Westside Reader December 2015

December 2015 THE Reader • 21
Godzilla
continued from page 12
help with traffic control and emergency evacuations.
Ranking the Niños
Some scientists say the coming El Niño could eclipse the
strongest one on record. Others say it will rank somewhere
among a new top three — along with the 1997-98 storms and
the 1982-83 El Niño, which caused more than $8 billion in damage
throughout the Pacific region, and knocked out power to
1.6 million Southern Californians.
There’s a silver lining, even in El Niño. The rains are expected
to ease California’s severe drought, although they will not fully
alleviate it.
In the Santa Clarita Valley, officials are concentrating their efforts
to prepare for the dark clouds, not the silver lining.
“They’re calling it Godzilla,” Nuzzi reminded. R
The Blazers love to travel and to ski. left to right, Dina, 16, Shira, 11,
and Rachel, 19.
Blazer
continued from page 20
“That was how he was raised,” she said. “Where I grew up
in England the Jewish community is a very tight-knit community.
I grew up very involved in the Jewish community. I
like being involved in the community.”
Tracy said she enjoys “helping people” and being part of
the Jewish community is the couple’s “social life.”
“I feel we’ve built something here, together,” she said.
“We’ve been able to build something. I like philanthropy, I
like giving back. My parents were always very involved in
our congregation, so that was how I was raised.”
Einstein Academy
Outside of his work at Temple Beth Ami, Mark Blazer is
the founder of the The Albert Einstein Academy for Letters,
Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit, co-educational, public charter
school that has grown to include campuses in Agua
Dulce, Beverly Hills and Cleveland, Ohio.
“We are maxed out at the number of students we can take
in the SCV,” he said.
Plans to expand have been stymied by the lack of a building
site.
“We haven’t been able to find a large enough site in the
Santa Clarita Valley to have our dream campus,” Blazer said.
“We’re still looking. We want to build recreation facilities, a
school, a synagogue, but we can’t find a piece of land.”
Blazer said he wanted to start the school for students who
needed “a little bit of extra attention.”
The first Einstein Academy opened served high school age
students because Blazer felt Santa Clarita Valley high schools
were too big to give some students the attention they
needed.
“Some students were falling through the cracks because
the schools were too big to know what was going on with
these students,” he said. “Some kids just need a little bit more
help.”
Blazer was clear to point out that the Einstein Academy is
not a “Jewish school.”
“It was never started with the intention of being a Jewish
school or even a quasi-Jewish school,” he said. “The majority
of the students at the school are not Jewish.”
Hanukkah
Hanukkah begins the evening of Sunday, Dec. 6. The annual
community lighting of the Menorah will be held at
Westfield Valencia Town Center during “Chanukkah at the
Mall” 5-6 p.m.
Temple Beth Ami, Temple Beth Shalom and Chabad will
all participate in the event.
Blazer said the community should come out and celebrate
and learn about Hanukkah.
“This is one of the great events we do to bring people together,”
he said. “This is what makes our country great, the
ability to publically celebrate our faith.”
Among the other Hanukkah events in the SCV: Story time
with Rabbi — Canyon Country Library, Monday, Dec. 7, 6
p.m.; Story time at Barnes and Noble, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 7p.m.;
Story time with Rabbi — Old Town Newhall Library,
Wednesday, Dec. 9, 6 p.m.; Story time with Rabbi — Valencia
Library, Monday, Dec. 14, 6 p.m.
Dec. 14 is the last day of the Hanukkah celebration. R