Page 6 - Mid Valley Times 8-22-19 E-edition

New principals named in Reedley and Orange Cove
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
Excitement, gratitude and a bit of anxiousness were just some of the emotions felt by Stacy Carrillo, Rosemary Rubalcava, Greg Visser and Patricia Ledesma a few days before school began.
The group of educators from Kings Canyon Unified School District were about to assume their new roles as principals at a variety of schools throughout Reedley and Orange Cove — Carrillo at Citrus Middle School in Orange Cove, Rubalcava at Alta Elementary, Visser at Washington Elementary and Ledesma at Jefferson Elementary.
“This is my 16th year in the district," said Carrillo on the afternoon of Aug. 9. "I’ve been at Grant Middle School as a teacher. I’ve been
Stacy Carrillo
at Citrus as a learning director previously. I’ve been at Reedley Middle College High School as a learning director and for the last five years before this at Reedley High School.”
Rubalcava, a Reedley native who graduated high school in 1997, said she never envisioned that one day she’d be a school principal and that it’s an opportunity she’s extremely grateful for.
“I grew up in Reedley, went to Reedley
Rosemary Rubalcava
schools,” she said. “I went to Great Western, Navalencia and Reedley High School. I attended Fresno State and started teaching in Selma. Then my dream was to become an instructional coach.”
After her time in Selma, she returned to Reedley where a chance encounter took her career to the next level.
“I met up with Sheila Wiebe. She was my first grade teacher at Great Western School, and she was the principal at T.L.
Patricia Ledesma
Reed, wanting to hire an instructional coach,” she said. “I came into the interview, just with the idea that I wanted to see what it would be about. She offered me the position. So my dream was to be a teacher, and everything just got better from there.”
Rubalcava said she also knows the only way to become better at her job is with experience.
“The words I’d like to say — I don’t know how to say it. It’s more of a feeling,” she said. “I’m
Greg Visser
just so grateful. I know I am going to grow into the job. I know there is so much learning to do, Ijustneedtonowbein those moments and let it happen.”
Patricia Ledesma’s educational career began in Orange Cove. She said part of the job she enjoys so much is watching her students progress and grow.
“I love this district,” she said. “I began at Citrus Middle School as a language arts and social studies teacher.
I then went to Orange Cove High School where I taught Algebra. And then I became a learning director at Orange Cove High.”
Greg Visser said that for him, being a principal means being able to serve the teachers, students and families of Washington Elementary.
“These are opportunities where I can grow as a person and affect the people around me in a positive way,” he said.
“So these opportunities have opened up for me, starting as a learning director. That was an opportunity I had. I took it and learned a lot and made a lot of good relationships and hopefully affected people in a positive way. And that’s what I aim to do here at Washington.”
Classes for the 2019- 2020 school year began Aug. 14.
First day for
By Mike Nemeth
Mid Valley Times
Vestiges of his predecessor remained.
But with Rick Church now an employee of the Fresno County Office of Education, the first day of school at Kings River and Taft high schools was the Jon Tillotson show. Still, the wall sized calendar in Tillotson’s new office bore Church’s notations and the walkie talkie on Tillotson’s belt had a label that read “Church.”
Tillotson, a former assistant principal at Sanger High, knew his size 12s might have some growing pains as they adjust to Church’s somewhat celebrated “big shoes.” And being the new principal at Sanger’s alternative school posed a serious change in scenery for the longtime Sanger Unified School District loyalist.
“First time since 1998 that my first day of school is not on the Sanger High campus,” Tillotson said.
Tillotson greeted each of the more than 90 students, handing out class schedules and making brief introductions. As the line wound down, he recognized one of the parents, Jeremy McMurtry. As the pair recalled a brief shared past, junior Devan McMurtry waited patiently, nodded at the appropriate time and had that “are we done so I can get to class” look.
A couple more students came through.
a new principal in Sanger
Mike Nemeth / Mid Valley Times
Jon Tillotson speaks with Jeremy McMurtry and his daughter, student Devan McMurtry, at Kings River High on the first day of school. Tillotson replaces Rick Church at the high school. Tillotson hangs out with Alfredo Ponce, the new principal at Sanger Community Day School, at its open house the night before classes start, right.
said, repeating Jones previous theme. “We have a new theme this year — ‘See the Greatness.’”
On the first day, Lovett said she’ll have to change last year’s collection of photos to reflect the new year’s “greatness” theme.
Meanwhile, Tillotson discussed the prospects of a Taft Independent student who wished to return to regular classes. Then he and Ranallo visited each classroom to observe and a couple of times introduced himself.
Susana Reyna, who teaches Spanish and English, introduced her visitors. She already had her students reacting and connecting like they’d already been attending class a couple weeks.
Science teacher Tamson Stainbrook likewise dived right into her curriculum. “We’re going to do a unit called ‘Jump Into Life Skills,’” she told her assembled students. “How do you build your self esteem?”
Joseph Boone, who teaches English and music, presided over the most vocal group, likely because their topic of the moment was musical genres. Boone had nearly all his students engaged, talking about how love songs can cross genres. He also mentioned that because of his age (a Zep fan) he may have a “language barrier” when it comes to artists and defining “old” music.
See First day on page A8
It was a little past 8 a.m. Aug. 15.
“Is that everybody?” asked Phil Ranallo, the school’s veteran guidance learning specialist.
“I guess so,” Tillotson said.
The exchange took place outside in the courtyard. The temperature was pleasant, although the forecast called for a blistering 107 by afternoon. Ranallo and Tillotson then joined campus security officer Jose Maldonado, who like Church had worked at the school 14 years, and several other
security staff, including a Fresno County probation officer. Their security meeting was short, and Tillotson said he was used to a more complex run-down at his previous gig.
“Judging how this morning went, we should probably be all right,” he said.
“A little better behaved than normal,” Ranallo said.
Maldonado talked about sight lines and the practical stuff his staff needed to keep in mind during the day. Tillotson moved on when they wrapped up discussion.
Next stop was the
office. There, office manager Sylvia Lovett and assistant Felina Ybarra kept a pair of studentofficeassistants busy and helped handle paperwork and last- minute registration for incoming new students.
The evening before, Lovett had talked about the first day. “It’s always a great time here,” she said. “You’ll see how we get through. It’s a good chaotic. We
don’t have many who haven’t registered.
“I always get excited for the first day of school, seeing them come back.”
Above Lovett’s desk in the office was a board with Polaroid photos of students. It featured the motto of superintendent Adela Madrigal Jones from the year before. “I told the kids they could have extraordinary moments,” Lovett