Rick Jameson has gone from running a middle school to running a hot dog stand in the span of a few months.
Jameson retired as principal of Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate School at the end of last school year. In January, he began his new career, selling hot dogs at the Irvine Auto Center from his Dick’s Dogs cart.
A feature in the Orange County Register chronicles Jameson’s transition into his second career. The 55-year-old Irvine resident wanted to start his own business after his retirement and figured hocking hot dogs for $3 (chips included) was the right move.
Anyone craving a hot dog can find Jameson busy at his cart around lunch time weekdays at the auto center.
Here are some other education stories that caught our attention this week:
- Graduation rates for Orange County’s high schools climbed to 90.8 percent, the seventh straight year that rate has improved. The rate for the county’s graduating Class of 2016 is also about 7 percentage points higher than the state average.
- The Orange County Department of Education is joining forces with its counterparts in Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties to host a special presentation April 24 featuring Sal Khan, founder and CEO of Khan Academy.
- A student from Buena Park Jr. High was one of hundreds of female students chosen to attend the California Girls State summer program, where she will learn the ins and outs of political processes and the many aspects of citizenship.
- Kindergartners from Tustin’s Thorman Elementary School were shocked when they all received bicycles as a gift from Bikes for Kids, a San Diego non-profit organization.
- Thurston Middle School students in Laguna Beach participated in an oral history project, selecting a person at least 50 years older than themselves to interview and compose a speech about their life and era they lived in.
- Anaheim Elementary School District teacher Gina Whitcomb will travel to Senegal this spring as part of a two-week program to teach and learn about the African country’s education system. Whitcomb’s trip is part of Teachers for Global Classrooms, run by the International Research and Exchanges Board, with funding by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
- High school students from Irvine Unified traveled to Sacramento to dialog with state officials about local issues and funding inequalities.
- Anaheim’s Katella High School completed its renovation project, which included upgrades to the school grounds and a new environmentally responsible garden and landscape.
- An ecstatic high school student from the Orange County School of Arts in Santa Ana received acceptance letters from eight Ivy League Schools.