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Jessica Laskey

Journalist

About This Author

Jessica Laskey is a freelance writer and professional actress who has lived and worked in Sacramento, San Francisco, Dallas, New York City and Paris. She is also the co-founder of Theater Galatea and Indomita Press.

Articles by this author

Community Care

Lauren Dibble doesn’t hold back when charting her success. “Thank God I have ADHD,” she says.

This may sound strange coming from a marriage and family therapist who helps clients deal with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, autism and other neurodivergence. For Dibble, the way her mind works is a blessing.

“My brain is hardwired to follow niche interests,” she says. “After college, I tried out a bunch of careers to see what I wanted to double down on. I was an AmeriCorps volunteer. I did outreach in Spanish to agricultural workers. I studied Spanish for mental health professionals in Peru. I worked at a record shop. I did babysitting. I did online merchandising while going to grad school part time at night. I was a tech recruiter.”

Sweet As Honey

If Lisa Romero can offer some advice about bees, it’s this:

“If you see a swarm of bees, take a breath, be calm, go to the Sacramento Area Beekeepers website and report it,” Romero says. “Someone will come out and get it. Don’t spray them with water or pesticides, don’t bother them. You don’t have to hide inside. Just call a beekeeper.”

Spring is swarming season for honeybees, which means Sac Area Beekeepers get many calls and online reports of swarms this time of year.

Romero, the group’s vice president, says honeybees swarm when the hive gets too crowded. The queen leaves with half the colony to find a new home.

Art For All

Valene Byrd is all about helping with art. She’s the founder of ART-TISM, a nonprofit that provides art activities, resources and advocacy for children on the autism spectrum and their families.

ART-TISM started as an act of love for Byrd’s son, Mateo. During the pandemic, longtime teacher Byrd transformed her living room into a classroom for Mateo, now 11, who has autism.

She worried about the impact of isolation and wanted him ready to transition back to the classroom. Byrd reserved half a wall for Mateo’s art. At the end of the year, the wall was full of his drawings.

Barrio To Classroom

For Luis-Genaro Garcia, art is more than pretty pictures. It’s social. It’s political. And everyone should see themselves reflected in it.

“As a teacher, I wanted to change the (school) experience for students who are creative,” the Sacramento State University assistant art professor says. “So I started developing projects where students were not only going to see themselves but also be able to make connections to what’s going on in their own communities.”