A health teacher from Santiago High School received a surprise visit from her students, family and representatives from the Orange County Department of Education as they presented her with the 2022 Linda Kearns Community Prevention Award.
The Orange County Substance Abuse Prevention Network commended Shannon Bennett for her leadership in the area of drug and alcohol prevention. She is credited for building one of the strongest and most consistent Friday Night Live Clubs, or FNL, in Orange County, spearheading powerful efforts that engage young people in substance abuse prevention initiatives.
“A key reason for the club’s success is Shannon’s supportive presence and genuine interest in her students’ well-being,” said OCDE Prevention Education Coordinator Stephan Lambert. “For many students, she is their trusted adult, ally and mentor — a strong protective factor against substance use and other risk behaviors.”
In addition to her leadership with FNL, Bennett also serves as her high school’s Tobacco-Use Prevention Education lead, in which she organizes parent education events and maintains strong community partnerships to support her students.
“Shannon is an amazing representation of how deeply GGUSD educators care for students and how much time and talent they invest in advocating for the best interests of their students,” said GGUSD Board of Education trustee Walter Muneton.
The Orange County Substance Abuse Prevention Network established this award in 2006 to honor educators like Linda Kearns, who dedicated 30 years of work in the field of youth alcohol, tobacco, drugs, violence, HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy prevention.
Here are some of the other stories we’ve been following this week:
- Laguna Beach senior Bella Rasmussen made history in California as the first girl to score two touchdowns during a high school football game.
- In recognition of National Principals Month, the OCDE Newsroom profiled two principals who have dedicated large portions of their career to supporting students in OCDE’s Alternative Education division, or ACCESS.
- A Garden Grove Unified student is earning global recognition for his creation of a prototype for an early cancer-detecting toothbrush.
- More than 14.5 million acts have been logged as part of the #Kindness1Billion initiative, which was created by the Orange County Department of Education and County Superintendent Dr. Al Mijares.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom announced this week that the COVID-19 State of Emergency that’s been in place since March 2020 will formally expire on Feb. 23.
- The Irvine Company donated $4 million in honor of the Irvine Unified School District’s 50th anniversary to support arts, music and science education programs.
- Community members in Fullerton are celebrating the grand opening of Sherwood Forest, an outdoor learning space for students at Orangethorpe Elementary School.
- The choir director at La Quinta High School was interviewed by ABC 7 before flying out to Tennessee for the Country Music Awards Teachers of Excellence event. Darlene Machacon was the only educator in the state to receive the honor.
- The Ocean View School District Board of Trustees approved a historic 10 percent pay raise for all district employees.
- Looking to be more involved, 120 people are running for more than 40 school board seats in Orange County.
- Whittier Elementary students were among the millions of people in California who participated in the annual Great California ShakeOut drill on Thursday. The staged drills provide residents an opportunity to practice earthquake safety procedures in a calm and controlled way.
- California State University, Fullerton informed Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District leaders that it is pausing placement of its student teachers in the system’s classrooms. As the Los Angeles Times reported, the university cited concerns that district policies conflict with its goals to promote equity and inclusion in eduction.
- San Diego County Public Health Services is looking into more than 1,000 student absences after they reported feeling flu-like symptoms.
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.