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The countdown is on. Empowering CUSD Students: Women in Leadership is this Tuesday, October 14, at 6:30 p.m. in the CHS Don F. Fruechte Theatre, and seats are filling fast. This event is for everyone: girls who are finding their voice, boys and men who want to show up as allies, and all families who believe in Excellence, Innovation, Integrity, and lifting one another up. Admission is free and first-come, first-served, and your RSVP helps us prepare for a great experience. Bring a friend, bring a mentor, and get ready to be inspired. RSVP now and join us on Tuesday.

Claremont native and CUSD mom Jessica Clague DeHart, PhD, MPH (Associate Professor at Claremont Graduate University and Founder/CEO of the LYTE Foundation) is visiting CHS teams this October to launch “Think Before You Pink.” Her message to scholar-athletes is simple and powerful: know the why behind the pink you wear. Drawing on her work as a breast cancer researcher and her family’s experience with the disease, Dr. DeHart is leading honest, age-appropriate conversations about breast cancer, survivorship, and how students can turn awareness into meaningful action.

At the recent CHS Frosh-Soph football meeting, students were deeply engaged, asking thoughtful questions throughout the discussion. When Dr. DeHart asked how many knew someone who has or had breast cancer, nearly every hand in the room went up. It was a moving moment that resonated across the group and underscored why informed awareness matters both on and beyond the field and court.

Through LYTE Foundation, Dr. DeHart equips teams with Pink Packs that include Pink Facts and game-day materials, then invites students to “Think, Pink, Act.” Think by learning about early detection, risk-reducing behaviors, and survivorship. Pink by wearing pink with purpose and asking where donations go. Act by taking a step that supports survivors and advances research. Guided by LYTE’s vision to empower breast cancer survivors and those living with metastatic breast cancer to illuminate their brightest path forward, the foundation delivers community-based coaching, education, and training, as well as storytelling and research, led by certified health and wellness coaches and advocates.

Scripps College students are once again teaming up with Chaparral in a long-running partnership that brings weekly world language lessons to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. Led by Associate Professor Marino Forlino through the Core 3 program, college teams visit campus on Wednesdays to introduce students to Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, and Italian in energetic, 30-minute sessions. The goal is bigger than vocabulary. Chaparral students are learning what it means to study another language while building cultural competence and curiosity about the wider world. Many lessons are tailored to student interests, helping spark a passion that teachers hope will carry into future coursework and experiences.

The practicum is equally powerful for the Scripps teams. Students who are fluent, bilingual, or enrolled in upper-division language courses design lesson plans and slideshows that put theory into practice, drawing on communicative teaching, Universal Design for Learning, and culturally responsive strategies. They leave each class feeling accomplished and prepared for real-world teaching, with some alumni later pursuing opportunities such as Fulbright awards, Teach For America, and education careers abroad. This semester includes ten Wednesday visits, with six remaining, and the enthusiasm on both sides shows why this partnership continues to thrive year after year.

In Mrs. Oshima’s class, Fat Bear Week is a highlight of the year as students tune in daily to Katmai National Park’s live webcam in Alaska to study ecosystems, adaptations, animal behavior, and hibernation while watching bears catch salmon leaping upstream to spawn. Each day, the class evaluates head-to-head bear matchups, debates which bear shows the most impressive getting-fat transformation, and votes as the bracket narrows. The biggest cheers come when a salmon launches right into a bear’s mouth, and this year’s celebration ended on a sweet note with bear cookies honoring Chunk, the 2025 Fat Bear Champion.

Last weekend, Claremont High School 10th graders Madeleine Ho and Alexander Vance traveled to Colorado with their teacher, Frau Jennifer Tsai, for the PASCH Triathlon. This event was a full German immersion soccer competition with PASCH partner schools from the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala. The all-expenses-paid scholarship experience featured icebreakers, language workshops, and real conversation practice, much of it at the YMCA of The Rockies Estes Park. Students spoke German the majority of the time, building confidence through activities like soccer, hikes, ping pong, and rollerblading. They credited CHS classroom routines, especially “waterfalling,” a technique in German 3 and 4 where students speak continuously in German for two to three minutes, for helping them stay in the language even when they forgot a word.

The trip proved both inspiring and academically rewarding. Madeleine shared that conversations with visiting students boosted her vocabulary and motivation, while Alexander said the mountain setting and free time activities deepened friendships and fluency. Both plan to apply what they learned in German 4 this year and on the AP German exam, and Alexander will also draw on the experience for his Study Bridge program. Frau Tsai notes that students can apply for this PASCH opportunity starting in German 3, encouraging future applicants to be ready to speak naturally, embrace the challenge, and enjoy the community that forms when everyone is eager to participate.

On Wednesday, October 8, Claremont High School turned the campus into a living roadmap of possibility, as every student rotated through three morning sessions with speakers whose careers spanned uniforms, lab coats, hard hats, code editors, studio lights, and lecture halls. One room buzzed with future-ready conversations about public service and community safety, another unpacked the science behind saving lives and building better cities. At the same time, down the hall, students explored creative industries, global languages, and the power of storytelling. Seniors got a turbo-boost with college and financial aid support so they could turn inspiration into action. The day’s biggest takeaway was electric and straightforward: there is no single path to success, but there is a path for every student at CHS.

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