First Avenue Junior High was one of 3 area schools to receive the state Dept. of Education's Distinguished High School and Middle School Awards. Arcadia's Foothill Jr. High received the award in 1988. The other winners included San Marino High School and the L. A. County High School for the Arts at Cal State Los Angeles.
Ruth Lubin, 82, a former Arcadia High School art teacher, won the "Ms. Senior America of California" competition for the Los Angeles metro area, to be followed by the state competition in Torrance in March, 1994. Ms. Lubin performed a Balinese dance, explained her wood carving, and recited a poem.
Kenneth Branson, 18, a senior at Arcadia High School, is one of only 6 San Gabriel Valley students to receive a $200 National Merit Scholarship. He is one of 1800 nationwide winners.
A team from Arcadia High School was the regional winner in the 1996 National Science Bowl. They will join other regional winners in the finals of the competition in late April in Florida.
David Park, 17, a senior at Arcadia High School, is one of only 6 San Gabriel Valley students to receive a $2000 National Merit Scholarship, on of 1800 nationwide winners. Park is one of only 2 students in California to also be honored in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, where he is one of 500 national finalists competing for 141 scholar awards.
Andrew Wong, 23, a former microbiology major, is now a fashion design student at Otis School of Art and Design in Los Angeles. He was the winner in both the men's and women's fashion categories of the school's annual Silver Thimble Awards.
23 "heroes and heroines" in the Arcadia Unified School District were honored by the Board of Education in the first "Profiles in Excellence" awards. The awards were presented to "individuals who maintain a standard of excellence in their work and who represent those values and qualities which make Arcadia a special place for students." Names and positions of winners are given.
Jef Wheeler, 26, a jazz dance teacher at Arcadia Dance Arts for two years, is currently touring with "Heart Strings" an AIDS benefit sponsored by the Design Alliance to Combat AIDS and the Design Industries Foundation for AIDS. After the Los Angeles show, the troupe will move on to Houston, Miami, New York, Boston and Washington, D. C. Organizers hope to raise $4 million for AIDS research, community education programs and care and services for AIDS patients.
17 students at Arcadia Alternative High School signed up as owner/operators of Medi-Kit Company, part of a 13-week Junior Achievement program sponsored by the Arcadia Rotary Club. The Medi-Kit auto safety first-aid kits sell for $8.
The 9-person team of Arcadia High School placed 3rd out of 73 teams in the county's 41st annual Academic Decathlon, thus performing the best ever in Arcadia High School history. The decathlon consists of speech, math, science, fine arts, social science/history, economics, language, literature and essay competitions.