Meadow Lane Community Heroes

1. Meadow Lane Community Heroes Our Second Graders are proud to honor these wonderful heroes who are doing so much to make our community a better place for all of us to live. We thank you for all you do!

2. James Yarbrough He dreamed of the Walk of Honor and made his dream come true!

3. The Anderson Veterans Walk of Honor Mr. Yarbrough had a dream one night about building a Walk of Honor for Veterans here in Anderson. He went right to the city to see if it would be possible. He then began gathering people all over our community to help this dream come true. Many people raised money with garage sales, car washes, and donations to fund the project. Mr. Yarbrough especially enjoyed working with the contractors and designers of the project. He said that it was so important to find people who understood the meaning of the project and respected it as an honor to our veterans. The Walk of Honor helps you walk through history. It has sections to honor veterans of WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

4. “I love community service. When you have an opportunity to help someone, that’s what I want to do,” said Mr. Yarbrough. “You always want to look out for others who might need help.” Mr. Yarbrough has worked for several years on this project. He really enjoyed meeting all the veterans. The dedication was on his birthday and he was so happy that the community had worked together to make his dream come true. He still works to make sure this is a special place for everyone in Anderson. As new names are added to the wall of honor, more families come visit it to remember their loved ones. Mr. Yarbrough wants to be sure there is always room to honor our veterans because they have given so much. Mr. Yarbrough gave our class a lot to think about. He told us we should always do whatever we can to help others and make our community great.

5. Marty Mautz Our very own local, extraordinary volunteer!

6. “Miss Marty” Marty Mautz has been a volunteer at the Anderson Public Library for 26 years! She reads books to children from ages one to ten. Each Storytime, Miss Marty usually reads three books to anyone who wants to come to the library and listen. It takes about 25 minutes. Afterward there is an activity to go with the story. Miss Marty reads the books she loves! She reads books around themes and holidays. She always practices the book first. To make stories interesting, she uses props or costumes or puppets. Sometimes kids even put on costumes to help with the story! Miss Marty has loved children’s books for a long time...ever since she can remember. How The Grinch Stole Christmas is her favorite book. She has kept the same book since she was a little girl.

7. “I love to see kids getting excited about reading,” said Miss Marty. Miss Marty is a hero to us for many reasons. She is amazing because she helps kids learn to love books! She is kind and funny. She works many hours for the children in Anderson. Every time you come to Storytime you also get to do an activity after the stories. You might get stickers, make a craft, get a piece of pie, or even a book to take home! Many businesses donate things to share for the library. “Miss Marty is beautiful on the inside and out!” You can find her every Thursday at 3200 West Center Street. Stop by at 3:30 for a great time!!

8. Ethan Grecian Our Hero - A Meadow Lane Alumni!

9. Ethan is always helpful to others! Ethan is 21 years old and enjoys swimming and hanging out with his friends for fun. When he was 2 years old, he was diagnosed with autism. This means that his brain thinks differently than others. He is a local artist, who loves to draw pictures for people. He learned how to draw from his grandfather and the Internet. When drawing he likes to use the colors blue, red, yellow and purple. His favorite food is turkey and gravy for Thanksgiving. He has a pet cat named “Bob.” He likes shopping at Target, taking pictures and collecting cars and toys. Ethan is creative, self- determined and a great friend to all!

10. Ethan is a very busy man! Ethan is a real fan of Disneyland. His favorite Disney characters are Chip and Dale from Mickey’s Toon Town. He often wears Disney t-shirts or a Meadow Lane staff t-shirt, where he is currently working with the help from a program called “Creative Positive Environments.” He works 5 days a week at different schools in the Cascade Union Elementary School District where he delivers mail, makes copies and shreds papers. He will sometimes teach a sign language lesson to a classroom of students. He frequently does a presentation called “My Life, My Way” which promotes self advocacy and self-determination. “You can achieve anything if you put your mind to it!” Ethan presenting at one of the many conferences where he is the guest speaker.

11. Barbara Jackson

12. Barbara Jackson- Our class hero! Barbara runs the Teen Center where teenagers in Anderson have a safe place to go. Here, the teens get to experiment cooking different foods and choose what they want to do. They also get to play sports and learn to be kind to others while they play. One other thing they get to do is create arts and crafts! Every morning, Barbara helps parents and grandparents in the community find jobs and make resumes. She works for the Child Abuse Council. This place makes sure all children are safe and protected! *The Teen Center is a beautiful building that Barbara runs!*

13. Barbara also helps with the Family Fun Fest where there are lots of games and fun activities! You get to fish for free and even perform on stage. This is held at Anderson River Park in April. Her biggest heroes are her mom and dad. They set a great example for her and her 3 sisters. Our class would love to thank Barbara Jackson for being such a wonderful hero for Anderson!

14. James Heit Enriching the lives of students with special needs in our community for over 30 years!

15. James Heit Providing Guidance for the Blind Ski Team James Heit has been a teacher in Shasta county for over 30 years and a blind ski coach for 20 years. His coaching experiences have taken him to exciting ski resorts, such as, Telluride, Colorado and Park City, Utah. James loves showing students with special needs how to ski. He guides blind skiers down the hill leading the way. He taps his ski poles together to “show” his students where they need to go using sound.

16. “Seeing the smiling faces of my students make this volunteer work extremely rewarding!” exclaims Mr. Heit. James graduated from Chico State University and has been serving students with special needs in Shasta County ever since. He has run the Special Olympics and created many other memorable events for his students to participate in. As a ski coach, his favorite event to compete in was the Giant Slalom. In 2007 one of the students that Mr. Heit guides won the bronze medal in this event. Taking the bronze medal with blind skier Al Hoyle

17. Changing Lives As an adapted physical education teacher and a ski coach, James always goes above and beyond to help students with different needs feel special and included. The children in the North State are truly lucky to have a hero like him in our community!

18. Darrell Brown Our local home grown hero who keeps us safe!

19. Darrell Brown- Our Class Hero! Captain Darrell Brown has been working as a firefighter for 30 years. He was born in Redding. He is married and has two daughters and two dogs. He works for the Anderson Fire Protection District. Captain Brown is our hero because he risks his life to save people and animals from fires everyday. One of his favorite stories is when he saved a cat from a burning house, and he had to administer oxygen to it. The cat survived! Yes, he does actually rescue cats from trees too. His least favorite part of his job is being awakened by the fire alarm, when he is sound asleep to respond to a fire or an emergency. Thank goodness he loves his job. Thank you for being so amazing and being our hero. Thank you Captain Brown and all the firefighters who risk their lives to keep us safe!!!