Praise for Evans
For 36 years, Linda Evans has given her time, energy and creativity to make Crescenta Valley High School one of the best public schools in the country. Crescenta Valley High School has been and continues to be the heart and center of our community.  Over the years, we have celebrated and rejoiced in the accomplishments of our students and supported each other during times of sadness and loss. It is often said that the strength of a community lies in its schools and this is certainly true of Crescenta Valley High School.
As a former student of Crescenta Valley High School, Linda returned to her alma mater to teach English and later became the chair of the English Department. A few years later, Linda moved to an administrative role as dean of students and then advanced to assistant principal before assuming the responsibilities of co-principal. In her role as co-principal, she continued the strong legacy left by her predecessors. Working from a solid foundation, she built CVHS to a school that was recognized by US News and World Report as being in the top 3% of all US high schools and Newsweek rated CVHS in the top 5% of all US high schools. Over the years CV High has received many accolades and awards and is truly a point of pride for the Crescenta Valley community and the Glendale Unified School District.
During her career, Linda Evans distinguished herself as an authority on educational issues and research. She was called upon to present numerous papers and publications promoting school success. At a conference in Boston, she was selected to present, “Moving a school forward – success for all students”. She also presented a paper on “A-G, closing the Achievement Gap” for the Los Angeles County/High School collaborative. Her focus has always been on preparing students to meet the rigorous A-G requirements for admission to a four-year college or university. Under her leadership, students were challenged to take a take a wide range of advanced and AP classes.
Her passion for teaching excellence has been the driving force in hiring some of the most professional and highly qualified teachers in the area. Over the years, her team approach has fostered great loyalty and dedication from the entire staff.  Many faculty members have chosen to work their entire careers at Crescenta Valley High School and many former students have returned to become teachers.
Linda has always kept the communication lines open with parents and has been a strong supporter of the PTSA. During her tenure, she has encouraged parent participation and collaboration.
Linda has been a strong advocate of the Community Service Learning Project. For over 16 years, students have volunteered each year between 10,000 -15,000 hours of service to our community. Linda saw the importance of not only educating their minds but also their hearts as well. She inspired students to look beyond the school walls and be of service to the community.
In the community, Linda has been active with the YMCA and served on its executive board. At a board meeting, she spoke passionately of the importance of providing as “many baskets” or opportunities for students as possible. She was committed to keep kids from “falling through the cracks”. She felt it was the responsibility of our community to provide opportunities for young people to pursue their interests and find areas to excel. This philosophy was also evident at CV with the wide array of extra-curricular activities for students to participate in from clubs, sports, orchestra, drama, choir and robotics to name just a few.
Linda has also been active partner with the Crescenta Valley Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition. She agreed with the Coalition’s perspective that drug and alcohol awareness and prevention was not only a school issue but a larger community issue as well.      Working with the Glendale Unified School District, she helped institute an innovative voluntary drug testing program. She also helped secure funding for parenting seminars and weekly parent education and support meetings.
Our community owes Linda Evans a debt of gratitude. She has enriched and strengthened the fabric of the Crescenta Valley area in countless ways and touched the lives of young people and families for over a generation. Thank you Linda for your visionary leadership … you have left a strong and enduring legacy.
Nancy Stone
Parent and community member
La Crescenta

Timely Message
Several months ago, a Pasadena teen died after a night of partying. A short time before this, another incident was presented to students at Crescenta Valley High School, with several articles on the death of Aydin Salek taped to the windows outside the varsity football locker room. With several deaths at parties due to over drinking hanging over the heads, appetites towards parties were, needless to say, diminished. Salek’s death at a party many CV students had been to, some even claiming to have seen or tried to help the young man, affected many, however long term effects seem to be minimal. What was once a reminder of the dangers of over drinking has become a forgotten incident, long out of memory.  In the days and weeks after this tragedy, many party goers were wary of the affects of over drinking, even going so far as to stop attending parties or watching over those who had too much to drink.  However, even with these reminders fresh in our memory, there were several close calls over winter break and there have been many since.
In the past few months, the partying community has returned to its previous habits, completely forgetting the valuable lessons that could have been taken from the recent tragedies. It seems that nothing truly affects the party scene. In addition to last year’s deaths and the “Every 15 Minutes” program at Crescenta Valley High, the majority of the student body is still unaffected. Although for some the attraction to parties has been forever diminished by the events of the past year, many will continue to drink or do drugs, completely ignoring the potential hazards.
Although there are a large number of students who partake in these activities, whether it be drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, or using more deadly drugs such as heroin and cocaine, there is also a fairly large portion of our teenagers who are completely uninterested in the lifestyle of a partier.  Many students prefer to involve themselves in sports teams, church groups or other activities.  By no stretch of the imagination could it be said that all of our teenagers are involved or even interested in risky activities, [although] everyone is at risk and anyone can fall prey to our substance abuse problem.  We cannot simply purge our community or completely remove these drugs; before we can even begin to remove this element from our city, we must raise awareness and get people to truly understand the dangers posed by making the wrong choices.  Not only is it vital for our youth to understand the dangers of drinking and doing drugs, we must provide them with viable alternatives.
Eli Locke
La Crescenta

Editor’s note: Eli is a graduating senior at CV High School.

Letters policy

Crescenta Valley Weekly welcomes letters from the community. We must request that letters be limited to 350 words. Letters can be mailed to Crescenta Valley Weekly; P.O. Box 543; Verdugo City, CA 91046 or email robin@cvweekly.com.

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