LOS ANGELES – On Saturday, March 10, 2012, 101 Catholic elementary schools from throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will meet at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum & Sports Arena for an academic event that parallels the athletic competition prevalent in schools. Over 1,000 top students in grades 6-8 will be participating in this spirit-filled competition. Jo Solomonson, former principal at St. Stephen Martyr School in Monterey Park, serves as the Chairperson for the Academic Decathlon.

The Catholic Schools Academic Decathlon was founded in September, 1989 by Dr. Mark Ryan who was then a junior high teacher at St. Aloysius School in south-central Los Angeles. What began as a tiny competition involving Catholic junior high students from the greater Los Angeles area has grown to become a statewide event involving Catholic junior high students from across the United States.

LOS ANGELES – The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, in partnership with the Filipino American Service Group, Inc. (FASGI), is providing a free immigration and citizenship clinic from 10am – 4pm, Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 in Historic Filipinotown. The clinic will be held at the FASGI Community Wellness Clinic, housed on the 6th floor of the Silver Lake Medical Center at 1711 W. Temple St. in Los Angeles.

“Citizenship is a cherished status that many immigrants seek, but the process of becoming a US citizen can be complicated and confusing,” said Joyce Noche, supervising attorney for APALC’s Immigration and Citizenship Project. “This clinic will hopefully help to demystify the entire process to becoming a naturalized citizen for members of the Filipino American community.”