Teachers visit future ninth graders at home

Teachers, principals, staff, and their families were knocking on doors to invite future ninth graders to Super Saturday Open House on October 6 at Augustus F. Hawkins High School for Community Action.

Jazmine Casas, Family Empowerment Representative for Hawkins High School, worked closely with Math Teacher Ashley Rose and all three principals (Fletch, Mejia and Hanson) to coordinate the efforts of 16 staff members who volunteered their time.

Hawkins HS teachers, principals and staff spend their Saturday inviting incoming eighth graders to Super Saturday Open House on October 6.

“All total we knocked on over 106 doors and I felt like it was powerful, engaging and fun…we didn’t just talk to the parents, we talked to the eighth graders who expressed an interest in attending Hawkins,” Casas said.

The goal is to personally invite more than 400 potential ninth graders to the campus event from 9 a.m. to noon on Sat. October 6. During the event, potential students and their families will learn about the three different pathways available at the three small schools on Hawkins High School campus.

“We knocked on doors from 40th Street to 59th Street and we will be going out again with more staff.”

It is claimed that former LAUSD school board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte suggested naming the school after the civil rights U.S. Senator who once represented South Central Los Angeles. Poindexter LaMotte passed away while in office in December 2013.

Augustus F. Hawkins High Schools for Community Action is an autonomous pilot school designed by LAUSD teachers. Located in South Los Angeles, it was founded in 2012 and the three career pathways were created based on feedback from and meetings with parents and community stakeholders;

Community Health Advocates School (CHAS),

Critical Design and Gaming School (C\:DAGS), and

Responsible Indigenous Sustainable Entrepreneurs (RISE).