Test score reveals and community involvement highlight Redondo Beach State of Education event
Redondo Beach Education Advocate of the Year Carl Driezler, center, with mother Pat, brother Robin, Redondo Beach Mayor Steve Aspel and State Assemblyman David Hadley. Photo
Whether he knew it or not, Carl Driezler had been playing a game of hard-to-get with the folks seeking to honor him.
Driezler was originally intended to be the award’s recipient in 2014, according to Partners In Education chair Vivian Ibarra. But a scheduling conflict sent Driezler out of the country during Redondo Beach’s State of Education event, held at Adams Middle School.
This year, they were able to corner him, after nine months of planning — though Ibarra said they had a backup plan.
“We threatened Robin Driezler that, if Carl wasn’t there, he’d have to shave his head and pretend to be him,” she said.
Thankfully for the younger Driezler and his long locks, his older brother Carl was tricked into attending with the promise that he’d be making a speech celebrating his alma mater.
Driezler’s award was the cap on an evening celebrating the work of Redondo Beach educators, students and parents, while keeping in mind Superintendent Steven Keller’s mantra that the district is always looking to improve. “Though we perform well, we still expect more from our students and from ourselves,” Keller said.
The Adams Middle School jazz band performs during the State of Education reception. Photo
In a presentation before a room full of parents, teachers and students, Keller gave a look at the district’s performance in the most recent California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress exams.
In the first year of this exam’s implementation, what Keller called a “baseline year,” Redondo Beach students performed well on the English and Language Arts portion of the exams. Eighty-nine percent of 4,886 district students tested across third through eleventh grades met or exceeded state standards. The district fared worse on the mathematics portion, as 17 percent of district students — and 32 percent of Redondo Union High School juniors — failed to meet standards.
“The bottom line is, we want to see improvement in Math and also in ELA,” Keller said, congratulating the nearby Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes Peninsula Districts on their scores. “Kudos to them. Test scores are a part of the game, but I think they’d agree that this is a baseline year. Let’s move on.”
The theme of this year’s event asked the Redondo community “Are You Connected?,” shining the spotlight on the myriad ways that schools such as Alta Vista Elementary, Parras Middle School and Redondo Union High establish connections through parental involvement programs and student-led organizations alike.
Carl Dreisler accepts the Education Advocate of the Year award at the Redondo Beach State of Education event. Photo
“You need teachers, parents and administrators all working as one,” said Redondo Beach Mayor Steve Aspel. “People in other districts complain about how teachers aren’t very good, but that’s because the parents aren’t paying attention. Here, we have people on the Education Foundation who raise a pile of money, and don’t even have kids in the district.”
“I see tremendous strength in our community, in our district and in our families,” said RBUSD school board president Michael Christensen. “Most importantly, I see the strength that gives our kids. The education our kids get is the discriminator that will not only set us apart as a community, but as a region, nation, [as] individuals and families.”