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104 Baldwin Park Unified Students Praised for AP Exam Success One hundred four students at Baldwin Park Unified’s two comprehensive high schools are being honored as AP Scholars by the College Board for their stellar success on Advanced Placement (AP) exams. The exams are the culmination of the College Board’s AP program that is designed to give high school students the opportunity to take college-level courses. Students who succeed on AP exams show they are ready for the rigors of college, may be allowed to skip some college courses and are more likely to graduate college on time. AP exams are graded from 1 to 5 points. To be an AP Scholar, a student must earn a minimum score of 3 – the lowest passing grade – on three or more exams. To be an AP Scholar with Honor, a student must average 3.25 with a minimum score of 3 on four or more exams. To be an AP Scholar with Distinction, a student must average 3.5, with a minimum score of 3 on five or more exams. Of the 104 students honored at Sierra Vista and Baldwin Park high schools, 68 were recognized as AP Scholars, 17 as AP Scholars with Honor and 19 as AP Scholars with Distinction. “We are proud of all our students who take on the
challenge of these AP classes. These are extraordinarily demanding programs, but they deliver equally rewarding benefits,” said Baldwin Park Unified Superintendent Dr. Paul Sevillano. In 2014-15, 1,579 Baldwin Park Unified students took AP exams, including some who took more than 10. Subjects included art history, studio art, English language, European history, U.S. government, U.S. history, calculus, biology, chemistry, physics and Spanish. Sierra Vista senior Anel Castellanos achieved one of the District’s highest average scores, earning three 4s and three 5s on six AP exams. That success earned her the status of AP Scholar with Distinction, the College Board’s second-highest honor. Castellanos said the AP program helped inspire her passion for science and medicine. “It helped me pick the career I wanted,” said Castellanos, who is also a forward on the Dons varsity girls’ basketball team. “I want to become a biomedical engineer, perhaps specializing in helping create better artificial limbs.” Castellanos began kindergarten at De Anza Elementary as an English learner. In 2008, after passing
exams, she was designated as fluent English proficient. She is a graduate of Sierra Vista Junior High, where she participated in an accelerated math program, passing geometry as an eighth grader. She took her first AP exams as a sophomore, scoring a 5 on AP Calculus AB and a 4 in AP World History. As a junior, she scored 5s in AP Calculus BC and AP Spanish Language and Culture, and 4s in AP U.S. History and AP English Language. Sierra Vista High calculus teacher Daniel G. Toohey said he could tell in the first two weeks of Castellanos’ sophomore year she was something special. “She excels because she shows great attention to detail, a commitment to do her work exactly as I demonstrate it and a level of maturity that I rarely see from someone her age,” Toohey said. Castellanos’ perfect grades in AP and regular classes elevated her 4.0 GPA to a weighted GPA of 4.5, matching her 4.5 average on AP exams. This year, she will take AP Biology and AP Computer Science. If she earns at least 4s in those subjects, too, she will qualify as a National AP Scholar – the College Board’s highest honor.
The City Council of Sierra Madre acts like they own everything that is within the city limits: they keep passing new legislation that adds more costs, regulations, and restrictions on the property owners of the city. They have even made statements that they may even sell the water department. They also threaten to contract out the police and fire departments. They act like it is their way or the highway! The fact is that the government OWNS nothing. The property owners of the city and every dollar of income come from the people. They do not have the right to sell any department within the city. If they are thinking of any of those things, they must put it to a vote of the people. The people elected to have a local government so that they would have local control and protection from
the other levels of governments. This government is to serve the people - which they seem to have lost sight of. They are constantly working against the people. They have taken down the welcome sign for new property owners. The way it is now, an owner cannot tear down an old substandard home and replace it with a new home that serves their own desires. Has the city forgotten that the individual owns the property? Have they trampled over the right of eminent domain? What about personal property rights? The way it is, the government has passed more laws and created so many obstacles that the cost of building a home in the city has made it near impossible for a person to reside here. The way things are going no one new will want to move in and the home owners will soon not be able to sell. A current
real estate ad on a home on an R-3 zoned lot is advertised that a prospective buyer should check with the city to see what else can be built on the lot. It is amusing since the particular realtor has long been against any form of change and knows very well that the answer is NOTHING. What should the Sierra Madre Council be doing? Start serving the people, relax the restrictions, reduce the fees and other charges. Forget about the grey water plumbing. Let the property owner control their landscaping. Reduce the spending and focus on maintaining the property under the public domain. The people do not need more of what you're doing. They need you to serve their needs before the city becomes a ghost town. People, please wake up to what's going on! -Sierra Madre Watchman
August 27, 2015 - september 2, 2015 | 5
El Monte City Schools Have Killed the Bees
"Bees" is plural for the many, many years of El Monte Schools’ Districtwide Spelling Bees, one in English and one in Spanish. Our El Monte School District used to give our children this chance to compete and shine! Each school sent its Champion Speller, along with the entire class to support its Champion Speller. Talk about school spirit! Unfortunately, our district has now decided to "Kill the Bees"--both of them. Why?????? According to the District's demonstrably misguided view, a Spelling Bee is an unnecessary "frill, one that has nothing to do with California's Content Standards.” Visit www. cde.ca.gov and decide for yourself! On the contrary, those skills incorporated in a Spelling Bee directly support and help prepare students for success on the California State Standards Testing Program. Spelling Bee contestants learn
prefixes, suffixes, word meanings, word origins, cognates, homonyms, antonyms, synonyms, grammar, proper spelling, and much more. And, their teachers, family members, and even their fellow students help prepare the spellers for the Classroom Bee, the School Bee, and, if successful, for the District-wide Bee. Spelling Bee participants don't "just' receive a list of hundreds of words, they are given all the words in grammatically sound sentences and the meanings of the words. They are instructed to research the words, find their meanings, synonyms, antonyms, and much, much more. Spelling Bees directly benefit the children, along with their parents and families, particularly those children who are learning English as a second language. Many National Spelling Bee Winners are immigrant children who acquired their expertise in the Spelling
Bees in their local school classroom, school district, and state. Not allowing our students in our El Monte City School District to even have a district-wide Spelling Bee is a disservice and, in my opinion "anti-educational." Our students will be barred from participating in the Los Angeles County School District's Annual Spelling Bee Competition. Also, they cannot compete in the State of California Annual Spelling Bee, or in the National Spelling Bee. Our children deserve the chance to shine. What better way than to "Be in the Bee?" Last year, a student from Baldwin Park USD won third place in the Los Angeles County Office of Education Bee. Did our El Monte kids even enter the contest? El Monte City School District, Don't Kill The Bees! -David Siegrist EL MONTE