John F. Kennedy High School Home

Nine Kennedy students were selected to be part of the 48th edition of the LAUSD/Beyond the Bell All-City High School Honor Band. During the winter break, while everyone had 3 weeks off, the 9 Kennedy Band students were practicing and getting ready to perform at events such as Disneyland, Bandfest and the Tournament of Roses Parade. This year marked Mr. Ibarra's 13th year as Assistant Band Director for the LAUSD/Beyond the Bell All-City High School Honor Band. All 9 Kennedy band students along with Mr. Ibarra worked really hard to represent our Kennedy and the District on New Year's Day.

The New Journal of Student Research Abstracts is an annual publication of student research in our local community. The journal is intended to serve as a vehicle to honor young investigators and their teachers by showcasing their work, motivating them to continue their involvement in research science; a source book for both students and teachers who are looking for ideas for research projects; and a volume to disseminate student research discoveries. This year, the work of 73 Kennedy students from Ms. Richard's AP Biology classes had their work published in The New Journal of Student Research Abstracts. Their work can be found on pages 42-52. The following students had their research published: Ruth Aguido, Natalie Leal, Nicole Contreras, Steven Aivazian, Rubyn Choi, Christopher Rangel, Elle Biller, Julissa Garcia, Jennifer Borodaty, Alexa Williams, Jamie Cullen, Angela Miranda, Brooklyn Burgess, Elianna Medina, Destiny Cespedes, Angel Aguilera, Veronica De la Rosa, Crystal Magaña, Andrea Duran, Mia Encina, Elysse Johnson-Mendoza, Elizabeth Kakachyan, Emmanuel Espinoza, Jason Park, Jacob Fisher, Jacob Cerrillo, Andrea Galvan, Justyce Moreno, Lisett Gonzalez, Robert Almanza, Kaitlyn Germann, Yaramitt Heredia, Eliana Gonzalez, Falaqnaz Haque, Tiffany Hernandez, Daniel Lopez, Maggi Holmes, Alexander Hitch, Jacob Santos, Mario Garcia, Kassandra Huanosta, German De La Luz, Leyla Huite, Karen Duong, Ingrid Ambriz, Nikini Karunatilaka, Hailey Klitzner, Roque Morales, Tracy Lobido, Esmeralda Rubalcava, Brandon Lopez, Candace Kreuz, Natalee Merino, Gabriel Mercado, Jevy Miranda, Pedro Rodriguez, Sheliya Tronco, Sara Nieves, Sheikh Tazri, Katelynn Perlstein, Roxan Sheikh, Desiree Trujillo, Daniel Phillips, Sean Tremain, Valerie Pimentel, Gaby Quintero Martinez, Christopher Santiago, Chris Nolasco, Michael Evangelista, Jasmine Ramirez, Kimberly Martinez, Tania Villa, and Marvin Serrano.

On Friday, December 13 at 7pm, the Junior lady cougars played the Senior lady cougars in the annual Powder Puff flag football match. Juniors won 15-6. Kennedy male cheerleaders were on hand in the quad for the Powder Puff Pep Rally during lunch as well as during the game to rally the fans to enjoy the game.

Kennedy High School is fortunate to have a supporting and caring community. Woodley Community Church graciously provided gifts and other items to ensure some of our families do not go without during this holiday season. Their compassion has not gone unnoticed. Woodley Community Church is located at 10341 Woodley Ave, Granada Hills, CA 91344, just north of Devonshire. They have items available to families in our community that include a food bank and clothing. Please call (818) 368-7794 if you would like more information. Thank you Woodley Community Church!

Thirty girls from JFK attended an event hosted by the LA Promise Fund titled “Hello Future.” From the LA Promise Fund website: “Designed to address the diversity pipeline problem with STEM, Hello Future launched October 23 and 24, 2019 in downtown Los Angeles. The event ENGAGED, INSPIRED, and EMPOWERED young people from middle school and up by bringing them together with today’s most disruptive entrepreneurs, tech innovators, and brands.” Twenty of our JFK girls are working directly with the LA Promise fund initiative Girls Build. According to the LA Promise Fund, “WHAT IS GIRLS BUILD? Girls Build, an initiative of LA Promise Fund, challenges young women from public middle and high schools across the country to make an impact in their community and ensure that their voices are heard. We believe young women will define the vision for what our schools, communities, and country can be, and that work starts now." If you are interested in learning more about the LA Promise Fund, Hello Future, or Girls Build, visit https://www.lapromisefund.org/hello-future/ or find us on Instagram @jfk_girlsbuild, Twitter jfkgirlsbuildla, or keep up with club happenings and events by visiting our website https://girlsbuildcredit.weebly.com/

On Tuesday, December 3 during Mr. Kerbrat’s periods 1, 3, and 4; staff from Providence Holy Cross Hospital came and certified students in how to “Stop the Bleed” as part of the Emergency Medical Services program within the Patient Care Pathway. Hospital staff included a trauma surgeon, a Nurse Practitioner, and a few Registered Nurses (RN’s). They covered bleeding control, application of a tourniquet, and wound packing. Nearly 90 Kennedy students were trained on how to “Stop the Bleed”. The top cause of preventable death in trauma is bleeding. 20% of people who have died from traumatic injuries could have survived with quick bleeding control.

Kennedy High School would like to send a heartfelt THANK YOU to Rydell Auto Dealership of San Fernando who generously donated to our Attendance Incentive Program. The donation has helped supply several incentives to our students to help encourage daily attendance. Our wonderful parent, Mauricio Martinez, who is an employee with Rydell, assisted Kennedy with the donation. If you or your company would like to make a donation to Kennedy, please feel free to contact our Principal, Dr. Richard Chavez at 818-271-2906.

On Friday November 22, 10 students with Excellent Attendance won a drawing to participate in our "Grab the Swag" event! The students were able to grab as much play money as they could to pick prizes that included gift cards to Starbucks, Taco-Bell, McDonald's, movie passes and MB2 Raceway. "Grab the Swag" event will be held each month in the Spring. Students who are in class and on time are automatically entered into a drawing to participate. YOUR ATTENDANCE MATTERS AT JFK!

On Thursday November 21, students, teachers, and parents participated in our "Not Cool to Juul" event hosted by our Youth Development Group & Advocates for Healthy Choices. The Kennedy community rallied behind the anti-vaping/tobacco campaign where they gained information about effects of vaping, how to use alternative coping skills, pledged not to use tobacco products, and ways to help themselves and peers. The Youth Development Group & Advocates for Healthy Choices will be providing more information in our Parent Center in the Spring and will host another anti-vaping/tobacco event in February. For more information regarding effects of vaping, or if you need assistance, call 1-800-QUITNOW or www.truthinitiative.org

On Wednesday, December 11, Nine Kennedy students received scholarships at the Power 100 Women In Entertainment (WIE) Breakfast sponsored by the Hollywood Reporter. Two Kennedy seniors were awarded full-ride scholarships to Loyola Marymount University (worth $250,000 each). Katherine Haro won the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation scholarship presented by Charlize Theron and Natalie Lopez won the first ever Carrie Fisher Scholarship presented by Bryan Lourd. In addition, senior Priscilla de la Rosa received a $100,000 Netflix scholarship from Mindy Kaling and Charlize Theron to attend Yale. All WIE mentees received a $10,000 scholarship toward college expenses, which also includes Kennedy seniors: Kate Berumen, Bianca Zamora, and Andrea Zaragoza. In addition, 3 new Kennedy juniors were selected to be WIE mentees and received brand-new Apple laptops along with a $10,000 scholarship upon their completion of the WIE Mentorship Program including: Clarissa Morales and Sabrina Rae Gonzalez, Celine Mendoza.