Career Technical Educator Shelley Andros thrives on helping her students find their passions, saying that her profession is more of a calling in keeping with the maxim “Choose a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Her exemplary work ethic at Buena Park Junior High has earned her the title of 2021 Teacher of the Year award from the Orange County Department of Education. The award winners were announced virtually in May.
Monrovia High School seniors will turn their tassels and celebrate their many achievements during a drive-thru graduation ceremony at Monrovia High on June 3. The graduation plan, approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and the City of Monrovia, adheres to all of social distancing and public health guidelines established for Los Angeles County.
Río Hondo College has awarded $882,400 in grants to 2,205 students as part of a federal act designed to assist those whose studies have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants are funded by $3.1 million in federal CARES Act funding received by the College for direct student grants. The money is divided among a Río Cares Student Relief Fund, support for students with federal Work Study jobs and an Emergency Grant program.
Buena Park School District will offer a special program of online instructional materials, supplies and support to families who want their children to continue distance learning in 2020-21 even after schools are allowed to reopen. The Board of Education unanimously voted to create the Academy for Accelerated Learning at the Buena Park Learning Center on May 11. The academy has a July 1 launch date and was created to add an additional level of safety for the community in regard to COVID-19.
The El Monte Promise Foundation in collaboration with El Monte Union High School District has launched a donation campaign to raise $10,000 for graduation banners and signs recognizing El Monte Union’s Class of 2020. EMPF and EMUHSD are working in partnership with local cities – including Rosemead, El Monte and South El Monte – to support the display of banners throughout our communities that will recognize approximately 1,800 individual graduates from Mountain View, Arroyo, Rosemead, El Monte, South El Monte, and Fernando R. Ledesma high schools.
478 Buena Park Junior High students and their families cheered, fist-pumped and honked their car horns during two days of drive-thru promotion ceremonies, as they poured onto campus with vehicles adorned with balloons, colorful signs and creative decorations to commemorate the class of 2020. Guests toured the highly decorated grounds on May 20 and 21, when they were met with cheerful chalk messages, music and applauding teachers and administrators. Students and their families wore masks and followed social distancing rules to maintain safety.
El Monte City School District will celebrate the promotion of 975 eighth-graders in the Class of 2020 through a mix of lawn signs, banners and virtual ceremonies that will be streamed via YouTube from Tuesday, June 2 through Friday, June 5. In addition, the District will celebrate advancing sixth-graders through montage videos and kindergarteners through Google Class presentations
Río Hondo College is celebrating its 2020 graduating class on Tuesday, May 26 and Wednesday, May 27 with a drive-through distribution of “Grad Care Packages” that include traditional graduation gear along with some surprises. The events are being held in lieu of the College’s traditional ceremonies because of COVID-19 concerns and are following the same safety guidelines used for the College’s drive-through food pantry. This is Río Hondo College’s 57th annual Commencement.
Summit High School senior Nicole Quinonez-Frias’ raw and emotional approach to highlighting cultural stigmas around depression and suicide, captured in a 60-second film, has earned statewide recognition as a category winner in the Directing Change Program and Film Contest. Quinonez-Frias’ film captured first place in the Through the Lens of Culture – Suicide Prevention category. As a statewide winner, she will receive a $1,000 prize. She is the first Summit High TV Production student to win an event in the competition.
Río Hondo College has received $15,000 in gifts from community groups for its Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE) Program, which helps provide educational support services and activities for academically under-prepared, welfare-dependent, single parents. CARE students are part of EOP&S, which serves more than 1,600 students at Río Hondo College. The gifts, presented May 22 to Río Hondo College Superintendent/President Dr. Arturo Reyes, EOP&S/CARE Director Heba Griffiths, and CARE Specialist Laura Verdugo, include $5,000 from Soroptimist International of Whittier and $10,000 from Credit Union of Southern California.
