FEATURES & FUN

6/21/2011

The beauty in boots:

Sammi Jo is as Cool as she can be

The many interests of Sammi Jo Cool and her beloved pickup truck.

photos by Vince Lovato

Vince Lovato, Editor

It's a misty spring morning just after dawn at the stables and Sammi Jo Cool drives up in a raised, red, 1976 Ford F-250 pickup with a saddle in the bed and a picture of herself with the truck on the dashboard.

She lowers herself out of the truck wearing her trademark jeans and cowboy boots and walks past a bumper sticker that says "Cowgirls kick ass.

"It's part of her daily routine to take care of her 'friend' and horse, Beechee, a 13-year-old paint mare.

Sammi Jo, who graduated from Chelan High School June 10, is President of the Washington State Future Farmers of America and will soon embark on a year of service crisscrossing the state and country promoting the benefits of FFA.

"I was born into FFA because dad's an advisor," she said. "I went on my first (FFA) trip before I was walking and I've been a dedicated member since I was a freshman."

But there is much more to this cowgirl.There is a touch of makeup and a certain natural style to her dark, curly hair, she is articulate, intelligent, energetic yet calm and it is easy to understand why judges made her Miss Chelan for 2010-11.

"I like to go hunt and fish and ride horses and I drive a big ol' pickup truck," she said. "But my favorite color is still pink."

And admiring boys find it frustrating that, despite her alluring qualities, she's just not that interested in any of them right now.

"Boys are bad. I've only had three boyfriends and none of them worked out," she said. "This year I was able to focus on the things I need to get done. I lived my life to the fullest and got good grades and I was able to focus on me. I'm content with this for now. It's comfortable."

Sammi Jo was two-time captain of the CHS soccer team where she played sweeper, the last defender and often a team's most dependable player.

She made the school's academic honor roll all four years finishing with a 3.7 GPA despite missing lots of school due to a lengthy bout with small pox during her junior year.

She was freshman, sophomore and junior class ASB president and served as president the North Central Washington association of student councils.

Despite all of her hard work, Sammi Jo gives credit to her family and friends.The fact is, Sammi Jo had to work hard just to follow in her brother's boot prints.

Tucker, a 2009 CHS graduate, was also the state FFA president o 2009-10. He is studying agriculture at Walla Walla Community College and plans to be a teacher and FFA advisor like his father, Rod Cool.

"He is my best friend, hero and role model and I owe my success to what he's taught me," Sammi Jo said. "I think it's kind of cool that we both held the state FFA presidency."

They are the only siblings to hold the office.

Parents

Rod Cool, with his trademark cowboy hat and boots and handlebar mustache, is the FFA advisor at Chelan High School who is at once feared and loved by his students.

"The mustache can be intimidating but he's a softy," Sammi Jo said. "We have our days when we don't get along but he's been a big influence. He's got my back and I'm definitely daddy's little girl."

Sammi Jo said her father sets expectations high, doesn't like a lot of whining and helps his students meet those expectations."

He wants us to be dedicated and work hard and he pushes all the members to do that," she said. "It gets tough in 100-degree weather when we are complaining but he helps us get through it and finish it to our best ability. He likes to see us succeed and he doesn't let us get out of things."

Then there is her mother, Cherrie."I am so thankful for her," Sammi Jo said. "She is the thread that holds our lives together. She always has a hot meal for us when we have time to all sit down to eat together and whenever I have to run home and get something I forgot, she has it there for me. If I ever need to talk, she is there for me."

But the Cool family went through some struggles, moving three times while Cherrie was pregnant with Sammi Jo and Tucker was an infant.

When Sammi Jo was a month old, she stopped breathing and after Rod administered infant CPR, EMTs transported her to the hospital.

"They've sacrificed everything to give us life we've had," Sammi Jo said of her parents. "They trucked us around every weekend and now that I'm graduating I don't know what they're going to do, especially after the last 20 years because they've been so devoted to us."

It seems the couple had some kind of road map. You have to be born with a name like Cool but the first name(s) is no accident.

"We picked out a good rodeo name for her and she lived up to it," Rod said. "Her mom and I are proud of her."

Samantha won 18 junior rodeo cow-riding events.

"We always tried to teach our kids that good things happen when you work hard and both of them have taken it to heart," he said. "For both of them their hard work has paid off. You can't ask for much more than your kids exceeding your expectations for them."Sammi Jo hasn't missed the advantages.

"I like Samantha but I don't like being called that because it means I'm in trouble," she said. "Sammi Jo is spunky and I'm very proud of my last name. It is cool to have Cool as a last name I'm glad I can represent it well."

Miss Chelan

Being a cowgirl was expected, entering the Miss Chelan contest was a stretch, winning was unbelievable.

"It was my idea to enter. I watched a few when I was growing up and it was intimidating," she said. "Winning was not my intention. I was doing it for self improvement. Dressing up and wearing high heels was an amazing experience and I grew so much as a person. Working with all the girls was amazing they all have such great personalities. And I clean up nice, sometimes."

Besides the dresses and high heels, she had to learn a dance routine.

"I was determined to conquer it so I went home and practiced walking in heels," she said. "I did pretty well. I didn't fall on my face. I got as much as I could out of that program and I loved being with (twins and princesses) Codi and Maddie (Knaub). I balled my eyes out when I had to give up my crown."

The red-headed Knaubs were a pair with many diverse talents who graduated with Sammi Jo.

"They think alike but they are their own people," said Sammi Jo. "They are great girls and I was honored to represent our community side by side with them."

Quiet Time

Sammi Jo made friends with Jane Horlebein in third grade and when either of them have a few free moments, they try and unwind together.

"When she does have time to step back and take a breath, it's something that very few get to see," Horlebein said. "Sammi Jo is a down-to-earth girl that loves to just chill on her free time."

In contrast to her Miss Chelan wardrobe, Horebein said basketball shorts, a sweatshirt and cowboy boots are Sammi Jo's attire of choice.

"This way she can run out to feed the steers or cruise to Wal-Mart in her new "subie" while listening to our favorite tunes," Horlebein said.

And singing would not have been Sammi Jo's talent in the pageant.

"I can't help but laugh as we both sing along and miss all the high notes but continue to sing anyways because we just don't care what we sound like," Horlebein said. "(She) has taught me so much about life and myself. I'm so blessed to call her my best friend."

What's next

After she spends the next year promoting FFA, Sammi Jo plans to follow Tucker to Walla Walla Community College where she will study animal science and transfer to Washington State University, her parents' alma mater. Then a career in animal genetics and husbandry.

She's ready for the challenges but leaving Chelan is bitterwsweet.

"Chelan High School has done its job and I hope I can make Chelan proud of me," she said. "I am proud of Chelan."

Lead guitarist Bruce Watson and rhythm guitarist Tom Gimbel rock together during one of many hits Friday at Mill Bay's Deepwater Amphitheater. BELOW: The Chelan choir members bask in applause from the small but loud audience.

photo by Vince Lovato

REVIEW:

THIS GEEZER LOVED IT

BY VINCE LOVATO, EDITOR AND GEEZER

For me, it was Rock N Roll the way it is supposed to be: Outdoors, small, intimate venue, familiar classics, close enough to feel the sweat and see the hair fly and veins popping out of the musicians' necks.

The mega-group Foreigner played at Mill Bay Casino's tiny Deepwater Amphitheater Friday night and the music was urgent, hot blooded and cold as ice -- all at the same time.

This was not one of those dream-walks where you sit through 90 minutes of songs you've never heard of to hear the one you have.

No way.

This was 2 hours of mega-hits spanning the last 35 years of popular rock.

The wily veterans pounded through edgy classics like Urgent and Dirty White Boy with the same control and precision as their unforgettable ballads like I Wanna Know What Love Is and Waiting for a Girl Like You.

The musicians are world-class performers, who play tightly together with a sound board operator who kept the sound clear and crisp without being overwhelming.

The band members were also very happy to let each other grab some attention from the audience and show off.

They played WITH us and TO us, not AT us.

To the north, was the beer garden where fans could stand and cheer and guzzle without offense.

Up front, fans from ages 14 to 70 stood up and waved camcorders and cell phones through the white smoke and piercing lights that hovered around, on top of, and through the band.

They were trying to catch a memory.

Refreshingly, they danced. Mature couples who probably don't do more than mow the lawn or vacuum the carpet, grabbed each other and wobbled around in circles then broke away from each other so they could get jiggy with the rock songs.

Believe it or not, most showed some semblance of rhythm and those who left their rhythm in a year that started with a "19" were still fun to watch and take pictures of.

When the band got to I Want to Know What Love Is, a group of 24 Chelan High School students, grads and supporters formed up a choir to help on stage with the haunting backup vocals. Which is why we got to go to the gig in the first place.

I could have done without them being drowned in a red haze the whole time but that is a small complaint only a photographer would make.

If memory serves, I saw the original Foreigner 31 years ago in a crowded, Southern California indoor arena. It was awesome then. But I'm 51, and there are a lot of things that bother me now that didn't bother me then.

Like audience members crowding catastrophically and standing for 2 hours in someone else's throw-up.

Unlike many acts who build a career on one hit and a series of sex and drug scandals, Foreigner's durability is set on a foundation of great songwriting, talented band members and a wide audience base.

This week Joe Walsh visited Deepwater and 38 Special, another group I saw and loved way back in the 19-somethings, is coming up.

The tickets are pricey but are a worthy summer treat.

2/21/2013

In Manson schools, college isn't a dream, it's a plan

Reasons for the Manson Plan

The more education you have, the more likely you are to:

• Live longer, have better health

• Stay employed, enjoy your work more

• Earn more money (on average a $1,000,000 more over a career than with only a high school diploma)

Effects of the Manson Plan

• 84 percent of Manson's 2012 graduates attend a 2- or 4-year college or trade school

• Nationally, 33 percent of college freshman drop out after 1 year, and only 56 percent complete a 4-year degree within 6 years.

Vince Lovato, Editor

(Editor's Note: This is the second in a series on how area schools track students after graduation.)

Way back when he was in middle school, Angel Angulo had no plans for his life after high school. But after getting into Manson School District's college track, he earned a scholarship to attend Washington State University.

According to a state report, he is one of the 64 percent of Manson alumni who attended a 2-year or 4-year college after graduation.

"I didn't think I could go to college," said Angulo, a sophomore at WSU. "It started in middle school when I met (Patti Stracener). I wasn't interested in college when she started working with us. We visited some colleges and, in my sophomore year, I decided to go to college. (The program) really helped me a lot. She made me realize I could do something with my life."

Stracener is Manson's Post Secondary Specialist and GearUp Site Director, a position that allows her to guide students through the college preparation process, including how to finance the cost of higher education.

Manson's College and Career Readiness Plan has a motto: "College isn't a dream, it's a plan!"

And Stracener is the one assigned to turn dreams into plans and, in many cases, spark the dream.

Stracener recalls a time when she took Angulo and other students on a trip to Gonzaga University.

"He told me he didn't think he could pass the entrance exams," she said. "I said, 'of course you can.' He passed on his first try."

After middle school, Angulo went on to letter in soccer for four seasons, graduated in 2011, and is now majoring in Psychology at Pullman.

A scholarship paid for his freshman year at WSU and he knows what advice he would give Manson middle schoolers.

"I would tell them to do it and take it seriously," he said. "When I started, I didn't take it seriously at first. But it will help you open your eyes."

The state's Office of Financial Management recently released a federally funded report on how many 2010 high school grads attend either a community or 4-year college after high school.

In 2010, about 62 percent of the state's 65,706 high school graduates attended either a 2-year or 4-year college. Manson fared slightly better with a 64 percent rating. Stracener's job is to make sure that is by design.

"We have been tracking our graduates since 2009 and (I) have personally contacted each one to see what they are doing and where they are attending school, if at all," said Stracener.

Manson senior Jesus Sanchez is in Stracener's program.

"I knew it would definitely help me get into college and without it I wouldn't be as motivated to get my stuff done," he said.

Like many prospective freshmen, he is undecided on a major but math and history are his favorite classes now. He already applied at WSU and other colleges.

"I wanted to do something for myself. My parents pushed me since I was little to become something," he said. "Without her (Patti Stracener) I don't think I'd have a quarter of the things done. She bugs us but we need it, and we get a lot done and learn a lot about all the opportunities out there."

He will be the first in his family to attend a 4-year university. He hopes his brother, 15-year-old Danny, will be the second.

"Now that I think of it, I'll start to tell him more about how to get prepared," he said.

His experience started in sixth grade when Stracener introduced his family to the idea that college was a practical goal that needed to be worked toward, not just dreamed of.

Over the years, Sanchez and his fellow Gear Up classmates visited colleges, learned how to fill out grant and scholarship applications, and complete goals by deadlines set by the universities and funding sources.Without the program, "I'd be going to college but I don't know if I'd be applying for the university," he said. "She is not happy with us being average. She pushes."

Stracener is the one who nags, motivates, reminds and counsels students on the importance of getting an education. She has personal reasons for her drive.

She excelled academically at a large high school in Seattle but her parents and two older brothers didn't go to college.

"No one was able to help me through the process," she said. "I was definitely college material but was left doing what middle-class women did and went to work in a bank right out of high school."

She didn't start college until she was 45, which was frustrating.

"My approach to the students here is that everyone can go on to some kind of post-secondary training in order to be specialized in their career," she said.

For Stracener, is doesn't not matter if her students take a trade apprenticeship, attend a technical school, enlist in the military, or attend a 2- or 4-year college.

"All students need to find their love and then pursue the training so they can earn a living that can support their lifestyle as an adult" she said. "I love these students and watching them succeed is the most satisfying part of my career."