The Accolade

Remote learning 2.0: Online games, polls, new tech tools used to provide a more enhanced version of instruction for students

Pre-Calculus Honors teacher Amanda Morris uses an online game Sept. 11 in her Period 3 class that pairs classmates randomly to reinforce concepts learned in class. Several teachers like Morris are finding new ways to make their virtual classes more engaging for students since the second round of distance learning started for the 2020-2021 school year.

September 19, 2020

After a month of distance learning using the Zoom virtual meeting platform, Pre-Calculus Honors teacher Amanda Morris decided it was time to change things up. “I chose this game because it gives you an opportunity to talk about and describe functions, which is important for the lesson we are start...

Summer spike in COVID-19 cases in Orange County leads to cancellation of in-person graduation ceremony at Buena Park’s football stadium

Class of 2020's Johnathyn Yip and Elena Singh, wear their Sunny Hills cap and gowns at a senior graduation photoshoot at the Brea Dam on June 28. The Class of 2020 not only lost its senior traditions like prom, Grad Nite and paper toss, but last school year's seniors also never had a chance to walk down the aisle to pick up their diplomas during a commencement ceremony usually held at Fullerton Union High School's football stadium. An Aug. 5 makeup graduation at Buena Park High School's football stadium was canceled July 28 because of the continued increase in COVID-19 cases in Orange County.

Sydnee Tallant

August 27, 2020

Elise Ibara (Class of 2020) was looking forward to seeing as many of her former senior classmates again earlier this month. With traditional senior events like prom in April and Grad Nite and the commencement ceremony itself in May wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic, Ibara held out hope that CO...

COVID-19 slashes another educational tradition: the first day of school

When the 2020-2021 school year starts Aug. 11 at Sunny Hills, students will not be able to greet each other in person like in past first days of school. Sunny Hills, along with all public and private high schools, will for the first time in state history be closed as distance learning 2.0 begins. California Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this summer had mandated that schools in counties with high COVID-19 cases remain closed.

Aaliyah Magana

August 10, 2020

This was not how rising senior Jason Thomson imagined his first day of the 2020-2021 school year would go when it starts Aug. 11. “I mean, I imagine coming to school and seeing all my friends like in past years and just feeling a kind of ‘this is it’ feeling. like this is where we’re at, thi...

Gov. Newsom issues mandate for campuses in 33 counties — including Sunny Hills — to start 2020-2021 school year with distance learning because of high number of positive COVID-19 cases

Sunny Hills High School’s quad and classroom buildings will remain empty Aug. 11 when school starts as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mandate that campuses in counties on the state’s coronavirus watch list stay closed for safety reasons. The July 17 decision comes nearly a week before a July 23 special meeting of the Fullerton Joint Union High School District trustees to discuss reopening plans for Sunny Hills and the other seven schools in the district.

Alice Shin

July 19, 2020

Nearly a week before the Fullerton Joint Union High School District [FJUHSD] trustees were scheduled to hold a special meeting to vote on a plan to reopen schools, including Sunny Hills, California Gov. Gavin Newsom made the decision for them. Newsom announced in a July 17 news conference that although he f...

Korean Culture Night would have commemorated its 10th year anniversary had it not gotten axed because of COVID-19-related school closure

Wearing their performance outfits, some members of the Korean Culture Club practice with their buk drums March 2 after school on campus for Korean Culture Night. The March 21 event, which would have commemorated its 10th year, was canceled a week before because of the spread of the novel coronavirus. The thunderous sounds created by these instruments represent the South Korean nation, and the drummers' performance would have been the first one after intermission. Image posted with permission from Esther Lee.

Lauren Jung

May 25, 2020

It was supposed to be an event to commemorate the 10th year of performances to show what the Korean culture -- past and present -- is all about. Korean 1 and 2 teacher and Korean Culture Club [KCC] adviser Esther Lee had also invited such special guests as Fullerton Joint Union High School District supe...

Students, parents react with tears, concerns over school closure for rest of spring semester — likely through the summer

Printed signs like this are taped outside Sunny Hills High School's main office doors between Rooms 3 and 7 as a reminder to the community that the campus will remain closed through the summer unless California Gov. Gavin Newsom lifts his stay-at-home orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Photo taken by Accolade adviser Tommy Li

Aaliyah Magana

April 17, 2020

Senior Sarah Bankhead couldn’t stop refreshing the inbox of her school email on her iPhone 7+ after reading the latest announcement from Fullerton Joint Union High School District superintendent Scott Scambray. Bankhead was hoping to read a subsequent notice from Scambray that would cancel out that f...

Sunny Hills to remain closed through May 1; classroom return date scheduled for May 4

The Helios staff meets with adviser Lindsay Safe (top left corner) March 19 via the Zoom online app to discuss what they need to do to finish the 2019-2020 yearbook since school will remain closed until May 4. Zoom is among some of the distance learning tools that Sunny Hills teachers are using to conduct classes online. Image used with permission from Anika Madan.

Tyler Pak

March 19, 2020

In an effort to slow the coronavirus pandemic, Sunny Hills will remain closed through May 1; until then, students will continue their education through distance learning, Fullerton Joint Union High School District [FJUHSD] superintendent Scott Scambray announced March 19. “This is a fluid situation...

District sends eleventh-hour notice changing online learning start date from Monday, March 16, to Wednesday, March 18

This Aeries communication email was sent to parents and students at 7:40 p.m. March 15, followed by another one sent at 8:50 p.m. containing a much shorter message and informing readers to go to the Fullerton Joint Union High School District website to access the superintendent's letter in a PDF file. Students remain uncertain, though, as to how their teachers will take Aeries attendance when distance learning begins Wednesday, March 18.

Tyler Pak

March 16, 2020

After a Friday, March 13, email from Fullerton Joint Union High School District [FJUHSD] superintendent Scott Scambray that Sunny Hills will be closed to students and that they would have to be educated online starting Monday, March 16, district officials changed their minds in a Sunday, March 15, evening...

Group ‘flocks’ to aid homeless students in Fullerton Joint Union High School District

Fullerton’s Love of Orange County Kids, also known as FLOCK, has been raising money and accepting donations of school supplies, clothing and prom attire to support homeless students in the community. Art by Erin Lee.

Hanna Oltman

February 4, 2020

A man wearing tattered clothes while pushing around a shopping cart. A woman sleeping under a bridge with nothing but a stray dog to keep her warm. A man holding a sign on the side of the highway asking for spare change. These are the preconceived notions most people have of homelessness based on...