Rowland Unified competes in Science Olympiad

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Rowland High School
students Sherman Lam and Wesley Ru won first place with their Robot Arm at the
Science Olympiad competition last weekend.

Last
weekend, the Los Angeles County Science Olympiad tournaments were held at Occidental College, where elementary, middle and
high school students from across the region competed individually and in teams
in rigorous competitions in the disciplines of biology, earth science,
chemistry, physics, computers and technology.

Rowland Unified sent teams from Alvarado Intermediate, Rowland
High School, Ybarra Academy
and for the first year, Hurley Elementary. All brought home medals! Rowland High School’s Science Olympiad
team placed 7th out of 44 high schools.

Individual medals went to the following:

1st
place – Robot Arm – Sherman Lam and Wesley Ru; 2nd
place – Sounds of Music – Sherman Lam and Kevin Hayakawa
; 2nd
place – Thermodynamics – Kevin Hayakawa and Wesley Ru
; 2nd
place – Protein Modeling – Kevin Hayakawa, Philip Chung and Jean Tan
; 4th
place – Write it, Do it – Jean Tan and Philby Wang; 5th place – Anatomy and Physiology- Alexander Chan and Richard Lim; 5th
place – Towers – Philby Wang and Richard Lim
; 6th
place – Astronomy – Sherman Lam and Michelle Wang
; 7th
place – Experimental Design – Sherman Lam, Shuen Sun and Wesley Ru.

Ybarra Academy sent two
teams this year, one in Division A (4th – 6th grade) and for the first time,
one team in Division B (7th – 8th grade).

Brahma Tech Academy holds technology week at Diamond Bar High

Brahma Tech Academy at Diamond Bar High proudly presents its first annual TSA week.

Technology Student Association (TSA) is a
national organization with over 150,000 members all across the nation.

Students are encouraged to
participate in this week’s competitions.  Winners may move on to
attend the national conference at Nashville, Tennessee, from 6/21 –
6/25/12. 

Contests range from on demand video and photography to a technology bowl and winner’s showcase on Friday. For more information, check their website at BRAHMA.

Valley Alternative named Model Continuation High in Hacienda Heights

Call them the 3Ms of success – mentoring,
monitoring, motivation – a successful model for a model high school.
Valley Alternative in Hacienda Heights is one of 25 California schools
recently named a Model Continuation High School.

“The schools we are recognizing today have gone the extra mile
to help kids get the education they deserve and need to succeed in life
and careers,” explained State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom
Torlakson.

He noted that 69,000 students attended more than 500
continuation schools in the state last year. The state’s top educator
added that the local school was recognized for helping students
struggling to stay in school.

The Hacienda La Puente Unified campus offers a comprehensive program for students woefully short of the credits needed to graduate.

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story VALLEY.

Kiwanis Club holds pancake breakfast for scholarships

The Kiwanis Club of Hacienda Heights will hold its 41st annual pancake breakfast on Saturday, Feb. 25, from 8 to 11 a.m. in the VONS shopping center parking lot. This fundraiser provides scholarships for middle and high school students in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District.

Tickets are $5. The breakfast includes pancakes, sausage, juice or coffee.

The KIWIN’S,a high school community service club sponsored by Kiwanis, will have a paper shredding truck on site to shred any documents or files that you need securely shredded. Proceeds from recycling the paper will support their Project One, which works to enhance the lives of elementary students.

For more information, call Lon Salgren at 626-369-0040.

Confucius classroom turns into confused class in Hacienda Heights

A high-ranking Chinese education official toured
Cedarlane Academy on Thursday to check out the school’s Confucius
Classroom, a controversial program that provides curriculum paid for by
the Chinese government, but no one at the school knew who he was.

The official, who arrived more than an hour after expected, saw a
performance from the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school’s
cheerleading squad.

The Wilson High School band, which was bused into
the school, also put on a short show, playing several pop hits for the
official and a few other Chinese government figures who tagged along.

The official then took a short tour of the school’s Confucius Classroom.

Hacienda La Puente Unified enrolling preschoolers

Hacienda La Puente Unified is enrolling students for its preschool programs. The programs offer an enriching environment that focuses on early literacy for preschool children, including those with disabilities.

Parents will need the following documents for enrollment: proof of address, child’s birth certificate, current income statement and immunization record.

For more information, call 626-933-6547 or stop by the Students Services Center at 455 N. Glendora Ave., La Puente from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Glendora seeks larger class sizes

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Glendora Unified will seek a two-year waiver from
the California Department of Education that would allow the district to
exceed class-size limits set by the state.

At its meeting Tuesday, the school board unanimously approved a
request for a waiver that would let the district have an average of 33
students per classroom in grades four through eight.

It would allow the
district to exceed the state’s maximum average of 30.6 students – a
figure set when a class size law was passed by the state in 1964.

The waiver would remain in place through the 2013-14 school
year and renew a waiver in effect since 2010. It is expected to save the
district about $750,000 annually, according to district documents.

Read more in J.D. Velasco’s story CLASS.

German-Americans parents want dual immersion school

Coming next year, some kindergarten and first-grade students at Phelan Elementary School might be learning German.

It would be part of a dual-immersion program proposed by
German-American parents – who want their children to maintain their
heritage and language – to the Whittier City School District.

While district officials say they’re still exploring the idea,
Superintendent Ron Carruth was expected to provide more information to
the board at its Tuesday night meeting.

Still, educators like what they’ve seen so far.

“I think the proposal is a great idea,” said Rebecca Gonzalez,
Phelan principal. “We have seen that students who are proficient in two
languages are very successful in school.”

Phelan was selected as the right location because the school
already was planning on becoming a language and literacy academy,
Gonzalez said.

Eventually, the school could expand to other languages, like some other schools have, Gonzalez said.

For example, Franklin Elementary School in Glendale offers dual-immersion programs in German, Italian and Spanish, she said.

Nogales’ lady wrestlers practice for state championship

These young women are willing to take it to
the mat for Nogales High School. Literally. They’re women wrestlers. And
hopefully one will place in the upcoming state
championships Feb. 24-25.

Last year, senior Rosalinda Guzman placed eighth in the first CIF
sanctioned state tournament for girls. The 17-year-old competes in the
98-pound weight class and expects to do even better this year.

“Rosie has been ranked first or second most of the year,” noted coach
Victor Bonilla. “She won first place in the all-girls tournament at
South Hills High over the holidays.”

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story WRESTLERS.

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Show goes on at Los Altos High in Hacienda Heights

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The Los Altos show choir has a lot to show for all the hard work it’s put in since rehearsals began in August.

The Hacienda Heights production choir moved into high gear when it
went up against other “glee clubs” last weekend. But if recent
rehearsals are any indication, the Conquerors should do well again this
year.

“While the TV show ‘Glee’ has improved the image of show choirs, it
has caused unreasonable expectations,” explained director Amanda
Benavides. “On the show, the kids produce a different show in one week.
High school performers can’t do that.”

Which explains why the Los Altos singers have been practicing their
new show for more than five months. Between the singing and dancing, the
production has jelled into an entertaining show.

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story GLEE