(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) Jazz In Blue Jay had a rather inauspicious beginning: a local jazz trio and five chairs in a parking lot. That was back in 1991, under the foresighted leadership of community leader and businessman Pat Welsh. August 21 marks the debut of the 17th annual musical event, formerly known as The Blue Jay Jazz Festival.
Leading off this summer’s series will be trumpeter Carl Saunders and his sextet Thursday, August 21 from 6 to 9 p.m. in Blue Jay.
Saunders, a Los Angeles area stalwart, auditioned for, then joined, one of the legendary jazz bands, the Stan Kenton Orchestra right out of high school, spending 1961-62 on the road as a member of Kenton’s well-known mellophonium section.
Saunders’ resume continues to impress, his stints including appearances with classic singers Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, plus the bands of Benny Goodman, Harry James and Charlie Barnet.
The following week, organizers feature the Latin Soul Jazz sounds of multi-instrumentalist Scott Martin and his sextet at Blue Jay. Thursday, August 28 from 6-9 p.m. audiences will be treated to one of the strongest Latin-soul-jazz performers in America.
With 10 of the band’s recordings to his credit, the composer, arranger and multi-reed player has also performed over the years with countless bands including those of Ray Charles, Tito Puente, Chick Corea, The Temptations, Barry Manilow and Mongo Santamaria.
The blues sounds of Southern California’s King Brothers, Lee and Sam, will highlight the Thursday, September 4 installment of Jazz in Blue Jay. From 6 to 9 p.m. the cousins of blues great Freddy King will bring fans their “new standard” of blues. “It’s danceable,” says Lee King, “it’s rock-flavored, funk-flavored, gospel-flavored. I don’t know a damn thing about picking cotton; I don’t drink whiskey; and I don’t dip snuff. I don’t fit any of those blues-man stereotypes. We just dig it for the art form, and we’re taking it where it needs to go.”
All three shows are above Rite Aid in Blue Jay Village on Highway 189. General Admission is $15.00. Tickets will be at the door or available by calling (909) 337-7253.
Saturday September 13 marks a special presentation, Blue Jay’s “Jazz by the Lake,” an in-home performance at a Lake Arrowhead estate featuring the 14-year-old Rim High School student Olivia Clark, the vocalist recipient of the Blue Jay Jazz Foundation’s first music scholarship. She’ll be appearing with 17-year-old jazz violin sensation Antonio Pontarelli, who, at 13, was the Grand Prize winner of “America’s Most Talented Kids.”
Fontana-born Clark is from a musical family where she was raised on the sounds of Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Dave Brubeck.
Her $1,500 “Keeping Jazz Alive” scholarship is earmarked for music instruction and materials, funded in part by a generous grant from Maria’s Studio of Music and Voice in Lake Arrowhead and, according to festival organizers, “is based on artistic potential, financial need and academic achievement,” adding, “Olivia will benefit from ‘selective’ professional training to enhance her remarkable raw talent.”
The Mission Statement of the nonprofit Blue Jay Jazz Foundation states an objective clearly: “To foster and expand a greater awareness of jazz in all its forms by bringing the finest local, national and international jazz musicians to the San Bernardino Mountain communities of Lake Arrowhead, Blue Jay, Crestline.”
For details on the Jazz in Blue Jay or the Jazz by the Lake performances, phone (909) 337-7253.
2008 Chino High School graduate Manual Alvarez, 11th-grader Tiffanie Williams and 12th-grader Michael Navkirk prepare snickerdoodle batter for a Chino High event FHA-HERO was catering at the end of the 2007-08 school year.
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) “We have to teach leadership,” said Chino High School teacher Elizabeth Williams. “It’s in the state standards.”
Learning how to work in groups, make decisions as a team, get along with diverse coworkers and resolve conflicts peacefully is woven into the curriculum of every high school subject in California. But since Williams is a Home Economics Careers and Technology teacher, she has found the most effective way to do this is through her department’s co-curricular student organization, FHA-HERO.
FHA once was an acronym for Future Homemakers of America, and later became FHA-HERO to reflect its additional focus on Home Economics Related Occupations.
Now, it is so highly revered for its ability to develop leadership abilities, some students join FHA-HERO just for that reason alone. FHA-HERO helps 300,000 students at 750 schools throughout California, whether they plan on going into a home economics-related career field or not.
“I joined FHA-HERO because of all it has to offer,” said Francisco Gutierrez, a recent graduate of Golden West High School in Visalia. “No other organization at Golden West had anything that could have prepared me to succeed the way FHA-HERO did.”
Gutierrez learned a little about being a CEO, because he served as the Chapter President of his FHA-HERO organization at Golden West during the 2007-08 school year. He also learned about healthy living, time management and effective communication.
Alicia Freude, the 2008-09 FHA-HERO Chapter President at Chino High School in Chino, does want to open a bakery after she graduates from high school. So, while she values the education she receives in culinary courses offered through the Chino High Home Economics Careers and Technology program, the leadership experience she’s gaining is just as valuable to her.
“I love organizing things, so organizing activities for people will be fun,” she said. “I want to make a difference and motivate more people to join.”
Prior to last school year, Alicia was more interested in soccer than home economics. But she took one course, and when she was asked to help a classmate prepare a salad for a FHA-HERO competition, she found herself hooked on how fun the organization could be.
In his Consumer and Family Studies course, which focused on healthy living, Gutierrez took on a project examining the various medications that can be used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly known as ADHD. That turned out to be a highlight of his time in FHA-HERO, he said.
He so thoroughly researched this project, it earned him second place in a statewide competition of FHA-HERO students who had done various studies in Consumer Education. When the state competition’s winner announced she wouldn’t be able to make the trip, Gutierrez’s efforts paid off with a trip to a national competition over the summer.
Alicia’s classmate and Francisco were among hundreds of FHA-HERO members last year who took part in an important aspect of FHA-HERO, which is its Competitive Recognition Events program. Students compete in 21 different events, as diverse as salad preparation and consumer education, commercial food preparation and interior design, creating artful food displays and having the best documentation of what the chapter did in a year. State-level winners in this competition took home cash awards, scholarships and other prizes along with trophies and certificates.
Many FHA-HERO chapters provide diverse, meaningful activities for their students. For instance, at Chino High School, where FHA-HERO has been recognized as one of the state’s Superior chapters for its many activities, active members put on assemblies for other students enrolled in Home Economics Careers and Technology courses, cater school events and participate in community outreach events, such as clothing drives for the area’s less fortunate. Golden West High School also has been recognized for its chapter’s diverse activities, along with many others in the state.
Monica Vargas, who served as Chino High School’s FHA-HERO chapter president during the 2007-08 school year, said participating in FHA-HERO activities together is one of her most cherished high school memories. It’s also an experience she knows will greatly benefit her now that she’s moved on to college, she hopes followed by a career in fashion design.
“We worked together as a team, and by doing so we were able to reach out to people,” she said. “We got more students to be involved in FHA-HERO, and we got the community involved in making Chino a better place to live. As the president, this gave me lots of leadership skills and communication skills. It also taught me to work my hardest for the team.”
For more information, call FHA-HERO State Adviser Janice DeBenedetti at (916) 323-5025.
Monica Vargas, a 2008 graduate of Chino High School and Sarah Ruelas, who was in 11th grade at the end of the 2007-08 school year, prepare cookies for an end-of-year activity at Chino High School. Their advanced culinary course at Chino High gave them hands-on experience in catering. By taking a series of courses in Chino High’s Home Economics Careers and Technology program, students can earn a special vocational certification with their high school diplomas, as Monica has done.
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – “Home Economics Careers and Technology, prepares students for high-skill, high-wage careers in related industries,” said David Long, California State Secretary of Education. “Many of the students who take these courses will go on to careers in the same industry. But even if they do not, they learn skills that will help them to succeed in any career or business venture, such as how to be a good employee, how to communicate well, and how to lead others in a project.”
Today’s Home Economics Careers and Technology has created a two-fold program designed to prepare young people for success in home economics-related occupations, and for success in their personal lives.
“Home Economics Related Occupations, the career-oriented part of our program, provides instruction through “pathways,” which are courses of study focusing on a specific career area,” said Janice DeBenedetti, state consultant for Home Economics Careers and Technology. “While high school students primarily focus on graduation requirements, and often college entrance requirements, pathways offer students elective choices that will help them prepare for specific college majors or careers.
Schools offering pathways award certificates of completion to students who successfully complete them, or word the students’ high school diplomas to recognize this accomplishment. The written proof of this highly specialized training may prove as valuable as the diploma itself when the young high school graduate searches for his or her first full-time job.
Within the Home Economics Careers and Technology program, these pathways are:
* Food service and hospitality, which prepares students for careers such as chefs or restaurant managers. It also prepares them for work in entry-level jobs such as food servers, as 90 percent of people who work for a salary in restaurants started out with an entry-level job in the food service industry.
* Food science, dietetics and nutrition, which also prepares students for work in the food industry, but primarily in venues outside of restaurants. This includes developing new food products, creating menus for schools, hospitals and other institutions, and educating people about healthy eating.
* Hospitality, tourism and recreation, which prepares students for jobs in the tourism industry that aren’t necessarily related to food. These careers include theme park directors, event planners, hotel managers, and travel agents.
* Fashion design, manufacturing and merchandising, which prepares students for careers in the garment and accessories industry. Tailors, fashion designers, store buyers and apparel marketers are a few of the jobs within this industry.
* Interior design, furnishings and maintenance, which prepares students for careers in the growing field of interior design. These include interior designers, building maintenance managers, and furniture manufacturers.
* Child development and education, which prepares students for careers with children. This ranges from infant day care to teaching high school. The child development pathway primarily focuses on work with young children, while the education pathway primarily focuses on preparing students for careers in teaching and school administration.
* Consumer services, which prepares students for work in a variety of professional fields, such as communications, customer service, financial planning, and product and development research.
* Family and human services, which prepares students for a broad variety of jobs, such as social worker, marriage and family therapist, or substance abuse counselor. It also provides training in caring for senior citizens, which is one of the state’s fastest growing industries.
“The other part of our program, Consumer and Family Studies, prepares students with personal and life management skills,” DeBenedetti said. “Many have said the skills we teach in these courses should be high school graduation requirements. While they aren’t required, we who teach this program believe our students are much better equipped to handle balance home and work responsibilities.”
Consumer and Family Studies focuses on eight skills considered essential in family life: child development and guidance; consumer education; family living and parenting education; fashion, textiles and apparel; food and nutrition; housing and furnishings; individual and family health; and leadership development.
Food and apparel are important parts of these courses, as they were in traditional home economics courses. But while cooking courses of old likely focused on recipes and technique, today’s introductory Home Economics Careers and Technology courses also address developing healthy eating habits, and how to plan nutritious meals on a budget.
And while traditional clothing courses focused on sewing, today’s courses help people to buy clothes that are both affordable and appropriate. While they will learn the basics of garment construction, they also learn how to establish a clothing budget, and how to properly care for various types of clothes.
An introduction to home furnishings has also long been part of a traditional home economics education. In an introductory course today, student learn not just how to make home accessories and furnishings, but about housing costs and energy conservation.
In addition, students learn how to take care of children from prenatal to adolescence, how to resolve conflict and crisis, how to balance work and family responsibilities and how to stay healthy throughout life.
The program is primarily geared to preparing teenagers for a time when they will both work outside the home and have children under 18 in their home. However, it also takes into account that recent U.S. Census figures show 5.5 million women have opted for careers as “stay-at-home-moms” and 189,000 men are “stay-at-home-dads.”
In the general population, the 2000 U.S. Census showed 48 percent of women with children younger than 2 years old, and 25 percent of those with children ages 3 to 6, were staying home. That census also revealed that in dual-parent households with working wives, 12 percent of fathers of children younger than 6 years old stayed home. However, several more recent studies by independent authors, primarily focusing on high-income families, showed about 60 percent of women were staying home with young children.
In addition to instruction, students taking Home Economics Careers and Technology courses participate in FHA-HERO, which is a co-curricular student organization. Students develop their leadership and communication skills through this organization by taking on projects that apply what they have learned in the classroom.
Chapter projects have included such things as organizing food and clothing drives for homeless people, community beautification, restaurants and other related venu
es for fund raisers, and putting on assemblies and banquets for other high school students. Chapters and individual members of FHA-HERO also compete each year in 21 career-related events, earning recognition, cash and other prizes, and college scholarships for outstanding performances.
“Home Economics Careers and Technology courses, along with FHA-HERO are building blocks to help our students be more productive in their adult lives,” DeBenedetti said. “The experiences they take from our program remain relevant to them long after high school graduation.”
The program now known as HECT has undergone a transformation over the last 30 years. Prior to the 1960s, the program focused on training women in skills they would need as wives and mothers. But, as more women began working outside the home, California changed its home economics curriculum to reflect this, and added the Home Economics Related Occupations component.
As all professions, including those in home economics related industries became more dependent on technology, so did the courses offered in secondary schools. To reflect this change, California renamed its home economics program Home Economics Careers and Technology in the 1990s.
There are now more than 750 schools offering Home Economics Careers and Technology courses. More than 300,000 students are enrolled in these classes throughout the state.
For more information, call Janice DeBenedetti at (916) 323-5025.
(RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.) Kirk Donovan, an advertiser turned behavioral scientist who once lived in the Inland Empire, will be the guest speaker for the Inland Empire Ad Club’s meeting Thursday, Aug. 14.
The luncheon meeting takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Spaghetti Factory, 11896 Foothill Blvd., Rancho Cucamonga 91730.
Donovan runs an advertising consulting firm in Atlanta, where he specializes as a behavioral scientist. He has more than 30 years of retail advertising experience, and started by selling advertising for a radio station.
“He is one of the most popular speakers on the American Advertising Federation speaker’s circuit,” said John McCarthy, vice president and programs chair for the Inland Empire Ad Club. “Since the entire purpose of advertising is to get someone to respond to the message, learning from a behavioral scientist should definitely improve your advertising campaign!
Inland Empire Ad Club is the local chapter of the American Advertising Federation.
Kirk’s presentation to the Inland Empire Ad Club will be based on his book AdSense-The Behavioral Science of Advertising. His presentation will teach people involved in retail advertising how to think as a behavioral scientist.
To attend, register online at www.AAF-InlandEmpire.com, call (866) 922-4632, ext. 111 or email JMcCarthy@WebMetro.com
The cost for Inland Empire Ad Club members who RSVP before the event is $10, and for students it is $5. All others, including non-members and members who did not RSVP, pay $20.
“Learn how to draw the human form at the Art Institute of California-Inland Empire’s Life Drawing class on Saturday, Aug. 16.”
(SAN BERNADINO, Calif.) Being able to draw a live human model is an important skill for any artist, however, not all artists have the change to practice this type of drawing.
In the spirit of leading by example, the Art Institute of California –Inland Empire is hosting an artists’ workshop on Saturday, October 18, from 1-5 p.m.
This workshop gives local artists a chance to try their hand at life drawing and will be held at the Art Institute of California-Inland Empire free charge to the public.
“Many artists are greatly creative but lack focus,” Santosh Oommen, Academic Director of Media Arts & Animation. “Our goal is to help make better artists. Offering workshops give these artists a chance to focus their raw creative talent.”
Life Drawing workshops are usually offered on the third Saturday of every month. There are 21 seats available for each class. The workshop is open to the public; the only requirement is that you are 15 years old or above and that you bring your own pencils and drawing paper.
“Our commitment is to helping artist in the Inland Empire improve their talents. This workshop, for artists as young as 15 years old, will help them to further their development of with the skills they need.” Said Oommen, academic director of media artist animation of The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire.
The workshop involves drawing from a live figure and covers topics such as anatomy and gestures. To sign up for the Life Drawing workshop, or for more information, call The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire at (909) 915-2100.
(San Bernardino, Calif.) Anthony Adams, State Assemblyman of the 59th District will be appearing on the longest running talk show in the Inland Empire, Ron Stark’s Voice of the Inland Empire.
Voice of the Inland Empire has recently expanded its program.
“We’re now on the radio, internet and cable TV,” Stark said. “I am excited about the opportunities to reach an increasing number of people in the Inland Empire with the lively and helpful information my guests provide.”
Voice of the Inland Empire is now filmed and recorded at the KCSB-TV studio in San Bernardino This is a full-fledged television production studio, with three cameras, digital recording equipment and more.
With access to this equipment, Voice of the Inland Empire has been able to add new aspects to its program, such as digital captions and better camera angles, Stark said. Assemblyman Adams, Stark’s guest for the Sept. 6 edition of the show, was elected to the State Assembly in 2006. He represents the Apple Valley, Hesperia, Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, San Bernardino, Highland and Mentone communities of San Bernardino County. His district also covers the Los Angeles County communities of Claremont, La Verne, Glendora, San Dimas, Monrovia, Bradbury, Arcadia and La Crescenta.
The Assemblyman wears many official hats. He is the Republican Whip for the Republican Leadership team. He also serves on the Rules Committee, the Judiciary Committee and as Vice-Chair of the Elections and Redistricting Committee.
Prior to being elected Assemblyman, Adams served as Director of Legislative Affairs for San Bernardino County. In this position he was responsible for directing the county’s legislative affairs program, pertaining to every element of policy from Medi-Cal reform and increased Worker’s Compensation costs to public safety funding.
Adams started his career in politics in 1996 working to elect pro-business, anti-tax candidates to a variety of city, school and water board positions. As a member of the Hesperia Public Safety Commission, Adams played a key role in the reorganization of the City Fire Department, in order to provide additional and improved services at a lower cost to taxpayers.
Assemblyman Adams graduated from California State University, San Bernardino with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and went on to receive a law degree from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton. Adams resides in Hesperia with his wife of sixteen years, Deanna, where they are active in their community and are 17-year members of High Desert Church in Victorville.
Colton stay-at-home dad is ideal role model for troubled teen boys in foster care.
(COLTON, Calif.) Teenage boys can prove to be the most difficult to place in foster care. Unfortunately, they are the ones who often need the most help.
That’s where Ritchie Howard of Colton comes in. The 56-year-old grandfather is the uncommon stay-at-home dad for children in foster care in San Bernardino County. Often, he is called upon by the agency he works with – Knotts Family and Parenting Institute – to care for teenage boys who are temporarily removed from their home due to parental abuse or neglect. Though not always, some come with emotional and behavioral challenges that are compounded by having changed homes, schools, neighborhoods and routines numerous times.
The institute sees Howard as a role model for teens, many of whom come from households with absent fathers. The need for male foster parents is on the rise. The need is also urgent because males can serve as role models and mentors for teenage boys as they enter adolescence.
“One of the most critical roles a foster father can provide is assisting a teenage boy in role identity as well as being an inspiration for future endeavors,” said Dr. Lewis King, training and program director for Knotts Family and Parenting Institute in San Bernardino.
“That doesn’t mean a mother can’t be a role model for a teenage boy,” said Dr. King, who is also a psychiatry professor at UCLA. “But her challenges are more difficult. Situations in which there are two parents in a foster care home are ideal, since they can provide extra resources by assisting each other in parenting a teen.”
“You just have to have more resources in the household,” Dr. King said. “When we identify and train foster parents, our task is to lend complete support. Our social workers frequently check on the families and intervene if there are problems. Still, one parent can get overwhelmed by the responsibility.”
It was his wife’s idea for Howard to become a foster care parent in 2005. Howard, an adult and adolescent mental health worker with five biological children, went along with the plan.
He and Christina joined the cadre of specially trained foster parents at Knotts, and received three children through the agency right away. Christina is a licensed vocational nurse at Patton State Hospital and had complications in her hours for work.
This meant the primary parenting fell to Howard. He reduced his hours at Canyon Ridge Hospital in Chino to care for the children. So far, 14 children who have since come through their home, some for a few days, others for as long as 18 months. The family plans to adopt at least one of them.
Howard wants to make it clear the family task was sometimes tough, but extraordinarily rewarding. Teenage boys can be especially headstrong and disrespectful, he said.
One 14-year-old boy arrived at his house wearing gang colors. Howard immediately put a stop to that.
“The boy needed a man to care about him and guide him. He had no father that he knew. He was trying to fill this void with gangs and it’s impossible.” He also liked to fight and he picked on other boys in Howard’s house. “You have to have a lot of patience to deal with them. You’ve got to show them tough love. With love and support the turn around is marvelous.”
Knotts Family and Parenting Institute provides Howard with support and resources through weekly visits from a social worker and monthly meetings that involve the other parents. The institute provides counseling, referrals, tutoring and weekend activities for the children. “They do everything they can to enlighten you on foster care for teens and managing combative behavior,” Howard said.
The Knotts Family and Parenting Institute is all too aware of how critical it is to involve fathers such as Howard in foster parenting. He is one of 30 fathers who have worked with the Knotts Family and Parenting Institute over the past five years, compared to 400 mothers, many of whom run single parent households. The under-representation of dads in foster families mirrors American society, where fathers are absent in the lives of one in three children.
In keeping with this, the Institute has specific training programs geared toward fathers in two-parent homes. Very few foster parents are single dads. One of the programs assists fathers in developing skills for life and job opportunities.
Because of teen behavioral problems, “Foster parents tend to be more interested in opening their home to younger children,” said Gwen Knotts, CEO and president of the Knotts Family and Parenting Institute. “It takes a special parent to care for teens, made more difficult (as we insist) when siblings need to be kept together,” Knotts added.
Howard has taken in as many as three siblings at once and understands firsthand the importance of keeping brothers and sisters together. The oldest of nine children, Howard grew up helping his mother care for his younger siblings while she worked nights as a certified nursing assistant. His father was a foundry worker in Los Angeles who struggled with alcoholism and died of the disease at age 57.
Double pneumonia killed Howard’s 36-year-old mother when she was pregnant with her tenth child, who also died. Sixteen-year-old Howard urged his grieving father to keep the entire family together and let him take care of his siblings.
“My dad felt overwhelmed that he couldn’t take care of all his children.” An aunt and uncle in San Bernardino took in three of his brothers and sisters, said Howard, who stayed with his father. Four other siblings entered the foster care system.
Howard grew into adulthood in the 1970s and did what he could to help his fractured family. At one point, his 15-year-old brother needed his help.
“His foster parents hit him with sticks and garden hoses,” said Howard, then a 26-year-old post office worker. He drove his Dodge van to San Bernardino to pick up his brother. “ I took him back to LA to live with me.”
Some of Howard’s siblings failed to cross successfully into adulthood. One of his brothers went to prison, another had a mental breakdown, a third died in a shooting. Howard weathered family tragedy by pursuing a career in mental health.
When he became a foster dad, Howard brought a special love and understanding to boys from troubled homes. He recalled three brothers who came into his care, ages 11, 7 and 5. This was their third foster home.
The first words out of the 11-year-old’s mouth were: “I don’t talk to strangers.” Same for the middle child: “I don’t talk to strangers,” he repeated. But the little one warmed to Howard. “I’ll talk to you,” he said.
“Since then, they called me Daddy as long as they stayed with me,” Howard said. “Their dad was in prison. For a while, we were one family.”
Since 1982 the Knotts Family and Parenting Institute has provided foster family services for the children, parents and foster parents of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
For more information or to become a foster parent call the Knotts Family and Parenting Institute at (909) 880-0600.
(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) Ellen Porter back at Dameron Communications as public relations executive after taking a year off to teacher. Her love for writing far surpassed her love of teaching.
As the new public relations executive, Porter’s duties will entail handling publicity needs of Dameron Communications clients in media relations, copy writing and crisis communications.
Porter was formerly a journalist and consultant in the High Desert from 1989 to 2006. During this time, she worked as a reporter for the Daily Press in Victorville and was Editor in Chief for the Lucerne Valley Leader and the Hesperia Star.
In 2003, Porter started a freelance writing business. Her accomplishments include nationally published articles, however, she desired a collaborative environment that only a larger firm could offer.
“Rejoining Dameron Communications was a great opportunity for both me and Carl Dameron,” said Porter. “He already has an established clientele for which I can write, and my doing so frees Carl to be more creative in other areas of the company. This also allows him more time to market the firm and to gain more clients.”
Porter’s first assignment with the Daily Press entailed her covering the San Bernardino County government. Many county offices are within blocks of Dameron Communications and many of Dameron Communications’ clients are organizations and companies such as Upminster Locks that she once wrote about for the High Desert newspapers.
“Ellen’s knowledge, both of media and the area in general, will help our current and future clients meet their marketing needs,” said Dameron. “I am very pleased to have Ellen back on my staff,” he added.
LA SALLE NAMED ONE OF TOP INLAND EMPIRE LATINO-OWNED BUSINESSES
(ONTARIO, Calif.) – LaSalle Medical Associates received recognition Aug. 1 from Hispanic Lifestyle magazine as one of the top 15 Latino-owned businesses in the Inland Empire.
“I am honored to receive this award on behalf of LaSalle Medical Associates,” said Dr. Albert Arteaga, founder and CEO. “But this award really recognizes that the LaSalle staff has delivered a great service, affordable and quality health care, to residents of the Inland Empire. Our success is because our customers keep coming back and recommend us to their friends and family.”
When Dr. Arteaga first opened LaSalle Medical Associates in 1984, he set out to not just aid those in need, but to change patients’ perception of “going to the doctor.” He explained, “I want everyone to feel that going to the doctor is no more intimidating than going to the grocery store.”
This has made LaSalle Medical Associates one of the top Latino-owned businesses in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Hispanic Lifestyle, as part of its 12th annual Lifestyle and Business Expo, recognized 40 Latino-owned businesses that earned at least $1 million in 2007.
Based on the magazine’s estimate that LaSalle Medical Associates had earned between $26 million and $32 million, it awarded the company the distinction of the 15th most successful Latino business in the Inland Empire. LaSalle Medical Associates was the only health care provider recognized at the event.
The top-performing business Hispanic Lifestyle magazine recognized was Mission Foods, a Rancho Cucamonga food manufacturer earning $1.3 billion in 2007. Grocery stores, auto dealers, general contractors, restaurant chains, commercial printers, manufacturers of various products and many other businesses also were honored.
“The overall earnings of the companies we recognized is more than $10 billion,” said Richard Sandoval, publisher of Hispanic Lifestyle magazine. “Still, here we are in 2008, and Latino companies are often not taken seriously. We wanted to bring them the recognition they deserve.”
LaSalle medical clinics are at 17577 Arrow Blvd. in Fontana, 1505 17th St. and 565 North Mount Vernon in San Bernardino and 16455 Main St. in Hesperia.
For an appointment or more information call LaSalle Medical Associates at (909) 890-0407.
(FRESNO, Calif.) Forty student delegates attended the Region Officer Training Conference of FHA-HERO at California State University Fresno July 28-31.
FHA-HERO is a career technical student organization for young men and women who are currently or have been enrolled in a Home Economics Careers and Technology program in middle school or high school. In California nearly three thousand students annually participate in region and state-level leadership and career development activities.
“The purpose of the conference is to assist FHA-HERO Region Officers from throughout the state develop leadership skills and gain knowledge about their organization,” said State President Emily Mastrolia, a student at Deer Valley High School in Antioch. “We participated in workshops that focus on topics such as speech writing, public relations, leadership development, parliamentary procedure and communication skills. In addition, the officers participated in team-building activities.”
The 40 student officers will provide leadership for the FHA-HERO members in their geographic area. Each of the students represents one of 10 areas in the state.
In addition to completing a variety of elected duties, the region officer team is also responsible for planning and conducting region-level activities for the coming school year. This includes competitions, planning community service projects and projects to increase membership at the chapter level.
The Home Economics Careers and Technology Education staff of the California Department of Education sponsors this training.
For more information, call Janice DeBenedetti at (916) 323-5025.
Participating students were from the following cities:
