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Dr. Trudell Skinner earned her doctorate two years ago from Azusa Pacific University. She died a month after she was promoted to senior director at Pasadena Unified School District.

PUSD reels with loss of beloved educator and mentor

By Matthew Rodriguez Pasadena Weekly Deputy Editor

Beloved by her colleagues, Pasadena Unified School District administrator Dr. Trudell Skinner died on Aug. 27 following a brief illness. She was 61. She is survived by her husband Pastor Tyronne Skinner and their two children, Trinity and Tyler.

“She will long be remembered for all that she has done for this district,” Superintendent Dr. Brian McDonald said. “We’re going to make sure that her legacy is never forgotten.”

An educator and administrator for over a decade, the strong-yet-humble Skinner was known for putting her students first and creating a family-type environment where she nurtured her pupils.

After serving as a teacher and assistant principal early in her career, Skinner became the principal of Blair High and Middle School. During that time, the school earned the distinction of a California Distinguished School in 2011. After six years, Skinner transitioned to the administrative side of education, working as the district’s equality coordinator and coordinator of the office of enrollment records and permits. A month before her death, Skinner was promoted to senior director of TK-12 schools, where she would reconnect with many of the employees she mentored.

McDonald said that her position will be left vacant until at least the end of the year.

“We want to honor her memory and leave that position as vacant as long as we can,” McDonald said. “We would much rather divide up the duties than to have somebody just be placed in that role. We want to honor her in that way.”

Described as a “leader of leaders,” Skinner mentored many of the principals and senior staff at PUSD, with three of her former employees serving as principals in the district.

“She’s touched a lot of lives in this town and in this district,” McDonald said. “She took (people) under her wing and put them on the path of becoming administrators in this district and some in other districts as well.”

At the beginning of her career at PUSD and as a new teacher at Blair, Benita Scheckel panicked as she struggled to find the materials and textbooks she needed for her seventh grade English class. Skinner, noticing the frantic look on Scheckel’s face, helped the new teacher find the materials and set up her classroom before school started.

“She always put everybody else’s needs ahead of her own,” said Scheckel, now the principal of Altadena Arts Magnate and Eliot Arts Magnate. Scheckel also earned her doctorate with Skinner at Azusa Pacific University.

“She removed barriers for you so that you could be successful.”

Tough but fair, Skinner nurtured her staff just as she did her students.

“I say that I was raised by her in PUSD,” Scheckel said. “We know she’s going to make us cry, but we knew she’s going to support us, make us stronger and make us better.”

Willard Elementary School principal Maricela Brambila remembered this support and tough love vividly when she worked as the assistant principal at Blair.

“You make a lot of mistakes as a first-year (assistant principal),” she said. “If you don’t deal with things quickly, they could fester and take on a life of their own. She would call you out when you made a mistake, but she was always your fiercest defender.”

Skinner pushed her staff to reach their full potential. She often noticed others’ potential before they realized it.

“I was very comfortably a math teacher,” Madison Elementary School Principal Noemi Orduna said. “I was going to teach forever, just be a teacher in the classroom forever, but she pushed me.”

Skinner helped Orduna find her voice, pushing her to be a keynote speaker at a professional development seminar. She encouraged Orduna to apply to be the math department chair and persuaded her to attend conferences, where Orduna grew out of her shell.

“She’s like, ‘I think it’s your turn,’” Orduna said. “Everyone put in their time. I think this is your time. … When there were leadership opportunities she would just say, ‘I think you’re ready for this.’”

In the wake of her death, the three women and many others confided in each other to grieve their mentor.

“I don’t know how I’m going to do this without her,” Scheckel said as she cried. “I said yes to something crazy — to be principal of two schools. I thought she was going to be there with me. I thought she was going to help me.”

As an incentive for the unvaccinated, Home Instead will donate $100 per shot to the Pasadena Village.

Nonprofit gives $100 for every shot given at vaccine clinic

By Matthew Rodriguez Pasadena Weekly Deputy Editor

Home Instead, a senior care company, will donate money for every shot given at an upcoming vaccine clinic to Pasadena Village.

“I think that it’s critical for organizations like mine who work with vulnerable populations — whether that be the aging population or the developmentally disabled — to ensure that everyone in the community has an opportunity to go ahead and get the vaccine,” Home Instead owner Greg Sanchez said.

“If that means enticing to do so, then that’s what we’re going to do.”

On Thursday, Sept. 9, the Pasadena Public Health Department will host a vaccine clinic at the Pasadena Buddhist Temple in Northwest Pasadena. From 9 to 11 a.m., residents can receive the first or second dose of any of the three approved vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. Appointments and walk-ins are allowed.

The Pasadena Buddhist Temple and the PPHD have partnered in the past hosting several clinics in the parking lot and gym of the temple.

“The department has been great about having clinics in our area,” said Kathy Kumagai, Pasadena Buddhist Temple board president. “We’re really happy that we can be one of the sites that they use.”

For each shot administered, Home Instead will donate $100 to Pasadena Village, up to $10,000.

“We are definitely trying to give back to those organizations that were really instrumental to keeping our senior population safer at home,” Sanchez said.

Established in 2012, the Pasadena Village is a community for the elderly who prefer to live independently in their own homes. The hope is to create a support network between members, connecting them with others with similar interests. The nonprofit has 140 members living throughout the San Gabriel Valley area.

“(The partnership) just helps everybody,” Pasadena Village Executive Director Katie Brandon said. “It really helps the older adults that we serve and can serve in our community.”

If the goal of $10,000 is reached, Pasadena Village will use it to lower membership dues. According to Brandon, the membership dues could be lowered to $10 a month. While the membership dues are on a scale, it typically costs $80 a month for households or $57 a month for individuals.

“For Pasadena Village, our annual budget is just about $250,000,” Brandon said. “The possible donation of $10,000 is a huge amount for us. … Here at Pasadena Village that would be substantial, and it would really go toward supporting those older adults who live alone or live independently.”

Pasadena has a very high vaccination rate with 93.4% of all residents receiving at least one dose and 85.3% fully vaccinated. All most all seniors, 99.9%, in Pasadena have received at least one dose.

“Getting every person we can get vaccinated that wasn’t before is going to make our whole community so much healthier and safer for all of us,” Brandon said.

The vaccination rates of African Americans and Latinos lag behind the Caucasian and Asian populations. Of those who are eligible, 83.9% of Caucasians in Pasadena have received at least one dose. The Asian and Pacific Islander population has an even higher vaccination rate, with 90.9% with at least one dose.

In comparison, only 68.7% of African Americans have received at least one dose and Latinos is lower with 56.9% receiving their first dose.

PPHD is hoping to bridge the gap in vaccination rates by hosting clinics in Northwest Pasadena and other neighborhoods that are majority Black and Latino.

The novel coronavirus continues to linger in the area as the Delta variant proves to be more contagious than past variants. However, Pasadena has seen a decline in cases in the past weeks with an average of 21.3 cases weekly compared to 30 just a few weeks ago. “If you’re not vaccinated go get it,” Kumagai said. “It’s easy.”

Senior center’s flagpole to be rededicated

By Pasadena Weekly Staff

The flagpole at the Pasadena Senior Center was vandalized in February 2020. The steel rope was cut and extracted from the pully system and the flag was stolen.

The flagpole will be rededicated during a public ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, at the center, 85 E. Holly Street, in honor of those who died at the hands of terrorists during the attacks.

At the ceremony, Pasadena firefighters from Station 31 on South Fair Oaks Avenue will install a new pully system via a hook-and-ladder fire truck. Augustine Grube, commander of American Legion Post 13 in Pasadena, will present a new American flag donated by the post.

After the new flag has been raised, Boy Scouts from Troop 351 in San Marino will lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Akila Gibbs, executive director of the Pasadena Senior Center, will make brief remarks.

“We have had many inquiries from veterans and others as to why the flag was not raised here on Veterans Day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July,” Gibbs said. “I want to extend a special invitation to all veterans, and everyone, to attend this very special event.” Glendale’s Alex Theatre is celebrating its 96th birthday, but its management future is up in the air.

The historical venue and entertainment center in Glendale is under the leadership of the nonprofit Glendale Arts. The Alex weathered COVID-19 by transitioning events online and taking advantage of stimulus aid, such as the recently awarded $821,960 recovery grant from the Small Business Administration through the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant.

But, as Glendale Arts Chief Executive Officer Nina Crowe said, “it’s not all champagne and roses.” The lease and management agreement from the city of Glendale has expired.

Glendale Arts has been working under monthly extensions of its previous contract. Its new proposal is under review, along with two other companies who have no ties to Glendale. The city council resumes its meetings on Tuesday, Sept. 14.

Instead of worrying about what the council will decide, Crowe said Glendale Arts is moving forward and continuing to book events.

“The indecision and pushing back the decision does have an impact on our business,” Crowe said about a previous city council delay.

“We’re booking clients, but if we don’t get the agreement, we are worried about what will happen to them. Will they fall through the cracks? We are working very closely with clients. As much as we need to get back to work for the health of the organization, they do as well. I do hope we can bring everyone along with us.”

Crowe said there is much at stake if Glendale Arts is not awarded the contract: programming for the theater would be managed by a for-profit company with no ties to nor a presence in Glendale; the city and theater would lose out on grant funding exclusively available to nonprofits; local businesses could lose out on audience dollars while the new manager pursues bookings for the year and figures out how to take care of the historic building; Glendale Arts’ subsidy program, which provides rental relief to resident companies such as the Glendale Youth Orchestra, Los Angeles Ballet, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Gay Men’s Chorus of LA, could be in jeopardy.

In the middle of all the changes, Glendale Arts established new box office and ticketing solutions.

“The hardest part is it’s a moment of uncertainty,” said Crowe, who has been with Glendale Arts for 10 years but promoted to CEO in August.

“We don’t have those answers. We’re putting our energy into what we do best — operate the Alex Theatre and make it continue to be that beacon and symbol and a place for people to (enjoy art). This is the moment when we need to shine and speak the truth.”

Nina Crowe, the chief executive officer of Glendale Arts, said the nonprofit is continuing to book shows at the Alex Theatre. Glendale Arts hosted an open house at the theater on Sept. 4.

Glendale Arts awaiting council’s Alex Theatre decision

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Pasadena Weekly Executive Editor