Page 7 - The Reedley 6-20-19 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent PB anorama
The latest news and events in the senior community
See B8
Section | Thursday, June 20, 2019 www.reedleyexponent.com
First grade teacher awarded grant
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654
The View From Here
I hope ev- eryone had a great Father's Day. I would like to take some time to recognize all the hard working dads out there. And also I would like to take a moment to re- member the great man in my life, my dad, David
Juanita Adame
Staff Report
A teacher from Great Western Elementary School was awarded a $1,000 grant by a local television station just before the end of the school year.
Lisa Frueh, a first grade teach- er was surprised when a television crew belonging to the local news station, KMPH Fox 26, walked into her classroom to present her the award.
Freuh applied for the "One Classroom at a Time" close to three months prior to finding out she'd won.
The award is intended to help students by using tablets to access a program called QR or quick re- sponse codes. The program will serve as supplemental informa- tion for English Language Learn- ers, Special Education Students as well as target learning enrichment for oral language development.
Photo Contributed
ABOVE: From left, KMPH News anchor Kim Stevens, an unidentified representative from MOR Furniture for less, Lisa Frueh, and Great Western Principal, Lori Botkin.
Adame. My dad died in 2005. I will never forget his smile, his laugh, and his kindness.
I began to think about another father I met several years ago when I lived in Texas. His name is Terry Burgess.
My first job in television was working on an afternoon lifestyles show called KTAB 4U. It's the equivalent of "Central Valley Today" here in Fresno. It aired at 4 p.m. The topics were typically covering local businesses and features stories.
My producer and I would go out looking for guests to be on the show, sometimes the guests would find us, on some occasions though the guest would have a lasting impression on us.
I was sitting at my desk one af- ternoon when the phone rang. On the other end of the line was a man named Terry Burgess.
Now most of the time we'd get calls from people asking to come on the show to promote whatever product they had or basically to talk about themselves. I thought this would be one of those calls.
I was wrong.
"Hi, my name is Terry Burgess," he said. "I'd like to know if I can come on your show to talk about my son, Bryan."
After spending some time talk- ing with Terry, I learned that his son, Staff Sgt. Bryan Burgess was killed in an ambush in Afghanistan.
"I want people to know his sto- ry," he said.
"Terry, I can definitely have you on the show, I want to learn his story, and I want others to know it as well," I said.
Bryan was only 30 years old when he died. He left behind his wife and two young children.
At the time of his death, a documentary team was filming in Afghanistan. A career journalist named Mike Boettcher took his son out to the war zone, in an attempt to reconnect with his son, and it was during the filming of the documen- tary that the ambush took place kill- ing, not only Bryan, but five other soldiers as well.
Terry has been determined to keep his son's memory alive. He has fought through the pain of losing Bryan and has continued to travel the country, telling anyone who will listen, the story of his son and his hero, Bryan Burgess.
Reedley High School alumnus earns honors
Photo Courtesty / Mitchell Harms Facebook
ABOVE: MitchellHarmsinaphotographfrom2014.
Staff Report
A former Reedley High Student has earned the Spring 2019 Hon- or Roll and Honorable mention at McPherson College in Kansas.
Mitchell Harms, a senior at the the university earned the achieve- ment for the Spring 2019 semester.
The college recognizes its highest academic achievers in its spring 2019 Honor Roll and Honorable Mention.
To qualify for the honor roll, stu- dents must be a full-time student and earn a grade point average of 3.55 or higher during the previous term. Stu- dents earning a grade point average of 3.25 to 3.54 are named to the honor- able mention.
According to its website, McPher- son College offers more than 20 bach- elor's and pre-professional programs and was ranked this year by U.S. News & World Report on its "Best Col-
leges" list and recognized by Money Magazine for "Best Colleges for Your Money."
" To qualify, a student must earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher."
- McPherson College
Titans ready for the next step in education
Contributed
There were seven students from Orange Cove High School who were selected as the 2019 "Ti- tan Towers" for the year.
Students selected for this rec- ognition are done so on a basis of criteria including grades, extra curricular involvement, service to their school and service to the community as well.
The students are seniors and will each attend a variety of uni- versities in the fall.
Beatrice Garcia will attend UC San Diego, Kaylee Lopez will attend UC Davis, and Jacqueline Monroy will attend Fresno State.
Evelyn Morales will attend UC Merced, Jose Rodriguez Villalobos will attend UC Davis and Christian Vargas will attend Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
Photo Contributed
ABOVE: From left, Jose Rodriguez Villalobos, Jacqueline Monroy, Beatrice Garcia, Evelyn Morales, Kaylee Lopez, Deisy Valenciano Valdivia, Christian Vargas.
A head start following graduation, students earn scholarships to begin college
ABOVE: A group photo of some of the students who earned scholarships during the May 29 ceremony.
Photo Contributed
Staff Report
The Kings Canyon Unified School District held their "Edu- cational Options Scholarship and Awards Night," on the evening of May 29.
The event is targeted at helping students obtain a head start follow- ing graduation from high school.
A total of 86 students from the district were awarded with scholar- ships valued at $250.
Funding for the scholarships was provided by local community clubs, organizations as well as dona- tions from interested parties.
Door prizes were also given out during the event. Recipients won door prizes donated by supporters including Mike and Cindy Wooden.
The Rodrigo chrome book and stand was donated by John Camp- bell, KCUSD Superintendent.
"The event is targeted at helping students after graduation."
- Educational Options Scholarship and Awards Night