Lake County Gazette

Bhavan Sharma-Lewis, superintendent of Diamond Lake School District, praised various people who provided aid and support programs in schools.

“(Longstreth and Abrika have) been generously donating to our district over the past several years,” Sharma-Lewis said during a meeting. “They give out of the kindness of their hearts and do not want any recognition or public accolades. Each year when they come to meet with me in person they have always said, 'Please use these gifts as you see fit — whatever the students and or educators need.'”

The district has three schools: Diamond Lake School, West Oak Intermediate School and West Oak Middle School.

Longstreth and Abrika were recognized by the superintendent for their donations to the school district over the years. The superintendent noted that in her seven years of working at the district, these two community members have given over $20,000 to the district, which doesn’t include the donations they had been making for several years before. Their money funded STEAM programs, library resources, professional development, lunch debt forgiveness during COVID and much more.

The district offered free breakfast and lunch for its students last academic years.

Also recognized at the meeting were parents that volunteered with the district dual lingual program. The community liaison Daisy Carrera thanked four parents — Araceli Mendoza, Maria Jaime, Celso Cabrera and Eva Armenta for helping with the D76 BPAC leadership team. Carrera said she constantly receives comments from other parents on how the district embraces and supports cultural and linguistic diversity in their community and schools.

The district offers dual language education during kindergarten taught by Lauren Anderson.

The district has a variety of dual language educational programs. They range from an equal bilingual education, a directed bilingual program that helps those students who are ELL, or English language learners, and introductory Spanish courses for students who grew up speaking English. The programs are implemented at all three schools in the district.