Olivas 1

Olivas, Alexis

Professor Batty

English 101

29 May 2017

The Big Picture

A Roman fabulist named Phaedrus once said, Things are not always what they seem; the

first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully

hidden (A Quote). Although this is true for people, it is also true for places. There are many

places in the world and our community which we only see serving a single purpose when not

looking deeper than what we merely see. Such is the case of a school in Panorama City called

Panorama High School. This place unquestionably serves as a place to educate children.

Although, beneath that, there is another purpose which cannot be identified right away.

Panorama High school serves as an educational institution but through careful observations, it

can be seen that Panorama serves as a link between a majority of Latino teens in the community

and as a haven for its student population. That is what has been carefully hidden under

Panorama High School.

Creating Panorama High School had its purposes. An article under the Facilities Services

Division of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) called LAUSD Cuts Ribbon on

Panorama High School it is stated by Guy Mehula, Chief Facilities Executive, that Panorama

was a much-needed school capacity to one of the most overcrowded neighborhoods in the San

Fernando Valley. The school was built with plans to help relieve overcrowding at Monroe,
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Van Nuys and Birmingham High Schools. The initial plans for the school were one where it

would alleviate problems in the school system, not community. Before building this school, kids

from the Panorama City area had to go to schools which were not so close to their homes and

therefore, did not associate with one another much. After the building of Panorama it is seen that

the teens in the community are united through this school. In my observation at Panorama during

after school hours, I asked a group of kids some questions. Two boys in this group mentioned to

me that their older siblings had gone to this school when it first opened. They went on to

explaining how one of their siblings was going to Van Nuys High School and the other further

away at John H. Francis Polytechnic High School located in Sun Valley. Their two older siblings

had apparently been living in the same block, being next door (building) neighbors but had no

idea who each other were. Once Panorama High was built and opened by their tenth grade year

they both transferred there, closer to home. That is when they both met and became good friends.

If it werent for the school being built, they would have never met each other. Panorama created

links between teens such as this one with people in their community now that they all went to a

school nearby compared to the neighborhood being separated between other schools further

away.

Not only does Panorama serve as a bond between the communitys teens but it also serves

as a place where they feel safe. When observing the school I noticed that there are quite a

number of teens who stick around. They are either hanging out with friends, in the field playing

ball or running together, or even doing their homework. I went up to a group seeming to just be

hanging around for fun. I asked why they rather be at school than at home and the responses

were similar for the most part being, Theres no one at home so I rather be here and Its calm
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here and no one bothers us. These phrases themselves explain how the school helps them

through some problems at home. A girl who was doing homework alone at home, which will

remain anonymous, explained to me that she rather do her homework at school because there are

too many people at home and its crowded and noisy. It is a common characteristic among

Hispanic families to have a big family. She continued by saying that at school, she has got the

time, space, and peace to do her work. She mentioned how if the school was further away shed

need to make her way home much earlier, due to the danger of night time, and wouldnt really be

able to do her homework as well as it should be. The boy who previously said that there is no

one at home kindly explained to me that his mother has two jobs because she is trying to

provide the best she can for him. He went on to saying sympathetically that he understands the

situation but due to that he spends most of his time alone so now he stays at school where he can

be less lonely.

Panorama has been shaped to serve Latino students as well. This can be seen, for example,

by the fact that the school only offers Spanish as a foreign language. Panorama is also known for

hosting an event called Adelante Hombre Latino. This event is specifically made to encourage

Hispanic men and women to continue school. Successful Hispanics with a career and that went

to college are invited to talk to the students. The students go to workshops having different

themes of different professions and students are given the opportunity to ask Hispanic men and

women who went to college and have a career insightful questions. This event serves as a

motivational conference, in other words. Data gathered by U.S. News & World Report shows

that Panorama High School has a total of 1,495 students. From those students 90% of the student

population is Hispanic and 77% are economically disadvantaged. Therefore, due to many of the
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schools population being economically disadvantage, the school providing events like Adelante

Hombre Latino show them that money should not stop them from continuing to go to school and

that there is ways to make their dreams possible.

Things are not always what they seem. To one, it might be just a coffee shop but to

others it may be their escape from loneliness and only place of socialization. It might just be a

store with natures remedies but to others it is a place to go when the solution to their problem

cant be given through modern medicine. Panorama High School provides many services which

arent directly perceived. It might just be a school where teens go to be educated but to many of

the teens themselves it is like a second home. A place where they wont be kicked out but

encouraged. A place where it provides space and tranquility. A place to make memories with

friends instead of being alone at home, where one should not be. Panorama gives children in the

Latino community to not become a statistic but be able to excel in academics and as human

beings. Each place serves a purpose other than what it was initially intended to be. Even if that

second purpose is true to just one person in the world, it is existent. All places have a deeper

significance. The first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives [/sees] (A

Quote) the whole panorama, or the big picture.

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Works Cited

"A Quote by Phaedrus." Goodreads. Goodreads Inc, 2017. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

U.S. News & World Report. "Panorama High: Student Body." High School Rankings. U.S. News

& World Report L.P., 2017. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Facilities News. "News Corner." News Corner. Facilities Services Division, LAUSD, 6 Nov.

2006. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.