Lynwood Unified is set to host its three high school graduation ceremonies next week at Lynwood High School, 4050 Imperial Highway. Firebaugh High will host its ceremony at 7 p.m. Monday, June 13 at Lynwood District Field. Vista High School will hold commencement at 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 14 in the Lynwood High School gym. Lynwood High School with hold its ceremony at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 14 at Lynwood District Field.
Follow-up Story: More than 2,000 parents, students and community members attended Lynwood Unified’s third annual festival of the arts, themed The Woods, where students presented dance and band performances, arts and crafts and theater skits to showcase the District’s rich visual and performing arts program. The festival, held at Firebaugh High School, featured nearly 20 dance ensembles, musical performances and sidewalk chalk art, finger-puppet making, a wishing tree, spray paint designs and T-shirt tie-dying. Photos are available.
Firebaugh High students and staff were taped to a pole, pied in the face and kissed by swine during Wish Week, raising more than $1,200 to help grant a Lynwood child’s Make-A-Wish dream. Each day of the week carried a theme for student attire and fundraisers that included playing annoying songs, throwing pies at students and staff, taping an assistant principal to a pole and watching the principal kiss a pig.
Open access to high-level courses, expansion of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs and increased emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) have helped boost Lynwood Unified’s graduation rates to record highs in 2014-15. The graduation rate rose from 80.8 percent to 89.1 percent at Lynwood High School, the larger of the District’s two comprehensive high schools. Firebaugh High School’s rate – already high in 2014 – rose nearly two percentage points to 90.4 percent. The figures measure graduation rates for the cohort of students who entered ninth grade in 2011.
Cesar Chavez Middle School’s Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) team brought home a slew of awards from an April 9 Riverside regional competition, including second place overall in the Prosthetic Arm Challenge 2.0. Out of about 350 students representing 35 schools at the regionals, the Chavez team of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders won first, second and third place for balsawood gliders, mousetrap cars, a math exam and an EggXpress packaged egg drop challenge. Eighth-graders Rebecca Valdez, Sofia Medina, Symphony Esqueda and Alicia Liera teamed up to take home second place overall for the Prosthetic Arm Challenge 2.0. Photos are available
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.
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.