SAN DIMAS/LA VERNE – The Rotary Club of San Dimas continued its annual tradition of supporting Bonita Unified teachers by awarding mini-grants to help fund special projects and classroom learning. Rotary Club president Mike Wallace and secretary Steve Scott presented mini-grants totaling $3,200 to seven teachers during the Feb. 4 Board of Education meeting.

“We appreciate what the teachers do for our kids, we know how hard you work,” Scott said to awardees during the Board meeting. “This is our opportunity to honor you and say thank you for doing what you do for our community, for the kids in this community, and helping make their futures even brighter.”

The Rotary Club of San Dimas 2025-26 mini-grant recipients are:

  • Jessica Truax and Jared Pugh – San Dimas High School
  • Kevin Amegin – Lone Hill Middle School
  • Robin Torres, Brooke Wharton, and Kristina Alexander – Gladstone Elementary School
  • Taylor Greene – Ekstrand Elementary School

Truax is a teacher and athletic trainer at San Dimas High, and leads the school’s Sports Medicine pathway. The $500 mini-grant she received from the Rotary Club will be used to cover all the Sports Medicine team’s competition fees during the school year, eliminating the financial burden for students participating in the regional, state, and national competitions.

The San Dimas Sports Medicine team has made five consecutive trips to the American Academic Competition Institute (AACI) National High School Sports Medicine competitions since 2020 and has one of the leading Sports Medicine career technical education (CTE) pathways in the state, having made the top 10 in California every year they have competed.

Additionally, the program recently received a San Dimas BINGO grant which, combined with CTE incentive grant funds, will help fund the purchase of a ThermEx machine, which is designed to help injured athletes recover faster and help students learn more about the therapeutic modalities used in sports medicine.

“We really appreciate the support we have received from the San Dimas Rotary Club,” Truax said. “Combined with the BINGO grant and CTEIG funds, these grants will help our program grow even bigger. We cannot thank the San Dimas Rotary Club and Saints BINGO organizations enough.”

The San Dimas High state/regional AACI Sports Medicine competition will be held March 14 in La Ca?ada. The program will have 18 students competing as they try to make the Nationals for a sixth consecutive year.

“Thank you to the San Dimas Rotary Club, who with their Rotary partners in La Verne, are allowing our teachers to provide more exciting and innovative classroom instruction for their students,” Superintendent Matt Wien said. “Congratulations to our mini-grant recipients, and thank you for going above and beyond for your students.”

PHOTO:

BUSD_SDROTARY_2026: San Dimas High School sports medicine teacher Jessica Truax receives a $500 mini-grant from Rotary Club of San Dimas president Mike Wallace during the Bonita Unified Board of Education meeting on Feb. 4.