By Kathryn Reed

Life-changing. That is how students describe their visit to the Museum of Tolerance in Southern California.

For the second year, Tisha Seims took her seventh-grade language arts students from South Tahoe Middle School to the museum.

It wasn’t just the students who came away changed. Seims said she got more out of the museum this year.

Maria Nvarro, l-r, Jazmine Aragon, Armando Reyes and Cristian Reyes

“The whole responsibility piece really stood out for me this time,” Seims said. “The thing I took from it was owning up to your own choices – not having mom or teachers make your choices.”

Before the 21 students headed south earlier this month Seims taught them about Anne Frank, the Holocaust, the Civil Rights movement and tolerance in general.

After the trip, there was a bit of decompression to go over everything they had seen, read and heard.

“Before (we went) I was not the nicest person,” student Cristian Reyes said. “Now I’m not judging people by how they look.”

One of the lasting impressions for Reyes was a picture of what looked like snow covering the ground. He learned it was really ashes from the gas chambers in Nazi Germany.

Jazmine Aragon said it was hard to learn about the Germans tossing newborns they didn’t want from hospital windows.

Armando Reyes remembers learning about Jews having to dig their own graves at the concentration camps.

Much of the Museum of Tolerance centers on the Holocaust, but it also touches on bullying, homosexuality and tolerating all people.

Reyes reflected on the segment in the museum about what happens if you drink and drive – the impact it has on others, not just the person behind the wheel.

Seeing the word “responsibility” in an array of language stuck with Aragon and Maria Navarro. It was that sense of no matter who you are, where you live or the language you speak, you are responsible for your actions, your choices.

Aragon said the lesson she took from the museum was to be “positive and not make fun of people.”

Another lesson from the museum was how homosexuals are discriminated against and how individuals have been killed solely for their sexual orientation.

Although the students all learned about tolerance and need to be more compassionate, they said hatred and racism are not issues at STMS.

Heavenly Mountain Resort is extending the winter ski and snowboard season to April 25.

“We’ve got a deep snowpack and amazing snow surface conditions thanks to our best-in-class grooming team,” Blaise Carrig, Heavenly’s chief operating officer, said in a press release. “As a result, we decided to reward our passholders with an extra week of skiing and snowboarding, adding even more value to their season pass.”

Heavenly has received nearly 300 inches of snow this season, and with a record 1,200 hours of snowmaking by the West Coast’s largest snowmaking system in the early season.

From April 19-25, Heavenly will operate weekends from 8:30am to 4pm, and weekdays from 9am to 4pm. Heavenly plans to run the Gondola, Tamarack Express, Dipper Express, Sky Express and the Tubing lift, weather and conditions permitting. Gondola sightseeing and on-mountain dining will also be open. All access to the mountain will be through the Heavenly Gondola.

To the community,

In recognition of National Tourism Week, May 8-16, the California Travel & Tourism Commission (CTTC) is launching a statewide promotion called “Spend Tom”. The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority (LTVA) invites all California-based South Lake Tahoe businesses to participate in this program.

“Tom” is Thomas Jefferson, the face on the rarely-seen $2 bill. To highlight the importance of tourism as a job creator and revenue generator, we plan to pump thousands of dollars in $2 bills into the local community and build a media relations/social marketing campaign as the bills circulate through the economy.

We are looking for business partners who are willing to offer change in $2 bills and help us distribute these bills during National Tourism Week. Here’s how it works:

You sign up to participate in the program with LTVA.

At the beginning of May we will deliver $2 bills to participating businesses and receive the corresponding amount back in cash. We will film some of the “ecash swaps” for posting on YouTube.com.

The $2 bills will be stamped “SpendTom.com”, which will direct recipients to a specially-designed CTTC microsite. Visitors go to the site and tell us where they received their “Tom” and how they spent it. Then they enter a contest to win one of several special California prizes donated by promotion participants.

Your business will be highlighted on the website as a partner in the “Spend Tom” program.

We will provide you with a small point of purchase display template which you can customize with your logo to help communicate the initiative to staff and customers.

You’ll use the $2 bills May 8-16 to make change and talk-up the National Tourism Week program.

The LTVA and the CTTC will be promoting Spend Tom through traditional and social media, offering a great boost to South Lake Tahoe’s visibility, enhancing the stature of the travel and tourism industry, and potentially drawing more visitors here in the weeks and months to come. For a look at last year’s pilot program go to www.SpendTom.com.

Yes. Sign me up! I would like to receive $_______ (enter amount) in $2 bills to use as change May 8-16, 2010. I agree to pay the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority the equivalent amount in cash at time of receipt.

Yes. I would like to donate the following prize _________________________________

Business Name:_______________________________________________________________

Business Physical Address_______________________________________________________

Phone #_______________________ Website______________________________________

Contact Person___________________________ Email_____________________________

________________________________________________

Signature of Authorized Business Representative

Questions? Contact Sue Barton, sue@LTVA.org, (530) 544.5050, ext. 224.

FAX above form to (530) 541-7121 by March 30, 2010.

Sue Barton, LTVA assistant executive director

The 2010-11 Heavenly Mountain Resort pass is on sale for $339.

If you buy your pass now, you’ll ski or ride April 2010 for free.

Existing pass holders who renew their pass before the end of the winter season will receive two $50 buddy tickets for use during April of the 2009/10 season

Purchase your Heavenly Pass at skiheavenly.com.

April 27, 6pm – Wines for BBQ Season Tasting $15

Location: Apres Wine Company, 3668 Lake Tahoe Blvd. at Ski Run Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe

April 20, 6pm – Earthly Delights Organic Wine Tasting, $15

Location: Apres Wine Company, 3668 Lake Tahoe Blvd. at Ski Run Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe

April 13, 6pm – Pinots for Peanuts Wine Tasting, $20

Location: Apres Wine Company, 3668 Lake Tahoe Blvd. at Ski Run Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe

April 6, 6pm – Zinfully Delicious Wine Tasting, $25

Location: Apres Wine Company, 3668 Lake Tahoe Blvd. at Ski Run Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe

March 30, 6pm – Spring Fling Wine Tasting, $25

Location: Apres Wine Company, 3668 Lake Tahoe Blvd. at Ski Run Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe

Amphora Wines with Winemaker Rick Hutchison at Apres Wine Company in South Lake Tahoe.

Hutchison grew up in South Lake Tahoe and now makes wines in Sonoma.

Cost: $25.

RSVP: (530) 544.9463

Location: 3668 Lake Tahoe Blvd. at Ski Run Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe