Page 7 - Reedley Exponent 7-19-18 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent BPanorama
Section | Thursday, July 19, 2018 www.reedleyexponent.com
GATE reaches 'infinity and beyond'
Jodie Reyna/The Exponent
Shelley Henderson, owner of Sweet Destination in downtown Reedley, shows children from Kids Corner Daycare at Chapter One School how to weigh and label bags of candy sold at her store.
Kids Corner visits 'Sweet
Destination'
By Jodie Reyna
Mid Valley Publishing
Children from Kids Corner Daycare at Chapter One School in Reedley had the opportunity to go behind the scenes and see how a “cool” summer treat is made at Sweet Destination in downtown Reedley.
Sweet Destination is a candy and gift shop owned by Shelly Henderson, a retired school teach- er.
Henderson on June 28 dem- onstrated how frozen chocolate- covered bananas are made. They are one of the store’s best-selling items. Sweet Destination offers a wide assortment of chocolate can- dy, most of which is made in the store. Homemade caramel apples and ice cream sandwiches also are big sellers.
"It's a specialty in a small town like this to have homemade choco- late candies," Henderson said.
The children from Kids Corner watched as Henderson dipped a banana in chocolate and covered it withnuts. Theyalsolearnedhow treats are weighed and labeled be- fore being sold.
See SWEET page B2
'Coco' movie
at Pioneer Park
Staff Report
The city’s “Movies at Pioneer Park” series presents a smash hit from 2017, “Coco,” on Friday, July 20.
The movie is presented in Pio- neer Park, on G Street across from the Reedley Police Department.
The family friendly movie is free. The film starts at 8:15 p.m. Pre-movie activities are held 30 minutes before the film screens.
Bring your own snacks and a blanket or a lawn chair.
This 2017 animated feature was another major hit for Disney, courtesy of its acclaimed Pixar Animation Studios. “Coco” this year won two Academy Awards, for Best Animated Feature and
See MOVIE page B2
Cooling centers
Two locations in Reedley serve as cooling centers where residents can go when temperatures exceed 100 degrees.
These locations are Sierra View Homes, 1155 E. Springfield Avenue and Palm Village Retire- ment Community, 701 W. Herbert Avenue. Bothcoolingcenterswill be open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For details, call the Reedley Senior Center at (559) 637-4207.
By Jodie Reyna
Mid Valley Publishing
This summer’s GATE program through Kings Canyon Unified School District lived up to its theme of “infinity and beyond,” with more students and more classes than ever before.
Close to 200 students in grades 4-8 from every elementary and middle school site in the school dis- trict participated in the summer GATE program held at T.L. Reed K-8 School.
GATE is an acronym for Gifted And Talented Education. Students qualify for GATE based on test scores and teacher recommenda- tions.
“When you think of ‘infinity and beyond,’ you think of Buzz Lightyear and space exploration,” said Natasha Kanawyer, GATE program coor- dinator, referring to Disney’s “Toy Story” movie.
But, she said the theme extend- ed to many other academic areas, including technology and fitness. One of the most popular activities at GATE this year was a sport called “gaga ball” that is played similar to dodgeball.
The summer GATE program be- gan in June and ended its 20-day run on July 10 with a “summer expo” for families. Another GATE program takes place during the school year.
At the summer expo, Kanawyer spoke about the different activities that students participated in during GATE. In Loren Nikkel’s science and technology class, she said stu- dents launched self-designed rock- ets into the air, proving that learning is essentially limitless.
“I like GATE because it gives students opportunities to do fun, hands-on activities that they would not normally get to do during the school year,” said Nikkel.
Some rockets flew high into the air and others didn’t make it and exploded, but Nikkel said that was “part of the fun.”
This year, music and art were added to the curriculum.
Jodie Reyna/The Exponent
Close to 200 children from every elementary and middle school in Kings Canyon Unified School District participated in this year's summer GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) program at T.L. Reed K-8 School. This group of GATE students demon- strated to families on July 10 how to play a game they learned called "gaga ball" that is played similar to dodgeball.
KCUSD summer program has more students and classes than ever
“Students are gifted in many ways, not just in academics,” Kanaw- yer said. “We took the idea of ‘infin- ity and beyond’ and showed it in all content areas.”
Each day, students rotated among four classes: English lan- guage arts and visual arts, technol- ogy, science and fitness.
At the summer expo, families watched a video and visited class- rooms to see first-hand some of the projects that students worked on. Those projects included computers built from scratch, artwork made with watercolors and pastel chalks, and miniature models of the solar system. Students also took a field trip on June 26 to the Discovery Cen- ter in Fresno.
Sarah Navarro, 10, said her fa-
See GATE page B8
Photos Contributed
ABOVE LEFT: Two students create artwork with watercolors. Art and music were addedtoGATEforthefirsttimethissummer. ABOVERIGHT: Studentsinafitness class work as a team to keep a golf ball in motion as it travels through plastic pipes.
Hundreds attend Obon festival at Reedley Buddhist Church See B8
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654
RCTC's 'Memphis' plays through July 29
Musical sends powerful message about love and music
River City Theatre Company presents its summer production
of "Memphis." The musical opened on July 6 and plays for two more weeks on July 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28and29. Performancesareheld
at the Reedley Opera House, 1720 10th Street. The musical features a 21-member cast directed by Joseph Ham. For ticket information, call (559) 638-6500 or visit ReedleyRiver- CityTheatre.org.
LEFT: "Bobby,"playedbyEloyMire- les, is surrounded by cast members as he sings.
BELOWLEFT: Oneoftheleading roles, "Felicia," is played by Fresno resident Camille Gaston.
BELOW: Three ensemble cast mem- bers are (from left) Olivia Gonzales, Glenda Stewart, and Cassandra Charles.
Photos Contributed