web powered by 
Home 
News Local News Students share stories of inspirational figures
Students share stories of inspirational figures
|
The “Kindness Heroes” celebrated Tuesday night during a special Angels Camp City Council meeting are people who bring hope to children, some of whom have lived through awful situations in their young lives. A dozen students from Mark Twain and Copperopolis elementary schools read essays at Bret Harte High School about people who inspired them and in most cases, turned their lives 180 degrees for the better.
Copperopolis kindergartner Monique Arteaga led off the evening honoring her cousins Bobby and Christina. “They are my cousins who took me into their home and gave me someone to call Mommy and Daddy,” Arteaga wrote. “I never had a Mommy to take care of me (before).” Charis Hulbert, a Copperopolis fourth grader, shared a similar tale. She and sister Kaily wrote about their grandmother Adean. “She took me out of motels, hotels and crowded shelters and gave me a home,” Hulbert said. “She is loving and will never stop being my kindness hero.” Jack Malerbi, a seventh-grader at Mark Twain, likewise found a permanent home with his grandparents-turned-adopted-parents. “My (biological) parents were addicted to drugs. We moved from shelter to shelter,” Malerbi said. “I am proud to call Nancy and Ray Malerbi my parents … they are raising me as their own son. They never stop loving me and taking care of me.” Mark Twain seventh-grader Sidney Clark found that when tough times hit, her neighbors, the Cardinal family, gave her family a refuge from their troubles. When the cupboards were bare, the Cardinals fed them. When the family car was repossessed, they gave them a lift. When things seemed hopeless, they shared their faith, Clark said. “The least I can do is hope my story will encourage others and help them keep on keeping on,” she said. Kaylynn Davis attended Copperopolis Elementary with Jordan Kovacs, who died last year at age 14, of carbon monoxide poisoning, along with her grandfather in a tragic incident after a Clements horse show. Kovacs befriended her when she was a fifth-grade student new to the school whom others bullied, Davis said. “She didn’t just care about animals and horses. She also cared about people,” Davis said. “I could see the kindness in her heart and soul.” Delaney Sullivan, a Mark Twain second-grader, broke the rule and wrote about a group rather than an individual. The work of the Friends of the Fair organization to save her beloved Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee warranted it, Sullivan said. “Without their help, there will not be a livestock show, a frog jump …” the 4-H newcomer said. “They are not just my kindness heroes but a community’s kindness heroes.” Before the night was over, the mood lightened some. Mark Twain second-grader Elek Paris shook off his nerves, grinned widely and shared a laugh with the audience after he accidentally introduced himself as his kindness hero. “Hello, my name is Officer …” he said before quickly realizing his mistake. Paris later noted Angels Camp Police Officer Jim McKeon is a barrel of laughs himself. “Officer Jim is also really funny,” Paris said. “He does magic tricks with us.” The master of ceremonies for the event, Jill Bergantz, a Mark Twain alum whose family ignited Kindness Week in the city almost 20 years ago, reflected on the essayists’ often-heavy messages at evening’s end. “I think that has a bit to do with (the fact that) it’s 2012 but at the same time that shows us how much good there is in the world,” Bergantz said. “The good guys are coming out of the woodwork … I think as a community, we’re willing to meet that (challenge) and we’re lucky to live in a community where everybody’s got each other’s back.” |
