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Your neighborhood schools report for the week of Jan. 29
Middle Schools
Akimel A-al Middle School
Akimel
A-al Middle School students are excited that morning announcements have gone
"live" two days each week. A student announcement club is
meeting each morning to learn how to produce video announcements. The 6th,
7th and 8th grade students are currently designing the set and
learning how to operate the video broadcasting equipment. The school
would like to extend a special thanks to the 6B teachers and to Mrs. Brewer
for sponsoring the announcement club for AMS students.
Altadeña Middle School
Students in the sixth grade
recently attended a field trip to Lake Pleasant Activity Center. Students had
the opportunity to attend a variety of classes designed to enhance the Kyrene
School’s science curriculum. One such class was “In Cold Blood,” where
the students examined and acquainted themselves with snakes, turtles, lizards,
toads and frogs. In another
class, “Desert Survival”, they learned how to build a fire and a shelter,
how to construct the international symbol for signaling distress, and how to
deal with panic in a crisis situation. “Map
Map” was a class that taught each student how to use a map and a compass and
how to apply those basic orienteering skills during an outdoor relay race.
The last class was “Aquatic Life” where they examined and
identified aquatic life under a microscope. The program addressed the various
facets of survival, wilderness skills, and gave the students the opportunity
to experience the wilderness of our surrounding deserts located right in our
own backyard.
Centennial Middle School
The Language Arts classes at Centennial Middle School have
been studying different forms of poetry and learning about the works of
different poets. Many students are submitting original poetry for the poetry
contest. Winners of the Centennial Middle School poetry contest will go on to
compete at the district level. The student poems were turned in on January 23rd
for judging. The winning poems will be on display at the Centennial Middle
School library. The 7B team has written haikus and five senses poems on single,
high-definition color PowerPoint slides. Technology and poetry! The poetry shows
a real understanding of the relationships within nature, and the learning
activity was thought-provoking and a great hands-on experience for students.
Reading the poetry written by other students and by famous poets has sparked
greater creativity in many Centennial students! These beautiful examples are on
display in the 7B pod area at Centennial Middle
School for all to enjoy.
Kyrene Middle School
Each
year the Tempe Human Relations Commission honors local individuals, businesses
and community groups that have demonstrated a commitment to diversity in
Tempe. Kyrene Middle School's Site Based Council was selected as a 2004
Diversity Award Winner in the Education category for its Caring Majority
program.
At
a Diversity Awards Brunch on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, KMS was recognized
for its commitment and efforts to the Tempe community as exceptional and
essential to fulfilling the goal of making Tempe better. KMS Site Based Council has focused its work on
diversity by forming committees, developing programs and supporting events
that educate and inform students and families on the culturally-competent
community. The Council has been instrumental in developing a positive school
climate which is fertile ground not only for a safe community of learners, but
also provides an environment for character and integrity to blossom.
Pueblo Middle School
Pueblo’s sixth
grade “Awesome A’s” celebrated the ethnic diversity of their families
with a special evening program on Thursday, January 22nd.
Students presented dances, music, and diversions that represented their
cultures while families and staff members sampled ethnic foods and shared
information on history and traditions. Teacher Yolanda Williams provided the
leadership for this new Pueblo event.
P.T.A. will
sponsor a book fair during the week of February 9-13 .
Parents may shop In room E10 during the evening of parent conferences
on February 11.
Eighth
grade students spent time with counselors from Corona and Mountain Pointe High
Schools on Thursday, January 22. Students learned about options and
requirements for their ninth grade classes. Student Advisor Sharon Bond did an
outstanding job of organizing the sessions for students and their future
counselors.
Elementary Schools
Brisas Elementary
The Recycling Contest began February 1st! Brisas needs your
old newspapers, paper bags, magazines, etc., in order to win the Abitibi
Recycling Contest. First prize in the contest is $1000.00 that we could really
use! The contest ends February 29th
at midnight, so please bring us your recyclables before then. Any questions,
contact Mary Jo Boergers (783-2332) or Ed Collins (783-2313).
On February 4th at 7:00 pm will be
the next Family Conversation Night, focusing on Literacy Skills. The topic will
be "Listening to your child read". Literacy Specialist Suzanne Carreon
has been providing strategies on reading.
Cerritos
Elementary
Character Counts at Cerritos School. The
Character Counts program at Kyrene de los Cerritos is integrated with every
aspect of academic learning. Cerritos’ Six Pillars of Character are Respect,
Citizenship, Fairness, Caring, Responsibility
and Trustworthiness. Cerritos teaches its children that they are building a
strong, positive character, which helps them to do better in school, and
impacts our life long learning. Cerritos children and staff focused on the
Character of Fairness during the month of December and January and
helped one another to practice ways of showing how to be fair as they work
together in their classrooms, in the cafeteria, on the playground, at home and
all through their day-to-day lives. The following children were nominated by
their teacher and classmates as being the most "Fair" students
in their class. They ate lunch with the Principal and received a Fairness
Certificate, Fairness Tag and special lunch treat. Congratulations to the
following students from each grade level:
Kindergarten:
Kelly
Baker, Trey O'Leary, Emily Long, J.C. Schlabach, Ambrie Scribner, James Arnold,
Amma Sarkodee-Adoo, Troy Waller, Kayla Schmitz, Adam Guzman
First
Grade:
A. J.
Stewart, Eliza Quah, Nalani Lantry, Scott Selke, Ethan Holthe, Holly Innes,
Devin Scow, Mykela Harden, Raynee Cooper, Sean Mulherin
Second
Grade:
Meghan
Burch, Bryce Thwaits, Kalia Cobb, Luke Stratton, Michaela Hoffman, Adam Miller,
Matthew Mathers, Makena Seymour, Madison Barrow, Abbey Groninger
Third
Grade:
Kaitlyn
Cooper, Wade Wolf, Alexis Corrion, Logan Collett, Meaghan Hau, Tana Kemmer, Kyra
Curtis, Danny Gavin, Maddie Nahmias, Tyler Dunker
Fourth
Grade:
Gracie
Laughlin, Sean McDowell, Jennifer Issar, Matthew Herbert, Augie Haynie, Kristen
Hicks, Nikki Meeker, Jonathan Furseth
Fifth
Grade:
Hannah
Hayes, Dillon Geoffroy, Emily Spencer, Madeline Burge, Carlee Terry, Jennifer
Na, David Kaptur, Seema Kassab
Cielo
Elementary
Kyrene del Cielo elementary school has collected more than 683
pairs of socks for Shoebox Ministries, a local charity for the homeless. This
drive was spearheaded by Cielo's Student Council.
The third graders are preparing
for their upcoming musical performance entitled:
"Got A Question? We've
Got the Answer! " It will be
performed Thursday, March 4th at 6:30 p.m. in the Cielo cafeteria. This program
will showcase students' skills by featuring musical questions and answers about
barred instruments, pitched instruments, body percussion, movement and voice.
Third graders have various topics of study
in their current social studies and science programs. Lorraine Manley's
students are beginning their exploration of earth materials as they examine
rocks and minerals. A study of the solar system is being undertaken by Jeannie
Sawyer's students including tracking the Mars Rover. A study of sound,
including vibration and pitch is underway in La Rinda Saylor's class. Janiece
Walsh's students are researching their ancestral heritage by completing
country reports.
The Art Room has been bustling
with activity. The first graders have been mixing secondary colors to create art
in the style of illustrator, Eric Carle. Second grade learned about weaving and
made their own paper weavings creating patterns with color. They are getting
ready to embellish them with more patterns using found objects to print with.
Third graders have their choice of using warm or cool colors as a background for
their Origami Hawaiian shirts. They will add details with marker creating
typical Hawaiian themes. The Asian landscapes the fourth grade completed are
beautiful. We will be moving on to
clay and learning how to work with slabs. Fifth grade has just started their
color study projects. They are using tempera paint to experiment with mixing
using complimentary, monochromatic and analogous color.
Congratulations to the fifth
graders whose art was displayed at the Kyrene District Office through the month
of January. Congratulations to Cielo’s first grade student David Zhao in Mrs.
Chouteau/Francis’ classroom. David took 6th place in the Arizona
State Chess Championship.
The fifth grade
music program, "The Drum," performed at Corona del Sol High School
was outstanding. Students from
Aprende and Corona del Sol performed as well.
Colina
Elementary
Celebrations
marking the 100th day of school included a school-wide exercise break with 100
exercises and a visit from the “Zero Hero” – a mystery visitor covered in
zeros – to the kindergarten classes.
P.E.
teachers Deb Wilkinson and Michelle Stephens are preparing students for the
“Jump Rope for the Heart” event on Friday. This event will be held at Kyrene
de la Lomas Elementary School and will raise money to fund research for heart
and cardiovascular disease, as well to develop educational materials on the
importance of heart health. To keep their hearts strong, Colina families will
have a chance to exercise together at the Student Council Skating Party, which
will be held at Skateland USA.
Students and staff also participated
in the Super Bowl canned food drive. Cans were stacked according to Super Bowl
favorites and then donated to Arizona Food Banks.
Estrella
Elementary
Put down the remote and catch a good
book.
Sit with your children and all take a
look.
Novels, short stories, joke books
galore
Once you begin, you’ll yearn for
more!
Kyrene de la Estrella is participating
in the National Education Association’s Read Across America annual event.
This year, Estrella is encouraging participation by the entire family in
reaching the goal of 12,000 hours of reading during the month of February. The
theme for this event is baseball – “Estrella’s Favorite Pastime” and
will close with a special celebrity guest if the goal is reached!
Lagos Elementary
What
is more exciting or more eagerly anticipated than starting Kindergarten? Lagos
is getting ready to welcome the kindergarten class of 2004-2005. Parents of
next year's kindergarteners are invited to attend the Kindergarten Parent
Information Meeting on Thursday, February 19, 2004, in the Lagos Library at
6:30 p.m. to learn about our programs. Lagos will be holding the Kindergarten
Round-Up on Tuesday, March 23, 2004, at 6:30 p.m. for the new kindergarteners
and their parents.
We
are really proud of our kindergarten programs here at Lagos. This year Lagos
was able to offer a full-day program, a half-day program and an alternate
full-day program to meet the diverse needs of our Lagos community. We urge
parents to register their kindergarten age children as early as possible so we
will be able to better serve the needs of next year's group. Registration
packets will be available in the Lagos office on February 3.
Manitas Elementary
Mrs. Moran's kindergarten
class will celebrate their one hundredth day of school on Monday by doing
activities that involve one hundred items.
Zero Hero will come to school that day to read a book and count with the
students.
Mariposa Elementary
Third
graders performed their “Trip Around the World” musical celebration this
Wednesday. Music teacher Jenny Kilgard-Erich led the students in songs and
dances that celebrated our American heritage. Fifth grade students have
presented their projects on historic missions in the southwest. Students
constructed scale models of famous missions from all over California, Arizona
and New Mexico as they learned about early southwest history. Fifth graders
are also learning about the natural history of our region and will go on a
culminating field trip to Karchner Caverns in southern Arizona this week!
Fifth grade teachers Sandy Molstad, Carolyn Rooder,
John Nestuk, Elaine Stohler, Debbie Macias and Shari Solberg-Ayers
prepare for months so that students understand the natural and geographic
history of the region. Students tour the caves and participate in activities
to test their understanding! Thanks to our parents for their Tax Credit
Donations who make this extensive and exciting trip possible!
Milenio Elementary
Fifth grade students are hard at
work researching problems the colonists faced in early America. Science
students have been creating posters depicting various biomes, and health
students have been studying healthy eating. Nutrition continues to be a prime
focus. In technology, students are working on their typing skills.
Math is a huge priority in 5th grade, with all students "Waking Up
With Math." Activities are geared towards learning, and exploration of
math concepts. The students truly enjoy the fun! All 5th grade classes are
participating in the "Box-tops for Education" competition to earn
money for our school. The class with the most box-tops collected will win a
pizza or ice cream party.
Milenio’s
First Sweetheart Dinner, sponsored by the PTO, will be held on Thursday,
February 12th. Carrabba’s Italian Grill will be providing a
bountiful buffet menu. Tickets are on sale now. Contact the school office for
more information.
The Milenio Staff would like to
thank all the parents who provide assistance by volunteering their time. Thank
you to those of you who have committed to volunteering during our daily
“Wake-Up Math” time as well to those parents who help in the classroom and
the media center. To those parents who help organize events and activities
such as those sponsored by the PTO we thank you as well. The enthusiasm,
dedication, and commitment of all our volunteers are much appreciated.
Mirada Elementary
The
kindergartens in Candy Blakemore's room are getting ready to bid
"Cheers" to their student teacher, Eric Stuebner, who will be
leaving to teach kindergarten in Brighton, England. Eric will return to Mirada
the end of April to finish his student teaching. Before leaving Eric used the
Internet to teach the students about Brighton. The students also made a book
for him to share with his "British" kids and hope his British kids
will make one for them. While he is gone, the class will use email to keep in
touch and see what he is doing at his British School.
On
the 100th day of school, Heather Thude's first graders celebrated by eating a
cake with 100 candles.
Susan
Edinger and Linda Virden's 3/4 multi-agers are working on an economics unit
using technology. They have learned a variety of economics terms and are
creating PowerPoint presentations demonstrating their knowledge of these
terms. Earlier in the unit the students had to create a list of wants and
needs based on a budget of $300, they had to spend $200 on needs and the
remaining $100 on wants. This particular activity was taken from a web quest
on economics. It has been a high interest unit that teaches some real life
budgeting skills!
On
Friday, January 23rd, Joni Drexler's 4th grade students learned Navajo rug
weaving skills. Barbara Gronemann of Southwest Learning Sources gave a fun
presentation about Navajo culture and rug weaving. Each student was able to use a loom and yarn to create a
"mug" rug. The students had a lot of fun and are excited to learn
more about the Navajo and continue their rug weaving.
Paula
Nash's 4th grade class is also studying some of the Native Americans of
Arizona. The students are learning about their culture, their history and life
today. To celebrate our learning at the end of the unit, we will create
pueblos, hogans, pottery, Kachinas, wickiups, "silver" jewelry, and
sand paintings.
Niños Elementary
The second grade classes
have been studying dinosaurs. They have made and erupted volcanoes, studied
fossils, and learned about the triceratops, apatosaurus, tyrannosaurus rex, and
stegosaurus dinosaurs. They will be taking a walking field trip to Changing
Hands Bookstore to learn more about dinosaurs and to review fiction vs.
non-fiction sources. They will also be visiting the Mesa Southwest Museum to
further their dinosaur exploration.
Fourteen second
graders were recognized at the Student Achievement Assembly held on Friday,
January 23 for their perfect attendance during the second quarter of this school
year.
Parents are invited to attend Keep a Poem in Your Pocket Night
on Thursday, February 5th from 6 to 7 p.m. Various poetry activities are planned
for this evening as well as featuring student poems in our school's hallway.
Immediately following, our school's third Literacy Conversation Night entitled
Listening to Your Child Read will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. The presenters will
be Jonna Harness and Suzanne Carreon.
P
aloma Elementary
Students at Kyrene de la
Paloma participated in the PTA’s annual Reflections Program, an opportunity
for students to share their talents in visual arts, writing and musical
composition. At a reception in their honor, the winners of each category were
recognized, and their work was unveiled for all to admire. The winning entries
will be submitted for competition in the state level Reflections Program.
Congratulations to these very talented Paloma students!
Primary Literature:
1st Place - Mackenzie Tanquary; 2nd Place - Carlie Peterson; 3rd Place - Kyle
Brown;
Primary
Photography: 1st Place - Kyle
Brown
Primary Visual Arts:
1st Place - Tyler Thompson; 2nd Place - Drew Ketterman; 3rd Place - Mackenzie
Tanquary; Honorable Mention - Kyle Brown
Intermediate Literature:
1st Place - Simona Kovatcheva; 2nd Place - John Templeton
Intermediate Musical
Composition:1st Place - Emma Doney
2nd Place - Erin Ketterman
Intermediate
Photography:1st Place - Emma Doney; 2nd Place - Sachi Mehrotra
Intermediate Visual Arts:1st
Place - Colby Bounds; 2nd Place - Emma Doney; 3rd Place - John Templeton
Honorable Mention - Erin
Ketterman; Reba Emry
Sierra Elementary
This week and next Sierra will hold
its annual Scholastic Book Fair. To promote literacy during the Book Fair the
PTO has organized two Family Literacy Nights in which distinguished guests will
visit students and their families in the school library to read a favorite book
and tell how reading and writing have been an important part of their life. Many
local celebrities, city and state representatives, and sports figures are
expected to attend.
Sureño Elementary
Third
grade students at Kyrene del Sureño are learning about different ways to
express patriotism. A recent Social Studies unit allowed students to explore
American icons, symbols and traditions in very creative ways. Posters, clay sculptures, and dioramas were just a few of the
ways students chose to complete their projects. Symbols such as the liberty bell, statue of liberty, white
house and bald eagle are displayed throughout the school in the most unique
forms. The signing of the
Declaration of Independence becomes very interesting when cheese puffs are
used and labeled as cabinet members. Also
impressive were Lego creations of the Washington Monument. Students now have a clearer understanding of various symbols
of our nation and how they can be used to demonstrate pride in their
community.
Waggoner
Elementary
Waggoner teachers
were students for a day on February 2nd!
They spent the morning learning about "Read Naturally," a
reading program being implemented to assist students become more fluent
readers; working on their web pages and learning about Easy Grade Pro for the
upper graders and special area teachers; and developing math activities to use
in their classrooms. The afternoon was spent meeting in grade level teams and
planning for the upcoming months. Waggoner held two successful events last
week. The first was a school-wide evacuation drill off campus, to a
neighboring facility. The students were on their best behavior, with older
grades pairing up with younger grades for the walk to the emergency site. The
second event was the Used Books and Media Sale, held in the Reading Area.
Hundreds of used books, tapes, games, and more were collected and sold to
happy students, parents, and teachers. All proceeds will benefit school
activities.
Thank you to
teacher Nancy Lujan, and parent sponsors Cindy Wallin and Katy Holditch for
all their help with this great event! The
second issue of the Waggoner student newspaper was delivered last week. Thanks
to teacher sponsor Janice Rubocki, and 5th graders Shannon Wheeler, Aly
Robinson, and Sara Christman for all their hard work on this great student
newspaper! Plan now to attend the
PTO's Friendship Dinner next Tuesday evening from 5:30-7:30pm. The Theme
Baskets will also be raffled off that evening. Contact the Waggoner PTO for
more information.
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