Mount Washington Elementary to 'Save the Arts' this Saturday

I remember the first time I saw .  Tucked away in the curve of the Hill, overshadowed by mature trees, and with a view to forever, the school seemed like a beautiful secret.  What a gift to the community, I remember thinking. What a gift to the children who have the extraordinary good fortune to learn in such a setting.

Beauty on the Outside

Over the years, Mount Washington has gotten even more beautiful.  There is a bright and colorful mosaic wall by the “meeting gate”.  Thanks to native plants and the efforts of the local Girl Scout troop, the patch of dirt next to the front steps has been transformed; there’s also a new fence to keep it that way.  Parent and student-tended vegetable gardens green the playground and provide living classrooms.

The Jack and Denny Smith Community Center and Library honor the man who introduced Mount Washington to Los Angeles Times readers and the woman who, through her work with the PTA, helped to make sure that children would grow up to BE readers.

Beauty on the Inside

No matter how beautiful the setting, no matter how grand the building, it’s what’s inside the school that really counts, of course: the teachers, the principal, the staff, the PTA, and the other volunteers that make sure the students learn and the school runs smoothly.  They are the reason that the California Department of Education named Mount Washington Elementary a .

Save the Arts

Even the most dedicated teacher would be hard pressed to teach without supplies, however, and once again, the volunteer community has come to the rescue.

This Saturday, May 19th at 6:00 p.m., music will fill the Jack and Denny Smith Community Center at Mt. Washington PTA’s Save the Arts event. Members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic will perform as well as young musicians from Renaissance Arts, the Crescendo Young Musicians Guild, and the Mt. Washington Elementary Children's Chorus.  With , the concert is Mount Washington Elementary’s last chance during the 2011-2012 school year to raise funds for basic art supplies, such as paper, for next year.

Mount Washington Volunteers

As the aforementioned, volunteer-initiated improvements demonstrate, Mount Washington Elementary has always been blessed with an extraordinarily dedicated parent body as well as a devoted and supportive community.

Last month, for instance, The Friends of Mount Washington School (FOMWS), including president Fernando Orozco and board members Rod Austria, Rob and Lisa Corsini, Nina Zippay, Warren Christiansen, Pilar Buelna, and Sharen Steele Herran helped organize the FOMWS’s Night of Comedy & Auction. The event, which was attended by LAUSD Board Member Bennett Kayser and his wife Peggy, raised $30,000 and will help to fund art and science enrichment programs for the 2012-2013 school year at Mount Washington Elementary.

With Save the Arts, volunteers are making a last heroic push to keep Mount Washington Elementary as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside.  They need members of the community to do the same on behalf of the children and their school.

Except, of course, it’s not just their school.  It’s our school too.

Admission is $10 for Adults and $5 for Children. Pre-sale family-of-four packs (2 children & 2 adults) are available for $25.  Dinner boxes will be on sale starting at 5:00pm with a very special pre-show. The main show will start at 6:00pm.