SANTA PAULA : Students Rewarded With Camping Trip

Thirty-two students from Isbell Middle School in Santa Paula who improved their grades significantly last year have been awarded a one-week camping trip to Santa Catalina Island.

The students were among 91 seventh- and eighth-grade schoolchildren who were honored with a special awards breakfast this week at the Santa Paula Community Center.

All 91 students brought their cumulative grade-point averages up by at least one-half point, said Assistant Supt. Bonnie Bruington. The students selected for the camping trip showed the biggest improvement, she said.

“I just worked and studied harder,” said eighth-grade student Tiffany Joynt, 13, explaining that her average increased this year from 2.21 to 3.12. Students did not find out the prize was a trip to Catalina until Tuesday’s breakfast, which many parents also attended.

“I was really surprised, and my mom started yelling,” Tiffany said. “This is going to be so much fun.”

The Santa Paula Elementary School District is paying for the trip with a state grant that normally provides funds for alcohol and drug prevention. The state program had extra money this year, and Santa Paula school officials wrote a special project grant for the camping trip and received about $6,500, Bruington said.

The camp is run by the Glendale YMCA, and the grant covers expenses for the students, including transportation from Glendale to the island, Bruington said. However, school officials are still seeking financial help to pay for the bus ride from Santa Paula to Glendale and back, she said.

The students will leave Aug. 19 and return Aug. 26.