Dear Platt College graduates,

Friday’s celebration belonged to you and those who have always been on your side. You heard many hoorays, the sound of  fanfare, celebratory joyous screams, songs and speeches  – all for you to show our admiration and to express our sincere congratulation.

Life in its intricacies offers unaccountable opportunities to make the best of our days.  One of the most powerful tools toward happiness and fulfillment has been the effort to step out from a dark den, bereft of knowledge, into the sunshine of sophistication.

Sophistication does not require an academic degree, although happily welcomes it. Sophistication requires curiosity, thirst for exploration, the joy of wonderment,  ability to analyze, and recognition of worthwhile, audacious challenges.

You have proven to us that your life takes place in the sunshine of the desire to know more, to see more and to exercise diligence, honesty and integrity.

We are proud of you!

May all of your ambitions come true, may you never forget to dream, and may you never loose belief in yourself and your ability.

On behalf of all at Platt College,  Marketa

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“What is the highest peak on Earth? Anyone?” “What about the modern name for ancient Mesopotamia, the country of  well known Euphrates and Tigris rivers?” “And what about the name of a strait between Alaska and Siberia?” “And what is the smallest continent?” “What animal has rectangular pupils?”

If you came on Monday at any break to Platt crowded courtyard and knew the answer to a given question about our mother Earth, you would be rewarded with a chocolate and wild clapping. And if you wrote a pledge on a decorated card how will you help to heal our Earth, you would receive a raffle ticket. Then you could munch on a bagel with cream cheese, sip coffee, chat with your friends or make new ones, or just sit, relax, observe blue balloons swaying above the green bushes and listen to music.

I have always admired people who decide to bring awareness to important issues, who put forth their own energy  to inspire others to make a difference. Our celebration was to pay honor to all who inspire us to behave as considered guests on our planet. So here comes our pledge: We will try to contain our brute conduct on Earth, many times caused by our laziness, lack of vision, sophistication and compassion. We also wish our planet did not have to witness so much divisions in the world  and could enjoy a sight of a happy companionship enjoying our talents for each other’s benefit and joy. Perhaps more compassion, good will and less cynicism may heal some wounds. Let us make the best out of our stay here!!

I love our courtyard celebration as it allows for a beautiful scene of happy handsome creative people sharing the same interests, getting to know each other and (I hope) enjoying their Platt educational journey.

Thank you for taking care of our Earth!

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What is it like to be a classical musician?  What kind of lifestyle one has? Why is classical music important? Is it important?  How does it feel to see  a  very expensive  instrument in front of your eyes in the classroom and hear the beautiful melodies that bassoon and bassoonist can produce?

Our  music class students have all of the answers to the above questions. We invited a San Diego Symphony bassoonist, Ryan Simmons, to Platt  College so we can  have a dialogue with a talented, fun and  down to earth musician who is one of the fortunate ones to have a job that he loves, a job offering an opportunity to nourish one’s talent and artistic aspirations.

It is not easy to become a member of a classical music troupe. As Ryan explained, it takes many hours a day of practice to be ready for auditions that take you all over the United State and it is all on you: the travel, the hotels, your time… your nerves! Sometimes you only play  a couple of minutes at the audition that may be one thousand miles away from your home and you are sent home only to seek other opportunities. So it takes much of talent, diligence, perseverance and patience.  Ryan has all of it and it brought him several enticing positions, the last one being in San Diego Symphony. The lifestyle is different…you play every weekend, you practice, you always learn new material, you travel and you can never participate in weekend’s birthdays, friends’ wild party on Friday or Saturday evening fun in downtown as you are entertaining those having fun in the symphony. But Ryan enjoys creating music for us as he feels it offers something unique, something that hits the part of the brain and heart and soul that makes us feel good, uplifted, fulfilled, inspired, happy. It hits a spot that may have never been awaken if it was not for a classical tune. … And seeing Ryan perform for us (all from his memory) Tchaikovski, Shostakovitch, Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart was a proof of his talent, passion and diligence.  It was joy to see him play, it felt good to hear the bold yet pleasant  velvet-like sound of bassoon that is such a handsome instrument!

I always felt lucky I liked classical music. I certainly do not know if we succeed in helping Platt students  appreciate classical music, but I know that a direct contact with it, as we experienced with Ryan in our classroom, or  in the symphony itself, makes up for hundreds of lectures….. I suspect that anytime  our students will hear  a bassoon in any music,  they will remember that Monday morning spent with a bassoonist.

Thank you, Ryan, for making one ordinary early Monday morning into fun, inspiring and extraordinary!

We love Balboa Park!

It is one of the most charming and one of the oldest urban parks America has. Established by visionaries as was Alonzo Horton who, after purchasing land what is today Gaslamp Quarter, convinced  in 1868 city board to put aside 1,400 acres  for a future city  park. (Just imagine – Horton paid for one acre of today’s downtown, that he developed,  27 cents to receive a year later about $5,500 a per day from the sales of the lots!)

The prehistory of San Diego starts with Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo who came to Shelter Island in September 1542. He was not impressed! Sixty years later Sebastian Vizcaino came (1602) and fell in love with this part of the West coast that he named San Diego in honor of the saint that was celebrated that day. Unfortunately, Vizcaino  could not convince anyone from Spanish entrepreneurs to come and to take a  look…It took  167 years until Gaspar de Portola came in 1769 to complete a task of establishing a very first road in California:  The road started in  San Diego and ended in San Francisco. It was named El Camino Real.

A priest Junipero Serra came in the same year  to establish the very first mission in Alta California – The Mission of Alcala in San Diego. It was the first of 21 missions that were established in California having a goal to convert local Indians to Christianity…..They are built in an equal distance measured by two day donkey ride. All of the missions are still around and open to public! Visit them if you have a chance as each has its own charm. (I love San Juan Capistrano the best!)

Old Town is established soon after the mission (by the mission), and booms between 1821 – 1870′s. The decline comes around 1880 as Horton built a New Town at today’s Gaslamp Quarter that was much more convenient and by the water. Most San Diegans preferred that over Old Town and moved in…

Balboa Park was not truly park as you know it today until it was decided that in the year of 1915 a World Expo (commemorating completion of Panama Canal in 1915)  will be held in Balboa Park. And so – the beauty of our local urban park owes its charm to those who built the park – Bertram Goodhue (the overseeing architect) and the main architect Carleton Winslow. But before the development of the park buildings, the park had been cultivated into a true green park since 1880′s.  A million  holes for irrigation and planting trees and bushes had to be blasted into the arid land…Each tree you see in today’s park, each bush and flower was artificially planted….It is amazing to walk through the park and see all of the natural beauty that we made happen. It is one of the rare occasion when we can do good to nature!

Once you stroll through the park keep in mind that each building in the park is a copy of a building either in Mexico or in Spain. (Excepting Timken Museum.) The style is Spanish Colonial Renaissance and it is quite beautiful. Now imagine one interesting fact: All you see today was built just to stay for mere several months for the Expo and then it was planned to be dissembled. Much of the decoration was made of paper-mache! But here comes patriotism and the will of people: San Diegans signed a petition to keep the park as it was built.  And so democracy dictated to the city government to keep the park and  start, little by little, strenghen the building so it can stay for posterity.

And here we are today admiring the park’s unusual beauty….Enjoy your stroll next time and have your eyes open for all of the architectural charm!

Thank you Platt students for being such a wonderful group eager for sighseeing!

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Every year  at our festive Christmas brunch at Westgate Hotel we present to one of Platt College teachers an award  “Teacher of the Year” .  You may bid your guess for 2011!

The accolades belong to a teacher who is effective in the classroom where he operates with bravado of his knowledge, charisma, dynamism and uniques teaching style. He  challenges, inspires and  ignites an interest in his students who love him and want to make him proud.
He  always wears a smile, is always optimistic, always in good mood and has an incredible sense of humor. You hear his laughter through the school and it always brings a smile to your face even if you only hear an echo of his laugh.  You can have a wonderful conversation with him about anything – books, computers, music, politics, sports, hiking, jogging, theater….He is simply a happy, pleasant, sophisticated and unique person and we and our students are lucky to have him!

Congratulation to Terry Warner!