CSUN Professor to be Honored During KCET's Black History Month Celebration


CSUN special education professor Saundra Scott Sparling is one of six individuals who are being honored this month by public television station KCET for their contributions to the community.
Video profiles of Sparling and her fellow honorees will air throughout the month of February on KCET as part of the public television station's Black History Month celebration.

The six are being recognized for their dedicated efforts in enhancing the social services, arts, community activism and the education of Angelinos.

"KCET congratulates this year's recipients of the Unsung Hero Award and thanks them for their tireless work building bridges between the diverse components of our community," said Al Jerome, president and CEO of KCET.

In addition to Sparling, the honorees include Susan Burton, founder and executive director of A New Way of Life Foundation; James Fugate and Thomas Hamilton, the founders and owners of Eso Won Books; artist John Outterbridge for his Studio Outterbridge; and Khalid Shah, founder and executive director of Stop the Violence, Increase the Peace Foundation.

The honorees will be feted at an invitation-only gale to be held at the historic KCET studios in Hollywood on Thursday, Feb. 20, and hosted by KCET and Washington Mutual.

Sparling helped found the Mar Vista Community Center and has spent years working at the center conducting parent education and helping families in the community keep their kids out of gangs and transform gang members into community leaders. She said she was honored to have been chosen by KCET for recognition.

"But the honor really goes to all the people at the center who have been able to take my training and really apply it to parent education, gang prevention and gang recovery," she said.
Sparling is a special education professor who specializes in working with gifted children. She is currently working to reestablish the university's master's program for gifted and talented children.

"So many people are so focused on leaving no kids behind that we are forgetting to power ahead those who can succeed to go farther and faster. They are the ones who can then turn around to make sure that no kid gets left behind," she said.

Contact: Carmen Ramos Chandler, (818) 677-2130, carmen.chandler@csun.edu