26 minute read
THE REVIEW Throw these summer reads in your suitcase
Grab These Beach Reads and Relax
By M. CLARE HAEFNER
With the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, hopefully, I’m looking forward to summer vacation and a little down time at the beach.
It’s so relaxing to lounge on the sand listening to the waves, soaking up sunshine and breathing fresh air while reading a great book.
I never travel anywhere without a novel or two or 20 — I’m a fast reader and my phone’s Kindle app is much easier to carry than a bag full of books — and there are quite a few fun reads I’m looking forward to this summer. While I often read nonfiction and love a good history, biography or memoir, my beach/vacation reads are almost always fiction — I want fantasy, entertainment, and fast-paced storytelling, with a little romance, mystery and/or suspense thrown in. They also need to be easy to put down and pick up between my real-life adventures with family and friends.
The books below are on my mustread list this summer — I’ve already read the first three and started the fourth, but I’ll probably read them again once I’ve finished the rest. Outlawed by Anna North (Bloomsbury Publishing, January 2021) is a fresh take on the Wild West, following women who become outlaws and try to make their own way after failing to conform to societal expectations. It’s 1894, but in a United States torn apart by Civil War and a Great Flu that claimed many lives and led survivors to value children. In this alternate reality of city-states where people pray to Baby Jesus and the Holy Mother Mary, and tribal regions are still controlled and inhabited by Native Americans, women can be divorced and even accused of witchcraft if they fail to become pregnant. Barren after nearly two years of marriage, Ava leaves her family behind, first for a safe haven in a convent, but later among a band of mysterious outlaws led by The Kid as she aims to discover what causes fertility issues. Outlawed, which is a Reese Witherspoon book club selection, is a cross between The Crucible, True Grit and Brave New World. At times jarring and graphic, it’s a riveting read as Ava learns to be comfortable in her own skin and strives to make her part of the world a better place.
Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan (Anchor, June 2020) had me laughing out loud. As with his Crazy Rich Asians series, Kwan’s latest novel is a guilty pleasure. The daughter of an American-born Chinese mother and a blue-blooded Knickerbocker father with ancestry dating back to the Mayflower, Lucie Churchill finds herself torn between two men and the cultures they represent. Sex and Vanity is witty and indulgent, transporting readers from the luxurious Italian island of Capri to New York. The pages are filled with vibrant descriptions of food and high fashion with Kwan’s trademark banter and lots of romance. It’s a modern love story and a tale of a young woman growing into herself. The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin (G.P. Putnam's Sons, January 2021) is a darker kind of Cinderella story, examining what happens when ”happily ever after“ doesn’t come true. Thirteen and a half years after she marries her Prince Charming, Cinderella goes looking for the Witch to procure a spell to kill her husband. This story is dark, magical, and filled with surprises. Like Gregory Maguire’s Wicked, the twists and turns in The Charmed Wife are unexpected and inventive. It quickly drew me in and kept me guessing until the end. I’ve only read the first few chapters of The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin’s Press, February 2021), but it’s already the best book I’ve read this year. Set amid the Great Depression, this epic American story of love, heroism and hope is a perfect reminder as we come out of the pandemic of how resilient we are. Nearly an old maid, Elsa Wolcott’s life seems bleak until she meets Rafe Martinelli. Taking her chance to build a better life, she’ll need all the strength and courage she can muster as she faces drought on the Great Plains and decides what matters most. My deep Southern roots are probably why Joshilyn Jackson is one of my favorite contemporary authors. Her stories are usually set in small Alabama and Georgia towns that remind me of visits with family and my college years in Mississippi. I’ve read every other book she’s written and can’t wait to start Mother May I (William Morrow, April 2021). Described as suspenseful, thoughtprovoking and haunting, it delves into how far a mother is willing to go to protect her child and the life she loves. Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly (Ballentine Books, March 2021) is inspired by true accounts and examines the Civil War through the eyes of a Union nurse,
a slave woman sold and conscripted into the Army and a Southern belle left to manage the plantation after her husband enlists. Sunflower Sisters is the third book in a series about members of the Woolsey-Ferriday family. I loved Lilac Girls, set in World War II, and Lost Roses, which delves into World War I, and am looking forward to reading about another remarkable woman in their family tree. The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins (St. Martin’s Press, January 2021) has been in my queue for a while after a friend recommended it. This one’s set in my mom’s hometown, Birmingham, Alabama, and is a modern twist on Jane Eyre. I’ve always enjoyed new takes on classics, and this one sounds promising, with forbidden romance and a wife who won’t stay buried. I wonder if either Mrs. Rochester will get a happy ending. In A Book Club Far Away by Tif Marcelo (Gallery Books, April 2021) is on the list because like the Army wives in this book, I’ve lived in lots of places and have old friends I’d drop anything for if they needed my help — even though I haven’t seen them in years. The jacket says this book honors “the immense power of female friendship and how love can defy time, distance, and all old wounds.” This one will probably bring tears — from joy and sadness — but I’m ready to pour the wine, grab the tissues and dive in. I preordered That Summer by Jennifer Weiner (Atria Books, May 2021) as soon as I learned it was in the works. I’ve been a fan of Weiner’s since her debut, Good in Bed (Atria Books, April 2002). Her witty writing draws me in every time and leaves me wanting more. The premise of That Summer is intriguing: restless housewife Daisy starts getting emails meant for another woman, whose address is only one punctuation mark away from hers. An apology leads to an invitation, and the women become friends, then Daisy learns her meeting with Diana may not have been as accidental as it seemed. Just like Weiner’s Big Summer in 2020, That Summer seems like the perfect beach or poolside read. I’m saving What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing — Oprah’s collaboration with Bruce D. Perry (Flatiron Books, April 2021) — for when I get home. While I’m certain the best-seller will send me on a voyage of self-discovery, it can definitely wait until I’ve had my fill of sun and fun.
ILLUSIATM
COLLECTION
DavinChi CutTM
Karen Clos is the Director of Communications at Texas A&M University–
26 SUMMER 2021 | TEX APPEALCentral Texas.
Paying it Forward
KAREN CLOS HELPS STUDENTS EXPLORE POSSIBILITIES
By JANNA ZEPP | Photos by JUSTIN BORJA and contributed
As a first-time college student at St. see me tomorrow. I looked inside the pack of Philip’s College in San Antonio, Karen gum and saw that he had given me $300 to help Clos wondered why her instructor, pay for my tuition. I was stunned,” Clos says. “I Dr. Tony Pitrizello, would take her composition applied that money to my education. He was one assignments out of a stack to be graded and place of many people who shaped the trajectory of my them at the bottom of the pile. Every possibility as life with a simple, loving gesture.” to why he would do that raced through her mind Since that time, Clos has had a passion for until she finally worked up the courage to ask him. helping others who are struggling to get access to
“I read yours last, so I don’t want to kill myself higher education. Her particular interest evolved after grading,” Dr. Pitrizello replied. into an interest in adult education after being a His guidance and belief in her academic talent general education development (GED) instructor set Clos on a professional journey that has been as at St. Philip’s College in San Antonio’s East Side. much adventure as it has been Inspired by her students, she a career path, including helping “A person just went on to earn a Master of her get a job tutoring other college students in English at never knows Arts degree in Adult Education from Incarnate Word University, the college’s writing center. She said it paid $2.40 an hour, what that one, a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from but it would become the first in a long line of employment single gesture will University of Texas at San Antonio, and later a Doctor working in academia and mass communications, eventually do to launch a of Education in Community College Leadership from the becoming Vice President of Educational Services at marvelous future University of Texas in Austin. While her work in higher Temple College, President of the Community College of for another. That’s education includes a number of leadership roles, she prefers Denver and now Director of Communications at Texas A&M- what happened to not to count the titles, but the accomplishments. As Central Texas. “I wanted to go to college, me, so that is what the president of Community College of Denver, she grew but it was hard. I applied for financial aid, which back in the I do for others.” enrollment by nearly 40% within four months of holding 1970s took at least a month to — Karen Clos the position, and sustained get,” Clos says, remembering that growth over three years, back to her time at St. Philip’s. Until the aid came building the college’s first 150,000-square-foot and even afterward, Clos saved money every way building. But it is her work with Texas A&Mshe could think of by living with the family of a Central Texas that brings an enthusiastic smile to friend and by taking public transportation to and her face. from school instead of owning a car and driving “We have a unique mission as a transfer-level herself there. She was befriended by an elderly university,” she said. “We are the place where man who would pick her up from the bus stop students who have begun but not completed their every day on her way home. undergraduate degrees can go to accomplish that
“One day, he gave me a pack of gum during goal.” our ride. I thanked him, he dropped me off in Clos’ work with local, regional, and state media front of the house where I stayed, and said he’d Continued
began as a result of originally writing news stories on the accomplishments of Texas A&M-Central Texas students, faculty, and staff which were immediately picked up by both the Temple Daily Telegram and the Killeen Daily Herald. As a result of that, local television media began showing interest, and Clos began working with assignment editors and reporters to feature those stories and contribute expertise of the faculty and staff to developing news stories.
Clos recently earned a Master of Arts in English from Texas A&M University-Central Texas.
“Earning that master’s degree in English was challenging but rewarding,” Clos says. “Of all the degrees I’ve earned, this one really intellectually challenged me. Not that the others were easy, but as much as I have loved writing, this degree gave me a chance to really take a deep dive into that subject. I also got to experience what our own (TAMUCT) students go through while pursuing a graduate degree. It was a fantastic experience.”
Clos’ love for writing and journalism manifested much earlier in her career, as she became a ‘stringer’ for the San Antonio Express-News in the mid-1980s. It was her interest and experience in ballet that launched her as a professional writer.
“I noticed that the San Antonio Express sent sports writers to cover Ballet San Antonio performances, so I sent a letter to the editor asking them to assign writers that knew and understood ballet to those stories rather than the sports guys,” Clos says. “Next thing I knew, I was covering them for the paper.”
When the Kirov Ballet (now the Marinsky Ballet) came from Russia to perform in San Antonio as its first stop of its tour of the United States, Clos helped the San Antonio newspaper coordinate a promotion of the ballet company’s visit with H-E-B Grocery Co. to hold a picnic on the Witte Museum lawn. Clos got to know some of the dancers personally and even asked Oleg Vingradov, Kirov’s director, why he chose to come to San Antonio first on their tour.
“I wanted to see a real cowboy,” he responded enthusiastically.
That response, Clos remembered, became the lead in a feature article.
“I’ll never forget rushing to buy the paper, unfolding it over my Sunday breakfast, and seeing that story above the fold,” she remembered. “I thought, ‘Wow. The ideas were in my head, and they became words, and now those words are on this page. There’s something truly remarkable about thinking that something you’ve written can accomplish that.” Clos’ writing, her flair for promotion, her education, and her excellence in community communication has shaped her into an indispensable source for local journalists needing subject matter experts to consult on their news stories. Texas A&M University–Central Texas has a wealth of faculty members doing groundbreaking research in their fields, and Clos saw an opportunity to help both the university and the local media meet each other and help to inform important news stories. At her last count, Clos says, there were almost 2,000.
As a result of her work with local print and electronic news media,
Karen Clos and Jon Coffield discuss the TAMUCT Alumni Association in 2013.
Clos has had the opportunity to work with dozens of reporters on a daily basis who turn to the university for the knowledge and expertise of faculty and staff.
Being on the front line of ambitious causes seems to be a significant part of who she is, as her work includes a book published by the American Association of Community Colleges in 2007 entitled, To Be Honest: Championing Academic Integrity in Community Colleges. At the time, it was the only book written for community colleges dealing with academic dishonesty and promoting a culture of integrity.
Where did this drive to contribute come from? Clos remembers a seminal moment when she was the fledging department chair of a GED program.
“During my early experience as an adult educator, I noted that GED students were not considered ‘real students’ by the president. They were not permitted a student identification card or the opportunity to see the campus nurse when they needed medical attention. They were not allowed to check a book out of the library. These students paid a dollar for medical insurance through the school and were required to pay $5 for a parking pass, but not allowed to enjoy the benefits of being a ‘real’ student? That was horribly unfair,” Clos says, almost visibly seething. “A new interim president came in some months later and she listened to me about it. It was then that my students became REAL students for the first time.”
What she has discovered over the years is that it is up to each of us, she says, to live up to the expectations of our respective professional standards, and when the opportunity to go above and beyond finds us, to leverage every talent we have and whatever we’ve learned for the benefit the place and the people we serve.”
Clos’ mission, more than anything, seems to be simply paying forward the simple, kind assistance from almost perfect strangers that she got as a student navigating a community college for the first time.
“A person just never knows what that one, single gesture will do to launch a marvelous future for another,” she says. “Not a day goes by that I don’t put my key in the front door of my home and remember the people like that English teacher I had as a student or all of the incredible mentors I have had,” she notes. “Those people made significant contributions to my life, and I owe it to them to do the same for others.” Josh Knowles, D.D.S., M.S.D.
Board Certified Orthodontist
THE BEST
Readers’ Choice 2020
AWARD
The Right Time for an Orthodontic Check-UP? No Later than Age 7
The American Association of Orthodontists recommends all children get a check-up with an orthodontic specialist no later than age 7. Early treatment may give your orthodontist the chance to: • Guide jaw growth • Lower the risk of trauma to protruded front teeth • Correct harmful oral habits • Improve appearance • Guide permanent teeth into a favorable position • Create a more pleasing arrangement of teeth, lips & face
If your child is older than 7, it’s certainly not too late for a check-up. Call us at 254-773-8028 for your complimentary consultation. A better smile because you deserve it!
SMALL-BUSINESS OWNER HAS LEARNED TO ‘Roll with the Punches’
Story and photos by BRANDY CRUZ
She’s is a wife, a mother and runs a small business, but she’s also honest, diligent, has a witty sense-of-humor and is toughas-nails — as evidenced by beating Stage IV breast cancer.
Tonya is the vice president of Colonial Property Management, a family-owned property management company that takes care of people’s homes or investment properties when they cannot. She said the best part of her position is being able to work side-by-side with her entire family. Her husband Robert is in charge of maintenance, her oldest son Cullen is the head inspector, and her youngest son Ethan is the assistant property manager, while also serving as a real estate agent. She has the toughest job of all. As vice president, Tonya has to play the role of the “bad guy” when tenants are not taking care of the property they’re renting.
Tonya said she feels good knowing that she’s helping average homeowners by ensuring their property is being properly cared for by renters. She said that renting a home out to strangers can be a scary situation, especially for a young couple who are leaving their home in the hopes it will still be in good condition when they Continued
At Colonial Property Management, Tonya Autry works with her husband and sons, from left, Ethan, Robert and Cullen.
return to the area. “I really, truly find a lot of pride in those situations — caring for the home, making sure I do the job and then hand it back to them in the condition they can turn around and sell it,” Tonya explained. “It’s terrifying when you take a beautiful 3-year-old house that you owe everything on, put a stranger in it and hope it’s going to be cared for in a way that you can sell it in a couple of years.” A fifth-generation entrepreneur, Tonya worked most of her life as a high-end wedding photographer, before retiring and moving back home to Central Texas with her husband of nearly 30 years. Shortly after returning home to Killeen four years ago, her mother-in-law, who owns Colonial Property Management, asked her to come on board.
As a small-business owner herself, she learned quickly that she has to be able to handle any situation, no matter what a person throws at them.
“At the end of the day, you’re dealing with people and that doesn’t come with a recipe,” she added. “You have to be able to handle whomever you have in front of you. There are people you have to be firm with and there are people you have to handle with kid gloves.” Being able to read people and figure out those situations comes easily to Tonya, who has to vet every person who steps through their doors looking for a place to rent. Sometimes a person can look good on paper, but she said if her gut is sending up a red flag, she listens, because in the end, she is working for the homeowner.
Even after someone starts renting, her job isn’t over. She said she ensures the renters are taking care of the home by doing a walkthrough at least every 90 days.
Sometimes, she explained, if the lawn is overgrown or she sees damaged blinds while driving by a home, she conducts an inspection before the 90 days.
Unfortunately, she also has to deliver the bad news when a tenant is to be evicted. Sometimes it is for tenants not taking care of the homes, but more than likely, the homeowner has decided to sell the home and needs it empty.
Tonya strives for perfection in everything she does. As a Hispanic woman working in the business world, she said she’s been called every name in the book, but sometimes “you just gotta roll with the punches,” … and have a thick skin. While her career is not always fun, she said it is never boring.
® ACTIVE AIR PURIFIER
* Active Purification Throughout all Living Spaces 24 Hours a Day. * Eliminates Bacteria, Mold, Viruses, Mildew, Smoke, Odors, VOC’s, and more. * Iconic Air Scrubbers Destroy Indoor Contaminants Anywhere the Air Goes. * Unique Air Purification Process Even Cleans Air That Doesn’t Pass
Through the HVAC System. * Installs in any HVAC System. * * NASA-developedNASA-developed Technology for Use in the International Space Station.
PROTECT YOUR HOME AND FAMILY
the name recognized worldwide for manufacturing quality and expertise. As the manufacturer of IAQ...
INSTALLATION
$799 T + TAX (LIMITED IME OFFER)
Denise Ayers is the career and technical education director at Temple High School.
Forging Relationships
DENISE AYERS CONNECTS STUDENTS WITH BUSINESS PARTNERS AT TEMPLE CTE
By FRED AFFLERBACH | Photos CHRIS HERNANDEZ and courtesy of Temple ISD
Rather than a traditional classroom with four walls, desks and a teacher lecturing, Temple High School senior Kayleb Grant is earning credit toward graduation at the Scott & White
Hospital emergency room. During one particular work shift, paramedics rolled in the victim of a recent automobile accident suffering a fractured tibia, a fibula broken in two places, and wearing a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Grant says this type experience, although rather harrowing at first, is one reason why he’s enrolled in the Career and
Technical Education program at Temple High.
“There’s a lot of people who do not have this opportunity,” Grant said. “It’s put me ahead of a lot of people who are into their 30s. A lot of other people in the field say they wish they would’ve done this and they would’ve been better off earlier.” Grant is enrolled in the Health Science career cluster, one of 13 different choices available to
Temple ISD students. He’s already CPR certified and plans to attend Temple College where he will work toward a career as a paramedic and firefighter. Back at Temple High School, CTE director Denise Ayers says a team of instructors, administrators and business partners are busy building bridges to the future while shattering stereotypes. Career and technical education, she says, is not an easy alternative to the traditional academic pathway to a diploma. It’s a rigorous, challenging and rewarding opportunity for students who don’t fit into traditional academic molds. Ayers said that the CTE model answers the age-
Health Science students practice with a furry patient.
old question that every generation of disgruntled students ask: “Why do I have to learn this?”
“We can have knowledge, but if we don’t know what to do with that knowledge then it’s just kind of rolling around in our head. When we give students the opportunity to apply that knowledge, we’re preparing them for life after high school and we’re setting them up for success. I think that’s one of the reasons that career and technical education is becoming more respected. People are realizing that not everybody needs to go to college to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or even a teacher,” Ayers said. “All work is respectable work. Every individual has a talent to give. We just need to be able to let that talent shine.”
In fall 2020, Temple Independent School District reported that 86% of Temple High School students took at least one CTE course. Students can select from a menu of 79 different courses, from audio visual to business and finance, to agriculture, to law. And two middle schools in Temple ISD, Bonham and Lamar, have 43% of eighth graders participating in CTE. According to the U.S. Department of Education, eight years after expected graduation, students enrolled in Continued
The CTE Culinary Arts program kitchen at Temple High School.
CTE earned higher median annual incomes than students who did not.
In 2018, the Temple CTE program cut the ribbon on a state-of-the-art, 113,000-square-foot facility with an adjacent, remodeled 20,000-square-foot automotive technology center. On a recent spring afternoon, automotive students were restoring and repairing vehicles of various ages and styles: a ’55 Chevrolet, a heavy-duty Ford work truck, and a Lexus sedan.
Back in the main building, culinary students operate a coffee shop, a café, and a kitchen worthy of a “Top Chef” episode. Upstairs in the health sciences wing, with mannequins occupying mock hospital beds, a visitor could think they just walked into a health clinic or an emergency room. And students in the logistics and manufacturing facility, and the architecture and construction rooms, use modern, computer-assisted machinery to build cabinets and sheet metal products.
At least two dozen local businesses and institutions have contributed to the CTE program’s success. Students often leave campus and work on-site at manufacturing or healthcare facilities. And some businesses have matched contributions for tools and high-tech machinery. “One of the greatest strengths of our career and technical programs is our business partners,” Ayers said. “And I think that is where I’ve seen it grow the most. I really believe in the value of connecting education to business. Our job is to prepare them for life after high school and we do that best through collaboration.” One 2019 Temple High graduate of the law career pathway, Jakayla Hollie, was a certified 911 dispatcher upon graduation. She’s now a sophomore studying law at Texas Southern University in Houston. While a student at Temple High, local judges would sometimes stand in as guest speakers. “For anyone who wants to be in criminal justice, they have so many different classes and so many different levels,” Hollie said. “We had one class where we were doing crime scenes, and another class where we were going outside and passing out parking tickets. It’s really just fun. I had more law classes than regular classes. With the teachers I had, they helped us every step of the way.”
Isaac Salinas, a junior studying architecture and building, has been in the CTE program since his freshman year. He recently helped build an obstacle course for Temple Police Academy. And he toured the annual Parade of Homes, held by the Temple Area Builders Association. “It was a really good experience,” Salinas said. “We got to see more in depth how people build houses.”
A few years ago, while visiting the automotive tech facility, Ayers heard a passing car screech. “The brakes made a horrendous sound, which obviously meant they needed a brake job. A student said they need to remember Newton’s law of motion, which says that when something’s in motion it’s going to continue until something is there to make it stop. That statement from the student gave such validity to the science that was learned in a core classroom. That’s what it’s all about.”
Students enrolled in Edwards Academy in Temple ISD are also eligible to take CTE courses.
