John F. Kennedy High School Home

Do you like writing poems, short stories, or essays? Do you love to draw? Kennedy High School’s literary magazine, Voices and Visions, is holding their annual art and writing contest. The prize for best front cover design is $100.00; back cover design is $50.00. Both designs must include the magazine’s title “Voices and Visions.” The size should be the standard 8 ½ x 11 inches. The writing prizes are as follows: $75.00 for the best poem, short story, and essay. All writing submissions must be typed. Please take your submissions to your English teacher, or take them to Room A205. The deadline for all entries is Friday, April 5. All grade levels are welcome to participate.

On Thursday, March 14, Franklin Murphy, a senior in Kennedy’s Gifted Medical Magnet, received a Scholar Athlete Award from the San Fernando Valley chapter of the National Football Foundation, which serves the North Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. In addition, he received a $1,500 scholarship towards the college he will be attending. Recipients were selected based on athletic ability and academic success. Franklin played running back for Kennedy for 4 years and currently has a 3.714 GPA. Jonathan Franklin, a retired NFL football player from Green Bay Packers, who currently is coaching for the Los Angeles Rams and played football for UCLA, was keynote speaker. The awards banquet was televised on CBS from the Odyssey restaurant in Granada Hills.

ARC Student Council will hold its 1st annual Spring Fling dance this Friday, March 22 from 6pm to 10pm in the Big Gym. Pre-sale tickets are $2 in the Quad at Lunch and $4 at the door. Food and drinks will be sold at this event. The dance will feature DJ TYE Hollywood from KIIS FM and will be giving away free concert tickets and prizes, so don’t miss out. There will be a photo booth. Attire is casual and decorations will be glow-in-the-dark. See you Friday!

Kennedy Architecture Digital Design and Filmmaking (ADDF) magnet was honored as an “Excelling Magnet” for the 2017-2018 school year by the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) office of Student Integration Services. The index is based on daily attendance, AP enrollment rate, percent “Meeting the Standard” on the Smarter Balanced assessment in English Language Arts (ELA) and math. Their Average Daily Attendance rate was 97.66%, indicating that ADDF magnet students want to come to school on a daily basis. The percent of student who “Met the Standard” on the 11th grade Smarter Balanced assessment in ELA was 82.2%, indicating that the vast majority of the ADDF magnet students are college ready in English entering their senior year.

On Wednesday, March 20, Kennedy leadership will sponsor the UCLA Blood Drive in the Big Gym from 9am-2pm. The first 30 students to sign up get 2 movie tickets. Every student who donates blood receives 15 hours of community service. Every student after the first 30 receives 1 movie ticket. You must be 16 years or older with a parent consent. You must weigh more than 110 pounds. You may not donate if you have a nose piercing; have a tattoo; or are taking medication.

Kennedy will host the first annual Kennedy Cares Festival on April 1, 2019, from 8am-12pm on the Kennedy campus. The purpose of this event is to provide outreach to the community; share information regarding the various programs offered at Kennedy; and provide information regarding schools in the Kennedy Complex. The Kennedy Challenge LA team will perform their civic duty to provide information regarding the 2020 Census. Kennedy Girls Build LA organization will be leading a voter registration campaign. Most importantly, we will have an opportunity to have fun as a community by participating in 5K run for our health. The 5K Run is for all ages, all community members, and District staff. Kennedy clubs will have information booths and carnival games. Food trucks will be on site for when you get hungry, or you can bring your own items for lunch. Please mark your calendar and join us for this event.

Kennedy PTSA will be selecting 3 seniors to receive $1,000 scholarships towards university, community college, or career college expenses PLUS free trip to Disneyland Grad Night. You must be a PTSA member to apply ($8). Senior scholarships are considered in the following categories: Academic Achievement, Community Service, Athletics, Special Education, the Arts, and Leadership. Please submit your application to Mr. Foster in K107 along with your teacher recommendation stating why you are deserving of the scholarship, and an essay stating why you think you are deserving of the scholarship (500 words max) by April 22. Please be sure to include the name of college you plan to attend.

Seniors in the Filmmaking pathway of the Architecture/Digital Design/Filmmaking Magnet pitched Unscripted TV show (aka reality TV) ideas to executives from 4 production companies. This is the second year of what has become known as “PitchFest” and was created when Jonathan Cane of BackRoads Entertainment reached out to our school to offer his expertise. This year Mr. Cane invited 5 television executives; Rob Cohen & Christine Roth (Exec. Producers of “My Cat From Hell”), Kevin Williams (Exec. Producer of Parker Plays and Get Hyped on Disney XD) Desiree Mandelbaum and Natalie Terrell (Casting Execs “Real Housewives”, “The Hills”) to hear the 5 minute pitches. Last year’s winning show idea made it all the way to Netflix and this year we hope for more.

Kennedy celebrated national Read Across America Day or Dr. Seuss’s Birthday on Friday, March 1 with nearly 500 students from Danube, Haskell, and Tulsa elementary schools. The Teaching Academy coordinated the event with over 20 Kennedy teachers. The elementary students participated in age-appropriate, Dr. Seuss-themed activities led by Kennedy students. The students were escorted by Kennedy students, school staff, and parents. LAPD ensured their safety by providing traffic control. The students left with happy faces and a better understanding of why reading is important.

US History teacher Dr. Petri and English teacher Ms. Avdul were awarded a Keeping History Alive grant from Richard Webster of the Helen and Will Webster Foundation and Lee Walcott of the Ahmanson Foundation for a classroom set of Patriots from the Barrio by author Dave Gutierrez. Gutierrez’s book is a well-researched work of non-fiction that examines Mexican-American contributions in World War II and describes the heroics of Company E, the 141st Infantry from the 36th Texas division of the US Army. This unit was initially composed entirely of Mexican American enlisted men. While engaged in battle in Italy and North Africa, Company E sustained appalling casualties against Nazi Germany’s best troops. After reading Patriots of the Barrio, Dr. Petri’s students were visited by Gutierrez on Friday, February 22 to learn about genealogy research techniques and engaged in student-centered inquiry projects that helped them examine untold Hispanic contributions on American battlefields. Students will produce oral histories or interviews of family members that will be recorded and shared with the Library of Congress. Transcripts of exemplary Hispanic Histories will be on display in our library upon completion. The film rights of the book were recently obtained by Hollywood Actor/Producer Wilmer Valderrama; coming soon to a theater near you.