BUSINESS

GILBERT SUN NEWS | DECEMBER 26, 2021

Project Lit helps students find their voices

BY DANA TRUMBULL

GSN Staff Writer

Like a cool, updated, youth-oriented version of Toastmasters, Mesa Arts Center’s educational outreach program, Project Lit, combines poetry and performance to promote literacy.

Working through afterschool Poetry Clubs in ten junior high and high schools valley-wide, Project Lit currently helps 143 students to express themselves effectively and develop essential leadership skills.

They meet weekly and work with mentors and teachers on projects. Sometimes they even incorporate some hip-hop movement.

During a recent workshop at Poston Junior High, the students, under the guidance of performance mentor TJ, experimented with the way that emphasizing different words in a sentence can completely change its meaning.

They then practiced reading poems they had written, varying tone and energy as well, and critiquing each other’s performance for the different attitudes and intentions expressed in the variations.

The practice was timely, as they prepared for the annual Unity Festival held earlier this month. It was the first event of the year that would brought students from all of the participating schools together for a poetry slam. Although performance was not mandatory, several students expressed a desire to read their poetry or at least attend.

Unlike Toastmaster, there is no required public speaking component to the club. “We try to make it as fun as possible. We try to make it so they are learning these skills through repetition, and practice and just normal engagement,” explained Program Manager Tomas Stanton, who has been with Project Lit since its inception 10 years ago. “Eventually, they get comfortable enough to say, ‘Ok, I want to do this.’ “The goal is that [each student] finds their unique voice and learns what it takes to manage the responsibility of having that voice amplified for the world to witness,” he continued.

Project Lit is less about creating professional poets or writers, although this is obviously a path for them to develop those skills,” he said. “For us, it’s more about creating well-rounded young leaders; to give them a space to develop social and emotional learning; to learn how to engage in critical thinking and critical conversation.”

Calling himself “a bit of a nerd,” Stanton hopes that the program will guide students to develop empathy and begin thinking outside themselves to understand others’ viewpoints…”to expand their view of the world outside their neighborhood.” It is his goal to help students see the humanity in others, rather than focusing on the differences. “If you can develop that mindset with these young folks, then when they go out into the world, they’ll be more willing to open themselves up and create genuine interaction with people… They will have a better chance of making the world a better place.”

In addition to the Poetry Clubs, Project Lit leaders conduct four or five immersion workshops in the classrooms during the second semester, working with teachers to introduce as many students as possible to the concepts of the program.

“This is an important year for us, because we did lose a year and a half of programing due to COVID, so all the momentum we built up just kinda fell flat,” confided Stanton. “So now, we’re back in person. We did do virtual programming, but the strength of the program is really in the human interactions that we have.”

Funding for the program comes from the City of Mesa, through the Mesa Arts Center, and through foundational support and private donors including: Nina Mason Pilliam Charitable Trust, Cardinals Charities, The Steele Foundation, Neely Foundations, Bill Passey, Maria Silva and Thunderbirds Charities. Information: mesaartscenter.com/projectlit.

SOUTH from page 12

will help relax participants while conditioning muscles. Open to all levels of yoga experience. Please bring your own yoga mat and water. Open to teens through adults. Non-members $5

Learn To Interpret Your DNA for Your Family History, 6:30-8 p.m. Jan. 18.

During this workshop, participants will learn about DNA, how to interpret their DNA results from programs such as Ancestry.com and 23andme.com, as well as how to use that information to expand their family tree. Participants are encouraged to bring their DNA test results. Free.

Make Your Own Superhero, 6:30-8 p.m. Jan. 25.

Phoenix cartoonist and self-publisher of the Amazing Arizona Comics Russ Kazmierczak will lead participants through a workshop designing your own superhero comic book. The workshop will emphasize superhero comics and the evolution of superhero comics as an American medium. By the end of the workshop, participants will have designed their own superhero and will have the knowledge on how to self-publish their own comic book. Free.

The Power of Intention, 10:30 a.m.noon Jan. 29.

Certified Yoga instructor Marilynn Igleski will lead participants in the practice of positive affirmation and the setting of intentions as well as a variety of meditation techniques. Bring your own yoga mat. Ages 16 & up. Free.

ETHIOPIA from page 12 center there but with the instability there we are approaching it in a different way now. I think we can still accomplish the same thing without the physical center— that’s creating a staffing company that’s going to train and connect them.”

In January, the ENTRE Institute is launching Ak’imi Academy, a free programming academy, Shurtz said.

“Ak’imi” means “potential” in Amharic, which is the main language of Ethiopia.

Potential is directly what inspired this 90-day academy. During his trip, Shurtz met with 40 college graduates, yet not one of them had worked a day in their actual profession, he said. Some have a fouryear technology degree but are driving cabs, cleaning houses or are unemployed.

They spent so much time and money on their education, however, they were unable to actualize their full potential in their environment.

Shurtz’s dream of connecting Ethiopia to the rest of the world to let them actually be able to compete in the global marketplace can come true through Ak’imi Academy. The academy will start with those 40 students, as every single graduate Shurtz met applied to be a part of it.

The program will assess how market ready the students are, Shurtz said. While they all have programming or technical degrees, the students must be able to work at a level for companies in the United States and beyond.

“They’re going to be working on real world projects and that’s a way for us to assess,” he said. “While they’re doing that, we are already having conversations with United States based marketing agencies and programming and staffing companies to potentially bring on the graduates of our mini academy.”

With the work that Shurtz’s team is doing, Kenya, Ghana and other countries have expressed interest in ENTRE going over there to help their economies too, he said. Shurtz hopes to help as many people in Africa as he can to actually be able to use their education and talents.

“All these people have had the worst luck in terms of opportunity and government and everything else,” he said. “They’re just waiting for their chance to shine. So, if we can just connect them to all these opportunities that are out there then I think we can change a lot of lives.”

For more information on ENTRE Institute or to begin a course, visit entreinstitute.com.

GilbertSunNews.com | @GilbertSunNews /GilbertSunNews

Banner Gateway tower work reaches landmark

GSN NEWS STAFF

Workers building the new Banner Gateway Medical Center in Gilbert hit a milestone recently, affixing the final girder to its steel skeleton on Higley Road. McCarthy Building Companies topped the $243-million tower expansion project by placing the last beam on the five-story structure. The expansion essentially will double the medical center campus’ size, addressing what spokeswoman Stephanie Jarnagan called the “growing needs for women’s services and cancer care” through an expanded diagnostics and treatment area. The project also expands parking on the site. The tower, the second on the campus, is a 198,000-square-foot addition that will initially bring 109 new patient beds to the facility. It will also add 190 total beds once the shelled space is built. The project also includes a three-level, 112,000-square-foot expansion of the diagnostics and treatment building, adding more space for the emergency, surgery, imaging, cardiopulmonary and endoscopy departments. “Our commitment to serving the health care needs of our community is unwavering and we are pleased to be expanding to meet community growth and the increased demand as a destination center for women and infant services, cancer care and high-quality medical care,” said Lamont Yoder, CEO of Banner Gateway Medical Center and Banner MD

McCarthy Building Companies had some holiday fun earlier this month as the installed the final beam atop the new Banner Gateway Medical Center in Gilbert, affixing a little Christmas tree to the girder. (Courtesy McCarthy Building Companies)

see BANNER page 18

Camelot’s remodel division surges in pandemic

BY DAVID M. BROWN

GSN Contributor

About five years ago, third-generation Scottsdale homebuilder Cammie Hancock Beckert led an extensive renovation of a McCormick Ranch home built in the 1970s by her family’s Camelot Homes. Founded by her grandparents, JW and Maggie Hancock, more than a half-century ago, the company has built thousands of Valley homes, including $3–$5 million customs in luxury golf communities such as Grayhawk, Desert Mountain and Silverleaf, all in north Scottsdale. “The home had never had been updated; everything was original,” said Beckert, who lives in Silverleaf with her family. “A friend of a friend asked if we would be interested in remodeling the home. She liked the idea that we were the original builder and was familiar with our current work. “We took the house down to the studs, rearranged spaces, took down a wall to open up the kitchen, added on in a few places and completely updated the interior finishes,” she added. “The before/ after photos were dramatic and something I was proud to be a part of.” Owners Valerie and David Blanco were enthusiastic. “You helped us get our home to where it is. It feels brand new, and we love the design and interior finishes,” Valerie told Beckert. Their redo was perfectly timed. During a management retreat, Camelot Homes had discussed the possibility of adding a division that would offer $350,000-plus remodels of its homes and those built by others. In 2019, company completed another renovation in Grayhawk. “So our team said, ‘Let’s get serious about this,’ and we began marketing our Custom & Remodel Division to previous Camelot owners in Grayhawk.” Then in 2020, the pandemic changed homebuilding. Beckert and others thought the Arizona real estate industry, including new-builds and re-builds, would collapse. “Well, I said, ‘There goes that,’” she recalled with a smile. “But it ended up just the opposite. “The pandemic intensified the need for this service.” People felt imprisoned in four walls and couldn’t escape, even by traveling. “I think just having to sit in our homes during the pandemic caused a lot of people to focus on aspects of their homes that had been bothering them, but they hadn’t made a priority to fix,” she said. ”We can do that tomorrow.” Since then, clients of the remodeling division have been requesting open floorplans, removing walls and interior-finish makeovers. Other common requests are adding casitas, or separate living quarters, for visiting family and friends; updated workout rooms and offices; dedicated homework spaces; teen rooms; and wine walls or other type of wine storage, she explained. “A lot of these existing homes might have an open kitchen, but that could be accompanied by a more formal dining room that goes mostly unused, so this space could be repurposed,” she said. “Or, they want to update their bathroom’s once-popular ornate fixtures

and curving ‘snail’ style showers with a sleeker, symmetrical modern look that brings an open, airy feel to even the most intimate of spaces.” “With 60 percent of homeowners now saying that having outdoor space is more valuable than indoor square footage, many want seamless connections between indoor and outdoor spaces. Our clients love that they can open up the living room to the outside with the flip of switch thanks to roll away pocket walls or quickly change an open space into a private home office that keeps the kids, and their noise, out,” said Beckert, who expects the division to triple its business in the next few years. New technology has helped her team. This includes 3D cameras that accurately measure a client’s living spaces and HGTV-style renderings provide them with a virtual walk-through of their planned space or allow them to explore different layouts, finishes and fixtures. Her clients vary from younger professionals wanting to expand their homes to empty-nesters, whose space needs have changed. Many requests come from existing Camelot homeowners who love the location and quality of their aging homes and want to update them to fit their changing lifestyles. About half request space additions, depending on their lot sizes. Often, people who have visited the company’s models ask if the company can build one of the designs on their property, which the company can do through its Custom division. Or they ask if the company can replicate one of the model home kitchens in their existing homes or provide indoor-outdoor living space. John and Sandra Moses liked their Camelot Home in the Firenze neighborhood at Grayhawk but needed more space for entertaining; they were con-

sidering moving. Then, they visited Camelot’s luxury White Horse models in Scottsdale. “We loved the open floorplan and engaged Camelot’s remodel division to help in reconfiguring our space and updating our interior finishes,” Sandra said.“We recently hosted a large dinner party, and everyone loved our new and improved home. We are thrilled with the finished product.” Beckert is very much at home with her professional role. From youth, her grandmother Maggi and mother, Julie, taught her the value of the woman’s viewpoint in home building, she explained. After graduating from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in communications, she worked at NBC affiliate KPNX, The Meyers Group and Nathan and Associates. About 15 years ago, she returned to the family business, first as a sales associate, then marketing manager and today managing director of the Custom & Remodel Division. For years, people have been regularly calling the company regarding renovations. “But the answer was always, ‘Sorry, we don’t do custom or remodels,’” she said. “We always knew the demand was there, but we just had to figure out how to offer the same design quality, craftsmanship and attention to detail before we were willing to put the Camelot name on it.” Information: camelothomes.com/custom-remodeling.

BANNER from page 16

Anderson Cancer Center. “This topping-out ceremony marks an important milestone, as the project continues to move forward on time and on budget thanks to the entire McCarthy team.” Jarnagan said the expansion “addresses the capacity need for women and infant care, including labor, delivery, postpartum and a new neonatal intensive care unit for babies who need extra care.” It also provides more space for inpatient cancer care by Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, as well as for surgical, emergency, endoscopy and imaging services. Also included is shelled space for future growth. Two new surface parking lots will be constructed, adding approximately 492 new parking spaces for visitor and staff use, and approximately 40,000 squarefeet of additional renovation work is also planned within the existing medical center. “Our project team is very focused on keeping the expansion project on budget and on target with its aggressive schedule while effectively navigating the many hurdles created by the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues and escalation,” said Kurt Radtke, project director for McCarthy who is overseeing the Banner Gateway tower expansion project. “Through collaboration, our integrated project team, which includes Banner, SmithGroup and our trade partners, have developed innovations and risk mitigation strategies resulting in over $9 million of value to the project. Our team continues to look at innovations, options and ideas to mitigate risk to the project during these challenging times.” Construction on the tower expansion began in February 2021 and will be completed in first quarter of 2023 with the campus renovation work completing in 2024. Banner expects to add more than 600 new jobs once the facility is opened. The project is being managed using a modified Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) with the owner, design team, general contractor and trade partners all co-locating in a virtual “big room.” Jarnagan said that allows for “design and construction strategies to be developed and enhanced through a robust system of collaboration, solution innovations and coordination strategies being brought to the project to ensure operational excellence and end-user efficiency.” Those cost- and time-saving measures on the Banner Gateway project include: Prefabrication of construction elements, including exterior skin, bathroom pods and mechanical and plumbing components; five separate design packages, allowing construction to start prior to design-phase completing; and simultaneously building expansions on three sides of the hospital. The architect on the project is SmithGroup with civil engineering led by Dibble Engineering and structural engineering led by PK Associates. Field Verified is serving as an exterior skin consultant. Major trade partners include AmFab Steel, MKB, AROK, Buesing Excavation, Delta Electric, Foothills Fire, KT Fab, Otis Elevators, Stafford Crane, SwissLog, TD Industries and Walters & Wolf. McCarthy Building Companies completed the initial Banner Gateway Medical Center campus in 20 months in 2007.

Above: Scottsdale homeowners Valerie and David Blanco were delighted with the work that Camelot Homes’ remodeling division did with their McCormick Ranch house. “You helped us get our home to where it is. It feels brand new, and we love the design and interior finishes,” Valerie said. Right: Third-generation Scottsdale homebuilder Cammie Hancock Beckert led an extensive renovation of a McCormick Ranch home built in the 1970s by her family’s Camelot

Homes. (Courtesy Camelot Homes)