STUDENT COUNCIL members at St. Columban School in Garden Grove organized creating Valentine’s Day cards for senior citizens.

Students at St. Columban Catholic School in Garden Grove are finding creative ways to connect with the local community.

For Valentine’s Day, the student council reached out to Mary McGary, activities director for Brookside Senior Living in Garden Grove and asked if they could make Valentine cards for the seniors and staff. With the help of pupils pre-school through eighth grade, 130 handmade cards were created and given out on the holiday.

Employees of the Month for January in the Garden Grove Unified School District are Kelly Hughes, secretary at Excelsior Elementary School and Duc Dang, math teacher at Lake Intermediate School.

Teachers of the Year for the Huntington Beach Union High School District are Aaron Tyson of Fountain Valley High School and Lori Chlarson of Edison High School.

Colleges and universities are honoring students from the West Orange County area. Recipients are

• Guadalupe Garcia of Huntington Beach was given the Academic Excellence Award from Weber State University of Odgen, Utah.
• Kelli Check of Garden Grove received her master of science degree in applied behavioral analysis from St. Cloud University in Minnesota.

New appointments have been made to commissions in Garden Grove. They include:

• Downtown Commission: Nathaniel Lindley, Elizabeth Dang and Marilyn Tortolano
• Planning Commission: Ariana Arestegui (District 6), Asia Cunningham (District 3)
• Neighborhood Improvement and Conservation Commission: Brandon Chavira (District 1), Daniel Gonzalez (District 2), Tuan Tran (District 6), Eric Williams (District 1)
• Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission: Khang Bao (District 1), David Johnson (District 1), Alan Strickland (District 5), Olivia Tran (District 2)
• Traffic Commission: Roger Flanders (District 1), Joseph Laricchia (District 5), Jeffrey Sanders (District 5), James Webb (District 2)
• Measure O Citizens’ Oversight Committee: Kris Beard, Meghann Holst.

“Our Towns” is the place for events, honors, announcements and names in the news for the communities of Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Stanton and Westminster. Send your items to orangecountytribune@gmail.com .