Page 8 - Dinuba Sentinel 3-14-19 E-edition

A8 | Thursday, March 14, 2019 Back Page The Dinuba Sentinel Cutler-Orosi students gearing up for leadership
Young Worker Leadership Academy prepares students to be leaders in the workforce
Students from Orosi High School listen to speakers during a Young Worker Leadership Academy, where students learned about workplace rules, rights and regulations.
Downtown
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Photo contributed
Sentinel staff report
In January, Orosi High School was awarded a mini-grant for high school students to participate in the Young Worker Leadership Academy. The YWLA is a collaboration of the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC), the University at California, Berkeley’s Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP), and the University of California, Los Angeles’ Labor Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) program. It is part of the statewide Worker Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program (WOSHTEP) administered by CHSWC.
The academy provides leadership training for teens on workplace safety, rights and responsibilities that took place in February at the UC Berkeley. It introduces participants to service strategies (policy, education, media), and provides a forum for youth to plan service learning projects for their schools and communities to promote positive, safe employment for youth. The three- day leadership training was attended by Lesley Estrada, Daniela Rusiles, Marissa Quezada and Isamar Rodriguez students from the high school’s Career Pathway Academy of Engineering and Green Technology and Career Pathway Academy
of Health Sciences.
Daniela Rusiles stated: “I was surprised to learn
that undocumented workers had rights. This was important to me because I was undocumented there was much I didn’t know. What I have learned at this conference, I can now be an advocate to some of my peers, who want to become U.S. citizens and be a part of the workforce in the future.”
The academy was a unique opportunity for the youth to become leaders and advocates for teen labor rights and health and safety. The students will become trainer of trainees to facilitate “Safety on the Job” workshops as part of the curriculum for Orosi High’s Work Based Learning Student Job Shadowing and Internship Orientation and Training. That also includes implementation of sustainability and student empowerment in the workplace. In addition, the students must demonstrate their knowledge and learning by informing their peers and community in various types of settings. The students’ first presentation was held on Feb. 20 to the Career Pathway Academy Advisory Board represented by 15 industry partners from engineering, agriculture, healthcare and post-secondary partner, UC Merced representatives.
Daryl Redondo is the new owner of Big D's Bar and Grill, on the corner of Tulare and L streets. Redondo had a soft opening on Saturday to introduce the new business to the public. He hopes to have the bar and grill open by the end of April.
L Street, was built in the late 1890’s. Before becoming the neighborhood’s local bar and grill, the building also served as the town’s first Bank of America and Conklin’s clothing store.
The building took on a new life several years ago when Joanne Ruiz, wife of the late Louis Flores Ruiz, the co-founder of Ruiz Foods, gave the building a complete overhaul to turn it into what was originally J’s Bar and Grill.
A new owner took over in 2014 and changed the name from J’s Bar and Grill to D’s Bar and Grill. Unfortunately, the new owners had the business for only a couple of years and the building had sat dormant since.
That changed recently, as Visalia businessman Daryl Redondo recently purchased the building.
Redondo has had crews working on the building for the past few weeks now, and Saturday hosted an invitation-only soft opening, offering free food and drinks.
Though most of the building was turn-key, Redondo will be taking the next few weeks to make cosmetic updates and upgrades, such as the sound system. He also plans to place custom made pool tables and electric dart boards upstairs.
Redondo also brought back some familiar faces
to the establishment. His head chef will be Travis Sandoval, who was also the head chef for the original J’s Bar and Grill. And serving behind the bar will be another familiar face, as Donnie Malone returns as bartender.
“I’m excited for Dinuba,” said Malone, who grew up here and graduated from Dinuba High School. “It means a lot to me to be able to bring this place back.”
Joining Malone behind the bar will be Denisse Rivera, who worked with Malone at Crawdaddy’s in Visalia.
Saturday’s soft opening brought a full house, with patrons occupying both levels of the building. “This is good for Dinuba,” said Ramiro Guerrero, who attended Saturday’s event. “Without this people end up going to Visalia or Fresno. This
gives people a local place to go.”
The name will only change slightly, as the
new business will be called Big D’s Bar and Grill. Redondo hopes to have the business fully operational and open to the public by late April.
With the addition of Orbit Lanes, Big D’s Bar and Grill and students flowing into the new Dinuba Vocational Education Center, foot traffic in downtown Dinuba appears to be increasing.
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
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