Third Charter School Sought in Livermore - The Independent

CommunityTHE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2011 11Tactical Team TakesTime to Donate BloodThe East County Tactical Team(Livermore and Pleasanton PoliceDepartments’ combined SWATteam) recently took part of a busytraining day to save lives in adifferent way than most officersare accustomed to. Members ofthe Tactical Team rolled up theircamouflaged sleeves and theyeach donated a pint of blood tothe American Red Cross. In total,the team donated two gallons ofblood.Most community membersthink of SWAT team members asbig burly men risking their lives inextreme situations to save others.The team’s donating blood wasjust another way that the tacticalofficers provide support for ourcommunity, and show their commitmentto saving lives.Sara O’Brien, CommunicationsManager at the American RedCross, stated that the donated bloodcould potentially aid fifty people inA Tri-Valley non-profit hasreceived a $10,000 grant from theSan Francisco Giants CommunityFund to establish an anti-bullyingprogram with Livermore students.Basicnecessities.org, based inLivermore, was awarded the grantin an on-field ceremony held atAT&T Park in San Francisco priorto the September 3 Giants game.The ceremony was a part of theGiants annual Strike Out ViolenceDay, which is supported by theGiants Community Fund, the SanFrancisco Sheriff’s Departmentand the Family Violence PreventionFund.“That was quite a thrill beingon the field,” said Suarez-Dunbar,who also teaches Spanish at LasPositas College. “But it’s evenmore of a thrill to get our Bust OutBullying program up and runningthanks to the Giants CommunityFund’s generous support.”Bust Out Bullying aims to educatechildren between the ages of5 and 14 about traditional bullyingand cyber-bullying through a seriesof workshops, demonstrations andneed. O’Brien said that while donatingblood is not a risky maneuverfor the officers, she knew therewere plenty of local people whowill benefit greatly from the effortsof the officers. O’Brien said thatanyone who wants to donate bloodcan either call 1-800-redcross, orgo online at www.redcrossblood.org. O’Brien hopes that the officers’willingness to give backto their community might inspireothers to do the same.Sergeant Brian Martinez of theLivermore Police Department, theTactical Commander of the teamstated, “It was fun, and it was anew and different way to helpothers. All the members of theteam participated, and everyonegot a kick out of seeing a bunchof officers donating blood all atonce. Giving blood is easy, andwe encourage everyone to do so.It was a great way for our team tobond.”Giants Award Grant toHelp Combat Bullyingreadings. In addition to addressingchildren, Bust Out Bullyingwill also work with teachers andother school staff, as well as parents.Potential participants will beindentified through the schoolsand the Junior Giants program ofLivermore.“Bullying has been a problemforever,” said Suarez-Dunbar. “Onthe one hand, society has gottenbetter at identifying bullying anddevising ways to address it. On theother hand, new technologies havegive rise to new forms of cyberbullyingthat we still have to catch upwith. Also, while physical threats,especially associated with boys,is pretty well-known, other seeminglynon-violent bullying that isjust as, if not more, damaging, isoften perpetrated by and amonggirls. These are lesser known areasof bullying that we want to exploreand intervene in.”To find out more about BustingOut Bullying or to make a donationto the program, you can goonline to basicnecessities.org orcontact Suarez-Dunbar at (925)424-1212.Pleasanton Brothers MovingUp in Racquetball WorldBy Ron McNicollNikhil and Julian Singh havebeen playing racquetball for onlythree years. However, they haveprogressed far enough to bringhome medals from state, nationaland international competitions.Starting the sport just threeyears ago, the sons of Salis andJennifer Singh of Pleasanton wonat both the state and national levelsin tournaments. Julian, 10, went onin the under-10 class to compete inan international tournament duringthe summer in the DominicanRepublic.Julian picked up two bronzemedals in the world tournament.He's proud of them, and has themdisplayed in a special box near thefront door of his home.Julian, who is in the fifth gradeat Lydiksen School, also captureda medal in singles competition atthe state juniors tournament inSan Diego. He came in secondin his age bracket, but that turnedout to be a grander result than heexpected.The father of the boy who beatJulian asked him to pair up withhis son in doubles competitionat the national and world meets.They won gold in the nationals inPortland, and then bronze in theworld meet.Julian won another medal in thestate tournament in San Diego. Hefinished second in doubles competitionwith his brother as partner.Nikhil, 12, is an 8th-grader atHart Middle School, and Julian isa 5th grader at Lydiksen school.Nikhil carried away his own medalfrom the state tourney with a secondin singles competition.Both boys are very good fortheir age, said Elaine Dexter, theircoach at ClubSport Pleasanton."They are in the top 10 percentin the country. They'll be reallygood when they are older," saidDexter.Grouping at ClubSport is byability, not age, so the boys findthemselves playing against adultssometimes. They hold their own.There is a professional racquetballcircuit. It doesn't pay the bigPictured are (from left) Nikhil Singh, coach Elaine Dexter andJulian Singh with their medals at the US National Junior Olympicsin Portland, OR. Julian won the national 10 and under doubles titleand won bronze in the gold division singles while Nikhil took 3rdin the Blue division singles and 3rd in the 12 and under doublesconsolation round.money that athletes in other sportsreceive. However, it's possible tomake a living at it, said Dexter.Racquetball is played in afour-walled room. Tree walls areplexiglas so that spectators canwatch the competition. The ball isplayed against the fourth wall.The game was invented in 1949by Joe Sobek on a Connecticuthandball court. Sobek wanted tocreate a sport that used a lightweightracquet and light ball toprovide faster action than squashor handball. There are now anestimated 5 million players in theUnited States.Nikhil said that as much ashe likes racquetball, and plans tocontinue it, he doesn't see himselfheaded for the pro circuit. Rightnow, with his 8th grade interests,he is looking more into computerprogramming.Nikhil took up the sport after hewatched his brother take a lesson."I like the fast pace. You're notalways waiting, as in football orbaseball. You get to use strengthand speed. It's really fast. Thatmakes it more fun."Julian said, "It's a fun game. Ilove the pace. You never have tostop." With evenly matched opponents,a game might last from30 to 45 minutes. The first playerwith 15 points wins.Jennifer said that it's a pleasureto watch her sons excel in the sport."They play in such a graceful way.It helps develop confidence andstrength and skill."