Chino Valley Unified School District

The Ayala Entrepreneur Team had to prepare extensively so they could talk about their apps in an effective and respectful manner to the board. “I never want to feel robotic when I talk, so I just kind of went for whatever felt right and natural at the time, but also being respectful,” Logan Orozco (10) said. Pictured from left to right, member Donald Bridge, Vice President Jonathan E. Monroe, Superintendent Norm Enfield, President Sonja Shaw, clerk Andrew Cruz, member James Na, and student representative Chloe Kubeldis (12) get prepared for the next segment of the meeting.

On Thursday, February 1, the Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) board meeting took place where various opinions were expressed after the Ayala Entrepreneur Team displayed their app ideas for the board. 

To start off the very eventful board meeting, the Ayala Entrepreneur Team, or the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club, displayed their app ideas that they had been working and researching long and hard for. The members worked in teams of two in order to place in the competition, where the winners would go on to talk to the board about their ideas, showing how dedicated they are in the competition. 

“We want to make ourselves presentable to the board,” William Weng (11) said. “FBLA is our business pathway and it just kind of shows them how seriously we take the competition.” 

One of the apps was a stock market app where you can easily buy and sell your stocks without having to go to a bank. Another app that was presented was an app where students can search for volunteer hour opportunities and log their hours on the app since finding places to earn this requirement is quite difficult for most students. 

“If you’re able to analyze [stocks] effectively and are not worried about taking risks with your money to an extent, it’s just a good way to have your own nice source of income,” Logan Orozco (10) said. 

These young entrepreneurs had to display their ideas in a competition with students from all across the country. Orozco and his partner, Gracie Hou (10), did a phenomenal job with their stock app as they received first place in California. As well as this, Weng and his partner, Mihir Mandapaka (11), were ranked second in California for their service hour app. This just shows the talent and drive that these young entrepreneurs have that will take them long into their adult lives. 

“Logan did really well. He was researching charts and he was researching fundamentals about companies,” FBLA advisor, Dr. Art Boren said. “He really did well, and he wanted to be the number one [even though] he’s only in 10th grade.” 

The meeting also contained various topics about concerns of lack of respect and representation in schools. This started with a group of teachers, referred to as the Associated Chino Teachers (ACT), who felt as though they weren’t being paid the appropriate wage in comparison to the hours they worked. President Brenda Walker mentioned that due to this lack of respect and payment, there are vacancies across the district for teaching positions. 

The meeting continued with many different speakers talking about how students who are members of the LGBTQIA+ community are being harmed due to new district policies. It was mentioned that because students are not allowed to express themselves where they are accepted, mental health crises including depression and anxiety are on the rise. 

The last point that was brought into discussion was that some students are feeling like they are being discriminated against during school. Various accounts were mentioned where students felt like they were being treated differently than students of other races, as well as being called various racial slurs that made these students feel unsafe in their school.  

This district board meeting brought about various issues and opinions about how some students and teachers are being treated by their schools and districts. The students of the FBLA program also did a phenomenal job presenting their ideas in a respectful manner, serving as a nice conclusion to yet another productive board meeting.