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<DIV>Student activists bring laid-off worker back to their school<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_headline_preview" END -->
<H2><!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_subheadline_preview" START -->The Hamilton
High School students staged a sit-in that attracted 500 protesters and appealed
to the L.A. Unified school board to bring back Christina Gutierrez.<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_subheadline_preview" END --></H2>
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<TD><IMG border=0 alt="Miss G."
src="http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2009-11/50801333.jpg" width=580
height=386>
<P class=small>Christina Gutierrez, center, with the students who helped
bring her back to Hamilton High School. They made a polished presentation
to the school board. <SPAN class=credit>(<SPAN class=photographer>Alex
Gallardo / Los Angeles Times</SPAN> / <SPAN class=dateMonth>November
</SPAN><SPAN class=dateDay>24</SPAN><SPAN class=dateYear>,
2009</SPAN></SPAN>)</P>
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<DIV id=story-body-text><!-- sphereit start --><!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_body_preview" START -->By
Amina Khan<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_byline_preview" END -->
<P
class=date><!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_display_time_preview" START --><SPAN
class=dateString>December 1, 2009</SPAN></P>
<P class=date><SPAN class=dateString>LA TIMES</SPAN></P>
<P class=date><SPAN class=dateString></SPAN>Miss G is back at <A
href="http://projects.latimes.com/schools/school/los-angeles/alexander-hamilton-senior-high/">Hamilton
High</A>! <BR><BR>The beloved office worker for the school's two magnets was
laid off by the Los Angeles Unified School District in mid-September. <BR><BR>"I
felt railroaded," Christina Gutierrez, two gold hoops and a stud sparkling from
each ear. "I saw something in the mail, and my heart dropped."<BR><BR>Gutierrez,
who lost her job because of low seniority, cut her losses and found a job at an
elementary school.<BR><BR>Students, however, were not so willing to let her go.
They staged a 500-strong sit-in protest on her last day and eventually
petitioned the Board of Education to let her return.<BR><BR>Many students, like
senior Jimmy Biblarz, had a personal reason to protest Gutierrez's departure.
His younger sister, Veronica, had been out sick nearly two months last year and
Gutierrez made sure the freshman's homework made it home, and helped her through
her first day back.<BR><BR>"She just actually cares," Veronica said. "Not like
the fake pretending to care. . . . She takes it seriously."<BR><BR>Four friends
-- Jimmy, Noemi "Mimi" Rodriguez, David Kamins and Maya Festinger -- came up
with the idea for a sit-in, teleconferencing two nights a week. Jimmy went from
class to class to publicize the plan. David looked up rules and regulations.
Maya suggested they print informational handouts to give to each
protester.<BR><BR>On Miss G's last day, students filed into the humanities
building, lining every available space. Students kept doors clear and a few
inches of hallway open, but "the walkway was scattered with limbs," Maya said.
<BR><BR><BR><BR>Local district administrator Angela Hewlett-Bloch spoke to the
students in the quad. When Principal Gary Garcia asked them to quiet down, he
said, "they switched, on their own, to snapping [their fingers] . . . like an
old beatnik thing." <BR><BR>Someone in the crowd came up with the idea to write
letters. The students collected 300 letters in support of Gutierrez. <BR><BR>The
four organizers glowed after the protest, Jimmy said, but "Monday we realized
Miss G wasn't at school, and nobody was going to take any of us seriously."
<BR><BR>They also had heard that the worker who had replaced Gutierrez preferred
to work at an elementary school -- and Gutierrez had found substitute work at an
elementary school. Why not switch the two?<BR><BR>The students decided to bring
their solution to the Nov. 17 school district board meeting. They watched videos
of past board meetings to learn what <I>not</I> to do. They didn't want to sound
repetitive -- a common mistake -- or unduly negative. <BR><BR>"We want to create
a legitimate student representation," Maya said. "We don't want to be
belligerent or bludgeoning. A lot of what we're about is proposing solutions,
rather than listing grievances." <BR><BR>The students' presentation inspired
board member Steven Zimmer to break protocol.<BR><BR>"I know we don't respond to
speakers," he said, "but I do want to say that I am extraordinarily impressed
with your presentations."<BR><BR>A few days later, the students got word: Miss
G. was coming back to Hamilton as a substitute. She's not totally out of the
woods but at least she's back, for now.<BR><BR>Gutierrez returned to her old
desk last week, where students greeted her with cupcakes and balloons.
<BR><BR>But the mother of four said the students were the real
stars.<BR><BR>"This isn't about me," she said. "They should feel so empowered. I
am so proud of them."<BR><BR><BR><BR><A
href="mailto:amina.khan@latimes.com">amina.khan@latimes.com</A><BR><BR></P><!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_body_preview" END --><!-- sphereit end --></DIV>
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