Latest news with #EdisonHigh
Los Angeles Times
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
Once lagging in school, Huntington Beach teen welds together a solid future
Cameron Rauch didn't worry about homework, because the Huntington Beach teenager was rarely ever home. 'From the end of eighth grade to the start of my junior year, it was either school or work or I was out on a bike with friends,' Cameron said. 'I fell really behind in school. I played around a lot my freshman year.' His life has not been easy to this point. His parents split up when he was entering middle school, both moving from Los Alamitos to opposite sides of Huntington Beach to co-parent. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit. Cameron would log onto Zoom classes, turn his camera off and go play video games. He moved across town with his father Eric before his mother Shelly, who he called one of the nicest people he'd ever met, started drinking heavily. She overdosed on pills she was taking for mental issues. 'She pretty much put a letter on the kitchen counter that said, 'Sorry for everything that I caused, I think this is going to be better for you guys,'' Cameron said. His half-sister Taylor, a decade older, tried to help Cameron, but school at Edison High wasn't his bag. He worked part-time as a mechanic and got into dirt bikes, buying them cheap, fixing them up and turning a profit. Another passion quickly began to emerge. 'My dad told me I wasn't going to be welding until I was out of high school, and I said, 'Watch me.' That same week, I sold a dirt bike that had been sitting in the garage and I went and bought a welder off Amazon,' he recalled. 'Me and one of my buddies split it 50-50, and we built a whole exhaust and bumper for his truck at the time with zero experience. We went and bought a bunch of stuff, and built like the crappiest exhaust setup and bumper that you probably will ever see. It rusted and crumbled in like six months.' Cameron moved from Edison to Valley Vista High, a continuation school in the Huntington Beach Union High School District, so he could make up credits. Meanwhile, his aunt called Laura Costelloe, the welding program adviser at Urban Workshop in Costa Mesa. She told Costelloe that Cameron loved welding, and some of the challenges he had been dealing with. Costelloe thought Cameron would be a perfect fit for the Department. of Rehabilitation Pathways to Success Project, a state initiative that provides financial assistance for high-wage, high-skilled occupations. 'They actually did not approve him in the beginning because of his age, because he's a minor,' Costelloe said. But she kept working. She made contact with Breana Davis, a transition coordinator for the school district. The district has a program called the Transition Partnership Program, which is also run through the Department of Rehabilitation. 'The goal there is to help him figure out what he wants to do career-wise,' Costelloe said. 'Breana and I decided my program would be a better fit for him, because he already knew what he wanted to do.' She went back to Jami Pazmino, the advanced manufacturing counselor for the Pathways to Success project, who ultimately gave Cameron another look and fast-tracked his application. Cameron will receive about $14,000 worth of welding training at Urban Workshop, and his protective gear is also covered. Chris Lynch, Urban Workshop welding instructor, said Cameron has only been to a couple of sessions so far, but he sees the potential. He added that becoming certified at an early age has benefits, because a welder's card states how long someone has been a certified welder. 'These are the kind of people I want to help,' Lynch said. 'I didn't have parents growing up, either. I was a … knucklehead, I was in jail by the time I was 13 years old. That lifestyle for me, I liked it, I enjoyed it. What welding did for me was help me get away from it. So if this is something that helps you get away from it, I'm more than willing to help you.' Cameron appears to be on the right track. Danielle Hackworth, Pathways to Success program manager, said that Urban Workshop has been instrumental in helping participants pursue careers in advanced manufacturing and construction. 'By being dual enrolled with his high school and Urban Workshop, Cameron is earning both his diploma and certifications from the American Welding Society (AWS) and the city of Los Angeles Welding Program,' Hackworth said in an email. 'These credentials are equipping Cameron with the skills and real-world experience needed to enter the workforce directly after high school in a high-demand field — paving the way toward a successful and sustainable career.' Cameron, who turns 17 later this month, works at a tire shop in Huntington Beach and has a girlfriend. He said he enjoys modifying his truck, a Ford Ranger that is several years older than he is. He is moving back to Edison in the fall for his senior year, and he knows his father will be proud to see him walk across that stage to collect his diploma next June. Valley Vista Principal Stacy Robison said Cameron is a great kid with a great attitude. He was able to earn 25 credits a quarter during his time there — 'but you have to do the work,' Robison said. 'We're really going to miss him a lot, but I'm so stoked for him that he'll be able to be at Edison and graduate from Edison,' she said. Things are looking up for Cameron, who appears to have welded together a solid future. 'Once I had some experience welding at home alone, I realized not only how fun it is, but how relieving it is for me,' he said. 'I was never really home a lot, but once I started welding at home, I could sit there for hours and not even look at my phone.' Costelloe, who calls herself the den mother, still checks in on Cameron often. What she tells him is simple — 'Make good choices.' Her hope is that he can go through the aerospace program, which would mean that he would have about eight certifications when he graduates high school. 'Everyone I introduce Cameron to realizes that he's absolutely worth the time and the investment,' she said. 'He's so motivated, and he's going to do great things.'
Los Angeles Times
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Edison graduates enjoy one more concert together
The graduates of Edison High School gathered in the corner of 'Cap' Sheue Field on Thursday afternoon to vibe to music. An Edison High musical group comprised of Saxon Baltzer, Ava Coggins, Kayla Do, Koa Hord, Sam Johnson and Nathan Lopez performed 'Revival,' by Zach Bryan. The song definitely encourages dancing, so the Chargers got one last dance in together before heading out into the world as the Class of 2025. Edison graduated 430 students during the ceremony. Edison ASB President Ben Berger shared remarks with the crowd. 'As difficult as the low points or the not-so-fun times of high school were, I can say I wouldn't trade them for the world,' Berger said. 'Seating charts that placed me farther from my friends brought me closer to new ones. My time spent riding the bench on [the] baseball [team] may not have been so fun, but I grew my friendships and character through those inactive innings.' Tobias Robertson and Kyle Huang were the other student speakers for Edison, while the Edison choir performed the national anthem. Edison Principal Danny Morris honored the magna cum laude and summa cum laude graduates, who were wearing gold gowns, as well as eight who will be enlisting in the military following graduation. 'Thank you to all in the stands for being here today, one last time before it's time to go,' Morris said. 'Thank you for the early mornings, the late nights, the pep talks and even the tough love. Graduates, they have been your ride-or-die squad since day one, and no matter how far you go from here, they'll always be your home team.' — Daily Pilot Staff
Los Angeles Times
11-04-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Success tastes sweet for Huntington Beach teen running dessert shop
Huntington Beach teenager Matthew Hunein still spends long hours just up the street from where he went to high school, although now he finds himself firmly entrenched in the real world. The 2024 Edison High graduate recently opened a dessert shop, Crzookie Cookies and Ice Cream. His senior project for Edison's Center for International Business and Communications Studies (CIBACS) program became a brick-and-mortar shop when it opened its doors last month. Hunein's staff of 16 consists of local high school students, and a couple of people who attend Orange Coast College. Some of the staff are currently students in the CIBACS program themselves. He said he definitely gets plenty of foot traffic from Edison, but he's also been feeling the good vibes from other places as Crzookie has gotten off the ground. 'Random strangers off the street that maybe I met once, a year ago, they remember me and they're rooting for me and they're genuinely happy for my success,' said Hunein, 18. 'The community in Huntington Beach is unmatched.' Hunein operates the business owned by his parents, who also own three other restaurants in Orange County. Lilian Hunein said all three of her kids were in the CIBACS program. Ashley, 25, is the oldest and runs a coffee shop in Santa Ana, inside a restaurant that the family also owns. 'It's a great program,' Lilian Hunein said. '[Matthew] was a shy kid, very introverted, and the guy who came out of that program is completely different. To me, it taught them how to speak in public. It taught them résumé building, it taught them how to interview. During our interview process for our employees, you can tell the difference between the ones that were in the CIBACS program and the ones that were not.' Matthew, who was also Edison's ASB president as a senior, was in the CIBACS program for all four years he was at the campus. The program has a long history. Lori Chlarson, an English teacher at Edison who is the CIBACS faculty coordinator, said the program is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Students have projects each year. Their freshman year, the project involves moving an existing business to another country — Matthew Hunein came up with logistics of moving Jersey Mike's to Portugal. As the students progress in the program, they job shadow their junior year, trying to identify their dream career. Each CIBACS student then must write a business plan as part of their senior project; Matthew Hunein's was 42 pages long and included plenty of market analysis. He purposely opened his dessert shop next to a Chipotle, thinking customers might want some sweets after devouring their burrito bowls. Chlarson can cite plenty of success stories from the program, which incorporates the students' English and social studies classes and has about 300 Edison students involved each year across the four grade levels. Many CIBACS alumni come back and judge students' projects in the spring. 'I'm just really proud of the work that Matt put into doing this, finding his footing,' Chlarson said. 'Following through and being able to actually open the doors on something like that is quite an accomplishment. It's really nice to see it actually come to fruition for him. He's got the marketing aspect of it wired. He came to our school and brought cookies to all of his teachers, then he went to the school district office and did the same thing over there.' Crzookie has 16 ice cream flavors and 10 different warmed cookies available, along with bonuses like dirty sodas. Matthew Hunein has labeled beignets with syrup and powered sugar that will be available soon 'Habibi Bites,' a nod to his Egyptian heritage. There's been plenty of fine tuning, but he said the biggest thing he's learned in the whole process is patience. The architectural plans were submitted in November of 2023, but he and his family had to wait for different approvals and construction before Crzookie could become a reality. 'Patience is the biggest thing that I didn't think that entrepreneurs needed,' Hunein said. 'I knew they needed it, but I didn't know how important it was going to be.' Hunein is currently studying business administration at Irvine Valley College. He takes courses online so he can tend to the dessert shop.
Los Angeles Times
01-03-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Chris Kluwe fired as freshman football coach at Edison in fallout from MAGA protest
Days after Chris Kluwe was handcuffed and carried out of a Huntington Beach City Council meeting for engaging in what he called an act of 'peaceful civil disobedience' he was fired from his high school teaching position. The former NFL punter and 15-year resident of Huntington Beach said he was dismissed this week from the Edison High football program, for which he served as a freshman football coach for the Chargers. Kluwe said he was called into a meeting with school officials on Thursday, was offered an opportunity to resign, and when he chose not, he was subsequently shown the door. 'The school fired me yesterday,' Kluwe said in a phone interview on Friday. 'The [athletic director] and the vice principal of supervision brought me in and said that they were getting too much attention, and they had to let me go. 'Obviously, I was bummed about it because I feel like the community is losing a resource. I don't think they're going to find another ex-NFL player to coach freshman football.' Huntington Beach Union High School District Athletic Director James Perry said he could not comment on a 'human resources situation' when reached on Friday regarding Kluwe's dismissal. Rich Boyce, the athletic director at Edison, also declined to comment. At the Huntington Beach City Council meeting on Feb. 18, Kluwe made pointed remarks to the panel, arguing that the public was going unheard. Library policies have been at the center of this debate, as the governing body went ahead with a 21-person, council-appointed book review board that, when formed, will have the ability to determine which books children can find on the shelves. A plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary of the library to be placed at its Central Branch drew sharp backlash from members of the public for a design that included a MAGA acrostic — formed by the first letter of the words 'Magical,' 'Alluring,' 'Galvanizing' and 'Adventurous.' Kluwe used the balance of his time at the meeting to put MAGA culture in the crosshairs, concluding that it is 'profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti-democracy' and characterizing it as 'explicitly a Nazi movement.' 'You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat — that is what it is,' he told the council. Kluwe then announced his intent to peacefully protest, stepped around the podium and walked toward the dais with his hands behind his back. Police officers advanced on him immediately, brought him to the ground and handcuffed him, then carried him out of the chambers. During his playing career, Kluwe made national headlines for advocating for same-sex marriage. Within his hometown, Kluwe sees a landscape in which individuals are attempting to 'make their own political profile larger.' 'What we're seeing from this administration is that they don't care about the American people,' Kluwe said. 'They care about what benefits them personally, and Huntington Beach is a microcosm of that. This city council does not care about community feedback. … They keep messing with the library, even when we've made it very clear that we don't want them messing with the library, and they keep doing things that benefit themselves, like the endless lawsuits that they keep suing the state over to build housing — which are completely unwinnable in court — and the community is like, 'Why are you wasting our money?' … 'That's what MAGA does. They don't care about community. They may say they care about America and fly an American flag, but their actions indicate that they're against everything that the American Dream is supposed to stand for, which is that anyone who comes into this country should have a chance to succeed.'
Los Angeles Times
05-02-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Edison girls' water polo uses overtime push to advance in CIF playoffs
The Edison High girls' water polo team matched up with Long Beach Millikan twice earlier this season. Edison beat the Rams by a goal in a nonleague game in early December. Two days later, Millikan won by two goals in a tournament. A close match, then, could be expected when the teams faced off Tuesday night in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. Going to overtime certainly qualified. Edison prevailed, earning a 9-7 win at its home pool after the extra time to extend its season. Senior attacker Gaby Kelly led the Chargers (15-14) with four goals. Edison, guided by first-year head coach Eric Perales, heads to No. 4-seeded Downey in the second round on Friday. 'It felt pretty cool,' said Kelly, headed to UC Santa Barbara for swimming. 'I was really happy I was able to help the team.' Senior Madison Emerson and junior Cali Spencer each scored twice for Edison, the fourth-place finisher from the tough Sunset League, and sophomore Nora Stovall added a goal. Junior goalkeeper Camryn Murphy made 13 saves, 10 of those coming in the second half and overtime. 'I've never been in an overtime for high school before, so that was a new experience for me.' Murphy said. 'It was exciting and stressful, at the same time.' The same could be said about regulation, as neither team led by more than two goals. Edison took a 6-4 lead in the fourth quarter, on Stovall's rebound goal. But Moore League runner-up Millikan (13-11) tied the match as freshman McKenna Rosenberg, who led the visitors with three goals, struck twice from the outside. 'It seemed like we'd go on a mini-run, and they were resilient and came right back and made it a game,' Perales said. 'They never quit. It was really fun … We've just got to clean up our turnovers.' Edison responded in the first overtime period. Emerson, bound for Concordia University, scored her team-best 75th goal, a quick strike assisted by Kelly on a power play that she drew. 'I felt really good, because I was able to get it really fast and just shoot it in really quick,' Emerson said. 'I knew that first goal right off the bat would be really big, just for morale reasons. Starting [the overtime] off being up was nice.' Perales said Emerson, a defender who drew multiple exclusions Tuesday, has been like the team's Swiss army knife this season. 'She's willing to do it all for the team,' he said. Edison's overtime onslaught continued. Spencer then struck on an outside shot from about eight meters, before Kelly's cross-cage power-play goal gave Edison a 9-6 lead after the first of two three-minute overtime periods. Millikan's Grace Darby scored in the final minute of the second overtime, but by then the victory was secure. Edison will have to pull an upset in the next round to make the Division 2 quarterfinals. The Chargers almost accomplished that task last year, losing 10-9 at eventual Division 2 champion Alta Loma in the second round. The season has come together well for Edison, considering Perales said he took over just a couple of weeks before it started. Chargers alumnus Jarrett Tossey, who also coaches boys' water polo at Edison, resigned after one season as the girls' coach but has still been supportive. Tossey operated the scoreboard on Tuesday night. 'These girls needed a coach,' Perales said. 'The whole first two months of season was us all learning each other, trying to figure out what we do on offense, trying to figure out how we help on defense. Our defense is improved significantly.' Segerstrom 9, Estancia 7: The Eagles were eliminated on the road Tuesday in the first round of the Division 5 playoffs. Estancia finished the season 16-12. Los Amigos 11, Riverside Notre Dame 6: The Lobos won their Division 6 opener Tuesday at La Quinta High. Los Amigos (11-10) hosts Cathedral City in the second round on Friday.
