Gidley School’s Science Olympiad team won a whopping seven medals and placed sixth overall at the 2020 Los Angeles Regional Tournament, exemplifying the scientific acumen to earn a spot at the Science Olympiad State Tournament in April. The Science Olympiad team earned awards by completing tasks such as investigating viral outbreaks, using math to measure density levels and answering questions about genetics.
Lynwood Unified students will receive surprise appearances from LA Galaxy players, authors, and community leaders when the District celebrates Read Across America Week, the annual reading awareness program. Superintendent Gudiel R. Crosthwaite and Lynwood Unified Board President Gary Hardie Jr. will make appearances, as will author Eric Ramos who is set to release his new book “Super Torta!” The guest readers will read classic tales like Dr. Seuss classics “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” and “There’s a Wocket in My Pocket” to classrooms across the District as they encourage children to explore books.
Río Hondo College will launch a series of Community Education Forums at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 4 to showcase its stellar instructional programs, student support services, transfer-focused curriculum and award-winning career pathways in fields such as automotive, police, fire safety and nursing. Faculty and deans from an array of academic and career programs will make presentations and spotlight the Río Promise, which provides two years of free tuition to new, full-time students.
Bonita Unified School District shared student success stories, celebrated achievements in academics, athletics, arts and activities, and presented awards to students and community partners at the 2020 State of the District luncheon on Feb. 25 at the Hillcrest Meeting House. Superintendent Carl J. Coles shared stories of students who have discovered their purpose at Bonita Unified – like Chaparral Vista High School senior and student board representative Justine Plowman, who is working to become a sheriff’s deputy, and Ekstrand Elementary second-grader Jordan Mulgado, who is looking at colleges that will teach him to design race cars.
Monroe Elementary School Principal Lily Jarvis has been selected from among 200 applicants for a seat on the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC), which advises the State Board of Education on curriculum and instructional matters. She started her term in January. The IQC develops and recommends curriculum frameworks, evaluate instructional materials and make educational recommendations.
West Covina High School provided artistically inclined prospective students with a sneak peek of its exclusive fine arts education – available through the new West Covina High School Performing Arts Academy – during a spring preview night on Feb. 27. Incoming freshmen and their families learned about the Academy’s academic offerings, met Academy coordinators and gained insight into the application. Launching in fall 2020, the Academy will provide a rigorous fine arts education in a free, public school setting. Its first freshman cohort will be capped at 50 students; students from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties are eligible to apply. The District is now accepting applications.
Fontana Unified students and families performed CPR on manikins, programmed robots, recorded broadcast news segments and learned to pilot a Cessna 172 – all within the two stories of the Lewis Library and Technology Center on Feb. 27. The hands-on demonstrations were among many offered at the District’s inaugural Career Pathway Showcase, which highlighted the array of career technical education (CTE) programs available in FUSD high schools. Such demonstrations included a lesson on pneumatic systems from Jehad Abdallah, a sophomore enrolled in Summit’s mechatronics/automations pathway.
South El Monte High School senior Santiago Alvillar has been accepted as a member of Stanford University’s Class of 2024 through its Restrictive Early Action program. Stanford, the most competitive university to gain acceptance to, has an admission rate nearing or below 5%. Alvillar, a student-athlete who also takes college night classes after school, plans to major in engineering physics with a specialty in Quantum Science and minor in environmental systems engineering.
Cypress Elementary unveiled its science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) classroom to the community during its annual Family STEAM Night on Feb. 27. Attendees were welcomed by Spark-E, a robot programmed by students to give greetings, and jazz music performed by the Jurupa Hills High School band. The event featured stations with various family-friendly STEAM activities, including robotics and a mobile planetarium.
Morningside High School’s Golden Path robotics program is advancing to a regional competition held by FIRST Tech Challenge in March after winning recognition for robot design at a preliminary contest. FIRST Tech challenges students to design, build and program robots.