Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 1-21-21 E-edition

Thursday, January 21, 2021
The View From Here
I could hear the music from a few blocks away.
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
Sanger High School ath- letes, parents, and teachers gathered at the corner of Bethel and Annadale Avenues on the afternoon of Jan. 15 joining other schools around the state to take part in the “Let them Play” rally.
“We want to be held ac- countable in terms of keeping people safe but we also know that it is very possible to have sports in California and have them in a safe way,” said John Pena, Sanger High ASB presi- dent and athlete.
“I play varsity football, basketball, and golf over the last three years, I’ve lettered seven times in each sport. It’s been disheartening, and it’s been hard to remain optimis- tic, and hold onto any hope of normalcy.”
The petition, started on Change.org, was started by a person named Scott Diamond. It was a message to California Gov. Gavin Newsom allowing
On the
corner of
Bethel and
Annadale
Avenues, di-
rectly in front of the Sanger High School campus, a group of students, parents, and teachers, dressed in the school’s colors, red, white and blue, stood with post- ers, signs and waved as cars drove by.
The group was there to bring attention to the need for sports to return. To the football fields, to the baseball fields, to the softball fields, just bring sports back, is the message the crowd had for anyone who would listen.
As I researched the “Let them Play” rally I learned that the petition was started online by a person named Scott Diamond. His petition was for Gavin Newsom, Cali- fornia’s governor.
We are quickly approach- ing the one year mark of this pandemic. Last year at this time, neither myself, nor anyone else for that matter had any idea how 2020 was going to turn out.
I took some photos and video of the event, and then proceeded to speak to John Pena. He is a senior at Sanger High, involved in sports and he’s also the school’s ASB President.
John had his letterman jacket on, his school spirit was evident as he spoke to me.
“I’ve already seen in my own peers the effect that it can have on our psychologi- cal wellbeing,” he said. “I feel like as a coalition, we have to make our voices heard.”
John was telling me how this being his last year of high school, he had hopes of playing football in Tom Flores stadium under the Fri- day night lights. Sadly, how- ever, that never happened.
He also said he felt hope- ful that maybe normalcy isn’t too far away.
“I’m inspired by the sup- port today and we want the legacy of this movement to be something where it’s a unifying movement,” he said.
“Especially in a time where our country has been so divided, we want this to be a show of unity and soli- darity among all athletes and parents of athletes.”
Here is hoping that, again, like I've mentioned before, this pandemic is over soon and we can allow our stu- dents back to the sports they enjoy and love so much.
The vaccination campaign continues, more people are taking the necessary steps to staying safe and healthy and we are hoping this pays off for our future athletes.
Juanita Adame
'Let them Play' rally held at Sanger High School
Altagracia "Gracie" Guerrero
Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
Sanger High School athletes and parents held up signs as they rallied for sports to return to California, the petition began on Change.org imploring Governor Newsom to ease restrictions on sports.
students back into sports. “Sports activities are a in- tegral part of people's lives and having youth sports shut- down for 6 months is having a devastating effect on our children's mental and physi- cal health,” the petition states. “Baseball and softball are not contact sportd and with the size of the playing fields so- cial distancing is easily main- tained more so than any other sport. It has been proven in other States who are holding very large events without any
covid cases being reported.” Pena said he has seen how the shelter in place order has affected not only himself, but
his peers as well.
“Because we’ve seen no re-
al progress since August since they moved sports to Janu- ary,” he said. “We are at home too, so we really don’t get that social interaction that we’d get in a classroom.”
Several other “Let them Play” rallies were held in Reedley, Fresno, and Dinuba.
"We know it's possible to have sports in California and to have them in a safe way."
-John Pena ASB President
Sanger High School
Parlier officials hopeful for in person instruction
Mid Valley Publishing
The Parlier Unified School District superintendent an- nounced plans to submit the necessary paperwork allow- ing students to return to in person instruction.
“I can confidently report that there has been no direct transmission of the COVID-19 virus within our district,” said Altagracia Guerrero, district superintendent.
“Thanks to our staff’s com- mitment to safety, we have adopted stringent safety mea- sures and sanitizing protocols, even going beyond the county
and state recommendations.” Guerrero added that while they’d hope to offer a hybrid learning schedule to stu- dents in grades kindergarten through sixth, that plan was put on hold due to rising CO-
VID-19 numbers.
She also addressed the cur-
rent vaccination rollout and how it will affect employees of the district.
“Earlier this week, our staff members who work in a healthcare capacity, including school nurses/health office aides were offered the oppor- tunity to receive the first dose of the vaccine,” she said. “We
will continue to give updates from the county regarding lo- cations and availability of the vaccine for our staff and com- munity.”
Guerrero said that she be- lieves schools are still the saf- est place for students to be at the moment.
"We continue to work closely with the Fresno County Department of Public Health, she said. "We remain committed to our health and safety protocols. While the San Joaquin Valley region continues to be impacted by the pandemic."
Parlier Police deliver a smile to young resident
Photo of the week
Photo Courtesy Parlier Police Department/ Facebook
Parlier Police Department officers Bolding, Hernandez and Lopez delivered a brand new bicycle to a young Parlier resident. The gift wasmadepossiblethroughaprogramcalledBikesforSmiles.
Contributed
A photo of 10-year-old Elijah having some fun in the snow was sent in by his grandmother, Kathy Day Thiessen. Have a photo you'dlikefeatured? Emailjuanita@midvalleypublishing.com.