Gabrielle Pietrangelo poses in front of mural art by Jessica Gonzalez. Photo by Brookelynn Nisenbaum
March 13, 2025
Featured on the March 13, 2025 edition of ARIZONA SPOTLIGHT with host Mark McLemore:
- There are 8 billion people on planet Earth, but only .01 percent have reached the milestone age of 100. That's less than one million people. This month, a new centenarian will join those esteemed ranks, Tucson architect Paula Holmes. AZPM Contributing Producer Laura Markowitz sat down to hear about her remarkable life -- from the Jazz Age to the Digital Age and beyond...
Tucson Medical Center for Seniors and the Pima Council on Aging hold the Salute to Centenarians annually to honor and celebrate these elders in our community on Tuesday, March 18th. For more information, visit PCOA.org.
VIEW LARGER Architect Paula Holmes turns 100 on March 24th. Laura Markowitz
Paula Holmes has been using this pencil sharpener since 1940. She was a draftsman during World War II and went on to become an architect.Laura Markowitz
Paula Holmes (right) with her brother and sister.Laura Markowitz
- Next, another chapter of a special project called “The Class of 2024 page”. The students that graduated from Tucson High Magnet School last fall were unique in many ways. A generation who had grown up in the public school system together with active shooter drills since kindergarten, they began their high school careers in 2020, under the shadow of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Art Almquist, the drama teacher at Tucson High for 28 years, made the decision to retire last year, leaving behind a thriving drama department and a theater that was named after him. After an important group conversation, Mr. Almquist suggested to a group of his most dedicated students that they try their hand at composing essays that portrayed different aspects of their high school experience, with COVID, social media, and the shadow of a potential school shooting. In response were eight essays that challenged commonly held perceptions of what their generation experienced. Next, we learn how the presence of social media in most teenager’s lives has required that they grow up a lot faster than previous generations. Although nothing graphic is shared in this short essay, the content may weigh heavy on sensitive listeners…
To hear more heartfelt, hopeful and sometimes harrowing essays, visit The Class of 2024 page.
Arizona Spotlight presents "The Class of 2024."
- One of Southern Arizona’s most gifted singer / songwriters, Gabrielle Pietrangelo's newest album Back to the Heart began to take shape in the early days of the pandemic, and represents her arrival as a fully-formed solo artist.
Arizona Spotlight airs every Thursday at 8:30 am and 6:00 pm and every Saturday at 3:00 pm on NPR 89.1 FM / 1550 AM. You can subscribe to our podcast on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, or the NPR App. See more from Arizona Spotlight.
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