The Baldwin Park and Sierra Vista high school football teams will battle for bragging rights during their annual Crosstown Football Game at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14 at Baldwin Park High School’s Ted K. Gorrell Stadium. The Baldwin Park Unified community will join in celebrating the friendly rivalry on a night filled with school spirit and camaraderie. Baldwin Park High School is located at 3900 N. Puente Ave., Baldwin Park.
Margaret Heath Elementary School students collected pennies and coin donations from their families and neighbors over the last year to fund a $500 scholarship for a Baldwin Park Unified graduate, as part of a long-standing tradition to celebrate the school’s namesake on Oct. 7. During this year’s celebration, Baldwin Park High School Class of 2022 graduate Linah Robles was awarded the Heath Scholarship to help fund her educational pursuits at Mt. San Antonio College. Margaret Heath was a longtime educator in the District, and the school was founded in her honor in 1927.
Baldwin Park Unified’s Sierra Vista High School is one of eight high schools that is set to compete in the pilot launch for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section girls’ flag football league. The CIF-SS voted on Sept. 29 to make flag football an official girls’ high school sport, with the goal of making the game an official sport in California by the 2023-24 school year. Sierra Vista High School’s girls flag football team is going into its second year, with more than 15 student athletes on the team.
Through a partnership with the Community Schools Initiative, 160 Baldwin Park High School students had a once in a lifetime experience through the “Breaking Down the Walls” workshop on Sept. 19, where students learned to work together and grow mutual trust and respect through team building games. Baldwin Park High staff nominated the select group of students, ranging from freshmen to seniors, so that a variety of students could share their stories and benefit from the program.
Baldwin Park High School senior Melanie Flores was celebrated by the College Board National Recognition Programs for academic honors on her assessments and schoolwork, receiving its National Hispanic Recognition Award. The College Board’s National Recognition programs grant underrepresented students with an award of academic honors that can be included on college and scholarship applications, and links students with universities to help them connect and stand out during the admissions process.
Baldwin Park Unified is celebrating six of its schools earning 2021-22 Gold and Silver recognitions from PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports). Jones Middle School and De Anza, Margaret Heath, Tracy and Walnut elementary schools were awarded with Gold recognitions. North Park Continuation High School received a Silver recognition. The schools will be recognized at the seventh annual California PBIS conference in Sacramento in October.
Baldwin Park Unified introduced Sierra Vista High School senior Jerille Delim, Baldwin Park High School senior Nautica Macias and North Park Continuation High School student leader Serenity Martinez as its student board members for the 2022-23 school year, during its Sept. 13 Board of Education meeting. Delim is a varsity captain for the girls tennis team; Macias has a passion for politics and government; and Martinez plans to create an Equality and Advocacy Club.
Baldwin Park High School’s National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs received a boost when the school was awarded a $10,000 grant from the It Gets Better Project. The grant will go toward supporting the club’s missions to create safe spaces, forums and events. The funds will directly support Baldwin Park High School’s LGBTQIA+ population, with a focus on eliminating the stigmas attached to the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as increasing mental health awareness. Through the grant, the NAMI and GSA clubs are now hosting Mindful Monday Experiences and Thoughtful Thursday Workshops where students can unwind and learn healthy methods to cope with stress.
Sierra Vista High School Class of 2019 graduate Diana Aguilar-Cruz came to the U.S. as an English learner in 2015, and since then she has embraced a new language and become an advocate for equity in education. Currently a biology major California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Aguilar-Cruz is using her voice to speak for nearly 500,000 collegegoers statewide as a Cal State University Student Trustee. Aguilar-Cruz was appointed to the position by Gov. Gavin Newsom in June and will serve a two-year term.
Baldwin Park Unified students and employees are benefiting from new air conditioning systems, safer infrastructure and improved safety and security thanks to Measure K, a bond approved by voters in 2006, and Measure AE, a bond approved in 2018. The most recent project to be completed using funding from Measure K was the renovation of the athletic fields at Olive Middle School. Renovations to the fields began in 2019 and culminated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 20.
