Interesting People
Getting Creative
Megan Van Voorhis loves how she can sit outside on her balcony in the middle of winter. The city’s new cultural services and creative economy manager moved to Downtown from Cleveland last September. The Northern California climate made a positive impression.
“I’m so used to the cold and the snow, I love that I now get this beautiful weather,” says Van Voorhis, who has spent more than a decade examining the role of arts and culture across multiple sectors. She served as president and CEO of Arts Cleveland, a nonprofit community partnership created to advance arts and culture in Cuyahoga County.
Rising Stock
Winter break this year was atypical for many students due to the pandemic. But Jesuit High School junior Kaden Bishop’s break was even more unusual. He spent it developing a stock investment training platform.
The 17-year-old Rocklin resident has always had a “business-oriented mind.” He once created a snack cart for office workers. He sold shoes and clothes. Now, he’s teaching fellow teens how to invest in the stock market.
Staying Power
“A quarter of a century. Makes a girl think.” –Marilyn Monroe as Sugar in “Some Like It Hot.”
Beth Hassett has been thinking a lot lately. The chief executive of WEAVE is celebrating her 25th year at the nonprofit that provides crisis intervention for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking in Sacramento County.
Unwanted Test
For Sacramento students applying to college this fall, the future is shrouded in uncertainty. Hailey Kopp, a senior at St. Francis Catholic High School, says, “Things aren’t going as planned, so it has been difficult to adapt.”
Local high school seniors have received countless lessons in adaptability as they tackle the complex process of deciding where and when to begin their college careers amid COVID-19.
Curtis Park Reboot
When you drive by Franklin Boulevard and 11th Avenue—one of the most highly trafficked corners of Curtis Park, just off Highway 99—you might notice things look a bit different.
The formerly nondescript building one block down from Sutterville Road now features an arresting mural by local artist Natalia Sanchez (who goes by the moniker CH3Z) of a Medusa-like figure with flowing locks and piercing eyes that glow at night. Overgrown bushes have been pruned or replaced with bright blooms. The building has been painted, and sleek new exterior lighting illuminates a chic sign for The London Beauty Bar. Everything in the three-tenant shopping center looks brighter and lighter—all thanks to new owner Margaret Levandoski.
The Art Of Public Speaking
Though Derek Yuan is only 17 years old, you wouldn’t know it talking to him on the phone. The Mira Loma High School senior credits his impressive verbal poise to six years of speech and debate training. And he’s determined to give other kids the chance to develop their own public speaking skills through Leaders Speak, a free online training program he co-founded with fellow Mira Loma senior Hemang Dhaulakhandi.
“I was very shy growing up,” Yuan admits. “I was really lucky I made the speech and debate team in middle school or I wouldn’t have gotten started on this path. Once I got to high school, I realized that I’d gained all these skills by participating in speech and debate competitions—but not everyone has the same access to those opportunities. We decided to spread our experience and knowledge to as many people as possible.”
