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Closet opens doors a little wider for teachers

The nonprofit that gives teachers the opportunity to "shop" for free school supplies has grown and expanded again.

The Teachers' Supply Closet in West Ashley had allowed teachers from 10 high-poverty schools in Charleston and Berkeley counties to take advantage of its goodies, but now teachers in 21 schools can shop there.

"The teachers literally cry when they leave here because they're so thrilled," said Deborah Halon, who runs the store.

Teachers can go to the Teachers' Supply Closet and pick up free school supplies for their classrooms with no strings attached, and it appears to be the only store of its kind in the state.

The store opened in spring 2008 to six Charleston County elementary schools where more than 95 percent of students live in poverty. As awareness and support for the nonprofit has risen, so has its ability to serve more teachers.

The store began opening its doors this spring to schools in Berkeley and Dorchester counties with 95 percent poverty -- no school in Dorchester qualified -- and the nonprofit lowered its poverty threshold to 90 percent this fall, which increased its number of eligible schools to 21. Seventeen of those schools are in Charleston County, and four are in Berkeley County.

The nonprofit's long-term goal is to serve all Lowcountry schools with more than 70 percent of students in poverty, but it will take time to build to that.

"We want to keep the quality and level of expectation what it is," Halon said.

Halon and another part-time staff member are the store's sole employees, but they've managed to provide $95,000 worth of supplies to teachers this year. Many in the community still don't realize that a place such as the Teachers' Supply Closet exists, and Halon said she'd like to raise more awareness about it and continue to increase partnerships with organizations and businesses to host supply drives.

One collaborative effort that Halon is particularly excited about is with the Riverdogs, which again decided to adopt the nonprofit for its upcoming season. The first 100 people who bring school supplies to each home game this year will receive an admission ticket for $1.

"There's a lot going on," she said. "It's exciting. The need is only going to grow."

Teachers who shop in the store seem grateful for its existence, as evidenced by the surveys they fill out after they shop. One teacher wrote this spring: "Most of the items that I was able to get today I consider necessary to run my classroom. If I was not able to get these supplies, the funds would have come right out of my pocket. I usually spend $1,200 a year."

What happens when school supplies are in short supply?

Teachers make a difference.

Even with limited supplies. Even with shrinking budgets.

They still make a difference, Teri Howard says.

"Teachers are being asked to do more and more, and I'm proud to say have risen to the challenge," Howard, who teaches Title I Reading at Lincoln Elementary School in Ottawa, said.

Howard said teachers need supplies -- crayons, scissors, glue, pens, staplers, hole punches, folders -- to do their jobs and help students succeed.

But those supplies sometimes are difficult to come by Howard says, especially in a struggling economy.

"We make a difference," she said. "We take each child and differentiate the instruction so each may learn to the fullest of their potential."

Howard says school districts provide some of the necessary supplies -- copy paper more than anything else -- but teachers are responsible for coming up with the cash for extra supplies -- like construction paper, markers and paint, to name a few.

"The school gives a budget yearly to teachers to purchase classroom needs," she said. "It helps, of course, but with bigger class sizes and more curriculum, it stretches pretty thinly."

Howard said some teachers spend up to $400 on supplies yearly in order to help students meet annual yearly progress and other state assessment requirements.

"Students need to respond to learning by doing," Howard said. "Is it realistic in the business world to run a business without the supplies?"

West Franklin Superintendent Dotson Bradbury said although unfortunate, the reality is that teachers always have purchased extra supplies for their classrooms.

"We try and provide teachers with the supplies they need while understanding our budgets continue to be cut," Bradbury said. "Our teachers do an excellent job of not wasting supplies."

Bradbury added that it is difficult during tough economic times because each school principal has a building budget -- from teaching supplies to restroom toilet paper.

"Our teachers buy extras they want students to have out of their own personal funds," he said. "While not ideal, it's something classroom teachers have done for many years."

Howard wouldn't argue with this notion. She says young teachers typically spend less money on supplies because they make less money annually.

"I'm sure it's different for all teachers," she said. "I probably spend $400 a year, mostly on motivators, instructional materials and organizers."

In addition, Howard says usually she buys books, snacks, notebooks, baskets, tubs and special paints and markers for her students. All of these items help make her job easier and help students achieve more, she said.

"It is a rewarding and demanding job," she said. "I daresay, the corporate boss could not run his or her company with the same lack of supplies that we do and make the difference we make. But that's my opinion."

Sacramento boy wins Mexican art contest

Juan Misael Gonzalez-Montanez, a shy 8-year-old who loves to draw, has won his family of six its first-ever computer.

Juan, a third-grader at the Smythe Academy in North Sacramento, was one of 15 top winners in an international art competition sponsored by the Mexican government.

His award-winning crayon and watercolor picture shows the first flag of Mexican independence containing the image of La Virgen de Guadalupe, an important national and religious symbol in Mexico. The flag was raised by Father Miguel Hidalgo on Sept. 15, 1810.

Hidalgo -- with his now famous grito, or yell -- rallied the town of Dolores to battle the Spaniards. "Hidalgo proclaimed the end of slavery in all Mexico, including California," said Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, the consul general of Mexico in Sacramento.

"Our independence was not achieved until 11 years later, after a long and bloody war, and Father Hidalgo was killed in less than a year," said Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Juan was the first Sacramento winner in the 13-year history of the competition. Este Es Mi Mexico -- This Is My Mexico -- was sponsored by the Mexican government for children 7 to 11.

This year's theme was the bicentennial of Mexican independence and centennial of the Mexican Revolution.

Other winning submissions depicted the revolution that began Nov. 20, 1910, to overthrow President Porfirio Diaz, who had ruled Mexico for more than 30 years.

Juan was one of 15 top winners out of 6,266 entries worldwide for the official 2010 Mexican calendar. The top 120 drawings -- done by children as far away as Russia and Argentina -- will be part of an exhibition at the History Gallery in the Museo del Caracol in Mexico City, where Juan was born.

"I draw 15 to 20 minutes a day," said Juan. "I like making the Mexican flag and stuff."

His sister Adriana, 13, added, "he also draws cars, superheroes, a lot of stuff." She called the winning picture "a good thing so I can remember about Mexican history, and I want to learn more about my Mexican culture."

It's also a good thing because the family -- which includes Luis, 12, and Daniela, 15 -- will finally get a computer, a $1,500 desktop, this week.

"I'll do my homework -- math projects in pre-algebra -- and check my grades," said Adriana. "Right now it's hard because I have to go to the library to use a computer and sometimes it's not open."

Juan could have chosen a digital camera, a drawing kit or school supplies, but he chose the computer.

"I want him to do his homework, mainly," said his dad, Daniel Gonzalez.

"It's beautiful," he said of his son's drawing, "I know he draws all the time but I never knew he submitted it."

Gonzalez said he came to Sacramento from Michoacan in 2000. Five years later, the family joined him. Gonzalez is now a cook in a local restaurant while Juan's mother, Maria Gonzalez Montanez, works at a plastics factory.

Juan was honored Sept. 15 on the steps of the Capitol before 5,000 Mexican Americans celebrating Hidalgo's call to arms 200 years ago, the consul general said.

But Juan doesn't plan to become an artist. "I want to be a cook like my dad," he said.

College fair shows high school kids the possibilities

From the University of Puget Sound fieldhouse, the future looked bright Monday night.

Wanna-be engineers, actors, musicians, hair stylists, physicians and other teens with college and careers on their minds swarmed the second annual College and Career Fair sponsored by Tacoma Public Schools. Organizers were expecting more than 2,500 students to attend the event, which drew college recruiters from around the Northwest and around the country, along with a few from Canada and Europe.

Many students cruised the aisles with parents, browsing among 175 information booths offering information on everything from well-known Northwest colleges to West Point. The fair also drew local employers, including the City of Tacoma and MultiCare Health System.

"We have talked college for years," said Corrine Moore, who was there with her son, Roger, a student at Truman Middle School. She believes it's never too early to start planning, even though her son's career ideas are still evolving. He's interested in engineering, but also wants to attend a school with a good soccer program. And he wouldn't say no to a music scholarship.

Stadium High School sophomore Bailey Ness dreams about becoming a writer and has already started on a romance novel that's set in her high school. (Don't worry. She's changed all the names.) She picked up information from both the University of Washington and Western Washington University, and she also learned about a college she hadn't considered before: Sweet Briar College in Virginia.

Fortunately for Bailey, her parents Dee Dee and Mike have been socking money away into Washington state's college savings plan, known as GET, or Guaranteed Education Tuition. It allows families to purchase credits toward college tuition at today's prices for college in the future. (Learn more at get.wa.gov) The fair also featured sessions on financial aid and the college application process.

Marissa Madison, a Stadium senior, isn't sure where she's headed after graduation. But she said she's interested in cosmetology or "artsy stuff" like design.

"That's what these things are for," she said of the fair's wide variety of offerings.

Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635

debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com

In Federal Way

The Federal Way School District hosts its annual "Life After High School" Career and College Fair on Wednesday, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Todd Beamer High School, 35999 16th Ave. S. in Federal Way.

Representatives from colleges, technical and specialty schools, trades, and the military will answer questions. Seminars will cover topics including scholarships, financial aid, college admissions, SAT/ACT, and personal essays.

For more information, call 253-945-2581.

Caneel Bay staffer raising donations with marathon run

Carolyn Rebeck, sales manager for Caneel Bay Resort, is combining her personal and professional lives by running in the upcoming New York City Marathon as a fundraiser for Friends of Virgin Islands National Park.

Caneel has pledged to donate 50 cents for every dollar Rebeck raises, up to $1,000. Her fundraising goal is $3,000. The race is one week away and already she has raised $2,900.

Rebeck, 27, has run the Chicago Marathon twice, the Brooklyn Half Marathon, and, for the first time this year, St. John's 8 Tuff Miles.

"That was so hard," she said.

The most recent race was Chicago just three weeks ago. At that race she clocked in at 4 hours, 40 minutes, but she said she was going slow to save herself for the New York race. The previous year, her first marathon, she came in at 4:20:00.

A New York resident, Rebeck entered the annual lottery for the city's marathon one year ago. When she got the news that she won a spot, she began to think about how she could use the opportunity to do the most good.

"I was lucky enough to get in and decided to link my professional life and personal life together," Rebeck said.

The race will be a fundraiser for the park -- through the nonprofit Friends of V.I. National Park -- and she will be decked out in the turquoise and white Caneel Bay Resort colors and logo.

"For both personal and professional reasons, the V.I. National Park really holds value for me," Rebeck said.

Caneel Bay Resort is on national park land, and the resort and the park work hand in hand to preserve St. John's cultural and natural resources. The nonprofit Friends of V.I. National Park share that goal, providing programs and funding initiatives to engage the community in the park and its resources.

"It's a great show of support for what we do in protecting and preserving the park," Joe Kessler, president of Friends of V.I. National Park said.

He said the Friends will be watching and cheering her on on Nov. 1.

The money raised will be a general donation to the nonprofit. Friends of V.I. National Park runs a number of programs including eco-camps for children to study marine and terrestrial ecosystems; SKIP (School Kids in the Park) designed to familiarize V.I. students with their National Park through hands-on learning and site visits; creating and maintaining accessible park trails; scholarship funds, and more.

The Great Pumpkin and 'Pumpkin Man's' statue; all those helicopters

On a recent walk past the Dominic T. "Nick" Venetucci statue adjacent to the Pioneers Museum I counted 26 pumpkins. Are these started from seed or plants? Who plants them and when? And what happens to the mature pumpkins?

" Chris J. Hermes

ANSWER: Oh Great Pumpkin, is it you?

Not quite. The pumpkin seeds, usually a couple of packages, are planted around mid-May and the city waters them. They're usually small to medium pumpkins, just like those the "Pumpkin Man" planted for the kids from this area to pick.

The pumpkin fairy is Beth Ortiz, manager of Downtown Business Improvement District, who said the district agreed to do this when area residents, many of them school kids, raised the money for the sculpture after Venetucci's death in 2004.

Who harvests the pumpkins? Well, if Ortiz is quick enough, she does it herself. Sometimes, just like this year, she goes over to pick some pumpkins before they're too big and they've already gone home with someone else.

Ortiz will finish the pumpkin season by cutting down the vines.

What were those helicopters?

It was amazing Monday when a large number of Army helicopters flew in formation over the city. What was happening?

--Amy

ANSWER: They had just returned from training in Fort Irwin, Calif. It was a squadron of 16 AH-64D Apache helicopters heading home to Fort Carson.

Why zig when you can zag on I-25?

Just south of the Woodmen/I-25 interchange, near the overhead electronic sign near Zio's restaurant, all three lanes of southbound I-25 jog about 5-6 feet to the left. The diversion widens the right breakdown lane and nearly eliminates the left breakdown lane. There are no obvious visible reasons why the lanes need to make this unusual excursion, and I think it presents a traffic hazard. Drivers cruising down the interstate are expecting the road to continue in the usual straightforward manner.

-- Bob Bean

Colorado Department of Transportation spokesman Bob Wilson explained, "The City maintains that overhead sign and the highway lights. Instead of having to close a lane every time they do operations work, there is that jog which allows space for city crews to park their vehicles when they have to work on the sign or the lights.

This will all go away when I-25 becomes four lanes in the future."