Jurupa Hills High School TV Production students received the red-carpet treatment at the San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) International Film Festival, taking star turns and garnering accolades after screening more than a dozen videos representing the best work from their Television Production III (TV3) class in the 2021-22 year. The SBVC Film Festival, held March 31 to April 2, recognized three videos – “Impractical Spartan Tie Breaker,” “JHHS Killer,” and “Spartan TV Intro” – as official film festival selections, rewarding months of hard work put in by students in Jurupa Hills’ TV/Film career technical education pathway.
An inspired team of seven Fontana High School carpentry students amazed judges and competitors alike after capturing second place in the Construction Industry Education Foundation’s 37th annual Design Build competition, held April 6 and 7 at the Orange County Fair & Event Center. The FOHI students, with only five months of carpentry instruction to guide them, outpaced more experienced teams with twice the number of builders, gaining many admirers in the field of 17 high schools and community colleges from across Southern California.
Fontana Unified to Honor Retired Coach, Hold Field Renaming Ceremony
A.B. Miller High School will hold a ceremony at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 7 to celebrate the renaming of its varsity baseball field as the Frank Martinez Field. The renaming honors the retired physical education teacher who served as A.B. Miller’s first baseball coach, leading the team to 11 league championships and guiding a generation of students to athletic and academic success. A.B. Miller High School is located at 6821 Oleander Ave., Fontana.
Fontana Unified High School Seniors Receive $20,000 Dell Scholarships
Jose Martinez and Jimmy Salvador Contreras – two Fontana High School seniors with a passion for serving others and bettering their community – will further their education with the help of a $20,000 scholarship from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Martinez and Salvador Contreras are among 500 students nationwide to be named 2022 Dell Scholars. From the moment they set foot on Fontana High School’s campus, both students embraced the learning opportunities and resources available to them, including AVID, athletics and Advanced Placement courses. Martinez will head to UC Berkeley in the fall to study political science, and Salvador Contreras will attend UCLA, where he intends to major in applied mathematics and minor in computer science.
Fontana Unified to Host Ribbon-Cutting for Bio Animakerspace
Fontana Unified School District will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the world’s first Bio Animakerspace from 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday, April 25. Housed at Fontana High School and created through a partnership with Garner Holt Education Through Imagination, the Bio Animakerspace provides an environment where students can explore how medical science, engineering, robotics, manufacturing and automation can work together to create solutions to medical and public health challenges. The ceremony will be held at 9453 Citrus Ave., Fontana.
Fontana High School junior David Muñoz-Padilla will serve as Fontana’s Unified’s Board of Education student representative in 2022-23, putting his passion for education and advocacy into action and providing a voice for thousands of students. Muñoz-Padilla was selected from a pool of five finalists during the April 13 Board of Education special meeting. Muñoz-Padilla has embraced Fontana High School’s variety of extracurriculars and is engaged in his community – competing in cross country and track and field, serving in in a variety of clubs, and dedicating his spare time to the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council, the Young Legislators program and more.
Fontana Unified School District will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the world’s first Bio Animakerspace, which provides students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and skills that prepare them for success in biomedical, biomechanical and biotechnological careers. Housed at Fontana High School (FOHI) and created through a partnership with Garner Holt Education Through Imagination, the Bio Animakerspace provides an environment where students can explore how medical science, engineering, robotics, manufacturing and automation can work together to create solutions to medical and public health challenges.
Fontana High School senior Jimmy Salvador Contreras – a high-achieving student-athlete and avid volunteer – has been named a 2022 Edison Scholar, an accolade that comes with a $40,000 scholarship. Edison International awards the scholarships to 30 high school seniors each year to help them pursue higher education in science, technology, engineering or math. Salvador Contreras, who was also awarded a $20,000 Dell Scholarship for his excellence, will continue his education at UCLA and plans to study mathematics and computer science.
Almeria Middle School will have more options to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects after science teacher Jean Yoo received a $5,000 Society for Science grant, which will help the school reestablish a science club and pave the way for a new science research class in the 2022-23 school year. The grant will pay for advanced technology equipment such as hydroponic kits, centrifuges and physics sensors that will give students the opportunity to conduct more in-depth STEM projects and develop a love of science. Yoo was one of only 95 teachers worldwide to be recognized with a Society of Science grant.
Less than a year after relaunching its intramural sports program, Eric Birch High School’s boys basketball team is celebrating its first championship as a member of the Inland Empire Alternative School League. The 13-member team, which includes one female player, won the title after defeating Sierra High School, 61-56, on March 16. The basketball triumph follows a third-place finish by Birch’s girls volleyball team during the fall semester. The option for credit-deficient students to participate in sports has provided a more inclusive and welcoming atmosphere on the Birch campus, increasing the students’ motivation to excel in the classroom and get back on track to graduate.
