Category: Hump Day
Migrant Ed students present to BCOE
A summer institute changes livesFive teenagers from this area who have participated recently in Migrant Education summer leadership programs described a transformational experience in presentations Monday to the Butte County Office of Education board.
Noemi Chavez, a Gridley High School senior, said the Migrant Student Leadership Institute (MSLI) program at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), “taught me how to be myself.”
“Three or four years ago, I never would have said I was born in Mexico,” Chavez told the board. “MSLI taught me not to hide where I came from. It gave us hope. Now I’m applying to college.”
Kim Guzzetti, the Migrant Education Region 2 director, said the PowerPoint presentation was the final requirement for the teens that were sent to one of three summer programs. Guzzetti acknowledged the Migrant Education Region 2 staffers who were present for the Oroville meeting, saying, “It takes a lot of energy to get the students to these programs.”
Caterpillars Make Do With What They’ve Got
photo by Karen Laslo
Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars feed mostly on the native Pipevine plant that contains a toxic substance that also makes the caterpillars toxic, so that birds and other predators leave them alone.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, take a look at what you’ve got. The black and red-dotted caterpillar phase of the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly sets a good example of this parable for humans.
Normally, in a more natural setting, the caterpillars attach themselves to rocks or trees. But in lower Bidwell Park’s recent freeway construction site, these familiar objects have been stripped away. In the absence of the customary, the caterpillars must improvise.
They do so by hauling themselves up the sides of the concrete freeway supports where they attach and weave a protective, hard shell around themselves.
This phase of the Pipevine Swallowtail is the “chrysalis.” Don Miller, professor of entomology at CSU Chico, says, “Many will emerge next spring, although some may wait another year.”
Sycamore Pool finally ready and waiting
57 truckloads of sediment removed
photo by Karen Laslo
Usually, the park maintenance crew has Sycamore Pool cleaned and ready for use by Memorial Day weekend, the official start of the summer swimming season — but not this year.
Heavy winter storms and a swift spring snow melt brought a greatly increased flow of water down Big Chico Creek, resulting in a pressure and volume of water too great to be accommodated by the underground tunnel the park maintenance crew relies on to divert the creek while it cleans the pool. Finally, last week when the water flow had calmed, the crew began the yearly cleaning of the pool at the One-Mile Recreation Area.
Park maintenance workers Kyle, Peggy, and Alex worked two days to load and haul 57 truckloads of sediment and rocks out of Sycamore Pool. Now, early on a recent morning, the pool sits quietly and calmly waiting for the lifeguards and hundreds of kids and adults who’ll seek refuge from temperatures expected to soon reach 100 degrees.