Follow-up Story: Whittier Union High School District unveiled on May 28 its spectacular 7,000-seat Pioneer High School football stadium – among the largest in the San Gabriel Valley – before a crowd of several hundred students and community members. The stadium was dedicated as the Dick Torres Memorial Stadium in honor of the late Richard (Dick) Torres, a former Santa Fe High School teacher and Pioneer’s former Assistant Principal of Business and Activities. The $17.5 million facility – built with proceeds from the Measure W Bond and to be shared with Santa Fe High – features a synthetic football field and track, scoreboard and goal posts.
Whittier High School is hosting its first-ever mud run obstacle course fundraiser as part of a healthy eating, active living initiative started by high school freshman Analaura Amezquita. The Cardinal Survival Mud Run will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 16 at the school, 12417 Philadelphia St, Whittier. Funds raised will go to support school organizations and clubs, including ASB, football, band, cheer, Academic Mentors and more. Students were encouraged to collect pledges from sponsors to participate in the obstacle course, which will include water slides and mud.
All five of the Whittier Union High School District’s comprehensive high schools on May 5 were named California Gold Ribbon Schools – the state’s highest award for academic excellence. Gold Ribbons were awarded to California, La Serna, Pioneer, Santa Fe and Whittier high schools; the latter three received an additional award for being Title I Academic Achieving Schools that demonstrate success in meeting the educational needs of all students. The awards come on the heels of Whittier Union’s alternative school, Frontier High School, being named a Model Continuation School in March.
California High Senior Named Gates Millennium Scholar
California High School senior Ivan Delatorre is one of 1,000 students from across the nation to be named a Gates Millennium Scholar. Delatorre, who holds a 4.3 GPA and is ranked seventh in a class of 720 at the Whittier Union school, was chosen from among tens of thousands of applicants for the Millennium Scholar Program, established in 1999 through a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The program helps high-performing students attain their dream of attending four-year universities and colleges through graduate school. Delatorre will use the funds to pursue a degree in accounting at UCLA.
Whittier Union Students Take on City Leadership Roles for Civics Program
Whittier Union High School District has teamed with the City of Whittier to provide students with hands-on experience running a municipality, culminating in a mock city council meeting at Whittier City Hall at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 28. As part of Whittier Students in Government, about 25 to 30 students from California High School serve as student leaders in posts that parallel those in the city government, from Student Mayor to Student City Manager. The event will end with students being recognized at the Whittier City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. The program is designed to encourage students' civic involvement and incorporate the voice of youth in the democratic process.
Aylin Arreola’s eyes filled with tears early April 15 as the Santa Fe High School senior was surprised with the news she had won a coveted $40,000 Southern California Edison scholarship that will make her dream of attending UC Santa Barbara a reality. A group of SCE representatives paid an unannounced visit to the 17-year-old’s Whittier Union school to break the news, bringing with them her mother and father, Lourdes and Audon Arreola, to share in the good news. Just 30 students were chosen from 2,768 applicants for the 2015 Southern California Edison Scholars program, which directs funds to first-generation college students with financial need who plan to major in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Aylin, who holds a 4.3 GPA and plans to major in chemical engineering, had been accepted by UC Santa Barbara, but her family couldn’t afford the cost.
Follow-up Story: Two Whittier Union seniors have been recognized by the Los Angeles County Bilingual Directors’ Association for overcoming personal challenges in order to excel in high school and for making plans to pursue careers in education. Victor Uriarte of Pioneer High School and Yodd Mena of Whittier High School have received $500 Shelly Spiegel-Coleman Scholarships for their dedication to bilingual education, bilingual proficiency and for serving as mentors and tutors to their peers. Mena plans to major in Spanish and be a teacher while Uriarte plans to major in astrophysics and teach astronomy.
Students from Whittier Union’s Pioneer and California high schools will be signing their letters of intent to play softball at California State University campuses. Cal High will celebrate first baseman Lorren Sharp’s letter of intent to play softball at CSU Chico (NCAA Division 2) during a ceremony at 2:15 p.m. Friday, May 8 in the principal’s office. Cal High is at 9800 Mills Ave., Whittier. Pioneer student Amanda Fitzgerald, an infielder, will sign her letter of intent to play at CSU San Bernardino (NCAA Division 2) at noon Tuesday, May 12 in the school library, 10800 E. Benavon St., Whittier.
Two seniors from Whittier Union’s California High School have scored the school’s first-ever invitation to the National Speech and Debate Tournament after winning first place at the East Los Angeles District Speech and Debate Association Tournament. Sporting matching gray suits and bow ties, seniors Jared Cohen and John Ramirez received the top score of the March tournament for their interpretation of Mel Brooks’ comedy “The Producers” – adapting the feature-length film into a 10-minute performance filled with snappy dialogue, singing and dancing. The duo travels to Dallas in June to compete with fellow high school student champions representing 110 district tournaments held throughout the nation in the largest competition of its kind in the world.
Marilynn Littlefield, who has headed Pioneer High School’s award- and championship-winning Dance/Drill Team for 50 years, will be honored for her dedicated service during a reunion and tribute jubilee from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, May 2. The festive event, to be held in the school gym, will reunite Littlefield with as many as 3,000 Dance/Drill Team students she has coached over five decades. Littlefield was inducted into the Drill Team Director Hall of Fame and named “Outstanding Drill Director” by Miss Dance Drill Team USA in 1986. Under her leadership, the team was featured in two Super Bowl halftimes and more than 100 members performed in the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Littlefield retired from teaching in 2006, but continues to work six days a week as director of the Dance/Drill Team.
