Reedley Exponent 2-7-19 E-edition

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Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents RC president finalists answer key questions in forum
Vol. 130, No. 6 | Thursday, February 7, 2019
Either Berry, Buckley will be named in March
By Juanita Adame
juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
Audience members who attended the Reed- ley College presidential forum on the morning of Jan. 29 — as well as audiences who watched the forum online — were able to gather a little more information about the top two finalists; Donna Berry and Jerry Buckley.
The forum lasted a total of two hours. Each candidate was given one hour at the podium. During their respective hour, the candidates
Chamber announces 2019 award winners
Staff Report
The Greater Reedley Chamber Commerce on Feb. 5 announced the Business and Community Award winners for 2019. The win- ners will be honored at the cham- ber’s annual Awards Gala on Sat- urday, Feb. 23 at Reedley College.
Here are this year’s business and community award winners:
• CITIZEN OF THE YEAR — Danny Jimenez
• JUNIOR CITIZEN OF THE YEAR — Roberto Campos, Reed- ley High School
• LARGE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR — Adventist Health
• SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR — Kimo’s Tropical Car Wash • ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR — Jordan Urbano, Valley
Fight Series
• EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR
— Kirby Kauk, Reedley High School
• HEALTH PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR — Dr. Cindy Tang, United Health Centers
• SAFETY PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR — Dana Boss, United Health Centers
• REEDLEY BEAUTIFICA- TION AWARD — Neil and Charity Thonesen, Base Consulting Group Inc.
This year’s theme for the Awards Gala is “Reedley Beach Party.” The event will begin at 5 p.m. with a social hour, followed by the dinner and awards presentation at 6 p.m. Musical entertainment, a popular attraction at the 2018 event, is again planned for this year.
Ticket information is available by calling the chamber office at 638-3548.
This year’s award winners will be profiled in the Feb. 14 issue of The Exponent.
told audience members a little about themselves and their backgrounds. Candi- dates were also expected to answer key questions regarding topics like; dual enrollment, agricultural programs, and the future of Reedley College and various expansion projects.
Donna Berry was the
first candidate to speak. She has been serving as the interim president of Reedley College since July.
For the past seven-plus years, Berry has been the vice president of administrative ser-
Jerry Buckley
vices for the college.
A Pennsylvania native
who grew up in Porterville, Berry told the audience that she and her family moved to the Central Valley when she was just 2 years old.
“You’ve heard a little bit about me through my bio,” she said. “But there’s a lot
more about me that you may
opportunity to get a high school education let alone a college education. So, growing up in a ‘college going’ culture was very much a part of me and who I was because my father always said, ‘no one can ever take education away from you.’”
During his introduction, Buckley told the audience he grew up in a rural part of San Di- ego County.
“I was in a very rural part of the county, back when I was born in 1955,” he said. “San Diego has grown a lot but it’s always kept its small town feel. I was lucky enough after all the degrees and what not, to actually end up
Donna Berry
not know.”
Berry added that education has always
been important to her and her family.
“My father’s early years, he had to drop out of school,” she said. “So he never had the
See FORUM on page A3
Demolition begins
Reedley High School’s Emily Booth, center, smiled as she raised her answer card during the Super Quiz competition at the Fresno County Academic Decathlon at Central High School on Feb. 2.
After years of planning and months of preparation by the city, work crews have started the demolition of the old Royal Valley packing shed building behind the Reedley Police Department. Demolition began on Jan. 31, and the job will take between three to five weeks to complete. Much of the preparation work con- sisted of removing all asbestos from the building. Once demolition is complete, the site will be used for parking of city and police vehicles. Covered parking areas will feature solar panels that had been atop the building. In addition to the parking, the new land will be the site of long-range future police department expansion.
ABOVE: A worker with David Knott Inc., a demolition and excavation contractor company from Fresno, hoses down rubble dropped by an excavator at the north end of the old building.
LEFT: A fence running along 8th Street separated workers and the public from the demolition scene.
Photos by Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Reedley High fourth in Div. 3 at Academic Decathlon competition
Dick Sheppard / Mid Valley Publishing
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
Led by a dominating performance from senior Emily Booth. the Reedley High School team placed fourth in its division and 11th overall at the Fresno County Academic Decathlon event on Feb. 2 in Fresno.
Booth won four gold medals and eight overall med- als to win the individual title in Division 3 Booth’s over- all score of 7,843 points trailed only Division 1 cham- pion Cole Bonham of University High and the top three Dean’s List winners.
Booth, a four-year veteran of the academic decathlon, took home gold in language and literature, economics, art, and music. She also won silver medals in interview and math while taking home bronze medals in the essay competition and science.
“She was on fire!” Renee Curwick, teacher and ad- viser for the team, said of Booth’s performance. Booth is a four-year veteran of the competition and won five medals as a junior.
Other medal winners for the RHS Super Quiz honors team were Ethan Lloyd (gold in social science, silver in
science and the essay contest, bronze in economics) and Allie Moncada (silver in social science and bronze in eco- nomics and the essay competition).
In addition, Jenelle Jaramillo was presented with the coaches award.
“She was an integral part of keeping her honors team focused. Our team and year wouldn’t be the same without her,” Curwick said of Jaramillo.
Curwick also gave an honorable mention to Joseph Avila, who scored number three while participating as a team two decathlete.
Finishing ahead of Reedley in Division 3 was Design Science (40,268 points), Duncan Polytechnical (36,333.3) and Selma (35,038.9). Overall, Edison High dethroned de- fending champion University High by just over 100 points. Division 2 champion Fowler High placed third overall.
As Fresno County champion, Edison will advance to compete in state competition in the spring.
More photos and overall team scores, Page A8
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