Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

Levi Wolf became a “political wonk” at age 8 or 9, when he saw Bill O’Reilly on television for the first time.

“I didn’t necessarily agree with everything he said . . . but I was completely captivated,” said Wolf, now a 17-year-old senior at University High School.

Wolf’s passion for politics has resulted in a week-long, all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., starting Saturday. Wolf was selected to represent Arizona at the 47th annual United States Senate Youth Program, and is one of 104 student delegates from around the country who will attend Washington Week.

“I’m really interested in seeing the way government works,” said the native Tucsonan, who is the son of Frank and Debora Wolf.

“I watch it all the time on C-SPAN, and I’m interested in meeting the people that make it work.”

Yvonne Tindell of Gilbert is the other Arizona student selected to attend. The two were selected by Tom Horne, superintendent of public instruction, from hundreds of Arizona applicants.

All student delegates will also receive $5,000 scholarships. Wolf hopes to pursue a law degree at George Washington University.

At UHS, he serves as senior representative to the student council. He is president of Model U.N. and was elected by his school’s team as “Best Overall Delegate.”

Trained in classical piano, he is in a band called The Kingsfoil.

The Senate Youth Program was created in 1962, sponsored by the Senate and funded by The Hearst Foundations. Teens selected rank academically in the top 1 percent of students in their states.

While in Washington, delegates will attend meetings and briefings with Senate leadership, the president, a Supreme Court justice, leaders of Cabinet agencies and top members of the national media.

“I’m really excited to see how government works together,” Wolf said.

Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

Martin Carrillo wants one thing in his life – to keep his family together.

After slapping his 10-year-old son, Michael, last year, Carrillo, 43, nearly lost him to Arizona’s Child Protective Services.

But CPS saw hope that Carrillo, a single dad raising three kids, could do what he needed to keep his family together. So it provided counseling and in-home services to strengthen this family.

Now many of the services are going away after drastic state budget cuts. Carrillo wonders what will become of his family.

“I’m afraid of losing my kids,” he said.

He worries about son Michael, who suffers from mental illness.

Michael is diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder and depression. He experiences hallucinations and hears voices. He tried to hang himself at age 5.

“He has all the traits of schizophrenia, but they won’t diagnose because of his age,” said Carrillo, a night security guard.

The child struggled to control his anger and has been arrested three times, once for hitting a relative in the face with a soda can.

Through individual and family counseling over the past three months, Michael has been able to control his anger, Carrillo said. Counseling has also helped son Martin, 11, who has ADHD, and daughter Amber, 8.

But Carrillo found out last week the family counseling and in-home visits provided by Child & Family Resources with state funding had been cut.

“Without these services, it’s going to be hard,” Carrillo said. “They were helping me manage all this.”

Carrillo knows he was at fault for striking Michael after the child used profanity in the car.

“I reacted the wrong way. I know better. I slapped Michael’s face and gave him a bloody nose.”

When Michael told a teacher, the school “did what they had to do,” Carrillo said, and CPS was called.

But CPS “has done everything in their power to keep us together,” Carrillo said.

Counseling was helping, all in the family agree.

“It was bringing us a lot closer,” Carrillo said. “It stopped me from yelling so much and it taught me how to listen to my kids.”

He’s worried the loss of family counseling could throw Michael into a tailspin.

“I’ll probably be getting mad more often,” Michael said. “I don’t like it.”

Carrillo said he will do anything he can to keep his family together. “We have lots of love. But we need help.”

He thinks counseling and in-home services are the answer.

“When I first started counseling, I didn’t think it would help,” said Carrillo, who believes he has depression. “But having someone to talk to about your problems, it really helps.”

Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

Agencies that protect Tucson’s most vulnerable children are caught in a perfect storm, with a failing economy, a rise in child abuse and sweeping cuts in services that keep families together.

As Tucsonans lost homes and jobs, the number of dependency cases in Pima County Juvenile Court soared by nearly 25 percent in 2008.

And last week, cuts by the Arizona Legislature gutted programs that prevent child abuse and keep kids out of foster care.

“This is one of the unfortunate consequences of a combination of a very bad economy and a dire state budget situation,” said Judge Pat Escher, who presides over Juvenile Court here.

“As economic circumstances deteriorate and people need the safety net, the network is unraveling,” she said.

And left to face the consequences are the children.

Escher is concerned that without support services, more families will lose their children.

When a child is removed from home because of abuse and neglect, Arizona’s Child Protective Services and the courts do what they can to reunify families, Escher said.

Parents are required to follow a plan and complete assignments, which usually include parenting education, counseling and substance abuse treatment.

But budget cuts have wiped out services, leaving parents to wonder if they will be able to keep their families together.

Judge Escher is worried program cuts will undo the court’s work over the past decade to keep children out of foster care.

“If the resources are taken away, it’s going to be difficult for a parent to get themselves into a situation where they can safely parent their child,” she said.

She worries more will end up in foster care.

The long-term outcome of children who grow up in foster care “is not great,” Escher said. They often experience homelessness and are far less likely to complete high school, she said.

Paul Bennett, clinical professor at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, directs the Child Advocacy Clinic there. Through the program, law students represent children in child protective cases in Juvenile Court.

He agrees that cuts in services could harm children.

“If what we’re trying to do is put families back together, if we don’t have the resources to do that, we’re not going to be successful,” he said. “The ability to put families back together is in jeopardy.”

Programs that allow supervised visitation while parents work to get their kids back have been cut. Bennett said those visits are critical.

And stipends to foster families are cut, jeopardizing their ability to properly care for kids.

“We are taking children away from their homes and putting them in homes that are not set up to meet their needs,” Bennett said. “What are we doing here?”

The increase in cases of abuse and neglect is seen at Casa de los Niños crisis shelter. The shelter, 1101 N. Fourth Ave., has been full with 45 children for the past six months, said Susie Huhn, executive director. The shelter normally cares for 20 to 25 kids, from newborns through age 12.

“Unfortunately, when the economy tanks, child abuse reports go up,” Huhn said. “And it’s happening at a time when services that help these families have been cut so severely. Our Legislature chose to cut programs that keep children safe and keep families out of foster care.”

Huhn believes a failing economy and lost jobs result in a higher level of stress among parents, and more abuse and neglect.

Last year, about 50 children from newborns through age 5 were removed from homes each month in Pima County, Huhn said. That number now is nearly 120, she said.

“How do they expect us to meet an already rising demand with fewer resources?” Huhn asked. “We’re not going to be able to keep kids safe.”

Huhn predicted her shelter will see more abused kids.

“Families were stressed before the cuts, and I can’t imagine what we’re going to see in the next few months,” Huhn said.

Cuts to programs that keep kids out of foster care make no sense, Huhn said. She said those programs cost $3,000 to $5,000 a year. Placing a child in foster care costs $18,000 a year. “It isn’t saving anything,” Huhn said.

She believes Arizona was hit more quickly than the rest of the country because of the housing market slump. She said Arizona is cutting more services than any other state.

Among those losing services are kin caregivers – grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings – who step in when parents cannot raise children, often due to addiction, incarceration or mental illness.

Relatives, who are often financially strapped, are losing funding and therapy, said Laurie Melrood, director of KARE Family Center, 4710 E. 29th St. KARE provides services to kin caregivers, serving 1,300 families last year.

Subsidies to children are being cut by 20 percent, Melrood said. Children who once received $204 per month now receive $164.

“For many families, this money is used for clothing and food. This is not luxury money,” Melrood said.

The center is bracing for the impact of the cuts.

“Reduction in services and cuts in money could lead to children being given to the state, which is exactly what the state cannot afford,” Melrood said.

Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

Lisa Molina blows up imaginary balloons with her children, enormous globes of yellow, red and orange.

When the balloons nearly fill the room, Molina and her kids let them go, and the family collapses into a giggling heap as they envision the balloons zipping through the air.

What may seem like silly fun is a stress reliever for Molina, a single mom, and her children, Diamond Teran, 5, and Diego Romero, 3.

Deep breathing required to fill up the imaginary balloons helps to calm them, and the activity tames just about any tantrum.

It’s one of the many techniques the Tucson mom has learned from Healthy Families. The program, administered through Child & Family Resources, has provided Molina, 33, with support and services to be the best parent possible.

“Healthy Families has made me a better mom,” she says.

But the family has been cut off from those services after the Arizona Legislature last week gutted Healthy Families’ annual funding of $3.5 million by 75 percent.

It is one of several programs – designed to help vulnerable Tucson families – that have sustained massive cuts in the Legislature’s attempt to balance the budget. (See story, 1A)

Molina, a portrait photographer who lost her job in December, is thankful to have been in the program for three years. She worries about the future without it.

“It makes me feel lost,” she said.

The program provides in-home education and support for parents starting with the birth of their children, and continuing through age 5. The goal of the program is to get families off to the best possible start by preventing child abuse and neglect.

While open to all parents, those selected for the voluntary program often experience one or more risk factors, including poverty, teen parenting, substance abuse, mental health issues or an ongoing crisis. Most in the program, like Molina, were abused or neglected when they children.

The program is successful in breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect, said Eric Schindler, president and CEO of Child & Family Resources. “Ninety-five percent of families we work with stay out of foster care,” he said.

Molina said she has learned about child development and techniques to maximize her children’s learning while minimizing stress that can come with parenting, thanks to family support specialist Emily Clifford. Clifford was laid off last week.

Clifford taught Molina ways of playing with children that encourage learning. She showed Molina how to defuse Diego’s temper. She connected the family with special education services to help with speech delays and other learning issues.

And Clifford provided them with counseling when the family was left stunned by two deaths.

In April 2007, Molina and her daughter were inside a store while Molina’s boyfriend and Diego waited outside. A car pulled up and the boyfriend, with Diego, who was 18 months old at the time, at his side, was shot dead in what Molina says was a case of mistaken identity. The shooter was never arrested.

In May 2008, Molina’s mother died from cancer, leaving Molina’s 9- and 11-year-old brothers in her care.

In December, Molina lost her job, and the family moved in with friends.

Healthy Families provided counseling after Diego and Diamond were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following the shooting.

“If it wasn’t for Healthy Families, I’d be lost,” Molina said. “They were always there for us.”

Pauline Haas-Vaughn, program director for Healthy Families at Child & Family, worries about the 600 families who are losing services in Tucson.

The agency has had to terminate most clinical services, including therapy, because of budget cuts.

“We have families that are actively involved in domestic violence and families dealing with severe depression and one mom who’s suicidal, but we can no longer provide those services,” she said.

With information and support, parents can overcome daunting obstacles, Haas-Vaughn said.

“Our parents want to be better parents,” she said. “They need the tools and skills to be able to do that.”

Citizen Staff Photographer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

Tucson children at risk of being neglected, abused and ending up in foster care will feel the impact of state budget cuts after Child & Family Resources was forced this week to lay off social workers who help keep families together.

The agency laid off 21 of its Tucson employees, about one-fourth of its staff, after losing $7 million in funding from the Arizona Department of Economic Security, said Colleen Bagnall, development director for Child & Family Resources.

DES announced the cuts in programs after the Legislature slashed its current fiscal year budget.

Child & Family Resources, 2800 E. Broadway, serves 38,000 children and families statewide.

“We’re very concerned that these cuts . . . mean more children will end up in foster care, and child abuse and neglect will increase,” said Eric Schindler, agency president and CEO.

Because of the DES cuts, the nonprofit agency that contracts with the state to provide services to families was forced to cut its Healthy Families program by 75 percent and other in-home service programs by 50 percent, Schindler said.

Healthy Families provides services to families with children from birth to age 5 who are at risk for neglect and abuse. About 85 percent of parents in the program experienced abuse or neglect in their childhood, and the program helps break the cycle, Schindler said.

In-home service programs provide education and support to families with children of all ages, most of whom are involved with Arizona’s Child Protective Services. The programs aim to keep children in the home and out of foster care.

The programs help families develop anger management and basic parenting skills; offer information on child development and coping with stress; and connect parents with substance abuse treatment resources.

Schindler estimated the cuts will impact about 700 Tucson families and about 3,000 in the state.

He believes the state made the cuts “on the backs of the most vulnerable children and families.”

“This did not need to happen,” he said. “Experts in the field believe the money saved here is an illusion in that it will cost the state more in the long term. Keeping a child in foster care or incarcerated in juvenile corrections is 10 times more costly than these services.”

The programs work, Schindler said. “Ninety-five percent of families we work with stay out of foster care.”

Budget cuts force Child & Family Resources to lay off 21 social workers

Maxine Acevedo, 35, has spent six years helping vulnerable Tucson families as a family support specialist at Child & Family Resources.

Now this single mother with three sons is in need of help herself after losing her job this week.

She worries about the families that need help the most. “A lot of kids will go into CPS care,” Acevedo said.

She’s worried parents will abuse and neglect their children without the services Child & Family Resources provided.

“The more stress on the parents, sometimes it gets taken out on the kids,” she said.

Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

With 10-gallon hats and spurs at the ready, Tucson families are gearing up for a return to the Wild West.

There are plenty of events this coming rodeo week for rowdy ranch hands of all ages. Put on your bola tie and your fake handlebar mustache and check out these events:

• The Tucson Rodeo opens Saturday and runs through March 1 at Tucson Rodeo Grounds, 4823 S. Sixth Ave. Gates open at 11 a.m. Saturday, with Dodge Mutton Bustin’ and Justin Junior Rodeo at 12:30 p.m. ProRodeo Competition is from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $12-$20. Go to www.tucsonrodeo.com for more information.

• Meet writer and Tombstone expert Jack Ziegler as he relates and enacts the events of the Gunfight at the OK Corral from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Pima County Public Library’s Himmel Park Branch, 1035 N. Treat Ave. Ziegler will share the “real” story of what happened between the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday and the McLaurys and Clantons. “It was like a misdemeanor arrest gone horribly awry,” Ziegler says of the infamous gun battle. At issue was who was to control Tombstone, he said.

Ziegler’s love of shootout lore started at age 12, when he read “Tombstone: An Iliad of the Southwest.” The retired educator and Tombstone resident has researched the gunfight for nearly 20 years and has written and spoken widely on Territorial Arizona. Call 594-5305 for more information on the free event.

• Nothing says “yee-haw” like a bad guy getting blown up. Check out the daily Dragoon Street Wild, Wild West Stunt Shows, fast-paced comedy and action skits performed at Trail Dust Town, 6541 E. Tanque Verde Road. Shows are Mondays through Fridays at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. Shows are free, and the cowboys gratefully accept donations. Go to wildweststuntshow.com for more information.

• Spend an afternoon with Baxter Black, the best selling cowboy poet in the world, Sunday at 2 p.m. at Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo Del Norte. This former large-animal veterinarian makes a living by shining a spotlight on the flaws and foibles of everyday cowboy life, the day-to-day ups and downs of people who live with livestock and work the land. Admission is $25 general and $20 members. For information, call 742-6455 or go to tohonochulpark.org.

• Children can make their own western-style bandanna and paper bag vest to dress the part for rodeo fun at the Tucson Children’s Museum, 200 S. Sixth Ave., at 3 p.m. daily, Tuesday through March 1. On Thursday and Friday, kids can make stick ponies at 12:30 p.m. and play a game of horseshoes at 1:30 p.m. both days. Admission is $7 adults, $5 seniors and for ages 2-18. For more information, call 792-9985 or go to tucsonchildrensmuseum.org.

• The 84th Tucson Rodeo Parade kicks off at 9 a.m. Thursday. The parade starts at Ajo and Park avenues, heads south on Park to Irvington Road, west on Irvington to Sixth Avenue and north on Sixth to the Tucson Rodeo Grounds. Grandstand seating is on Irvington Road, and tickets may be purchased at booths near the grandstands for $6 for adults and $4 for children 12 and younger. Other viewing along the route is free. Go to tucsonrodeoparade.org for information.

• Branches of the Pima County Public Library are hosting special rodeo story times for kids. For locations and times of the free events, go to www.library.pima.gov/about/news/?id=1211.

• Get ready to pet a Clydesdale from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday in the parking lot of the Flowing Wells Branch Library, 1730 W. Wetmore Road. Meet an 1,800-pound Clydsdale and learn about horses from Nancy Roahring of Step Up Into T.L.C. Roahring will also bring a smaller horse. There will be crafts and horse-related stories inside the library at this free event. Call 594-5225 for information.

• Try out your best chess moves Feb. 27 from noon to 3 p.m. at the 3rd Annual Rodeo Daze Chess Knockout speed chess tournament at the Valencia Branch Library, 202 W. Valencia Road. Players will face off through single-round elimination. Snacks are provided at the free event for kids and teens. Call 594-5390 for more information.

Citizen Staff Writer
LOVE OF READING WEEK

AUSTIN COUNTS and GABRIELLE FIMBRES

familyplus@tucsoncitizen.com

Doris Ford wants children of all races to know they can be anything they dream of.

The retired educator returned to the classroom Monday to read to students at Ford Elementary School, 8001 E. Stella Road, as part of Love of Reading Week.

“It’s important for all children to see diversity on all levels, and to know that everybody has something to contribute, regardless of ethnicity, race or age,” says Ford, 68.

Her résumé includes stints as a vice president at the University of Arizona, vice chancellor at Pima Community College and a Harvard dean.

Ford, who is not the school’s namesake, read to the second-grade class. The book was about Harriet Tubman, a runaway slave who led hundreds of other slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad.

Ford then spoke of historic change in Washington, D.C., with the election of Barack Obama.

“When I mentioned his name, one African-American girl quietly pointed at her own skin color,” Ford says. “It was wonderful.”

Love of Reading Week is a national celebration that promotes an appreciation of literature among students and adults. As part of the celebration here, thousands of volunteers read to classrooms full of young, eager children.

This year, Love of Reading coincidentally fell in the same week that marked the 100th anniversary of the NAACP on Feb. 12.

In a symbolic gesture, Ronald Wilson, chief presiding judge for South Tucson, rounded up more than 100 volunteer readers to team up with the TUSD African American Studies Department. The volunteers, young professionals and college students, were assigned to a select group of schools.

“The illiteracy rate in communities of color is high,” Wilson says. “Going into the communities to read to children is a great way to reduce that rate. I wanted to use this opportunity to expose young children to reading.”

In addition to Wilson’s group of volunteer readers, Sonia Gissart of TUSD’s African American Studies enlisted about 60 volunteers from Tucson’s African-American community.

“This year has been super,” Gissart says. “The African-American community really came together for the cause and was eager to participate.”

Donna Liggins, president of the Tucson Branch of the NAACP, says she is deeply grateful for all the work that Wilson and Gissart put into finding volunteers to read to children. She says the NAACP holds strong educational values and is committed to helping communities succeed in raising educated children.

“If you don’t know how to read, what can you do?” Liggins says. “Without the ability read, it is hard to become a productive member of society.”

She is hopeful that communities will continue to take an interest in children’s education year-round while fighting stereotypes and other social ills that could have an adverse affect on youth.

Says Liggins, “The NAACP fights for our children to be and remain educated in society.”

Love of Reading Week also inspires children to dream, succeed

A QUEST FOR READING

More than 10,000 students in 55 elementary schools throughout Pima Country participated in the first “Qwest for Education” with local literary program Reading Seed.

The Qwest Foundation donated $10,000 to Reading Seed in an effort to help the event that almost didn’t happen.

“We were realizing that we had some expenses and previous companies were unable to follow through with their pledges,” says Betty Kalil Knott, executive director of Reading Seed. “Qwest stepped up at the last minute to put on the show.”

More than 100 Reading Seed volunteers took part in assemblies throughout the week.

“Instead of hitting one classroom, we are trying to hit all the kids during the assembly at one time” Knott says.

Along with Qwest, such local and national businesses as Bookmans, Borders Books, Fair Wheel Bikes, Ajo Bikes and eegee’s donated items to make Love of Reading Week a memorable experience for the children.

Students who completed the Reading Seed program will be given a “Reading Champion Medal” in front of their classmates during the school assemblies. The top 20 students will receive bikes for their stellar performance in the program.

No student will go home empty handed: Donated books will be given to children who participate in the assemblies.

Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen

Inspiring children to develop a passion for poetry, the University of Arizona Poetry Center’s Stanza Bonanza Read-a-Thon had kids competing to read the most verses.

The competition, which ran from Oct. 15 to Dec. 15, made 700 books of poetry available to teachers and students in 28 schools, fostering a love of language, reading, learning and creative thinking, according to the Poetry Center.

Winners of the competition will receive a party and a visit from a local poet in February or March.

The winners are:

• Rio Vista Elementary students, who read 200,957 minutes of poetry.

• Townsend Middle students, who read 3,876 books of poetry.

• Southern Arizona Community Academy high school students, who read 636 books of poetry.

• Students in Michelle Meyer’s second-grade class at Castlehill Country Day School won first place for the most creative bonus minute activities, winning a visit from a local poet. Castlehill won second place for the most minutes of reading, logging in 67,833.

The contest reached about 5,000 students, teachers and parents.

Rio Vista Elementary library assistant Stephanie Quimby Green said in a press release, “The contest is over and the students are still checking out books from the poetry section of the library. Reading poetry, discussing authors, memorizing poems has helped our students discover a genre often overlooked in our library.”

Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

Alexis Dorey is lost in the vast Alaskan tundra, with wolves as her only companions.

The fifth-grader at Holladay Intermediate Magnet School in Tucson is vicariously living the life of a 13-year-old Eskimo girl in “Julie of the Wolves.”

The book is the first selection in the Humane Society of Southern Arizona’s new Dog Gone Good Book Club. The free program is open to kids ages 10-14. The Humane Society is registering readers now for the book club’s first meeting Feb. 28.

Alexis is racing through the pages, eager to see how Julie survives.

“It’s amazing so far,” the 11-year-old said of the fiction book, written by Jean Craighead George in 1972.

Alexis loves to read with her dogs nearby: Gizzmo, a 5-month-old Shih Tzu and Charlie, a Wheaton terrier mix. She said the club is perfect for her, combining her loves of reading and animals.

Her heart especially goes out to homeless animals. “I like how the Humane Society rescues everything from geese to turtles,” Alexis said.

Heather Dorey said the book club and other programs for kids at the Humane Society are ideal for daughter Alexis, who wants to be a veterinarian.

“We got her involved to get her exposed to animals,” she said. “The book club is perfect because she loves to read.”

Heather Dorey predicts the program will inspire kids to read.

“It gives kids that might not be very interested in reading an opportunity to read for fun and to get together and talk,” Dorey said.

Said Alexis’ dad, Blake Hall, “I think it’s good to get involved just to learn basic animal responsibility.”

Through the book club, kids can discuss their thoughts and feelings about animal-related topics found in fiction, nonfiction, documentaries and current events, said Inge Koopman-Leyva, manager of children’s programs at the Humane Society.

The book club, which meets every other month, can help kids understand the importance of caring for animals, she said.

“Kids are sitting in front of TVs and video games too much,” Koopman-Leyva said. “The purpose of the club is to encourage kids to read, and what better way than to bring animal lovers and book lovers together?”

For more information, call 881-7405 or go online to www.hssaz.org.

Story Time for Pets

Reading out loud can be pretty scary stuff for some young children.

So why not try reading to a dog?

The Humane Society of Southern Arizona is launching Story Time for Pets on Feb. 28, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The program is for children ages 5-9.

“It’s to encourage kids that are shy about reading out loud,” said Inge Koopman-Leyva, manager of children’s programs at the Humane Society.

A dog is never judgmental and is always a good listener, she said.

Kids can read books about animals to a therapy dog that is accompanied by its trainer, as well as listen to stories. The free story time will meet every other month at the HSSA Education and Cruelty Prevention Resource Center, 3402 E. Kleindale Road.

For information and to reserve a spot, call 881-7405 or send e-mail to ikoopmanleyva@hssaz.org.

If you go

What: First meeting of the Humane Society of Southern Arizona’s Dog Gone Good Book Club, for ages 10-14

When: 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 28. Sign-ups are ongoing.

Where: HSSA Education and Cruelty Prevention Resource Center, 3402 E. Kleindale Road

Price: free

Info and registration: 881-7405 or ikoopmanleyva@hssaz.org

SUGGESTED READING

Some popular animal books for children, recommended by the Pima County Public Library:

Ages 5-9

• “Officer Buckles & Gloria,” by Peggy Rathmann

• “Dear Mrs. Larue: Letters from Obedience School,” by Mark Teague

• “Eight Animals Play Ball,” by Susan Middleton Elya

• “Splat the Cat,” by Rob Scotton

• “Skippyjon Jones,” by Judy Schachner

• “Tacky the Penguin,” by Helen Lester

• “Way Out in the Desert,” by T.J. Marsh & Jennifer Ward

• “Wild about Books,” by Judy Sierra

Ages 9-12

• “The Black Stallion,” by Walter Farley

• “Catwings,” by Ursula K. LeGuin

• “Hank the Cowdog,” by John R. Erickson

• “Julie of the Wolves,” by Jean Craighead George

• “Shiloh,” by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

• “Warriors, the New Prophecy” (series), by Erin Hunter

Citizen Staff Writer
Cover story

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

The dusty old room was once filled with outdated textbooks and mounds of stuff no one seemed to care about.

But after a serious makeover, it is now an inviting, comfy spot for girls looking for a place to do homework, read, e-mail friends or just relax.

“I adore this room,” Danica Brown, 15, said of the new Bookmans Low Lounge at the Sahuaro Girl Scout Council, 4300 E. Broadway.

“It’s important for girls to have a place to come and hang out and relax and have fun,” Brown said.

The spacious room was transformed with help from Bookmans, which donated $3,000 to buy furniture and other items and $2,000 in services and books.

It is named after Juliette Gordon Low, who founded the Girl Scouts in 1912.

The room, stocked with hundreds of books to be loaned out, computers and cozy chairs, is free and open to all girls ages 5-17, not just Scouts.

Danica, who has been a Scout since she was in second grade, hopes the room inspires girls to develop a love of literature.

“It’s a safe place where you can find the joy of reading,” said the Academy of Tucson High School sophomore.

Helping to create the Low Lounge were Kristen Culliney, Katie Gorenflo and Kristen Cure, who work and intern with the Girl Scouts.

Before the transformation, the room held “a whole lot of nothing,” Culliney said.

They developed an idea for an inviting room for girls, perfect for book club meetings, yoga classes and troop sleepovers, as well as a place where girls could hang out after school and during the summer.

“If a girl needs a place where she can check her e-mail or or do her homework or a have a place to go where they won’t get in trouble, they can come here,” Culliney said.

Families are invited to a grand opening celebration Saturday (see box.) The lounge will be open Mondays through Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays. Organizers hope to expand the hours.

Bookmans partnered with the Girl Scouts as part of an effort to promote literacy in the community, said Tamara Jones of Bookmans.

“We’re honored to have the opportunity to work with young girls and share the passion of reading,” she said.

The Girl Scouts are seeking donations of additional items to complete the room. Call 319-3170 for information.

IF YOU GO

What: Grand opening celebration of Bookmans Low Lounge

When: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday

Where: Sahuaro Girl Scout Council Resource Center, 4300 E. Broadway

Price: Free and open to all, including those who are not Scouts

Info: 319-3170

Got cookies?

Can’t wait to get your hands on some Thin Mints?

Girl Scout cookies will be available in Tucson for $4 a box starting Feb. 14. Sales benefit the 13,000 Scouts in the the Sahuaro Girl Scout Council. Call 327-2288 for information on where to buy cookies, or go to www.ilovegirlscoutcookies.org.

Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

Cozy and safe, with the scent of pancakes on the griddle.

That’s what home means to Noah Deitch, a seventh-grader at St. Gregory College Preparatory School.

For Sahuarita High School junior Kristen Martin, home means rising above the violence and fear of the past into a promising future.

Noah, 12, and Kristen, 17, are the Tucson winners of Arizona Theatre Company’s AMERICA PLAYS! essay contest, held in conjunction with the production of “A Raisin in the Sun.”

The play, which tells the story of the multigenerational Younger family living on Chicago’s South Side in the 1950s, runs through Saturday.

To reflect the themes of the play, students were asked to write an essay that answers, “What do home and family mean to me?”

Noah won in the middle school level.

“We watch baseball, and then jumping up and down like six monkeys with five bananas, we root for our team,” he wrote. “Our house shakes as if in an earthquake; we hug each other and cheer when our team wins. Home is getting to my nice cozy bed: the memories of the past day keep coming in my head, and I fall asleep soundly. I wake up and hear the crispy pancakes in the frying pan.”

ATC associate artistic director Samantha K. Wyer said, “Noah’s description of his family life makes you feel like you are right there with his family.”

Kristen is the winner in the high school category. She wrote about being the child of divorce, and of suffering abuse until recently, when a stepfather joined the family.

“My stepdad has cleansed the wounds of our past and in turn gave us a family that is loving, and with this family I have now a home,” she wrote.

Said Wyer, “Kristen’s evocative writing style illuminated her family’s struggle to come to terms with the past and move forward together toward a bright future.”

They received tickets for their families to see “A Raisin in the Sun” and a chance to meet the actors along with other prizes from 92.9 The Mountain.

• To read the essays, go online to tucsoncitizen.com/family and select this article.

‘I can fully appreciate the blessing of my family now. . . . I no longer have to survive: I live. I no longer fear the weekends: I look forward to them. I no longer am abused: I am cherished.’

Kristen Martin,

high school level essay winner

‘My dad takes me (to school) every morning. . . . My dad always says “Treat everybody with respect.” . . . My family and home are the greatest, and I am very thankful that I am lucky enough to have them.’

Noah Deitch,

middle school level essay winner

Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

With a swirl of brightly colored paint, Macaylah Jessie turns a blank sheet of paper into a glorious rainbow.

“I like making rainbows,” says the 4-year-old preschooler at Southwest Education Center, 6855 S. Mark Road.

“My other favorite things to paint are cats and dogs. I like cats and dogs so much.”

At the other end of the table, Chris Partidatells a story with paint.

“It’s a man covered with blankets,” Chris, 5, says. “He’s scared about a bear.”

And Nathanael Gonzalez takes a moment to dream up his latest tempera masterpiece.

Nathanael, 5, is one of several young artists in a preschool class for low-income Tucson children with works on display at “The Child In Art: Eyes Wide Open,” an exhibit at The Drawing Studio Gallery, 33 S. Sixth Ave.

The exhibit is open through Jan. 31 (see box).

Twenty-six drawings by students in Curtis Alan Kiwak’s class are on display, along with several by Kiwak, who is also an artist.

Seeing their artwork framed and on display has given a boost to the children, Kiwak said.

“They feel really good about themselves,” he said. “It’s important for kids to be able to express themselves through art.”

The children are part of the Parent and Child Education (PACE) Early Childhood Preschool Program at the school. The program, which prepares low-income children for kindergarten, is one of 28 PACE programs in the Tucson Unified School District.

Kiwak, who has taught preschool for 26 years, dreamed up the project and paid for the framing.

He incorporates art into his teaching nearly every day.

Last week in the classroom, children took turns working on math skills with assistant Pat Doe, building an imaginary city on the rug and creating pieces at the art table or on easels.

“I give them a lot of vocabulary with their artwork,” Kiwak said. “I talk about artists who do illustrations in books. I’m really into storytelling.”

Kiwak teaches kids, at a level they can understand, about some of the masters. He shows them his work. Some days, he has them copy his style. Other days, he copies theirs.

Kiwak said art boosts literacy, science and math skills and improves socialization.

“There’s a lot they discover just playing with paint,” Kiwak said.

The socialization is evident.

Macaylah and her friend, Giselle Aubrey, 5, painted side by side. They helped one another carry paintings to the hall to dry. By the end of the morning, paintings lined the hallway.

And for kids, art is just fun.

“They’re not given time to play,” Kiwak said. “Art should be play as well as telling stories.”

Art experiences in public schools “get whittled down because schools have to meet certain goals,” Kiwak said. But he believes art is critical in educating the whole child.

“If I teach with the whole child in mind, they take those experiences as they grow and learn,” he said. “Hopefully they are the better for it.”

Joan Ashcraft, director of fine arts and Opening Minds Through the Arts (OMA) at TUSD, said research shows the arts help children to learn.

“We know from our research from Opening Minds Through the Arts that students make gains in reading, writing and math when exposed to the arts, and the younger the better,” Ashcraft said.

OMA integrates music and visual arts into the curriculum.

She said exposure to the arts helps the 100 billion brain cells and neurons make connections.

“Exposure to music and the visual arts helps the brain grow and expand,” she said. “When children create a piece of artwork, those experiences help sculpt the brain.”

She said Kiwak is offering children a valuable lesson.

“He is teaching the children things they will always remember through this art form,” she said.

If you go

What: “The Child In Art: Eyes Wide Open” exhibit, with art from preschool students at Southwest Education Center, along with works by their teacher, artist Curtis Alan Kiwak

When: noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays through Jan. 31

Where: The Drawing Studio Gallery, 33 S. Sixth Ave.

Price: free

Info: 620-0947

Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

With both parents in prison, Chrystal Pacheco bounced from relative to relative as a teen.

The one constant in the life of this child living in foster care was her mentor, Jeanne Fischer.

“Jeanne was my safe place,” says Pacheco, now a 23-year-old working mother of two. “She’s like a best friend to me. Without her, I don’t know what I’d do. She’s still here for me. She’ll always be here for me.”

Pacheco is all grown up. But the relationship that started with this retired teacher and great-grandmother when Pacheco was a young teen still thrives.

Fischer, now 82, became involved in Pacheco’s life when she read in a newspaper a decade ago that Pacheco’s father was injured in a prison stabbing.

Fischer had taught Pacheco’s father when he was in fourth grade, and she wanted to help the family.

The mentoring became official when Aviva Children’s Services asked Fischer if she would guide Pacheco and her brothers.

The agency, which provides mentoring and other volunteer services to abused and neglected children involved with Child Protective Services in Pima County, has 22 mentors, and needs more (see box).

As a mentor, Fischer and her husband, John, took Pacheco to Colossal Cave, Biosphere 2 and Tubac. “We went to a lot of interesting places that I never would have seen,” Pacheco said.

Fischer tutored Pacheco in school. And she is always there to listen. “She likes to get stuff off her chest,” Fischer said. “She needs to talk.”

The relationship benefits both women. “It makes you feel there’s something good you can do to help somebody else,” Fischer said.

Pacheco and her husband are raising sons Vincent, 6, and Israel, 9 months. Fischer enjoys spending time with the family.

Before Vincent started school, Fischer helped him with letters and numbers. And she enjoys watching Israel grow.

“He wasn’t crawling like that the last time I saw him,” Fischer said as she played with the baby on the floor of her Northeast Side home.

Pacheco enjoys her relationship with Fischer. “She doesn’t pressure me,” she said. “She’s the only person who doesn’t.”

Susan Kelly, volunteer coordinator of the mentoring program at Aviva, 1735 E. Fort Lowell Road, said mentors take on a special role with children, who often bounce from placement to placement.

“Kids lose so much when they go into foster care,” Kelly said. “They lose their family. They have loss after loss. To have that mentor in their corner is so important.”

Kelly said about 2,800 kids live in foster care in Pima County. Aviva, a nonprofit agency, is the volunteer component for CPS, helping about 2,000 kids a year.

Aviva provides mentoring and tutoring; Bags for Kids, where volunteers sew duffel bags; and the Life Book Project, where volunteers help children document their lives. The agency also provides clothing, books, food, diapers and other items.

Older foster children know that the adults in their lives are most often paid to help them, while a mentor is there because they want to make a difference, Kelly said.

There’s Jesus, 15, for example. Bonnie Demorotski, 58, coordinates volunteer and community resources at Aviva. And she has mentored Jesus, for three years.

Jesus is an orphan from Mexico whose mother committed suicide. He bounced between the homes of relatives in Mexico and the U.S. until he was abused. He ended up in CPS and lives in a group home here.

While this is not the role of most mentors, Jesus spends weekends with Demorotski and her husband in their home. “I just like hanging out with Jesus,” said this Tucson grandmother. “I will always be in his life.”

Jesus has had six caseworkers in three years and has been in several homes. He would like to be adopted, “but nobody’s going to adopt a teenager,” Jesus tells his mentor. “Nobody wants us.”

He struggles, living with nine other kids, some as young as 2.

“When he goes to Bonnie’s, it’s down time for him,” Kelly said.

Demorotski and her husband take him to the movies, the theatre, to dinner. Jesus calls Demorotski from the group home and says, “You’ve got to get me out of here.”

“It tears my heart out,” she said.

Jesus, who dreams of being an airplane mechanic, loves drawing, painting and playing guitar. When he graduates from high school, Demorotski will give him her car as a gift.

“I just love him,” she said. “I like that I make a difference in his life.”

Become a mentor

Aviva Children’s Services is seeking mentors for abused and neglected children in Tucson.

Volunteers must:

• Make a minimum one-year commitment, spending at least three hours per week with the child

• Be at least 21 and able to drive

• Undergo fingerprint clearance and about 20 hours of training

Potential mentors can find out more about the program at the Aviva Mentor Celebration, Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. at Old Tucson Studios, 201 S. Kinney Road. Prospective mentors must register by calling Susan Kelly at 327-6779 Ext. 11.

For more information, go to avivatucson.org.

Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

Kids can dance and sing along with Mickey Mouse, Pooh, Tigger and other friends Friday at “Playhouse Disney Live!”

The stage production, based on Playhouse Disney television shows for preschoolers, will be performed at 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. at the Tucson Arena.

The show spotlights characters from “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Little Einsteins,” “Handy Manny” and “My Friends Tigger & Pooh.”

July Ruiz, 21, plays the role of Postess in the show.

“I deliver the mail to the Playhouse Disney characters,” Ruiz said in a telephone interview. She delivers invitations to Mickey’s musical party, where each guest is asked to bring a song.

Characters go on an adventure to find their perfect song, and the audience gets to help, Ruiz said.

She said the show is interactive, with kids and parents participating in all of the fun.

“Kids really get into it,” Ruiz said.

“For most kids, it’s the first time they see a stage show,” she said. “How fun to see your favorite characters come to life. We want kids to stand up and dance and parents to have a great time watching their kids have a great time.”

Ruiz, a native of Bogota, Colombia, has performed the show in 25 states since joining the cast in August.

“The most rewarding part of my job is to see the children smile,” Ruiz said.

If you go

What: Playhouse Disney Live!

When: 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Tucson Arena, 260 S. Church Ave.

Price: $38-$16

Info: 321-1000, ticket master.com

Citizen Staff Writer

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

gfimbres@tucsoncitizen.com

Last spring, Chloe Levine dragged her tiny right foot as she struggled to walk.

The toddler’s right hand remained clenched in a fist. She did not speak, and her eyes were glazed over.

Cerebral palsy caused by a stroke in utero prevented Chloe from developing like other children.

But after an experimental infusion of her own stem cells – collected from her umbilical cord at birth, frozen and stored in Tucson – Chloe, 2 1/2, is running, kicking a soccer ball and coloring.

“It’s my prayer that some day we can erase the diagnosis,” said Chloe’s mom, Jenny Levine, a former Pinetop resident who lives in Denver. “Even if that doesn’t happen, she’s come a heck of a long way.”

Chloe, who is part of a trial at Duke University, is one of 33 patients who last year were infused with their own stem cells that had been taken from their umbilical cords and stored in Tucson at Cord Blood Registry. It is the largest private cord blood bank, storing a quarter of a million units from around the world.

The number of transplants of a person’s own stem cells through CBR tripled in 2008, as more transplants are conducted in trials in regenerative medicine. Scientists are studying whether an infusion of a person’s own cells collected at birth can repair damaged tissues.

“We really look at what we do as providing hope for longer, healthier lives,” said Tom Moore, CBR’s founder and CEO.

“When we are talking about regenerative medicine, we are talking about cures.”

Parents spend $2,000 initially for cells to be collected and stored, and about $125 a year for maintenance.

Use of the cells is not politically controversial, as in the case of embryonic stem cells.

But marketing strategies of businesses that store the cells are. The American Academy of Pediatrics, which many concerned parents turn to regarding the health of their child, recommends privately banking cells only if an ill older sibling might benefit.

Storing cord blood as “biological insurance” should be discouraged because there is no scientific data to support that transplanting a person’s stem cells works, it says.

“Private cord blood banks target parents at an emotionally vulnerable time when the reality is most conditions that might be helped by cord blood stem cells already exist in the infant’s cord blood,” according to the academy’s Web site.

The academy strongly recommends donating cord blood to a public bank. Donations, which cannot later be retrieved by the family, can help others battling illness.

No public bank exists in Arizona. But Tucsonans can donate through Cryobanks International in Altamonte Springs, Fla. (See box.)

Additionally, some in the scientific community question whether patients like Chloe were likely to improve without the transplant.

Cord Blood Registry officials call the academy’s statement “outdated” at a time when the science of cord blood stem cells is changing and expanding rapidly.

They also say they are educating parents, not encouraging them to bank based on fear.

Cord blood stem cells are being used experimentally to treat brain injuries like Chloe’s, Type 1 diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses. CBR officials say the cells potentially hold the cure for more than 70 diseases.

Moore and his staff say they believe one day a person’s stem cells might be used to cure everything from hearing loss to knee injuries.

“I think some day, kids will talk about stem cell transplants like getting a flu shot,” said Dondi Pulse-Earle, who coordinates transplants at CBR. “It will be, ‘Hey, have you used your stem cells yet?’ ”

Nationally, there are about 30 private banks. CBR started in 1992 after Moore said he discovered the best research was conducted by University of Arizona immunologist David Harris.

Harris, who is also CBR’s scientific director, has been researching stem cells since 1989 and started the bank here with his son’s cord blood.

The bank is now housed in a 60,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility at 6550 S. Bay Colony Drive. Tucson was also selected because of few instances of natural disasters that could shut down the airport or the bank.

Harris agrees public banking is needed. One operated in Tucson for a decade, until funding ran out, he said.

The state was expected to start public banking again this year after the Arizona Legislature approved $5 million over five years to fund the project, Harris said.

But the bank was a victim of the budget crisis and funding was cut, he said. He predicts it will be years before a public bank will be funded.

Public banks are especially needed for minority patients and those of mixed race, who are less likely to have stored cells privately, he said.

Harris said the American Academy of Pediatrics has put parents in a tough spot by only recommending public banking.

“If you’re going to tell me to donate, you need to make sure I can donate,” he said of the limited public banks available.

While 22 states are approved for public banking, only six collect donated cord blood stem cells from births at specific hospitals, Harris said.

But Dr. William T. Shearer, the professor of pediatrics and immunology at Baylor College of Medicine who helped write the academy’s position on private storing, said families can donate to public banks, but they must be proactive, finding a bank in a different state.

Shearer said the academy’s position is not outdated.

He called claims of being able to fix future disease and injury using a person’s own cells “a little far fetched, frankly.”

But he said the uses of donated cells are immediate and greatly needed.

Private banks argue that transplants with a person’s cells are more effective and safer. But Shearer said effectiveness has not been proved.

“This goes beyond medicine and into marketing,” he said.

But Harris argues the use of one’s own stem cells has tremendous potential to cure.

At UA, he has conducted research into how stem cells affect cerebral palsy and other traumatic brain injuries, as well as Type 1 diabetes.

Harris found that cord blood stem cell transplants cured mice of diabetes over the span of their life, about two years.

A study of 23 children with Type 1 diabetes at the University of Florida has shown improvements when they are infused with their own stem cells. Some children are making their own insulin, Harris said.

What is not known is whether the disease will reoccur, he said.

While much about regenerative medicine is unknown, Harris said changes in patients make it impossible to dismiss.

“When you see enough patients benefiting, you say, ‘Something’s going on here.’ ”

Harris agreed there are probably private companies that market to parents’ fears, but he says CBR is not one of them.

His advice to expectant parents: “Make an informed decision early on. You only have one opportunity. Make a decision and don’t look back. You don’t want to do this out of fear. You want to consider it if you think it could be a viable resource that you can call upon should you need it.”

Tucson parents Heather and Gary George had no doubts when it came to storing their children’s cord blood.

They have stored stem cells of children Isabelle, 2 1/2, and Jasper, 16 months, and plan to store the cells of their third child, due Jan. 27.

“I’m a nurse, and I know about stem cells and the fantastic opportunities available in the future for therapies,” said Heather George, 32. “Knowing what I know, I could not have chosen not to save the cord blood.”

They chose to store at CBR because of the few major weather disasters that could shut down the facility. They also like that the blood does not have to travel across the country.

She knows it is unlikely her children will ever need the cells.

“But heaven forbid something happen, how awful that would be if we had not saved them,” she said.

For some parents, the peace of mind they get saving cells is worth the investment, said Dr. David Beyda, a medical ethicist, critical care doctor at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and a UA clinical professor of pediatrics.

Beyda is not familiar with CBR, but he spoke in general of ethical concerns regarding private cord blood banking.

“What’s it worth to you as a parent? Is it peace of mind? If it is, then do it,” Beyda said. “If you think it’s a guarantee (of a cure for any future illness), then be cautious.”

Ethical concerns are raised, he said, when companies play on the fears of expectant parents through advertising.

Marketing techniques that use the potential for guilt are unethical, Beyda said.

“What happens if your child at age 5 gets leukemia? Do you want your child to die?” is the marketing strategy used by some companies, he said.

Beyda said the number of transplants nationally is very small, and viability as a long-term fix is unknown.

“When you look at scientific information, it’s extremely sparse in terms of evidence that it’s beneficial,” he said.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released guidelines last year, recommending that health-care professionals provide balanced information on private and public banking. But its Web site says chances are “remote” that cells from a baby’s banked cord blood will be used to treat that child or another family member.

CBR, however, says there is “solid scientific evidence” from animal studies that transplants can induce healing and that the uses are likely to expand.

In addition to the 33 stem cell transplants through CBR last year where patients received their own cells, another seven transplants were used to treat siblings, according to CBR.

Moore, of CBR, said the possible uses are far reaching.

“If you can provide a positive outcome in that child and make them whole again, you can have a significant impact,” he said.

‘We really look at what we do as providing hope for longer, healthier lives.’

TOM MOORE,

Cord Blood Registry founder and CEO

Public donation

There are few options for parents wishing to donate a child’s umbilical cord blood in Arizona, which has no public bank.

But for those who wish to donate the cells, with the hope of anonymously helping someone in need of a transplant, Cryobanks International accepts donations from mothers delivering at Northwest Medical Center, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Tucson Medical Center and University Medical Center.

The Altamonte Springs, Fla., company does not charge for public banking, according to a company representative, but a physician may charge for the collection. Ask your doctor.

Women must enroll for the donation by the end of the 34th week of pregnancy. Once donated, cells cannot be retrieved for personal use. For more information, go to www.cryo-intl.com or call 800-869-8608.