Bonita Unified teachers received a welcome boost from the Rotary Club of La Verne when the service organization continued its annual tradition of awarding District educators mini-grants to promote learning during the Jan. 17 Board of Education meeting. Rotary Club president Diana Laguna, joined by members Craig Rubin, Steven Johnson and Deborah Deacy, distributed $3,200 in mini-grants to 10 Bonita Unified teachers. The grants, which are worth up to $500 each, will help fund projects and resources that include a two-person tricycle for preschoolers, dramatic play centers, a sensory light table and an assistive technology library. Two Grace Miller Elementary School teachers are ready to implement their projects. Transitional kindergarten teacher Gayle Cervantes will use her grant to install a sensory light table in her classroom, to better enhance her student’s learning experience.
Bonita Unified Diving Prodigy Seeks to Qualify for Summer Olympics
Arroyo High School alumnus and girls basketball coach Mike Gorball is celebrating multiple achievements during his 34th season at Arroyo High, after becoming the first girls basketball coach in San Gabriel Valley history and only the 12th coach in CIF Southern Section history to earn 500 victories. Gorball completed the milestone when Arroyo defeated Schurr High School 40-22 in December 2023. The El Monte Union Board of Trustees will honor Gorball during a meeting in February.
Bonita Unified to Showcase Successes During State of the District
Bonita Unified School District will host its 2023-24 State of the District Address for local business partners, community leaders and families at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8. Superintendent Matt Wien will provide an update on the District’s accomplishments; highlight academic, arts, athletic and extracurricular programs; and discuss BUSD’s vision and mission. In addition to Wien’s keynote address, the event will include refreshments prepared by District staff and choral performances from Bonita and San Dimas high schools. The free event will be held at the Bonita Center for the Arts, located at 822 W. Covina Blvd., San Dimas.
When Bonita High School senior Randy Gershman received an email inviting him to perform in the London New Year’s Day Parade, he doubted its legitimacy. His skepticism turned to surprise, then joy, upon learning this rare opportunity was real, earned after his success at the California State Drum Major Championships earlier this year. Gershman will march in the parade through the West End of London on Jan. 1, 2024, performing a routine with four other drum majors.
Bonita Unified Board of Education Reorganizes Officers for 2024
Bonita Unified School District’s Board of Education held its annual reorganization meeting on Dec. 13, voting members into new leadership roles. The Board selected Greg Palatto as president, Chris Ann Horsley as vice president and Derek Bahmanou as clerk. Members Glenn Creiman and Jim Elliot round out the Board.
Bonita Unified Students Perform in Disneyland’s Candlelight Processional
For the second year in a row, the Bonita High School Chamber Singers performed in the mass choir during the Candlelight Processional at Disneyland Resort, held Dec. 2 and 3. Following a rigorous audition process, the Chamber Singers were selected as one of just 11 school, community and college choirs to perform in the choir. The Candlelight Processional, which began in 1958, features a retelling of the story of the first Christmas, narrated this year by actress Brie Larson, along with songs performed by the Candlelight Choir.
3 Bonita Unified Students Named to All-State Honor Choirs
Bonita High School choral students Gage Dowdle, Ksenia Freeborn and Nathan Kwan were selected for the California Choral Directors Association 2024 All-State Honor Choirs, continuing a Bonita Unified tradition of elevating its vocal music students to perform in prestigious regional and state ensembles. Students with the top 44 percent of audition scores were accepted from each region to perform in this year’s choirs. The students will perform with the state’s top high school vocalists at the annual California All-State Music Educators Conference, to be held in February in Sacramento. Dowdle, Freeborn and Kwan are among 10 Bonita Unified students who were also selected to the Southern California Vocal Association Honor Choirs this year.
Bonita Unified will be well-represented at the 2024 Rose Parade on New Year’s Day after four District students – three from Bonita High School and one from San Dimas High School – were selected to perform in Pasadena City College’s 2024 Tournament of Roses Honor Band. Bonita High seniors Aidan Millan (trombone), Lake Ericson (cymbals) and Tatiana Arreola-Chavez (mellophone) will be joined by San Dimas High junior Anthony Bailey (clarinet). Millan will make his third consecutive appearance in the prestigious parade, while Ericson is returning for the second year in a row. Arreola-Chavez and Bailey are both making their Tournament of Roses Parade debuts.
Shull Elementary School students and their parents took an intergalactic journey through a solar system of literature, exploring new worlds and learning new words during the school’s inaugural Family Reading Night on Nov. 14. With its theme of “Blast Off Into Reading,” the Shull community reaffirmed its commitment to literacy, with a night of fun, food and fiction. More than 250 Shull community members attended the reading night, where students read books, took Accelerated ¬Reader quizzes, posed for photos behind a space backdrop, enjoyed snacks and listened to Shull reading ¬intervention teachers conduct “read-alouds” of their favorite books. Several BUSD schools have held similar family reading nights throughout the fall. Bonita Unified’s emphasis on boosting reading comprehension across all grade levels has earned the District a No. 1 ranking on the California Reading Coalition’s California Reading Report Card for two consecutive years.
Shortly after returning to the Tournament of Roses Parade following a 30-year hiatus, Bonita Unified band director Kelly Leyva will march in another iconic holiday parade when she joins the Band Directors Marching Band in New York to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade® on Thursday, Nov. 23. With a theme of “America’s band directors, we teach music, we teach life,” the Band Directors Marching Band follows up its inaugural appearance in the 2022 Tournament of Roses Parade with an expanded lineup that includes 400 band directors from across the country, representing every state in the union. Leyva will once again play mellophone with the band, as she did in the Tournament of Roses Parade. Now in her 15th year at Bonita Unified, Leyva serves as band director at Lone Hill Middle School and teaches introductory band at four elementary schools.
