ITEP's 10th Annual Scholarship and Awards Dinner A Huge Success

ITEP Spotlights Port of LA Executive Director Geraldine Knatz at Annual Awards Dinner

ITEP Students at this year's Scholarships and Awards Dinner, San Pedro. This year's event was soldout, Above one of several Itep academy class graduates. (Photo by MAYO PR)

ITEP Announces Winners for Thursday Night Annual Dinner

(L-R) Omar Franco (GESA Speaker), Geovanna Valenzuela (ITEP Scholarship Winner from ITA Academy), Jessica Ortiz (Mojave XP Speaker), Monique Romo (GBAC Speaker), Greta Armenta (ITA Speaker, ITEP Scholarship Winner), Geraldine, Cassandra Garcia (SPEA Speaker), Hugo Arreguin (GSS Speaker), Ruby Bueno (ITEP Scholarship Winner), Jesus Mendez (180 Degree Student from GESA).    (Photo by John Stephen)

Below are all of the different award winners.

180 Degree Winner:
Jesus Mendez from Global Environmental Sciences Academy (GESA)
Southern California Gas Company Scholarship:
Ruby Bueno from ITA
ITEP Scholarship Winners:
Greta Armenta from ITA
Steve Chavez from ITA
Geovanna Valenzuela from ITA
Rising Star! Winners:
Diamond Porter from GBAC (Carson High School)
Miguel Hernandez II from Mojave XP (Barstow High School)
Madaly Alcala from SPEA (San Pedro High School)

Teacher of the Year:

Joe Mendoza from Global Safety and Security Academy (GSS)
Phineas Banning High School – Wilmington, CA

"Teaching has been and continues to be a great career choice," said Joe Mendoza, ITEP's "Teacher of the Year award recipient."

Joe Mendoza, ITEP Teacher of the Year

"I constantly remind students that to be successful in life, you have to pick a career that will bring satisfaction on many levels," he explained." teaching does that.
"As a young person I wanted to do something that makes a difference. I can’t think of another career that would allow me to both give a lot and make a difference in the lives of students and I gain a lot for myself," Mendoza noted.
"As a history teacher, year after year I get to instill American values in students and pass on the American heritage and morals that need to be passed down to future generations. Teaching history helps keep the American story alive. I get to teach skills that allow students to make decisions that will affect their own lives."
For 14 years Mendoza has been involved, through school, with a program called Students Run L.A."We train students from September to March to run the Los Angeles Marathon," he said.
"This program brings me great satisfaction, because the results are so obvious and the change in behavior is so clear it is easy to get hundreds of teachers to run programs at their schools (and assist at my school) for no pay despite putting in hundreds of hours."

ITEP Teacher of the year, Joe Mendoza inspires thousands of students to run in LA Marathon.

Mendoza describes his work as "easy to get thousands (more than 42,000) of students to want to race 26 miles and run hundreds of miles in preparation.
He says, "when you see a student set a difficult goal and then achieve it you feel like you really made a difference," explained Mendoza. "Through this program I have seen all students that joined improve themselves in one way or another. Pedro, the student who was already on track for college, became a leader. Brittany, the student with little direction or hope in life, found both. Daniel, the student who was quite overweight, lost the weight and has kept it off ever since."
"This year I was selected as the lead teacher of the GSS Academy. This has given me a chance to run another program. I enjoy being the lead teacher because I feel that organization is my best skill and that is what an academy (and school) needs the most. It is a great opportunity because the job is flexible and I can, over time, help mold it into something even greater than it already is."
Mendoza also contends that since Banning High School went to small learning communities the change has been obvious. There is more success at school and students are no longer lost.

"Every teacher has the opportunity to affect young people and give them knowledge, direction and skills," said Mendoza. "I want to make sure that I take full advantage of that opportunity. When I see a student improve or achieve something they thought was impossible or too difficult it inspires me to continue to do my best to deliver quality programs and instruction to the school."


ITEP is honoring Port OF LA Executive Director Geraldine Knatz with the 2010 Keeper of the Flame Award at the annual fundraising event. Knatz has been a major ITEP supporter of ITEP.
Knatz, who is the first female executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, oversees the daily operations and management of the nation’s number one container port. Under her leadership, the Port has reduced air emissions and health risks while expanding capital development programs to accommodate the port’s future growth as a premiere Pacific Gateway and national economic engine.

“The Port of Los Angeles has been a huge leader in keeping the torch lit at ITEP,” said ITEP Board Chairman Tom Good of Matson Navigation. “We would not be here today without the support from the ports and contributions from corporations and the international trade industry. They’re changing lives of high school students with career opportunities offering life changing work experiences.”



ITEP Board Chairman Tom Good of Matson Navigation at Annual Awards Dinner from George  S. Mc Quade III on Vimeo.


Below are the ITEP Academies:

"Opening the World Today, and Preparing for Tomorrow"
Research has shown that by Small Learning Community Academies help lower school dropout rates by increasing classroom relevance, personalization between teachers and students, and academic rigor.
ITEP currently serves 8 Learning Academies in 5 public high schools throughout California. Details on these academies can be found below:
Phineas Banning High School – Wilmington, CA
In 2007, Banning became the first school to leave California’s Program-Improvement-5 status, a federal watch list for underperforming schools. Former principal Michael Summe credits much of this extraordinary success to ITEP for its industry support of student academic performance.
At Banning High, every non-freshman attends one of three schools - the ITEP School is one of these schools. This ITEP school serves 800 students and is composed of four themed academies:
International Trade Academy (ITA)
capacity: 200 students

ITA provides students with the skills necessary to transition successfully from high school to a future in trade, transportation and logistics. Students are prepared—economically, socially, and educationally—to succeed in today’s dynamic business climate.
Global Safety and Security Academy (GSS)
capacity: 200 students

GSSA teaches students about global safety and security, and its critical role in our nation’s well-being. It also builds structures for further education and employment in any of our government’s safety and security sectors.

Match: From the Field to the Table (MATCH)
capacity: 200 students
The Match Academy is an award-winning program that prepares students for regarding and exciting careers in agricultural logistics, tourism, culinary arts, hospitality, and restaurant management. It covers the total spectrum of food service from the field to the table.

Global Environmental Sciences Academy (GESA)
capacity: 200 students

GESA introduces environmental career pathways and academic proficiency leading to graduation, entry-level jobs, certificate programs and college. GESA supports the successful transition of students to a future as responsible adults.
Carson High School – Carson, CA
Global Business Academy (GBA)
capacity: 75 students

GBA was launched for the 2008-09 school year, modeled after best practices and programs developed at ITEP's academies. Currently GBA offers a variety of activities such as teamwork/leadership building field trips such as TopSail, speaker series with industry leaders, curriculum enrichment activities such as the International Economic Summit and an internship program through the City of Carson.

Barstow High School – Barstow, CA
Mojave XP Logistics Academy (Mojave XP)
capacity: 75 students
From 2007, ITEP has worked with Barstow's community leaders, activists, board of education administrators, Barstow College, and school officials to develop Barstow's first logistics academy. Situated along Southern California's main trade route, the city of Barstow offers strong professional and educational opportunities for high school graduates. Mojave XP strives to not only improve graduation rates and grades, but also to improve student attitudes and academic culture.
Excel High School – Oakland, CA
International Trade, Transportation, and Logistics Academy (ITTL)
capacity: 75 students

ITTL is a logistics themed academy that takes advantage of the many resources of companies in the Port of Oakland. ITTL's advisory board of over 30 industry leaders and education administrators serves as a strong foundation for student growth. By offering students invaluable professional opportunities and connecting industry resources to school needs, ITTL strongly impacts student lives.
San Pedro High School – San Pedro, CA
Earth Alert Academy (Earth Alert)
capacity: 500 students

Earth Alert engages students to be aware of both local and global environmental issues that affect their daily lives. By infusing classroom curriculum with speaker series and industry programs and activities, Earth Alert encourages students to think critically about environmental issues. Academy students are connected to passionate leaders in environmentally themed companies and are given both educational and professional opportunities to serve their communities.

Additional Schools Aided by ITEP Programs - California
• Narbonne High School
• Gardena High School
• Crenshaw High School
• J.F. Kennedy High School
• Washington Prep High School
• Bassett High School

For more about ITEP visit: www.Itepinc.org