Former Baldwin Park Unified Board of Education member Jack B. White – who served on the school board for 22 years and as Baldwin Park’s mayor for 10 years – will be recognized and celebrated for his lifelong dedication to his community during a memorial service.
The Whittier Union High School District celebrated the Class of 2019 during commencement ceremonies that featured poignant speeches, tears of joy and cheers of excitement from families and staff, and close to 2,800 seniors ready to pursue the next step of their academic and professional careers.
American Legion Post 8 in East Los Angeles recognized 26 El Monte City School District eighth-graders for displaying courage and leadership traits with the prestigious American Legion School Award during ceremonies held May 22-23.
A group of 500 third- through fifth-grade students experienced the joys of science through interactive STEM experiments on May 31 during a Science of Baseball STEM Field Day, led by the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) and the Science of Sport organization. Students learned about reaction time, ball trajectory, measuring the strike zone, pitching aerodynamics, and sequencing player’s statistics.
Emery School students filled the halls of Thanksgiving Church with laughter and applause as they spent their final elementary school day reflecting on friendships, hugging and saying goodbye during their school’s sixth-grade promotion ceremony. The school’s ceremony took place May 31 with 76 students awarded for finishing their elementary school years, participating in clubs and achieving academic milestones.
Rio Vista School cafeteria transformed into 1960s Baltimore for 90 minutes as students filled the air with songs about healthy self-images and diversity during a “Hairspray Jr.” performance, complete with big hairdos, groovy tunes and outrageous dance moves.
Monrovia Unified celebrated 223 graduates from the District’s Adult School, Canyon Oaks High School and Mountain Park School during graduation ceremonies on May 30, June 4 and June 5. During the ceremonies, students were awarded more than $15,000 in scholarships from community groups such as Monrovia Rotary Club, Monrovia Kiwanis Club, Latino Heritage, Citrus College Bright Futures and more.
Whittier Union High School District’s Board of Trustees recognized the lifetime contributions of La Serna High School physical education teacher and former varsity softball coach Ginger Larsin, approving the dedication of the school’s new softball field in her honor. Larsin – who retired in June after serving in the District almost four decades – developed into one of the most acclaimed high school athletic coaches in the nation during her tenure at La Serna. Her legacy includes more than 500 victories, 14 league titles and three CIF championships. Larsin was also a three-time CIF Coach of the Year and nurtured the talents of more than 400 scholar athletes. A dedication is planned for next year.
Five West Covina Unified schools were recognized for narrowing the achievement gap among underserved students, earning places on the 2019 Top Los Angeles County Public Schools for Underserved Students list. Merlinda, Merced and Vine elementary schools joined Walnut Grove Intermediate and Hollencrest Middle schools on the Top Schools list, based on continued improvement on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress test, reduced suspension rates and performance on the California Dashboard.
Abraham Lincoln and Wesley Gaines elementary schools have been named to the Educational Results Partnership 2018-19 Honor Roll for demonstrating consistent high levels of student academic achievement. Both schools were identified as having improvement in achievement levels over time, and a reduction in achievement gaps. Each school will receive a banner of recognition.