Whittier Union Offers Curbside Meal Distribution During Summer Months
Whittier Union’s Food and Nutrition Services Department will offer curbside meal distribution for its community through Thursday, July 15. Meals are available Mondays to Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for those 18 years of age and under. On Thursdays, Whittier Union will distribute bulk meals that include four breakfast and four lunch meals. Meals are available at all five of the District’s comprehensive high schools.
A.B. Miller High School’s Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) college-prep elective is celebrating a perfect score for its Class of 2021 graduates, with 100 percent of its AVID students accepted to a four-year university. All 65 A.B. Miller AVID graduates earned acceptance to at least one four-year college or university, spanning across a variety of University of California (UC) and California State University campuses, as well as private universities. They will continue their education at institutions that include UC Riverside, UC Irvine, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Long Beach, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State San Marcos, Cal Baptist, University of La Verne, and more. A.B. Miller High School has offered AVID since 1993 and is an AVID Highly Certified Site. Media contact: Lauren Creiman, 909-833-9853
Río Hondo College Latinx students will receive increased support to complete transfer level math courses in their first year of school, providing a pathway for more Latinx students to complete their degrees and transfer to four-year universities, thanks to a $65,750 grant from the Aspen Institute. The Río Hondo College Excellence Program’s primary beneficiaries will be students enrolled in Math 130 Statistics courses. During the 2020-21 school year, nearly 1,600 students were enrolled in the course. The grant allows Río Hondo College to hire additional math instructors to facilitate an increased participation of students. The program is expected to begin in Fall 2021.
Cheered on by family and faculty members, Class of 2021 graduates from Baldwin Park and Sierra Vista high schools returned to campus one final time to receive scholarships and accolades during annual senior recognition and awards nights. Graduates were recognized for displaying excellence in academics and athletics, including awards presented by the Baldwin Park Teacher’s Association, the Ramona Burnham Foundation and the Mark Daniel Flores Music Foundation.
Nearly 430 graduates from Monrovia Unified School District cheered as they walked across the graduation stage to receive their diplomas during in-person and drive-thru commencement ceremonies, held June 8 and 9. Canyon Oaks High School and Mountain Park School celebrated the success of 45 graduates on June 8 during a drive-thru ceremony, where administrators and teachers delivered emotional speeches that detailed each student’s hardships and successes that led to graduation day. On June 9, Wildcat Stadium roared as administrators, teachers, and families celebrated 378 seniors who persevered during an unprecedented school year. Monrovia Unified School District implemented health guidelines as outlined by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, such as the use of face coverings and social distancing throughout both events, to ensure the safety of its students, families, and entire school community.
Superintendent Charles “Chuck” Hinman, who has guided West Covina Unified School District through a pandemic, the related shift to distance learning, a school realignment, and a massive facilities improvement effort, announced he will retire effective July 31, 2021. Dr. Hinman, who began his tenure with WCUSD in 2015, thanked teachers and staff for their “talents and dedication,” creating success in classrooms across the District.
When Jurupa Hills High School Class of 2021 graduate Jennifer Ibarra was young, she used to play teacher with her mom and stuffed animals, dreaming of someday having her own classroom. Ibarra’s love for teaching continued to develop as she grew into an academic leader at school and a Class of 2021 International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma candidate. Ibarra’s path to her dream career has become more financially secure thanks to a $10,000 scholarship from the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund, which will help fund her studies at UC Riverside. The fund awards scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to high school seniors who plan to attend a four-year college or university and are the children or financial dependents of Teamster members.
Río Hondo College alumnus Joel Ramirez loves learning – a passion he hopes to spark in others by becoming a full-time professor and mentoring eager students, providing valuable research to the study of human movement, and improving his community. Ramirez’s determination has carried him through family problems, financial burdens and personal ailments – earning the first-generation college student a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and a master’s in kinesiology from Cal State University Los Angeles (CSULA). Now, the 36-year-old is setting his sights on Harvard University, where he will pursue a Ph.D. in human evolutionary biology in fall 2021.
Buena Park School District students are mastering public speaking, expanding their acting skills and learning how to improvise as part of the District’s speech and debate summer program. The summer program is a two-week course that will prepare 51 students – from grades four to eight – for success in the District’s main speech and debate program, as well as tournaments. While in the course, students are either placed in a writing workshop or learn to deliver specific speech topics, which include informative, original orator, declamation, interpretation and impromptu.
Nearly 2,800 Whittier Union High School District students made their way across the graduation stage during in-person graduation ceremonies held June 1-3, marking their milestone achievement through an unprecedented school year with emotional speeches, musical performances and tears of joy. The socially distanced ceremonies looked vastly different than years past, but provided a sense of normalcy to students, families and staff. Students maintained their distance from each other as they were escorted onto the field and seated six feet apart. Families remained socially distanced in the stands through fixed seating, implemented to ensure compliance with county and state regulations.
