This story is part of a series of profiles the Ventura County Office of Education is presenting about outstanding graduating seniors in the Class of 2021.Carissa Llamas has a bright smile that lights up the room. She’s a confident speaker who has no trouble expressing herself. And she also has autism.As she prepares to complete four years of high school at Triton Academy in Camarillo, she says she’s come a long way from a time when she was more withdrawn and less social. A...

 This story is part of a series of profiles the Ventura County Office of Education is presenting about outstanding graduating seniors in the Class of 2021.Carlos Alcantar has a lot to celebrate. In addition to graduating as Buena High School’s valedictorian with a 4.75 grade point average and being accepted to Stanford University, he also recently became a US citizen. Carlos has lived in the US since he was two years old and says it’s a huge relief to now be a citizen of th...

High school students in the graduating class of 2021 have shown incredible resilience and perseverance throughout the pandemic. They’ve adapted to distance learning and social distancing and the strange realities of returning to school during a global health emergency.

 This story is part of a series of profiles the Ventura County Office of Education is presenting about outstanding graduating seniors in the Class of 2021.Some students give back to their communities by providing holiday gifts for families in need. Others volunteer at animal shelters or for blood drives. And others join community recycling campaigns to help the environment. Bella Francisco, a graduating senior from Westlake High School, has done all of those things and more during her ...

 This story is part of a series of profiles the Ventura County Office of Education is presenting about outstanding graduating seniors in the Class of 2021.When Andres Casas started feeling unusual pain in his legs during his freshman year, he never could have imagined it was cancer. He was young and healthy and loved being a sprinter on the track team at Moorpark High School. By sophomore year, the pain had gotten worse, and then came the devastating diagnosis. Andres had osteosarcoma,...

Dr. César Morales, Ventura County Superintendent of Schools, is pleased to announce that Mia Rogers from Glen City Elementary School in the Santa Paula Unified School District (SPUSD) is the 2021 Ventura County Teacher of the Year. Rogers and her students found out about the honor today when her family and local dignitaries made a surprise visit to her classroom.  Rogers currently teaches second grade at Glen City Elementary. Her principal, Dr. Lydia Olivo, said Rogers takes a gentle...

 This story is part of a series of profiles the Ventura County Office of Education is presenting about outstanding graduating seniors in the Class of 2021.Per Aspera Ad Astra is Latin for “through hardship to the stars,” and Fillmore High School senior George Mooradian says it’s an ideal description of his life.George never knew his father, who left the family before he was born. Then, when he was eight years old, he lost his mom too when a severe asthma attack unexpe...

 This story is part of a series of profiles the Ventura County Office of Education is presenting about outstanding graduating seniors in the Class of 2021.Imagine four students attending class remotely on their computers from the same small hotel room for a month. That was the reality for Maria Oregel Lopez and her siblings after a fire displaced her family from their Oxnard apartment earlier this year. “There were six of us living in one room with two beds,” she recalls. &...

After an extensive search, Dr. César Morales, Ventura County Superintendent of Schools, has named Lisa Salas Brown as the new Associate Superintendent of Educational Services for the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE). Ms. Salas Brown is currently VCOE’s Executive Director of State and Federal System of Support. In her new role, she will lead VCOE’s Educational Services Branch, which helps school districts maintain compliance with government regulations, provides traini...

Ventura County high school students are invited to attend the Hackathon by the Sea, a two-day computer coding event presented by the Ventura County Office of Education with support from the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Engineering & Expeditionary Warfare Center. Hacker Fund, which is a national nonprofit network of STEM mentors, is joining us again this year to deliver the event.  Participants will have the chance to “hack together” all types of creative projec...