Gallup Sun

Indian Hills’ Melanie Van Dorp utilizes classroom donations in COVID-19 era

Each month, Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe recognizes one local teacher within the Gallup area for his or her determination to help students go above and beyond. Prospective teachers are nominated by students who feel they deserve to be recognized.

Melanie Van Dorp, a third grade teacher at Indian Hills Elementary School in Gallup, is December’s pick. She spoke to the Gallup Sun about her upbringing, her career path and teaching style.



EARLY LIFE

Van Dorp is a native of Canada, where she grew up in Stony Mountain, Manitoba. She considered herself motivated and a hard-worker when it came to tending the...

Gathers over 1,100 pounds of food in one day

GRANTS — The competition: To determine which Grants High School class could collect the most non-perishable foods in a two-hour period on Dec. 16.

The four classes at Grants High  — freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors — competed for the top honors and a cash prize for their class.

The beneficiary: Grants Community Pantry.

GHS staff, students and parents were encouraged to bring donations to the school’s east side entrance. GHS staff helped get donations from the cars and placed the donations on and near tables that separated the four classes for the school.

The event was spurred by the Grants High Anchors Club, a...

GRANTS — The Grants High School soccer team’s athletes received a donation from the New Mexico United professional soccer team Dec. 17.

Through the team’s Somos Unidos Foundation, the United sent a crew in a United vinyl-wrapped van — including player David Estrada — to the high school to make a donation of soccer balls and backpacks to the boys’ and girls’ team athletes.

“We know that Grants is taking care of their people this year, and sports, even though they can’t play in person, is still a huge part of people’s lives, and we want to support that,” Chanel Wiese, the executive director of the Somos Unidos Foundation told the Gallup Sun.

Fans greeted the van...

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Running Time: 118 minutes

This feature from Universal Pictures opens Dec. 25 at operating cinemas. It will also be available for streaming on demand Jan. 15.

While 2020 has been a quiet year for many of us, that certainly hasn’t been the case for Tom Hanks. In addition to some personal events that wound up garnering media attention, he recently wrote and starred in the submarine thriller, Greyhound. And to close out the season, the performer has taken on the lead role in News of the World, a new western from director Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips, Jason Bourne, 22 July). The movie may feel a bit old-fashioned and measured in some respects, but it...