Rio Hondo College’s Forensics Speech and Debate Team placed third at the 2018 Phi Rho Pi National Competition, one of the program’s strongest showings in recent years. The team competed against 30 other schools in its division during the April 9-14 event in Daytona, Florida. More than 60 schools from 28 states took part in the program of competitions. Debate Coach Grant Tovmasian received the Collie-Taylor Coach Fellowship Award, which goes to the tournament’s most outstanding coaches.
Students from Baldwin Park Unified’s Sierra Vista Junior High and DeAnza and Tracy elementary schools are growing stronger emotionally and physically through Girls on the Run, which meshes running with social-emotional learning.
Students at Baldwin Park Unified high schools are learning ways to strengthen understanding of mental health issues as part of an emerging mental health career pathway to be launched in the 2018-19 school year. Baldwin Park and Sierra Vista high schools already offer courses in psychology, including Advanced Placement Psychology, and are home to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) clubs. The pathway is expected to include a new course in sociology and existing courses in psychology.
Mary Ann Voltaggio, a San Gabriel native who has taught at Coolidge Elementary for 22 years, is known as a compassionate educator and patient mentor. Voltaggio is among 15 Los Angeles-area teachers to be recognized with a Leader In Me leadership award, given to pioneering educators who practice The Leader in Me – a program that teaches leadership and life skills and strives to create a culture of student empowerment. Photos are available.
Lincoln Elementary School students shared the feelings of losing a friend or family member during two plays written in collaboration with the BRIDGE Theatre Project. The plays – “Sad and Stuck, Without Tears” and “Facing Deportation” – were performed April 25 at the Lincoln Elementary library. They are the 99th and 100th plays written and performed entirely by Lynwood Unified students during a four-year partnership with BRIDGE.
Monrovia Unified Chosen for English Learner Arts Program
Monrovia Unified has been selected for a five-year program that promotes using arts education to support English learner instruction. Monrovia will receive an annual grant of $5,000 from the Teaching English Learners through the Arts (TELA) program to train elementary school teachers. TELA, an effort between the Los Angeles County Office of Education and the L.A. Arts Commission, aims to develop educator skills in language acquisition and support, academic achievement and social and emotional learning for students with limited English skills.
Elwin Elementary School took first place in the Baldwin Park Unified 21st Century Challenge, a contest in which student teams at 11 elementary schools constructed 10-foot-by-10-foot Rube Goldberg devices using simple machines. Tracy Elementary placed second, followed by Santa Fe School at third. Honorable mentions went to Foster and DeAnza elementary schools. Winners were announced April 26.
Two Paramount High School seniors are among 300 students across the U.S. to receive the all-expense-paid Gates Scholarship. Karla Navarro and Armando Alexis Torres were named two of 2,000 semi-finalists in November before reaching the group of 600 finalists who were interviewed in March.
Pioneer High School senior Nylah Garcia was born under unusual circumstances, with her mother diagnosed with cancer while pregnant. Throughout a difficult childhood, Garcia was determined to be the first member of her family to attend college, finding support as an Achievement Via Individual Determination (AVID) student. On April 10, Garcia was named a 2018 Dell Scholar by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and will receive a $20,000 scholarship to help pay for her education at Cal State Long Beach.
Blood Drive to be Held for Student Athlete Battling Leukemia
Clifton Middle School will host a blood drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 2 in support of James Speranta, a Monrovia High student athlete who was diagnosed with leukemia mid-March. Donations will go to City of Hope to help Speranta and other leukemia and cancer patients in need.
