Baldwin Park Unified Inspires Futures in STEM Through National Program
Fifth-grade students at Tracy Elementary School are receiving letters from archeologists and aerospace engineers through Letters to a Pre-Scientist, a national program that gives students the opportunity to become pen pals with scientists. Tracy Elementary fifth-grade teacher Annette Licata introduced Letters to a Pre-Scientist to encourage her students to interact with scientists and to see themselves as future science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals.
Lynwood High School Student Wins CIF State Esports Championship
Lynwood High School sophomore Henry Armenta has played video games his entire life, but he never dreamed it would earn him a CIF state championship title. After outlasting tough competition throughout the state, Armenta won the crown in EA Sports’ FIFA. Armenta joined the LHS Esports team as a freshman.
Santa Fe High School senior Geneveve Castañeda joined the Chieftain Tribe Marching Band as a freshman and the camaraderie she experienced, along with love from her parents, inspired her to become a campus leader and eventually rise to the position of drum major in her senior year. For her academic and leadership skills, Castañeda was recognized with an Award of Merit from the Whittier Union High School District Board of Trustees. Castañeda, who has a 4.26 GPA, has thrived by pursuing challenging courses, is vice president of the Santa Fe’s Filipino culture club, Barkada, and is a member of the Associated Student Body (ASB).
Hacienda La Puente Unified School District delivered its 2022 State of the District, held virtually on Jan. 20, with a detailed presentation showcasing the District’s success implementing its 2021-22 theme of “Learning Forward – Building Better.” Due to the recent COVID-19 surge, the scheduled in-person event was replaced by an in-depth video presentation led by Superintendent Dr. Alfonso Jiménez and shared on its YouTube channel. The State of the District highlighted student, staff and District successes, facilities and budget updates, expansion of socio-emotional growth systems, and provided an overview on school programs.
Covina-Valley Unified School District recently refinanced some of its General Obligation (G.O.) bonds, resulting in decreased interest rates and saving taxpayers $6.1 million. Under the leadership of the Board of Education, Covina-Valley Unified sought to refinance the bonds to take advantage of historically low interest rates in 2021. The refinancing reduced the interest rate on the prior bonds from 4.67% to 2.91%. This move will result in $6,133,480 in savings to local taxpayers from 2023 to 2044 and lower the repayment ratio on these bonds from 1.42 to 1. The refinancing applies to all current interest bonds.
Taking their first steps toward a lucrative career in aviation, 16 A.B. Miller High School students received certificates of completion after finishing a 10-week training course designed to inspire careers as commercial airline pilots. Shades of Blue, a free course held on Saturdays at Ontario International Airport, provides students with access to pilots, engineers, mechanics, air traffic controllers and other aerospace professionals, who guide them through the basics of aviation and pilot training. A completion ceremony was held Dec. 18 at the airport. The course is the latest addition to A.B. Miller’s aviation career technical education pathway.
Covina-Valley Unified School District will hold two meetings on Tuesday, Jan. 18 and Monday, Feb. 7 to evaluate the 2020 U.S. Census data and discuss updates to its trustee area boundary maps. On Jan. 18 at their next regularly scheduled meeting, the Covina-Valley Unified Board of Education will hear a presentation on the redistricting process and examine adjusted map scenarios that maintain population balance between the trustee areas. oThe Board of Education will then facilitate a public hearing at 7 p.m. during their regular board meeting on Feb. 7 at the Dr. Mary Hanes Professional Development Center, located at 220 W. Puente St., Covina, to receive community input on the draft map scenarios. The public is encouraged to attend the hearing and submit comments by completing the Request to Speak Card and handing it to the clerk before the meeting.
From there, the District will adopt and submit a final, revised plan to the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization for final approval.
The Henry J. Kaiser High School Theatre Department’s staging of William Shakespeare’s "Coriolanus" drew rave reviews from California Educational Theatre Association (CETA) judges, earning third place in CETA’s 2021-22 High School Theater Festival. During the fall 2021 semester, CETA judges attended high school theatrical performances throughout southern California, adjudicating each production. Kaiser High School’s November staging of "Coriolanus" received a score of 100.39. The festival, which was to be held Jan. 14 to 16 at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, was canceled due to the recent COVID-19 surge.
The El Monte Union High School District Board of Trustees will move forward three draft trustee area maps for further consideration as the District transitions from at-large elections to trustee-area elections. The Board plans to select a final map for adoption at its meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 2. Following comments during the Jan. 5 public hearing, as well as feedback taken during several community open houses and previous public hearings, the Board narrowed the number of draft maps for consideration following consensus to eliminate the NDC Yellow, NDC Green and NDC Green 2 maps and requested changes to NDC Green map to create a new NDC Green 3 Map. The Board of Trustees will adopt a final map from the following three drafts: NDC Orange Map, NDC Yellow 2 Map, and a new NDC Green 3 which is being developed by professional demographers based on comments received from the Board during the recent public hearing.
In accordance with the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and revised health protocols outlined by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Covina-Valley Unified School District provided District students with more than 6,000 free, at-home COVID-19 testing kits during drive-thru distribution events on Jan. 6 and 7. Covina-Valley Unified worked with the Los Angeles County Office of Education to receive and distribute the tests, which are being provided to school districts by the California Department of Public Health.
