Main Street

Retired teacher continues to foster cultural exchange

By Mary Ann Cook

RETIREMENT? Shirley O'Kelley is technically retired, but what she calls retirement is a daunting schedule to most. For 32 years, she taught in the Oak Grove School District during the school year and worked with foreign-exchange students during the summer. So, she was a natural for the role she has now as teacher/academic/career exploration coordinator for Cultural Homestay International. She specializes in Japanese students and has been doing so for 10 years. Students come for two- to four-week stays, and she plans nearly every aspect.

She places them in homes, teaches English immersion, brings in guest lecturers, takes them touring and oversees social activities. The students visit retirement homes and daycare centers, interacting with all age groups in activities, such as teaching origami.

The host families give a welcoming party the first night and, in return, students put on a sayonara party the last night, preparing their native foods, dances and songs. "It takes a lot of energy," O'Kelley says in a remarkable understatement.

She's also a member of the Zingers, a singing group that performs for civic occasions, clubs, retirement homes--you name it. "Anyone who asks us." The repertory is broad, and Karen Carter is the leader. Her number is 408.249.3422.

WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT: Here's the list of those nominated as Women of Achievement by the Santa Clara Chapter of the American Pen Women: Clarice Lincoln, Jane Hofstetter, Mary Chabiel, Alice Lee, Pam Paige, Holly Laske and Carol Greene.

Lincoln and Hofstetter are watercolorists. Chabiel and Lee are oil painters, and Lee is also a potter. Paige is a violinist/violist/teacher. Laske is a singer/teacher/composer.

Greene, who lives in the Santa Cruz mountains, is a writer and a musician. Actually, she's a singing ventriloquist, which is not someone you meet every day of the week. She taught in the Moreland School District for 33 years and was the creative arts traveling specialist for the last 11 of those years. She earned her way through college at the University of Denver by running an entertainment business and teaching piano.

Greene has a number of vent figures she uses for her shows. (She doesn't like to call them dummies.) For instance, Ludwig Van Birdoven is 5-feet tall, and she dances with him. King Hisss is 12 feet long, and there's also Rainboa Constrictor.

Children seem to retain knowledge better when it's conveyed by a puppet or vent, she says. Years later, her students tell her how well they remember her teachings. She is now retired, but continues her ventriloquist business and is the director of the Skyland Children's Choir.

"People tell me I'm a good singer, but I never think of myself as a singer. I think it's one of the vents that's a good singer," she says.

The group of nominee achievers will be honored at a luncheon Feb. 25 at the San Jose Elks Club. And, hey, I'm one of the nominees, too. Thanks, Pen Women.

NEW PROGRAM: The YMCA has a new program just in time for all those New Year's resolutions. It's a 12-week personal fitness program, tailored to each individual. It could apply to anyone, but it's designed for those who have let exercise slide for a while or who never got into the exercise habit in the first place.

The schedule is three times a week, and exercise is introduced in small increments. A separate room has been set aside for those in the program, called the 12-Week Room, to ensure a private workout and to help those who might be timid initially about exercising with others.

Three scheduled appointments with a staff member track the members' progress. The philosophy behind the regimen is that after three months the enrollee will begin to see some significant results, and exercise will have become a habit. The cost is included with new memberships in the Y. Call 408.288.YMCA.

BAY AREA BACKROADS: Los Gatos will be the subject of the Feb. 5 edition of Bay Area Backroads. The show airs at 6 p.m. on Channel 4. We know the filming group had breakfast at Los Gatos Cafe, but what other high points of the town they covered remains to be seen at show time.

HERB GARDENS: Virginia and Louis Saso of the Saso Herb Gardens seek apprentice gardeners for the coming year. They offer a work-exchange program wherein participants work while they learn about gardening and herbs. Sessions will be eight weeks long and held on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Sasos also are looking for an apprentice to do heavier work on a one-to-one basis. This program will be on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Saso Garden is at 14625 Fruitvale Ave., Saratoga. The phone is 408.867.0307.

ON THEIR TOES: Ten student dancers from Monte Sereno are studying with the San Jose-Cleveland Ballet. This seems like a high proportion of youngsters in a town of roughly 3,400. The ballet company hosted mayors of Bay Area towns to a production of The Nutcracker. Monte Sereno Mayor Jack Lucas reports he and his family enjoyed it mightily.

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