There was a time when Back Bay High School senior Davian Gonzalez didn’t look forward to going to school or planning for college, but that changed once he stepped foot into the Spyder Lab on campus.
This school year, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District unveiled the program as part of its Business Management Career Technical Education pathway, which features professional machines for embroidering, engraving, cutting, sublimation and more.
“Students come out of here with real-world experience,” said teacher Jason Kovac. “They’re not only getting soft skills that will be transferrable to a business environment, but they’re also gaining technical skills.”
In this year-long class, students serve as sales representatives, office managers and creative directors.
Student Davian proudly showed Spectrum News 1 reporter Jo Kwon a T-shirt he designed for the district’s football league.
“It’s so cool to see people wearing this shirt on campus,” said Davian. “They don’t know who made it, but I do.”
Here are the other stories we’ve been following this week:
- More than 3,000 people are expected to attend the 2023 California MTSS Professional Learning Institute. Registration is underway for the three-day summer conference, which aims to promote the academic, behavioral and social-emotional success for all learners.
- The state’s efforts to expand arts education through the Arts and Music in Schools Funding Guarantee and Accountability Act, or Measure 28, will begin to have an impact in the next fiscal year.
- Sylvia Mendez, a central figure in the landmark Mendez v. Westminster case, shared her family’s story with students who have faced obstacles of their own.
- OCDE’s OC Pathways program awarded $1.4 million in grants to Cal State Fullerton to promote career and college readiness for K-16 students by creating regional education-to-career pipelines.
- The Westminster School District’s 25th annual Kid Conference encouraged students to embrace their “strangeness” and build a more understanding community.
- An alumna of Ensign Intermediate School is returning to the campus she attended nearly four decades ago after she was contracted to paint seven murals on the site.
- More than 1,000 middle and high school students in the county participated in the Orange County Regional Science Olympiad on Feb. 25. Students submitted written exams and engaged in partnered science projects and experiments at the event, which was hosted by UC Irvine.
- The California FFA, California Farm Bureau and Nationwide recognized Brian Kim, recognized Sunny Hills High School teacher Brian Kim as the state’s finalist for Agricultural Educator of the Year.
- Wrapping an exciting season for the self-proclaimed “underdog” squad from Huntington Beach, the Marina High girls’ basketball team fell to Angels Camp Bret Harte 62-39 in the CIF State Division V final.
- The Los Alamitos community gathered to see what was inside a 50-year-old time capsule that was discovered when the local high school’s old administrative building was torn down to make way for a new STEM building.
- The Laguna Beach Unified School District has equipped its schools with naloxone, a lifesaving medication that works to reverse the effects of overdoses and poisonings related to fentanyl, heroin and prescription opioid use. The district also trained nurses on how to safely administer the drug.
- Medal-winning Olympian and current Arizona Wildcats assistant coach Lauren Lappin’s number will be retired at her alma mater, Loara High in the Anaheim Union High School District.
- Teachers from McGaugh Elementary installed and dedicated a bench to memorialize a beloved educator who who passed away from cancer at the age of 34.
- The Long Beach Health Department directed its local school district to close one of its campuses following a highly contagious norovirus outbreak among students and staff.
This is the part where we encourage you to keep up with local education news stories by bookmarking the OCDE Newsroom, subscribing for emailed updates and following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.