(From left) Allison Yamamoto, Second Vice President for SCUSD Board of Education Darrel Woo, and JasMin Khoe at the grand opening of the Bound Together Library in the Pocket. Photo courtesy Kathi Windheim.

McClatchy High School seniors Allison Yamamoto and JasMin Khoe needed to come up with an idea for their senior project. As they both had a far-reaching love books and libraries, they decided to do a project to promote literacy.

Yamamoto is a member of the Teen Advisory Board (TAB) for Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library, while Khoe was on the TAB of the Belle Cooledge Library and for the past year has sat on the Board of Directors for the Friends of Sacramento Public Library.

At first, they set their senior project as a book drive at McClatchy. Yamamoto says they conducted the drive by placing donation boxes in classrooms at the school and by working with academic groups that focused on community service. Through this effort, they were able to collect more than 600 books.

“My goal was around 500 (books) … I was really happy when I found out there was over 600 — it was a great surprise,” Khoe says.

Books for Rwanda
With the books collected, Yamamoto and Khoe decided to send 270 of the books to an orphanage in Rwanda through an organization called Streets Ahead Children’s Center Association (SACCA).

Khoe was introduced to SACCA when she traveled there last summer to help build a school. “I met a lot of kids in Rwanda and so I was really inspired to do something for them,” she explains. “I wanted to send them some materials over, and then I thought books — just to promote literacy would be really great.”

Khoe says SACCA works to take kids — ranging from infants to teens — off the streets in Rwanda to giving them food, clothing, and shelter, and helping them with education. “I was really inspired by that organization and what they do, so that’s where we sent the books,” she adds.

(From left) Jonathan Louie, Allison Yamamoto, and JasMin Khoe install the first Bound Together Library. Photo courtesy Kathi Windheim

Bound Together
Now with still books to use from their book drive, Yamamoto says they began to look for an opportunity to help promote literacy in their own community. Then they heard about a recent movement where community members build small libraries, which look like oversized birdhouses, and set them up in a public area such as outside a home or in a park. The library is stocked with books, which anyone can take. Once you read it, you can return it. Or if you want to keep it, community members are urged to replace it with another book.

Yamamoto says they decided to built similar libraries on their own they could stock with the remainder of the books they had collected and called them Bound Together libraries. “JasMin and I are really close friends and the whole purpose of the project is to bring the community together, so we call them Bound Together libraries,” she explains.

The only problem was the girls now needed help in actually building the libraries. For that, they turned to Khoe family friend and East Sacramento resident Greg Stults, who in addition to being a past teacher at Crocker Riverside Elementary has experience in construction and woodworking.

Stults says he met with Yamamoto and Khoe to design the two libraries they would be building. Then after purchasing necessary hardware and using scrap wood and tools he had, he guided the girls in constructing their libraries. He says it took them about 10 hours to build both libraries.

“I wanted them to do as much of it as possible,” he says. “I wanted them to learn how to use the table saw, bandsaw, nailgun — I would demonstrate and make sure they were safe. They did the majority of the work themselves, so they learned a lot about measuring and how to use the tools.”

Yamamoto says she learned a lot from Stults when it came to how to use the different tools. “I learned a lot about the whole mechanics and how much thought you really have to put into constructing something,” she adds. “It was just really fascinating.”

“First Two of Many”
On May 2, Yamamoto and Khoe, along with community members, held the grand opening of their first Bound Together Library on Arabella Way in the Pocket area. The second library is expected to be placed in Curtis Park by the end of May.

Yamamoto hopes that more students and community members will take up the charge to build Bound Together libraries and place them in other areas of Sacramento. She says there are other students at McClatchy, as well as students at John F. Kennedy High School already talking about building their own libraries. “Hopefully this is just the first two of many,” she adds.

According to Kathi Windheim, president of the Pocket-Greenhaven Friends of the Library, the Friends has set aside $500 to reimburse students and have more built, and Eagle Scout Jonathan Louie plans to build one.

To help community members learn more about Bound Together libraries, Yamamoto and Khoe will be offering a workshop on Wednesday, June 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library. “We’ll be there presenting what it is, how they can use it and how they can build their own,” she explains.

On Thursday, May 10, the Sacramento Elks 6 honored students and educators at their annual scholarship dinner. The event opened with a welcome from Stephen B. Clazie,
Scholarship Chair, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Boy Scout Troop 259, an invocation by Chaplain Valerie Keyser, and a prime rib dinner served by JFK criminal justice students.

The following is information provided by the Elks Lodge about each of the awardees.

Elks #6 Educators of the Year

Outstanding Middle School Educator for 2013
Mrs. Mikila Fetzer, Genevieve Didion K-8 School

Outstanding High School Educator for 2013
Ms. Lori Jablonski,  C.K. McClatchy High School

Sacramento City Teachers Association  & Elks #6 Scholarships
Presented by Debbie Eto, Exalted Ruler

Elks #6 & Boy Scout Troop 259
Eagle Scout Scholarship
Presented by Debbie Eto, Exalted Ruler

Dillon S. Thomas, C.K. McClatchy High School, $700

Mark A. Thompson, John F. Kennedy High School, $700

Elks #6 Golf Club Scholarship
Wes Okuhara,  C.K. McClatchy High School, $500
Chloe Kashiwagi, C.K. McClatchy High School, $500

Elks #6 Middle School Scholarships
Presented by Debbie Eto, Exalted Ruler

Tilton Hoyt, Sutter Middle School
He strives not only to do ‘A’ work but makes it as creative and original as possible. He is continually thinking outside the box.  He participates in spirit activities, has joined clubs and plays soccer.  He is involved in his local church and does community service.  He is an all-around student that would serve as a role model for our community.

Emily Louie, Genevieve Didion K-8 School
She is co-captain of the cheerleaders and has been a Girl Scout for eight years.  As a Girl Scout, she volunteered at the Special Olympics and distributed Girl Scout cookies for her church. She coordinated the collection of donated materials for military officers stationed overseas.  She earned a level four certificate of merit for piano, and was Elks 6’s April Student of the Month for Didion K-8 School.

Dipp Nguyen, Will C. Wood Middle School
This year, she has participated in Mathletes, MESA , Club Live, Korean Club, and Book Club.  In these numerous endeavors, she strives to uphold leadership roles.  She is team captain of her robotics team, treasurer of Korean Club, and president of Club Live.  Her commitment to these organizations shows her dedication to bettering herself and her peers.

Sacramento Elks #6  Elks National “Most Valuable Student” 2013
Presented by Debbie Eto, Exalted Ruler

Daniel Mingrue Li
As a junior at John F. Kennedy High School, he started the International Student Society, and the club has collaborated with Amnesty International. The group is starting an international women’s rights campaign.  He had a very unique opportunity of traveling across the world to Sacramento’s sister city in China as a youth ambassador.
(DISTRICT $400 & STATE $800 & $1,500 from Emblem Club and $36 from Elks 6 for a total of $2,736)

Keegan Pincombe
He has always been a positive force for hard work.  He has been in the Sacramento Children’s Choir, a youth ambassador to China through a Sister Cities program, and is an Eagle Scout. (STATE $800 & $1,500 from Emblem Club $436 from Elks 6 for a total of $2,736). John F. Kennedy High School

Derek Taylor
He is intensely competitive as an athlete and compassionate as a citizen.  He is wise beyond his years.  He will make his mark in the world in a way that will be both significant and positive.
($1,500 from Emblem Club & $1,236 from Elks 6 for a total of $2,736)
C.K. McClatchy High School

Keiko Jordan Fong
She completed the highest level of math C.K. McClatchy offers by her junior year, and as high school senior received an A in Math 402 at Sacramento City College.  She is an athlete, Girl Scout and accomplished musician, a professional math tutor, artist and an active member of he church group.  She also performs a wide variety of community service, both independently and with her dance troop, often entertaining the elderly at nursing homes.
($1,500 from Emblem Club & $1,236 from Elks 6 for a total of $2,736)
C.K. McClatchy High School

Christina Fang
She assists in the UC Davis Medical Center Trauma Department by performing basic patient care and completing clerical duties.  As a true leader, she is also humble and listens to other’s input.
(ENF SCHOLAR $1,000 for four years for a total of $4,000)
West Campus High School

Allison Yamamoto
Her passion for educational equality empowered her to initiate a volunteer tutoring program at my local library. The positive feedback she received from parents was overwhelming.  She has learned that she can create positive change in my community when there is passion motivating that change.
(ENF SCHOLAR $1,000 for four years for a total of $4,000)
C.K. McClatchy High School

The Gunther & Lee Weigel Medical School Scholarship
The Elks National Foundation is pleased to offer an exclusive scholarship opportunity just for Elks scholars pursuing a medical degree. The Gunther & Lee Weigel Medical School Scholarship will go to six Elks scholars (current or alum) entering the first year of medical school in 2013-14. The $20,000 scholarships were established through the generosity of Lee Weigel, widow of Gunther Weigel. Lee lost her husband of 51 years in November 2009. Gunther was a longtime member of Miami, Fla., Elks Lodge No. 948. He was passionate about the Foundation’s scholarship programs. Lee established these scholarships to help Elks scholars pursue a career in medicine. The application will be available in mid-March 2013 and will be due in mid-May 2013. If you are an Elks scholar pursuing a medical degree starting in 2013-14, email scholarship@elks.org for more information.

President Keiko Wong, speech contest winner Daniel Li, and Treasurer Judy Foote at this year's club level speech contest held on March 7, 2013. Photo courtesy Rotary Club of Pocket/Greenhaven.

Now in its sixth year, the Rotary Club of Pocket/Greenhaven has been doing what it can to help those at home and abroad with projects such as distributing dictionaries to third graders, launching a high school service club, supporting the Robbie Waters Pocket Greenhaven Library, and even helping to eradicate polio in other countries.

Although their club is small — with currently 14 members — President Keiko Wong says they do the best they can to help. “We are community minded … we try to brainstorm and think what can we do, where would the needs be,” she adds.

Judy Foote — a charter member, past president and current treasurer of the Rotary Club who was recently named Rotarian of the Year for their district — says the club helps meet the education and literacy needs of children in the Pocket area, and she believes by the club being involved in worldwide efforts they can share this information with family friends to make them more aware of what’s going on in other places. “All of a sudden we have a chance to have some concrete information to share with others, and I think it’s a wonderful thing to be able to do that,” she adds.

Helping Out

A number of the Rotary Club’s projects revolve around education and literacy. For instance, one project the Club recently completed on March 7 was the delivery of about 75 dictionaries to third graders at Yav Pem Suab Academy in the Pocket. Wong says this is the third year the Academy’s third graders have received dictionaries. “A lot of times the kids may not even own a book, so this is a wonderful thing for them to have and they get to take it home and it is there’s – we label it and put their name on it,” she explains. “They’re just thrilled to death to receive that.”

Another project of the Club is helping the Friends of the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library with their book sales. Wong says the next Friends of the Library book sale the Rotary Club will be helping with will be held on March 23.

Foote says the Club helped with book sales early on before the library was built and they were held in the Elks parking lot by helping set up and take down the book sales and sell the books. Now the Club still helps the Friends by working at their large book sales during the year, and helping to keep the book sale storage areas organized. “It’s a wonderful place for us to at least make sure that we have books in the hands of kids,” Foote adds.”

RotaryPocket_Pic2

Third graders at Yav Pem Suab Academy enjoy reading the dictionaries donated to them by the Rotary Club of Pocket/Greenhaven on March 7, 2013. Photo courtesy Rotary Club of Pocket/Greenhaven.

However, the Club also has a number of community efforts throughout the year. For example, on April 21 the Club will hold a Rotary Day fundraiser at the River Cats with a portion of tickets going towards helping to end polio, Wong says. Additionally, Wong says the Club provides a number of tickets to a community youth group to attend who may not normally have the opportunity to attend a River Cats game. Last year the Club sponsored a group of 20 high school students to the game. “It was special for them and special for us to give back to the community,” Wong adds.

And on July 25 from 9:30am to 1:30pm, the Club will hold its 2nd Annual Blood Drive with BloodSource. Wong says a mobile unit will be parked at Pacific Business Centers at 1104 Corporate Way next to Greenhaven and South Land Park. Those interested in donating blood can contact Tracy Wilson at 395-4400 to make an appointment.

Supporting the Future

One local student that has become quite involved with the Rotary Club of Pocket/Greenhaven is Daniel Li, a senior at John F. Kennedy High School. Since his sophomore year, Li has won Rotary’s annual speech contest on the club level — including just winning this year’s contest on March 7, for which he will compete on the district level in Elk Grove on April 2. Last year Li won both the club and district levels and took second place in the regional speech competition.

Additionally, last year Li was selected by the Club to be sponsored for RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award), which Wong says is a week-long leadership/motivation camp usually in the Tahoe area. “They learn all sorts of leadership skills and get in touch with themselves and learn to take it to the next level,” she explains.

Li says the opportunities he has had through the Rotary Club so far have been “pretty exciting” and allowing him to expand his ideas and express himself in a way he does not normally get to. And he says his RYLA experience was “fascinating” as it was the first leadership camp he ever attended. “(RYLA) provided a really great foundation for me for the rest of my life in terms of leadership and communications and just finding out things for myself,” he says.

Charter members of the new Interact Club at John F. Kennedy High School, which was charted on February 13, 2013 in the Kennedy Little Theater. Photo courtesy Rotary Club of Pocket/Greenhaven.

Interact Club

Through RYLA, Li says he was able to meet those that were involved in Rotary’s Interact Club, which is a service club for high schools. “I was very interested in forming one at JFK to provide the foundation for other Kennedy students,” he says.

After returning home with the idea of an Interact Club and getting support from his school, Li and the Rotary Club of Pocket/Greenhaven charted a new Interact Club at John F. Kennedy High School on February 13.

Currently with 50 members, the Interact Club has been busy with a number of fundraisers, including one that helped raise money for polio vaccinations in countries that cannot afford it, as well as a fundraiser through the international disaster relief charity ShelterBox to aid victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Li — who is president of the Interact Club — says they are working on new fundraisers, including selling bento boxes at JFK in May, as well as holding some car washes and helping out with book sales at the Robbie Waters Pocket Greenhaven Library.

Foote says the Rotary Club is very proud of the Interact Club and the fundraising work they have done so far. “Youth of today, they’re so excited and encouraged and they want to act — they don’t want to sit back and listen, they want to do something,” she says. “They’re the leaders of the world, that’s our future, and I think to be cognizant of the needs of the world and helping people instead of fighting people is going to make a huge impact on our world.”

Li says by being part of the Interact Club he has learned there is a need to help, and if he and his peers band together and unify themselves, they have the power and will to make a change. And he also says being involved with the Rotary Club has made a very good first impression and has plans on joining a local chapter in the future. “It is a club that I will definitely join on the college level, and that’s definitely something I’ll want to be a part of for the rest of my life,” he says.

The Rotary Club of Pocket/Greenhaven meets every Thursday morning from 7:30am-8:30am at Aviator’s Restaurant at the Sacramento Executive Airport. For more information, visit pocketgreenhavenrotary.org, or call Keiko Wong at (916) 718-7400.

The poet pursues his beautiful theme;
The preacher his golden beatitude;
And I run after a vanishing dream—
The glittering, will-o’-the-wispish gleam
Of the properly scholarly attitude—
The highly desirable, the very advisable,
The hardly acquirable, properly scholarly attitude.

First stanza of ‘Properly Scholarly Attitude’ by Adelaide Crapsey

Henry Molina from John F. Kennedy didn’t realize that performing “Properly Scholarly Attitude” for a school assignment would change his opinion of poetry or that he would be so good at it that he would end up winning the Sacramento County Poetry Out Loud Competition for 2013.

Henry finished first from a field of 15 during the Sacramento County finals, held Thursday, Feb. 7, at Rosemont High School and earned the right to represent Sacramento County in the State Finals, March 25-26 in Sacramento. Carinn Candelaria, from Pleasant Grove High School in the Elk Grove Unified School District, is the Sacramento County runner-up.

In addition to Crapsey’s poem, Henry performed “The Charge Of The Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Henry Molina from John F. Kennedy High School, winner of the 2013 Sacramento County Poetry Out Loud competition. // Courtesy of the Sacramento County Office of Education

Henry said the event was a lot of fun, though a little nerve wracking, since the judges were local poets themselves and “knew what they were talking about.”

Henry said he came upon “Properly Scholarly Attitude” because of a classroom competition and he needed a poem to perform in front of the class. After he won the JFK competition, he had to choose another one.

“Before I started, I was not a big fan of poetry,” he said, but after he put his mind to the assignment over the course of a few months, he found himself enjoying it.

California’s overall winner will receive $200 and an expenses-paid trip to compete in the National Finals in Washington, D.C., held April 28-30, 2013. A total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be awarded at the national finals, including a $20,000 award for the National Champion.

Sacramento Poet Laureate Jeff Knorr served as the Sacramento County Poetry Out Loud master of ceremonies. The competition encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. The program provides students with the opportunity to perform poetry in English classes.

Modeled like the National Spelling Bee, the Poetry Out Loud program began in local high school classrooms, with winners advancing to school-wide, then regional competition. Schools countrywide are participating in regional competitions.

The Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) was once again pleased to partner with the California Arts Council (CAC) in promoting and supporting the Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest in the Sacramento region. Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Poetry Foundation, SCOE and its partners encourage high school students to study and appreciate poetry through practice, performance, and competition.

Tim Herrera is Communications Director for the Sacramento County Office of Education.

Unless you’re a music teacher at Sacramento City Unified School District, chances are you’ve never heard of the district’s Music Library – considered a “hidden gem” tucked away in Leonardo da Vinci K-8 School in South Land Park.

Started in the 1950s, the library has continued to be a resource for music teachers, housing thousands of pieces of sheet music, both loaning and repairing instruments, and providing music teachers with a place for them to meet and network.

“This is the most wonderful resource,” says Ilda Ballin, who has been music librarian at the SCUSD Music Library since 1986. “I don’t believe there is any resource like this in the state of California.”

Music Maker

The Music Library is known for its vast collection of sheet music. According to Jennifer Nakayama – a music teacher at Leonardo da Vinci K-8 in Land Park, and Rosa Parks Middle School and Fern Bacon Middle School in South Sacramento – library houses music for all abilities from elementary through high school that music teachers can check out to use.

“We have thousands of arrangements here for both band and orchestra, and teachers are able to check out arrangements for their students to try and play,” she explains. “Students have been playing them for years and years.”

Ballin says the various arrangements are for orchestras, bands, and string orchestras, as well as choral music. She says many of the arrangements the library holds are permanently out of print, making them irreplaceable. Additionally, Ballin says music teachers can borrow method books for students.

Keeping track of the thousands of arrangements is quite a task, and it was learning more about the arrangements in the library that drew Nakayama to become a volunteer at the Music Library for the past three years, which just a few months ago became a part-time employment position for her.

“I really enjoy looking through the arrangements, and really enjoy being part of the upkeep and making it still accessible for all of the teachers,” she adds. “It’s really quite a place when you come in.”

Strike Up the Band

Another job of the Music Library is to send out the school’s instruments for repair, and provide loaner instruments for students who need them.

According to Ballin, each school in SCUSD has its own inventory of instruments that students can use.  However, if a school is lacking in a particular instrument, the music teacher can come to the Music Library to see if there is one available for the student to borrow. “We provide so many instruments and usually it suffices for everybody – it’s very seldom that a student goes without playing the instrument of their choice,” she says.

As a music teacher herself, Nakayama has used the instruments available through the library on more than one occasion and feels they are indispensable to making sure all students have an instrument to play. “If a student can’t afford an instrument, then there’s no way for them to be in a class,” she explains. “Most of my students use school instruments – it’s essential for us.”

Then if a school instrument needs to be fixed, music teachers can bring them to the Music Library, who then handles sending them out to various repair technicians, Nakayama says. “We have a repair technician we work with at Kline Music for band instruments, and then there’s a string repair technician as well,” she adds.

Having the Music Library take care instrument repairs has been a big help for George Miles, band director at John F. Kennedy High School in the Pocket. “It’s a really valuable thing,” he explains. “There’s a lot of accounting and dealing with that, dropping it off and picking it up at the repair shop that they handle there that we don’t have to deal with.”

Meet & Greet

And the other major role the SCUSD Music Library plays is one of a central meeting place for district music teachers.

Nakayama says music teachers will meet at the library to collaborate and plan events since they do not see each other throughout the day. “It’s a place where we can let our hair down and work together and really work for the kids,” she explains. “We’ve had some great ideas here over the years. It’s nice to be able to pull (an arrangement) off the shelf, show it to each other, and collaborate in order to make events like that happen.”

The Music Library is also a place where music teachers can receive further education, according to Gayle Carrick, fine arts training specialist at SCUSD, who says she conducts trainings there for the teachers.

And Miles says having a central place like this to network has helped him further his career during his past 26 years at the district. “(It’s) really a sounding board, able to provide a lot of ideas on how to deal with certain problems that come up in the classroom musically,”  he adds. “It’s just been a really valuable asset for us.”

Up Tempo

As with everything in schools today, the Music Library has also been impacted by budget cuts. Once open five days a week, Miles says, now it is only open two days a week on Monday and Thursday.

And Ballin says due to budget cuts, she has no longer been able to purchase new arrangements for the library, as her limited budget has been going to furnish supplies students need to play their instruments, such as  drumsticks, reeds, mouthpieces, and strings.

So how can the community help support this valuable resource?

Nakayama says they are always looking for donations of both music and instruments, from violins to even pianos. “You would be amazed how many instruments that somebody’s grandfather might have used and sat in a closet for years, somebody found it and brought it to the library,” she says. “If there’s repair work that needs to be done, it’s done and it’s put into use.”

Carrick – who is currently working on grants to find additional funding for the Music Library – says in addition to monetary funds, they are looking for volunteers to help keep the library organized and extend its open hours. “People who have been involved in the music program and have been involved with the music library really have an understanding and attachment to what it represents, and a lot of people have been happy to add their energy to keep it going,” she says.

And Miles hopes the Music Library continues to keep its doors open, as it provides the educational materials, equipment and support music teachers need to be successful in the classroom. “Without it, it would really make it difficult to do our jobs,” he adds.

John F. Kennedy basketball star Lynette Johnson goes up for a shot in the 2012 Sac-Joaquin Championship Game against Oak Ridge. Kennedy won the game by a score of 62-58 and took home the section title. Photo courtesy of David Parsh

Kennedy High School senior hoops star Lynette Johnson has made opponents look bad on the court for three years so far, but things are looking good for Johnson herself as she signed a letter of intent to play college ball at Utah State next year.

Johnson, entering her fourth season as a varsity player, started playing basketball at such a young age that she doesn’t quite remember a time when she didn’t play. Growing up with two older sisters and a cousin who also played, Johnson was always around the game. “It’s kind of just part of my family,” she said.

The 5′10” guard/forward has awed coaches, teammates and opponents with her ability to shoot the ball and to just score in general. Last season in just 18 games, Johnson amassed 339 points, good for a team-leading 18.8 points per game.

The Cougars finished the 2011-12 season with a sparkling 26-9 record and a trip to the semifinals of the Girls Division I State Championships before losing to Berkeley High School 56-38.

Head coach Dave Parsh, who arrived in 2009 along with Johnson, talked about what makes his star player so special.

“She is always aware of what’s going on in the game and she’s tall enough and strong enough to see what’s going on under pressure,” Parsh said. “Plus everybody knows that she’s a great shooter.”

Beyond being a great player, Parsh described why it is so easy for her teammates to play with her.

“She has the type of personality that people follow,” he said. “People just gravitate towards her. She’s a vocal leader and she’s so smart she usually knows what play I’m going to call before I call it.”

Parsh also called Johnson the proverbial ‘Big Man On Campus’ in that she is very popular and everyone knows her around the school.

As for her senior season, Johnson hopes to take the team back to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs at Sleep Train Arena, a destination that the team has traveled to three straight seasons with her on the team. The team’s record under the three-year tenure of coach Parsh and floor-leader Johnson is a stunning 73-26.

After this year, though, Johnson’s collegiate career is now set before her.

She decided on Utah State during a recruiting trip in October.

“It is a big culture change from Sacramento, but in a good way,” said Johnson of her trip to Logan, Utah. “Everyone was so about Utah State. You could really feel the culture and how much everybody cared about Utah State athletics.”

Johnson also had offers from schools like Pepperdine University, University of San Francisco, and  University of Hawaii, but her visit to Logan was all she needed to make her choice. “People found out that I was a recruit for the women’s basketball team and they were really excited to meet me and I connected well with the coaches,” she said.

Though her skills on the court are undeniable, Johnson wants to make her mark in other ways away from home. She plans to major in psychology, something that she has grown to love during her senior year at Kennedy. One of her older sisters is in school studying the same subject, so just like basketball, it seems to be in the family.

“I’m definitely nervous about being away from home and being completely independent,” she said. “But I’m also very excited to get started. I’ll just need to find that balance between school and basketball.”

Her college career will begin sooner than most, as she plans to attend summer classes at the school which start in June.

As far as what kind of player Utah State is getting, Johnson described her play as “pretty aggressive, but I can play under control too.”

Kennedy kicked off its 2012-13 campaign in the Christian Brothers Tournament on Thursday, Nov. 29 against Del Campo. Results of the tournament were not accessible at press time.

The Youth Art & Design Expo at the California State Fair has a number of impressive entries this year, with many from Sacramento County students. / Photo by Susan Laird

For the last 158 years, Californians have proudly celebrated the talent and bounty of this great land at the annual California State Fair.
Whether in good times or tough ones, somehow the good folks of the Golden State manage to “step up to the plate” and show why there is always hope for the future.
Case in point, a number of Sacramento County’s youth artists – those in middle school and high school – submitted art work for the Youth Art & Design Expo. This is juried art show at the State Fair. And the young people did very well.
In fact, there were some 840 entries from Sacramento County’s young people that were judged good enough to win ribbons for first, second and third places, plus honorable mention. Not every entry was awarded a ribbon, so honorable mentions from this juried show are a significant accomplishment.
The titles of the submitted works are lively and imaginative – and seeing the creativity and talent of this younger generation is a great encouragement to fairgoers, as well as fun entertainment.

Here are a few of the schools in the Valley Community Newspapers readership area that are represented at this year’s fair:
West Campus High School
Pocket resident Isabel Moniz won first place for “Ode to Nature” (Pen, Pencil & Printmaking) and a third place ribbon for “Feathers” (Pen, Pencil & Printmaking). Arden Middle School
Jessica Allen received an impressive seven ribbons for multiple entries in different art categories at this year’s fair. Her 3D sculpture, “Googlie,” received an IMCO Ceramics Award and a second place ribbon. Two more 3D sculptures, “Chicken” and “Peace of Pie” received honorable mentions. Jessica received two third place ribbons for “Lucid Mindset” (Pen, Pencil & Printmaking) and “Glow” (Photography). She received an additional honorable mention for “Tree of Life” (Pen, Pencil & Printmaking).
Sam Brannan Middle School
Erinn Wong won a second place ribbon for “My Memory of Grandma Po Gee Lo” (Scrapbooks & Collections).
California Montessori Project
Sarah Bauer won two first place ribbons for her photography in the age 5 to 9 category. Her images of “Graffiti Wall” and “One Lonely Light” are on display. She received an honorable mention for “Chinese Restaurant.”
Christian Brothers High School
Morgan Gable won a second place ribbon for “Moon and Sun” (Wood items) and an honorable mention for “Cabin Sweet Cabin” (Any Other Craft or Hobby).
Julia Grajeda won the Best of Class trophy and a first place ribbon for her “Travel Backpack” in the Any Other Sewing Project category. She won two additional first place ribbons for “Plaid Sweatshirt” (Single Clothing Item) and “Pretty Pink Pillow” (Any Other Sewing Project). Julie also won a red ribbon for “Tie-Dye Tote Bag” (Any Other Sewing Project) and a third place ribbon for “Purple Skirt” (Single Clothing Item).
Crocker Riverside Elementary
Annabelle Long won a first place ribbon for her watercolor painting, “Hungry,” and an honorable mention for her painting, “Awe.”
Del Dayo Elementary
Ressa Eliza Artz received three ribbons at the fair: first place for “The Call of Autumn” (Quilts), first place for “Carmelo Mission” (Digitally Manipulated Photography) and an honorable mention for “Pondering Woodpecker” (Photography).
Nathaniel Heron received a third place ribbon for his entry, “Frosty Friend” (Mixed Media).
Mary Deterding Elementary
This local school had a significant number of entries at this year’s fair.
Liliana Adkins won a second place ribbon for her Mixed Media category entry, “Transformation.”
Azul Baker received an honorable mention for “Wild Warrior” (Any Other Craft or Hobby).
Christopher Chang won third place for “Eagles’ Eye” (Paintings).
Harper Colby won a first place ribbon for his “Sea Turtle Seascape” (Paintings).
Benjamin Davis received an honorable mention for his “Ramshead Still Life” (Watercolor).
Sophia Deboer received an honorable mention for “New York” (Pen, Pencil & Printmaking).
Mark Elliott won a second place ribbon for his Pastel & Charcoal entry, “Chimera.”
Bella Espinosa won two first place ribbons for “Pastel Piece” (Pastel & Charcoal) and “Plants in the Sunlight” (Watercolor).
Kailey Hall won the Prismacolor Art Excellence Award and a first place ribbon for “Leaves And Caterpillars” (Pen, Pencil & Printmaking).
Jack Harris won third place for “Still Life In Spain” (Watercolor).
William Heron won first place for his “Self Portrait” (Watercolor).
Tucker Marlin received an honorable mention for his Mixed Media entry, “The Super Gumball Machine.”
Ethan McHugh won two third place ribbons for “Monsters at Sea” (Mixed Media) and “Red Eyed Bird” (Pastel & Charcoal).
Ashley Poole won a second place ribbon for her 3D Sculpture entry, “The Spirit Of The Walrus.”
Levi Rankin won the Fay Schusterman Award and first place for his Mixed Media work, “Dragons Of The Sun.”
Hunter Witham received an honorable mention for “Pastoral Seraffito” (Mixed Media).
Hallie Yong received an honorable mention for her Pastel & Charcoal entry, “Cupcakes for Sale.”
Vivian Zerkle won a second place ribbon for “Washington Monument” and a third place ribbon for “Cherry Blossom” both in the Photography category. She received honorable mentions for “Sinningia bullata” (Photography) and “Botany And A Bug” (Watercolor).
Genevieve Didion Elementary
Derek Yuan won a first place ribbon for “Pacific Fair” (Mixed Media), second place ribbons for “Sunset On The Shore” (Watercolor) and “After Snow” (Pastel & Charcoal). He received honorable mentions for his Pastel & Charcoal entries, “What A Blossom!” and “Enjoy The Vacation, Enjoy The Life!”
Evan Yuan won a first place ribbon for his Mixed Media entry, “Three Pals.”
John F. Kennedy High School
Kelly Peng received honorable mentions for her Pastel & Charcoal entries, “Chinese Orchid” and “Spring Bird.”
Briana Santiago won a first place ribbon for “No Two Alike” (Mixed Media).
Casey Wong won a third place ribbon for her 3D Sculpture entry, “Scenic Lantern” and received an honorable mention for “Bridge Of Hope” (Wood Items).
Matsuyama Elementary
Gabriela Ham won two third place ribbons for “Cherry Blossom Hills” (Mixed Media) and “Spring Fountain” (3D Sculpture). She received an honorable mention for “Easter Bunny” (Paintings).
Lauren Ham won second place for “A Day In Fruit Garden” (Pastel & Charcoal). She received honorable mentions for “Rose And Butterflies” (Watercolor) and “My Neighbor’s Dog” (Pastel & Charcoal).
Janice Ng won a first place ribbon for “Myths of Dragon” (Mixed Media) and a third place ribbon for “Birds’ Paradise” (Pen, Pencil & Printmaking).
C.K. McClatchy High School
Maxwell Bauer’s photography was well received at the fair. Maxwell won first place for “Primary Houses,” a third place ribbon for “A Modern Concert” and an honorable mention for “Rows.”
Sierra Brown won a blue ribbon for “Spirals of Smoke” (Photography) and a second place ribbon for “A Cat Always Nose” (Photography). Sierra received honorable mentions for “Another Day on the Farm” (Photography) and “Jack the Rabbit” and “Overflowing” (both 3D Sculpture).
Mira Loma High School
Sarah Liu received honorable mentions for “Two Orchids in Bloom” and “Hibiscus With Leaves,” both in the Pastel & Charcoal category.
Mission Avenue Open School
Jake Reuter received an honorable mention for “Crysanthimum” (Pastel & Charcoal).
Tina Reuter won a first place ribbon for “Your Heart Is In My Hands” (Pastel & Charcoal).
Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic School
Caroline Crowley received an honorable mention for her Watercolor entry, “Penguino.”
Cecilia Crowley won a first place ribbon for “Birch Trees” (Paintings) and two honorable mentions for “Beaded Garden” (3D Sculpture) and “Time” (Wood Items).
Presentation School
Jake Melavic won first place for “Coit Tower In Spring” (Watercolor).
Megan Melavic received two honorable mentions for “Owl” and “Sea Life” (both Pastel & Charcoal entries).
Rio Americano High School
Aaron Boulger won first place for “New Orleans Entertainer” and third place for “Domino Sugar” (both Photography). He received an honorable mention for “Mather Bunkers” (Photography).
Leah Curry won a second place ribbon for “Water Drop Rose” (Watercolor).
Austin Hicks won Best of Class and first place for “Taxi Tails” (Photography). Austin also won first place for “You Caught Me” and second place for “A Warning in Red” (both Photography).
Saint Francis High School
Always a powerhouse in the world of the arts, the Troubadours proved that they continue to have “the right stuff” at the State Fair. Art is just a one semester requirement at St. Francis, but over 80 percent of the student body take additional art classes.
Tessie Berghoff won third place for “The Dark Rose” (Pastel & Charcoal).
Katie Chappelle won third place for her untitled work in Photography.
Jessica Cosca won second place for “I’m Thirsty” (Photography).
Megan Daly won first place for “Synesthesia” (Pastel & Charcoal).
Morgan Finegan won second place for “Tears” (Pastel & Charcoal).
Megan Foy received an honorable mention for “Maya” (Paintings).
Jessica Gutierrez won third place for “Flora” and received an honorable mention for “Laconsentida” (both Photography).
Grace Hollingsworth won first place for “Angel” (Photography).
Clarissa James won third place for “Above Bunny Falls” (Paintings).
Jinyan Li received an honorable mention for “Blessed Mother” (Paintings).
Victoria Ogorodnikov received an honorable mention for “Spence In The Kitchen” (Pastel & Charcoal).
Bianca Quiroz received an honorable mention for “True Beauty & Snow Queen” (Digitally Manipulated Photography).
Gabriella Riegos won second place for “Tomassy” (Digitally Manipulated Photography).
Melanie Rogers-Mantel received honorable mentions for “Venice In Blue” (Paintings) and “Self Portrait” (Pastel & Charcoal).
Natalia Smith won third place for “Tiger” (Pen, Pencil & Printmaking).
Kenall Spector received an honorable mention for “The White Moon” (Digitally Manipulated Photography).
Danielle Villaluna won first place for “A Bus In London” (Pastel & Charcoal) and received an honorable mention for “Gypsy” (Mixed Media).
Sydney Wall won a third place ribbon for her “Self Portrait” (Photography).
Frances Wiese won a third place ribbon for “Native To The Sun” (Mixed Media).
Saint Ignatius Loyola Parish School
William Legrand received an honorable mention for “Foothill Cottage” (Paintings).
Kaj Olson won a third place ribbon for “Velvet Two” (Photography).
Saint Mary Elementary School
LeeAnn Matthews received much recognition for her sewing talents. LeeAnn won first place ribbons for “Blue Dot Skirt” (Single Clothing Item) and “Pillow Fight Pack” (Any Other Sewing Project), second place ribbons for “Calico Flower” (Quilts) and “It’s a Hoot” (Quilts) and a third place ribbon for “Groovy Dot” (Single Item Clothing).
Amelia Ross received an honorable mention for “Hearts On A String” (3D Sculpture).
Fiona Ross won a third place ribbon for “Green Scarf” (Needlecraft).
Shalom School
Oliver Black won first place for his 3D Sculpture entry, “Folding Cup.”
Daniel Levine won third place for “Hamburger” (3D Sculpture).
Zoe Osorio received an honorable mention for “Blooming” (3D Sculpture).
Sutter Middle School
Benjamin Bauer won a third place ribbon for “Tic-Tac-Toe” and an honorable mention for “Patterns” (both Photography).
Santana Garcia won two third place ribbons for “Puddle of Youth” and “You Make Beautiful Things” (both Photography). Santana also received an honorable mention for “Nature’s Heart” (Photography).
Caitlin McLaughlin won third place for “Beautiful Treasures” and received an honorable mention for “Unique” (both Pen, Pencil & Printmaking).
Aaron Won won first place for “Escape” and received honorable mentions for “Mysterious Garden” and “Reflection” (all Watercolor).
The California State runs through July 29 at Cal Expo, located at 1600 Exposition Boulevard in Sacramento. Fair hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Visit www.bigfun.org for admission and Midway information.

This year’s Rotary Club theme is “Reach Within to Embrace Humanity,” and that is exactly what Daniel Li did Thursday morning, Feb. 9, at the Aviator’s Restaurant located at the Executive Airport.

REACHING WITHIN, Kennedy High School upperclassmen Daniel Li and Simon Lal (left to right) competed in the Rotary Club of Pocket-Greenhaven’s annual speech contest. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Sally King

Li, a junior at Kennedy High School competed against Simon Lal in the annual Rotary Speech contest. His speech touched on the shallowness of society as a whole.

“I looked at the theme and I wanted to get looser with the style of my writing,” Li said. “This year’s theme took a lot of thinking and it was a fun process.”

Li lives in the Greenhaven Pocket area and said he plans on getting a business degree and might follow the footsteps of his two older brothers who attend UC Berkeley. The Rotary Club awarded him first place with a gift of $200.

Lal, a senior at Kennedy High School said he wants to become a stunt director and actor. His theme was being true to self and others. Lal lives in South Sacramento. He received $100 for his speech.

“I decided to be in the speech contest because I tend to be shy and sometimes stutter and slur my words,” Lal said. “I figured this would help me improve my public speaking.”

Speaking well in public takes years of practice and begins with experience. These are two reasons the Rotary Club has an annual speech contest for young people. The Rotary Website explains the contest is an opportunity to spread the themes and motto of Rotary, “Service Above Self.”

The Rotary Club rules state contestants must be in grades 9 to 12. The speaker must give a five to eight minute speech without displays, prompts or prompting. The speaker must convince listeners how he/she will reach within and find their inner strength to accomplish great things within their community and around the world. They are allowed to use notes for the first round, after that notes are not allowed.

There were three judges; Linda Whitney, retired principal of Caroline Wenzel Elementary School, Terry Thomas, retired teacher from Alice Birney Elementary School and Marilee Bellotti, retired principal of Holy Spirit Parish School.

Li advances to the Area 4 Level Semi-final Contest to be held Thursday, March 29 at 7 p.m. in the SMUD auditorium.

The winner of that contest advances to the District Level Contest, held at the Grand Sierra Resort, Reno Nev. on Saturday, May 19. The district level first place award is $1000 and second place is $700.

John F. Kennedy High School’s own California Scholarship Federation (CSF) Club participated in the annual KCRA 3 Kids Can Food Drive last month. With the help of many donors, they collected some 3,100 cans of food for hungry families.

THESE KIDS CAN – and do – make a difference in the community. Students from John F. Kennedy High School collected –and are continuing to collect – canned goods to feed hungry neighbors in South Sacramento. All donations benefit the South Sacramento Interfaith Pantry. Front row, left to right: Joshua Honda, Raymond Chan, Royce Kurahara; Second row: Michelle Lin, Kaitlyn Gee, Amy Tam, Nicole Mah, Casey Kwok, Angela Tang, Mr. Lam, Stephanie Gee, Anstonia Ma, Pang Yang, Karlan Yu; Back row: Cienna Rominger, Kellie Klockgether, Grant Oshita, Rachel Lee, Helen Jiang, Ashley Yan, Michael Yang, Monica Wan, Danielle Quan, Cory Yun, Jacky Wan. / Photo courtesy

Thanks to the combined effort of over fifty JFK CSF members and the Robbie Waters Pocket- Greenhaven Library, which donated several hundred food items, this effort was a huge success.

All donations went to the South Sacramento Interfaith Partnership (SSIP) Emergency Food Closet.

Generous incentives were donated by counselor Mr. Norman and principal Mr. Sweitzer. Furthermore, an anonymous JFK teacher donated a sum of money to the CSF effort, allowing the group to reward the top donating classes with a pizza party and $100 in class rewards.

In 1st place was Mr. Andrews’ class with 910 cans. Ms. Fong’s class came in 2nd with 417 cans and 3rd place went to Ms. Stanton’s class who collected 245 cans.

These donations will help feed hungry families in the South Sacramento community. The KCRA 3 Kids Can Food Drive was CSF’s main fall semester project. They look forward to their next main project, Casey’s Ballroom Dancing in the spring semester.

The CSF Club will continue to accept non-perishable food donations on behalf of the SSIP throughout the season. Drop offs can be made at the JFK front office during regular hours. The school is located on 6715 Gloria Drive in Sacramento.

It’s no secret that football foes within the same conference can play fiery games with big hits and smack talk, but there is a breaking point that always looms in these games. Kennedy and McClatchy high schools witnessed that breaking point in the Sept. 30 varsity matchup between the schools.

With about five minutes left in the fourth quarter (McClatchy led 14-0 and had the ball), McClatchy quarterback Nick Modar scrambled and was then lifted up by several Kennedy players. When the players didn’t let go, a brawl shortly followed. Before long, the benches cleared and punches were reportedly thrown.

By the time the dust had settled from the controversy, a coach had resigned, students were removed from playing, and both teams forfeited games (Kennedy against Valley; McClatchy against Rosemont).

The game sanctions were handed out by SCUSD Superintendent Jonathan Raymond.

“I believe this action is necessary to ensure that an incident of this sort is not repeated in Sacramento City Unified,” Raymond said in a press release. “This kind of behavior is against the tenets of good sportsmanship and will not be tolerated in our community. There is no excuse for what transpired. Both teams need to earn back the respect they lost on the field last weekend. I feel strongly that athletics in our district is a privilege not a right.”

Coaches, athletic directors and team captains from both schools met at a sportsmanship summit to discuss a community service event in which to jointly participate in order to put the incident behind them. Rob Feickert, athletic director at McClatchy, said that the teams decided upon tutoring students at Jedediah Smith Elementary School. The teams met at the school on Friday, Oct. 7 to help out.

Each school was responsible for doling out its own punishment for individual players, according to the release.

Nine players in total were kicked off the teams for their roles in the melée. Kennedy took the worst of it with eight players being dismissed while just one McClatchy player was removed. The names of the players were not released by the schools and the precise reasons for their dismissal were not given.

Adding to the fallout of the brawl was the sudden resignation of Kennedy head coach Henry Lusk. Lusk, who profusely apologized for his team’s role in the fight, stepped down as head coach amid a scandal involving a picture of the former coach in a thong that found its way onto Twitter. It remains unclear how the picture surfaced.

As of press time, Kennedy had not named its new head coach, but it is believed that it will be one of the assistant coaches who worked with Lusk, according to Sacramento City Unified School District Chief Communications Officer Gabe Ross.

Both teams forfeited their games this past weekend but the season will press on as scheduled. How the teams fare without players (and coaches) remains to be seen.

“This is an embarrassment for our community and we are all anxious to put it behind us,” Raymond said in the release. “The best outcome is that we use the incident as a teachable moment, and that these teams, schools and all of our students emerge as champions of good sportsmanship.”

The Sep. 30 game will go into the books as a 14-0 win for McClatchy, as it has been decided that picking the game up where it left off would not be a good decision.

This article was updated on Oct. 12, 2011