West Covina Unified schools will recognize Red Ribbon Week on Friday, Oct. 30 with virtual activities designed to engage students and inspire them to live drug-, alcohol- and tobacco-free lives. Several sites, including Orangewood, Merlinda and Monte Vista elementary schools, will hold spirit activities and dress-up days centered around the 2020 Red Ribbon Campaign theme, “Be Happy. Be Brave. Be Drug Free.”
Students Gain Experience via Micro-Internships Six Summit High School students have sharpened their online technological marketing skills and learned what businesses are seeking in employees during micro-internships with manufacturing company Tekton Hospitality. Part of a pilot program, the micro-internships teach a few specific skills in a short time. Summit High senior Aaron Vera and juniors Yasmeen Abu-Awad, Mohamad Awad, Leilani Calzada Gonzalez, Harsh Patel and Steven Zaragoza engaged in 90-minute sessions on Zoom, learning how to take and edit job-site and product photos, create websites to highlight the products and promote the products via social media.
Gordon H. Beatty Middle School students will learn to fly the virtual skies and pilot drones through a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) Pilot program. The school has received 10 flight simulators and 20 drones for the program, which will teach concepts such as geometry, the degrees of freedom in flight, and physics. Science and STEM Pilot program teacher John Kopaczewski is preparing the simulators and drones for use when in-person instruction resumes.
Río Hondo College’s Student Success and Dream Center will host a Virtual Undocumented Student Week of Action from Monday, Oct. 19 to Friday, Oct. 23 that carries the theme of “Dream to Believe.” This is the fourth annual celebration of the week, which is designed to build connections within the community of undocumented students, strengthen connections with the greater college community and advocate for community and government support.
ío Hondo College has been ranked the 15th best college in the nation overall for serving Hispanic students and third for awarding Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences Degrees by Hispanic Outlook on Education magazine. The rankings, announced on Oct. 12, mark Río Hondo College’s latest appearance in the list of Top 100 Colleges and Universities for Hispanics, which is published annually by Hispanic Outlook on Education. The list charts the national progress of Hispanics in higher education and recognizes institutions committed to serving Hispanics’ educational needs.
West Covina High School is celebrating its student-athletes amid distance learning and postponed athletic seasons with a series of social media posts, dubbed #WCHSTeammateTuesday. Each week, West Covina High School features a different student-athlete, sharing in their own words what they love about their sport.
Fontana Unified School District is recognizing National Bullying Prevention Month in October, providing resources to help families and students identify, report and prevent bullying and cyberbullying. Students at Jurupa Hills High School also showed their support for the cause by wearing blue in support of World Day of Bullying Prevention, recognized on Oct. 5.
West Covina High School produced 51 AP Scholars in 2019-20, underscoring the school’s college-readiness efforts and commitment to academic excellence. The AP Scholar designation is awarded to high school students who have demonstrated outstanding college-level achievement through their performance on multiple AP exams. Of the 51 juniors and seniors, 14 were named AP Scholars with Distinction; to be eligible, students must receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, as well as scores of 3 or higher on five or more AP exams. West Covina High School is the District’s AP flagship school, offering an array of college-prep courses that include music theory, Mandarin and computer science.
Edgewood High School students Ethan Lee and Harris Thai have been named Commended Students in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. The recognition recognizes students’ exceptional academic promise, demonstrated by their outstanding performance in the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Two-thirds of the approximately 50,000 high scorers on the test from across the nation are designated as Commended Students
Baldwin Park Unified's music teachers from middle school to high school are putting in countless hours to support students, with virtual one-on-one lessons, class check-ins and increased support services. Sierra Vista High School's choral music director and piano studies instructor Suzanne Brookey and piano tutor Kevin Phan helped students hone their skills during distance learning, preparing them for a virtual piano recital.