With nerves buzzing and mental dictionaries ready, Bonita Unified students took center stage for the District’s 20th Annual Spelling Bee on Feb. 2, transforming the Bonita Center for the Arts into a high-stakes arena of vocabulary and composure where 56 students battled one by one, ready to spell their way to victory. The competition unfolded over multiple rounds with the field narrowing word by word. In the end, Ally Abad, a fifth-grader from Gladstone Elementary School, claimed first place, followed by fellow Gladstone fifth-grader Maddox Macias in second, and Shull Elementary fourth-grader Sophia Salvador in third place. The win marked the fourth consecutive time a Gladstone student captured the Bonita Unified School District Spelling Bee title.
Traweek Middle School is empowering students to build strong science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills through innovative, hands-on programs such as Project Lead the Way (PLTW) and Femineers, preparing students for success in high school pathways, college, and careers. PLTW is a project-based curriculum that blends creativity with real-world engineering and problem-solving skills. At Traweek, students are introduced to PLTW as early as sixth grade through the rotating elective wheel, allowing them to explore the program before committing to the class in later years. In seventh and eighth grade, students can enroll in introductory and advanced PLTW courses.
Whittier High School senior Guadalupe Duenas is poised to be the first member of her family to attend a four-year university, with a plan to major in child development and a goal of becoming an elementary school teacher, milestones she could never have imagined as a young English learner with a speech and language impairment and Specific Learning Disability.
When Henry J. Kaiser High School Catamount Pride and Color Guard band director Roberto Ronquillo arrived to lead the music program at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, he was tasked with replacing a legend, former Kaiser band director Anthony Allmond, who led the music program from the school’s inception in 1998 until his retirement in 2022. It was a steep learning curve for Ronquillo – an A.B. Miller High School Class of 2007 graduate who had previously worked alongside Allmond as a student teacher at Kaiser – but one that has brought its own rewards, with a long list of recent team and individual accolades that have added significantly to Kaiser’s esteemed history. These honors include a first-ever Southern California Band and Orchestra Association (SCSBOA) 2025 Division B championship, along with selections to state and regional honor bands and the Pasadena City College (PCC) Rose Parade Honor Band.
El Monte High School’s (EMHS) varsity cheerleading team captured the 2026 National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) High School National Championship during a competition held Jan. 23–24 in Fort Worth, Texas, earning the first national title in the District’s and program’s history. The Lions claimed the championship in the Advanced Non-Tumbling Coed Varsity Crowd Leading division, becoming the only California school to compete in the category and just the third California team to claim an NCA national title in the organization’s 75-year history. Teams from across the country competed at the national event.
The Summit High School Fortepiano String Orchestra will make its way to the Big Apple this April for a return performance at Carnegie Hall’s National Band and Orchestra Festival, continuing the momentum of achievement for the SkyHawks Marching Regiment thanks to instrumental music and band director James Sharp. The Summit High band program – which includes concert band, wind ensemble, prep orchestra, Color Guard, drum line, and the Fortepiano Orchestra – encompasses more than 200 visual and performing arts (VAPA) students in addition to the Summit Majorette squad, which performs at football games and special events.
Lynwood Unified School District’s emerging robotics program was on full display as student teams from Lynwood and Firebaugh high schools competed against schools from across the region at the District’s first-ever VEX V5 “Push Back” robotics tournament on Jan. 27. Dubbed the Knight City Challenge, the event reflects Lynwood Unified’s continued efforts to bolster STEM education by expanding hands-on, project-based learning opportunities that prepare students for college and future careers in engineering and technology.
For Yuba College in California, fostering a caring culture is not a short-term strategy – it is a defining part of the institution’s identity. That commitment is reflected in the college’s decision to remain a Caring Campus Network (CCN) member through 2030, reinforcing a long-term investment in connection, belonging, and student success. The CCN offers members access to tools and resources designed to strengthen and sustain cultures of care. Benefits include impactful webinars covering a variety of topics, a robust artifacts database featuring examples from Caring Campus institutions nationwide, discounted Caring Campus conference registration, and eligibility for Caring Campus Certification.
Wearing golden crowns and gathering among shelves of storybooks, Shull Elementary School families were transported to lands far, far away in January for the first Family Reading Night of the 2026, an event designed to strengthen literacy skills while reinforcing the school’s culture of family partnership and academic excellence. Shull’s Family Reading Nights are intended to bring families into the learning process, reinforcing reading as a shared responsibility extending beyond the classroom. By creating opportunities for families to engage with books, educators and one another, the event encourages building literacy habits at home that complement daily instruction at school.
