In front of a packed house of family and friends cheering on their favorite hometown celebrities, Fontana Unified rolled out the red carpet and trained the spotlight on its emerging K-12 student storytellers during the inaugural Fontana Film Festival, held May 5 at Steelworkers Auditorium. Curated from more than 130 student videos submitted from across the District, the Film Festival showcased the diverse talent and technical skills acquired in Fontana Unified’s TV and video production programs. Students from Summit, Jurupa Hills and A.B. Miller high schools, along with students from Southridge Tech Middle School and Almond Elementary School, competed for statuettes that resembled tiny Oscars.
Fontana Unified at-promise students looking to change the trajectory of their lives and achieve at higher levels celebrated the completion of a 10-week Success Club intervention program – featuring support from life coaches, motivational speakers and spoken word poets to help students get back on track for graduation – during a ceremony held May 10 at Citrus High School. Rescue a Generation (RAG) is a San Bernardino-based nonprofit designed to help underserved students overcome obstacles and empower themselves to establish high expectations and transform their lives. RAG Success Clubs were initiated at Sequoia, Almeria, Truman and Southridge Tech middle schools, and A.B. Miller, Citrus and Eric Birch high schools, with approximately 200 students participating.
Fontana High School’s Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) students are qualified to enter the workforce and gain experience – all while pursuing degrees and career opportunities in the medical field – after achieving a 92 percent pass rate on the state board exam during the 2022-23 school year. This is the second year in a row FOHI CNA students’ exam pass rate has exceeded 90 percent. The program – offered through the Patient Care career technical education (CTE) pathway at FOHI – provides hands-on training at nursing facilities, offers the opportunity to earn credit at Chaffey College, and prepares students to earn state certification.
Fontana Unified students went head-to-head with the best talent in California and walked away with numerous accolades, including two gold medals, during the 56th annual SkillsUSA Leadership and Skill Conference, held April 13-16 at the Ontario Convention Center. Summit High School senior Wei Zeng will advance to the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference after his pin design celebrating California – a collage featuring a brown bear, a California poppy and the Golden Gate Bridge – earned him a gold medal.
Five Henry J. Kaiser High School seniors will attend UC Berkeley in the fall, an achievement supported by their involvement in the school's numerous college readiness programs and resources that prepare students for future excellence. Senior Daisy Alatorre-Cervantes plans to double major in business administration and management, technology, and entrepreneurship, with a minor in legal studies. She dreams of becoming the chief executive officer of her own healthcare insurance line for immigrants and low-income families.
Fontana Unified students and their families donned virtual reality masks, made robotic arms out of popsicle sticks and pneumatic syringes, rolled marbles into a gravity well and used a charcoal burner to measure the calories in snack foods during the District’s annual STEM Showcase, held April 29 at Summit High School. Displaying the District’s wide range of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) curriculum, the STEM Showcase included numerous interactive and hands-on activities for all grade levels, with students, teachers and District partner vendors at the ready to answer questions, exhibit their work or offer up a family-friendly STEM challenge. Shadow Hills Elementary School touted their raingutter regatta race, where families made their own regattas out of plastic containers, wooden sticks and paper, then competed to see which breath-powered boat made it to the finish line without tipping over. Dolores Huerta International Academy displayed student-made space exploration projects conceived using coding skills and circuit boards.
Fontana Students Achieve High Pass Rate on State Nursing Exam
Fontana High School’s Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) students are certified to join the workforce and gain experience – all while working toward degrees and career opportunities in the medical field – after achieving 91 percent pass rates on the state board exam during the 2022-23 school year. This is the second year in a row FOHI CNA students’ exam pass rate has exceeded 90 percent. The program provides hands-on training at nursing facilities, offers the opportunity to earn credit at Chaffey College, and prepares students to earn state certification.
Generations of Fontana Unified students have pursued higher education with the technical and life skills gained through the District’s Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program, and eight more AVID seniors will continue this legacy with support from the Riverside Inyo Mono San Bernardino (RIMS) AVID Scholarship Program. Eight seniors from the District’s five comprehensive high schools were awarded 2023 RIMS AVID scholarships to help them pursue their academic goals after graduation. RIMS AVID supports more than 220 AVID programs in Riverside, Inyo, Mono and San Bernardino counties. The RIMS AVID Scholarship Program began in 2003 as a way to provide more financial assistance to graduating AVID seniors, especially for undocumented students who were not eligible for financial aid.
Summit High School junior Julieta Gutierrez Martin will serve as Fontana’s Unified’s Board of Education student representative in 2023-24, a role in which she will aspire to motivate other students to strive for success and make the most of their educational opportunities. Gutierrez Martin, now a high-achieving student actively involved in campus activities, came to the District as an English learner in preschool. Through her aptitude and passion for mathematics, she was able to bridge the language gap and develop her English language arts and writing skills.
Cypress Elementary School fourth and fifth grade students are developing valuable life skills in the school’s newest afterschool learning opportunity: the sewing club. The club, which meets once a week for two hours, will teach students the basics of sewing, including how to use a sewing machine, load thread, fix torn clothes, sew on buttons and more. Students also learn how to follow directions and work in a team environment. The sewing club was formed when Cypress Elementary School Assistant Principal Michael Rodriguez heard that the City of Fontana had additional funds available to provide after-school programs for students. Rodriguez reached out to Fontana Adult School sewing teacher Mr. Hayes, who expressed his interest and excitement in teaching elementary students how to sew.
