By Nikki Silverstein
Hero: Got five minutes? That’s all it takes to learn how to save a life. You’re invited to the free Don’t Miss a Beat: Hands-Only CPR event on June 11, at venues all over Marin. Last year, almost half of all heart attack patients in our county were assisted by a bystander before a professional first responder arrived. “Effective bystander CPR provided immediately after a sudden cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim’s chance of survival,” said registered nurse Karrie Groves of Marin Emergency Services. Those stats are enticing enough, but there are other incentives to attend the event, such as raffles with fab prizes. As for my single sisters, one word: Firemen. Let’s all become heroes and learn CPR. For info, check out ems.marinhhs.org.
Zero: Some people play the lottery for the chance to win a million bucks. But if you want a sure thing, establish a pricey private school, become the director and slowly pilfer funds over an eight-year period. That’s what occurred recently at Mount Tamalpais School in Mill Valley, and the funds allegedly ended up in the private accounts of Kate Mecca, the school’s founder and former director, confirmed board of trustee member Michelle Sarti. While the board is focused on restitution, we sure hope that the Marin County DA reviews this case closely, because that amount of cash buys quite a few scholarships for at-risk students. Ironically, the school’s website now features an opening for the newly created position of Director of Finance.
Wow! I went to Mt Tamalpais Primary School. Kate Mecca was a terrifying figure me as well as all my classmates. She instilled fear in students and parents and used her power to extort money out of parents. Now I found out she was embezzling over $1M dollars. It is clear now that Kate Mecca was not good in any way for that school. In fact she was a harmful person in every way. I hope parents look deeper into directors of schools before putting their children under such supervision. I always found Andy Mecca to be a good person.