On Friday, April 12th TUSD honored our amazing community members who assist with various activities at our schools. Beckman chose to recognize and thank Kate Kersten and Alia Chowdury:

Kate Kersten, Community Honoree

Kate is the embodiment of dedication and selflessness. Her passion to serve has taken her through every grade level at Tustin Unified School District. From Tustin Memorial Academy to Pioneer Middle School and finally, Beckman High School. At each school, she has dedicated her time to various positions on each PTO Board. She is also the past president of the TUSD Coordinating Council as well as the local chapter and national Board of the National League of Young Men. Currently, Kate is a member of the Executive Board of the Tustin Public School Foundation.

Alia Chowdhury, Coordinating Council Honoree

Alia’s passion to be involved in her children’s education comes from her own childhood experience. Her working immigrant parents did not have the time or understand the significance of attending her school activities. She is always eager to serve the Beckman community. From Hicks Canyon Elementary to Orchard Hills School and now at Beckman High School, she has found a way to be involved and promote quality education empowering teachers and students. The Beckman community has benefited greatly from her tenacity to be proactive and leadership in various functions.

On Wednesday, April 24, we celebrated eleven of our Senior student-athletes. These standout athletes will be competing in their sport at the next level as they move on from Beckman. The celebration was held during the late morning in the gym where we had family members decorate each athlete's table with gear from the program they'll be attending. You can see the entire list of athletes, the sport they'll be playing moving forward and their future school/program below. All of our student-athletes had an opportunity to take pictures with family members prior to Break and then we invited students into the Gym to join the celebration during the student break period. We had an enormous turnout of friends and family members to make this a special day for these student-athletes. We appreciate how these athletes represented us during their time here at BHS and wish them all the best as they move forward!

During the spring, students in the visual and performing arts come together to host Jazz Café + Art Shop. This event provides jazz music performed by our very own Beckman Band students. Our visual art students either displayed or sold work, where they were able to discuss their art with clients. Graphics created board games and children's puzzles. Photography printed on different medias like wood and ceramic tiles to enhance their photographs. Studio Arts hand painted layers of acrylic and other small, detailed items. Lastly, the AP students hosted their own "booths" selling their original products ranging from jewelry, dice, hand painted nail sets, clothing, and much more! This year, we had a huge turnout which made students feel accomplished and recognized by their teachers, staff, families, and community members. Thank you for all your support!

The Tustin Student Film Festival, hosted here in the Beckman PAC, is a district wide event designed to showcase and award the best work created by TUSD middle and high school students each year. This year's red carpet event was bigger than ever with over 300 films entered, and red carpet vendors including Acai Republic, Tustin High's NachoBizness Club, and desserts provided by Foothill's culinary program.

At the end of the night Beckman came out ahead with 9 awards including Best Commercial, Best Short Film, Best Music Video and Best PSA. Sanjana Menon (12) received the award for Best Graphics/Visual Effects for her work on Beckman Beat, Nuha Iftekhar (12) won Best Production Design for her work on Let it Happen, Ethan Garcia (11) won Best Director for his film The Peculiar Story of Arthur Atanasoff, Jacob Pascual (11) won Best Producer for his film Yasuke, and Otis Liu (9) won both Best Editing and Best Story for his film Love, Life & Sun Bears.

For Prom Spirit Week (4/15-4/19), ASB hosted some fun activities during lunch to boost our Beckman spirit before the Prom dance! On Wednesday of prom week, there was the final Student vs. Staff game. It was an excellent dodgeball game, with the students taking home the final win against the staff! Also, on Thursday, we had Mr. Bowman, Mr. Han, and some of our ASB seniors participate in Pie-a-Princess. Finally, on Friday of Prom week, Retirement Rhythms, one of Beckman's music clubs, performed Disney songs with a special guest, Mrs. Le! All week long, there was a Spirit Dress Up Competition for whichever 2nd-period class had the most spirit, and Ms. Starr's 2nd-period class took the win for a prize of Raising Canes!

Congratulations to our Robotics team! We had 4 teams qualify for the 2024 World Championships in Dallas Texas. The teams were among over 600 teams from around the world who competed from April 25th to 27th.

On April 12th, the Chapman University Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship hosted its annual Panther Cage pitch competition. The competition is now open to the community and students outside of Chapman University. In the student category which consisted of startup teams from colleges, the winners were Lauren Cho and Mandy Shi from Beckman High School. Their startup called SimplyFly is an app to help make your flying and travel experience easier and more enjoyable. Lauren is currently enrolled in an IVC dual enrollment entrepreneurship class at Beckman High School.