Fulton Middle School students stand outside Hyundai’s North American headquarters in Fountain Valley during a field trip to explore careers in the automotive industry. (Courtesy of Amy Peterson) 
Eighth-grade students from Fulton Middle School pose in front of the bus that brought them to Hyundai’s headquarters for a day of learning and hands-on activities. 
Fulton Middle School students engage in STEM activities at Hyundai’s headquarters, where they had the opportunity to design and build scaled vehicles from recycled materials.
A group of 31 eighth-grade students from the Fountain Valley School District had a unique learning experience this week when they visited Hyundai’s North American headquarters, located in their hometown.
The field trip, organized by science teachers Amy Peterson and Viet Phan from Fulton Middle School, gave students the opportunity to learn about various careers in the automotive industry and participate in hands-on STEM activities.
The eighth-graders earned their spots on the trip through competitions in their science classes. Peterson’s students designed protective capsules for an egg drop challenge, while Phan’s class built and raced cars made from water bottles.
During the visit, Hyundai staff provided an overview of vehicle design and planning, followed by a creative activity where students built scaled vehicles from recycled materials. The day concluded with a tour of the electric Genesis GV60, featuring demonstrations of its remote parking and facial recognition technology.
Fulton students and teachers were joined by a reporter and photojournalist from ABC 7, who covered the field trip for the local news station in Los Angeles.
“I want my students to see that there are so many job opportunities, even in industries they may not think about, like automotive,” Peterson said. “And of course, I want them to leave middle school thinking that science is fun.”
The science teacher says her students have been repeating “Hyundai like Sunday” since leaving the headquarters to remind themselves how to pronounce the name properly.
Here are the other stories we’re following this week:
- Orange County students outperformed their peers statewide in English, math and science on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, surpassing state averages and scores from seven neighboring counties. The date released this week also highlighted the need for targeted support for vulnerable groups such as foster youth, English learners and homeless students.
- Jordanna Jahn, a middle school teacher from the Garden Grove Unified School District, has been named a 2025 California Teacher of the Year finalist, following her recognition as one of six Orange County Teachers of the Year in May.
- Educators from across California will gather in Long Beach this November to explore the newly developed Cambodian American Studies Model Curriculum at a two-day conference hosted by the Orange County Department of Education.
- Los Alamitos High School became the first in Orange County to host the traveling exhibit “Anne Frank – A History for Today,” thanks to the efforts of senior Sydney Forsyte, whose grant proposal brought the installation to campus.
- The Orange County Department of Education is accepting nominations for its 2024-25 Counselor Recognition Program to honor school counselors and advocates who support students’ academic, social-emotional and career development. Nominations may be submitted online until Oct. 18 on behalf of professionals serving TK-12 and community college students.
- The city of Santa Ana is seeking support from county leaders to help fund crossing guards near local schools after budget cuts impacted the program.
- Gov. Newsom signed legislation that will add artificial intelligence and media literacy to California’s K-12 curriculum frameworks, with the goal of ensuring students are equipped with essential knowledge and skills to navigate and understand AI technology.
- A transitional kindergarten classroom at Maple Elementary School has been transformed into a Reggio-inspired learning space — thanks to a partnership between the Fullerton School District and School Specialty — encouraging creativity and curiosity through hands-on activities and student-directed play.
- Students from Santa Ana Unified high schools are seeking answers from city council candidates on their plans to protect youth programs, address homelessness, promote affordable housing and maintain safe streets during a student-moderated forum, according to the Voice of OC.
- Candidates from four school districts with campuses in Huntington Beach participated in a forum hosted by the Huntington Union Council PTA at the Senior Center in Central Park, where they addressed questions from moderators and the community.
- Candidates for three seats on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education discussed school safety, academic excellence and parental involvement during a forum hosted by the Harbor Council PTA, with incumbents facing challengers ahead of the November election.
- Following a lawsuit filed by California and other states against TikTok over teen safety concerns, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom hosted a roundtable with tech leaders, researchers and parents to discuss solutions for keeping kids safe online and introduced a new bilingual guide to help parents navigate the digital era.
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.