EX-PUPIL FINDS SHE STILL HAS FRIENDS AT SCHOOL.Byline: Eric Leach Staff Writer Katie Berke swayed with the music and clapped her hands Friday as 600 students sang the Banyan Elementary School Banyan Elementary School may refer to:
tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. last year in a motorcycle crash. Many of the students have been doing chores and making other efforts to raise money for Berke, who faces $70,000 in medical expenses for reconstructive jaw surgery and other procedures. ``Katie is part of our family at Banyan banyan (băn`yən), species of fig (Ficus bengalensis) of the family Moraceae (mulberry family), native to India, where it is venerated. Its seeds usually germinate in the branches of some tree where they have been dropped by birds. , and the whole family is here,'' said Ray Moccia, Berke's sixth-grade teacher in 1992. ``Regardless of how much money we can raise for her, she will always need help.'' Katie, wearing a dark skirt and pink sweater, smiled as she recalled playing tether tether to tie an animal up by the head or neck so that it can graze but not move away. See also barton tether. ball and other games and gathering at the flagpole for Monday morning assemblies. ``It's great to be back here at Banyan,'' she said. ``I'm amazed a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. at everyone's dedication to helping me. I'm such a small person, and they have such a big heart.'' Jeanne Boe, a counselor from Sequoia sequoia (sĭkwoi`ə), name for the redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and for the big tree, or giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), both huge, coniferous evergreen trees of the bald cypress family, and for extinct related species. Middle School, was there with students from Sequoia and from Royal High School, who are also working to help Berke. ``We love you,'' Boe told Berke. ``We all love you,'' Banyan Principal Judie Tetzlaff said the rally showed that Newbury Park is really a small town. ``This is a philanthropic phil·an·throp·ic also phil·an·throp·i·cal adj. 1. Of, relating to, or marked by philanthropy; humanitarian. 2. Organized to provide humanitarian or charitable assistance: community. This year Katie is the charity, and we're all reaching out to get help for her,'' she said. Veronica Martain-Haverbeck, Katie's mother, said she was moved and called Moccia ``the driving force behind all of this.'' ``Isn't it incredible that these kids are doing chores at home to help Katie?'' she said. ``Katie didn't know she was so popular. It's like the light that shines in the darkness.'' Nine-year-old Emily Medler, a Banyan fourth-grader, was able to raise $300 from the King of Glory Lutheran Church on Berke's behalf. ``I asked everyone to help, and after church people just started giving me money,'' Emily said. Moccia recalled Katie Berke as one of the brightest kids in his class who did a project on virus replication that he still uses to teach biology. ``She was smart and creative and very artistic,'' he wrote in a letter asking support from current and former students from Banyan, who are known as Bobcats. Berke was severely injured July 30, 2003, while riding on the back of a motorcycle driven by a friend, Damion Michael Probert, 31. He eventually pleaded guilty in the case to felony felony (fĕl`ənē), any grave crime, in contrast to a misdemeanor, that is so declared in statute or was so considered in common law. drunk driving - his fifth DUI - and committed suicide the day before he was scheduled to be sentenced. ``It's a tragic case,'' said Deputy District Attorney Scott Hendrickson, who prosecuted Probert, who also was known as Damion Magglos. ``It's terrible what happened to Katie.'' Although she was wearing a helmet when she was thrown from the motorcycle, Berke had severe injuries, lost many of her teeth and was in a coma coma, in medicine coma, in medicine, deep state of unconsciousness from which a person cannot be aroused even by painful stimuli. The patient cannot speak and does not respond to command. for 45 days, said Martain-Haverbeck. Martain-Haverbeck said her daughter is now ``a child trapped in an adult's body,'' disabled, physically, mentally and emotionally. ``I'm extremely grateful for the progress my daughter has made,'' she said. ``All we can do is hope.'' Eric Leach, (805) 583-7602 eric.leach(at)dailynews.com HOW TO HELP --A bake sale “Bake Sale” redirects here. For the episode from the TV show 8 Simple Rules, see List of 8 Simple Rules episodes. A bake sale is a fundraising activity where baked goods such as doughnuts, cupcakes and cookies, sometimes along with ethnic foods, are sold. and raffle to benefit Katie Berke will be held at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Banyan Elementary School, 1120 Knollwood Drive, Newbury Park. For information, call (805) 498-6641. Donations also may be sent to the KTB KTB Keep Texas Beautiful (Austin, TX) KTB Korea Treasury Bond KTB Kick the Bucket KTB Kenyan Top Bar (beehives) KTB Keppel Tatlee Bank Ltd (commercial bank in Singapore) Special Needs Trust, P.O. Box 827, Newbury Park, CA 91319. For information about Berke, log on to www.ecofotos.com/ktb. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Katie Berke, 23, right, gets a hug from her former fifth-grade teacher, Terri Johanson. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer Box: HOW TO HELP (see text) |
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