Page 7 - Reedley Exponent 2-14-19 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent PB anorama
All the latest in local senior news and events happening in town
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Section | Thursday, February 14, 2019 www.reedleyexponent.com
Campus Days at Immanuel Schools
The View From Here
sat Debbie Valdez Barragan and her husband, Jorge Barragan.
Debbie said she is originally from Reedley but moved shortly
after graduating from high school. "I am originally from here, grew
See IMMANUEL page B2
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654
I want to wish every- one in town a Happy Val- entine's Day. I hope you
spend time Juanita Adame with those you
love the most. Last week
I attended Campus Day's at Im- manuel Schools.
I had the pleasure of meeting several parents of new Immanuel students on the afternoon of Feb. 7. Campus Days is an event held at the school to help new parents and students become acquainted with the school and what it has to offer.
School staff answer questions, parents can tour classrooms, talk to teachers and current Immanu- el parents and see first hand what goes on there.
There is also a chapel service and student panel. During a lunch break, I went over to attend the live parent forum.
While at the forum, I met KarenAnderson. Karentoldme her granddaughters attend Im- manuel and she herself was also an Immanuel High graduate back in 1976.
Karen was just about to speak to new parents when I ar- rived. She was able to give them some insight of how the campus has changed over the years but how the morals and ethics of the school have stayed the same. She was a little nervous when we talked, but she ended up doing an amazing job speaking in front of the crowd. Great job Karen.
As I was making my rounds, I met Debbie Valdez Barragan and her husband, Jorge.
Debbie told me that she is a Reedley native but moved to Northern California not too long after she graduated from Reedley High School.
She also added that coming back home has been exciting for her. Jorge, her husband is not a Reedley native and the couple agreed they are excited for the new chapter in their lives with their children attending Imman- uel.
I also would like to thank all the staff at Immanuel, I am al- ways greeted cordially by both teachers and student and end up coming back to the office with some great photos and inter- views. Good luck to all the new incoming students.
So, back on the subject of Val- entine's Day. I found an interest- ing article online that reported people are now spending more money on themselves instead of others during the holidays.
I believe a healthy relation- ship with yourself, learning to love yourself is important, it was definitely interesting reading that.
On Feb. 11, I had the chance to talk to some local florists about Valentine's Day.
I met Jessica Garza from Aurora's Flowers and I also met Cynthia Nunez from the Reedley Flower Shop.
Both shops were extremely busy in the days leading up to the Valentine's Day.
Over at Aurora's workers were busy creating beautiful flo- ral arrangements. Garza told me they need to prepare as much as possible for the big day.
I asked both ladies which flowers are the most popular dur- ing the holiday, they both agreed that red roses are by far still the most popular to give on Valen- tine's Day.
For those who love to receive flowers but hate to see them wither away, a little tip I like to do with flowers once they begin to dry out is to hang them and let them dry out completely, then put them in a small sash. They look pretty and will last for many years.
So I hope everyone enjoys the milestone day. Whether you have a significant other or you are sin- gle, remember the one who has always been by your side, is you! Happy Valentine's Day.
By Juanita Adame
Juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
Karen Anderson sat in the back of the gym at Immanuel High School on the afternoon of Feb. 7, waiting to speak to new parents about the school and what it has to offer. This was all part of the school's annual "Campus Days" program.
Campus Days is a two day event geared at familiarizing new parents and their children to the campus, teachers, and the various programs they offer.
"I was asked to speak about how our granddaughters are doing here at Immanuel," said Anderson. "I'm also going to speak a little about my experience because I am an Imman- uel alumni."
Anderson graduated from Im- manuel High School more than 40 years ago, and now her grand daugh- ters attend the school.
"I started at Immanuel Acad- emy in 1972 and graduated from Immanuel High School in 1976," she said. "But of course the campus has changed. The chapel services have changed to be more contemporary, but the common bond is still our faith."
A few feet away from Anderson
Juanita Adame / The Exponent
ABOVE: From left, Sara Pree, Ruby Rankin, Lauren Stallions, and Courtney Pre- heim, all current Immanuel High School students, posed for a photo in front of the school's "Campus Days" sign on the afternoon of Feb. 7
Juanita Adame / The Exponent
ABOVE: Phillip Goertzen, Immanuel High Principal talked to parents of in- coming students during the school's live parent forum.
Class tours, talking to teachers were just part of the event for new students
After the storms come the views
Photo Contributed
ABOVE: A photo sent in by Immanuel staff employee John Schlesselman. The photo was taken on Feb. 5 from the rooftop of the Immanuel Chapel following a series of rainstorms that passed through the Central Valley.
'Start with Hello' week kicks off
Photo Contributed / The Reedley Exponent
ABOVE: From left, Mya Garcia, Hanna Cox, Gustavo Sanchez and Aaron Quezada.
Silas Bartsch students picked to participate in nationwide test for science, math, and reading
Photo Contributed / The Reedley Exponent
ABOVE: Jefferson Elementary School students held up signs that read "hello" in various languages. From left are Raul Mireles, Brittny Vargas, Jacqueline Ramirez, Maritza Lopez-Campos.
BELOW: Reedley Middle College High School students and staff members celebrat- edStartWithHelloWeekbyhavingalunchtimephotobooth. Fromleft,Christina Rios, secretary, Ron Pack, principal, and Joel Hoffman, teacher.
Contributed
Silas Bartsch K-8 School stu- dents participated in the National Assesment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test.
According to information from "Focus on NAEP" the test is designed to report results at the national and state level, as well as for selected urban districts, without requiring every student in every school to take the assessment.
This is accomplished by cre- ating a sampling frame using the Common Core of Data (CCD) and the Private School Survey (PSS). NAEP is then administered to a sample of students from this frame who represent the student popula- tion of the nation as a whole.
The Bartsch students- Mya Gar- cia, Hanna Cox, Gustavo Sanchez
and Aaron Quezad- were awarded certificates of community service for participating in the NAEP test. Each student who completed the test was recognized for having pro- vided one and half hours of com- munity service.
The data gathered from test re- sults from both public and private schools across the country, is used to create the "Nation's Report Card."
Rodney Cisneros, principal at Si- las Bartsch, said the test was given to 60 eighth graders at the school.
The eighth graders were ran- domly selected. The students took assessments in either science, math or reading. Some of the as- sessments were taken electronically and some were taken using paper and pencil.
Results from the test will be de- livered this summer.
Contributed
The "Start with Hello Week"" campaign was observed at several campuses in Reedley.
Start with Hello was started as a suicide prevention curriculum put in place by the district in 2018 after state law, Assembly Bill 2246 went into effect in 2017-2018.
The goal of the state was to have public schools incorporate and ad- dress prevention, intervention, and post-help for students in grades 7th through 12.
"The big focus was that a simple
'hello' could make a big difference in someone's life," said Maira Lopez, afterschool program coordinator at Jefferson. Community Youth Min- istries administers the afterschool program at the campus for the Kings Canyon Unified School Dis- trict.
"In conjunction with the school, we decided to have a week that fo- cused on the importance of includ- ing others and being more aware of others' feelings," Lopez said.
The goal is to keep youngsters connected and involved, which en- hances their abilities to succeed in school.