East County Gazette - ACT Today for Military Families

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VOLUME 14
NUMBER 7
Gazette Newspaper Group, LocaL, State aNd NatioNaL award wiNNiNG pubLicatioNS, proudly serves
el cajon, rancho San diego, La Mesa, Spring Valley, Lemon Grove, ramona, Santee, Lakeside, alpine, Jamul and the back country
JULY 12 - 18, 2012
Film Camp opens eyes for new possibilities
Film Camp saying Happy July 4 to Entertainment Tonight. See story page 2. Photo credit: Kathy Foster
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Local ................ 4-6
Inspiration ............8
Health ..................9
Entertainment .11-12
MotorSports ......... 14
Puzzles ............... 15
Legals ............ 16-21
Classifieds ..........22
Pets ...................23
What’s new in Theaters?
Ready to go to the movie theatre
but not sure what to see?
Check out the review on
‘Spiderman’ by Diana Saenger
and “Ice Age: Continental Drift’
by James Colt Harrison
PAGE 2
EAST COUNTY GAZETTE
JULY 12, 2012
Local News & Events
Film Camp for autistic children opens eyes to new possibilities
“We believe the Autism Film
Program for Military Children gives children a unique
opportunity to work with a
professional team of film makers, and a chance to exercise
creativity, build self-esteem and
meet new friends,” said ACT
Today!’s Executive Director
Nancy Alspaugh-Jackson.
Joey Travolta (right) with teaching assistants Hester and Rosco
by Diana Saenger
I
nclusion Films Creative
Director Joey Travolta
recently spent two weeks
in San Diego hosting his Film
Camp to educate students with
autism on the skills of making
a short film. Travolta partnered
locally with Cox Communications and used their main
campus for the school.
Joining with Travolta and
Cox was ACT Today! (Autism
Care and Treatment), a national non-profit organization
whose mission is to provide
access to care and treatment to
children with autism. ACT Today worked with local military
families to bring their children
with autism and their siblings
between 9-21 years of age to
camp at no charge.
Travolta’s talents are no
surprise. He was born into
a show business family – his
five brothers and sisters have
all been actors or worked in
other jobs in the film industry.
Travolta was a recording artist
with Casablanca Records in
the late 70s, appearing on TV
shows such as American Band
Stand and the Donny & Marie
Show. He made his acting debut in Sunnyside (1979) and
appeared in Beverly Hills Cop
III (1994), and Oscar (1991),
and had theatre performances
in West Side Story, Bye Bye
Birdie, and Guys and Dolls.
By the early 90s Travolta was
Keep your eyes
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save a life.
The El Cajon Firefighters want you to enjoy a safe and
fun summer. There are over 800 preventable
drownings every year. Please take the water watcher
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1. I pledge to wear this tag and actively watch the
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3. Make sure rescue equipment is easily accessible
and keep phone and emergencies numbers with
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4. Latch gates, lock doors, use pool alarms and
create at least two barriers to the pool, spa or any
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5. Once I leave the water I will make sure a child
cannot return without my knowledge. The El Cajon Professional Firefighters thanks you for
being a responsible pool owner. With your help
drownings can be stopped. www.elcajonfirefighters.net
Assistant Dale Oprandy teaching acting skills.
writing, directing, and producing films. The idea of a Film
Camp came about by accident.
“I had a concept of a practical
film workshop to teach young
people skills. My daughter
Rachael had a high school film
festival and asked for my help
with that and acting classes.”
In the media release about
the festival it mentioned that
Travolta had been a special
education teacher in New Jersey. He was then approached
by parents of an autistic child
who wanted to enter a short
film but did not know how to
make the film.
“His film was about what
it was like to be autistic, and
he wanted to make it to raise
money to buy kids presents for
Christmas. I thought that was an
interesting idea,” Travolta said.
“When I starting telling him
what we could do to get it made,
his entire demeanor changed.”
In 2005, Travolta produced
the documentary Normal PeoSee FILM CAMP page 4
Jeffrey and Eric Taylor. Photo credit: Kathy Foster
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PAGE 4
EAST COUNTY GAZETTE
JULY 12, 2012
— LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS—
Film Camp for autistic children…
Continued from page 2
ple Scare Me while mentoring
the 15-year-old boy with who
directed the film. It resulted
in inquiries from around the
world wanting to know how
to get their kids into such
a program. Since then the
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Inclusion Film Camps have
been sponsored all over the
country. Camps for kids with
disabilities run two weeks and
the adult camps run 20 weeks.
A year-round program runs in
Burbank and Bakersfield.
from each group acts as an
anchor to introduce the film.
Children all around the room
at the Camp I attended were
more than anxious to get
on with the show. Assistant
Dale Oprandy took the kids
by twos to act out characters
in a film, and then would
suddenly tell them to freeze.
Then two new students would
have to take their exact pose
to re-create a new scenario
they were given.
Travolta’s seven years
of Film Camps have been
tremendously successful in
changing kid’s lives. “You see
them at camp, and them maybe you see them 12 months
later, and it’s amazing to see
“Whenever
I would do
their growth and where In
they’re
the Heart
of Alpine
going as individuals,” he said. this kind of work, I always
thought it couldn’t get any
Thursday Special
Travolta starts each Camp better than this,” Travolta
Fish and Chips
day with the kids dancing. “I said about why he does the
believe there’s a rhythm to camps. “I’m watching these
film making, a rhythm to kids get to do what I did
cutting a film and a rhythm but without the pressure in
to life,” he said. “You always Hollywood. The process is
have kids that don’t dance what’s fun, and the kids get
but by the end everyone is to be around other kids like
them and it gives them a
dancing.”
voice. They’re also building
At the San Diego Camp self-confidence and gaining
the theme of the films was skills for their future.”
30 Tonight – a combo of 60
During the last few days
Minutes and Entertainment
Tonight. Students were split Travolta interviews the kids
into three groups, with each and asks them questions to
group assigned to make a five engage them in responses.
to seven minute short film “It’s not in their DNA for
to go into the show. One kid these kids to lie, so maybe
S
A
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P
L
e
$8.99 James & Wendy Tarrant with Mallory & Ryan
I’d pose a question that
might require them to play
a character being caught in
a lie,” Travolta said. “The
last few days we show some
of the films made and then
we have a premiere a few
months later at a local venue.
This year it will showcase at
the San Diego Film Festival
on September 29.”
first started out, he didn’t participate much,” Eric Taylor
said. “But his teacher, Rosco,
helped him come around.
He plays Poker Player #1
in a film. I would definitely
recommend this camp to
parents. One of the biggest
improvements I’ve seen with
Jeffrey is his memory retention.”
Teaming up with military
families was important to
this community. Eric Taylor
set through every day with
his son Jeffrey, 8. “When he
Wendy and James Tarrant,
who is serving in the National
Guard, put their two children
Mallory, 9, (not autistic) and
her brother Ryan, 15, in
the program. “Ryan is very
artistic and wants to be an
animator, so we thought it
would be a good motivation
to engage him everyday,”
Wendy Tarrant said. “We
rarely see him smile, and so
it was good to see him smile
and to mix with other kids of
military families as well.”
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The Travolta family has a
reputation as a very nurturing family. “We learned that
from our parents,” he said.
“My father was always nurturing. Our house was open
to anyone whether it was an
actor or the mailman, they
were equal. It’s a philosophy
I’ve just carried on. It takes a
village to do this work, and
a village to understand these
kids. If you find their gift,
they’ll be terrific. “
For more information and
to see some funny and clever
student films visit www.inclusionfilms.com/
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