Jurupa Hills High School senior Maya Martinez will pursue her dream of attending an elite Ivy League college thanks to a four-year QuestBridge National College Match scholarship to Brown University, where she will study mathematics. Martinez, who has a 4.4 GPA, was one of 1,127 students nationwide to receive a full-ride QuestBridge scholarship, and the first Jurupa Hills student in four years to be selected for the honor.
Fontana Unified High School Gathers Donations by ‘Swinging for Presents’
Summit High School student programs and clubs collected 525 toy donations during the inaugural Swinging for Presents tournament on Dec. 11. The softball tournament featured players from Summit’s baseball and softball teams, ASB, cheer and TV production program. The toys will be contributed to Fontana Santas, the District’s toy drive for families in need.
Fontana Unified Celebrates Graduation of 10th Jr. FLIP Class
Fontana Unified celebrated the graduation of its 10th class from the Junior Fontana Leadership Intervention Program (Jr. FLIP) on Dec. 9. San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Ted Alejandre congratulated students and parents during the ceremony. A joint effort between Fontana Unified and Fontana School Police, Jr. FLIP is a 16-week intervention program that focuses on improving grades and behavior and building confidence and social skills.
Fontana Unified Board of Education Votes to Retain Roles
Fontana Unified held its annual Board of Education reorganization meeting on Dec. 11, voting to retain existing leadership roles. Jason O’Brien was re-selected as board president and Marcelino “Mars” Serna was named vice president. Peter Garcia, Adam Perez and Mary Sandoval complete the board.
Southridge Tech Middle School students programmed robots, raced battery-powered motorcars, performed science experiments and displayed their college-bound spirit during the school’s second annual Educational Technology Showcase on Dec. 4. Students exhibited their computer skills, navigating through more than a dozen digital learning platforms used in the classroom, including Microsoft, Google, Discovery Education, C-STEM and ConnectEd.
Fontana Unified Celebrated for Financial Aid Application Completion Rate
Fontana Unified’s Jurupa Hills High School was recognized for achieving the state’s sixth-highest rate of completed student financial aid applications during the inaugural California College Affordability Summit, held in November. Jurupa Hills beat out more than 1,000 California High Schools in the Race to Submit, a statewide campaign that aims to increase the number of financial aid applications for California high school seniors.
FUSD Robotics Team to Lead Fontana Christmas Parade as Grand Marshals
Randall Pepper Elementary School’s international robotics success will be celebrated community wide at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, when robotics students, coaches and administrators serve as the grand marshals in the 2019 Fontana Christmas Parade. The Randall Pepper team was selected after representing the District and city on a world stage at the World Robot Olympiad Friendship Invitational, where they netted the International Friendship Award. The parade will be held at Sierra Avenue and Arrow Boulevard in Fontana.
Summit High School will advance its two JV Ethical Hacking teams to the CyberPatriot XII National Youth Cyber Defense Competition semifinals on Friday, Jan. 24, after scoring in the top 25% of their Gold tier in the state competition.
Randall Pepper Elementary School’s international robotics success will be celebrated community wide on Dec. 14, when robotics students, coaches and administrators serve as the grand marshals in the 2019 Fontana Christmas Parade. Randall Pepper Elementary students Heydi Pena, Mariah Torres-Osborne-Lewis, Daisy Santiago and Anthony Cuamatzi will lead the parade of floats and community groups, joined by coaches Alice Strout and Jeff Rich, Principal Dr. Annette Beasley and Assistant Principal Theresa Gomez.
Henry J. Kaiser High School sophomore Samantha Martinez sees the effects of hunger in her community and would love to establish a food pantry on campus, as well as make more community services available during summer and the holidays. Martinez was one of nearly 500 Kaiser sophomores who listened to a panel of experts on the subject of hunger on Nov. 20, as part of a Thanksgiving break project-based learning (PBL) research assignment designed to encourage students to find solutions to real-life problems.
