Under the direction of a four-time mountain bike world champion, sixth-graders from Santa Ana’s Hazard Elementary School recently assembled 50 bikes that were later gifted to the entire kindergarten class.
The sleek Strider Balance Bikes — they come without pedals to help younger children learn to ride — were donated by the All Kids Bike program using money raised by professional mountain bike racer Brian Lopes, according to the Orange County Register.
“Bikes have been a part of my life since I was 4 years old,” said Lopes, who grew up in Mission Viejo. “It has given me so much.”
As the Register reported, the older students worked in pairs as Lopes walked them through the installation of the front wheels and handlebars. Then they were covered with a colorful parachute and unveiled to their new owners who “screamed with joy” and took them for a spin, according to the Register.
Hazard was one of only two Southern California schools to receive the grant, which was applied for by longtime teacher Jeanette Davert.
And here are some of the other stories we’ve been tracking this week.
- A pair of students in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District achieved perfection on the ACT college entrance exam this year — and one of them also posted a perfect 1600 on the SAT.
- A panel of distinguished speakers will share personal stories and unique perspectives on the histories and contributions of Black Americans during an online colloquium hosted by Orange County Superintendent Dr. Al Mijares in honor of Black History Month.
- For the fifth time in six years, Irvine’s Woodbridge High School has won the Orange County Academic Decathlon. The champs now get to compete for a state title, and they’ll have plenty of company from Orange County. A total of 10 OC high schools have been invited to the California Academic Decathlon based on their overall team scores.
- California will spend two weeks evaluating COVID-19 data and conditions before making a determination on the future of masks in schools, the state’s top health official said on Feb. 14.
- Meanwhile, while most school districts are sending unmasked students home, some districts are defying the state’s mask mandate altogether, according to EdSource.
- A large crowd turned out at the Capistrano Unified School District’s Board of Trustees meeting to rail against the state’s mask mandate.
- A community forum about adding more elective courses at Costa Mesa’s TeWinkle Middle School led to a broader public discussion about equity, demographics and declining enrollment, the Daily Pilot reported.
- The Laguna Beach Unified School District unveiled its newly renovated athletic field at Thurston Middle School on Feb. 4.
- Dr. Jami Parsons, who has held numerous leadership positions with the Orange County Department of Education since 2015, has been honored by the California Association of School Counselors as Advocate of the Year.
- The Garden Grove Unified School District is opening four new Family Resource Centers that will serve as hubs to connect families and students with food, health care, housing, mental health counseling, immigration counseling, victim assistance and other vital services.
- A lawsuit against the Orange County Board of Education alleges the board should not have been able to appoint Tim Shaw to the same seat from which he resigned about seven weeks earlier, the Voice of OC reports. The next hearing is set for March.
- Seeking to curb disruptions at public meetings, a pair of California lawmakers has drafted legislation that would give school boards, city councils and boards of supervisors clearer authority to remove participants “intentionally engaging in behavior during a meeting of a legislative body that substantially impairs or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting.”
- Two other newly introduced bills seek to redefine aspects of the kindergarten experience, including a proposal for all school districts to offer full-day kindergarten, EdSource reports.
- And finally, six continuation schools in Orange County have been recognized among California’s Model Continuation High Schools for 2022. Statewide, just 36 campuses earned the distinction for uplifting at-risk youth through innovative instructional strategies, flexible scheduling, guidance and counseling.
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.