• November 2023

    David Bowie’s Sax Player Finds Success After Aptos High

    When Saxophonist Donny McCaslin and his New York-based band blazed through one of the best-received sets at the 66th Monterey Jazz Festival in September, McCaslin was standing on familiar turf.As he told the audience at his Friday evening set on the West End stage, McCaslin has played the prestigious festival a number of times, starting at age 14. That year, McCaslin and his Aptos High School jazz bandmates won that year’s high school compeitition, and with it, a slot at the festival. The effects-laden set McCaslin and his band played wasn’t the kind of music that would appeal to jazz purists, but it was atmospheric and high-energy, with plenty of…

  • November 2023

    The Family That Studies Together

    For the past couple of years, I have watched and supported my husband Bob in his quest to earn his Bachelor’s Degree. I have always admired his tenacity and skill to learn something new. He has been retired for several years, but is always busy. In addition to his schoolwork, he also coaches’ football, wrestling and track. I have three older children who are in their mid to late thirties and we have two high schoolers at home. In addition, we have grandchildren who range in age from Elementary school to early twenties. Since my retirement from Law Enforcement, I have obtained my certifications in massage therapy and personal training.…

  • October 2023

    Molding Your Future with Clay  

    Cece Tarahteeff found her “escape, – somewhere I can be without judgment” in the bricks of clay, spinning wheels, and buckets of glaze she uses to make her greatest passion: ceramics. “Pottery puts me in a meditative state of mind, in another headspace. I could be having a bad day, but I go into the studio and leave feeling amazing.”   Cece, is a 22-year-old born and raised Santa Cruzian, who discovered her love of pottery when she was 14, while attending Santa Cruz High under the guidance of her teacher, Iver Hennig. His influence was particularly influential for Cece, as “he allows you to have the freedom to explore and…

  • October 2023

    That Girl and Her Mom Phenomenon – ‘Better Together’

    Terry deDiego and Cheryl deDiego-Carlson are a mother-daughter team who have been teaching fitness classes at Toadal Fitness, Live Oak, for the past sixteen years. Their lively, vibrant and playful teaching style has garnered somewhat of a cult following. They’re particularly renowned for their killer Barre and Zumba workouts as well as for their endearing, enthusiastic and unique mother-daughter combined approach to teaching classes. “When we started sixteen years ago we were referred to as ‘That Girl and Her Mom’… everywhere we went,” Cheryl recalls, but “now we’re the ‘Dynamic Duo’. We love teaching together; we are just better together.” Terry, the ever-enthusiastic athlete, raised her daughters in her world…

  • September 2023

    Keeping the Airwaves Alive

    “Our motto at the station is ‘Serve the Community First’,” said Tina Davey, station manager and co-founder of KBCZ Boulder Creek Community Radio Station, 89.3 FM. Every day since the station’s inception in 2013, Davey and her fellow DJs enter their small booth in downtown Boulder Creek, ready to share news updates, personal insights and community-based interviews with local listeners.   Born in the UK, Davey originally moved to North Hollywood to pursue a career in rock music and eventually worked in television production in the 90’s. However, after visiting Boulder Creek with her husband, the pair resolved to move to the area. They packed up their instruments and moved here…

  • August 2023

    Something You Never Get Over

    In early July, I interviewed Dr. Gail Newel, who was retiring from her position as County Health Officer, about her career. We talked about how Santa Cruz had just logged its first official death from “tranq,” an animal sedative called Xylazine that is extremely dangerous for humans. I knew we’d talk about the opioid epidemic and I suspected what she would say about the causes. But one statement she made brought me up short: Santa Cruz has a bigger problem than most counties in the state and it stems in part from our local culture. “We have a pretty active glorification of drug culture [in Santa Cruz],” Newel said. “I’m…

  • August 2023

    At 93, Owen Hand is the Golden Conqueror of the Courts

    Owen Hand, 93 years young, steps off the court victorious. He’s just won three sets of tennis against competitors 30 years his junior. Celebrated by a chorus of congratulatory calls from players and friends across the Tennis Club of Rio Del Mar’s courts, Owen bashfully jests to me how his on court running really isn’t quite what it used to be. Born on July 4th, 1930, Owen always had athleticism coursing through his veins. “I was always the first kid playing at the park and the last kid to go home… I played any sport I could but baseball was really my thing.” His passion and skill for baseball lured…

  • August 2023

    Riding High in Rough Seas

    Bianca Dootson is a 22 year old full-time student and professional longboarder who, despite her relatively short time on the waves, is swiftly riding her board to competitive heights. Unlike many of her peers who were surfing since infancy, Bianca didn’t come from a surfing family. Despite growing up around the ocean in Monterey and Santa Cruz, she only discovered her love for the sport at eleven years old, after taking a lesson while on vacation in Hawaii. “Generally, if your parents are surfers, you start surfing before you can even walk. I started a lot later than a lot of the kids… So I surfed twice as much and…

  • July 2023

    Building a Foundation for Resilience

    These days you might find Ginhee Rancourt, 38, owner of Young Art in Santa Clara, jetting around the world bringing art lessons for free to kids in developing nations. Or maybe you saw her win this year’s Minority Women Lead award for entrepreneurs or YWCA Silicon Valley’s Tribute to Women Award. But that’s not where she expected to be at 16 when her youngest sibling was born and she was planning a career in ballet. And her successes are definitely not what she wants you to take away from this story.Ginhee founded Young Art as a for-profit art studio in 2013 in Oregon, and she opened studios in California soon…

  • June 2023

    19-Year-Old Has Got Social Media Wired

    Scotts Valley High graduate Austyn Crispell is the founder of Santa Cruz-based Makhai Media, a company that helps other companies do their social media marketing.He spoke at a recent local business forum, where Growing Up was amazed at his successes, as was everyone in the room. Growing Up: Your bio says you make $100,000 per month…really? You might be the top earning teen business person in the county or the whole country. My business revenue at the moment is $100,000 per month but that will increase within the next few months. I don’t live a lavish lifestyle so I just reinvest all of the money back into the business. Growing…

  • June 2023

    Neurodivergent Student Shares Secrets of Success

    Meet Abby. She’s an independent, kind and funny 26-year-old who lives in Santa Cruz and loves hanging out with friends. Abby was born very prematurely and underwent a slew of surgeries as a baby, which left her with a phobia of doctors and hospitals. Abby’s not the kind of person who would allow physical limitations to stop her. Her desire to help others like her has led her to write a book that she plans to publish later this year. What do you want to do when you enter the workforce? Be a therapist for people with mental health issues. I have to be in school and it’s a long…

  • January 2023

    Coach Still Making a Splash in Community

    When last we wrote about you, you were struggling with staying in business during Covid. How did you survive when so many others went bust? Any tips for other businesses? We had to stop our program for a few months and when we reopened there were mandates to conform to. Each teacher could only be in contact with 12 students a day, parents viewing classes had to be 6 feet apart and of course wouldn’t be in groups. This required a huge change from our group lessons and families watching their kids progress in skills. So, for the rest of the year we only offered private classes, only one parent…

  • November 2022

    Skipper Megan Tracks Whales

    You might not notice right away, it could be fifteen minutes after the boat Velocity leaves the harbor, but soon it’s inevitable that you notice an all-female crew runs the boat. At the head is Megan Petersen. The excitement of whale watching has not dulled for Megan over the eight years she’s worked for Stagnero’s, and as she talks about sea life it’s clear that navigating a boat in search of whales and other animals is a passion. Of course, that was never a surprise to Megan, the daughter of a scuba master and a nature lover, she studied Marine Science in college, and while she knew she never wanted…

  • June 2022

    Jody Ryker

    Circus Performer or Mathematician? Why Not Both? By Jeanette Prather Math teacher by day and circus performer by night, Jody Ryker seamlessly closes the chasm between these seemingly different worlds. “I split my time between my two passions, math and circus arts,” said Ryker, who identifies as non-binary and prefers the pronoun “they”. “I teach math part-time at Foothill College, and I teach part-time for various circus and pole studios.”How did Ryker forge a path of teaching math and performing pole and circus arts? “I’ve always been interested in many things, and I like always trying something new,” they said. “I’ve always felt that I need something that engages me…