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When children are little, we ask them a familiar question: What do you want to be when you grow up?

The answers change. A veterinarian becomes an artist. An astronaut becomes a teacher. A student who once had no idea suddenly discovers a career they never knew existed.

And that is exactly why opportunities to explore matter.

On Monday, October 5, CUSD will host its Fourth Annual Empowering CUSD Students: Women in Leadership event at the Don F. Fruechte Theatre for the Performing Arts at Claremont High School. The evening brings together accomplished women from education, business, real estate investment, creative production, television and professional athletics, but the heart of the event is much bigger than hearing about successful careers. It is about giving students a starting point for imagining their own.

A student may walk into the theatre knowing nothing about commercial real estate and leave wondering what it would be like to build a company. Another may hear about producing television and realize that the entertainment industry includes hundreds of careers beyond the people they see on screen. Someone else may discover that creativity can become a profession, that healthcare includes opportunities in global business and technology, or that the path to the Olympic stage can begin in the same classrooms and hallways they walk through every day.

They do not have to leave knowing exactly what they want to become.

They simply have to leave knowing there is more out there to explore.

This year's featured women include keynote speaker Dr. Donya Ball, a retired superintendent, author, executive coach and international speaker; Veronica Acurio, President, Orthodontics at Envista; R. Lynn King-Tolliver, Founder and Managing Partner of Archere Investment Management; Sara Boucher, Senior Experiential Creative Director at Zed Ink; and Emily Aldana, a television producer and Claremont High School alumna.

The evening will also feature a special student-led conversation with Brittany Brown, an Olympic medalist and CHS alumna whose journey has taken her from Claremont classrooms to the Olympic podium.

What makes Women in Leadership especially meaningful is that CUSD students lead the conversation. Our student ambassadors have researched the women they will meet, developed the questions they want answered and will take the stage themselves to guide the discussion. Their curiosity shapes the evening.

For families, we hope the conversation continues long after everyone leaves the theatre.

On the drive home, ask your child what surprised them. Ask which career they had never heard of before. Ask whose story stayed with them. Ask what they would want to learn more about.

There is no age when a student needs to have their future figured out. But there is also no age that is too early to start discovering the possibilities.

Sometimes the first step toward a future career is not choosing a major, filling out an application or landing a first job.

Sometimes it is simply hearing someone describe what they do and thinking: I didn't know that was a possibility.

We hope CUSD families will join us Monday evening, support our student ambassadors and help us fill the theatre with students who are ready to listen, wonder and imagine what might come next.

Empowering CUSD Students: Women in Leadership
Monday, October 5, 2026
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Don F. Fruechte Theatre for the Performing Arts at Claremont High School
Free admission | RSVP encouraged | Wear pink

Their Questions. Their Stage. Their Future.

CUSD celebrated Constitution Day on September 17.  Sycamore’s classrooms engaged in a variety of activities designed to acquaint students with the history, meaning, and importance of the U.S. Constitution as a living document, and how it took time and people fighting for equality to expand rights. 

In Billy Halverson’s second and third grade class, students created a constitution tree and added branches to record the additional amendments.  As they added the 14th amendment to their model, a student commented, “Wait!  If the Fourteenth Amendment calls for equal rights, how come women still weren’t allowed to vote?  That doesn’t seem right at all!”  Mr. Halverson was able to explain that Susan B. Anthony and Virginia Minor agreed, but the Supreme Court did not.  He continued to explain that not everyone initially benefitted from these rights.  That’s when another student interjected, “This does not sound like Sycamore.” 

Fourth, fifth and sixth graders in Mrs. Schuster’s class learned about the process of adding amendments and considered examples of proposed amendments that did not receive the two-thirds vote in Congress to send them to the states for ratification.  Students learned of an amendment proposal from 1933 that would have capped annual incomes at $1 million and applied excess income to the national debt.  They reviewed an amendment proposed in 2000 that would have allowed any U.S. citizen of twenty years or more to be eligible for the presidency. They considered the 2005 amendment that would have given Congress the power to prohibit desecration of the U.S. flag (overruling the Supreme Court's decision that flag-burning is a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment).  Students worked in groups to identify the pros and cons of these amendments and shared their ideas with the class.  Students enjoyed exploring these perspectives before taking a class vote on these proposed amendments from the past.

The activities of Constitution Day helped students see how the document is designed to grow with us, and how questions and deep thinking are essential to civic responsibility.

For many years, Claremont Unified School District and Azusa Pacific University (APU) have worked together to prepare future mental health professionals while strengthening school-based supports for students. Through practicum and internship placements, APU graduate students gain meaningful clinical experience while helping meet the mental health needs of CUSD students. This school year, that partnership is growing through the Claremont High School Wolfpack Zen Den Wellness Center, a space where university training and school-based practice come together across mental health, prevention, wellness education, restorative practices and student engagement. "It is exciting to see this partnership come to life at the CHS Wolfpack Zen Den Wellness Center, creating opportunities for internship training, direct student support, and innovative strategies for mental health and wellness," said Dr. Erica Robledo, CUSD Coordinator of Mental Health Services.

Leading that expansion is Rachel Enamorado, the district's first APU Master of Social Work (MSW) macro-level practicum student. A second-year MSW student specializing in macro social work, Rachel is focusing her capstone project on student mental health and wellness, work that aligns closely with the Zen Den's continued growth. She has already partnered with Grace Solevilla-Moreno and her Baldy View ROP Mental Health & Behavioral students to create suicide prevention awareness materials and learning opportunities that connect CHS students with the Zen Den's resources and foster belonging and support. Rachel also launched the Garden Keepers Club, which invites students to join her every Tuesday at lunch to care for the Zen Den garden, connect with nature and grow together. Behind the scenes, she analyzes student engagement and service data to help the center identify trends, strengthen safety and supervision, and refine its practices as part of CUSD's Multi-Tiered System of Support.

The partnership recently welcomed Dr. Jean Un, APU's Director of Practicum Education, for her first visit to the Zen Den. Dr. Un saw the center in action, connected with Rachel and met with CHS Principal Dr. James Mitchell and Dr. Robledo to discuss student wellness and the Zen Den's future. "This longstanding partnership reflects the shared commitment of APU and CUSD to providing well-supported practicum experiences while expanding resources and opportunities for students," Dr. Robledo said. Together, CUSD and APU are expanding access to mental health resources, creating new ways for CHS students to connect and thrive, and preparing the next generation of school mental health professionals.

Chaparral Elementary School students celebrated kindness and a love of reading during a schoolwide Dolly Parton Day honoring the singer, songwriter and longtime literacy advocate. Second graders put kindness into action with a special recess game in which students balanced Frisbees on their heads while trying to avoid being tagged. When a Frisbee fell, a classmate could stop to help put it back in place, and both students were safe from being tagged while helping. Once the Frisbee was back on, students practiced one more important habit by saying "thank you."

The celebration also brought Dolly Parton's commitment to literacy to life with a schoolwide book swap at recess, inspired by her Imagination Library. Students traded books, discovered new favorites and shared the joy of stories with their classmates. Through play, reading and small acts of kindness, Chaparral students showed how helping others and sharing what we love can make a school community a little brighter.

Mountain View Elementary School students had a blast during the school's Bubble Run, a fundraiser supporting the Mountain View Parent Faculty Association (PFA). Students walked and ran the course alongside their classmates, singing and dancing to upbeat, kid-friendly music as they made their way through clouds of bubbles. Caregivers cheered from the sidelines, turning the day into a memorable celebration of school spirit for the whole Mountain View community.

Funds raised through the Bubble Run will support PFA-sponsored events and activities throughout the year, creating more opportunities for students and caregivers to connect and celebrate together. With bubbles in the air, music playing and smiles all around, the event was a joyful reminder of the strong community that makes Mountain View special.

At Oakmont Outdoor School, the outdoors is more than a setting for learning. It is central to how students learn. Each grade level explores a different biome through hands-on, inquiry-based experiences, and fifth grade is the year students dive into aquatic ecosystems. In teacher Emilia Marquez's fifth/sixth-grade combination class, fifth graders started with what they already knew about water environments, then learned that aquatic ecosystems include freshwater, saltwater and brackish water before examining the habitats and species found in rivers, streams, oceans, coral reefs and kelp forests.

Their learning reaches well beyond the textbook. Students examine specimens and fossils, study the relationships between organisms and take part in hands-on investigations such as squid and octopus dissections. Marquez also leads deeper dives into individual species throughout the year. Right now, students are studying sharks, with each student researching a different species and building a three-dimensional papier-mâché model.

Eight El Roble Intermediate School students from the Foundations of Digital Technology class recently took their learning beyond the classroom with a day trip to Cisco in the Bay Area. Joined by students from other school districts, the El Roble group got an inside look at the technology industry and the workplace culture at a major tech company, from breakfast and lunch on campus to a seemingly endless supply of snacks.

Throughout the day, technology professionals shared lessons from their own careers, including a recurring message that challenged students to see failure as an important part of learning and growth rather than something to avoid. Students asked questions and responded to discussion prompts, earning tickets toward prizes such as headphones and Cisco sweaters. For El Roble students, the visit offered a chance to see future careers up close and imagine where their interest in technology might lead.

Students in San Antonio High School's Ethnic Studies class helped bring Hispanic Heritage Month to life during recent visits with younger students at Oakmont Outdoor School and Vista del Valle Elementary School. Each visit began with Ethnic Studies teacher Ms. Velasquez reading a story centered on inclusivity. San Antonio students then partnered with elementary students to share what they had learned about the Hispanic countries they researched.

From there, the activity became personal. With support from their high school buddies, younger students created crests celebrating their own cultural backgrounds around the phrase "I am proud to be." By connecting across grade levels, students celebrated identity, culture and belonging through conversation, creativity and community.