Tag: schools

Lemon Grove Incident mural honors desegregation.

An emotionally moving mural was created in Lemon Grove earlier this year between two buildings on Broadway.

The Lemon Grove Incident mural was painted by lead artist Mario Chacón and a team of volunteers, including many local students. It can be viewed at 7963 Broadway, between the Welcome Home Boutique & Art Space and Body by Discipline.

The mural remembers and honors a court order in 1931 that ended school segregation in Lemon Grove. Previously, Mexican American students had been taught in a separate shabby schoolhouse. The groundbreaking ruling set Lemon Grove on the path to being one of the most integrated towns and school districts in San Diego County.

You can read more about the mural’s history and dedication back in March here.

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San Diego students learn to write, recite poetry!

Teachers reading this blog, heads up!

Write Out Loud in San Diego offers several great educational programs that encourage students to thoughtfully read, write, speak and listen!

Yesterday, at the Arts in the Park event in Chula Vista, I learned how students can experience the transformative power of poetry!

Let Your Voice Be Heard is a program of Write Out Loud that provides free poetry writing workshops in schools. Students K-12 are inspired to reach within themselves and express their thoughts and emotions with a poem. Selected works are then displayed in libraries and retail businesses!

Poetry Out Loud is a poetry recitation competition for high school students. This educational program encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country…students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.

I was told that some teachers, like many students, are bewildered and a bit intimidated by the very idea of poetry. But why? Poetry is simply words flowing from our inner selves. There’s no right or wrong. There’s no need to be exalted or profound. Just be yourself. And, possibly, learn a little more about yourself in the process!

Teachers, please explore all the educational programs offered by Write Out Loud by visiting their website here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

ABC’s Abbott Elementary trolley debuts for Comic-Con!

A new trolley promoting ABC television’s mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary has debuted for 2022 Comic-Con!

The trolley has been wrapped to appear like a school bus, transporting the show’s main characters, who teach at Philadelphia’s Willard R. Abbott Elementary School.

This year the San Diego Trolley will be featuring 40 cars decorated for Comic-Con! The huge, international pop culture event will be held at the San Diego Convention Center and around downtown from July 21 to July 24.

(Are you excited? I am! My camera is ready!)

ABC’s Abbott Elementary has been renewed for a second hilarious season! You can also watch it on Hulu.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Barona Indian Charter School student Heritage Project!

Students from the 8th Grade Culture Class at Barona Indian Charter School have created a Heritage Project concerning Kumeyaay culture and history. Their work will be displayed in an upcoming exhibition at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park!

The exhibition is titled Kum ‘Enyaawapch Ewuupch which is in the northern dialect of the Kumeyaay language. Translated to English, it means The Way We See It.

The exhibition has its big opening celebration on May 26, 2022. See all the details here!

I learned about this exhibition as I walked past the entrance of the Mingei International Museum last weekend. Photos of students filled one window, near an informative sign.

You can hear introductions by the participating students on the Barona Cultural Center & Museum website here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Top Gun fans vs. reality on USS Midway!

Yesterday a large group of dedicated Top Gun movie fans from a Facebook group visited the USS Midway Museum.

They all were having a blast, some wearing movie-inspired flight suits, checking out exhibits at San Diego’s popular aircraft carrier museum, taking photos near an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, before heading off to dine at Kansas City Barbeque, where the bar scenes in Top Gun were filmed.

It was interesting to watch their enthusiasm for the classic movie, whose sequel Top Gun: Maverick will be debuting in one week on May 24. I loved the original Top Gun when it came out in 1986, myself!

As I toured the USS Midway yesterday, I noticed a variety of connections the historic aircraft carrier and its present-day museum have to the actual TOPGUN aviator school and its pilots depicted in both the original and upcoming movie.

An F-14 Tomcat on the flight deck of USS Midway. These fighter jets co-starred in the original Top Gun movie, providing exciting, incredible visuals.
A fan group is photographed during their Top Gun Days event aboard USS Midway in San Diego. Three actual Navy pilots pose in front.
Nearby on the flight deck is an F/A-18 Hornet. This fighter jet was used as an adversary during the original Top Gun. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet will be flown by the characters of Top Gun: Maverick.
One of the pilot ready rooms inside the USS Midway aircraft carrier. VFA-151 Ready Room One is where F-18 pilots gathered for briefing before and after flights.
A look inside USS Midway’s F-18 ready room. During Operation Desert Storm, F-18 Hornets were launched from this long-lived aircraft carrier, which was built at the end of World War II.
What it would have been like sitting in the F-18 ready room. The characters in Top Gun: Maverick are F/A-18E/F Super Hornet pilots, part of a special detachment aboard an aircraft carrier.
White board at front of the ready room, with mission and aircraft details.
An exhibit aboard the USS Midway Museum details the history of TOPGUN, originally the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School located at NAS Miramar, aka Fightertown USA.
Exhibit concerns TOPGUN – The Early Years.
The Navy Fighter Weapons School was established on March 3, 1969 at NAS Miramar in San Diego, California. TOPGUN’s objective was to develop, refine and teach air combat maneuvering tactics and techniques to selected fleet air crews…
Museum exhibit video shows the Tactical Aircrew Combat Training System TACTS in operation.
Visitors to the USS Midway Museum can climb into an F-14 Tomcat cockpit, located on the Hangar Deck.
Maverick call sign painted by the cockpit of the F-14 Tomcat.
The two-seated cockpit’s front seat, where an F-14 pilot sits facing his flight controls. The bubble canopy gives the pilot all-round visibility.
The rear seat of the F-14 cockpit, where Goose in the original Top Gun movie flew. This is where the fighter jet’s Radar Intercept Officer sat.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Drama at San Diego Student Shakespeare Festival!

Sword fights! Intrigue! Love! Betrayal!

Sounds Shakespearean?

It doth!

All of this high drama played out today in Heritage County Park, during the 2022 San Diego Student Shakespeare Festival!

Students from a variety of local schools performed scenes from Shakespeare’s plays. The event, produced by Write Out Loud and the San Diego Shakespeare Society, also included great applause!

I arrived in time to watch most of the performances and was impressed. I have no doubt many of the participants will go on to enjoy distinguished acting careers. Perhaps one day you’ll recognize some of these faces at the Old Globe or La Jolla Playhouse!

The performers represented Carlsbad High School, Mission Bay High School, Theater For Young Professionals, Bernardo Heights Middle School and Sparrow Academy. Selections from Shakespeare included As You Like It, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Taming of the Shrew, and Julius Caesar.

At the conclusion of the event, William Shakespeare himself showed up to offer his congratulations!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

The stunning Ocean Nomads mural in Barrio Logan!

If you haven’t yet seen the Ocean Nomads mural in Barrio Logan, you’ll be surprised at the stunning beauty of this public artwork!

The three dimensional mosaic was created in 2013 by the Rainforest Art Project, with the help of young students from nearby Perkins Elementary School and Our Lady’s School. Hand-cut stained glass pieces glisten in sunlight, depicting a school of tuna swimming in the blue ocean off our coast.

The Rainforest Art Project, based in San Diego, works with schools in our region to create amazing works of art. Such as this!

Ocean Nomads can be found a few steps south of the outdoor fountain at Mercado del Barrio. Walk around a bit and you’ll find it!

If you want to see more great artwork by the Rainforest Art Project, check out their patriotic mosaic in La Mesa here. Or see the gorgeous art decorating their headquarters on National Avenue here. (In that old blog post I had labeled their building Farallon Design, which I believe might have been a previous occupant.)

It’s quite possible I’ve photographed more of their work around San Diego without realizing it!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Walking around UCSD’s amazing Geisel Library.

Today I walked around the amazing Geisel Library Building at UC San Diego. The architectural marvel is part of this weekend’s big San Diego Architectural Foundation’s annual Open House event.

The Geisel Library had no special tour this year, so I merely walked around it, aiming my camera up at the iconic modernist concrete and glass structure.

The appearance of this building is so futuristic and fantastic that it has appeared often in television and film. Anyone who thinks of UCSD likely pictures the Geisel Library.

When I attended UCSD many years ago, it was called simply the Central Library. You can read about its history here.

Of course, Theodor Seuss Geisel was the real name of children’s book author Dr. Seuss, who lived much of his life close by in La Jolla. The library has a huge collection of Dr. Seuss artwork and historical documents, and an exhibit is currently on display just inside the front entrance containing some of those pieces. I’ll be blogging about that very cool exhibit shortly!

If you’ve ever walked around the Geisel Library, you’ve likely encountered a sculpture of Dr. Seuss with the Cat in the Hat, and the very unusual hillside Snake Path. If you haven’t seen these, check out past blog posts here and here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Inspirational street art at Allied Gardens school!

Look at all the inspirational street art painted in Allied Gardens, just outside Stephen C. Foster Elementary School!

The artwork on several electrical boxes was painted by Mindful Murals, whose positive messages inspire and motivate students at a variety of schools around San Diego.

Colorfully written outside Foster Elementary are the words Creativity Is Contagious…Pass It On. To encourage learning, there are also images of a pencil, a palette, a book and a computer, a question mark inside a light bulb, and the mathematical symbol for pi.

As I walked through Allied Gardens this past weekend, I was excited and pleased to happen upon this great Mindful Murals art!

Three years ago I was given a cool tour of their motivational art at Edison Elementary School in City Heights. See those photos here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Unarius Academy of Science students reenact past lives!

A fascinating display in one window of the Unarius Academy of Science in El Cajon shows students engaging in psychodrama, reenacting past-life experiences.

I walked past the Unarius Academy of Science today. It’s located in downtown El Cajon. You might have seen their flying saucer car or the space murals by their parking lot.

According to an educational sign in the window, beginning in the late 1970’s, students were filmed during their elaborate psychodramas to help them recognize and overcome past-life shocks and traumas.

A different display filled this particular window the last time I peered through it, a little over a year ago.

I can’t say I know anyone who has studied here, but no doubt the coursework is just a bit unusual!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!