Coming&going

Dance

Erin Ramos is the newest instructor at Creative Dance for Children and Kinetics Performing Arts Center, Chico, businesses owned by Hayley Horn-DeMello. Ramos has been performing in the area for 14 years, and her choreography was featured in Keeping Dance Alive ‘99. She’ll teach hip-hop to children and adults and is also skilled in ballet, jazz, tap and Latin dance.

Education

The Chico Unified School District is seeing several end-of-the-year changes. Retiring from administrative positions at the District Office are: Business Manager Robin Thompson, Assistant Superintendent David Reise and Personnel Director and Public Information Officer Rich Wallace. They have yet to be replaced.

Also, Principal Joanne Parsley is moving from Cohasset and Forest Ranch elementaries to Parkview Elementary, while Parkview Principal Dane Hansen is taking Parsley’s former roles. Roger Steel, principal at Sierra View Elementary, has taken a superintendent/principal position with the district in Gerber, and his position has yet to be filled.

Educators were presented with awards May 18 at the annual School Employee of the Year event at the Chico-Leland Stanford Masonic Lodge. In the Chico Unified School District, Betsy Converse was named classified employee of the year; Ron Pope of Chico High was high school teacher of the year; and Cil Hauer of Neal Dow was elementary teacher of the year. In the Durham Unified School District, Mary Cantalupo, a special-education aide, was named classified employee of the year; first-grade teacher Jona O’Shea was chosen among elementary-level teachers; and the secondary teacher of the year was Ron Schudder, who teaches seventh and eighth grades.

Health care

Enloe Medical Center began May 19 a new service that will make it easier to diagnose and track cancer cells early on. Positron Emission Tomography (PET), previously not available locally, uses nuclear imaging to scan for malignant and benign cells.

Scholarships

The Sierra Club has awarded an $8,000 scholarship to Oroville High School graduate Erica Ayami Sato based on her essay about conservation issues in her community.

Five students have earned the top honor of being named 2001-02 Butte County 4-H All Stars. They are: Thomas Powers and Tabbatha Clark of Oroville, Sean Farley and Kelesy McCall from the Durham Parkview East group and Megan Anderson of the Shasta club. Also, 4-H scholarships were awarded to several graduates. Beth Knapp got the Ruby Kimmelshue Memorial Scholarship; Heather Slocum got the Alva Mitchell Memorial Scholarship; and Katie Roche, Seth Harper, Tonya Hamblin, Travis Hayes and Bryce Pulliam also got scholarships.

The Paradise Community Foundation awarded the $2,000 Elizabeth Ferrell Music Scholarship to Andrew Boone, a Paradise High School senior who will be attending Biola University. The Women’s Improvement Club Scholarship went to Marcella Shuey, also of PHS, who will go to Chico State University.