Raquel Viramontes, a nine-year science teacher at Baldwin Park High School, has been named Baldwin Park Unified’s 2017 Teacher of the Year for her commitment to students and colleagues. Viramontes teaches biology, forensics and human anatomy, and brings the lessons to life with a focus on project-based instruction that goes beyond the mechanics of the science. For example, she created a genetics lesson in which students must create designer babies. Students must examine all the technical aspects of their choices for character and physical traits, as well as the implications behind why they value specific traits and the impact of breeding other traits out of the gene pool.
Baldwin Park Unified has announced its 2017 Certified Administrator, Classified Administrator and Classified Employee of the Year. Harris Vincent Pratt, principal of North Park Continuation High School, is being honored as Certificated Administrator of the Year for his ability to connect deeply with his students and staff. Nancy Mejia, senior executive assistant for the business services division, was named Classified Administrator of the Year for her patient and kind approach to meet the needs of her colleagues. Richard Robles, head custodian of Vineland Elementary School, was named Classified Employee of the Year for his attention to staff needs, quick and cool response to emergency services and the thoughtful and thorough quality of his repairs.
More than 200 graduating seniors from Sierra Vista High School will return to the nine Baldwin Park Unified elementary schools that launched their education journeys at 11:30 a.m. Friday, May 26 to thank their teachers during the school’s first-ever Senior Walk. The seniors will wear their caps and gowns during the event, which celebrates their accomplishment and aims to inspire younger students to pursue higher education. At each elementary school, seniors will present teachers with invitations to attend their graduation ceremony. Elwin Elementary will welcome 43 graduates and Tracy Elementary will greet 41. Kenmore Elementary will hold an assembly, at which its 33 seniors will share where they will attend college and thank their elementary teacher for helping them reach this point in their education. De Anza kindergarteners will greet their 38 seniors at the bus and the remaining grades will form a tunnel to welcome them.
Baldwin Park youths ages 1 through 18 will receive free breakfasts and lunches Mondays through Fridays this summer. Breakfast is served from 7:30 to 7:45 a.m. and lunch from noon to 12:30 p.m. through Friday, June 30 at De Anza Elementary, 12820 Bess Ave.; Kenmore Elementary, 3823 Kenmore Ave.; Pleasant View Elementary, 14900 E. Nubia St.; Vineland Elementary, 3609 Vineland Ave.; Walnut Elementary, 4701 N. Walnut St.; Holland Middle School, 4733 N. Landis Ave.; and Sierra Vista Junior High, 13400 Foster Ave. Breakfast is served from 7:30 to 8 a.m. and lunch from 11 to 11:30 a.m. through Friday, July 7, closing July 4 at Baldwin Park High School, 3900 N. Puente Ave. and Sierra Vista High School, 3600 Frazier St. North Park Continuation High School, 4600 Bogart Ave., serves breakfast from 9 to 10 a.m. and lunch from 11:30 to noon through Friday, July 7, closing July 4. Call 626-962-3311, ext. 4224, for details.
Baldwin Park Unified Superintendent Froilan N. Mendoza – a professional educator in California public schools since 1990 – earned a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Southern California on May 11. Mendoza, who took over leadership of the Baldwin Park Unified School District in February 2016, wrote his dissertation about the influence of globalization and multinational corporations on the instructional practices and interest in STEM topics in Ireland’s schools.Mendoza started his career as a substitute teacher in the Jurupa Unified School District before shifting to counseling and administrative posts for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. He came to Baldwin Park Unified in 2000 as coordinator of early childhood education. He served as associate superintendent from 2010 to 2015.
Follow-up Story: More than 1,200 family members and friends cheered as 200 Baldwin Park Adult and Community Education students received career technical education certificates, diplomas and high school equivalency certificates on May 18. The event, held at Baldwin Park High School, featured a rainbow of robes: purple for high school diplomas, white for high school equivalency and yellow for career tech training. In all, 284 students graduated from the adult education programs.
Baldwin Park Adult and Community Education (BPACE) instructor Mark Steimle has received a 2017 Excellence in Teaching Award from the California Council on Adult Education (CCAE), recognizing his contributions as a master teacher. Steimle, who received the honor May 6 at the CCAE conference in Long Beach, has been teaching at BPACE since 1988. His courses include English as a second language (ESL), adult basic education and adults with disabilities. He is currently lead instructor for the independent study program and teaches high school subjects and GED/HiSET equivalency exam preparation classes.
Baldwin Park Unified has transformed nine classrooms at De Anza Elementary School into tech-infused, flexible-design learning centers in which each student has access to a laptop, teachers can seamlessly integrate digital tools into instruction and desks can be quickly reconfigured to accommodate almost any lesson goal.The project’s roots stretch to 2015, when Baldwin Park Unified replaced aging portable classrooms at De Anza with Gen 7-style buildings. School leaders saved about $600,000 in matching funds – dollars that would have been lost if not dedicated to the project. So, they upgraded the classrooms’ digital footprint: a 36-laptop Chromebook cart, teacher laptop and tablet, and mobile big-screen TV. Modular, wheeled furniture allows teachers to create collaboration centers of two to five students.
U.S. Rep. Grace F. Napolitano on May 6 named Baldwin Park High School junior Millyna Liu as the winner of the 2017 Congressional Art Competition for her work “Off in the Distance,” a drawing that will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for the coming year. Honorable mentions went to Sierra Vista High senior Tam Do for “Glenda,” senior Leslie Davila for “Marvel Comic Fan” and junior Eduardo Lopez, for “Horse.”
Follow-up Story: Dual-language students from Baldwin Park Unified’s Tracy Elementary lit up the evening in bright blue, red and green garments and traditional Mexican attire as they danced and sang to popular songs by iconic singer Juan Gabriel on May 12. Alternating from English to Spanish, transitional kindergarteners through sixth-graders took the audience through Gabriel’s history and his impact on Mexican music and culture.
