Two Fontana Unified scholar-athletes will take their games to the next level after signing letters of intent to play college ball with Western Athletic Conference universities. Jurupa Hills High School senior Antonio Mayes signed with Dixie State University in St. George, Utah to play football; Mayes, a two-time All-League defensive back for the Spartan football team, is fulfilling a dream he has had since he began playing football at the age of five. Summit High School senior Mikayla O’Brien signed with Cal Baptist University in Riverside to play soccer, capping a prep career that saw her achieve All-League three times and lead her team to the quarterfinals of the CIF Division VI Southern Section playoffs during 2020-21.
Southridge Tech Middle School and Wayne Ruble Middle School have been recognized in the 2022 California Schools to Watch program, celebrating their continued success in providing positive learning environments that boost student achievement and foster college and career readiness. Southridge Tech and Wayne Ruble middle schools are among 31 high-performing California middle schools to be re-designated as Schools to Watch this year. First designated in 2019, both schools were re-evaluated to retain the designation – a process that occurs every three years.
At an age when many of his classmates are learning to drive a car, Henry J. Kaiser High School senior Amitoj Lobana will be packing a bag filled with science books and cold-weather gear in preparation for the next step in his academic journey after receiving a full-ride scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For the 16-year-old Lobana, who skipped ahead two grade levels prior to entering Kaiser High and has a 4.95 GPA, it will be an opportunity to pursue his twin passions: studying computer science and working to bring equity in education and a better quality of life to underrepresented communities.
Fontana High School Class of 2015 graduate Carlos Galván remembers the day his Advanced Placement Chemistry teacher, Nina Rodriguez, told him he should consider attending a university and majoring in chemistry. For Galván, this was the first time his work was singled out for praise, motivating him to push himself to achieve at a high academic level. Today, Galván is a doctoral candidate in the UCLA Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Doctoral Program (MBIDP) and a UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center trainee, conducting research on skin cancer. As a first-generation college student, Galván is following a tradition of hard work and dedication rooted in his family, which has resided in Fontana for generations.
Summit High School’s annual yearbook, Meraki, has been selected as a featured national sample by the yearbook publisher Balfour, which will employ samples of the Summit High annual at yearbook training workshops across the country. Less than three percent of yearbooks published by Balfour each year are selected as national samples. The recognition comes just two years after the debut of Meraki, which published its first edition during the 2019-20 school year. The 2022 edition of Meraki will be the first to be distributed in-person to students at the end of the year.
Taking their first steps toward a lucrative career in aviation, 16 A.B. Miller High School students received certificates of completion after finishing a 10-week training course designed to inspire careers as commercial airline pilots. Shades of Blue, a free course held on Saturdays at Ontario International Airport, provides students with access to pilots, engineers, mechanics, air traffic controllers and other aerospace professionals, who guide them through the basics of aviation and pilot training. A completion ceremony was held Dec. 18 at the airport. The course is the latest addition to A.B. Miller’s aviation career technical education pathway.
The Henry J. Kaiser High School Theatre Department’s staging of William Shakespeare’s "Coriolanus" drew rave reviews from California Educational Theatre Association (CETA) judges, earning third place in CETA’s 2021-22 High School Theater Festival. During the fall 2021 semester, CETA judges attended high school theatrical performances throughout southern California, adjudicating each production. Kaiser High School’s November staging of "Coriolanus" received a score of 100.39. The festival, which was to be held Jan. 14 to 16 at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, was canceled due to the recent COVID-19 surge.
Fontana Unified students will receive at-home COVID-19 tests as part of the District’s continued commitment to providing safe and healthy learning environments and a statewide effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in schools. The District is working with the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools to receive and distribute the rapid COVID-19 tests, which are being provided to school districts by the California Department of Public Health, as soon as possible. Fontana Unified will continue to offer ongoing COVID-19 testing clinics, which are available to students, employees and the greater community at no cost. For testing dates, times and locations, visit https://www.fusd.net/coronavirus.
Fontana High School’s Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (MCJROTC) marksmanship team turned in a scintillating performance during the inaugural Arizona NRA Junior ROTC Air Rifle competition, held Dec. 4, 2021 in Arizona, capturing team and individual first place honors while advancing to the JROTC Service Championships, to be held in February. FOHI senior Jasmine Arguello and sophomore Crystal Santiago took top honors in the Sporter Veteran and Sporter New Shooter divisions, respectively, leading their teams to first-place finishes in the competition that brought ROTC programs together from California, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Fontana Unified Board of Education Selects New Leadership
Fontana Unified School District’s Board of Education held its annual organizational meeting on Dec. 15, voting its members into new leadership roles for 2022. The Board selected Dr. Jennifer Quezada as president and Joe Armendarez as vice president/clerk. Members Adam Perez, Mary Sandoval and Marcelino “Mars” Serna complete the Board of Education.
