24
COMMUNITY
THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JANUARY 9, 2022
Mother Earth, city have an ally in Chandler boy BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer
C
handler resident Robert Nark walked out to collect his trash and recycling bins after the collection truck came. He found a handwritten note stuck on a bin. “Good job!” There’s no mystery who wrote it. Tenyear-old neighbor Cal Shropshire has earned the nickname “Recy-CAL” in the San Marcos County Club Estates neighborhood because of his passion for recycling. Nark said Cal rides his scooter through the neighborhood on collection days, checking everyone’s bins. He makes sure there are no recyclable materials in the trash bins – and the other way around. If he finds something that doesn’t belong, he has no problem knocking on a door to point it out in a friendly manner
At age 10, Cal Shropshire is already doing his part to protect Mother Earth and make sure that Chandler residents follow the city rules on recycling. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)
or to leave a pleasant reminder. “I don’t do it regularly but a couple of times I’ve done it when there’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t belong in the can,” said Cal, who is a fourth grader at Knox Gifted Academy. Cal’s mother, Christine Shropshire, said most neighbors have been very supportive of her son’s passion for recycling and only a couple have objected. “They told him, or have told us, 'please don’t let him touch our cans,'” Christine said. “For the most part everyone is super supportive and doesn’t mind him checking their cans.” Once a neighbor objects, then Cal steers clear of their trash bins. The boy’s passion started just as schools were shut down by the pandem-
see RECYCLE page 25
Chandler residents in running for Flinn Scholarship BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer
C
handler was well represented in the competition for the prestigious Flinn Scholarship when the top candidates for 2022 were recently announced. Nine students who live in Chandler qualified among 80 semifinalists and five advanced to the 39 finalists. A Flinn Scholarship is valued at more than $120,000 and covers tuition, fees, housing and meals at one of the state’s three public universities. It also includes two stints studying abroad and connects scholars to a wide number of experts in a number of fields fo study. About half of the finalists, 20 of the 39, will be awarded the Flinn Scholarship, which was started in 1986 by the Flinn Foundation. The nine Chandler residents who earned semifinalist recognition are
Moira MacCatherine Anokh Ambadipudi of Basha High School; Loralei Cook of Arizona Connections Academy; Isaac Kan of Desert Vista High School; Kayla King of Chandler High School; Simone Cawthorne King of Chandler High School; Moira MacCatherine of Perry High School; Sebastian Pastrana of Chandler Preparatory Academy; Shruti Ramkuma of Hamilton High School; and Audrey Ann Wood of Seton Catholic High
Loralei Cook
Kayla King
School. Some of the semifinalists removed themselves from consideration because they were awarded other scholarships. The Flinn Scholarships are only good at Arizona’s three state universities. The five from Chandler on the list include Basha High’s Ambadipudi; Arizona Connections’ Cook; Desert Vista’s Kan; Chandler High’s Kayla King; and Perry
Isaac Kan High’s MacCatherine. The Flinn Foundation says it plans to announce its Class of 2022 scholars April. Here’s some more information on some of the Chandler finalists: Loralei Cook, Arizona Connections Academy: Loralei says she knows what
see FLINN page 25
