Page 9 - Reedley Exponent 3-8-18 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent BPanorama
Hoffman wins Reedley Lions Club speech contest
See B8
Section | Thursday, March 8, 2018 www.reedleyexponent.com Speaking volumes
The View From Here
This week’s column, as Dr. Seuss might have put it, zigs and zags from here to there, so let’s begin with a reading affair.
Great West-
ern Elementary
School on March
1 welcomed
guest readers for its “Read Across America” event that puts the spot- light on, you got it, reading. These events are held nationwide on or around the March 2 birthday of children’s author Dr. Seuss (whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel). My story is in this week’s Panorama section.
Robin Tyler, a member of the Kings Canyon Unified School Dis- trict governing board, was one of the readers. She brought books, including a couple by Karen Bar- bour. Tyler knows Barbour, who lives in the Bay Area. The books were “Little Nino’s Pizzeria” (1987), which Tyler read to Great Western youngsters, and “Mr. Bow Tie” (1991).
I took a look at the back flap of “Mr. Bow Tie” and learned that Barbour’s books have won awards and acclaim. For example, “Little Nino’s Pizzeria” was a Parents’ Choice Honor Book. Barbour also has been an illustrator for a num- ber of other books.
Tyler told the students that she admires Barbour’s artwork be- cause it fills the space from top to bottom, side to side. “There is col- or everywhere,” she said. “There is color everywhere in your life.”
I touched base with David Borofka, a Reedley College Eng- lish instructor, about the college’s Speaker Series and learned I missed a good one on Feb. 22.
Mark Salzman, whose books include “Iron & Silk” based on his experience teaching English in China for two years, is something of a Renaissance man. In addition to studying Chinese, he’s a gradu- ate of Yale University, studies martial arts and plays the cello. He also was a writing tutor at L.A.’s Central Juvenile Hall, which he recounted in “True Notebooks: A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall” (2004).
Borofka, who is one of the Speaker Series organizers, said Salzman’s presentation was differ- ent from the typical appearance. For one thing, he brought his cello to play.
And, he said, Salzman chose to read the writing of young people. He has been working with stu- dents in a private school in South- ern California. “It was very touch- ing,” Borofka said of those pieces.
Overall, “he was just a very engaging presence,” Borofka said. “The students loved him.”
The Feb. 27 KCUSD govern- ing board meeting included some champion guests – the Reedley High School Pirates boys soccer team that won a Valley Champion- ship on Feb. 23.
The Central Section Division II champs overcame dramatic, high-wire circumstances on the road to win that title, including a referee mistake to not play five- minute overtime periods on Feb. 15. The Pirates lost that game on
See COLUMN page B3
Library used book
sale March 10
Staff Report
The Friends of the Reedley Library will conduct a used book sale on Saturday, March 10, in the parking lot of the library, 1027 E St.
The sale will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The used book sale will feature books received as donations to the Friends of the Reedley Library.
See BOOK SALE page B8
By Felicia Cousart Matlosz
felicia@midvalleypublishing.com
If you visited the library at Great Western Elementary School on March 1, you would have had a fairly good idea what was about to take place there – in one corner was an oversized portable folding chair decorated with a large cutout of a red-and-white top hat and surround- ed by Truffula Trees.
That’s Truffula Trees, as in “The Lorax,” as written by Dr. Seuss – as in the key figure for the annual “Read Across America” events that take place nationwide around the March 2 birthday of the beloved children’s writer.
The red-and-white top hat, of course, is the signature accessory for Seuss’ “The Cat in the Hat.” The Truffulas are topped by round- shaped tufts in bright colors.
Great Western was one of sev- eral campuses in the Kings Canyon Unified School District that cel- ebrated “Read Across America,” which includes guest readers visit-
ing schools to read to students. Robin Tyler, a member of the KCUSD governing board, was one the guest readers at Great Western and was going to visit other schools
such as Alta Elementary.
“What’s not to love about coming
and reading to kids?” Tyler said af- ter she shared stories with students in the fifth, fourth, third and second grades. “I look forward to this every year.”
Tyler and Mary Ann Bumpas, a fourth-grade teacher, said it’s impor- tant to have adults from outside the school interact with children about reading.
Bumpas said the students hear about the adults’ favorite books from their childhoods, and the youngsters also see how vital read- ing is to everything else they do.
“It’s important for them to un- derstand and see the connection with lifelong reading,” Bumpas said.
Principal Lori Botkin after the event talked about her support for
See READ page B3
Felicia Cousart Matlosz
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654
Great Western Elementary celebrates 'Read Across America'
ABOVE: Robin Tyler, a Kings Canyon Unified School District trustee, was one of the guest readers on March 1 at Great Western Elementary as part of the campus' "Read Across America" activities.
RIGHT: SecondgradeteachersJanieChiasson(left)andKaileyLutherdressedup for the March 1 "Read Across America" event. With them in the campus library are second-graders Devan Case (left) and Braden Cosart.
Photos by Felicia Cousart Matlosz / The Exponent
LEFT: Fourth grade teacher Mary Ann Bumpas is pictured here with two of
her students – Emma Romero (left) and Hailey Sandoval. Emma wore a costume in ode to "The Cat in the Hat." Hailey is dressed as the main character of the "Fancy Nancy" series.
See a photo from Alta Elementary's "Read Across America" festivities on B8.
Soli Deo Gloria concert March 19 at Palm Village
ABOVE: These Great Western third grade students enjoyed having a book read to them by Robin Tyler, a member of the Kings Canyon Unified School District governing board. Tyler was one of several guest readers for the campus' "Read Across America" event on March 1.
'Henrietta Lacks' focus of RC series on March 15
Contributed
Soli Deo Gloria, a women’s cho- rale of the Central Valley, will per- form in a concert called “Spring Tapestry: Vibrant Colors” on Mon- day, March 19, at the Palm Village Retirement Community, 703 W. Her- bert Ave.
The free concert will start at 6:30 p.m. in the Palm Village Chapel. The event is part of Palm Village’s ongoing initiative to bring programs of interest to Reedley and the sur- rounding communities.
The ensemble will perform un- der the direction of Julie Carter, the group’s artistic director and founder. Walter Saul, a Fresno Pa- cific University music professor, will accompany on piano.
Carter formed the choir 10 years ago to glorify God through singing quality choral music of a millennia, in a wide variety of styles. Each choir member is chosen through
auditions.
For the March 19 concert, Soli
Deo Gloria will sing several choir favorites and introduce new se- lections as part of its 10th season celebration. The ensemble commis- sioned local composer Kevin Mem- ley to write a piece called “Immor- tal Harps” based on a text by John Milton.
Another featured piece will be Francis Poulenc’s “Petites Voix,” a set of five short songs that tell the story of a little girl; a conversation between a child and her dog; a walk home from school; a little, sick boy; and a hedgehog.
Other selections will include “Vier Gesänge” by Johannes Brahms, “Alleluia,” and “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” as well as American folk songs such as “Shenandoah” and “Erie Canal.”
For more information, go online to palmvillage.com or call (559) 638- 6933.
By Felicia Cousart Matlosz
felicia@midvalleypublishing.com
“The Immortal Life of Hen- rietta Lacks,” the Reedley Col- lege 1Book/1 College selection for 2017-18, will be the subject of the campus’ Speaker Series program on Thursday, March 15.
The 2010 nonfiction bestseller by Rebecca Skloot recounts the story of Lacks, an African Ameri- can woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951. While being treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., cells were taken from her for cell cul- tures that would be the origins of the HeLa immortal cell line.
The HeLa cells have been used for a broad range of experiments, leading to advances in medicine and science. But the book also
See LACKS page B8
Photo from AbeBooks.com