Author Archives: lesliedinaberg

About lesliedinaberg

When she's not busy working as an editor on a variety of magazine and book projects, Leslie Dinaberg writes feature articles, columns and grocery lists.

Whole Foods survives first review

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The motto of Whole Foods Market, “whole foods, whole people, whole planet,” will certainly be put to the test in Santa Barbara, as the company saw at its first concept review meeting with Planning Commission last week. There’s a whole lot of community input in its future if the organic food retail giant wants to successfully navigate the city of Santa Barbara’s planning process.

The proposal, outlined primarily by architect Brian Cearnal, includes the demolition of all existing structures in that center, as well as the adjacent Taco Bell, which Cearnal designed.

“I kind of like this little Taco Bell,” he said, feigning horror at the prospect of its demolition.

Prompted in part by comments from the League of Women Voters, the Citizens Planning Association, the Allied Neighborhood Association, the Coalition for Sustainable Transportation, and individuals, planning commissioners expressed concerns about the traffic estimates provided by the city.

Senior transportation planner Rob Dayton explained that they used a formula for trip generation indexes based on square footage and type of use, rather than actual traffic counts, as is common practice in California.

For example, the average daily number of trips estimated for Circuit City right now is 635, but the new Circuit City, which will be approximately 3,000-square-feet smaller but contain the same inventory, has an estimate of 556 trips, even though it will be located in a brand new, presumably more vibrant shopping center. According to the traffic estimate provided, the proposed new project will result in 393 fewer average daily trips to the center.

“I intuitively have a problem with those results,” said commissioner George Myers.

“We need to have a high confidence level in those numbers,” said commissioner John Jostes, a sentiment echoed by the majority of the group.

The commission had very positive things to say about the addition of a Whole Foods Market to the community, particularly in light of Whole Foods regional president Michael Besancon’s statement that the company’s policy is to donate at least five percent of its profits to local and regional charities.

However, the commission asked staff to take a closer look at the traffic estimates and directed the applicant to take a look at adding some housing to the project, as well as modifying the proposed parking scheme to make the development more in keeping with their vision for an urban streetscape, including taking a look at developing more pedestrian walkways and possibly a small park.

The July 14 review of Whole Foods came on the heels of a July 7 overview of multiple projects planned for the outer State Street area — including that project; a three-story mix of commercial office space and condos, for 3885 to 3887 State St.; a renovated Sandman Inn, which includes a three-story 113-room hotel and 64 condos; and a mix of commercial office space and 16 condos, at 15 S. Hope Ave. At the earlier meeting, the public also expressed concern about traffic congestion in the area and the need for comprehensive planning rather than piecemeal approval of projects as they come in.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on July 21, 2005.

A Day to Dream

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To help celebrate a decade of making dreams come true for terminally ill adults, the Dream Foundation invites the community to spend a whimsical day in Dreamland.

On July 24, the Santa Barbara Zoo will be transformed a fanciful getaway where families can spend quality time together while helping to support the foundation, a national nonprofit that is based in Santa Barbara.

Founder Thom Rollerson’s goal with this event was to do something kid-friendly, that’s very accessible for families and really directly reflects the mission of the Dream Foundation: to enhance the quality of life for individuals and families battling terminal illnesses. He had always wanted to do something that got those people together again with the people in Santa Barbara who made the Dream Foundation a reality, explained Rod Lathim, who is the event coordinator, artistic director and producer of A Day to Dream.

“When you enter Dreamland it’s kind of like going into Disneyland or some place where you can leave your daily worries outside the gate and come in. And when you’re in there you get to do fun things with your friends and your family and your kids,” said Lathim.

The first thing guests will see is a magical tree of dreams, where they can pick “fruit” containing inspirational quotes and action items. “I call them little mini random acts of kindness that you are encouraged to go do and set out and accomplish while you’re in Dreamland,” said Lathim.

They will also be encouraged to answer the question “What are your dreams and wishes for the community?” Selected answers will read on stage by the Youth Host Committee — William Bermant, Justin Bogart, Carly Burnell, Kelsey Cage, Samia Finnerty, Jennifer Gray, Ryan Halsey, Mackenzie McGonegel, Bridget Mitchell, Nathalie Mitchell, Avery Schwartz, Sara Weiner, Claudio Zungri and Jackie Zupsic — as well as sent to Santa Mayor Marty Blum and the City Council for review and hopefully, inspiration.

The youth hosts (ages 8 to 15) have helped shape the event and will act as Ambassadors to the dream recipient families and guests.

The new NBC series “Three Wishes,” hosted by Amy Grant, will also be there, filming a Dream Foundation recipient, a man with brain cancer from South Dakota who has always wanted to take his family to see the Pacific Ocean.

Other celebrity guests include host Brad Garrett, and Bruce Jenner, Elizabeth Peña, and Harry Shearer, among others.

In addition to “a feast of delectable food and sweets,” and a nonstop lineup of theatre and music from Porch Dogs, Dancing Drums and Boxtales Theatre Company, guests will also be able to visit “Swamette,” a seer and interpreter of dreams; the Flower Empower Emporium, which echoes the Dream Foundation’s volunteer program delivering donated flower bouquets to people battling catastrophic illnesses; a Haberdashery where guests can create fanciful hats; and the Dream Journey Pavilion, featuring massages and face painting; as well as learn hip hop moves with MTV choreographer and dancer Cris Judd.

“The cool thing is that once you’re in, the ticket price ($29.50/$15.50) includes everything,” said Lathim.

The sets, inspired in part by Dr. Seuss, also sound very cool.

“I wanted to do something where you walk in and you’re enchanted and enticed and there’s something fun for adults as well as kids,” said Lathim crediting his “great committee (co-chaired by Clay Dickens and Sara Lytle) for really rolling up their sleeves and getting paint under their fingernails.”

The results should be truly dreamy indeed.

Tickets for A Day to Dream, which takes place at the Santa Barbara Zoo on July 24 from 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., are $29.50 for adults and $15.50 for children 12 and under. Tickets are available at the Lobero Theatre Box Office, 963.0761, until July 23, and then in the lobby of the Mar Monte Hotel (across from the zoo) on the day of the event.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on July 14, 2005.

Honors program sticking

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The Santa Barbara School Board reluctantly agreed to maintain junior high honors classes while moving to elevate the general track classes to college preparatory level at the request of Superintendent Brian Sarvis and the principals of Goleta Valley, La Colina and Santa Barbara junior high schools.

“The principals agree with me that a change like this should not be this contentious,” said Sarvis, alluding to the public outcry that erupted from parents when they learned of the plan to drop the honors program last month.

In addition to raising the bar for all students by putting average and above-average students in class together, the principals had expected that eliminating honors would help to encourage diversity in the classroom.

Trustee Annette Cordero, who cast the lone vote against maintaining the honors program, expressed regret that the new proposal doesn’t show the same concern for desegregation.

“We have to stop sticking our heads in the sand about the fact that while the schools overall are not segregated, the programs are,” she said.

Comments from the public were mixed, with some advocating for the status quo and others, like LULAC’s (League of the United Latin American Citizens) Ernesto Hernandez, speaking out in favor of the principals’ original proposal.

“Our community has consistently advocated for improvements,” he said. “For us the norm has not been working out.”

Board members lauded the principals’ initiative, even though the plan proved to be a tough sell to parents.

“I’m not interested in a contentious kind of change,” said board member Nancy Harter, however she added that she would like the schools to be “really vigorous in moving forward” with phasing out the honors classes and elevating the general track.

“I hope that we move forward with a widespread dialogue,” said Board President Lynn Rodriguez. “There is a tremendous amount of gain to be had from diversity in the classroom, even various education levels that that can bring richness to the classroom and right now some of our classes lack that based on the homogeneity that’s there.”

Board member Bob Noel took a proactive approach and presented his plan, “Project Arriba,” for closing the achievement gap in junior high by focusing attention on students in grades four through six.

“If you want to stop tracking in the junior high schools, stop graduating sixth graders who are unprepared,” he said.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on July 15, 2005.

Whole Foods project causes community concern

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Adding a Whole Foods Market to the upper State Street area, already a target of concern for neighborhood and activist groups because of traffic congestion and other issues, will be on the docket for the Santa Barbara Planning Commission July 14.

With big changes in store for that area, including at least three other projects under review, city staff members Rob Dayton and Bettie Weiss guided planning commissioners through a review of outer State street traffic conditions last week, as members of the public advocated for a comprehensive look at the area before any new projects are approved, something staff is, in essence, already doing as part of the General Plan update, according to Weiss, a city planner.

Without delving into too many specifics, Weiss and Dayton, senior transportation planner, presented an overview of what may be in store for upper State Street:

-A revamped Circuit City, a new Whole Foods supermarket and rooftop parking for nearly 300 cars, at State Street and Hitchcock Way;

– A three-story mix of commercial office space and condos, for 3885 to 3887 State St.;

-A renovated Sandman Inn, which loses the restaurant but includes a three-story 113-room hotel and 64 condos; and

-A mix of commercial office space and 16 condos, at 15 S. Hope Ave.

While not in the city review process yet, Earl Ensberg, of Grace Lutheran Church near La Cumbre Plaza, also said his church is looking at building housing for seniors on the church’s property on the 3800 block of State Street.

Representatives from the Citizens Planning Association, Urban Creeks Council, League of Women Voters, Grove Lane Neighborhood Association and the Allied Neighborhood Association, and several individuals raised concerns about the impacts of the developments. In addition to calling for a strict adherence to zoning requirements, several speakers, including planning commissioners, expressed a desire that these developments be used as an opportunity to incorporate creek restoration and more open space into the area, which many described as an example of bad planning both functionally and aesthetically.

Since the majority of the proposed developments are mixed use, phasing out commercial office space in favor of housing, Dayton said that traffic might eventually be reduced because people will walk to stores rather than get in their cars every time they need something.

” I’m not an expert on traffic. But to me, that’s poppycock,” said Joe Guzzardi, who lives in the area. ” It’s ridiculous. It’s not the real world. The real world is that we have gridlock on upper State Street.”

These cumulative impacts are going to need your full attention, said Connie Hannah from the League of Women Voters. “There is no way to change the roads, so restrictions on development seem the only recourse.”

The Whole Foods/Circuit City project is scheduled to be heard by the Planning Commission at approximately 5:15 p.m. at City Hall.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on July 14, 2005.

Honors program gets reprieve

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An outcry from parents about the principals’ decision to drop the honors programs at Santa Barbara, La Colina and Goleta Valley junior highs has prompted the school board to put the item back on its agenda next week.

While La Cumbre Junior High will roll out a new curriculum in the fall — offering separate learning communities for Core Knowledge, Gifted and Talented Education (GATE)/ pre-advanced placement, liberal arts/college preparatory and intensive English development/newcomers — the other three principals have said they are raising the bar for all students by putting average and above-average students in class together. Some parents believe that the decision will have a negative effect on the roughly 15 percent to 20 percent of students who have been on the honors track, a group that performs well but doesn’t qualify for GATE.

With affluent Montecito parents talking about forming a charter junior high school and others considering moves to private school, many fear that the elimination of honors will make it more difficult to for the schools to remain socioeconomically and ethnically diverse, particularly Santa Barbara Junior High.

“The Honors Track is an attractive option that influenced our decision to leave private school,” wrote SBJH parent George Gonzales in a letter to the board. “While we can’t fault the outstanding level of instruction provided by the district, the general environment causes many parents from different ethnic backgrounds to proceed cautiously. Continuation of the Honors Track will reassure many of us that sending our children to public school is the right decision.”

Indeed the percent of Anglo students at SBJH has shrunk from 41 to 31 percent, since the 2002-2003 school year, according to Lanny Ebenstein, a former board member who has contracted with the district to create enrollment projections.

“To eliminate honors programs at Santa Barbara Junior High would intensify this detrimental trend,” he said.

SAGE (Supporters of Advanced and Gifted Education), a new group formed to advocate for high achieving students, has also come out in support of continuing the honors programs.

“Every taxpayer wants value for their money. Tracking, or segmentation, enables instruction to be geared, paced and outcomes evaluated appropriately making the highest and best use of both time and money,” wrote SAGE president Denice Adams in a letter to the board.

The trustees are expected make a decision on the honors program at its next meeting at 7 p.m. July 12, 720 Santa Barbara St.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on July 7, 2005.

Hope trustees ratify principal reassignment

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In recognition of the “diversity of opinion” with regard to Superintendent Gerrie Fausett’s reassignment of the Hope School District‘s principals, the board of trustees voted unanimously to ratify the decision, despite that they were not required to do so.

Joseph Liebman was not at the July 1 meeting, where his colleagues took the opportunity to publicly query Fausett about her decision to move Hope School principal Patrick Plamondon to Monte Vista School, Monte Vista’s Judy Stettler to Vieja Valley School, and Vieja Valley’s Barbara LaCorte to Hope.

“What are the key benefits of principal rotation?” asked board member Todd Sosna.

“The most important thing is to have administrators who are well –versed in more than one section of the district,” said Fausett.

Board member Elizabeth Owen asked Fausett to address rumors that the principal rotation was connected to the possible closure of Hope School.

“We have no plans to close Hope,” countered Fausett, adding that any decisions about whether to minimize or maximize enrollment in the three school district, which has about one-third transfer students, would be made in a public forum.

The possibility of the district switching its funding to Basic Aid — the model used by the Montecito and Goleta Schools to ensure funding even with declining enrollment — has been floated in the Hope District for years, and will likely be on the table again in the fall, along with trying to cure the district’s budget woes with a parcel tax, a strategy that failed with voters in 2003.

As for the timing of the principal move, Fausett said “our scores are so close” that it is likely that one or two schools may be designated with program improvement status under the No Child Left Behind Act, and she was concerned that doing a move after that would be perceived as punishment for the principals.

Unhappiness over the rotation has already had some fallout. Fausett said that the Hope District Foundation Auction, which raised over $70,000 last year, would probably not happen this year. The controversy has also motivated some parents to become more active in board politics. Hope School parent Craig Malley brought a video camera to record the meeting for others.

Ed Adams, a Hope School parent who has said the board and superintendent didn’t follow the proper process in making the rotation decision, told them, “Guaranteed we will be here watching what goes on to see that in all decisions you follow the process that you’re supposed to.”

A few people have suggested that the news would have been accepted much more favorably if the principals had been part of the announcement. But Fausett said that wasn’t possible.

“Trust me when I tell you I would have done anything to keep this board and this community from going through what we have gone through. There is a reason why I did it the way I did it. It wasn’t the easiest way, but I had to do it that way. ”

Originally published in South Coast Beacon in 2005.

Teachers get Technical

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Learning doesn’t stop in the summer — for students or for their teachers — and some local educators are just as excited about using new technologies as, well, kids in a computer store.

In four separate training sessions this summer, teachers can learn strategies for integrating technology into their classroom to help take advantage of the resource they now have — thanks to the Computers for Families program — every student has a computer at home.

Teachers from Brandon School, Carpinteria Family School, Cesar Chavez Charter School, Hollister School, Isla Vista School, La Patera School, Santa Barbara Community Academy, Solvang School and Vieja Valley School were visibly excited at a session led by Steve Keithley last week at the Santa Barbara County Office of Education.

“I think what we have to offer is pretty much cutting edge in education,” said Keithley, the county’s coordinator of instructional media services. In addition to sponsorship from Computers for Families, Keithley offered special thanks to Coldwell Banker and Bob Ruccione for sponsoring lunch for the trainees and providing each teacher with a free custom website, which they learned to use that day.

“Fold your hands and put them in your lap, so you won’t be tempted to surf while your colleagues are teaching,” joked Keithley, as La Patera School’s Judy Jenkins and Tara Svensson guided their fellow teachers through a “really thorough lesson plan” about the physics of roller coasters. This is just one of many teacher tools found on Unitedstreaming, a county service which makes over 40,000 video clips available, all of which are correlated to the California state standards.

Teachers now have the ability to make a play list of films available for students who finish their class work early, as well as insert video clips into homework, along with quizzes to ensure that students understand the material they’ve just viewed.

“Are they going to want to take a practice quiz with movies in it more than practice with a book? Of course they will,” said Keithley.

“This is great as a study device. It gives them immediate feedback and they know the right answer now,” said Hollister School teacher Kimberley Shingle, who was excited to have another month to fool around with the technology before she goes back to teach with it at school.

“I never knew about any of this before,” said Carpinteria Family School teacher Lori Lee Collins.

“It’s really cool,” agreed Leanne Patterson, from Cesar Chavez Charter School. She and her colleague Nate Monley were particularly interested in the bilingual selections, since Cesar Chavez is a dual language immersion school.

“Having visual stimuli available, such as photos and videos, to go with a written request really helps EL (English Learner) students,” Keithley said. “It also helps teachers assist students in multiple grades and with differing ability levels.”

In addition to learning to create websites and integrate digital media into their lessons, teachers also learned how to use the new pen drives and scan converters they were provided with, free of charge, for attending the training.

With so much to learn in just one day, how can the teachers possibly absorb it all?

They can’t, said Keithley.

The learning really doesn’t stop in the summer. “When you’ve got so many resources … it’s really much better to master a piece of it,” he said.

“Then share it with a friend.”

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on July 7, 2005.

Breast Resource Center finds a new home

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The Breast Resource Center of Santa Barbara welcomed visitors to its new home on June 23. Among those gathered at the nonprofit’s homey new cottage, across the street from Oak Park at 525 W. Junipero St., were some of the early founders of center, which serves as an emotional and educational support center for breast cancer patients, survivors and their families.

Nancy Oster, the organization’s first president of the board, reminisced about the group’s beginnings in 1997. Among people with breast cancer, “every community has a grapevine of women you connect with eventually,” said Oster. But it takes a while for newly diagnosed women to make those connections.

Oster and other survivors, along with healthcare professionals, including cancer research pioneer Dr. Susan Love, who had recently come to town, began brainstorming about creating a center in Santa Barbara.

“We had a wish list of things we’d like to see,” said Evie Sullivan, who has been treasurer of the board since its inception.

“We wanted a place that was close to the hospital, near the bus, it would be nice to have a living room, and a kitchen to cook up some chicken soup or something,” recalled Oster. “We also thought it might be nice to have window boxes.”

Two weeks later Dorothy Shea called and generously offered to lend one of three houses in the Cottage Hospital area to the group. “One of them (at 526 W. Pueblo St.) even had window boxes,” said Oster.

The group quickly organized itself as a legal nonprofit and moved in. Staffed and furnished entirely by volunteers, the original carpets and fixtures came from oncology social worker Debbie Hobler, a noted author and one of the BRC’s original board members.

Of primary importance was that newly diagnosed women would feel comfortable at the Breast Resource Center.

“The first day we opened, there was a woman who was about 80 years old, waiting for us at the door,” recalled Judy Blanco, who began volunteering at the BRC and became its first paid employee in 1998. “She said, ‘you know, it is healing just being here.'”

The center’s move, necessitated by a plan by the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara to develop a new facility that will encompass the entire block of Pueblo Street and more, allows more space for programs, but it will also be the first time the organization has had to pay more than a token $1 a year toward rent.

Luckily there are several fundraisers on the horizon, including the Fay Hobbs run on July 17 and the Santa Barbara Triathlon on Aug. 27 and 28.

The center’s new home feels just a homey as the old one.

“It’s still a place where strangers end up hugging,” said Hobler.

Blanco agreed. “Nobody leaves here without hugs.”

For more information on the Breast Resource Center call 569.9693 or visit www.breastresourcecenter.org.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on June 30, 2005.

Principal’s passion is no fluke

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A strong believer in the importance of ocean literacy because “you’re only going to care about something that you love and you’re only going to love something that you know,” Vieja Valley School principal Barbara LaCorte, who will move to Hope School in the fall, spends most of her time away from school either on or near the water.

LaCorte’s dedication to the ocean and its creatures is so strong that she was recently honored as Volunteer of the Year by the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, traveling to Washington with her daughter, Lindsay, to receive the award.

Contributing more than 200 volunteer hours to the Channel Islands Naturalist Corp. (“like the park rangers of the islands”) last year, LaCorte was involved in a number of projects, including creating a multimedia presentation for the speakers’ bureau, The Channel Islands A-Z; and volunteering for a research study on Xantu’s murrelet, an endangered bird species that only nests on the Channel Islands.

“They are this just amazing little bird,” LaCorte said of the murrelet. “We’re out in the middle of the night in zodiacs counting birds and crawling in the back of caves looking for eggs.”

Imagine what a kick her students at Vieja Valley School would have gotten from seeing their principal climbing in caves.

LaCorte also worked on another research project doing photo identification of blue and humpback whales, conducted numerous community outreach events, and gave regular whale-watching tours on the Santa Barbara Condor.

While it’s hard to fathom someone with such a demanding job doing so much volunteer work during her “off” time, LaCorte said, “I think that you make time for the things that you love to do. It’s been a wonderful thing for me.

“The intensity of my job, I have the balance of the end of the week I go out on the water and I watch whales. It just restores me.”

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on June 30, 2005.

Zoo campers to dive into ocean, water exploration

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Santa Barbara Zoo Train, courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

Santa Barbara Zoo Train, courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

Summer visitors to the Santa Barbara Zoo will look beyond the East Beach view to the vast world of the ocean, as two full years of activities begin to educate the public about the “Wonders of Water.”

“The populace of the United States is uneducated about the issues concerning water,” said Nancy H. McToldridge, the zoo’s chief operating officer. She is hoping to help change that by weaving water messages into all of the zoo’s events, promotions and educational programs, starting with zoo camp, which began its first session this week.

“Summer camp, that’s where it all starts. … It’s the most incredible program we have and the most important contribution that we make to the community,” said McToldridge.

“Anybody who works in a zoo or an aquarium or … in … conservation or anything that has to do with animals and wild places can trace their love of that back to some experience they had when they were very young.”

Education curator Heather Johnson, who began volunteering in 1986 as a junior zookeeper while attending Dos Pueblos High, is also bringing water awareness into the camp curriculum and school programs.

Wildlife Academy campers (sixth-seventh grade) will be able to have three full weeks of aquatic biology.

“That’s a special thing for us because the Wildlife Academy students are at a point in their lives where they are really exploring careers in science,” she said. “So they’re going to be taking field trips to the beach, they’re going to be actually doing a lot of things with the bird refuge, they’ll be taking water quality tests from all of our water habitats here at the zoo and they will be talking with our professionals … to find out how we ensure that there’s healthy habitats.”

Campers will also learn about native aquatic animals by conducting a census on East Beach.

This age group is fantastic to work with, Johnson said.

“They are starting to get very much into Animal Planet and Discovery Channel and choosing what they might want to pursue as career paths. … We’re hoping that we might inspire them to take some more science and math.”

Younger campers will also experience the wonders of water. First- and second-grade students will be talking about oceans and watery habitats, while Zoo Cadets (third through fifth grade) will learn about “what kind of animals need to live in the deep, deep, deep waters, the funky creatures that live down there in the dark, the ones that are almost see-through and have those funny characteristics that have like lights on their heads and things like that,” Johnson said.

Energy was high as the camp’s counselors finished up their training last week.

“You have an incredible opportunity with these 3-year-old, 4-year-old, 10-year-old minds that are wide open and you have the opportunity to be the person that makes a difference in that person’s life,” McToldridge told her charges.

“You may never know what you’ve done. … That a half-hour that you spent with one child may lead to an incredible discovery that will save animals and save people.”

Space is still available at the Santa Barbara Zoo’s camp for children aged 3 to entering seventh grade. Sessions run through Aug. 19, with camp hours from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and extended care from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Cost is $157 per week for camp and $225 per week with extended hours, with discounts for zoo members. For more information visit www.sbzoo.org or call 962-5339.

Ocean Education:

Everyday choices have an impact on the ocean and its many inhabitants. Here are some simple ways that families can help, from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association.

• Participate in beach and stream cleanups.

• Put trash in its proper place.

• Plant native plants.

• Make smart seafood choices. For a free guide, visit www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp.

• Reduce oil use and limit run-off.

• Save water and electricity.

• Be pet smart. Ask your pet store for MAC (Marine Aquarium Council)-certified fish and be sure to scoop up pet poop.

• Don’t leave fishing lines behind.

• Follow boating laws to prevent problems for wildlife.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on June 23, 2005.