Class notes

"We at Beresford are looking forward to showing our school pride in our community,” stated Principal Alicia Heneghan. The event is a community builder for students and the surrounding neighborhood, as well as a fundraising event. Money raised will be used to continue funding Beresford’s unique art program, new student garden, Spanish program and computer lab.

For more information about Beresford Elementary School visit www.beresfordelementary.org.

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Woodside High School students will present as their spring musical, "Once on this Island,” opening March 18 at the Performing Arts Center on the school campus at 199 Churchill Ave. in Woodside. The show is based on Trinidadian author Rosa Guy’s novel, "My Love, My Love,” set on an island in the French Antilles. The story, based on Hans Christian Anderson’s "The Little Mermaid,” involves a group of Caribbean peasants, a pair of lovers, a pact with the devil and is laced with themes of class distinction and racial prejudice. Performances will be 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays March 18 through March 25 and 2 p.m. March 20. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for students and staff. For tickets or more information visit woodsidehs.org/drama or call 367-9750.

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The College of San Mateo’s Ethnic Studies department will host the second annual CSM Asian Pacific American Film Festival in the theater (Building 3) March 19 and March 20. The festival lineup includes:

• "A Village Called Versailles,” directed by S. Leo Chang. In a New Orleans neighborhood called Versailles, a community of Vietnamese Americans overcame obstacles to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. It is an empowering story of how the Versailles people who had already suffered so much in their lifetime, turned a devastating disaster into a catalyst for change and a chance for a better future.

• "The Oak Park Story,” directed by Valerie Soe and Russell Jeung. A film that documents a tenant community struggle to improve their living conditions in a slumlord-managed apartment complex in East Oakland.

The movies will be shown 7 p.m. Saturday, March 19. Tickets are $5, $3 for students and seniors.

Sunday, starting at 1 p.m., there will be "An Afternoon Matinee with CCPEP Films.”

The free afternoon features:

• "Out of Infamy: Michi Wegley,” directed by Sharon Yamoto and Nancy Kapitanoff.

Michi Weglyn is the author of Years of Infamy (1976) the first book to expose the truth behind the violation of civil rights and the forced incarceration of more than 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent during World War II. Weglyn’s interest in the subject was personal; she was a victim of the war as a teenager held in Gila River Concentration Camp and later married to a German Jew who narrowly escaped Hitler’s Holocaust. This film paints a portrait of her dynamic personality and gives a stunning human face to a dark chapter in American History.

• "Speak Out for Justice (Edited version),” produced by Visual Communications and the Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the hearing held by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. "Speak Out for Justice” was filmed during the 1981 Los Angeles hearings. The L.A, hearings show Japanese Americans testifying about their experience in the concentration camps; many talked about their experience for the first time.

• "Dear Miss Breed,” produced by the Japanese American National Museum.

Clara Estelle Breed was the children’s librarian at the San Diego Public Library from 1929 to 1945. Her life’s work illustrates how the commitment of a single person can profoundly touch the lives of so many people. Miss Breed was fond of all children, including the many Japanese American children and teenagers who frequented the East San Diego Branch Library.

• "Gila River and Mama: The Ruth Mix Story,” directed by Claire Mix and Charles Class.

In the fall of 1942, 15-year-old Mix began volunteering on weekends as a nurse’s aide at Butte Camp Hospital at Gila River concentration camp in Arizona. This is her story and the story of the people she met and befriended during her time at the camp.

College of San Mateo’s Asian Pacific American Film Festival is a production of CSM’s Ethnic Studies Department. For more information contact Professor Lewis Kawahara at KawaharaL@smccd.edu or call 574-6614 or visit www.collegeofsanmateo.edu then visit the event calendar.

Class notes is a twice weekly column dedicated to school news. It is compiled by education reporter Heather Murtagh. You can contact her at (650) 344-5200, ext. 105 or at heather@smdailyjournal.com.