Orange County-born softball player Aubree Munro, who completed her education in the Brea Olinda Unified School District, will soon be representing Team USA at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The 28-year old catcher joins a rich history of olympians from Orange County including gold medalist swimmer Janet Evans of El Dorado High School, gold medalist swimmer Jason Lezak of Irvine High, gold medalist beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor of Newport Harbor High, and gold medalist swimmer Amanda Beard of Irvine High.
Although Munro no longer lives in the OC, she recently told the district that her road to the Tokyo games began in Brea when she started playing softball at the age of six.
“I grew up watching Team USA and was so pumped on USA softball and representing my county one day even though I never know if I would actually get there,” said Munro.
And while it’s been quite the journey to get to the games — including softball being eliminated as an Olympic sport until this year — Munro and her teammates are ready to conquer their quest for gold.
“Its been a long road and it will probably feel pretty emotional,” said Munro. “I’m looking forward to just taking in that first moment where I’m like ‘holy cow, we made it to the Olympics’ and it’s really happening. I need to give myself that one moment to take it all in before we get on the field to play.”
Team USA begins its Olympic journey on Tuesday, July 20 at 8 p.m. against Italy. All games can be viewed live at www.nbcolympics.com.
And here are some of the other stories we are tracking this week:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday updated its guidance for schools advising that only those who aren’t fully vaccinated need to wear masks, however California says students will be keeping their masks on while indoors.
- Following the passage of a state budget, OCDE Newsroom staff break down five key takeaways from a new education trailer bill approved by the California Legislature.
- In related news, California parents strongly favor full campus reopenings in the fall, but want school districts to offer online learning options, according to a new statewide survey.
- A recent poll from a popular independent research center shows that despite perceptions of the public’s widespread unhappiness with the slow reopening of California’s schools last spring, most voters surveyed, gave the highest marks in a decade of polling to the state’s public schools.
- From nature walks to marble mazes to hands-on STEAM projects, small group learning and music activities, OCDE Newsroom staff are highlighting what summer learning looks like across the county.
- Students from nine schools in the Santa Ana Unified School District will perform ‘Moana Jr.’ from July 8-10, 2021 at Godinez Fundamental High School as part of the district’s SAUSD Summer Enrichment Musical.
- The Orange County Register recently released their list of the 2020-21 Players of the Year for every sport.
- And finally, an upcoming pair of ethnic studies forums presented by the Orange County Board of Education will now change venues after estimated budget costs exceeded predictions, reports the Orange County Register.
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.