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KURDOGHLIAN OFFERS YOUTHFUL PERSPECTIVE
La Canada Valley Sun (La Canada Flintridge California)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
October 10, 2013 Thursday
Tiffany Kelly, La Canada Valley Sun, La Canada Flintridge, Calif.
Oct. 10--At 18, Kevork Kurdoghlian is the youngest school board
candidate running in this election, but he has big ideas on how to
re-imagine education. He is currently a student a Glendale Community
College and has plans to transfer to a university that is close to his
hometown. He recently sat down with the Valley Sun in his La Canada
Flintridge home, where he lives with his parents and two younger
siblings, to discuss his campaign for the Nov. 5 election.
You've been out of high school for one year. What have you learned
since you graduated that would help you as a school board candidate?
Kurdoghlian: I've gotten the opportunity to talk to a lot of La
Canada students who are now at the community colleges. I didn't get
a chance to talk to them in high school. It's obvious that a lot of
them obviously don't have much direction and that direction could
have been provided at La Canada High School. A lot of them are taking
remedial courses in math and English.
I think I've gotten a better understanding of the post-graduate
experience of a La Canada High School student.
I've really appreciated what I have here in La Canada and what the
schools are all about. I'm happy I stayed here.
If I don't get elected, I'm still going to be a part of the community.
I don't plan on leaving any time soon.
Do you support a high parcel tax rate?
Not a high taxation. I'm in favor of the $295 [annual rate] because
it doubles [the current tax], and by doubling it, it covers the
structural deficit.
The structural deficit is at $800,000. At a parcel tax rate of $150,
we're bringing in about $900,000, so if we just double that amount,
we'll cover the structural deficit. That would be the most fiscally
responsible thing to do.
There's a lot of things that need to be done at the school; a lot of
renovations. Classrooms are getting pretty old. But there's plenty of
other revenue opportunities. We could always sell the old district
headquarters on Palm Crest. The market value has to be at least
$2 million.
What programs or initiatives would you bring to the schools?
I want to blur the line between extracurricular and curriculum. I
want to blur the line between subjects, because quite frankly, they
are not subjects, they are disciplines.
At the high school, interdisciplinary courses. It'll show students
that history is not separate from English. It'll give teachers the
opportunity to co-teach and demonstrate their abilities to their
colleagues.
At the elementary school level, language immersion programs.
Right now, there are Spanish classes being offered at the high school,
but you take these classes at the sacrifice of something. You go to
Spanish, but you lose your lunch.
If elected, I would start research on that. That is something that
I would do immediately.
Spanish and Korean would be my top two [languages in the program]. The
Armenian population is growing and it's my native language, so
somewhere along the line, Armenian as well.
If elected, how would you manage your time between being a student
and a school board member?
I'm not worried. I think I can manage my time; I'm managing my time
right now. I'm taking five classes, 15 units, and I'm running a
school board campaign on my own. I don't have a staff, I just have
the generosity of my neighbors and my family friends. I'm hoping that
generosity will be there when I get elected, too.
I plan on staying a full-time student [if elected.] If it takes
me five years to get a degree, it doesn't bother me. If I have to
concentrate more on the school board, so be it.
What are your motivations for running?
This period of time in education can be really transformational,
especially with the technology updates that are taking place,
especially with the curriculum updates that are taking place with
Common Core.
This is such a great opportunity. I want to get elected because I want
to be a part of it first-hand. I feel like if I don't get elected,
there's so much that will go overlooked because the perspective I bring
is pretty radical and I think the district needs that perspective at
this time.
It's about my [younger] brother and my sister; it's about what the
district can be.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
La Canada Valley Sun (La Canada Flintridge California)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
October 10, 2013 Thursday
Tiffany Kelly, La Canada Valley Sun, La Canada Flintridge, Calif.
Oct. 10--At 18, Kevork Kurdoghlian is the youngest school board
candidate running in this election, but he has big ideas on how to
re-imagine education. He is currently a student a Glendale Community
College and has plans to transfer to a university that is close to his
hometown. He recently sat down with the Valley Sun in his La Canada
Flintridge home, where he lives with his parents and two younger
siblings, to discuss his campaign for the Nov. 5 election.
You've been out of high school for one year. What have you learned
since you graduated that would help you as a school board candidate?
Kurdoghlian: I've gotten the opportunity to talk to a lot of La
Canada students who are now at the community colleges. I didn't get
a chance to talk to them in high school. It's obvious that a lot of
them obviously don't have much direction and that direction could
have been provided at La Canada High School. A lot of them are taking
remedial courses in math and English.
I think I've gotten a better understanding of the post-graduate
experience of a La Canada High School student.
I've really appreciated what I have here in La Canada and what the
schools are all about. I'm happy I stayed here.
If I don't get elected, I'm still going to be a part of the community.
I don't plan on leaving any time soon.
Do you support a high parcel tax rate?
Not a high taxation. I'm in favor of the $295 [annual rate] because
it doubles [the current tax], and by doubling it, it covers the
structural deficit.
The structural deficit is at $800,000. At a parcel tax rate of $150,
we're bringing in about $900,000, so if we just double that amount,
we'll cover the structural deficit. That would be the most fiscally
responsible thing to do.
There's a lot of things that need to be done at the school; a lot of
renovations. Classrooms are getting pretty old. But there's plenty of
other revenue opportunities. We could always sell the old district
headquarters on Palm Crest. The market value has to be at least
$2 million.
What programs or initiatives would you bring to the schools?
I want to blur the line between extracurricular and curriculum. I
want to blur the line between subjects, because quite frankly, they
are not subjects, they are disciplines.
At the high school, interdisciplinary courses. It'll show students
that history is not separate from English. It'll give teachers the
opportunity to co-teach and demonstrate their abilities to their
colleagues.
At the elementary school level, language immersion programs.
Right now, there are Spanish classes being offered at the high school,
but you take these classes at the sacrifice of something. You go to
Spanish, but you lose your lunch.
If elected, I would start research on that. That is something that
I would do immediately.
Spanish and Korean would be my top two [languages in the program]. The
Armenian population is growing and it's my native language, so
somewhere along the line, Armenian as well.
If elected, how would you manage your time between being a student
and a school board member?
I'm not worried. I think I can manage my time; I'm managing my time
right now. I'm taking five classes, 15 units, and I'm running a
school board campaign on my own. I don't have a staff, I just have
the generosity of my neighbors and my family friends. I'm hoping that
generosity will be there when I get elected, too.
I plan on staying a full-time student [if elected.] If it takes
me five years to get a degree, it doesn't bother me. If I have to
concentrate more on the school board, so be it.
What are your motivations for running?
This period of time in education can be really transformational,
especially with the technology updates that are taking place,
especially with the curriculum updates that are taking place with
Common Core.
This is such a great opportunity. I want to get elected because I want
to be a part of it first-hand. I feel like if I don't get elected,
there's so much that will go overlooked because the perspective I bring
is pretty radical and I think the district needs that perspective at
this time.
It's about my [younger] brother and my sister; it's about what the
district can be.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress