Follow-up Story: More than 100 parents learned about summer learning activities, safe use of social media and the importance of creating dynamic family partnerships on May 14 during Lynwood Unified School District’s second Parent University at Marshall Elementary School. Workshops, which were also available for Spanish speakers, provided resources and strategies to help parents guide children through the transition into middle school, high school and throughout the summer.
Follow-up Story: More than 390 Firebaugh High seniors celebrated their college, university, military and other future commitments on May 18 in front of a roaring crowd of 1,400 underclassmen during College Signing Day, a nationwide program initiated by first lady Michelle Obama to encourage all students to attend college and support those already planning their college and future ventures. The event included the recitation of the first alma mater in Firebaugh’s 11-year history and an announcement of the top 10 seniors and Jennifer Montanez and Itzel Esmeralda Burgos as co-valedictorians for the Class of 2016. Photos are available.
Lynwood High School senior Jonathan Galvez is preparing to pursue a mechanical engineering degree at UC Merced after receiving a $25,000 TheDream.US scholarship. Galvez, the child of undocumented immigrants who has earned a 4.3 GPA, came to Lynwood from Guadalajara when he was 1. He is among nearly 2 million people who qualify as “DREAMers” under a White House initiative to defer action on undocumented child immigrants. Photos are available.
5 Lynwood Unified Schools Honored with Academic Achieving Awards
Five Lynwood Unified elementary schools honored as Gold Ribbon Schools are being recognized for helping students living at or below the poverty line achieve their goals. Helen Keller, Janie P. Abbott, Mark Twain, Roosevelt and Will Rogers elementary schools were each recognized by the state Department of Education on May 3. The five schools boosted achievement through programs that promote teacher collaboration, engaging lessons and student independence.
A trio of Firebaugh High School engineering students will represent Los Angeles County in a statewide engineering design contest on Saturday, May 14 after taking first place at a regional competition at El Camino College. Juniors Melody Del Cid and Nelly Gutierrez, and freshman Alexis Guerrero beat out students from 17 schools. It was Firebaugh’s first time competing in Project Lead The Way’s Chevron Design Challenge, which required the students to solve a real-world design problem. Photos are available.
Lynwood Unified Preschools Receive $5.3 Million Program Expansion Grant
Lynwood Unified is receiving a $5.3 million state preschool expansion grant that will enable the District to preserve its half-day preschool program at all schools and add full-day classes at most campuses, expanding service to 200 more students. Lynwood Unified will use the funds – approved on April 1 – to transition its preschools to the California State Preschool program from Los Angeles Universal Preschool, which is discontinuing funding.
Lynwood High School seniors Irving Arias and Jose R. Lozano were named winners of the inaugural Long Beach Region California Student Opportunity and Access Program (Cal-SOAP) College Prep Summer Camp logo design contest on April 13. Arias and Lozano both received $150 VISA gift cards. This year’s official summer camp T-shirts, program documents and fliers will boast both students’ logos.
Six Lynwood Unified schools have been named California Gold Ribbon Schools for shaping lesson plans to address diverse student needs, using data to drive teacher collaboration on classroom instruction and guiding students to take charge of their own learning. Winning schools are Helen Keller, Janie P. Abbott, Mark Twain, Roosevelt, Will Rogers and Woodrow Wilson elementary schools. The Gold Ribbon is California’s highest academic award, created as a substitute to the Distinguished School Program to celebrate schools for model programs during rollout of the new California Standards.
As part of a call to action from first lady Michelle Obama, Lynwood High School seniors on April 26 joined students across the nation in taking their first step toward college during College Signing Day. The White House event was initiated in 2014 to encourage students to attend college and to support those already planning their college journeys. Lynwood High seniors signed letters of intent for their colleges or universities in front of a crowd of underclassmen at 12:30 p.m. at the high school.
Sixty Lynwood Unified middle and high school students will screen 10 original short films on Saturday, April 30 at Lynwood High School auditorium, 4050 Imperial Highway, Lynwood. The films were created through a film program offered through a partnership with the Southern California Crossroads film program. This is the program’s fourth year. A reception will begin at 4 p.m. Screenings run from 5 to 8 p.m.
