Tag: schools

Historical photographs at San Ysidro Library.

Border Sign, circa 1920. San Ysidro The Gateway to the U.S.

Those interested in the history of San Diego should visit the San Ysidro Library. Inside the library’s community room, fascinating historical photographs of San Ysidro (one of San Diego’s southernmost districts) can be viewed.

I visited the library yesterday. I wanted to check out the old photos and visualize how San Ysidro appeared long ago.

I learned how this border community began as the Little Landers colony, a family farming cooperative created by agricultural reformer, journalist and writer William E. Smythe in 1908. The motto of Little Landers was “A little land and a living surely is better than desperate struggle and wealth possibly.” It was one of the nation’s first communes. The colony was named San Ysidro, probably after the patron saint of farmers, Isidore the Laborer, and was formally inaugurated on January 11, 1909.

I was also surprised to learn San Ysidro had a Pony Express station!

Here are just a few of the photographs you will see should you visit the library…

Little Landers Colony School, circa 1907. The schoolhouse was located on East San Ysidro Boulevard (old Tia Juana Boulevard) where I-805 is today.

Little Landers Colony Sign by San Ysidro Post Office, circa 1913.

U.S. and Mexico Border Crossing officials, circa 1924. Looking north from Tijuana toward San Ysidro. The train in the background is on the San Diego Arizona Eastern Railway built by John D. Spreckels.

Pony Express Station, circa 1916. Refugees from the Great Flood of 1916, worst natural disaster in the history of the South Bay.

San Ysidro Library, circa 1930. The original 1924 library–first Branch Library owned by the County of San Diego. It was the only library in the country with a smoking room for men!

I took outside photos of the old 1924 library several years ago. See them here!

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Youth exhibition at San Diego Museum of Art.

Young Art 2023: Comfort and Calm is a free youth exhibition now on view at the San Diego Museum of Art until May 15, 2023.

I’m always amazed by the local talent that appears every two years at the museum’s longest running art program–almost a century now! Students from regional schools around San Diego and Tijuana have selected work displayed in SDMA’s Galleries 14 and 15.

This year the theme is Comfort and Calm. In an age of COVID-19, barbaric war, political hatred, talk of the world’s end, and addictive, omnipresent social media that provides a deluge of shallowness, nastiness, confusion and absurdity, I can definitely understand why young people would seek comfort and calm, and how artistic expression can provide that refuge.

The artworks you’ll see are not only very well done but inspiring. Thank goodness, the human spirit is resilient.

You can freely access Galleries 14 and 15 from a corner of the May S. Marcy Sculpture Court and its Panama 66 restaurant. Look for the following sign and head through the nearby doors that lead to museum restrooms.

Enjoy a few examples of this great youth art…

Sunset, Thrace Hollmann. Torrey Pines Elementary School, Grade 4.

Along the Border, Katelyn Wang. The Bishop’s School, Grade 12.

Spring Rain, Joana Jiang. Francis Parker School, Grade 11.

Look Around, Carley Chen. The Bishop’s School, Grade 10.

Sunset Fields, Ivory Rose Foley. Gillispie School, Grade 4.

My Nature, Olivia Dooda. Johnson Elementary, Grade 2.

Hilltop Home, Hadley Lischke. Gillispie School, Grade 1.

Warmth, Ava O’Connor. Westview High School, Grade 12.

Sleepy, Gabriella Hernandez. Chula Vista High and School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Grade 12.

Have you noticed electrical boxes around downtown San Diego that appear like special works of art? Many of these boxes were painted in 2021 for the San Diego Museum of Art’s previous Youth Art exhibition.

You can find those photographs by clicking here and scrolling down.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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!

Let’s Go SDSU Aztecs!

Who would have believed the SDSU men’s basketball Aztecs would be one victory away from a national championship?

Tomorrow the San Diego State University Aztecs face the University of Connecticut Huskies for all the NCAA Tournament marbles. The Aztecs are underdogs. Which means they are poised for another hard fought victory!

What an accomplishment to even reach the Final Four. But now there’s a chance for SDSU to absolutely shock the sports world.

I thought it would be fun to head to SDSU by trolley late this morning to see what I might see. I walked through the center of the campus, past Viejas Arena, past frat houses and local businesses, hoping to find excited banners, posters, hand made signs, anything expressing school spirit during this incredible historic event.

Nothing.

Yes, I know it’s a Sunday and the Aztecs advanced to the title game only yesterday. But the Final Four is a week old. If there are any signs of school spirit now decorating the campus, I completely missed it.

I just saw the above sign at a preschool across Montezuma Road.

I do know for a fact that there are a whole lot of fans out there! So Let’s Go SDSU Aztecs!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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!

Kids art at Algo Bueno in Chula Vista!

Check out all the fun art on a wall at Algo Bueno in Chula Vista! The artwork was painted by local kids!

I was walking around yesterday when I saw this colorful wall at 354 Church Avenue where Algo Bueno (Something Good), an outdoor eatery, is located. The area was fenced off, so I took zoom photos and sharpened them.

This great art was designed and created by students from Chula Vista Learning Community Charter Middle School.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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!

Kimonos reimagined by Mesa College students!

Human creativity is limitless. That was apparent today when I stepped into the Inamori Pavilion at the Japanese Friendship Garden.

An exhibition in the pavilion is titled The Kimono Reimagined. Reimagined, indeed! The extent to which the traditional Japanese kimono can be transformed by fashion students into something completely new might surprise you!

Students from the San Diego Mesa College Fashion Program teamed up with the Visions Museum of Textile Arts in Liberty Station to create this brilliant clothing. They used upcycled kimonos and accessory garments that had been donated to Mesa College.

I don’t claim to know much about fashion, but my eyes beheld all this rampant creativity with wonder!

You can admire these inspired works of art at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park through February 24, 2023.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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!

All People Touch the Earth in Normal Heights!

Thirty-year-old public art in Normal Heights still shines with wisdom and love.

All People Touch the Earth is a 310-foot-long entryway and seating wall north of the Adams Elementary joint-use park, at the corner of School Street and Mansfield Street. It was created in 1992 with the help of over 900 community members, including school children, parents, and staff from John Adams Elementary School.

Hand prints and bits of tile and other objects that were placed in wet concrete accompany wise quotes. All float among the planets of our solar system!

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

Love your neighbor as thyself.

He who travels slowly to his destiny arrives whole.

Good Fortune

The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.

Locks and keys are not made for honest fingers.

All the sounds of earth are like music.

Music is the universal language of mankind.

Colors speak all languages.

Hitch your wagon to a star.

It is there that our hearts are set. In the expanse of the heavens.

He who seeks to understand the universe understands nothing.

For every person who has ever lived there shines a star.

One can see the universe in a grain of sand.

Live long and prosper.

It takes a whole village to educate a child.

Talk does not cook the rice.

It is good to warm one’s self by another’s fire.

Three years old habit lasts till eighty years old.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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!

Murals at new Logan Memorial Educational Campus!

Have you seen the huge, super colorful murals at the new Logan Memorial Educational Campus?

If you’ve driven through Logan Heights down 28th Street or Ocean View Boulevard, you probably have!

I photographed six of the murals that are visible from the street.

The artwork, designed by Visual Asylum, contains fused abstract faces and positive messages: DIVERSITY, COLLABORATE, LEADERSHIP, INSPIRE, COMMUNITY, COMPASSION, CREATIVITY and GROWTH.

Not only do these murals motivate students attending the newly opened school, but they brighten the neighborhood and inspire those passing by.

They made me smile!

At the entrance to the new campus, I came upon a very colorful LMEC…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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!

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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