LA’s top academic decathletes prepare for state championship from their bedrooms MORE The Grant High School decathlon team in early 2020. Due to the pandemic, this year’s team has been unable to meet up in person to practice or compete. Photo courtesy of Rebecca McMurrin.
For the first time in the school’s history, Ulysses S. Grant High School in Valley Glen won the Academic Decathlon for the Los Angeles Unified School District. They head to the state championship next month, with dreams of making it to nationals.
“Last year, we lost by one question, so you can imagine how that felt,” says senior Yadira Castillo, who received the top individual score at LAUSD. “This year, it made the win that much better.”
A study that found teachers not students were the probable source of several school-related Covid-19 outbreaks highlights the need to maintain mask and distancing guidelines and to prioritize teachers and school staff for vaccination, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Monday.
Darin Gray said his goal over the next few years is to focus on mitigating learning losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo courtesy of Darin Gary)
Darin Gray, the co-director of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering K-12 STEM Center, was recently named the James E. Ballinger Engineer of the Year 2020 by the Orange County Engineering Council an award which honors exceptional engineers renowned in their fields.
The OCEC honored Gray for his long-term work at the STEM Center and awarded him for his influence on disadvantaged students. For the last 25 years, Gray has been part of the STEM educational outreach and has helped many Black and Indigenous students, students of color and girls pursue STEM as a profession. Gray said his work aims to excite students about STEM and educate teachers about how to teach them.
Some first- and second-graders are expected to return to school for on-campus learning Monday in the Saugus Union School District in the Santa Clarita Valley.
Some first- and second-graders are expected to return to school for on-campus learning Monday in the Saugus Union School District in the Santa Clarita Valley after almost a year of virtual classes.