Page 7 - Reedley Exponent 4-11-19 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent PB anorama
The latest news and events in the senior community
See B2
Section | Thursday, April 11, 2019 www.reedleyexponent.com
Sixth annual 'Tiger ROmP' takes place
The View From Here
ABOVE: A robotics competition was also taking place inside the gym during the career skills competition.
By Juanita Adame
Juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
It was the morning of April 4, and on the lawn in front of the basketball gym at Reedley College were two Reedley High students.
Both were knelt beside a parked car's window, and both were care- fully dusting the door of the vehicle for fingerprints.
A few steps away, several other students from another high school, stood before a large table working on floral arrangements. A few feet from them, inside the gym, Sanger High students and Dinuba High students were participating in the robotics competition.
This was all part of a sixth an- nual career skills competition called
the Tiger Romp competitions.
"We have twelve different high schools that are competing in 23 different competitions," said Fab- rizio Lofaro, the Valley Regional Occupational Program, or VROP, superintendent. "We bring students on campus to showcase their skills but also to showcase the facilities that Reedley College provides, for programs they can do after high
school."
Lofaro said the idea for the
event was started by David Clark, the dean of instruction at the col- lege. It has since grown immensely with more students participating.
See VROP page B8
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654
There are times when I know exactly what I'm going to write about in this column, and there are days like today when I have to really think about what I'm going to write.
Juanita Adame
ABOVE: Students participated in the crime scene investigations competition and were tested on the evidence they collected and the information they gathered from the scene.
So much
has happened
in the city of Reedley in the last few days. Some stories have been good, others have been not so good.
I started off the weekend of April 6 with a visit to the down- town area for the city's annual Rummage Roundup.
I was able to take some photos of vendors and as I returned to the office to upload my photos, I called and asked my daughter if she was up for watching a movie that night, she said yes.
I figured it would be an un- eventful and relatively calm week- end.
I was wrong.
As I got home that evening, my daughter and I were talking about her last year of high school and she was really needing help to pick out classes for her first semester at Fresno City College.
She looked visibly frustrated at the entire "college process." I tried to explain to her that her first two years of college are geared at gen- eral education classes. She wanted to jump into her major classes right away and added that she felt like she was "wasting her time tak- ing those general ed classes."
I told her that attitude is the reason why she'd make a great attorney one day. She's a pre law major. But I also told her if she feels like it's not the direction she wants to go once she does begin taking law classes, she can always change it.
In light of the recent Lori Loughlin college scandals, I want- ed to be sure that my daughter is following her passion and not mine. Plus I'm sure that mine and Lori's financial situations are much different.
Nonetheless, I told her to pic- ture her future, what does she see herself doing every day? Will it be fulfilling? If it feels right then follow it, if not, then don't. And I told her not to worry about what others have to say. Not that she's ever worried about that, but I want her to know that her life is differ- ent from mine and I want her to be happy in pursuit of her career.
We spent the better part of the afternoon looking over schedul- ing options for Fresno City and as we were about to finish, I heard through scanner traffic that a shooting had just occurred in Reedley.
I told my daughter I needed to go find out what was going on. "Be careful mom," she said.
As I drove up to the location of the shooting, I walked past some visibly shaken neighbors.
Most stood there, arms crossed staring off into the distance trying to figure out how or why this hap- pened.
After I was able to obtain some information about the incident, I then decided it was time to go home.
As I arrived at home, and settled in, I heard on the scanner, there was another shooting that night. (SeesecA1)
I seen various Reedley police officers out on scene and I imagine after the second call came in, they worked throughout the night.
I continue to be amazed by the hard work and dedication of the Reedley Police Department. I've gone on several ride alongs and if there's one thing I can say is that these men and women work hard to keep the streets safe.
Even with the recent events that have taken place in Reedley, the community bond here is still strong.
I see people in these neighbor- hoods wanting better for them- selves and for their children.I also see community leaders seeking change and not settling for any- thing less.
Photos Juanita Adame / The Exponent
ABOVE: Devin Buchanan, a Sanger High student, worked on an engineering proj- ect during the sixth annual Tiger ROmP competition at Reedley College.
St. La Salle students participate in science camp
ABOVE: St. La Salle Catholic School student, Christian Noah Sanchez, participated in the school science fair and worked on a variety of experiments.
Meeting for Camacho Park upgrades
ABOVE: St. La Salle Catholic School student, Kelly Fernandez displayed her project dealing with candle burning times. Kelly tested several candles including laven- dar, fresh linene, and lemon to work on her project.
Photos Contributed
Trees added to Kingswood Parkway
ABOVE: Kingswood Parkway tree Fresno planting crew. More photos in A section.
Photo Contributed
Contributed
The public is invited to attend a series of public meetings to discuss grant opportunities for improve- ments to Camacho Park.
"We welcome your attendance and input for what you feel the pri- orities should be," said Sarah Reid, the Community Services Director for the city of Reedley.
The first meeting is scheduled for Saturday, April 27 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The location for the first meeting will be at Camacho Park, 950 E. North Ave. in Reedley.
The second meeting will be on Thursday,May23,from6 to7p.m., and will be held at the Reedley Com- munity Center's Senior Room locat- ed at 100 N. East Ave. in Reedley.
The third meeting will be held on Saturday, June 1, from 9 to 10 a.m. That meeting will be held at Camacho Park as well.
For more information contact the City of Reedley's Community Serrvices Department at (559) 637- 4203.