Page 9 - Sanger Herald 11-22-18 E-edition

Lifestyles
SANGER HERALD • 3B • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2018
Ag Pathways students show off what they've learned
Sanger
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Moriah Doane and Luceli Avila sought out 20 plants — five perennials, five annuals, seven weeds and three trees.
They collected various parts and pieces of the vegetation for their Plant ID project, which determines which of the species proved most amenable to being pressed for later display.
Victor Leyva and Jordan Gutierrez figured out what biodegradable compound worked best for small engine cleaning, finding that their brand worked best combined with compressed air.
The two teams, both juniors, were amongst 220 showing off sophisticated projects they created, researched and then presented to teams of
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Luceli Avila and Moriah Doane display their project.
The first Ag Pathways class graduated last year, with many receiving the equivalent of a two- year college degree upon receiving their high school diploma.
Doane and Avila created a hard-bound version of their project and also an electronic version, which reflected skill in photography as well as use of sophisticated platforms. “We found weeds pressed the best,” Doane said.
Avila said that had to do with their generally greater exposure to light and dried more by the sun. She said they collected the various vegetation and carefully dried each one in a dry- plant press, which they made from two pieces of wood and various other layers.
“Many were what you would find in your front yard,” Doane said.
“Identification shows how they can be grown, where you could find them and what they can be used for,” Avila said. “For instance, Spanish lavender can be used for borders, etc.”
Gutierrez and Leyva, like Doane and Avila, chose a project for its practicality. “Our teacher said it’s easier to clean engines because otherwise they could overheat,” Leyva said.
“If they’re dirty, it could cause them not to start,” Gutierrez said.
The pair displayed a four-stroke Honda and four- stroke Briggs & Stratton. Both were spotless, show- quality. They also had a bottle of the Purple label cleaner they found worked best at their table. And they had a couple of the cleanest shop rags just in case.
“We learned a lot,” Gutierrez said.
Another part of the project is all about the delivery. The students had to present their projects, answer questions and discuss the relevance. That part initially worried Gutierrez. “The next one will be easier,” he said. “I was nervous, stuttering.”
Not when he spoke to me. By then both had it down. I was ready to buy the cleaner.
And Avila and Doane’s work indicated the two had an artistic streak and extreme attention to detail, both on the electronic product and the bound volume. In fact, all the projects showed a lot of work and high quality standards.
The reporter can be contacted by email at nemethfeatures@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
reviewers at Sanger High’s Ag Prep Showcase on Nov. 13 in the multipurpose room.
Matt Canaday, curriculum support provider who oversees the program, said the event went well. “The projects got bigger, more creative,” he said.
Students even built a rocket ship planter.
Canaday also said he was impressed that about 30 parents turned out to view the showcase despite it being held early on a work day.
Kristin Coronado, assistant principal, said showcases are held every fall and spring. She said seniors rated each project according a standard rubric, or scoring guide.
12 Days of Giveaways awaits Luviano
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Jesus Luviano competed for a dancing gig with Disney Cruise Line with about 500 others.
Five spots had opened. But Luviano was good — so good that he made the semi-final cut and then earned the ultimate nod of the judges.
“Disney said yes,” Luviano said, recounting the audition from some years back.
But the job required the one thing Luviano just didn’t have at that time. A work permit. His residency status was questionable. He moved to the United States from Mexico with his parents as a 14-year- old who wanted more than anything to dance. And despite overcoming countless obstacles, many having to do with language fluency, poverty and unfamiliarity with nearly everything in his adopted country, he couldn’t meet that single requirement.
“I couldn’t take the job because I didn’t have the permit,” he said.
Luviano shelved his frustration and moved on. The 2006 graduate of Sanger High School in California’s central San Joaquin Valley learned early that achieving what he wanted wouldn’t be easy, that even understanding a school assignment took
The Courage to Keep Going
Paul writes to the Corinthians and tells them, “We’re pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Where do you get that kind of resilience? Where do you get the courage to keep on going when every bone in your body wants to give up and throw in the towel?
For the next few articles, I want us to look at what do
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Jesus Luviano returned to Sanger High to talk about how he overcame obstacles and got a job in television.
deference, the same respect whether that person was a celebrity or just a regular Joe or Josephine.
So, when he got an email invitation for a job interview last year that would basically change his life, or at least his resume, he remained somewhat in the dark.
Luviano told this story in a less belated fashion to Erica Mardirosian’s Advanded Drama class recently at Sanger High. “I didn’t even know who Ellen was,” he said, referring to the comedian whose daytime talk show is now in its 16th season. “I hadn’t seen TV for years. I was constantly trying to save up money and go to school.”
The class got a kick out of the admission.
“So cool,” said Mattie Braley. She and a couple dozen others listened to Luviano’s hour-long presentation with rapt attention, not whispering a word until the end when the questions came fast and furious.
“It makes me think I could do something,” said Star Aguado, a senior cheerleader and one of the leads in Mardirosian’s most recent production, “Arsenic & Old Lace.” And Aguado herself had auditioned over the previous weekend at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy with
See Ellen, Page 2B
Christ? It’s this: Love your neighbor as yourself. That’s the law of Christ. It’s mentioned seven times in the Bible. We’re commanded to help each other. So every time you help somebody who’s going through their pain and they are experiencing doubt, frustration, anger and fear, you come alongside and let them know, “It’s OK. I will believe God for you. I will help you.
I will lift you up.”
Then you’re fulfilling the law of Christ. Pain is the great equalizer. When you’re in pain, it doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, young or old, , educated or uneducated, you’re in pain.
an incredible amount of willpower and extra work.
So Luviano did what he always did. He figured out an alternative. And he worked. Hard. Eventually, he landed a job with Metropolitan Fashion Week in Los Angeles, staging various shows and
you do when you feel like giving up? Last column, we talked about telling God how you feel. This week we explore accepting help from others.
You need to accept help from others. Because God doesn’t intend for you to handle all the pain, all the loss, all the stress in your life by yourself. We were wired to be in relationship with each other. We need each other.
The first thing God said in the Garden of Eden is “It’s not good for man to be alone.” We’re made to be in relationships. Here’s the problem.
When you go through a major disappointment, you don’t want to tell anybody
events. He met people like big name designers, performers and dancers from Cirque du Soleil. “Big, big names,” he said.
But, because he was always working, attending college classes or just finding a way to survive each day, he didn’t know
many of the celebrities he encountered. He didn’t watch much TV or consume popular culture.
And last year when Luviano got his most significant job — and met legal work requirements, a coworker had to explain the significance of a guest
on the television talk show. The guest’s name was Kim Kardashian.
In fact, when Luviano, 31, was contacted about the TV job, he didn’t know the host. His recruiter said he liked Luviano’s work at Fashion Week, liked that he treated everybody with the same
crisis. So who’s going to help you?
This is why we need each other. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Encourage each other and give each other strength.”
That’s a command. God commands us to bear each other’s burdens. I’m supposed to help you when you’re going through your losses and tough times, and you’re supposed to help me when I go through my losses and tough times.
That’s why we need small groups. If you’re not in one you need to get in a small group. Galatians 6:2 states, “By helping each other with your troubles, you obey the law of Christ.”
What is the law of
PASTOR’S CORNER
about it. When
you go through
a major loss, the natural human reaction is to pull
back, to isolate
— to handle it by
myself. You want
to keep it a secret
when you’ve had a
loss, a failure, a mistake, a crisis.
Bad idea. Even though the natural reaction is to withdraw, you need friends in your life at that point. Job 6:14 says, “When desperate people give up on God Almighty, their friends, at least, should stick with them.”
A friend walks in when everybody else walks out. The New International
Version says, “Even a despairing man deserves the devotion of his friends, even if he forsakes Almighty God.”
In other words, there will be times in your life when in so much pain you
Pastor Sam Estes
you are
feel, “I don’t even believe in God right now!” That’s when you need people who say, “That’s OK. We will have faith for you. We will trust God for you in this moment.”
Encourage everyone to get in a small group. Your small group is a safety net. If you are not in a small group, you haven’t helped anybody else through their