June 7, 2007

School comes together to paint

CHERYL PERRIN

AROUND TOWN

Golden Elementary School is getting a minor face lift on the outside wall of the library thanks to a $1,000 grant it received from the Placentia Cultural Arts Commission’s C.A.P.E.S. program.

Cindy Rex, a fifth-grade teacher at Golden, applied for the grant and was told in February the school was one of five organizations chosen.

The school asked the students to turn in a drawing about what they love about their school. About 100 students participated and the drawings were sorted, compiled and traced by a sixthgrade committee of students. As the committee selected the pictures for the mural, they also found that several students had written poems about the school.

Those poems have been turned in to a new school song.

After the selection of the pictures, six students from each class were chosen to help with the drawing and painting of the mural onto the wall. Other students who wanted to participate were allowed to help during their recess and lunch times.

Not only has this been supported by the staff and students at Golden, but it has also been supported by members of the community as well.

The following people donated either products or time for the mural: Mark Apicella Jr., at Turnkey Remodel in Yorba Linda donated their Dunn-Edwards discount for paint and supplies; Eddie Torres donated the use of scaffolding;

Robert Robertson, Golden parent, donated paint and painted the initial basecoat colors; Wendy Pettey, Golden parent, donated her time to paint the mural; Sheri Jackson, Golden parent, donated her time to digitize the poster and paint the mural; and the Golden Student Council donated the paint for the poster.

Cindy estimates there to be well over 100 hours of time in preparing for and painting the mural. It is time well spent as it looks spectacular!

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As local Placentia schools are gearing up for the upcoming summer break, I wanted to spotlight Linda Reyes at Golden Elementary School whose smiling face is one of the first people we see when we walk into the school office.
Linda has been married to her husband, Steve, for 38 years and has three children and three grandchildren.

She has worked for the Placentia-Yorba Linda School District for 18 years with eight of them being at Golden. She is part of the front office team and works as Golden School’s secretary. She has many duties, but is mainly responsible for keeping the school running smoothly and safely.

Linda’s favorite part of her job is seeing the smiling faces of the students and parents when they come into the office, but finds the most difficult part is trying to make everyone happy all the time. She has seen several changes over the years, but feels that the biggest changes have been higher safety and educational standards.

To Linda, working at Golden has been a challenging and fulfilling job. Thank you, Mrs. Reyes for all you do for the students and parents at Golden!

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Local Placentia resident and grandmother, Joyce Zurn, has had her name added to Cal State Fullerton’s list of graduates.

Joyce received her bachelor’s degree during commencement ceremonies in May. As a successful souvenir business owner of the Cola Corner in Buena Park, Joyce went back to school to further her education to help run her business.

Although it has taken 15 years, she believes it has all been worth it and feels that her journey has been rewarding.

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Congratulations to Petty Officer Amanda Rogers, U.S. Navy, who celebrated her 21st birthday on May 1, while deployed to the Emergency Medical Facility in Kuwait. She was deployed on Feb. 18 and will be in Kuwait for a six-month period.

Placentia resident Cheryl Perrin has the latest about families, clubs and businesses around town. Send items to her at cherylperrin@dslextreme.com.