At Mesa View Middle School in Huntington Beach, students live just miles from the Pacific Ocean — home to the world’s largest marine animals, including the humpback whale.
Education news site Spotlight Schools reported that was the inspiration behind a campuswide art project led by author and artist Daniel Dancer. During his visit, the school’s 850 students came together to create an aerial image of a humpback whale as part of Dancer’s Art for the Sky program.
Before stepping onto the field, students viewed a series of lessons on environmental stewardship produced by Dancer. They then helped form a massive “living painting” — a temporary artwork shaped and colored by participants themselves. The humpback whale design stretched more than 130 feet, the largest image created as part of Art for the Sky.
Students collaborated with Dancer throughout the process, from painting the field to outline the whale to assembling in formations based on students’ shirt colors for the final drone photograph.
Mesa View Principal Isis Ortiz proposed the project, using arts funding from Proposition 28 to give students a hands-on creative experience while strengthening school culture.
“This was great because everybody at the school site was involved,” Ortiz told Spotlight Schools. “I like the fact that it was us all working together.”
Here are the other stories we’ve been following this week:
- NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar kicked off a new partnership with OCDE’s Inside the Outdoors program on behalf of his Skyhook Foundation with a school-wide donation of Adidas shoes and backpacks for 3,000 Thomas Edison Elementary students, as reported by Spectrum News.
- Costa Mesa High School renamed its performing arts complex to honor retired music teachers Sandy Gilboe and Jon Lindfors, celebrating a combined 70-plus years of helping student creativity flourish through instrumental and vocal music programs.
- At its Annual Education Conference Thursday, the California School Boards Association recognized Suzie R. Swartz as the 2025 Board Member of the Year and her 25-year service on behalf of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.
- As the year comes to a close, OCDE is preparing year-end payroll for nearly 78,000 certificated and classified employees across the county by coordinating with its Information Technology division and local districts to ensure accurate checks.
- Estancia High School students recently helped restore the holiday Snoopy House display at Costa Mesa City Hall, rebuilding and refinishing wood decorations like Santa’s sleigh and festive holiday props.
- OCDE has officially launched its new Innovative Funding Initiative, encouraging school districts to apply for awards of up to $525,000 to support bold, student-centered ideas and pilot projects.
- Sunburst Youth Academy recently debuted an inspirational short film recognizing the academic progress and physical training of its Class 36 cadets ahead of Thanksgiving break.
- OCDE expects to meet all financial obligations for the next three years while statewide economic pressures and declining enrollment continue to affect long-term budget planning, according to a budget presentation delivered Wednesday to the Orange County Board of Education.
- Just in time for giving season, Orange County students and school staff organized Thanksgiving food drives — collecting hundreds of pounds of groceries, meal kits and more to ensure local families could gather enjoy a full holiday meal.
- Hundreds of Santa Ana families received essential groceries and gift cards just ahead of Thanksgiving while students got help with their college applications at a recent community event hosted by Nicholas Academic Centers.
- Dana Point community members recently held a candlelight vigil for Niguel Hills Middle School sixth-grader Luis Morales-Pacheco, who died in an alleged hit and run while walking to school with his older brother.
- A new report from the Public Policy Institute of California shows that more California high school graduates are choosing to pursue higher education out-of-state — growing from 8.5 percent in 2002 to 14.6 percent in 2022.
- Fullerton College officially began construction on a state-of-the-art Music & Drama Complex that will span 76,000 square feet and unite its music and theatre programs into one space complete with a recital hall and recording studios.