Page 10 - Sanger Herald 6-14-18 E-edition

Lifestyles
SANGER HERALD • 2B • THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2018
Fairmont 8th-graders step forward
Sanger
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Hawwa Alshoaibi plans to become a doctor.
She made the announcement before her fellow classmates and those gathered to watch the promotion of Fairmont Elementary’s promoting class of 2018 on June 7. She was one of eight valedictorians, and in her address she indicated her determination to succeed.
“No matter what hardship I face, I will not give up,” she said.
That declaration applied to much of her class, a group of 61 already so accomplished that when principal Jared Savage mentioned each of those who had been honored for either an academic or sports achievement, about half the group on the small stage was standing.
Savage encouraged his departing students “to lift others up and be the light for them.” And he told the audience gathered outside in the setting sun on school grounds that he has no doubt they will do exactly as he expects. “It’s in their DNA,” he said.
Of course, valedictorian Sydney Peter pointed out what’s on many of their minds. “Life will change
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Cecilia Gomez hugs granddaughter and Fairmont student body president Kiana Alcantar after her promotion.
word he came up with to describe this particular class.
“It’s empathy,” he said. “You can sense the emotions around you. You can feel those feelings as if they’re your own.”
Alshoaibi appeared to personify that. She said although it was her father who inspired her to pursue a career in medicine, she mentioned another reason it attracted her. “I want to help people,” she said.
And she shared a pearl of wisdom her father told her. “My dad said, ‘If you want to be somebody, you have to start right now.’”
Others in her class likely heard similar prompts. Expect a number of sports standouts — roping, football, swimming, sprinting — and professional — aeronautical engineers, musicians and, of course, doctors — from this class.
Alshoaibi said she’s unsure just what specialty she’ll pursue, but she has time to decide. The one thing she and the others will have on their resumes — Fairmont.
The reporter can be contacted by email at nemethfeatures@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
going to high school,” she said, adding they “celebrate the accomplishment of surviving middle school.”
Peter also said she found something at the rural kindergarten-through-
eighth school just off Shields and Academy avenues. “Fairmont always was and always will be a true family,” she said.
And valedictorian Abigail West talked about
hopes, fears and goals. She spoke about the difficulty of coming to a new place and the joy of finding her place at the school. “I have overcome my fears and have new friendships I’ll
never forget,” she said. West said she tried so hard to get good grades that at times she thought about giving up. “But I didn’t,”
she said.
Savage talked about the
Sanger Academy promoting class ready for next 4 years
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Sanger Academy Charter School valedictorian Aimee Evo thanked her teachers on behalf of her 67 fellow eighth-graders upon their official promotion to high school June 6.
“Definitely prepared us for the next four years,” she said, peering over the lectern at an audience of parents, relatives and friends.
But one of those instructors, Maurizio Russo, known for his guitar-strumming standout students, won’t be continuing on after she and her classmates leave. He is retiring after 18 years and was honored by his coworkers with hugs, kind words and a T-shirt that read, “I have a retirement plan.” And in smaller type it continues saying that he plans to play his guitar.
Evo also singled out Russo.
A Word About Forgiveness — Part 2
How do people normally deal with guilt?
One way is we try to bury our past. The problem is that guilt keeps coming back to life. It will come back to haunt you.
Here are some ways we try to bury our guilt. Some are minimizers: “It was no big deal, it happened a long time ago.”
But you can’t get it out of your mind. Why did I do that? I wish I had never done that. I regret it and I feel ashamed that I’ve done that.
It was a big deal.
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
A couple members of the audience cheer on their favorite eighth-grader.
his students are given an incentive, teachers better be ready to produce a lot of pizza, cake or ice cream because students meet whatever goal is set.
“Continually amazing us with their talents,” he said. Coleman said he expected every one of them to not only be successful in the next four years, but the
next eight.
Performances included
Russo's guitar players doing renditions of "Malaguena" and "Las Mananitas" arranged by Russo. And the choir performed "Standing Tall" by Cristi Cary Miller and Jay Michael Ferguson.
In keeping with the school's reputation as a bastion of musical creativity and talent development, the sixth and seventh grade band provided the processional score.
Russo appeared to embody that connection the school’s teachers inspire.
After the promoting
to cover up, trying to hide, trying to remember.
Who did I tell what?
You’re using energy in the wrong way. You have spent all your energy for real life and that’s why you’re tired all the time. The most fatigued people are the people who are covering up the most. It takes enormous amounts of energy to bury your past. It just keeps coming back.
Remember Psalms 32, “When I refused to confess my sins, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. ... My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, ‘I
ceremony, which featured guitar performances by his students, a woman approached Russo from the audience. She was effusive in her praise and was happy to see him.
“She was a student from 18 years ago,” he said.
She got his number. Russo, 72, returned her smile. They caught up a little bit.
The guitar maestro said he plans to travel (“Going to Italy”) and take care of his five grandchildren. And, of course, he will play guitar. Maybe perform at church or the occasional wedding, he said.
On Facebook, under the photo of Russo with his retirement shirt, Rene Cruz indicated how he felt. “Most inspirational man ever,” he said.
The reporter can be contacted by email at nemethfeatures@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt it gone.”
When we finally come to God and say, “God I need you to forgive me.” And he wipes out all our guilt. It’s such a relief.
Next Week: Part 3 — How do we deal with Guilt? Blaming others?
Pastor Sam Estes is city advance director and facilitates the Sanger Community Task Force that meets the first and third Tuesdays every month. He can be reached at pastorsam51@gmail.com.
The bond between students and teachers at the school appears solid as more than half the promoting class has
Minimizing doesn’t work. Next, we don’t minimize but we rationalize. We say,
everybody else is doing it. That has nothing to do with you and it certainly doesn’t relieve your guilt. Just because somebody else did it doesn’t make it right. Rationalizing does not remove your guilt. What
others do is irrelevant. Finally, some are compromisers. The compromise is: “I feel bad about it, so I’ll just keep doing it.” Just because you think it’s normal doesn’t
mean it’s right.
You’ve just gotten used
toit.IfItellalieonceorI tell it fifty times that’s just normal.
No, it’s still a lie.
attended the charter school that emphasizes the arts and academic excellence since kindergarten. And principal Mark Coleman,
who just finished his first year in the role, said Sanger Academy students surpass expectations.
Coleman said that when
PASTOR’S CORNER
Minimizing, compromising and rationalizing that doesn’t work. You cannot bury it. Proverbs 28:13 says this: “You’ll never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins.”
Pastor Sam Estes
a seed of anger, I’m going to reap a harvest of anger at some point.
It’s all going to come back to me. It’s going to catch up. The Bible says you can never succeed in life if
Why is that true? Every seed you plant eventually sprouts. You can’t keep it from sprouting. The Bible says, “Be sure, your sins will find you out.”
The Bible says, “What you sow, you will reap.” If I’m out there planting seeds of selfishness they’re going to come back on me. If I’m planting seeds of envy and jealousy, they’re going to come back on me. If I plant
you try to hide your sins because you can’t really hide them. But there’s another even deeper reason.
When you’re trying to hide something, you are investing enormous amounts of emotional energy in something that you don’t have the energy to keep up. When you’re investing enormous amounts of energy trying