Ventura leaves mark on WestSide High School, will benefit from talent show
January 22, 2015
The circumstances sound dire. A teenage mother who left Wenatchee High School in order to provide childcare for her daughter. A malignant brain tumor resulting in a surgery, infection, and comma. A teenage death that leaves behind a child. Yet 17-year-old WestSide High School student Ana Ventura’s optimism seemed to have rubbed off on the people who knew her, for when talking about her, they can’t help but see the positive.
“We are almost lucky that Ana had a baby so young,” WestSide High School math teacher Jill Svilar said. “It’s kind of a blessing that there is a little person still representing Ana that we all can see.”
That’s what the 18th annual Janice Franz Talent Show will be all about — honoring Ventura’s 2-year-old daughter, Jocelyn Melendez. After being selected before Winter Break as the beneficiary, Ventura lost her battle to brain cancer on Dec. 26, leaving Melendez as the recipient of the show’s proceeds.
17-year-old Ana Ventura’s 2-year-old daughter will be this year’s Janice Franz Talent Show beneficiary.
“It happened really quick, and it was traumatic, and she was a special part of the WestSide world and our family, so it just seemed really natural for me to nominate her for this amazing gift,” WestSide High School Principal Kory Kalahar said.
In November, Ventura learned she had a malignant brain tumor and underwent surgery in early December to remove it. The procedure resulted in an infection, and she fell into a coma at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Kalahar said.
“She started school in September just like everyone else. She was going to school, her daughter was going to daycare… her plan was to graduate this year,” he said. “That’s why it was so shocking because, oh Ana is home sick, and next thing we know Ana has a brain tumor, oh gosh they are flying her over to Children’s Hospital, wow there’s complications, it looks like she has an infection, she’s unresponsive and on life support.”
For WHS’s ASB, the situation made Ventura the obvious choice for beneficiary.
“When Mr. Kalahar emailed us talking about her, he said there was a pretty good chance she wouldn’t make it to the talent show and that her 2-year-old daughter was going to be left with Ana’s parents,” junior ASB activity coordinator Claire Goveia said. “And we (ASB) were just thinking about one, all of her medical expenses and two, how much money it will take to raise another child.”
Ventura had a reputation on campus for being quiet initially but fiery and humorous once people got to know her. Faculty knew her as a student driven by her daughter. When Ventura first came to WestSide in 2012, Svilar gave her a survey. On it, Ventura wrote her daughter was her number one priority. Svilar still has that survey to this day.
Childcare Director Jamie Fitzpatrick said Melendez had attended WestSide Early Learning Center, and Ventura would eat lunch with her daughter everyday.
“Ana was always very dedicated to her daughter. Her needs came first all the time,” Fitzpatrick said. “Just to know that Jocelyn wasn’t old enough to have that memory for herself, she’s going to have to base that on everyone else’s memory, is really sad.”
17-year-old Ana Ventura passed away earlier this year. Her daughter, 2-year-old Jocelyn Melendez, and boyfriend Juan Melendez are pictured.
Due to the center’s early closing hours, Fitzpatrick is uncertain if she will still be able to receive childcare from there, though they would love to have her back. Melendez will be in the care of grandparents and her father, Juan Melendez, Ventura’s boyfriend.
Childcare, along with starting a trust fund for Jocelyn and alleviating medical and travel costs, is what the ASB hopes to do with the show’s proceeds, Goveia said.
In an effort to raise as much money as possible, the show will run three nights, Feb. 25, 26, and 27 with tickets being $8. The show will start at 7 p.m. and a silent auction featuring donations from local businesses will run at the same time. In past years, the show has raised an average of $15,000.
Auditions for acts will be on Jan. 27, 28, and 29. Application forms were due Jan. 20.
For WestSide, the talent show brings a sense of community to a school that already lost two teachers this school year in November. Having served as a teacher and assistant principal at WHS, Kalahar has seen the talent, generosity, and impact of the show and said is honored to have Ventura chosen.
“Ana was an amazing young lady. She was very smart and very sociable,” Kalahar said. “It means a lot to me to have her as a beneficiary. And [WHS] does amazing things with the talent show.”