Last month, high schools across the Garden Grove Unified School District staged College Signing Day events, celebrating their college-bound seniors with music, cake, student performances and photo stations, where the soon-to-be-grads displayed signs spelling out their future alma maters.
“We want our high school seniors to feel tremendous pride and to know that getting accepted into college is something worth celebrating,” school board member Walter Muneton said. “As a district, it is our mission to prepare students for lifelong success, and these College Signing Day events are a visual reminder of why we do what we do.”
To see Garden Grove Unified’s College Signing Day photos, visit ggusd.us/CollegeSigning.
According to district figures, 58 percent of Garden Grove’s last graduating class met the college entrance requirements necessary to attend UC or CSU schools. And for the second year in a row, all seven of GGUSD’s comprehensive high schools made U.S. News & World Report’s list of America’s Best High Schools.
In addition to the local celebrations, hundreds of GGUSD high schoolers attended Michelle Obama’s May 1 College Signing Day event at UCLA, where they heard the former first lady speak about the importance of pursuing higher education.
Founded in 2014, Mrs. Obama’s Reach Higher initiative says that over the course of a lifetime, the average worker with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn approximately $1 million more than a worker who has only a high school diploma.