WOODLAND HILLS : Inner-City Kids Make Friends at Castlemont

Passing orange groves just outside the school grounds, a busload of children from South-Central Los Angeles arrived at Castlemont Elementary School in awe Friday--the first day of a program designed to bridge the gap between suburban and inner-city students.

As they entered the gates of the private school cloistered in Woodland Hills, the 55 students from 75th Street School were escorted by Castlemont students to a day of sing-alongs, art projects and outdoor games.

The day--part of a program called “Two Schools, One Community”--was designed by officials from both schools in the hopes of starting an ongoing exchange between the student bodies. The program seeks to show similarities between the students without discounting their very different circumstances, said Marty Nislick, Castlemont director of student affairs.

Nislick said that the schools’ intent is to come up with new ways for children from different areas of Los Angeles to understand each other.

“Most inner-city kids have never even been to the Valley,” he said. “They are likely to wake up to the sound of sirens, while (Castlemont) students wake up to the sound of birds chirping.

“Our student body is lacking in its diversity,” Nislick continued. “Diversity for us lies in who is short and who is tall. Both groups should be able to see how the other lives.”

Francine Pam, a fourth-grade teacher at 75th Street School, agreed.

“The children are curious about each other,” she said. “It’s important for our kids to be here because it will help break the stereotypes that (Castlemont students) might have about them.

“We can show them that there’s a lot more going on in our school than they think,” she said.

To show Castlemont students their school’s concerns, the 75th Street staff presented slides of its Peacemaker Program, a 10-step guide for students in resolving daily problems without violence.

For the most part, though, students learned about each other through direct contact.

One exercise involved creating a community mural. Named “See Life,” the mural consisted of individually designed underwater creatures living together in “the ocean of life.” Working in mixed groups, the students were told that the mural represented the balance of similarity and difference existing on all levels of existence.

In another exercise, students took turn interviewing each other.

Jessica Venezuela, 9, from 75th Street and Ashley Israel, 10, from Castlemont found that they had more in common than they anticipated. They both like football, hate the Power Rangers and are afraid of earthquakes. They also both like school, but for what may seem like slightly different reasons.

Ashley said she simply wants to get good grades. Jessica said she would rather stay in school than go home.

Pam, the 75th Street School teacher, explained that an aspect of school in the inner city is dealing with emotional problems not dealt with at home. “Sometimes students just need someone to confide in,” she said.