Hozho Academy teacher is this month’s  recipient

Each month, Camille’s Sidewalk Café 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.

This month, Amanda O’Leary, who has worked at Hozho Academy for three years, is the recipient of the Teacher of the Month.

In an interview with the Sun, O’Leary said she had no intention of being a teacher when she started college in Wisconsin. Instead, she wanted to be an oceanographer. But when she realized that might be difficult with the nearest ocean being over 700 miles away from Madison, Wis., she changed her goal.

She graduated with two degrees in sociology and biology and spent six years in the Peace Corps building fish ponds and teaching English overseas. That’s where she said she found her passion for teaching and decided to apply for the Peace Corps master’s program.

That decision led her to Albuquerque. She completed her master’s in education in 1999.

“The choices [with the Peace Corps fellowship] when I was accepted, the choices were I could’ve gone to Mississippi, some place in Alabama [or to Gallup], and I was just thinking ‘big city is not for me.’ I really like the size of Gallup, it’s perfect. I like the outdoorsy stuff too, it’s pretty here,” O’Leary said.

She began her teaching career at Gallup-McKinley County Schools by teaching at Tohatchi Elementary in 1999 before switching to Chee Dodge Elementary. She stayed home with her young children for seven years and then returned to GMCS in 2007.

O’Leary teaches fifth-grade math and science.

She said her favorite part about teaching is that each day is different.

“There’s good days and there’s bad days, but you never know from one day to the next what it’s going to be,” O’Leary explained. “It could be very enlightening, or it could be a major headache, but it’s always different.”

One thing that was definitely different was the challenge of COVID. O’Leary explained how the pandemic made her job as a teacher difficult.

“I think with this COVID thing, the kids don’t know how to interact with each other,” O’Leary said. “There’s a lot of immaturity issues, and they don’t know how to sit still. There’s a lack of an attention span, and that’s been very difficult.”

Part of the problem, O’Leary said, was that when Roosevelt Elementary closed last year, the students weren’t used to the changes. Before the school closed, they were seeing a new substitute teacher every day. And then COVID hit, and the students were sent home.

O’Leary said the kids are getting better now that things are returning back to normal. She said she prefers in-person learning to remote learning.

“Even when we had the pandemic I would have preferred to be in-person. I just think it’s better because you can see reactions, you can see what the kids know and what they don’t,” O’Leary explained. “It’s much easier to judge how your teaching is going – are they getting it or are they not getting it?”

O’Leary gave some advice to new teachers who are just starting out in their teaching careers.

“I would say to be consistently firm and don’t lower your expectations. As soon as you lower your bar, they’re going to give up; they’re just going to be like, ‘well, there’s no consequences, so I’m not going to do it,’” O’Leary said. “Reward the ones [who do their work], and work with the ones who don’t.”

She said she makes sure to set boundaries with the students who don’t finish their homework. If they don’t, they often have to stay inside during recess to complete their homework.

Hozho Academy Principal Juliane Hillock said that O’Leary’s boundaries and standards for her students make her a good teacher.

“She has high standards for students and she doesn’t compromise them,” Hillock said.  “Sometimes it’s hard for students to rise up to those expectations at the beginning, but by the end of the year those students are benefitting from those high expectations.”

Sometimes, however, those high standards can have a somewhat negative effect.  O’Leary said she was surprised to have won the award because it’s been a difficult year for her.

“I was super surprised, because I didn’t think my kids this year even liked me because I’m very persistent and very ‘this is what we do, this is our routine.’ Routine is essential,” O’Leary said. “So I didn’t know who nominated me, and I was trying to figure it out, and Ms. Hillock didn’t know, so when I did find out I was surprised because it was one of my students from last year.”

Despite her comments about the difficulty of being a teacher with high standards for her students,  O’Leary said she has no plans to retire any time soon. She does know what she wants to do after retiring, though. She said she loves to garden.

“Someday, maybe when I’m retired, I would love to cross breed orchids and exotic plants,” O’Leary said.

She hopes to one day create a desert rose that blooms into multiple colors.

To nominate a teacher of the month, visit Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe at 306 S. Second St.

By Molly Ann Howell
Sun Correspondent

Rating: ««« out of 4 stars

Running Time: 122 min.

It’s amazing to think about, but this week marks the latest film entry in the Star Trek series, specifically, the 13^th feature. While that number may be considered unlucky to some, this chapter escapes the curse relatively unscathed. Although Star Trek Beyond isn’t nearly as deep as it thinks it is, the movie successfully provides a fun dose of summer action and high adventure. In fact, it’s considerably more entertaining than the previous installment.

As the story begins, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is beginning to find the routine of space exploration a bit too familiar, to the point where he becomes concerned about his direction and meaning... it’s about as close as the latest incarnation of the character has come to having an existential crisis. These ruminations don’t last long, as the Enterprise responds to a distress call and soon comes under attack. After a devastating battle with the nasty Krall (Idris Elba), the crew finds itself stranded and separated on an unforgiving, rocky planet.

The space mêlée early on is perhaps the best action sequence in the movie. In it, the crew struggles to defend against an imposing enemy that devastates by swarming the Enterprise with beehive-like coordination. This section does a great deal to put the leads out of their element and up against difficult odds. There’s great danger, drama, and tension as the ship is boarded and bombarded, with some clever visuals that send the heroes sliding around the ship and spinning upside down as they fight off their attackers.

The dialogue from writers Simon Pegg and Doug Jung helps tremendously. There’s great onscreen camaraderie between the heroes, resulting in plenty of laughs. The amusingly strained relationship between Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Doctor McCoy (Karl Urban) might be the most effective. It results in several funny barbs between the characters, particularly when the physician pokes fun at a gift the Vulcan has given to a significant other. There are also plenty of chuckles courtesy of the bewildered Scotty (Simon Pegg), as well as some sharp exchanges between Kirk and Chekov (Anton Yelchin). In the end, it’s the interplay and off-handed wit that really keeps viewers engaged.

When all is said and done, villain Krall’s motivation is actually incredibly simple. There’s some posturing and deep pondering from various characters about duty and the need to believe and trust in others. Still, these themes aren’t nearly as complex as some of the earlier movies in the series; some of which dealt head-on with difficult concepts like death, loss, and even religion.

The film does begin to get a bit shaggy toward the close. In fact, it seems as if the last 45 minutes are a continuous barrage of action scenes. It eventually veers into overkill as the confrontations move from a fight in a kind of a space quarry/crater, to a ship-to-ship battle to, well, more skirmishes in flight and further hand-to-hand conflict. At least they’re peppy and enjoyable to watch, even if the loud and grandiose explosions start to tire one out by the close.

Star Trek Beyond isn’t quite as thoughtful as you might have expected, but it still provides plenty of bang for the buck. In fact, one almost gets the impression that the intent this time out was to keep things simple and old-fashioned, presenting a concise, fast-paced and thrilling action flick. Ultimately, it delivers on this level. It may not be the greatest chapter, but the film definitely ranks in the upper half of series entries.

By Glenn Kay
For the Sun

Rating: «« out of 4 stars

Running Time: 115 min.

Here’s one that has been a long time coming. The Founder was supposed to arrive in theaters in 2015 as an Oscar contender, but its release was pushed back a couple of times. Heck, it barely made it out this year. Although these types of delays often denote trouble, this biography of one of the men behind the fast-food franchise McDonald’s isn’t half-bad. The problem is that while it’s a decent movie, it also isn’t an exceptional one.

The story follows milkshake mixer salesman Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), struggling to make ends meet and driving from diner to diner, state to state, attempting to sell his wares. When he gets a substantial order over the phone from a small restaurant in San Bernardino, he’s compelled to visit. He’s overwhelmed by what he sees; a smooth and efficiently operated fast-food establishment run by brothers Maurice (John Carroll Lynch) and Richard McDonald (Nick Offerman).

Kroc boasts and states the location has,”...the best burger I’ve ever tasted.” Even back in the 50s before fast-food service reached its zenith, I’m not entirely convinced that anyone has ever or would ever say that a mass-produced McDonald’s sandwich is the greatest in the world.

Regardless, the protagonist begins attempting to convince the brothers to franchise their restaurant. While the siblings are initially hesitant, Kroc’s enthusiasm gets the better of them. As time passes, the lead begins to exert his influence over McDonald’s and push his partners out of the way.

Director John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks) shoots and presents the material in a straightforward, somewhat generic manner. In fact, for the first hour it feels like a puff-piece documentary you’d see on TV about the success and growth of a major corporation.

Kroc learns more about the model of McDonald’s and attempts to raise equity and sell franchises; these moments are scored almost like an infomerical, with a golly-gee attitude toward the proceedings.

I’m sure it is used as an intentional technique, in order to contrast the beginnings of Kroc’s involvement with what will eventually occur. However, it’s an odd pairing that doesn’t make for a lot of tension or conflict early on.

The details of the first sections are interesting to a degree, but they don’t possess a great deal of bite. Kroc experiences problems with the first franchise owners, but these issues are forgotten as more appropriate candidates are screened and start their own businesses under his scrutiny and supervision.

It is towards the final third that the movie eventually springs to life. Things get considerably more interesting when Kroc begins to push harder against his partners and make some nasty, morally objectionable decisions to slice the McDonald brothers out of the business. Keaton is always interesting to watch as he turns his go-getter into a cutthroat figure with a certain bluntness and little regard for others.

And there is tension in these scenes as the lead turns nasty, using real estate tactics to take over the burgeoning corporation and revise the history of the company as his own creation. It’s a bold move to paint Kroc in a negative light. Still, one feels the drive for power as well as the underhanded motions and motives for that behavior should have been explored in more detail and could have arrived much sooner in the story.

Perhaps that is why I liked The Founder but wasn’t overwhelmed by it. Despite its best efforts and another strong central performance, it takes a long while to hit its stride and make its point. Until then, the movie almost tastes like a fast-food burger. The meal is reasonable enough while it is being consumed, but it doesn’t really satisfy and ends up leaving you with a somewhat queasy aftertaste.

By Glenn Kay
For the Sun

The Gallup Police Department swore in six new officers June 23.

They are from left: PSO Gabriel Lee, Officer Erik Yazzie, Officer Jose Morales, Chief Franklin Boyd (swearing in the officers), Officer Javier Sanchez, Officer Gilbert Gonzales, and Officer Maria Olivares.