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.

“A dynamically gifted person.” “She’s been my mentor for 10 years.” “An impressive lady.” “A remarkable woman.” “Kay is St. Francis.”

These are just a few of the myriad of comments by staff and alumni of St. Francis High School about Kay Gaines, who will be retiring from the school after 43 years on March 31.

“I think it’s a good time to retire – I have my health, I have my energy, so I want to move while I can still re-engage,” Gaines said about her upcoming retirement and move to Lewiston, Idaho at the end of March so she can be closer to her sister’s family, as well as her two grown sons and two 3½ year old granddaughters currently living in Colorado.

“It will be very difficult to leave my life-long friends in Sacramento, but I’ll carry wonderful memories with me,” Gaines said in a letter emailed out to St. Francis High School supporters in February. “I have good health, lots of energy and a loving family, so I’m very fortunate.”

Where it all Began

Gaines began her St. Francis High School career at literally the very beginning of 1969 – she came in to interview for a part-time social studies teacher position on Jan. 2 and started the very next day. Gaines worked part-time from 1969 to 1973, then became full-time from 1974 to 1984, and later the Social Studies Department chair from the mid-70s until 1985.

Rosemarie Bertini, a 1972 graduate of St. Francis who came back in 1997 to become an Italian instructor for the school, recalls Gaines’ reputation as teaching difficult, serious classes.

“When you’re a kid at that age, you’re just going to do anything you can to not put yourself in that position, but when we got to senior year there was no way around it – Civics was Mrs. Gaines,” Bertini said. “And I just thought, ‘Am I going to live to see the end,’ because I knew it was a lot of work!”

Reflecting on her student experience, Bertini said that although at a young age taking a class from Gaines might have been something a student would want to avoid, Gaines knew it was something her students could do. And Gaines would do what she could to keep them on track.

“In the end we were so full of accomplishment – when you left that class, you’d truly learned something and in addition you had this confidence in it,” Bertini added.

Gaines herself admits she was a really tough teacher.

“I think that students can reach very high levels if you ask them to – they can learn skills, improve their own academic knowledge,” she added. “We did a lot of writing in my history classes because that skill you’ll take with you for the rest of your life.”

St. Francis Theology Department Chair Rick Norman recalls beginning his own career at the school in 1977 when Gaines was the chair of the Social Studies Department. He said her long career has allowed her to have a real grasp of the history and vision of St. Francis as she’s managed of number of transitions the school has gone through, from changes in campus location, buildings, administration and enrollment.

“She’s had to weather all the transitions and she’s been just incredibly graceful at guiding that school academically and administratively, and supporting just so many programs at the school,” Norman said.

Also during her time as a teacher, Gaines taught the first advanced placement (AP) U.S. history course St. Francis, which is a course high school students can take for college credit. According to St. Francis AP Literature teacher Rich Weldon, the AP program Gaines started then has grown. He said of the two English AP courses the school offers, over 100 students take the junior year course, while between 60 to 80 students take the senior year course.

“The AP programs, not just in English but in other departments, have really flourished under her because she just believes they could do it and it didn’t matter if it was math or chemistry – it was kind of like move over boys, here come the girls,” Weldon said.

Nora Wehrenberg Anderson, 1983 alumna, recalls her first interaction with Gaines in August 1981 in her AP U.S. history class.

“Lucky for me, I learned so much more,” she said in a note she recently wrote to Gaines to wish her well on her retirement. “I learned how to think critically, to write well, and about how positive role models are all around us – people like you!”

Leaving a Legacy

Gaines continued to support the AP program at St. Francis as she made the move to assistant principal in 1985, followed by becoming principal in 1998. Gaines then decided to retire from the principal position in 2004 to take on her current role as director of special projects.

Gaines said her current role is a “catch-all” phrase that covers a wide variety of unrelated things, a good portion of which are connected to the school’s academic teams, many of which Gaines started during her career, including the Mock Trial, Model United Nations, and Academic Decathlon, and others she also coached, such as the school’s Robotics Team.

St. Francis Director of Admission Moira O’Brien said Gaines is the reason why they have academic teams at the school. Although Gaines ran them herself for a while, she then found staff to take on each team and stick with them.

“We were the first all-girl school to ever go to the national championship in robotics, our speech team wins so many prizes,” O’Brien explained. “It’s all Kay’s energy, she built them, and they are so successful and the girls love it.”

And Norman said the building of these academic teams is what is bringing students to St. Francis today.

“For the first time we interviewed the incoming freshmen – many students now are coming to the school for academic teams,” he said. “She was the one that really got all that rolling.”

For 2010 graduate Amy Bush, being part of the St. Francis Debate Team is what she recalls most from her time at the school.

“Participating in debate meant a lot to me because I had spent eight years in speech therapy prior to coming to St. Francis,” she recalled in a written note to Gaines. “To have St. Francis welcome me and make me feel that they were proud of me is something that has inspired me beyond measure, and still continues to.”

Another program Gaines began and currently oversees is an exchange program with a sister school in Japan. The program with Nakamura Gakuen Girls High School in Fukuoka, Japan has been ongoing for 15 years now.

St. Francis 2001 graduate Jayme Hennessy recalls the exchange program and the impact it had on her education.

“That was really neat because we were able to experience a global perspective with girls our own age from another country,” she recalled. “That was really something I remember a lot – especially as a high school student, it was pretty great.”

Saying Goodbye

With the eve of her retirement upon her, Gaines reflects back on her experience at St. Francis and a comment a colleague she had taught with for 35 years said to her one morning that while driving to school one morning, he realized he had never gone to work a day in his life.

“And I said, ‘Yup, I feel exactly the same’,” Gaines recalled. “I’ve never gone to work a day in my life. In 43 years I just came to play, and I think a lot of people here feel that way. We work really hard, we work really long hours because we wear so many hats, but it’s just such a rewarding experience.”

That constant drive has Gaines already making plans for her retirement, including involvement with the church, League of Women Voters, and schools in the area, as well as taking technology courses at the local community college.

“I don’t intend to sit,” she laughed.

When asked what she has learned the most from her experience at St. Francis, Gaines said one thing was that she grew in her own faith as a Catholic, which has become an integral part of who she is. And she also learned respect.

“Respect for my colleagues, respect for the kids and their parents,” she added.

Gaines said what she will miss the most is the community.

“This is truly a family, truly a community – people really do care about each other,” she said. “I will miss living in a truly faith-based community where it just happens so naturally and people just celebrate together and pray together.”

And her parting words for her St. Francis family? Be creative, be adventurous, and love each other.

“I’ve just had the best career that I could ever possibly have desired and in the best place,” Gaines said. “I’ve been blessed for sure.”