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December 2022

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Dr. Gonzalez is the principal of Ivanhoe K-8 School.

Por el Dr. Jesus González, Director de la Escuela Primaria Ivanhoe

Una pieza importante para el éxito de un estudiante es la asociación que se forja entre el personal de la escuela y las familias. La idea es que esta asociación centre su energía en apoyar las iniciativas escolares y las estructuras escolares que fomentan el éxito de todos los estudiantes. El éxito se define principalmente como que los estudiantes se sientan seguros en la escuela y se preocupen por su bienestar social y emocional mientras aumentan los resultados de aprendizaje académico de los estudiantes en todas las áreas de contenido. Esta asociación se basa en una comunicación clara y confianza entre ambos grupos, y es más eficaz cuando las conversaciones se centran en el estudiante. Siempre se alienta a las familias de Ivanhoe a conectarse con los miembros del personal de Ivanhoe para discutir ideas que sirvan mejor a nuestros estudiantes. Esto se puede lograr si las familias se familiarizan más con los eventos y actividades de la escuela que aumentan la participación familiar.

Votaciones tomaron parte en el salon Memorial de Veteranos en Ivanhoe el 8 de noviembre del 2022 Photo: Esmeralda Garcia

Baja participación electoral con grandes consecuencias para las contiendas locales 

Por Pedro Hernandez, Ivanhoe Sol

Las elecciones de mitad de período de noviembre presentaron a los votantes de Ivanhoe varias contiendas, desde locales hasta nivel federal. Con la mayoría de las contiendas y recuentos de votos finalizados, el condado de Tulare completó otra ronda de elecciones con resultados mixtos para los residentes de Ivanhoe y el estado en general. 

By Dr. Jesus Gonzalez, Ivanhoe K-8 Principal

An important piece to a student’s success is the partnership forged between the school staff and families. The idea is that this partnership will focus its energy on supporting school initiatives and school structures that foster success for all students. Success being defined primarily as students feeling safe at school and caring for their social emotional well-being while increasing students’ academic learning outcomes in all content areas. This partnership is built on clear communication and trust between both groups, and is most effective when conversations are student centered. The Ivanhoe families are always encouraged to connect with Ivanhoe staff members to discuss ideas that will best serve our students. This can be accomplished by families becoming more familiar with the school’s events and activities that increase family involvement.

Since the restrictions that were in place for COVID 19 have been lifted, Ivanhoe Elementary has returned to holding traditional events as well as new ones. So far, we have held many events to strengthen the school and community connection. We started the year with our Back-to-School Night in August where families and school staff were able to meet in-person to discuss the curriculum and instruction that would be taking during the school year. There have been monthly Principal chats that provide an opportunity for the Principal to hear directly from parents about ideas and/or concerns that impact student life on campus. In November Ivanhoe held the first trimester parent/teacher conferences which focused on student learning outcomes and methods of support parents can provide on a daily basis. Finally, the Fall Harvest Carnival saw over 500 attendees enjoy an evening with food and games that brought community members together.

This school year, there is an effort to revive the Ivanhoe Elementary Parent/Teacher Organization, simply known as PTO. The purpose of the organization is “to bring into closer relation the home and the school, that parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the education of the children and youth” as stated in PTO bylaws. It also emphasizes the development between educators and the general public that with united efforts to secure for all children and youth the highest advantages in each student’s academic, physical, mental, and social well-being. The PTO is open to all families and community members. The PTO welcome’s parents to attend their next meeting scheduled for February 22 at 4:00pm in the school’s cafeteria.

As the school year continues to unfold, we invite all families to become more involved in their child’s education by partnering with Ivanhoe Elementary at future school events and activities. Working together and bringing our individual talents will aid in our desire to have our students succeed in all aspects of their education. Remember that the staff at Ivanhoe work tirelessly to provide the best educational experience possible for each of our students and with family involvement that experience will increase. As always, please reach out to any staff member when you have questions and/or concerns. We hope to see you soon at our next event.

“We want to be here for at least 20 years,” says manager Badr Saleh, whose family purchased the market earlier this year. Photo: Esmeralda Garcia.

Saleh says he has big plans for the interior and exterior of Ivanhoe’s supermarket

By Olivia Henry, Ivanhoe Sol

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? What does your life look like outside of work? 

I grew up in Parlier, I live in Sanger. We’re a big family, and I have five kids. I’m not a very talkative person.

How did you come to buy the market in Ivanhoe? Do you also own other stores? 

[Our family] owns four stores in total. We do own other Valley Foods in Reedley and Carruthers. We’ve been trying to buy this location for a couple of years. We also operate State Foods Supermarket in Merced County. I manage the Ivanhoe location, each store has another manager [in the family]. My brother is the owner, Naseeb Saleh.

Can you talk about some of the improvements you’ve made to the store? What else do you hope to do? 

We extended our meat department, it’s about 62 feet, before it was only 26 feet. We changed the floor, bought a new deli case, a new freezer and a new produce case. We do have plans coming up next year, God willing. We hope to have a bakery here and to sell pizza. We will hopefully have a tortilla department. We also want to extend the restaurant and make it bigger. We’re hoping by March of next year to start construction work.

How do you respond to residents who say the prices at Valley Foods are too high? 

This is a family-owned business and we try to take care of every single customer that comes in and out. We try to make it as easy as possible to shop here, and we encourage people to stay in Ivanhoe and shop with us.

Everything has changed in the past year or so. Everything is very, very expensive. It’s expensive for us, too.. We have just a couple of stores, compared to Winco that has hundreds and thousands of stores. It’s crazy times right now, especially in grocery, everything is very expensive, not like it was before. Before, it was more simple to run a store and make customers happy. Right now with these prices it’s very hard for us to get items in the store. We would order a lot of items and sometimes they wouldn’t come. If we order 100 items, only 35 or 30 items would show up. It’s not like everything comes when you make the orders.  But we try to have everything, we try to do our best.

We asked community members in the local Facebook group about questions they wanted to pose to you. Several people asked about the meat department, some with good things to say and some not. Can you talk a little bit about how you all butcher meat? And do you have plans to include fish?

The meat is butchered in the store. One of my employees showed me these questions on Facebook, actually. I have three people who cut meat and three people who serve. Everything cut is fresh. We do have fish in the meat department, we sell shrimp, tilapia, catfish and salmon but it’s frozen. If we could get them fresh, we would put fresh fish section. I have plenty of space, possibly it would be for the future.

Other commenters asked about curb appeal of the store. People talked about the renovations inside, but asked if you had plans to update the exterior, fix shopping carts with wheels that don’t work and tidy the loading area in the back of the store.

We are planning to paint the outside and redo the parking lot. That’s our next move. Right now with the holidays, it’s our first year being here, we don’t know how to be prepared for the holidays in Ivanhoe. We’re aiming for January to do outside painting and have more lights at night and redo our parking. The shopping carts are already ordered, it just takes forever.

Are there any plans to expand a bread and tortilla section? 

We’re aiming to have a bakery. Tortillas should have their own aisle soon. We want a bakery and tortilla department.

What community outreach or giveback programs the store plans to carry out? 

We did one in August back to school. On December 24, we’re doing pictures with Santa and giving away gifts for the kids, and giving away a couple of bikes for the kids.

Where do you see yourself in a few years? Where do you see the market in a few years? 

We’re going to be here for a good amount of time. We want to be here for at least 20 years. We’re here for good, and we try our best to make the community happy and have everything a grocery should have.

Is there anything else you want people to know? 

I just want to thank everyone for supporting us, and we will be helping the community a lot in the future. If you have questions, people can send us messages through Facebook, Valley Foods Ivanhoe.

De izquierda a derecha: Dra. Lucía Vázquez, Eddie Valero, Juan R. Guerrero y Dr. Bob Aguilar. Foto: Mayra Becerra.

Guerrero fue una figura regular en Ivanhoe durante 17 años de servicio

Por Mayra Becerra, The Ivanhoe Sol

Juan R. Guerrero, ex presidente de la junta del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Visalia y fideicomisario que representa a Ivanhoe, se despidió del distrito en una recepción especial de la junta el 6 de diciembre. El superintendente Kirk Shrum compartió una breve descripción del tiempo de Guerrero en el servicio, destacando sus logros en medio de la recesión, la pandemia de COVID-19 y un ataque cibernético en 2021.

En un evento conmovedor, los miembros de la junta de VUSD agradecieron a Guerrero y a la síndica saliente del Área 4, Catalina Blair. Los miembros de la junta compartieron que Guerrero siempre mantuvo la compostura y trabajó para crear un equipo donde se escucharon todas las voces, incluso cuando las partes no estaban de acuerdo.

Blair agregó que Guerrero era alguien en quien podía apoyarse para pedir respuestas, siempre estaba dispuesto a ayudar. Miembros de la comunidad de todas las áreas aplaudieron y agradecieron su servicio.

Guerrero compartió que Frank Escobar Sr. y Mike Huggins eran sus dos amigos que lo alentaron a postularse por primera vez para un puesto en la junta en 2001. Ganó y procedió a ser reelegido en 2005. En ese momento, VUSD estaba en- grande y todos votaron por los miembros de la escuela sin importar dónde residían. Hoy, los fideicomisarios de VUSD son elegidos por área y la junta consta de siete asientos. En general, Guerrero ha servido 17 años en la junta de VUSD y se desempeñó como presidente de la junta dos veces.

Guerrero se desempeñó como síndico de la junta del Área 2, un distrito que cubre la esquina noreste de Visalia y áreas no incorporadas del condado de Tulare, incluida Ivanhoe. Fue el representante de las familias con estudiantes en la escuela primaria Ivanhoe, la escuela secundaria Valley Oak y la escuela secundaria Golden West.

Su legado en el trabajo comunitario abarca desde consejero juvenil, coordinador de capacitación en el aula, gerente de sucursal, director juvenil para cuatro condados, analista gubernamental, director del centro comunitario, supervisor de subvenciones para educación de inmigrantes y programas de intervención de pandillas a través de Proteus. Varios de los ex colegas de Proteus de Guerrero asistieron a la ceremonia para desearle lo mejor.

En Ivanhoe, Guerrero asistió regularmente a eventos comunitarios como Summer Night Lights, incluso la inauguración del periódico The Ivanhoe Sol en 2019. Los residentes lo describen como un defensor de las voces de Ivanhoe durante su tiempo en la junta.

En las elecciones de noviembre, el Sr. Guerrero perdió su escaño ante el retador Paul Belt por 237 votos. Durante la campaña, Guerrero dijo que esta carrera sería la última.

Voting takes place at Ivanhoe Memorial Building on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo: Esmeralda Garcia

Low voter turnout with big consequences for local races

By Pedro Hernandez, Ivanhoe Sol

November’s mid-term elections presented Ivanhoe voters with several races from the local to federal level. With most races and vote tallies finalized, Tulare County has completed another round of elections with mixed results for Ivanhoe residents and the state at large.

Tulare County Overview

Overall, Tulare County experienced yet another year of low voter turnout. On average, only 20-23 percent of Tulare County’s eligible voters participated in this year’s multiple elections. Of these eligible voters, there was a split along political party lines with about 60 percent votes submitted for Republican candidates with the remaining 40 percent votes submitted for Democratic candidates.

These local votes played the largest roles in local election while statewide Democratic turnout nullified Tulare County’s majority Republican voter blocks.

Moreover, vote-by-mail options greatly surpassed voting in person during this mid-term election with 18.1 percent (37,850) to 5.4 percent (11,277.)

Low Ivanhoe Voter Turnout

“Additionally, data from the Tulare County Registrar indicates that out of 1,446 total voters in Ivanhoe, roughly 16 percent, or 237 people actually voted in the sole community-wide election, which indicates a lower voter turnout than the overall Tulare County average.”

Election Results

Tulare County District 4 Supervisor 

Eddie Valero secured another term as Tulare County Supervisor with 52.7 percent of the total vote for District 4 which includes communities like Orosi, Goshen, and Ivanhoe. He defeated challenger Scott Harness, a real estate businessman.

Ivanhoe Public Utility District

Gilbert Barajas won a four-year term on the Ivanhoe Public Utility District with 74.52 percent of the 237 total votes from Ivanhoe. In our last issue, the Ivanhoe Sol broke the story that challenger Ruben Solorio did not intend to be on the ballot. Despite his efforts to address the mistake and his ask to vote for Barajas,  53 Ivanhoe voters voted for him.

Visalia Unified School District Area 2 Board Member

Incumbent Juan Guerrero was unseated by challenger Paul Belt. Belt won the election with 52.1 percent of the total vote but in such a small district, the overall vote difference was only 101 votes.

California State Assembly District 33

Incumbent Devon Mathis easily defeated his challenger, Tulare County City Councilmember Jose Sigala with 60.05 percent to the 25,517 total votes cast. The Republican victor represents the Ivanhoe Community in his district and has previously defeated Sigala in 2018 by a closer margin.

California State Governor

According to the Secretary of State, while Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom won his second term, Tulare County as a whole voted Republican. For example, while the Democratic incumbent won with 59.2 percent of the total statewide vote, only 36.4 percent of Tulare County voted Democratically.

Local Initiatives

Measure C, which would approve a bond for $95 million for College of the Sequoias to pursue its goal of offering four-year degrees passed with 55.3 percent of the Tulare County electorate in approval.

State-level Initiatives

  • Proposition 1: Adds the right to abortion and contraceptive use to the California State Constitution passed with 66.9 percent of the total statewide vote. Tulare County voters were more closely divided with only 45.5 percent of the electorate in support of Proposition 1.
  • Proposition 28: Increases spending on arts programs in public schools passes with 64.4 percent of the vote. While overall support was lower than the state average, Tulare County voters supported increasing arts funding with 53.8 percent of the vote.
  • Proposition 31: Upholds California law banning the sale of flavored tobacco passes with 63.4 percent of the vote. This was another instance where the Tulare County voters overall opposed 51.9 percent of the total vote.

Looking towards 2024

Ivanhoe and Tulare County followed the national trends of having lower than usual voter engagement during midterm elections. However, this also indicates that many local level elections and initiatives could have had much different results if all of eligible voters submitted ballots.

 

Por Pedro Hernandez, Ivanhoe Sol

En nombre del equipo de Ivanhoe Sol, me gustaría ofrecer un sincero agradecimiento por apoyar a nuestro equipo. En 2018, cuando el Sol era solo un sueño salvaje, nunca hubiera pensado que estaríamos en la posición en la que nos encontramos actualmente: completando nuestro tercer año de publicación y con planes audaces y ambiciosos para el próximo año.

Este proyecto siempre se ha basado en la comunidad de Ivanhoe y, aunque nadie en nuestro equipo recibió capacitación profesional, los últimos tres años han sido una experiencia de aprendizaje importante e insustituible para todos nosotros. Todos aprendimos nuevas habilidades, establecimos nuevas conexiones y nos hicimos aún más íntimos con los problemas importantes que afectan a la comunidad de Ivanhoe. 

En este camino, nos hemos ganado el respeto de la comunidad periodística profesional y espero que hayamos hecho un trabajo que también gane su respeto. A medida que nos acercamos a otro año de publicación, los animo a todos a comunicarse y hacernos saber cómo lo estamos haciendo o si hay algo más que deberíamos hacer para conectarlos con la información que necesitan y merecen. 

Atentamente,

Pedro Hernandez

Editor-en -jefe

Ivanhoe Sol 

By Pedro Hernandez, Ivanhoe Sol

On behalf of the team at the Ivanhoe Sol, I’d like to offer a sincere thanks for supporting our team. In 2018 when the Sol was just a wild dream, I would have never thought we’d be in the position we’re currently in: completing our third year of publication and with bold, ambitious plans for the next year.

This project has always been grounded in the Ivanhoe community and while nobody on our team was professionally trained, the last three years have been an important and irreplaceable learning experience for us all. We’ve all learned new skills, established new connections, and became even more intimate with the important issues that are affecting the Ivanhoe community.

On this path, we’ve earned the respect of the professional journalism community and I hope that we’ve done work that earns your respect as well. As we approach another year of publication, I encourage you all to reach out and let us know how we’re doing or if there’s anything else we should be doing to connect you to the information you both need and deserve.

Sincerely,

Pedro Hernandez

Editor-In-Chief

Ivanhoe Sol