Outstanding Grit
The Outstanding Senior Awards had the following requirements, listed on each student's certificate: "Exceptionally good. Sticking out, attracting notice especially because of excellence, rises above and excels, marvelous, magnificent, superb, fine, wonderful, superlative."
Half of the students recognized Thursday received this award, each nominated by departments around the school.
The Grit Awards are presented to the students who have the "grit" to accomplish their goals. These students' certificates read: "COURAGE. Bravery, pluck, mettle, backbone, spirit, strength of character, strength of will, moral fiber, steel, nerve, fortitude, toughness, hardiness, resolve, resolution, determination, tenacity, perseverance, endurance."
Each department nominated and presented both awards.
Ephrata High School Principal Ashlie Miller presented awards for the administration department. Zander Leasher was awarded the Outstanding Senior Award and Monty Muir was presented the Grit Award.
Counselor Jay Mills presented the agriculture awards giving Kendra Rickert the Outstanding Senior award and Lionel Ruedes the Grit Award.
Jessie Young, science teacher representing the science department, presented the Outstanding Senior Award to Jaemyson Durfee and the Grit Award to Conner Johnson.
Spanish teacher Marcy Evenson, representing the Spanish department, presented Tori Falconer with the Outstanding Senior Award and Crow Ross with the Grit Award.
English teachers Don Hendrixson and Maya Allsopp presented the English awards together, awarding Erika Morford with the Outstanding Senior Award and Audreyah Gray with the Grit Award.
Michele Ramirez, representing the math department, awarded Cayleb Sedgewick with the Outstanding Senior Award and Arys Navarro with the Grit Award.
Mills presented the welding and construction department awards, rewarding Corbin Reeve with the Outstanding Senior Award and Marcey Hundtoft with the Grit Award.
Both Andrea Anderson and Mikki Johns presented the Family Consumer Science awards. Makayla Johnson was awarded the Outstanding Senior award and Jose Mejia Alvarez was presented with the Grit Award.
Dan Martin presented the physical education awards with Llandon Ahman was awarded the Outstanding Senior Award and Kaydence Hector was presented with the Grit Award.
Mills presented the special education awards with Makenzie Johnson being awarded with the Outstanding Senior Award and Isabelle Ware was given the Grit Award.
Tim O'Donnell, representing performing arts presented AdeLyne Simmons with the Outstanding Senior Award. For the Grit Award, the department chose two students: Charles Flynn and Tori Falconer.
For visual arts, Tobin Springs presented the awards. Chase Moser was chosen for the Outstanding Senior Award. Devin Moisher was presented with the Grit Award.
The learning center awards were presented by Heidi Burns. She awarded Ashley Marquez with the Outstanding Senior Award and Analise Marquez with the Grit Award.
The social studies awards were presented by Patrick Mitchell. Mitchell awarded Ali Helaas with the Outstanding Senior Award and Jordan Smith with the Grit Award.
Mills presented the final award for business and technology with Dayana Nolasco Gomez as the Outstanding Senior Award and Landon Coe for the Grit Award.
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Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
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'The land that we lived on — and had a village on — that we worked on, we were then told, 'It's illegal for you to own that land.' So to see it come full circle back to us again, it's very healing.' When the Presbytery of San Gabriel began exploring options for the former community center site, Mona Recalde, who runs community outreach for the tribe and is deeply involved with the church, asked whether it would consider a land return. 'When Mona asked … for just about everybody in the Presbyterian, it was an instantaneous recognition of how much sense this made,' said Wendy Tajima, executive presbyter, or spiritual leader, of the church. For Tajima, it seemed like a way to make good on the promise of land acknowledgment — the church, instead of just paying lip service to past land grabs, could actually ameliorate some of the harm Christian institutions like the mission caused in the past. The tribe hopes other religious institutions (including the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel just down the street) will follow the presbytery's lead. The church and the tribe held a ceremony commemorating the agreement at the tribe's new Gabrieleno Tongva Tribal Center at Siban'gna on Aug. 2. As Presbyterian ceremonies gave way to the Gabrielenos', an emotional Tajima couldn't help but feel the tribe's deep-rooted connection to the land rekindling in real time. When the tribe 'started to burn the sage … that's when it hit me,' she said. 'This was a public witness of the first time that they could practice their traditions. They could be who they are and not have to ask anybody else.'
Boston Globe
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- Boston Globe
My students don't have a local newspaper. Making their own changed everything.
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Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Excitement amid cuts: CPS families on the first day
Across the city Monday morning, children stepped into crisp uniforms and laced up brand-new shoes for the first day of school. Yellow buses wove through neighborhoods on soon-to-be familiar routes. Parents hugged their little ones and wished them well with their new teachers and friends. But despite the first day buzz, Chicago Public Schools opened its school doors amid a time of serious financial uncertainty, felt most by the parents and community interacting with the district every day. Delia Cruz, 37, a CPS mom from the East Side, doesn't begrudge the district for being underresourced, but as schools face tight budgets, she has learned how to be a fierce advocate for her kids. 'I'm not doing it for me, I'm doing it for them,' she said, as she braided her 8-year-old daughter Jadelinn's hair into tight coils Monday morning in her living room before their morning commute. In the months leading up to Monday, Aug. 18, CPS officials were focused on closing a $734 million budget deficit — all while navigating a power struggle fueled by a months-long conflict between City Hall, the Chicago Teachers Union and district leadership. Over the summer, CPS released school-level budgets, the financial roadmaps that guide spending at individual schools. Principals spent hours adjusting operational planning based on the allocations they received. According to a CPS news release, the district allocates resources based on specific student needs and school programs — including services for English language learners, students with disabilities and those requiring social and emotional support. Cruz doesn't follow the politics of the district or its budget, but finds purpose in her involvement with half a dozen parent associations. Like other families, she leans on the district for resources and support for her five kids, three of whom have autism. 'We have to make this work,' she said. Inside a two-flat in McKinley Park, Victoria Naranjo, 34, put together her daughter's lunch: cookies, fruit, an empanada. Her 6-year-old, Yohanna Seaños, bounced around the kitchen, too excited to sit still for breakfast. Her hair was freshly washed, with two curls hanging down her forehead. Framed on the wall in the kitchen is a certificate of recognition, acknowledging Yohanna's growth the previous school year. Above the table is a series of professionally done school photos. 'Last year, in just six months, she learned to speak full sentences in English,' boasted her father, Jose Ramos, 37. The family arrived in Chicago from Caracas, Venezuela, about a year ago, fleeing violence and seeking better healthcare and education for their children. Yohanna's younger sister, 4-year-old Mya, had been diagnosed with tuberculosis and later suffered a stroke that left her with permanent cognitive delays. Naranjo said that as a young mother, it was difficult to know how to care for 4-year-old Mya, who now eats through a feeding tube in her stomach. She has taken Mya to weeks of speech therapy, and the little girl, who sits in a stroller, can sound out basic words like 'Mama' and 'Papa.' She has met with district specialists to fill out her youngest's individualized education program, which provides tailored support to students with disabilities. But the school where Mya was assigned is a far commute from their home, she said. Naranjo worries because Mya's teachers there don't speak English. She said the nurse only works two days a week. 'I need a school that has a nurse working daily,' Naranjo said. 'I have to figure out how to switch her.' All four members of the family left their house on Monday morning and trooped the several blocks to Edward Everett Elementary School in McKinley Park, slightly behind schedule. Teachers stood at the entrance to the building, greeting their first-day newcomers. Naranjo left her husband and 4-year-old to meet Yohanna's new teacher, and came out of the school after a few minutes smiling. 'She speaks Spanish!' she told Ramos, with relief. The first day of school opened with the lowest number of teacher and support staff vacancies in recent CPS history — a 2.46 percent teacher vacancy rate compared to last year's 4.4 percent vacancy rate, according to district officials. There were some security concerns, CPS said, including a gun identified during routine security screenings at Whitney High School in the West Loop, which was immediately confiscated. The school year also began against the backdrop of a $1.5 billion teachers contract ratified this spring that adds protections for bilingual students and those with specialized needs, commitments that may prove difficult to uphold under the district's 2026 fiscal budget constraints, according to a June letter from the CTU President Stacy Davis Gates. Meanwhile, Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former teachers union organizer, has put pressure on interim CPS CEO Macquline King to borrow to cover this year's gaping budget shortfall. But the temporary schools chief is in a difficult spot. The district, one of the largest municipal junk bond issuers — or high-risk borrowers — in the nation, according to analysts, has received warnings from credit agencies that taking a loan to meet basic operational needs is not advisable. In community information sessions that King arranged with community members, most parents expressed hesitancy to engage in borrowing now for fear it would hurt future CPS generations. Taking that feedback into consideration, King's team proposed a $10.2 billion budget last week, which, instead of borrowing, included plans to cut corners wherever possible. Although the cuts are targeted for outside the classroom, the district's plan will affect the day-to-day experience for thousands of Chicago families. CPS has already had to lay off over 2,000 employees, including 700 special education assistants, 300 paraprofessionals and 100 crossing guards, according to a recent district presentation. Indeed, there was no crossing guard ushering kids into school outside Everett on Monday morning. Instead, a security guard, Victor Juarez, greeted families as they walked in. 'Good morning, Ryan!' he shook his head at one little boy, who ran in several minutes late, snot dripping from his nose. He admitted that the school has never had a crossing guard at the particular intersection where he stood, but pointed across the street where there used to be someone in a neon vest guiding those on their morning commutes. 'We need them,' he said. In their East Side dining room, four of Delia Cruz's kids posed against a wall, clutching laminated first-day-of-school posters. Jadelinn Cruz, 8, stood straight-faced in her navy uniform, with hair tightly braided by her mom. 'Why don't you do a silly one?' asked Cruz, the mother of five. She held up her phone camera from across the table. Her daughter finally gave a toothy grin before bounding towards the couch. The home brimmed with chaos and promise. Markers littered the kitchen table. Backpacks leaned up against the front door. The neon light of the TV flickered in the background. Cruz and her husband, Ivan, had to get their three daughters and eldest son out the door before 8:15 a.m. When their younger son, Lionel, starts classes in early September, the mornings will get even more hectic. 'It's crazy, but we manage,' Cruz said. Her hands rested over her swollen belly: She's eight months pregnant. The couple, both Mexican immigrants who came to Chicago decades ago, met at a nearby church when they were teenagers. The family's experience with CPS has been mixed. Eleven-year-old Lionel is autistic, and before he transferred to a school outside the district two years ago, there was only one special education classroom assistant to manage his classroom. He was almost expelled after he pulled the fire alarm, Cruz said. 'It wasn't working before,' she said. 'They didn't know how to take care of him.' Lionel now attends a therapeutic day school in Clearing. While her experience with Lionel was rocky, other investments in CPS give Cruz hope. George Washington High School in the East Side neighborhood — where her oldest daughter attends and Cruz serves on the Local School Council — was selected as one of the district's new sustainable community schools. The school will receive an additional $500,000 to partner with nonprofits and provide wraparound social services to students. 'That makes a difference,' she said. At 8:17 a.m., the family piled out the front door. Jadelinn and her 5-year-old sister, Jayne, each held paper towels and tissue boxes to give to their teachers. They wore matching pink backpacks. 'I'm gonna see all my friends,' Jadelinn said, jumping up and down in front of her parents. After their parents dropped them off, the sisters didn't look back.
