There are important developments at BHUSD involving both the facilities (hardware) and curriculum (software) that you should know about.

Board President Judy Manouchehri and District Public Information Officer Colby Gilardian (recent BHHS grad, current USC student and future Mayor of Beverly Hills) recently gave me a tour of the new hardware, the Salter Family

Theater and K.L. Peters (lamentably not named after me notwithstanding what you may have heard) Auditorium and related facilities. Actually, Mr. Peters was a longtime highly respected superintendent of BHUSD.

The two theaters are really fantastic and allow for on campus student productions and assemblies that have not been possible for nearly a decade

The Salter Family Theater seats about 220 persons. The Salter theatre, formerly called “The Little Theatre,” was known for its more intimate feel. Since its opening BHHS has used it for multi-curricular instruction, guest speaker series, film screenings and studies, instrumental music, and theatrical performances, such as “Little Women”.

The Peters (I have changed the name only slightly) Auditorium, is magnificent and seats nearly 1,200 enough for the entire student body. It has been completely upgraded with state-of-the-art theatrical systems, including lighting, speakers, sound treatment, security cameras, communications equipment, a motorized orchestra pit, and new ADA-accessible features. It has preserved the core structure, façade, and the 1937 mural by Van Kaufman. The interior is new with dressing rooms, a green room, multiple catwalk levels, backstage facilities, and an engineering space for student set design.

In addition, the BHHS Grand Lawn will soon re-open and be available with real grass, new trees, drought-tolerant landscaping, and a central green designed to unify the campus, and bring students together. It even has wi-fi and charging stations.

These are wonderful hardware additions to the high school.

Now, there is the available curriculum, the software side, which to me is even more exciting. My focus is on the Pathways to Success. My view is that one of the most important aspects of education is exposing students to various fields of endeavor.

When my daughter, Natalie Anne, was around 10 or 11, one afternoon, I picked her up at the home of her friend Jamie who lived in Brentwood. After she got in the car, the following conversation occurred:

Natalie: Dad, what is an endodontist?

Me: Why do you ask?

Natalie: Jamie’s dad is an endodontist.

Me: An endodontist is a dentist who does root canals.

Natalie: What is a root canal?

Me: A root canal is a dental treatment used to save an infected tooth by removing infected (and painful) tooth roots.

Natalie: Root canals? Why would anyone want to remove tooth roots?

Me: Its just like anything else. We go through life and, if we are fortunate, we will be exposed to lots of different things.

Every once in a while, we will be exposed to something that we try and find we have a previously unknown aptitude for it; if we have an aptitude for it, we may like it; if we like it, we will do more of it; if we do more of it and have an aptitude for it, we will get better at it; if we get better at it we do more of it and like it even more; and before you know it you will be an endodontist (or a tax lawyer).

This happens even though, I assure you, no one came out of the womb wanting to be an endodontist or a tax lawyer. It all resulted from that first exposure.

Natalie: Thanks dad, but I don’t want to do root canals or tax returns.

Fair enough, our children will do what they will do.

But whatever they do, it all started with that first exposure.

That’s why I am so impressed by the BHUSD Academic Pathways. This program offers almost an infinite number of areas of endeavor that could provide a multitude of exposures. Just for example, there are pathways such as animation, architecture, audio production, broadcast production, computer science, culinary arts, engineering, fashion design, film and tv production, medical science, several languages, music and theatre arts.

This is just a sample. But these provide so many opportunities for exposure that every student has multiple opportunities to find his or her calling.

All in all, BHUSD offers the very best in educational “hardware” and “software”.

Everything necessary to intrigue every student to find his or her aptitude and develop their full potential.

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Rebecca Pynoos has authorized me to inform you that yes indeed, she is running for the Beverly Hills City Council.

While she is entering a crowded field of well-qualified candidates, she enjoys a few important distinctions. I have known Rebecca since she was a toddler and lived two houses away from me on Alta Drive.

There are no other candidates that I have known since he or she was a toddler. Further, she was on at least two softball teams that I coached. She is the only candidate whose father is member of the Mature Mens’ Book Discussion Group. I am confident you will take these qualifications into consideration and give them all the weight that they merit.

Perhaps more importantly, Rebecca is a third-generation Beverly Hills resident and served on the inaugural Cultural Heritage Commission and is now Chair of the Architecture and Design Review Commission.

Rebecca holds degrees from Brandeis University and the University of Southern California, where she earned a Master’s in Social Work focused on policy and planning. She has completed additional urban planning coursework at USC’s School of

Architecture, UC Berkeley’s College of

Environmental Design, and UCLA, and has been selected for prestigious leadership fellowships focused on solving complex regional challenges, including the Jewish Federation’s Rautenberg New

Leaders Program, CORO LA Lead, the Urban Land Institute’s GROW Mentorship Program.

She is a graduate of Team Beverly Hills

Rebecca says that she is running for City Council on June 2 because she believes that Beverly Hills deserves fresh, resident-first leadership — someone with no ties to lobbyists or developers.

Rebecca believes that public safety is paramount and promises to ensure that first responders have the staffing, tools, and resources they need — and will advocate for critical renovations to modernize and support our Police Department. She says that she is also a champion for the small businesses that define our city’s character and local economy.

She says that Beverly Hills is entering a transformational era. With new state housing mandates, large-scale development proposals, economic shifts, Metro’s arrival, and community division, she explains that this moment demands leadership that is transparent, proactive, and ready to tackle hard issues head-on. Rebecca says that she won’t pretend problems don’t exist and is running to do the hard work — thoughtfully, honestly, and with courage.