Briefly In Education
Queens of the spelling bee
Fifth-grade students battled it out at Laguna Beach Unified School District’s Fifth Annual Spelling Bee last month.
Finalists Alexis Yang of El Morro and Lauren West of Top of the World each had two wins entering the final round of competition, according to a news release.
Bill Steel and Nancy Hubbell judged the event for the fifth year in a row.
Yang and West went eight rounds of spelling challenging words before Yang was declared the winner with a score of El Morro 3, Top of the World 2.
“These students’ word knowledge was impressive,” Steel said in a statement. “We started with 34 competitors and with 10 left on stage, amazingly five hailed from El Morro and five from TOW.”
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Technology technician to be honored
Laguna Beach Unified School District Technology Technician Long Le has been selected as the district’s 2012 Classified Employee of the Year.
Le is one of six Orange County Department of Education Classified Employee of the Year recipients. The CSEY program pays tribute to the efforts of classified school employees, according to a news release.
“LBUSD is fortunate to have Long Le as a member of our professional staff,” Supt. Sherine Smith said in statement. “Long always goes the extra mile. He is smart, kind, conscientious, and diligent. Long provides technical help and assistance to each of us with patience and understanding. LBUSD is a stellar district because of employees like Long Le.”
Le was honored with the other Orange County Department of Education Classified Employee of the Year finalists at the Orange County Board of Education meeting Wednesday.
On May 8, he will be recognized at the LBUSD Board of Education meeting.
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A lesson in U.S. history
El Morro Elementary School fifth-graders recently presented the nation’s 50 states at the school’s State Fair.
They sang state songs, and afterward the students and their families viewed the students’ state exhibitions. The fifth graders also shared state food samples and souvenirs with their classmates and other audience members.
The State Fair concludes with the students’ state report, a cross-curricular social studies and language arts unit on United States history, the release said.
“The students have been working hard learning the 50 United States of America and their capital cities,” said Principal Chris Duddy in statement. “Each student then focused on one state to write a report of information to share with classmates and parents at the State Fair. This culminating activity is always engaging as the students sing, sample famous foods from the states and view the reports from all 50 states in the multipurpose room.”
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Rotary Club names Student of the Month
The Rotary Club of Laguna Beach honored Kailani Bonin as the high school’s Student of the Month for April, according to an announcement.
Bonin is a soccer player and track team member at Laguna Beach High School. She’s been accepted to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, and she hopes to own her clothing company in the future, the release stated.
Bonin was honored with a certificate of recognition and will receive a scholarship at the Honors Convocation ceremony at the end of the school year.
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Alumni scholarship picnic is Saturday
The LBHS Alumni Assn. will hold its annual All Class Alumni Picnic from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Heisler Park, 375 Cliff Drive.
Donations from the picnic go toward funding scholarships for descendants — child, grandchild or great-grandchild — of LBHS alumni.
Last year, the alumni association awarded $7,000 in scholarships to students who plan to further their education at a four-year or community college, trade or technical school, according to a new release.
For more information, go to https://www.lagunabeachhighschoolalumni.org or call (949) 497-7750 ext. 5340.
— Compiled by Alisha Gomez
Twitter: @CoastlinePilot