TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

SUMMER READING

Second graders at Wingland Elementary got a summer surprise Friday when the Rotary Club of Bakersfield North handed out 130 new copies of "Nate the Great."

The books were gifts for students to take home and read (although many sat down and started to read right away).

Kern County Associate Superintendent of Schools Christine Frazier kicked off the event by reading a couple pages, then asked if anyone would like the 64-page book.

Hands shot up.

Frazier held the suspense for a few moments, then Rotary Club members and teachers handed a book to every child.

This is the first of several books the Rotary will give to Wingland second graders; next year they'll give a new book each quarter.

Wingland was chosen for the book project because its students are among the neediest in the Standard School District, according to Principal Bob Sheldon.

"A lot don't see a book at home," Sheldon said.

The idea, of course, is to get them reading at a critical age. It's easiest to overcome deficits or a negative mindset for reading before students get much older, Sheldon said.

Wingland uses the Accelerated Reader reading software program to assess students' reading ability.

"It's like learning how to play a sport," Sheldon tells students.

"You have to practice, and exercise your brain."

SWORD-IN-STONE

Are his hands really grasping the hilt of a sword?

Senior Mark Duerr created an anamorphic, or three-dimensional style, painting of a sword-in-stone for his senior seminar project at Valley Oaks Charter School.

Similar to a railroad track running into the distance, the sword plays with a viewer's depth perception by setting up the inverse of a linear perspective, Duerr said.

The painting is bigger at the top and gets smaller toward the foreground, so it appears like it's standing up.

Duerr, Valley Oaks' valedictorian, worked on it for about two weeks, first sketching the design on paper, tracing it on the ground in pencil, then painting in acrylics.

He borrowed his brother's prince outfit to pose with the 10-foot-tall sword.

The best part -- in addition to a number of "amazings!" -- was getting it done, Duerr said.

"It doesn't look right, it doesn't look right. Oh yeah, it's right," Duerr described the challenge of painting "blind" as he worked on the scaled painting.

Next up for Duerr?

Art, writing, sciences or moviemaking at Concordia University in Irvine.

The sword in the stone is sealed, so it will remain indefinitely on the Valley Oaks loading dock.

PARAMOUNT SCHOLAR

After graduating from the University of California, Irvine with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and a minor in criminology, Carlos Maldonado had offers to enter business Ph.D programs.

But he turned them down, deciding that if he studied education policy he would be able to give back more and help kids from rural areas go to college.

Maldonado knows about it: seven years ago he was that rural kid attending Avenal High School.

The recipient of a scholarship from Paramount Farms, Maldonado said he wants to fix "a part of the pipeline that's dysfunctional."

"I definitely have to give something back to the community, to the people that helped me," said Maldonado, whose mother, Elisa, has worked sorting pistachios at Paramount Farms for more than 23 years.

This year the company awarded more than $145,000 to qualified students, with two-thirds of the total going to Paramount employee children.

Maldonado is the first in his family to go to college; his younger brother is also a recipient of a college scholarship. Currently, 109 students of Paramount Farms workers are attending college supported by scholarships.

Without the extra money, and a laptop, he probably would have gone to a less expensive school than UC Irvine, and that would have had a "big impact on my education," he said.

SECRETS OF THE UNDISCOVERED WRITERS

The education philosophy is straightforward: Set up the same expectations for every student.

In Terry Tripp's English classes this year, it meant publishing the stories of his English language learners and advanced placement students in one anthology.

The published work includes 25 personal narratives penned by Golden Valley High students about high school relationships, young love and the struggles of coming to a new country and learning a new language, Tripp said. On Tuesday selected authors will sign copies of the book at Russo's Books at the Marketplace on Ming Avenue at 6 p.m.

Priced at $10.95, the book is available for purchase at Russo's (and Amazon.com).