board of Education that the four whose charters are currently up for renewal have earned the right to continue the experiment an additional five years.

The Shalimar Learning Center received a donation worth $10,000 Friday--one it can put to use immediately. AON Consulting, a human resources organization, donated 10 Pentium computers to the center. Each is worth $1,000. "Our goal is to do things for the community," said Bruce Caldwell, senior vice president and office manager of AON Consulting. "The kids are the future."

Draw one oval for the head, another two ovals for the shoulders, a large one for the rib cage, two cylinders and a circle to make an arm or a leg and a square box for the hips. Fill in the empty space and there you have it: a skateboard-toting alien, or a limp dead body, the unfortunate victim of an over-aggressive toucan. Gabriel Gutierrez, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, can't stop drawing. He scribbles while he talks, doodles on his homework and etches figures in his spare time.