In The News
In the News
06/02/2021 - Fostering Success by Design at Samueli Academy
Two SoCal interior designers earn high marks for the Santa Ana school’s new student dorm. (Bluedoor Magazine)
06/01/2021 - Fostering Design – Newport Beach Magazine
Interior designers Anna-Marie Claassen of Anthology Interiors in Newport Beach and Tania Cassill of huit in Laguna Beach recently teamed up to create the living spaces at a dorm building for foster youth attending Samueli Academy, a free, public charter high school in Santa Ana.
05/07/2021 - Fostering Design – Laguna Beach Magazine
Interior designers Tania Cassill of huit in Laguna Beach and Anna-Marie Claassen of Anthology Interiors in Newport Beach and recently teamed up to create the living spaces at a dorm building for foster youth attending Samueli Academy, a free, public charter high school in Santa Ana.
03/15/2021 - Adapting to a New Environment
By Hugo, Samueli Academy Alumnus Class of 2020
Before the Pandemic, keeping up with my college classes seemed easy. All I had to do was get to class on time, pay attention, and remember to do my homework. Once virtual classes came into the equation, things started to get a little more difficult. Now, I found myself surrounded by distractions; make one mistake and it could cause me to potentially fall behind.
Paying attention in classes became even more difficult with the many distractions. You now have to take your classes from your room, surrounded by all of your personal belongings. It seems easy enough to turn on your PS4 while in class since no one will have any idea what you are doing behind your screen. With classes conducted in a shorter time than a usual in-person class, it has become much more important for students to pay attention during the lectures, or they will easily fall behind. But shorter classes do not mean less course material. It is now the student’s responsibility to not only review but also learn new material outside the class. During my experience, most of the learning occurred outside of the classes. Since time was limited during lectures, the professor could only cover a small portion of the week’s chapters. This required me to find some spare time to go back and learn the material the professor did not have time to cover since we would be learning a different chapter the next week. This was extra work on top of studying. While still manageable, if I were to not prioritize stuff properly, I would find myself falling behind quickly.
When I first imagined what my first semester at college would be like, I never thought that I would be taking all my classes online. I just decided to make the best of the situation. My first few weeks at California State University, Fullerton were a complete mess. I somehow managed to keep up, despite my disorganization. At that point I was not necessarily falling behind; instead, I found myself cramming all my work into the weekend. In some instances, I worked on assignments the day before it was due. After the first two weeks of school, I decided to make a weekly schedule that allowed me to organize my class and study time; I even discover some free time too. For other students out there, I would suggest finding a hobby to fill the free time since being at home most of the day can get pretty boring. Personally, I got involved with 3D printing and Rubik’s Cube solving.
Since I knew virtual learning was not going to go away, I started to use the advantages that came with it. There have been more opportunities to get help when needed since all professors have office hours, where you are able to ask for help, and some classes even offer to tutor. Before, both of these resources would have intimidated me since I would have to go to the professor’s office asking for help. Now, guidance was just a few clicks away. Throughout the semester, I constantly found myself seeking help in math, and my professor, Professor Pham, was always happy to help out with any question I had. It was also nice to finally be able to talk to someone instead of just staring into a Zoom room full of cameras, mostly turned off.
Overall, my first semester experience got better as the semester ended. I started getting into a habit of turning in assignments a few days prior to the due date and studying became a daily thing. By the time finals came around, I was so prepared that I only needed very little time to study. It might not have been the proper college experience I had originally imagined but, in the end, I made the best of the situation.
Hugo is currently pursuing Civil Engineering at California State University, Fullerton.
01/25/2021 - Youth Connected Program Informational Session
Every Wednesday at 6 pm and Saturday at 10 am
Via Zoom
Would you or anyone you know be interested in becoming a resource (foster) parent to a student? Orangewood Foundation’s Youth Connected Program is hosting regular informational sessions for interested individuals. Sessions are available virtually Wednesday nights at 6 pm and Saturday mornings at 10 am.
If you have any questions about the sessions, contact ycp@orangewoodfoundation.org.
01/08/2021 - OC Register – Wanted: Foster parents for full-time commitment…
Click on the image below to read the full article.
01/06/2021 - Youth Connected Program featured on Fox 11 News GDLA
Orangewood Foundation’s Youth Connected Program was featured on Fox 11 News Good Day LA (Watch the segment below)
01/06/2021 - Fox 11 News Good Day LA
Aired on January 6, 2021, Good Day LA shared a seven-minute story on the Youth Connected Program.
12/31/2020 - Spectrum News 1
Aired on December 31, 2020, Spectrum News 1 highlighted the Youth Connected Program.
12/31/2020 - Youth Connected Program on Spectrum News 1
Orangewood Foundation’s Youth Connected Program was featured on Spectrum News 1. (Watch the segment below)