Glendale Union High School District
Jessica Delgado, left, and Kaitlyn Nguyen, members of Washington High School’s Interact Club, recently volunteered as part of a club effort to provide meals to people in need at André House. The club helped serve more than 400 meals (photo courtesy of Glendale Union High School District).
Student club serves meals at André House
A club at Washington High School is demonstrating its passion for helping the community.
The school’s Interact Club recently volunteered at André House, a non-profit ministry that provides dinner, clothes, laundry service, showers, legal services, office uses and other services to homeless and poor people in the Valley. Students in the club served more than 400 meals to those in need. Interact Club is a service organization for students ages 14 to 18.
Abrazo Central Campus donates supplies to WHS
Students in need are off to a strong start this academic year thanks to donations that Abrazo Central Campus provided recently.
Representatives from the hospital at 2000 W. Bethany Home Road dropped off donated school supplies and hygiene items to Washington High School and Maryland School last month. The donations included hand sanitizer, disinfection wipes, tissues, markers, Sharpies, alarm clocks, granola bars, toothbrushes, toothpaste, crayons, pencils, lotion and soap.
These donations are important as 72 percent of students at Washington High School qualified for free or reduced-price lunches for the 2018 school year, according to the Arizona Department of Education.
Sunnyslope coach joins state Hall of Fame
Sunnyslope High School soccer and softball coach Mike Fenton was recently inducted into the Arizona High School Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame.
Fenton was recognized for his “leadership, excellence, and success” serving youths in the state. He will be honored at a luncheon on Sunday, Oct. 17 at an Elks Lodge in Phoenix.
Madison Elementary School District
Residents donate blood at district event
The Madison Elementary School District recently teamed up with Vitalant Blood Donation to hold a community blood drive at the district office.
Residents donated enough blood to impact more than 90 lives. Mitigation methods were in place to prioritize the safety of donors. There has been a shortage of blood donations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Learn about elementary schools in virtual tour
The Madison Elementary School District will offer a 2021 Discover Madison Virtual Tour of its elementary school campuses at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 5. The tour also will provide information about its Signature Programs and a chance to hear from the principals at the schools.
Anyone can sign up to take the virtual tour although it is geared towards families with incoming kindergarten students. It is free of charge and participants can ask questions on the sign-up form and live during the event.
To register for the tour, visit www.madisonaz.org/discovermadison.
Osborn Elementary School District
Native American committee helps parents aid children
Osborn Elementary School District’s Native American Parent Committee (NAPC) will meet next virtually from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 4. The committee supports the Native American Education Program, which offers academic support to Native students in grades four through six.
A Native American Education Specialist works directly with students in small groups using culturally relevant literature while teaching literacy. Osborn’s program also organizes culture-based, after-school opportunities and workshops and family events for Native students and their families.
The program receives federal and state support based on the number of Native American students in the district. You can help the district maintain the program by filling out a Title VI form and JOM form for your Native child. To learn more, visit https://sites.google.com/osbornsd.org/curriculum-do-website/native-american-program or contact Native American Education Specialist Amber Stevens (Diné) at astevens@osbornsd.org or 602-707-2295. You also can contact Lilian Kong, Native American Parent Liaison, at lykong@osbornsd.org or 602-767-2475.
Phoenix Union High School District
Students, teachers can earn incentives for vaccinations
The Phoenix Union High School District is offering financial incentives to students and employees who receive the COVID-19 vaccine through its Vax to the Max campaign, which offers $100 gift cards to fully vaccinated students or a one-time payout of $200 to each staff member who shows a valid vaccination card. This campaign will last through Monday, Oct. 11, with a goal of reaching the 85 percent vaccination threshold typically required to achieve herd immunity.
The gift cards and incentives are being paid for with federal stimulus money that was given to school districts for this reason. To learn more, visit www.pxu.org/VaxToTheMax.
Miah Blake
North High grad takes spotlight in new BET show
A North High School graduate is one of the stars in a new show on BET. Miah Blake is making her TV debut in “Twice Bitten,” a “whodunit” about a conman who targets his next mark for a scam and the plot leads to desperation, betrayal and murder.
Born in Phoenix, Blake graduated from North High in 2011, where she was active in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Following graduation, Blake moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a singer and dancer but she also discovered a passion for acting. She graduated from The American Musical and Dramatic Academy & College Conservatory for the Performing Arts with a bachelor’s degree in musical theatre. Blake’s first principal role was in ABC’s “The Little Mermaid Musical Live.” Blake also is known as Alt R&B artist BLVKE and has performed in several popular Los Angeles venues.
Washington Elementary School District
Bus route information is easy to find online
The Washington Elementary School District now provides bus route information through its website. Families need to log in to the account by using their student’s six-digit identification number and date of birth. The student ID numbers can be found on ParentVUE or by contacting the office of the school the child attends. Transportation information is shown for students including their bus stop locations, bus numbers and pick-up/drop-off times.
To learn more, visit www.wesdschools.org.
Board member, teacher are finalists for state award
A Washington Elementary School District governing board member and music teacher are Top 10 finalists for the Arizona Educational Foundation Teacher of the Year Award.
Lindsey Peterson, a district governing board member, teaches English at Apollo High School in the Glendale Union High School District. She has a child in the Gifted Learning Center in the Washington district and another who attended the district’s self-contained autism program.
Alyssa Weed is a music teacher at Acacia Elementary School in the Washington district.
The educational foundation will interview the Top 10 candidates, then select five teachers as “Ambassadors for Excellence” and finalists.
Peterson and Weed will be honored at the AEF Arizona Teacher of the Year Awards on Saturday, Oct. 16, at the Madison Center for the Arts, where the Teacher of the Year will be announced.
Private And Charter Schools
The Brophy College Preparatory golf team, pictured here with Ping executive Scott Sullivan (left), won both the Brophy Invitational at Grayhawk Golf Club and the Brophy Rodeo Invitational presented by Ping at the Wigwam Resort and Golf Club (photo by Karie Dozer).
Brophy golf team wins two invitationals
The Brophy College Preparatory golf team won the Brophy Invitational at Grayhawk Golf Club, defeating Chandler Hamilton by a total of 22 strokes over the two-day event. Tyler Spielman, a Brophy sophomore, set a new record when he shot 10-under par. The Brophy team’s score was the lowest in the history of the tournament, breaking the 20-year record by five strokes. Michael Kuhl, Jack Dozer and George Rubelsky, all Brophy seniors, finished at 146, 148 and 149 respectively while Brophy junior Charlie Palmer shot 145.
Brophy’s winning streak continued when it won the inaugural Brophy Rodeo Invitational presented by Ping at the Wigwam Resort and Golf Club last month. The team initially tied with Trinity Christian from Dallas, Texas, for first place but won in a scorecard playoff. Both teams shot -7/569 over the two days of that competition.
Two schools receive grants to fund scholarships
The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust recently announced it had awarded $1 million each to Brophy College Preparatory and Xavier College Preparatory as part of its Now Is the Moment grant program
The grants, which will be used for scholarships at both schools, are part of the $123 million in funds the Trust provided to what it considers “invaluable organizations to our community.” There were 71 organizations, including the two schools, that received these grants.
Vincent, Gema, center, and Aubrey, fourth-graders at Midtown Primary School, construct a cube house out of linking sticks as part of a STEAM project for the school’s after-school Shazam club (photo courtesy of Midtown Primary School).
Midtown Primary students engage in STEAM projects
Midtown Primary School’s after-school club, Shazam, engages students with science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) through projects that include building and gardening. Students cook, draw, construct items and participate in engineering and designing.
STEAM projects help reinforce math, reading and writing skills in engaging ways. Students recently built houses out of any materials they chose. They also have designed new Lego inventions and will visit the Keep Phoenix Beautiful garden across the street from campus to help plant.
Students and employees at Madison Highland Prep will take part in a monthly STEAM Friday, where the children spend an afternoon exploring and designing. The first STEAM Friday will be held on Friday, Oct. 1.
Phoenix Country Day School to hold open house
Phoenix Country Day School will host an open house next month.
The private, independent school for students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12 will hold the event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 7, on its campus at 3901 E. Stanford Drive. This school offers small classes and supports growth of the whole child with academic excellence and character development. It has about 750 students and its average class size is 15 students per class. The school sits on 40 acres with athletic fields, an aquatic center, gyms, an auditorium, music spaces and a science, art and technology center.
To learn more, visit www.pcds.org/admissions/open-house.
MHP students join National Honor Society
Madison Highland Prep recently inducted 42 new members into the National Honor Society, bringing the total number of the school’s students in the society to 160.
These students had completed more than 20,000 hours of community service to date, as of press time and will conduct more than 4,000 hours of community service just in this year. The students have volunteered at various soup kitchens, a hospice and other organizations. They also support the school campus by tutoring their peers in reading and math, help with sporting events and student council activities, read to preschool students in the Madison Elementary School District and have partnered with Vitalant to provide blood donations to the community.
Angel Polk
Xavier senior earns leadership, academic honors
Angel Polk, a member of the Future Inspired Native American Leaders Youth Council and a senior at Xavier College Preparatory, recently won the High School Student of the Year award at the 2021 Arizona American Indian Excellence in Leadership awards event. Angel has worked with Xavier’s EPIC (Engineering Projects in Community) Program, through which she and her classmates created a website to help people stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also provided links to various COVID-19 relief funds for Native American peoples. Angel also developed a mask template for anyone who wanted to make masks at home and created masks to donate to the San Carlos Reservation.
As part of the Native American Youth Council, she connects with other youths to work on projects tackling substance abuse, health and wellness and expanding ways to link to Indian culture.
The College Board National Indigenous Recognition Program recognized Angel as a 2021-2022 Scholar based on her academic achievements and performance on the PSAT and AP. Dartmouth College has selected Angel to participate in its Indigenous Fly-In Program, which brings together prospective students from around the country to visit the campus in Hanover, N.H., and offers a way to welcome students of all backgrounds who have demonstrated their interest in Native community and/or Native American Studies to apply to Dartmouth.
Drone racing team merges sport, technology
Madison Highland Prep has introduced Arizona’s first drone racing team on its campus.
The team offers students a chance to learn how to safely operate a drone and work together. Madison Highland Prep Drone Racing Team members will build skills in multiple coding platforms and learn how to integrate those with other platforms.
Team president Jack Sanders said the drones are assembled using a manual and then each team sets up a course to fly. He said “the goal is to fly the drones through obstacles and deliver packages as fast as we can.”
The school teams will compete virtually to test their operational skills and record the fastest time.
