El Monte Union, Partners Launch Class of 2020 Banner Fundraiser
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 the El Monte Union community that will recognize approximately 1,800 individual graduates from six high schools. The deadline to donate is Wednesday, June 10.
El Monte Union to Distribute Diplomas to 1,800 Seniors During Car Parades
El Monte Union’s six high schools will host Car Parade Diploma Celebrations for approximately 1,800 graduates on Thursday, June 4, during which families will drive up at their designated appointment time, students will exit their decorated vehicles, take photos and collect their diplomas. To ensure social distancing and face masks requirements are followed across all schools during the individual diploma ceremonies, the District has released specific guidelines that are in line with county rules. Distribution times will vary across schools but may take up to seven hours. The streaming of a virtual celebration program for each school will follow at 7:30 p.m. The District plans to hold traditional commencement ceremonies in November, or as soon as it is safe to do so.
El Monte City School District to Stream Student Promotions on YouTube
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.
Monrovia Unified to Host Drive-Thru Commencement Ceremonies
Monrovia Unified School District will celebrate the Class of 2020 during two days of commencement drive-thru events. Canyon Oaks High School and Mountain Park Independent Study School will celebrate seniors at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 2 at Monrovia High School, 845 W, Colorado Blvd., Monrovia. Monrovia High School will host its ceremony at 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 3 at Monrovia High School. Every student will be allowed to attend in one car, and only the student will exit the vehicle to walk the stage and receive his or her diploma. The graduates will then take their graduation photos, make their way back to the cars and drive through to the exit point. The plan put forth by Monrovia Unified adheres to all social distancing requirements and public health guidelines established for Los Angeles County.
Ten Baldwin Park Unified Class of 2020 seniors gave shouts of joy and even shed a few tears as a District caravan of well-wishers, equipped with balloons and flowers, traveled through the city on May 15 to personally deliver the news that the students had received scholarships totaling $11,000. District leaders – including Superintendent Dr. Froilan N. Mendoza, Board of Education and Cabinet members, administrators and community leaders – wore masks and practiced social distancing as they surprised students at their homes, placing the decorations and a certificate on the lawns and porches of recipients.
Throughout the spring, 16 students in their first year of Río Hondo College’s Associate Degree of Nursing (ADN) program volunteered at the El Monte City Drive-through COVID-19 testing station, lending a hand to efforts to combat the health crisis that immobilized much of the world. Students began volunteering in April and continued throughout May, rotating through stations to work with nurses from Greater El Monte Community Hospital to instruct community members on testing, distribute testing materials, collect samples and educate patients.
As Whittier Union seniors approach the final days of their high school career, the District’s high schools are finding ways to safely recognize 2,800 members of the Class the 2020, their accomplishments over the last four years and their ability to persevere under the most unexpected circumstances. Following social distancing guidelines and facial covering requirements, each school meticulously in May organized grab-and-go opportunities to provide seniors their graduation packages, which included caps and gowns, medals and yard signs, which were sponsored by the Whittier Union High School District Educational Foundation. Virtual awards shows were also held to celebrate students.
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.
