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Iowa gymnast Johnson: High school out next year
Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson says she won't return to Valley High School in West Des Moines for her senior year and instead will get her degree through Internet courses.
Speaking Sunday at an autograph session, Johnson says she doesn't have time to attend regular school every day because of her many public events, including recent participation in ABC's "Dancing With the Stars." Instead, she'll enroll in a national online school.
The 17-year-old Johnson says she hasn't decided whether she wants to compete in the 2012 Olympics, but she has narrowed her college choices. She says she's looking closest at Stanford and UCLA, saying they're great schools and she loves California.
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Driving force in Clovis dance Mehas retires
In the annals of Clovis dance, you don't get much more influential than Demi Mehas.
When she started the Clovis Academy of Dance in 1973, the school had 40 students. Today, enrollment is 480. The school, which was renamed the Clovis Academy of Gymnastics and Dance after a merger, offers 70 classes a week year-round. It is affiliated with the Clovis Unified School District.
Now Mehas is retiring after two final recitals tonight at the Mercedes Edwards Theater. It will be a bittersweet moment, she says. The academy has been a huge part of her life, but she has confidence in longtime assistant director Christi Allen, who is taking over the organization.
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2008 Honorable Mention recipients
FIRST GRADE
Avery Fong, 7, Clovis
School: Mickey Cox Elementary
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A decade of achievement
In 1996, The Fresno Bee launched an annual feature to honor the best and brightest students in the Central Valley.
Judges -- teachers and newspaper staff members -- selected a dozen "Academic All-Stars," one for each of the 12 grade levels. Students were chosen based on academic achievement, community involvement and leadership.
This year, more than a decade later, we decided to catch up with our first class of winners. Where are they now?
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Fourth Grade: Madison Jenkins
When Madison Jenkins grows up, she wants to be a fashion designer. Introduce a line of clothing. Maybe open a clothing store.
Being famous also is an option for this high-achieving, 10-year-old Fresnan.
"If I see something, and it's clothes, I'll go ahead and draw a picture of it," she said.
Christy Yin has a simple formula for success: Discover what you enjoy doing and then work at it with all your heart, mind and soul.
For the 14-year-old University High School freshman, that means pursuing a childhood dream of performing onstage. But what sets her apart from other goal-driven students is her willingness to put other people and education ahead of personal ambition.
Christy said helping children as a volunteer at Fig Garden Dance Studio and in her mother's second-grade class at Manchester GATE Elementary School is her most satisfying accomplishment.
Next, she is proud of maintaining a 4.0 grade-point average at a school where students take college-level classes in addition to standard high school courses.
Third on her list of achievements is being in shows. Christy has been a member of Roger Rocka's Junior Company for six years and has appeared in the main theater company's productions of "The Music Man," "Evita" and "Annie."
"I just love every minute of it," she said. "After high school, I want to attend college in New York. I'd like to teach the performing arts, and I'd love to perform on Broadway."
S. Eric Day, drama teacher at University High and founder of the Woodward Shakespeare Festival, sees a bright future for Christy.
"If Christy is not tap dancing, she'll be singing, and if she's not singing, she'll be acting," he said. "She'll find her niche. She loves performing, and it's a treat working with her."
-- Guy Keeler
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