Weekly roundup: From adversity to honor rolls, state Academic Decathlon results, OC educators honored, and more

Lorena Cruz believes she might be a dropout statistic if not for the support she received at Laurel House, a shelter for at-risk youth.

TypewriterInstead, the senior at Foothill High School in Tustin is heading to college on the strength of a 4.0 grade-point average.

This week’s recommended read comes from Orange County Register writer Susan Christian Goulding, who shares the story of a local 17-year-old girl who turned her life around after enduring remarkable adversity, including an assault when she was 13.

These days Cruz’s name regularly appears on Foothill’s honor roll, and she has her sights set on a nursing degree. She was even recently honored by the Tustin Unified School District. Again, this one’s worth your time.

And here are a few other education stories that caught our attention this week:

  • Five Orange County teams competed at the California Academic Decathlon last weekend. Irvine’s Woodbridge High, which won the last two county championships, finished 13th overall at the state-level contest, which was won by a team from El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills.
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.