La Jolla Country Day School recently completed a $47 million five-year campus redevelopment plan that adds new buildings and facilities, including this new administration building. Courtesy photo

LA JOLLA — The Bishop’s School and La Jolla Country Day School are back in session for the school year, marking the occasion with improvements to faculty, campuses and extracurricular activities.

The Bishop’s School, whose roughly 780 students began classes Aug. 18, has welcomed five new faculty members — two new administrators and three new teachers, said Suzanne Weiner, director of marketing and public relations.

The campus has also implemented a new schedule that permits a late start each Wednesday morning, at 8:20 a.m. instead of 7:20.

                                        

An American coot oiled in San Francisoco Bay is cared for at the University of California, Davis rehabilitation center in Fairfield. In 2009. COURTESY PHOTO BY KARIN HIGGINS, UC DAVIS

Images of ravaged shorelines, tar-drenched wildlife and vast petroleum pools coating ocean waters continue to gush forth in the aftermath of the April 20 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Though the repercussions of the largest marine oil spill in history are still being calculated, one positive has emerged. Residents of other coastal communities are asking questions and raising awareness about how to prevent and prepare for similar disasters in their own backyards.

Robin Lewis, senior environmental scientist with the state’s Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), said that although the consequences of the more than 200 million barrels already released into the Gulf are far-reaching, the California coastline would not be affected. He added that La Jolla residents should focus on threats closer to home instead.

                                        

Some baskets are adorned with recycled colored plastic, a modern adaptation. The basic construction techniques date back hundreds of years, and a more traditional, original style is demonstrated in the two plain small baskets at the bottom. Photo By Paul Hansen

Each morning without fail, the women of Ngaye, a small village in Senegal, West Africa, gather under the shade of a large tree to weave damp sweet grass and recycled plastics into colorful, durable baskets of various shapes and sizes.

It’s a 200-year-old tradition with a modern mission. The baskets, which girls as young as eight spend anywhere from 10 to 20 hours crafting individually, travel across the Atlantic and the continental U.S. in the hopes of catching the eye of patrons at the La Jolla Open Aire Farmer’s Market each Sunday.

Omar Sao, founder of Sao Global Trade and an Ngaye native himself, personally sells the handcrafted utility baskets for $4 to $145 each at seven local farmer’s markets each week and uses the profits to benefit projects in his village involving such things as access to clean water, electricity and functioning schools.