Baldwin Park High School senior Angela Silva is being recognized as a Merit Scholar by the East San Gabriel Valley Regional Occupational Program and Technical Center (ESGVROP/TC) in the area of family consumer services. Silva, who is enrolled in Early Childhood Development classes at Baldwin Park High, plans to attend UC Santa Barbara and major in psychology with an emphasis on clinical care. She would like to become a clinical psychologist for children. Her classes have given her confidence in her ability to help children fulfill their potential, Silva wrote in her Merit Scholar application.
Follow-up Story: More than 130 fourth-graders from Baldwin Park Unified’s Charles Bursch and De Anza elementary schools have carefully tended crops and transformed fresh produce into nutritious dishes as part of Kaiser Permanente’s Garden Gourmet program, a food preparation and nutrition education program. Students celebrated the end of the year-long program on May 5 at the Baldwin Park Community Garden. Photos are available
Students in kindergarten through sixth grade at Baldwin Park Unified’s Vineland Elementary dashed to the finish line on May 5 to complete the last mile of a 26.2-mile marathon they had been running in weekly stages through Rod Dixon’s Kids Marathon Run Club. Parents, teachers and community members cheered on the students, who since October have finished more than 25 miles in weekly runs.
Sierra Vista High School senior Jeronimo Leonardo Reyes – a National AP Scholar who plans to become a doctor – will attend Washington and Lee University in Virginia in fall on a full-ride QuestBridge Scholarship worth more than $200,000. The Palo Alto-based nonprofit helps exceptional, low-income youths achieve college and career dreams. Over the last four years, Reyes has taken 14 Advanced Placement courses. In the eight exams he has taken, he has received 6 percent 5s and two 4s, earning him AP National Scholar honors.
Follow-up Story: Baldwin Park Unified’s Holland Middle School students celebrated the grand-opening of two STEM labs May 5 by sharing their work on robotic cars, computer coding and 3-D models of a foot orthosis piece with families and board members. Holland offers courses in engineering design and modeling, as well as automation and robotics designed by Project Lead The Way, the nation’s leader in STEM curriculum. Next year, three more STEM courses will be offered. Photos are available
Follow-up Story: Sierra Vista High School senior Rogelio Valenzuela – a kidney transplant survivor who wants to become a psychologist – has won the 2017 Daniel Carlos Herrera Memorial Scholarship awarded by the Los Angeles County Bilingual Directors Association. The $500 scholarship was created in honor of Daniel Carlos Herrera, a high school graduate who died in a motorcycle accident in July 2001. It is awarded annually to two students who are pursuing careers in education or community service with a focus on serving an ethnically diverse society. Valenzuela received the award on April 29.
Follow-up Story: Baldwin Park Unified awarded $8,000 in grants to 11 students at the annual Joint Scholarships Event on May 4. The scholarships came from the Baldwin Park Organization of Supervisors and Administrators; Baldwin Park Education Association; family and friends of Ramona Burnham, a longtime district educator; and Delta Kappa Gamma, a professional honor society of women educators.
Follow-up Story: Baldwin Park Unified’s Early Childhood Education Program celebrated its 2016-17 accomplishments, including full-day and dual-immersion preschool instruction, during its 17th annual Family and Community Partnership Recognition lunch on April 27. More than 120 community partners, district leaders and teachers attended the event, which included a live performance by students. Photos are available.
Follow-up Story: Students at Baldwin Park Unified’s Sierra Vista High School learned the brutal consequences of driving while under the influence during an April 26-27 presentation of “Every 15 Minutes,” a program that simulates a DUI collision with arrests and slain passengers, pulls students from classes to symbolize those killed in DUI-related accidents and stages a mock funeral.
Elwin Elementary School’s Electro PupsStudent were announced as the winners of the first-ever 21st Century Challenge, a contest to devise a Rube Goldberg Machine that can pluck a tissue from a box, on April 24. The showcase, presented to an audience of students, parents, teachers and administrators at the Baldwin Park Performing Arts Center, replaced the District’s long-running spelling bee – a shift representative of a growing focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) fields.