Jordan Middle School

The City Council is considering an agreement that would reinstate a food specialty store to be built in the Rancho District. Members will determine the square-footage limitations for the store, which will be 15,000 square feet or less. This size limit was agreed upon after the council voted in February 2007 and March 2007 to oppose the construction of a Whole Foods Market at the corner of Alameda Avenue and Main Street in the district?s commercial area. ? WHAT TO EXPECT The council will consider the agreement that caused a 2-2 deadlock at the council?

BURBANK — A seventh-grade teacher at David Starr Jordan Middle School was arrested last week after multiple allegations of child annoying, police said. Michael Dobbin, 38, was arrested on May 15 and charged with three counts of child annoying after students reported the teacher’s hands were in his pants during a math class, Burbank Police Sgt. Travis Irving said. “There were three kids in the class at the time, and they thought he was playing with himself,” he said.

When 12-year-old Taylor Menadue dressed up for Halloween as Audie Murphy, the most decorated American combat soldier in World War II, it threw people off. “They all thought I was saying ‘Eddie Murphy,’” said Taylor, a Jordan Middle School student. Taylor’s extraordinary interest in World War II history caught the attention of local veterans last month, and he was awarded an honorary membership in the Southern California Chapter of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge.

BURBANK ? City officials will interview candidates Monday to replace Eric Hansen, the director of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, who is retiring. Five candidates are being considered, one of whom is a current city employee, though officials would not say who because of the ongoing interview process, City Manager Mary Alvord said. ?We will be doing some preliminary interviews Monday and narrow the list down to two or three Tuesday,? she said. A decision could be made in the next two weeks, and the new director could start in February, Alvord said.

The board held a public hearing at about 7 p.m. on the district?s intent to create a new parking lot near the field at David Starr Jordan Middle School. Community members ? including parents, teachers and students ? were given the chance to voice their opinions on the district?s plan to build a 70-space parking lot at the school to accommodate users of the field during heavy traffic nights. ? WHAT IT MEANS Board members and district administrators waited for comments and concerns of the public regarding this issue.

Congratulations to Burbank vocal music teacher Christine DeMore and Glendale teacher Mark Ouweleen, who were honored as two of Los Angeles County’s 16 top educators. They were chosen from a pool of 64 nominees, who are the creme de le creme of their respective school districts. And it’s not hard to see why. At a time when children are faced with myriad distractions, these top teachers have shown a knack for keeping children engaged and interested. DeMore, for instance, started her teaching career wanting to prove that, simply put, students can do excellent work.

BURBANK — School board members approved a nearly $160,000 design contract Thursday for field improvements at David Starr Jordan Middle School — an increase of more than three times the original amount. The original contract for services on the joint-use field improvement project was settled at $46,200 in mid-April with the architectural firm Adolph Ziemba AIA & Associates Inc. Modifications to the scope of work, including new parking lot improvements that would add 70 off-street public parking spaces, resulted in the cost increase, according to a district report.

Two local teachers, one from the Burbank Unified School District and one from Glendale, were honored Friday as two of the top educators in Los Angeles County. Christine DeMore, a vocal music teacher at David Starr Jordan Middle School in Burbank, and Mark Ouweleen, a sixth-grade teacher at Columbus Elementary School in Glendale, were chosen along with 14 other teachers as the 2007-08 Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year. The 16 teachers will go on to compete in the state Teacher of the Year competition this fall.