Muir High School

Manuel Rustin sat among the audience Tuesday in the crowded auditorium at John Muir High School in Pasadena, enjoying the student achievement assembly he helped organize. Speakers, including state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, lauded the students for their academic gains, cheerleaders performed and the ROTC led the crowd in a flag salute. Then an elaborate ruse was revealed. Rustin was presented with the Milken Educator Award, an honor given to 39 teachers nationwide this year that comes with a $25,000 prize.

The nationally recognized track coach at Pasadena's John Muir High School was arrested Monday on suspicion of molesting a 15-year-old boy, authorities said. Clyde Ezra Turner, 43, was taken into custody by Pasadena police Monday afternoon after the boy's parents reported the alleged molestation to school officials, authorities said. Turner, a former national track coach of the year who is a truant officer at Charles W.

With metal lunch pails in hand, they climbed on school buses for a short but historic journey across the foothills of Pasadena and Altadena. It was the fall of 1970 and a federal judge had just ordered Pasadena's public schools to mix up the races. For Karen Iwamiya, then in the second grade, this meant a trip eastward across Lake Avenue in Altadena, an invisible dividing line separating races and social classes. She traveled from her less-affluent neighborhood to a nicer one, with a nicer school — Noyes Elementary, where black, white, Latino and Asian American kids like her were now all thrown together.

With metal lunch pails in hand, they climbed on school buses for a short but historic journey across the foothills of Pasadena and Altadena. It was the fall of 1970 and a federal judge had just ordered Pasadena's public schools to mix up the races. For Karen Iwamiya, then in the second grade, this meant a trip eastward across Lake Avenue in Altadena, an invisible dividing line separating races and social classes. She traveled from her less-affluent neighborhood to a nicer one, with a nicer school — Noyes Elementary, where black, white, Latino and Asian American kids like her were now all thrown together.

As prosecutors prepared child molestation charges against Clyde Ezra Turner, the renowned track coach at Pasadena's John Muir High School, parents of a number of current and former students contacted police Tuesday about other potential victims. Pasadena Police Lt. Keith Jones said detectives were seeking out students in an attempt to learn more about the man who led track athletes from Pasadena's tough northwest neighborhoods to four state championships in a decade.

The statistics at John Muir High School are alarming: five principals in six years and test scores so dismal that the state has been monitoring the Pasadena school for four years. To turn around the troubled school, administrators, teachers and community members are undertaking an ambitious -- and unusual -- effort that includes requiring all teachers and staff to reapply for their jobs.

If the first weekend of the 22nd annual Los Angeles Games are indicative, the 1989-90 school year could be very good for Muir High School of Pasadena. The Mustangs made the biggest impression of any San Gabriel Valley school, advancing to the final rounds in boys and girls basketball and football. In Saturday's games, Muir will face Manual Arts in the fourth round of boys basketball at 11 a.m. at North Torrance High; the Mustangs will meet Fontana in the quarterfinals in girls basketball at 9 a.m. at the El Camino College south gym, and Muir will play Lincoln in the third round of seven-man passing football at 8:45 a.m. at North Torrance.

Don't try to tell Juanita DeVaughn you are busy today. Oh, you work Saturdays? Come after work. Baby-sitting? Bring the kids. Hurt your back? We'll have you dishing up lunch for volunteers who are expected to show up today at John Muir High School in Pasadena for a campus cleanup DeVaughn has organized. Truth is, the 70-year-old retired Muir teacher just won't take a simple no.

Muir High School, which has one of the top boys track and field teams in the state, heads 75 schools in the 24th annual Bishop Amat Invitational Relays at 9 a.m. Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College Stadium in Walnut. The Mustangs, coached by Bill Paul, are particularly strong in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the 400- and 1,600-meter relays. Muir is led by junior Corey Ealy, who has produced times of 10.6 seconds in the 100 and 21.

Jim Brownfield, who achieved prominence as a football and girls' track coach at Pasadena's John Muir High School in the 1980s and '90s, died early Monday. He was 81. His brother, Warren, said Brownfield had major heart surgery 14 months ago. He died at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. Born Jan. 15, 1929, in Long Beach, Brownfield graduated from Cal State L.A. in 1955. Brownfield was a teacher and coach for more than 40 years in Southern California. His Muir teams won Southern Section football championships in 1985 and 1986, and won state girls' track titles in 1985 and 1989 and won four Southern Section track titles.

With each click of his mouse, Sam Picture wondered if John Muir High School was a good career move. Stories of high dropout rates, low test scores and violence popped on his screen when he researched the 55-acre campus in northwest Pasadena in January 2008. He didn't see it as a deterrent, but rather, a challenge. Picture, now the school's athletic director, is one of the many teachers, administrators and counselors hired to turn around the troubled high school, which since 2001 has cycled through five principals.

The statistics at John Muir High School are alarming: five principals in six years and test scores so dismal that the state has been monitoring the Pasadena school for four years. To turn around the troubled school, administrators, teachers and community members are undertaking an ambitious -- and unusual -- effort that includes requiring all teachers and staff to reapply for their jobs.

If the football players at Pasadena Muir ever want to receive a history lesson about the legacy of their most famous alumnus, Jackie Robinson, all they need to do is seek out their starting center, Dennis Robinson. Dennis is Jackie Robinson's great nephew and the grandson of Jackie's older brother, Matthew "Mack" Robinson. He's a walking, talking, breathing connection to the man who changed America in the 20th century. "He comes from great bloodlines," football Coach Mike Riazzi said.

There was nothing original about the teacher's observations: At Pasadena's Muir High School -- as on many urban campuses -- black students are cited more often than others for disciplinary problems. And they score worse than others on standardized exams. What was shocking was how the white teacher argued -- when he connected the dots with his public proclamation -- that unruly black students were responsible for his school's failure to make the grade.

No one could blame the Pasadena Muir High boys' track and field team for being distracted on an afternoon when its coach was arraigned on charges that he annoyed or molested two male students. But Muir managed to squeak by with its closest dual-meet victory in decades, defeating rival Crescenta Valley, 69-58, on Thursday to win the Pacific League title and preserve a remarkable streak. The Mustangs have won 167 dual meets dating to 1978.

There was nothing original about the teacher's observations: At Pasadena's Muir High School -- as on many urban campuses -- black students are cited more often than others for disciplinary problems. And they score worse than others on standardized exams. What was shocking was how the white teacher argued -- when he connected the dots with his public proclamation -- that unruly black students were responsible for his school's failure to make the grade.

It was a leap of a lifetime, yet few people remember it today. At the time, it was compared to Jim Ryun's sub-four-minute mile--still a high school record--but now it is nearly forgotten, even among high school coaches. Thirty-one years ago, 17-year-old Jerry Proctor of Pasadena Muir High had a long jump of 25 feet 10 1/2 inches at the L.A. Invitational indoor track meet. The clamor over Proctor's leap was justified.

Several other young men have told detectives they were sexually abused as teenagers by Clyde Ezra Turner, the renowned high school track coach arrested this week on suspicion of molesting a 15-year-old boy, Pasadena police said Wednesday. "We've had several phone calls--some of them relating experiences from a long time ago--allegations similar to the original incident," said Pasadena Police Lt. Keith Jones.