Page 9 - Reedley Exponent 1-17-19 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent PB anorama
Section | Thursday, January 17, 2019 www.reedleyexponent.com
Seniors at Sierra View Homes take trip to Tokyo Steakhouse
See B7
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654
The View From Here
Meeting the staff of The Exponent
Immanuel alumni Kate Isaak calls herself a country girl at heart
I had the pleasure of meeting two local first re- sponders on the afternoon of Jan. 10, Erik Milton and Nick Fri- esen. Thank you both for letting me come over to
Juanita Adame
By Juanita Adame
Juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
Kate Isaak is the first face a customer will see when they walk into the Reedley Exponent office in downtown Reedley.
A graduate of Immanuel Schools, Isaak said she grew up a country girl, and was home schooled throughout portions of her educa- tion.
"My mom decided to home school for my first, second, and third grade years," said Isaak. "I went to Windsor for fourth and fifth grade, got home schooled for sixth grade. I then attended Immanuel Ju- nior High for seventh grade, home schooled during my eighth grade year, went to Immanuel all four years of high school, then I gradu- ated from Reedley College."
Isaak began working at the Ex- ponent 11 years ago and said its a job she has genuinely enjoyed.
"It has definitely been a roller coaster ride working here," said Isaak. "I've always loved the people here, I know my regulars since I started here. I've also seen some editors come and go- I just love it here."
She added that working for a newspaper constantly on a deadline can be stressful at times, however, she enjoys the work environment in the office and the faces of custom- ers who come in to pick up a news- paper.
"Monday's are usually a little more chaotic, those are our dead- line days," she said. "Those days we place ads, Tuesday's I work on my public notices, Wednesday's I like to work on proofing the publications and Thursday's and Friday's, those are up for grabs, it depends on who comes into the office."
Isaak is also a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan and San Fran-
visit and ask questions about the upcoming EMT class that will be offered at Sequoia Safety Council in February.
For those who don't know, my husband David once worked for Sequoia Safety Council before he moved to work with Cal Fire.
I can say with certainty that first responders have demanding careers.
It definitely takes a special kind of person to do that kind of work on a daily basis.
I am going to give everyone a couple examples of when I was able to see first hand how quickly first responders need to asses a pa- tient and jump into action. I was left pretty surprised actually, both incidents involved my husband.
One afternoon when we both had a day off, we decided to take a trip to Fresno. We figured it would be faster to take the country roads and began driving north on McCall toward Herndon.
Just by chance we drove up to an accident that had just occurred. A woman with a cycling team fell and hit her head, as we drove up she was laying in the road as her team mates surrounded her, all looked visibly shaken.
First responders had not ar- rived and my husband immedi- ately pulled the car over. "I need to go help her," he said.
He exited our car and ran over to the woman. Immediately the husband Dave who was in the car with me went into work mode and became first responder Dave.
"How are you doing? I am a paramedic, I can help you," he told the woman.
I, on the other hand, hadn't yet overcome the initial shock of what I was seeing. I stood there frozen.
For those who think reporters see a lot of trauma, well we do. However reporters usually arrive after a situation has transpired. Rarely do we see the situation un- fold.
I was also quite taken back at how calm and collected Dave was. I never seen someone be able to change so quickly yet so calmly.
One of the quotes that Nick Friesen gave during our interview was, "We are trying to bring calm to a chaotic situation."
I really liked this quote be- cause I can assure you, I would not remain calm at the first sight of blood, or trauma. I don't believe I would panic either, I'm more the "deer in the headlights" type of per- son. I stand there as my brain tries to process what we're seeing.
The woman on the bike turned out to be ok, thankfully. An ambu- lance arrived and they transported her to the hospital.
Another incident where my husband went into first responder mode involved an injury that hap- pened to me.
I happened to slice my index finger with a razor blade we had in a drawer. The blade wasw so sharp it sliced a piece of my finger clean off. Even just remembering this situation makes me cringe.
You know the type of cut that doesn't bleed right away but be- comes white, then bleeds? I had sliced off several layers of skin. That's the type of cut it was.
Again, I was in shock. I froze and stared at it.
I called to Dave who was in the kitchen. "I cut myself, pretty bad," "Ok, I need you to calm down," he told me. I had no idea, and he told me this later, that my face was as white as a ghost, Dave said it looked like I was ready to pass out. "Do you trust me?!" he kept telling me over and over. "Yes I
replied, why?,"
"Ok, then stop panicking and
calm down, deep breaths and let's get the cut covered."
Photo Juanita Adame / The Exponent
ABOVE: Exponent receptionist, Kate Isaak sits at her desk in the front office of the office. Isaak has been with the newspaper for 11 years and graduated from Immanuel Highschool.
Photo by Juanita Adame / The Exponent
ABOVE: KCUSD Board members listen in as students with the local FCCLA chapter talk about recent contributions and the dangers of vaping.
See COLUMN page B2
By Juanita Adame
Juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
Three members of the local chapter for the Family Career and Community Leaders of America, or FCCLA spoke during the Kings River Unified School Board meeting on the evening of Jan. 8.
The girls, Liliana Bedoya, Ash- ley Lopez, and Dayana Michel talk-
ed to board members about recent activities and contributions they have made in recent months.
According to their website, the FCCLA is the career technical stu- dent organization for students previ- ously or currently enrolled in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) edu- cation programs.
The intra curricular organization offers members the opportunity to
expand their leadership potential and develop skills for life planning goal setting, problem solving, deci- sion making and interpersonal com- munication necessary in the home and in the workplace.
The local group of students told members they have collected canned food items for the Marjaree Mason Center and are currently raising funds for Relay For Life.
"Im curious at how you decide on what events you want to help, be- cause I think you have picked some very worthy causes for your efforts," said area 4 trustee, Robin Tyler.
Lopez said they decide on local causes based on discussions with other FCCLA members.
"We first talk about it with the of- ficers then we discuss it among our group and then we decide. "To de- liver our items, its not like everyone can go," she said. "So we volunteer
our time because some of us have other activities going on."
The group also handed out an informational binder detailing the dangers of vaping, and how the to- bacco industry has targeted teenag- ers through the now popular prod- uct.
Information in the binder high- lighted how the flavored tobacco product has made it more appealing for younger generations to obtain and much more difficult for parents to identify.
For more information on the FC- CLA's local chapter visit ca-fccla. org.
Contributed
The Palm Village Retirement Community will host a blood drive on Jan 22 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The blood drives are hosted and held by the Palm View Retirement Community about four times per year. According to the California Blood Center, it is important to eat a good meal prior to donating blood, and it is highly encouraged for those who will be at- tending the blood drive to have an adequate meal be- fore donating.
The public tours will be available starting at 11 a.m. Tours are held so donors will have the option to donate blood from 1 p.m. until 1:45 pm.
the Garden Room from 12 p.m. until 1 p.m.
Those who choose to skip the tour and lunch will still be able to donate blood until 4 p.m. All donors must call Palm Village at (559) 638-6933 and make an
appointment with Jeanette.
“We are hoping that the community will realize
that there is a significant need for blood donations and participate in this opportunity.” said Jim Higbee, Ex- ecutive Director for Palm Village. “We invite donors to tour our campus and enjoy a wonderful meal prepared by our own chef and also recognize that in addition to offering retirement homes, we have a high quality Health Care Center for our residents.”
Lunch will be served to those who take a tour, in
For more information, contact (559) 638-6933
cisco 49er fan.
"I love talking sports, I know a
little about most teams but I know the most things about my team."
She said she enjoys staying con- nected by talking with customers and interacting with community members at local functions.
"Our customers like to come in here in person, they like the inter- actions," she said. "We're not just throwing a story up there, and that means a lot to me. I love working here, some days are hard just like with any job of course and what makes it fun is you get a long with the people you work with."
Photo Contributed
ABOVE: Friends as children, from left Johnathan Enns, Megan Tos (Kate's sister), Kate Isaak, and Kimberly Enns posed for a photo in the 1990's. Isaak said the group were friends throughout their childhood.
FCCLA members speak at school board meeting
Photos by Juanita Adame / The Exponent
ABOVE: From left, Dayana Michel, Ashley Lopez, and Liliana Bedoya stood before the Kings Canyon Unified School District School Board on the evening of Jan. 8 to speak about the dangers of vaping and how to tell if students have been vaping. The girls handed out information about the FCCLA.
LEFT: Officials listened to local students who spoke about the dangers of vaping during the Jan. 8 school board meeting.
Palm Village to host blood drive Jan. 22