Glendale Union High School District
Sunnyslope senior recognized by Rotary
Abby Wolf, pictured second from left with two other GUHSD students, was recognized by the Phoenix West Rotary Club (submitted photo).
Sunnyslope High School senior Abby Wolf recently attended a local Rotary club meeting to celebrate being named Rotary Student of the Month. Phoenix West Rotary also celebrated two more students from Cortez and Moon Valley.
NJROTC cadets host ‘Clash of the Titans’
Excellence continues at Thunderbird High School as NJROTC hosted the Area 11 “Clash of the Titans” Field Meet. A tough field of 10 schools competed in Unarmed Drill, Armed Drill, Color Guard, Academics, push-ups, sit-ups, and two relay races. In the end, Thunderbird NJROTC ended up in third place overall, and qualified for the Regional Playoffs in San Diego, California.
GUHSD to hold teacher job fair
Glendale Union High School District is hiring for the 2023–24 school year. Residents are invited to become part of a top-performing high school district in the Metro-Phoenix area. The annual job fair will be held Saturday, Jan. 28, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Greenway High School in the media center 3930 W. Greenway Rd. Phoenix.
The district says it is committed to hiring exceptional teachers and providing the necessary resources to enable them to achieve success and satisfaction while fulfilling the mission of the district. GUHSD offers a nationally recognized teacher-mentoring program, extensive professional development opportunities, competitive teacher salaries, generous benefits package, and more.
Brian Capistran (center) accepted the award as All Arizona Superintendent of the Year for a large school district from the Arizona School Administrators (submitted photo).
To apply, visit www.applitrack.com/guhsdaz/onlineapp and then reserve an interview by calling the GUHSD Human Resources Department at 623-435-6017.
District leader named Superintendent of the Year
Glendale Union High School District (GUHSD) Superintendent Brian Capistran recently was selected as the All Arizona Superintendent of the Year for a large size school district by the Arizona School Administrators.
The mission of the Arizona School Administrators is to promote and support educational excellence in school leadership. ASA seeks to honor outstanding Arizona administrators for their professionalism, dedication, leadership, and exemplary contributions to education in Arizona. The award was presented at the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA) conference Dec. 14.
Capistran has been an educator in the district for the past 28 years.
Madison Elementary School District
Open enrollment forms are now available
Author Bridget Heos read from her book, “Mustache Baby,” at a December presentation (photo courtesy of Madison Elementary School District)
Open enrollment interest forms are now available for the 2023–24 school year for the Madison School District. The district invites parents to inspire their child’s passion for learning and leading through its solid academic foundation and Signature Programs that help students grow and develop their unique interests.
Signature Programs include STEAM, Spanish Immersion, Visual & Performing Arts, International Baccalaureate, REACH — Profoundly Gifted, and Traditional Academy.
Open enrollment is for families who live outside the district or school boundary.
Open enrollment is for families who live outside the district or school boundary. Families must complete their online Open Enrollment Interest Form before Jan. 26 and will be given priority according to the groups the district has established.
Learn more at www.madisonaz.org/enrollment.
Author visits Madison Traditional
In December, Madison Traditional Academy students received a special visit from award-winning author Bridget Heos, who shared her process for researching and writing her books.
During the presentation, the author read her book, “Mustache Baby,” aloud to the students. She also discussed how books are published, illustrated and printed.
Phoenix Union High School District
Students offer messages of hope
North High School in Phoenix will receive $1,000 for creating one of the Valley’s largest tangible displays of hope.
In September, working in conjunction with Teen Lifeline, students attending 21 Valley high schools created nearly 19,000 handwritten messages of hope during Teen Suicide Prevention Awareness Month (www.teenlifeline.org). These tangible demonstrations of encouragement aim to help their peers struggling with depression, anxiety or thoughts of suicide. The messages of hope were written on strips of paper and turned into paper chains. Joined together, these chains would stretch nearly one mile in length.
With 3,250 links, North High School earned the prize for the most handwritten links of any school in the Valley. That’s enough links for the chain to stretch across the school’s football field more than twice. The prize money will be used to create a permanent display of hope on the campus.
Science teacher receives Fulbright grant
Lauren Hubert
Lauren Hubert, a science teacher at Camelback High School, has been selected to receive a grant from the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching research program sponsored by the U.S. State Department for 2022–23.
A science teacher at Camelback since 1999, Hubert served seven years as Science Instructional Leader, earned National Board Certification in 2017, has been a sponsor of active Camelback Science Club for 23 years, and helped start the new Camelback Travel Adventure Club to promote global awareness and cultural experiences in 2021.
Hubert grew up in Phoenix and ended up at Camelback in part, she says, due to the encouragement of her mom and a Camelback alum.
For the 2022–23 cohort, only 23 teachers were selected nationwide by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to travel to one of 10 foreign countries to do an academic research project. Starting Jan. 1, Hubert will spend three months in Singapore visiting the Ministry of Education & Curriculum Divisions as well as observing at several schools to research how Singapore is teaching students in K-12 classrooms about global climate change and sustainability.
Washington Elementary School District
Teachers win Supply My Class awards
Several Washington Elementary School District teachers were honored with the APS Supply My Class Award, including Desert View Elementary School teacher Karen Moreno and Moon Mountain Elementary School teachers Suzette Alexander, Kyra Harris and Careen Vierthaler.
The APS Supply My Class program awards $500 to randomly selected teachers in APS service territory to help ensure they have the resources they need to support their students’ success.
Fifty community volunteers came together in December to help beautify the campus at Maryland School by planting 21 donated trees (photo courtesy of WESD).
Maryland receives tree donation
The Arizona Sustainability Alliance, American Forests, Bank of America and the Girl Scouts Arizona Cactus Pine donated 21 trees to Maryland School in December.
Fifty volunteers helped beautify Maryland by planting 21 trees around campus. These trees will help to mitigate extreme temperatures and improve air quality, all while providing students and teachers an enhanced campus for years to come.
WESD to host kindergarten events
The Washington Elementary School District will offer kindergarten open house events Tuesday, Jan. 24, from 5–7 p.m. Available at 27 locations, these events will provide future kindergarteners and their families with opportunities to meet teachers, explore classrooms, receive important information about the KidSpace childcare program, transportation services and school meals and more.
The free, full-day program offers a developmentally appropriate, research-based curriculum that addresses reading, writing, math, science, social studies, physical education and art, with time for fun and interaction
The district currently is enrolling kindergarten students for the 2023–24 school year. Its free, full-day program offers a developmentally appropriate, research-based curriculum that addresses reading, writing, math, science, social studies, physical education and art, with time for fun and interaction.
Anyone who has a child turning 5 before Sept. 1, 2023, is encouraged to attend the event.
To learn more about kindergarten enrollment, call 602-896-6950 or visit www.wesdschools.org/kindergarten.
Districtwide job fair set for Jan. 19
Residents looking for meaningful employment inside Arizona’s public school are invited to attend a districtwide job fair Thursday, Jan. 19, from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at the WESD administrative center, located at 4650 W. Sweetwater Ave. The district is looking to fill a variety of positions including elementary school teachers, substitutes, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, nutrition services helpers, social workers, custodians and much more.
Walk-ins are welcome for substitute and support staff vacancies. Those interested in teaching or speech pathologist job openings should preschedule an interview by Jan. 18 by calling 602-347-2622.
To view available positions at the district’s 33 schools and apply, visit https://jobs.wesdschools.org.
Charter and Private Schools
Sixteen Brophy seniors received the Distinguished Student Award in December. The award honors students who excel in the classroom, as leaders and volunters and who participate in other activities (photo courtesy of Brophy College Preparatory).
Seniors recognized as ‘distinguished’
Each school year, Brophy recognizes 32 seniors with Distinguished Student Awards — 16 in the fall and 16 in the spring. On Dec. 5, Brophy honored the following seniors as fall Distinguished Students: Adam Acunin, Strider Aston, Michael Bennan, Peter Calihan, Rodrigo Carvajal, Michael DeBarros, Sameer Godbole, Ben Jackson, Carson Lauer, Asher Martin, Austin Moran, Carlos Nowakowski, Aidan Parris, Miguel Quintana, Jesus Ruiz Suarez and Amar Toric.
Students are chosen by faculty based on activities and accomplishments that have brought them to the attention of the faculty and also their peers. It is often a combination of excelling in the classroom, taking leadership positions, volunteering, participating in immersion trips and more.
Athletes sign letters of intent
Six Brophy College Preparatory seniors from the class of 2023 made their collegiate commitments to play college sports next fall at a ceremony on Nov. 9.
The signees included JT Craig (Army West Point/baseball), James DeCremer (Oregon State University/ baseball), Trevor Karber (University of San Diego/golf), Arman Madi (Northern Arizona University/basketball), Brennen McHenry (University of Texas/track and field) and Nuri Todd (Long Beach State University/baseball).
More students are expected to sign in the spring.
Xavier students celebrated Computer Science Education Week in December. The school was one of the first in Arizona to require successful completion of a computer science coding class in order to graduate. (photo by Lisa Zuba).
School excels in computer science
Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) is an annual national program dedicated to inspiring K-12 students to take interest in computer science, advocate for equity and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers and partners in the field.
Xavier College Preparatory was one of the first schools in Arizona to require successful completion of a computer science coding class in order to graduate. Students take the course during their sophomore year.
The school also has the largest chapter of the National Computer Science Honor Society in the nation, and all its members are young women.
AP Computer Science teacher, Leon Tynes, Jr., said of the week-long event, “We celebrated the restart of the Robotics Team and Club, the addition of project-based learning in our Computer Science courses, the introduction of the Unreal Engine in our curriculum, and the large number of AP Computer Science Principles students developing mobile applications that make the world a better place. We are now incorporating robotics and physical computing in all of our introductory computer science courses.”
It is appropriate that Xavier leads in computer science education. The school was started by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The first person in the United States to obtain a Ph.D. in computer science was Sister Mary Kenneth Keller, of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) (Irving C. Tang earned a D.Sc. in computer science the same day as Keller, on June 7, 1965.) Xavier’s administration continues to be led by Sisters from the same BVM order.
Xavier’s computer science graduates have been accepted into prestigious computer science programs at Duke, MIT, and Princeton, and have worked for companies such as Microsoft, Pixar and Intel.
The Brophy community “adopted” 51 special families and collect gifts to help provide a holiday filled with joy (photo courtesy of Brophy College Preparatory).
Annual ‘Elf Drive’ serves families in need
Brophy held its annual Elf (Extending Love to Families) Drive from Nov. 28 to Dec. 12. The Brophy community partnered with the Division of Developmental Disabilities to “adopt” 51 special families and collect gifts to help provide a holiday filled with joy.
These families, many struggling financially and falling within the state’s poverty guidelines, have at least one child or family member challenged by cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy or cognitive delays.
Student receives innovation honor
Brophy sophomore Bremer Kaprosy was honored in November at the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation as a Future Innovator of the Year. The recognition included a $1,500 prize and the opportunity to meet and discuss internships with more than 700 Arizona technology companies.
Bremer’s project, “Building a Cold Rocket Engine,” won second place in the Arizona Science Fair’s Engineering Division.
