Clairbourn School

spotlightON SUCCESSTWO FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS NAMED ESSAY CONTESTWINNERS Ronni Carbajal-Cuccia and Raymond Chungwere honored this winter by Mayor Matthew Lin, M.D.,at a San Marino City Council meeting for their winningessays on the topic of the importance of libraries. Theessay contest was created by the Crowell Public Library’sBoard of Trustees to celebrate the new San Marinolibrary’s January 26 th grand opening. Both students andtheir fellow fi fth-grade classmates entered the contest,along with 1,600 area students. Of that number, only 50students were chosen as winners. In addition to attendingthe opening ceremony for the library, essay winners andtheir families gathered at City Hall on February 13 th toreceive certifi cates, special awards, and to have theirpicture taken with the mayor. The winning essays werethen displayed for several months in the Crowell Library’scommunity room.Mayor Matthew Lin, M.D., gave Raymond Chung the honor of sitting in themayor’s chair to display the winning Fifth Place Award Certificate during theCity Council Meeting at San Marino City Hall.Library Trustees, Marilyn Peck and Gene Weisenberg, presented a SpecialMerit Award to fifth-grader Ronni Carbajal-Cuccia at San Marino City Hall.CFA HOLIDAY GIVING REACHES $11,000Parents, Lisa Dietle and Liana Lee, were this year’s chairsfor the Clairbourn Families Association Holiday GivingProgram, which raised $11,000 worth of goods forneedy area families. The project began with Clairbourneighth-graders participating in the Foothill Unity Center’sThanksgiving food drive. In addition, Clairbourn familieswere encouraged to help provide Christmas gifts for needychildren. Paper angels with descriptions of each child’sdream gift were displayedon a Christmas tree by thetransportation pavilion, andby the end of the project,300 angels had beenfulfi lled. An additional giftof a book from a localpublisher was also providedto each child. Thanks to theparticipation in the HolidayGiving project, one-third ofCFA Holiday Giving Chair, LisaDietle, and Assistant Chair, LianaLee, display some of the giftsdonated by Clairbourn families forthe Holiday Giving program.the Foothill Unity Center’sneedy families wereprovided for by Clairbourn’sefforts.18 BRANCHING OUT SPRING 2008