William Workman High School’s girls wrestling program is celebrating a historic 2023-24 season, as the Hacienda La Puente Unified team secured its first-ever Montview League championship and qualified all eight team members for the upcoming California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section (CIF-SS) individual championships, to be held Feb. 9-10. The Lobos put together dominant performances both individually and as a team, culminating in the Montview League Meet on Jan. 23 where they produced five individual champions, with three more wrestlers placing in their respective weight classes.
The El Monte community sits at the nexus of several major freeways, negatively impacting the air quality for the people who live, work, and go to school there. Join artists Lalo Alcaraz and Levi Ponce and Media Personality Alysha Del Valle to celebrate the completion of a new 80’ mural, visible to tens of thousands of commuters on the 60 freeway, and EV car wraps to encourage the use of clean transportation. The project marks the culmination of El Monte Union High School District’s Clean Mobility in Schools Pilot Project. Guests will also be treated to a screening of the District’s new Clean Energy Careers animation.
Nineteen members of Fontana Unified School District high school football teams have secured prestigious All California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section (CIF-SS) division honors, recognizing their outstanding accomplishments in what was a historic football season across the District. A.B. Miller, Jurupa Hills, Henry J. Kaiser and Summit high schools all produced multiple All CIF-SS players in their respective divisions after all four teams qualified for the CIF-SS postseason. The dual-CIF championship Jurupa Hills team had 11 members who earned All CIF-SS Division 8 awards.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) traveled to Lynwood and Firebaugh high schools during the annual Black College Expo Caravan event on Feb. 5, providing nearly $4.6 million in scholarships and granting 298 on-the-spot acceptances to some of the top HBCUs in the country. Hosted in partnership with the National College Resources Foundation, the event featured more than 20 college representatives who shared various career exploration opportunities with juniors and seniors and reassured students that their dreams of attending college are possible.
Pioneer High School is deepening its college-ready culture through the expansion of its Early College Academy and partnership with Río Hondo College, which will now include an opportunity for new students to earn an associate degree or a certificate of achievement in Spanish, beginning in the 2024-25 school year. The expanded program is geared towards incoming freshmen who are strongly motivated academically, ready to commit to taking rigorous college-level classes and follow the course of study for all four years of the program. The Early College Academy Associates Degree Pathway (ECA-ADP) program is available only to Pioneer High students. There is no cost for students who are accepted into the program, with tuition, books and fees all covered. All courses are taught by Río Hondo College professors after school on the Pioneer High campus. All credits earned through ECA-ADP will be transferable to any public college or university in California.
California High School’s Model United Nations (CondorMUN) program is giving students a real-world perspective on global issues and allowing them the opportunity to learn the importance of diplomacy by serving as delegates, role-playing and writing position papers on a diverse array of topics such as maritime piracy and mental health in humanitarian crises. Available as an afterschool extracurricular since 2007, Condor M.U.N. has increased its profile among southern California M.U.N. programs, with Cal High adding an AP Comparative Government class compatible with MUN research areas and boosting its M.U.N. club membership enough so that Cal High could host its first Condor M.U.N. conference in December 2023. The program is coordinated by Cal High social science teachers Sean Reagan and James Palmer. Cal High students who have participated have gone on to such prestigious universities as UCLA, Harvard, UC Berkeley, NYU and Stanford.
Demolition of Lynwood High School Expected to be Complete in February
Demolition crews charged with taking down the primary classroom building at the Lynwood High School Imperial Campus are moving swiftly and on time, with the structure expected to be fully demolished by mid-February. The structural demolition of Building G began in Nov. 2023. The work to prepare the soil for the building’s foundation is scheduled to begin later this summer. Once the foundation work is complete, construction of the new 175,000-square-foot building will begin. The restored campus – which has been shuttered since June 2020 when a portion of ceiling soffits collapsed due to major structural failures – is expected to welcome back students and staff in fall 2027.
Whittier Union Students Learn Communication, Leadership Skills
La Serna High School student leaders engaged in the school’s annual Student Leadership Conference on Jan. 23, where they received valuable training on effective leadership strategies and learned how to connect with their peers to enhance the high school experience. Link Crew leaders, academic mentors, academy leads, sports captains, Associated Student Body members, and Oasis/Haven leaders attended the conference. Throughout the day, students actively participated in breakout sessions that delved into diverse leadership topics such as mastering emotional intelligence, harnessing the power of storytelling and understanding the significance of effective communication and conflict resolution.
Lynwood Unified Students Receive Free Prescription Glasses
Dozens of young learners at Roosevelt Elementary School received free prescription glasses through the District’s partnership with Vision to Learn, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating vision issues as a barrier to education, during an exuberant ceremony on Jan. 25. The students previously went through free screenings at Vision to Learn’s mobile eye clinic, where optometrists conducted full exams, wrote prescriptions and fitted students for glasses with frames of their choice. The collaboration between Vision to Learn and Lynwood Unified underscores the power of championing accessible and quality eye care and creating a brighter future for Lynwood’s youth.
Bonita Unified Alumna Goes Pro in National Women’s Soccer League
San Dimas High School Class of 2022 graduate Ally Lemos was drafted by the Orlando Pride in the first round of the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Draft on Jan. 12. Ally graduated early from San Dimas High School in Dec. 2021 and went on to have two stellar seasons with the UCLA women's soccer team, which included a NCAA Championship title in 2022, an ESPY Award nomination for "Best Play," and multiple selections for the U.S. U-20 Women's Youth National Team. Ally is the fourth-youngest draftee in NWSL history.
