Carmenita Students Hoist Flag as Salute to Excellence

Balloons are not the only thing heading skyward at Carmenita Junior High. The school recently received the prestigious presidential Excellence in Education award for its improved California Assessment Program test scores and model curriculum.

The award, together with a special flag, was given to Principal Linda Caillet during a Washington ceremony attended by President Bush and Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander. Some of the student leaders hold the flag, left, as it was presented to the assembled student body.

Last week, the 630 students of Carmenita Junior High raised the flag in a special ceremony and released hundreds of ballons carrying cards that identify the Cerritos school as a winner of the Excellence in Education award. Finders of the balloons are requested to return the cards to the school, and the classroom whose balloon traveled the farthest will win a pizza party. So far, Principal Caillet said, cards have been returned from as far away as Burbank.