Working: fruit seller

By LIBBY YOUNG
UNLEASHED STAFF
At Yakima’s Washington Fruit and Produce Co., one of the largest produce companies in the state, apples, pears, cherries and other produce are sorted, cleaned and packed.
Across the street from the packing plant, fruit is loaded into trucks to be shipped all over the world.
Close by, employees coordinate sales of the fruit. They determine where the demand is, then try to sell to those areas.
Victor Ratia is one of these sellers.
He and seven others work in the sales department of Washington Fruit. Together, they “plan what to sell and how to sell it,” Ratia says.
With clients worldwide, each salesperson deals with a specific region, or group of accounts. Ratia, 37, is in charge of marketing and sales to Central and South America.
Originally from Sevilla, Spain, Ratia uses his Spanish-speaking ability on a daily basis. He has worked in the business for 12 years, the last five at Washington Fruit.
The salespeople have a big job. They have to anticipate market needs. They have to find the right product for each customer. And they have to anticipate, up to seven years out, what types of trees and varieties of fruit will be available for picking, and later for selling.
On top of all that, it’s a job that starts as early as 6 a.m. in order to accommodate clients on the East Coast and in different time zones.
Salespeople work to get the best return possible for their growers. While the company gets two-thirds of its fruit from company-owned orchards, the other third comes from outside growers.
“Not only do we have to market the fruit, but we have to market ourselves to the outside growers,” Ratia says.
Growers must have a reason to sell through Washington Fruit, namely the amount of profit they will receive after the fruit is packaged and sold, he says.
Once picked, the fruit is sorted by variety, grade, color and size. Different regions of the world have different market demands for different types of fruit. This is yet another aspect of the business that Ratia and his sales co-workers have to coordinate.
Roughly 70 percent of Washington Fruit’s sales are to the United States, Ratia said. The other 30 percent goes to foreign countries.
Mexico and Canada are the largest export markets. Salespeople like Ratia have to accommodate markets and organize the growing of fruit accordingly.
A couple of Ratia’s co-workers — Andrew Erickson, 46, and Bill Gilmore, 55 — work with all domestic sales in addition to those in Canada. They, like Ratia, deal with important and often long-term clients.
“We conduct a lot of business that has a lot of money involved,” Erickson says.
Deciding what to grow is a bit like gambling, where “any mistakes are costly,” Ratia says. Overall, it is “important that we produce a good finished product, so that the market will continue to grow.”

• Libby Young is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends La Salle High School.

Winter Ball 2009

LIBBY YOUNG
UNLEASHED STAFF
I love school dances.
There’s nothing like being out on a dance floor with your friends, absorbed by the pounding music, screaming along with the lyrics.
But I never thought about how much work went into putting one on — until recently. Decorations, the deejay, food and photos all have to be coordinated and planned.
It’s also expensive.
I’m a sophomore class representative at La Salle High School, and every year each class has to plan a dance. This year, the sophomores planned Winter Ball, a semi-formal dance held Jan. 24.
It was tough from the very start. At the beginning of the school year, we asked our class to vote on a theme. We went through two over the next few months before finally deciding on “Winter Wonderland.”

One of the biggest problems of the entire event was deciding on the date. The dance was originally scheduled for Jan. 12, but a basketball game in Brewster would keep half the school from attending. After much deliberation and discussion with our teachers, chaperones and principal, we got the date moved — a month before the dance.
After that, we had to hire a deejay, which brought us to our next road block: money. Being sophomores, we didn’t have very much in our class account, and deejays are expensive. After spending hundreds of dollars to hire one, we didn’t have much left for decorations and food.
I’ve never done any big projects on such a tight budget before, and buying decorations for Lightning Hall, one of La Salle’s buildings, was quite a challenge. I found myself picking through the after-Christmas clearance section at ShopKo, looking for the cheapest decorations that still looked relatively nice. Even so, I wound up spending around $60 in that one trip.
The day before the dance finally rolled around I was so ready for it to be over. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the huge task of decorating that lay before us.
A group of about seven students worked for three hours after school on Friday, and the same group returned in the morning, working an additional three hours.

So much had to be done in that short amount of time. We had to blow up countless balloons for the dance floor. We had to string borrowed Christmas lights along the lockers. We had to set up and decorate the tables. We had to create a giant sign reading “Winter Ball ’09.”
In the end, I thought it turned out pretty well. Many people complemented us on the decorations, and I think we outdid what people expected of us.
And as stressful as planning a dance is, I wouldn’t mind doing it again. I was so proud of our group for putting on a successful dance.
If I stay on the class council, I probably will have to do it again. Next year, juniors have to put on prom — with the money left over from Winter Ball.

• Libby Young is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends La Salle High School.

Fresh Faces: Simone Widhalm

Name: Simone Widhalm
School/year in school/age: La Salle High School, sophomore, 15.
Activities/Hobbies/Clubs: Boating, skiing, and school.
Favorite food: Chocolate.
Favorite movies: “Pirates of the Caribbean”
Favorite book: “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer.
Favorite music, musicians, or bands: Country, hip hop, Taylor Swift.
What is your most treasured possession? My life and everyone in it.
What’s your favorite place to go in your hometown? My friends’ houses.
Which person do you most admire and why? My cousin Amy because she is everything I want to be; she has an amazing family and a great job.
What would you do with $1 million? Give some to charity, save some for college, give some to my sister for college.
Three words to describe yourself: Shy, trustworthy, honest.
What is your greatest achievement? Being myself and being happy with my life.
Worst fear: Losing my friends and family.
Greatest wish: For my friends and family to be happy.
When and where were you the happiest? During the summer when my family is together and we are all happy.
Where and how do you see yourself in 10 years? Finishing college and getting a job I will love.

— Libby Young, La Salle High School

Picking apples proves to be a religious experience

La Salle High School sophomore Lauren DeGooyer picks an apple during her school’s recent Pick-a-Thon. Photo by Libby Young of La Salle High School.

By LIBBY YOUNG
UNLEASHED STAFF

Who would have guessed picking apples could be a religious experience?
Students at La Salle High School had an opportunity to find out during a recent “Pick-a-Thon,” a two-day fundraiser and service project put on by the school for the second consecutive year.
Students spent a day in a local orchard, picking apples for Northwest Harvest. All of the apples picked by students were given to those in need.
It’s a biblical concept that comes from Leviticus 19:10, which reads, “And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger. … ”
Ted Kanelopoulos, the 39-year-old director of campus ministry at La Salle, sums it up like this: “Leave some produce on the tree for the poor.”
The biblical background was the basis for each day of Pick-a-Thon. Students gathered for prayer and a quick lesson in picking before being sent out into the orchard. The day also ended in prayer, as the apples were blessed before they would be sent out all over Washington.
According to Kanelopoulos, the Pick-a-Thon also aimed to educate students about the labor that goes into picking the fruit eaten every day.
And it succeeded.
“It’s very hard work. I feel bad for the people that do this for a job. I was very tired after one day of it,” says 15-year-old Brittney Borchardt, a sophomore.
By lunchtime, students were ready to tear into their food, provided by McDonald’s. And, after a day of picking, it wasn’t uncommon to see students lying, exhausted, in the middle of the lawn back on campus.
Despite the tiring work, students were happy to take a day off from classes to pick apples.
“I felt like I helped the needy get more food,” says 15-year-old Sarah Weedin, a sophomore, before summing up the experience: “It was like working at Salvation Army for the day, but with apples.”
Kanelopoulos, Borchardt and Weedin joined a group of about 15 others who took the project a step further, picking apples after school on a second day. After about two hours in the West Valley orchard, the group gave what it has picked to Northwest Harvest for distribution to local food banks.
Last year, the school was given an entire orchard to pick, divided up between the four grades. A total of 103 bins were loaded. That orchard has since been broken up for development.
This time around, a total of 37 bins were filled. The difference in number was due to the freshmen and sophomores gleaning trees that had already been picked instead of picking trees full of fruit.
The gleaners picked 13 bins.
“Gleaning was so much harder,” Borchardt says. “You could only do so much.”
However, any harvest makes a difference, especially for families suffering in these tough economic times.
After a successful second year, La Salle’s Pick-a-Thon will continue to take place, educating students and feeding those in need.

— Libby Young is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends La Salle High School.

Sophomore Kellie Roy picks apples during La Salle’s Pick-a-Thon. Photo by Libby Young of La Salle High School.

Lauren DeGooyer, left, reaches for the apple Colleen Newell is pointing to. Photo by Libby Young of La Salle High School.

From left, sophomores Colleen Newell, Kellie Roy, and Lauren DeGooyer empty a bag of apples into an apple bin. Photo by Libby Young of La Salle High School.

La Salle sophomore Kellie Roy pulls leaves off an apple. Photo by Libby Young of La Salle High School.

We’re thankful for …

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, some of the Unleashed kids — student reporters, photographers and artists from around the Yakima Valley — are sharing what they’re grateful for this year.
Some are local, like the terraces at Franklin Park. Some are personal, such as banana pancakes with toasted pecans and powdered sugar with steaming hot syrup. And some are universal: Life itself, clean water and food, shelter.
Plus, there are many more.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Jessica Serrano, La Salle High School
• Faith and justice.
• Family and loved ones.
• Diversity.
• Freedom of speech.
• Strawberrries.
• Philanthropy and philanthropists.
• Forgiveness.
• New beginnings.
• Art.
• Life itself.

Lisa Garrigues, Naches Valley High School
• My caring parents.
• My protective older sisters and brother.
• My supportive friends, teammates, teachers and coaches.

Hannah Naughton, Davis High School
• My family’s health.
• Banana pancakes with toasted pecans and powdered sugar with steaming hot syrup.
• My parents’ love.
• My friends.
• My two crazy sisters.

Samantha Knittle, Davis
• Marching band.
• My family.
• The sun and warm weather.
• School (but not homework).
• Clean water and food.
• My friends.
• Free speech.
• My teeth.
• Drum Corp International.
• God.
• Chocolate.
• Swing sets.
• My teachers.

Hannah Kivi, Riverside Christian School
• Freedom of religion.
• My parents.
• My friends.
• My Bible.
• Softball.
• My house.
• My school.
• Unleashed.
• Our country.
• Music.
• My ability to write.
• Gum.

Lety Clark-Olivero, Eisenhower High School
• My parents.
• My siblings.
• Shelter.
• Sustenance.
• My cell phone with its unlimited texting.
• Jesus.
• A healthy body.
• Laughter, life, love and a little dancing mixed in there somewhere.
• My boyfriend.
• My friends.

Kami Cross, Eisenhower
• “One Tree Hill.”
• Starbucks Christmas decorations.
• A car that runs (most of the time).
• Addicting books.
• Cuddling.
• My loving family.
• Thursdays.
• Friends.
• Football games. (And the end of football season.)
• Rainy days.
• Strawberry-pineapple iced teas.
• Musicals.
• Running through the sprinklers at night.
• My bed being right under the heating vent.
• Peacoats.
• Family videos from when I was little.

Georgia Gempler, Davis
• Freedom.
• Education.
• Family.
• Animals.
• Shelter.
• Opportunity.
• Books.
• Technology.
• Snow.
• Music.
• Artistic expression.
• Free time.
• Movies.

Loren Button, Riverside Christian
• Jesus.
• My parents.
• My home.
• My friends.
• “Guitar Hero: World Tour.”
• Being a senior in high school!

Colleen Fontana, Davis
Long books and warm blankets on cold rainy afternoons. Music and iPods and singing loudly in the shower. Friends to understand me and parents to confide in. Sisters to cry to and brothers to make me laugh. Raspberry peach iced teas from Lincoln Avenue Espresso and blue Papermate pens.
Warm winter coats and old furry boots. Moleskine planners from Inklings Bookshop and sledding down the terraces at Franklin Park. Stick shifts and curly hair and laughter and bright pink nail polish. My camera, Benji, and pony tail holders.
Summer thunder storms and the smell of the rain afterward. Games of kick the can and lap tag. Volleyballs and pianos and coffee. Thank goodness for coffee, and the roof over my head and the God over my roof and this life with which I have been blessed.

Sean Nagle-McNaughton, Davis
• Books.
• Music.
• Friends.
• Parents.
• Brothers.
• Kindness.
• Knowledge.
• Challenges.
• Grandparents.
• Conversations.
• Peace and quiet.
• Those who help others.
• Nature.
• Happiness.
• The whooshing sound of deadlines going by (just kidding).
• The world I live in.

Janessa Mains, Eisenhower
• My family.
• My friends.
• My camera.
• Knowledge.
• Books.
• My cat George.

• Animé.
• Gay pride.
• Music.

Hannah Besso, Davis
• A supportive family.
• Loyal friends.
• Laughter.
• Sports.
• Music.
• Weekends.
• Summer.
• Good food.
• Snow.
• Sleep.

Libby Young, La Salle
• God.
• My family.
• My friends.
• My school.
• Church.
• My cats.
• My teachers.
• Life.
• Dance.
• Vacations.
• Books.
• Freedom.
• My iPod.
• My cell phone.

Kacie Cross, Eisenhower
• God.
• My parents.
• My sisters and brother.
• My friends.
• Boys.
• Music.
• Dancing.
• Paper.
• Air.
• Elephant Ears.
• Food.
• Eyes.
• Hands.
• Computers.
• Telephones.
• Movies.
• “One Tree Hill.”
• Books.
• The saying, “If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
• Tennis.
• Musicals.
• Makeup.
• Showers.
• The color blue.
• Rain.
• Relationships.
• Life.
• Love.
• Laughter.

James Hibbs, Davis
• Books.
• The Davis High School library and its librarians. They keep it open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday to help kids study.
• Doug Johnson and Avid.
• Food.
• My siblings.
• My parents.
• Kenneth Capp and epistemology as manifested in “Theory of Knowledge.”

Alex Braman, Davis
• Davis High School.
• My friends (We make Davis fun).
• My iPod (I take it everywhere).
• My camera (I want to take it everywhere).
• My family (They raised me how I am today).

Jasmine Okbinoglu, Eisenhower
• My family and friends.
• Music.
• Books.
• Food.
• Tennis.
• Laughter.
• Summer.
• Swimming.
• Movies.
• Art.
• Nature.
• Candy.

Jessica Cummings, Bickleton High School
• God.
• My loving family.
• My church.
• My fellow believers.
• My friends.
• My gifts and talents.
• My country.

Alyssa Patrick, Eisenhower
• John Mayer’s lyrics and musical talents.
• Sunday nights, squished on the couch between my mom and sister, watching “Grey’s Anatomy.”
• My brother.
• Authors who lace so much into each sentence that my mind never has to stop unraveling new clues.
• Jim and Pam. Always. If the writers on “The Office” break them up, I will have a nervous breakdown.
• Rachel’s Challenge, Leadership Camp and Invisible Children.
• Mango ice cream.
• “Benny and Joon.”
• My family.
• Teachers who never stop teaching the way they believe they should teach, even when some of their students don’t give them that effort in return.
• Broadway.
• Ike’s Little Theater.
• My car, its CD player, and 20-minute drives at the end of long days.
• My bed.
• My physical health, so I can dance.
• My opportunity to go to college.

— Want to see more artwork by artist Samantha Knittle? The Davis High School senior has an online portfolio. To check it out, visit http://samanthaknittle1.tripod.com.

“An American Carol” Offers a Deep Message — and a Big Dose of Parody and Physical Humor

By LIBBY YOUNG
UNLEASHED STAFF

“An American Carol” is a comedy that delivers a surprisingly deep message through parody and physical humor.
It’s brought to us by David Zucker, who also directed “The Naked Gun,” the “Scary Movie” series and “Airplane!” It’s about a man named Michael Malone (Kevin Farley) whose character is an obvious spoof of director Michael Moore (“Sicko,” “Fahrenheit 9-11,” “Roger & Me”).
Malone is very un-patriotic. He’s made many anti-American documentaries and believes America has been too violent and is hated by all other nations.
His next step is to move to abolish the Fourth of July. While organizing protests, his nephew, who is in the navy, visits, and announces he will soon be deployed. He then invites Malone over for the Fourth of July. This is met with disgust and confusion on Malone’s part.
Meanwhile, terrorists are trying to figure out their next attack, hoping to be helped by an American who hates the country enough to help them.
Malone is searching for a feature film to direct and is brought together with the terrorists who are searching for an excuse to get into the U.S. and get press passes.
Malone, still ignorant and thoroughly anti-American, helps them get into a concert that is being held for troops, where the terrorists start to plan a new attack.
Allusions to the classic “A Christmas Carol” begin to take form. President John F. Kennedy appears to Malone and warns him that he will be visited by three spirits. The first of these is General George Patton (Kelsey Grammer), who takes Malone to places like a college campus and a courtroom, to show how brainwashed people are becoming. There are zombie ACLU lawyers and dancing, singing college professors.
They also visit history’s battlefronts.
Malone is then taken to a church, and is shown the wreckage of the Twin Towers by George Washington (Jon Voight). Washington is a ghost with a present-day mission: to make Malone aware of the sacrifices, loss and destruction of the attack on the World Trade Center. He tells Malone to be proud of the heroes of his country.
Malone is finally visited by the iconic Angel of Death (Trace Atkins). Since Malone still seems unfazed by the previous ghostly visits, this ghost shows Malone a future world taken over by radical al-Qaida. Malone seems more personally affected when shown a world after a nuclear bomb during which Malone himself has been killed.
Malone finally begs the Angel of Death to spare him and swears he’ll change his ways.
This movie invokes many thoughts about pride in our country, including how sometimes making the peaceful choice isn’t best for peace.
Overall, “An American Carol” is a very funny parody with a great message, a movie steeped in laughs, patriotism and thought-inspiring messages.
It was definitely worth seeing.

— Libby Young is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends La Salle High School.

Sarah Palin: A Fresh Voice

By LIBBY YOUNG
UNLEASHED STAFF

Sarah Palin is a fresh choice for the vice presidency.
She has experience in politics in Alaska, but would be a new face in Washington, D.C., and bring new perspective to our country.
She is also someone with whom average Americans can identify. Because of this, she would be a solid representative of the American people as the second-in-command of the United States.
Alaska is the country’s largest state. And Palin was the state’s first female and youngest governor. Running Alaska is an immense responsibility, one that Palin has taken on and done well.
She has been involved in other leadership roles, too. She’s a former chairwoman of Alaska’s State Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and she served as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, from 1996 to 2002.
She would be able to draw on these experiences as vice president and make well-thought out and better decisions because of it.
Palin has had tough ethical standards for politicians in her own state and has a reputation of not tolerating unethical behavior.
As a working mother of five, she balances spending time with her family and her job, and has to deal with the same family-related issues that other Americans face. She cares about what the average American thinks about the biggest family issues of today.
And she backs up her political beliefs through her own actions. When she learned her youngest son would likely be born with Down syndrome, she still chose to have him and not to get an abortion, backing her own anti-abortion political beliefs.
Palin is for the United States becoming energy independent, which is a big issue in this election. She considers it to be a matter of national security to make sure our country is an energy independent nation. She supports domestic drilling and increased refinery production.
Palin brings new hope and a strong commitment to conservative ideals. She offers a real change from the Washington, D.C., insiders that America is used to seeing in national politics.
Palin is sensitive to the country’s need for energy independence and our national security issues. She has an intolerance for corruption regardless of political party, a strong personal faith and the courage to back up her beliefs through her personal actions.
She offers the country a true voice for change, while still being grounded in her conservative ideals.

— Libby Young is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends La Salle High School.

La Salle High School Celebrates Its First 10 Years: While Its Size and Location Have Changed, Its Catholic Values Remain the Same

By LIBBY YOUNG
LA SALLE HIGH SCHOOL

Students mill around classrooms, talking with friends, finishing last-minute details on homework, or just rushing in after a quick trip to their lockers.

Suddenly, the high-pitched beep of the bell sends everyone to their seats. Seconds later, a voice comes over the intercom: “Good morning La Salle! Let us remember … ”

And all the students reply: “That we are in the holy presence of God.”

This is the start of a typical day at La Salle High School in Union Gap, a Catholic school run by the De La Salle Christian Brothers.

This is a special year for the Yakima Valley’s only Catholic high school. La Salle is celebrating its 10th year here.

After a decade, the school has made a few changes, including location and size. But its values have stayed the same.

La Salle aims to provide “not only a quality academic education, but a real human and Christian education,” says 48-year-old Brother James Joost, principal of La Salle.

Part of this education comes from the many opportunities for service that the school offers. Students provide assistance to the community through labor, teaching and service. They also go on spiritual retreats.

And each school year, groups of students travel to Seattle, Mexico, the Yakama Indian reservation and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana for service immersions.

“Service is co-curricular,” Joost says.

And living out faith and education at the same time is “central to the makeup of the school.”

La Salle carries on a longstanding Catholic school tradition in the Valley, with several Catholic high schools preceding it. The most recent, Carroll High School, closed in 1986.

About 10 years later, in the mid-1990s, a group of parents, including 54-year-old Tim McGree, the current president of La Salle, decided to pursue the prospect of bringing a Catholic high school back to Yakima.

When they asked Cardinal Francis George, then the bishop of the Diocese of Yakima, for support, they ran into two obstacles. The parents had to determine if there was a demand for a Catholic high school. They also had to secure a financial endowment.

The solution lay in the De La Salle Christian Brothers.

With the prospect of the Brothers opening a school, George withdrew the need for a financial endowment, because he believed the Christian Brothers’ sponsorship would make the school a success.

According to McGree, the Brothers saw La Salle as a “mission waiting to happen.”

School founders envisioned a safe environment for students to study and experience their own spiritual journeys. They also wanted the school to reflect the diversity of the Valley.

“We wanted it to be a place that taught students how to give back,” McGree says. “It really met our visions and exceeded my expectations.”

La Salle opened in a rented space connected to Holy Family Catholic Church, with only 55 students. Now, the school has a sprawling 40-acre campus in Union Gap, with three permanent buildings and about 200 students.

The fourth permanent building will be the new science center, currently under construction. The groundbreaking ceremony took place Sept. 2. The Gamache Science Center is expected to be finished early next year.

Founders envisioned a school with challenging academics for college preparation. And La Salle doesn’t disappoint. More than 90 percent of La Salle graduates continue on to college. This year’s entire graduating class was accepted to a college.

Being a private school, La Salle relies on tuition, donations and fundraisers. Forty percent of its students receive some sort of financial aid or scholarships.

La Salle has also found success in sports, winning several state titles over the years. But its main focus is academics and service.

Students are reminded of this every time they see one of the large banners, proclaiming the school motto: “Enter to learn, leave to serve.”

La Salle “is a gift to us and a gift to the students,” McGree says.

And this gift will continue to give, to its students and the community.

• Unleashed reporter Libby Young is a sophomore at La Salle High School.

Animated Clone Wars Galaxy Looks Different

By LIBBY YOUNG
LA SALLE HIGH SCHOOL

Once again, moviegoers can be taken to a galaxy far, far away.

But this time, it looks a lot different.

The newest movie in the Star Wars saga, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” is animated. It serves as a preview to the TV series coming out this fall, and feels like it. It could easily be an hour-and-a-half-long episode of a TV show.

People going to see it for the same factors that exist in the other movies should be prepared. “Clone Wars” definitely shouldn’t be Read more

Ghormley Meadow Christian Camp

By LIBBY YOUNG
LA SALLE HIGH SCHOOL

RIMROCK — Archery. Hikes. Rock climbing. Crafts. A zip line. Fifteen feet of free-falling on a giant swing.

For sessions lasting up to a week, campers at Ghormley Meadow Christian Camp get to immerse themselves in these and other camp activities.

The camp’s executive director, Mark Washam, says one purpose of Ghormley is to give “unusual experiences that challenge the campers while keeping them safe.”

True, it isn’t easy to find the same experiences at home. At this retreat in the Cascade Mountains, you can tie-dye T-shirts, sing crazy songs and play fun games every day. It’s very hard to Read more