Northview High School junior Julianne Fernandez and senior Genesis Sanchez are gaining firsthand insight into government and building real-world leadership skills through the Young Legislators Program hosted by Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio’s office. The program selects just over 20 students from a pool of more than 100 applicants and consists of monthly, in-person meetings focused on civic engagement, public policy, and essential life skills. Through workshops, simulations, and direct interaction with policymakers, students gain an inside look at how state government operates and how decisions impact local communities.
Whittier Union High School District Adult Transition Program (ATP) students spread love and joy throughout the community by designing, writing, and delivering Valentine’s Day cards to local senior citizens through the American Association of Retired Persons’ (AARP) Wish of a Lifetime Cupid Crew initiative. ATP students delivered more than 200 Valentine’s Day cards to Whittier Meals on Wheels, the Whittier Senior Center, Palms Senior Living, and La Habra Senior Center from Feb. 10-13.
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.
