Break out the candles — lots of them. Tustin High School is getting ready to celebrate its 100th birthday.
The flagship campus of the Tustin Unified School District opened for business in September 1922, serving about 75 students who had attended a nearby primary school. In those early days, it was known as Tustin Union High School, and it featured a single two-story building surrounded by orange groves. Local agriculture inspired officials to go with “Tiller” as the mascot, the Daily Pilot reported.
“With the agricultural background of the area, there were kids from all over the county coming to Tustin Union,” Chris Miguel, the school’s co-director of activities, told the Pilot.
Tustin High now serves nearly 2,300 students in grades nine through 12 on 38 acres of land. To celebrate hitting the century mark, a planning committee comprising staff, alumni and community members has been busy organizing several upcoming events, including a homecoming football game and a Centennial Family Picnic, which will take place on the school’s front lawn from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11.
Here are some of the other stories we’ve been following this week:
- Summer vacation is officially over as the final wave of OC school districts restarted after Labor Day weekend. In the Ocean View, Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach City school districts, thousands of students streamed back to their respective campuses to begin their fall semesters.
- For the second straight year, the Orange County Children’s Book Festival has been reimagined as a virtual event. This time, OCCBF is partnering with OCDE, Orange County Public Libraries, 4SPACE Co. and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to launch the S.T.E.A.M. Race to Space Reading Challenge.
- With September recognized as National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, the OCDE Newsroom shared risk factors and warning signs, along with steps to take if you believe someone needs help.
Authorities identified a man who allegedly fired a handgun at a school bus in Buena Park before he was shot and killed by police officers last week. No one on the bus was physically injured.
- There’s still time for educators, parents and community members to register for a month-long virtual conference aimed at enhancing school-based interpretation and translation services.
- The school board overseeing the Los Angeles Unified School District approved a sweeping student vaccination mandate this week. Beginning in January, all district students 12 and up will have to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to be on campus, the Los Angeles Times reports.
- An 11th-grader from OCDE’s William Lyon School was recently recognized by the Association of California School Administrators with the 2021 Every Student Succeeding Award for Region 17.
- A student who was allegedly in possession of a firearm and tried to flee from school resource officers was arrested this week at Buena Park High School.
- California legislators are considering changes to independent study laws that have been criticized as disruptive to school reopenings across the state.
- Many Southern California teachers are using personal stories and archived media coverage to reflect on the tragic events of 9/11 as the 20th anniversary nears. Some are presenting artifacts to teach students who weren’t yet born when the attacks occurred.