Follow-up Story: Santa Fe High School English language arts teacher Isela Garcia-Valencia was beloved on campus for the empathy she offered all students, particularly those struggling with language barriers and economic hardships – challenges she was all too familiar with. Garcia-Valencia died on Jan. 30 after a four-year battle with cancer. She was 41. Garcia-Valencia joined Whittier Union's Santa Fe High School in 2005, passionate about working with first-generation English learners and advocating for mental health services for students. First diagnose with breast cancer in 2014, Garcia-Valencia continued to work while undergoing treatment, defying the odds before falling ill again late in 2017.
Follow-up Story: The Whittier Union High School District held a safety review meeting for dozens of District administrators, safety personnel and partner elementary school districts to review the District’s security practices and mental health services, as well as learn about the psychology of attackers from noted expert Dr. Manny Tau, incident responses from the Whittier Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department as well as the post-incident response. The District is constantly reviewing school and district safety plans and held the meeting in response to the recent school shooting in Florida.
Sal Rodriguez, a 1996 graduate from Pioneer High School, returned to his alma mater on March 5 to share with students that his journey to higher education was not a direct line from high school, with trial and error playing a significant role in helping him find his niche in the workforce. Rodriguez was one of more than 50 alumni to take part in the Alumni Career Day, aimed at inspiring students to pursue their college and career aspirations. The speakers included lawyers, firefighters, school psychologists and special effects makeup artists.
Follow-up Story: Sixty Whittier Union High School District students demonstrated their mastery of physics during the District’s inaugural Science Cup, held March 2 at the Sierra Education Center. Student teams from all five Whittier Union comprehensive high schools competed in three separate events: building and racing mousetrap cars, designing and launching bottle rockets and creating a Rube Goldberg machine. Medals were given at the end of each event, with a cup awarded to the overall winner
Follow-up Story: California High School senior Kelly Clavel’s dreams of finding a cure for cancer were nearly shattered as a child when a south Los Angeles elementary school teacher advised her to choose a more realistic goal. Using the slight as a stimulus to not only excel academically, but to inspire young Latinas in impoverished areas to strive for the impossible, Clavel has become an exemplary leader on the Cal High campus and a standout student in class. Clavel can now demonstrate that anything – including becoming a surgeon and find cures for the incurable – is possible after gaining early admission to Stanford University, one of the top biomedical research colleges in the country
Follow-up Story: Frontier High School is one of 32 schools in the state to be recognized by the California Department of Education as a 2018 Model Continuation High School for creating innovative programs that address the academic, social and emotional needs of students who need added support as they pursue their paths toward graduation. This is the seventh time Frontier has been honored with the three-year designation. It will be recognized at the 2018 California Continuation Education Association (CCEA) State Conference in April.
Follow-up Story: Santa Fe High School senior Kyla Moore has a passion for the arts, communicating with her friends and family through song, dance and sign language. With an eye toward earning a degree in public relations, Moore has been accepted into Pepperdine University on a full-ride scholarship from the Posse Foundation. The foundation identifies students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential, but who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. Moore, who holds a weighted 4.39 GPA, ranks 10th in her class and has taken several rigorous Advanced Placement courses. She has been in choir all four years and is a community volunteer for the youth cheerleading program, SFS 49ers.
Keith Boyer Concert to Benefit Whittier Union Student Scholarships
Whittier Police Officer Keith Boyer’s surviving bandmates from his classic rock tribute band, Mrs. Jones’ Revenge, will perform a memorial concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17. The event will raise funds for the Keith Boyer Memorial Scholarship at La Serna High School, from which he graduated in 1981. The two-hour concert will be at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada.
Follow-up Story: Whittier High School social science, technology and English students will boost the success of three local businesses through creative mobile and emerging technology solutions they will develop with a $20,000 grant from the Verizon Innovative Learning STEM and entrepreneurship program. Whittier High is one of five Los Angeles-area high schools accepted into the two-year program, which provides educators a unique experience to create a design-thinking curriculum, partner with local businesses and teach students entrepreneurship and technology skills through real-world challenges. More than 150 students from Whittier High’s Cardinal Computer Academy will take part in the program, set to begin in February.
Follow-up Story: Pioneer High School senior Sabrina Hawthorne has been accepted to Cornell University, an Ivy League research university in New York where she will study industrial and labor relations, paving the way for her to become a civil rights lawyer. Hawthorne, who has a 4.2 GPA, is the first in her family to attend college and credits her mother for instilling in her the inspiration to believe in herself. She also credits the Pioneer High staff for their support in the classroom and securing financial aid. Hawthorne is captain of both the varsity swim and varsity water polo teams and a member of the volleyball team. She is also in the Pioneer High Leos Club and is founder and president of the Good Eats Health Club and Science Club.
