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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
VOTING BEGINS MAR 28 BESTOF
2023
GILBERTSUNNEWS.COM
Inside This Week
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Sunday, March 26, 2023
Police, fire officials show girls their jobs BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
S
am Heivilin took aim and concentrated on pulling the trigger at the blue targets flying toward her while a train roared by noisily, blaring its horn. The 16-year-old was participating in a simulated law-enforcement shooting exercise at the Gilbert Public Safety Training Facility. Sam and 30 other
girls in grades 9-12 got a glimpse into firefighting and police operations as part of the Aspire Academy. “I has not disappointed,” said Sam, a student at Gilbert Christian Schools’ high school and whose dad is a retired Mesa cop. “I dreamed of being a firefighter so I wanted to get some hands-on experience and get to put on some bunker gear, maybe take a ride in the truck and climb a bunch of ladders. Just hands-on experience to get to see if that is
really what I wanted to do with my life.” During the four-day overnight camp March 1619, the girls took part in hands-on activities such as conducting a traffic stop, investigating a crime scene, rappelling down buildings and climbing a 100-foot-tall fire truck ladder, doing them side-byside with women firefighters and cops from 19 law enforcement and fire agencies across the Valley, in-
see ASPIRE page 4
Gilbert girl, 7, family ‘in a fight of our lives’ COMMUNITY............ 21 The world’s largest Eastern pageant begins this week in Mesa.
SPORTS..................... 25 JJ Costantino settles into job as Highland baseball head coach. COMMUNITY..............................21 KIDS CAMP ................................ 22 BUSINESS ..................................24 SPORTS ...................................... 25 GETOUT .....................................26 CLASSIFIEDS ............................28
BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
A
t first, the swelling on 7-year-old Kennedy Dunn’s posterior appeared innocuous but it quickly escalated into what will be a 60-week-long battle against a fast-growing and rare form of soft-tissue cancer. The Gilbert girl first noticed the growth around Thanksgiving. It was painless, but she was afraid to say anything about it until her parents Cory and Nicole Dunn noticed it right after Christmas and took her to a general pediatrician in January. “She felt that bump and said she was not super worry about it,” Cory Dunn recalled about the doctor visit. “Told us to
see FIGHT page 6
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Kennedy Dunn of Gilbert, just turned 7 last Thursday as she fights an aggressive form of cancer. (David Minton/GSN Staff Photographer)
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