SR-05-28-2013-13AMay 29, 2013
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE - MEMORANDUM
To: City Council
From: Councilmembers Davis, Winterer and Vazquez
Date: May 29, 2013
13 -A: Request of Councilmembers Davis, Winterer and Vazquez that the Council
allocate $6000 of discretionary funds to the Santa Monica Science Center
at John Adams Middle School (a 501(c)3 non - profit) to help defray the
costs of sending students to Kizugawa, Japan this summer as part of an
ongoing cultural exchange program.
May 29, 2013
A
SANTA MONICA
SCIENCE MAGNET
May 16, 2012
Mayor Pam O'Connor and Members of the Santa Monica City Council
City Hall
1685 Main Street, Room 209
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Re: Santa Monica Science Magnet Trip to Japan
2425 16`h Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 281 -7816 hotline
(310) 452 -5253 fax
Dear Mayor O'Connor, Mayor Pro Tempore O'Day and City Council Members:
The City of Kizugawa, Japan has been funding a prestigious cultural exchange program for middle school
students for the last 15 years. Each summer, they select 12 children to travel to California — based on
very competitive application process that includes written essays and presentations. While here, the
Japanese students visit the Santa Monica Playhouse, Santa Monica City Hall, the Science Magnet
Summer Institute at Johns Adams Middle School (JAMS), and stay with a JAMS family for a long
weekend. Full financial support of the travel expenses has allowed Kizugawa students to visit Santa
Monica almost every year since the program started (the one year a group did not travel was due to the
Swine Flu epidemic).
We, on the other hand, have only sent JAMS students to Kizugawa four times. This is due, in large part,
to the fact that the trip has traditionally been funded by individual families on our end — an expensive
proposition even in the best of times.
Last summer, we sent our 4`h group to Japan - 14 JAMS Science Magnet students and 4 chaperones,
including our Principal, Eva Mayoral. I volunteered to be the coordinator for this program with the
intent of building upon this momentum and hope that we can send a group of JAMS Science Magnet
students every summer.
We have selected 8 JAMS Science Magnet students, accompanied by 3 chaperones, including our
Assistant Principal, Florence Culpepper. The group will depart on July 4`h and will visit Tokyo, Mt. Fuji,
Kyoto / Kizugawa and Santa Monica's Sister City of Fujinomiya over 12 days. The City of Kizugawa has
generously agreed to host our travelers for 6 of the 12 nights and the trip will culminate with a tour of
our Sister City. This year's trip will cost $3,100 per traveler, an increase of $800 from last year. Much of
the additional expense is due to higher airfare and transportation costs.
Santa Monica Science Magnet is a 501(c)3 non - profit organization.
www.SantaMonicaScienceMagnet.org
Charitable Tax ID: 20- 3658263