Weekly roundup: Orange Unified grads celebrate at Angel Stadium, student receives ‘Harry Potter’ themed wheelchair, and more

High school seniors from the Orange Unified School District’s five high schools couldn’t celebrate their graduation ceremonies at the typical sites on campuses or at the district’s stadium because of ongoing renovation projects.

Instead, the students traveled this week to Mike Trout’s job site, Angel Stadium, to receive their diplomas.

high school grads pose in front of angel stadiumThe Orange County Register chronicled how, with the district’s Fred Kelly Stadium being torn down this spring in preparation for a rebuild, the district hosted its commencement ceremonies at Angel Stadium on Thursday.

Even Orange High School, which traditionally hosts its graduation ceremonies on campus, moved its commencement to Angel Stadium because of the school’s own construction projects.

“At least there was no need to limit the number of tickets each graduate could have,” district spokeswoman Arianna Barrios told the Register.

Once renovation work on Fred Kelley Stadium is completed, it will continue to be the place for community events, graduations and big football games, Barrios told the Register. “It is the heart of our community.”

Here are some other education-related news items from throughout the region for the week ending June 14.

  • Magic Wheelchair, a nonprofit that fabulously festoons children’s wheelchairs, presented a fifth-grader with a Harry Potter-inspired chariot Wednesday at Parkview Elementary in Garden Grove.
  • What are charter schools, how are they formed, and how do they differ from traditional public schools? We’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions and answers.
  • A 94-year-old WWII veteran was the guest of honor at a Valencia High School graduation ceremony, where, after more than seven decades, the school finally awarded him a high school diploma.
  • State education officials have released a new mobile app that allows users to peruse instructional standards for the arts, computer science, health education, mathematics, and history and social science.
  • In May, the California Board of Education approved a new Health Education Framework for public schools, providing optional guidance for K-12 teachers based on the state’s health education standards. OCDE has provided a short video and other information to help parents better understand the framework.

This is the part where we encourage you to keep up with local education news stories by bookmarking the OCDE Newsroomsubscribing for emailed updates or following us on FacebookTwitter or Instagram.