Kayla Colbert
On Mar. 7 Mayor Bob Filner visited MC, Black Mountain Middle School, and Sunset Hills Elementary. According to Principal Dawn Kastner, Filner was unaware that many schools in PUSD are located in San Diego County. PUSD is the second-largest school district in the county, behind SDUSD.
“I received an email from the superintendent, Dr. John Collins,” Kastner said. “And Mayor Filner wanted to visit PUSD. Dr. Collins suggested (MC) partially because there are three schools located next to each other, so (Filner) could see all three levels of education.”
Kastner and Assistant Principal Katie Salo enlisted ASB president, senior Matt Sauer, and ASB vice president, Brittini Mendoza, to give Filner a tour around the school.
“Brittini and I were asked to show him around, but more than anything, we wanted to welcome him to MC,” Sauer said. “He didn’t have a lot of time, so we tried to take him to as many places as possible: the science building, the snack kiosk—just to give him a feel for the campus.”
In addition to Filner’s limited availability, Mar. 7 also happened to be a finals day, which precluded him from doing a more extensive tour of the classrooms.
“Unfortunately, the classrooms were in the middle of finals, so he could not visit any of them,” Kastner said. “I would have loved for him to see the diversity of classes we have in each room.”
Filner instead stopped by to hear the band play and the choir sing. Kastner said Filner especially enjoyed visiting the performing arts classes.
“It made me extraordinary proud to watch him grin as he heard the band play,” Kastner said. “It was fun and interesting to watch someone else appreciate how hard our kids work.”
Filner walked around campus during break, talking to students and posing for photos.
“He would talk to me and ask a bunch of questions,” Sauer said. “He wanted to know what I liked about ASB and what I liked about school. He just wanted a better understanding of the students on campus.”
“The kids were so nice and friendly,” Kastner said. “A lot of them came up to say hi, and he probably felt like a rock star.”
Kastner felt that the most important thing Filner gained from visiting MC is a better understanding of the community.
“I’m disappointed that he didn’t get to see a more complete view of the school,” Kastner said. “But I think he saw a good cross-section of the Rancho Penasquitos community while seeing our schools.”
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