Garden Grove Unified has launched a new social media campaign celebrating staff members who were once students in the district.
And it turns out there are quite a few.
Dubbed “GGUSD Homegrown,” the campaign has prompted nearly 500 district employees to share their own Garden Grove Unified School District origin stories through an online form. Some will be showcased on GGUSD’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
“The fact that hundreds of GGUSD graduates return to work in our schools speaks to the great experience they had as students,” says Dina Nguyen, a Garden Grove board member who also happens to be a graduate of Los Amigos High School. “This sense of pride and love for the school district creates a stronger connection with students and with our community as a whole.”
According to the district, former students have come back to take on a wide range of roles. They include teachers, principals, office clerks, technology specialists, custodians, food service workers, community liaisons, accountants and counselors. Some are first-year employees, while others have logged more than 30 years working for the district they love.
Bridget Lockhart, an English teacher and assistant ASB director at Rancho Alamitos High School, is in her 19th year with GGUSD. As a student, she attended Hill Elementary, Jordan Intermediate and Bolsa Grande High School, where she graduated in 1992.
“I wanted to teach in the community I grew up in,” Lockhart says. “I had really positive experiences at each of my schools. I was lucky enough to have a few teachers who really influenced me when I was student and they are the reasons I wanted to become a teacher — and then they became my colleagues.”
Along with the social media campaign, the district plans to hold a “GGUSD Homegrown” celebration on April 26 at the Garden Grove Community Center.