Parents, alumni sought for career fair
The 2025 Brophy Career Fair, set for Tuesday, April 1, from 9:30-11:30 a.m., is an opportunity for students to learn more about the diverse occupations available in the community. Current parents and local Brophy alumni are invited to come to share their experiences with Brophy’s students in a conversational setting during the fair.
The event will take place on the Brophy campus. If you are interested in participating, please complete the form available through Brophy’s Counseling Department at brophyprep.org. Please note that filling out this form expresses interest but is not a “reservation.” Interested parents and alumni will be contacted separately with confirmation and additional instructions.
The Arizona School for the Arts middle school robotics teams celebrated their accomplishments after a December competition that sent two teams on to the FIRST® LEGO® League Robotics State Competition (submitted photo).
Robotics teams head to state competition
The robotic teams at Arizona School for the Arts (ASA) delivered a standout performance, showcasing their talent, dedication and teamwork in December.
Competing against 22 teams, ASA’s middle school teams earned impressive recognition, with two advancing to the FIRST LEGO League Robotics State Competition. The Lazer Sharks secured the coveted Robot Design Award, while the Electric Eels earned the Engineering Excellence Award, solidifying their spots at State. The eSTEAMed Artificers also demonstrated exceptional perseverance and dedication throughout the competition. ASA’s high school robotics team, Power Outage, added to the school’s accolades by winning the FIRST TECH Challenge Think Award. This honor celebrates the team’s creativity, engineering excellence and innovative approach to the design process, emphasizing their problem-solving skills and teamwork.
Brophy campus to host Black History Festival
The Brophy Black Family Alliance and the Black Student Union will present the fifth annual Black History Festival on Saturday, Feb. 22, from 11 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the Brophy campus. This free event is open to the public and will feature vendors and entertainment throughout the campus. Enjoy food, music, and more in honor of Black History Month.
For more information on the festival, contact Deena Sellers, at dsellers@brophyprep.org.
Open house set for Montessori school
Montessori Day School will host an Open House on Friday, Feb. 7, from 4 to 6 p.m. on its campus at 9215 N. 14th St. Parents and prospective students can tour the school, learn about the advantages of individualized instruction in a nurturing community environment, talk with current and former students and parents about the difference Montessori Day Schools has made in their lives and meet the teaching staff.
To learn more, call 602-943-7672 or visit www.mdpsc.org.
Help support annual fashion show event
Brophy College Preparatory will present its 2025 Brophy Fashion Show, “Perfected in Love,” on Friday, April 11. This annual event will celebrate more than 40 years of community spirit and spotlight the school’s senior boys as they take center stage.
The community is invited to support the event through various packages that include exclusive Brophy keepsakes and exciting raffle prizes. The fashion show directly supports Brophy’s Financial Aid Fund, through which the school provides need-verified tuition assistance and ensures every student can fully engage in extracurricular activities.
For information on ways to support the event, contact brophyfsfinancialaid@gmail.com. To stay up to date on all things Fashion Show, visit https://www.brophyprep.org/giving/fashion-show.
Team 52311P from Madison Highland Prep won the 11th Annual VEX Robotics State Qualifying Competition, held in January (submitted photo).
MHP hosts robotics competition
Madison Highland Prep hosted the 11th Annual VEX Robotics State Qualifying Competition on Saturday, Jan. 11, bringing together top robotics teams from across the state. Students from 11 schools gathered to compete in a day of robotics challenges.
The winners of the competition were Team 52311P from Madison Highland Prep, who received the Judges Award, Team 7996D from Higley High School, who took home the Excellence Award and the Robot Skills Champion Award, Team 52311H from Madison Highland Prep, who won the Design Award and were part of the Tournament Champion alliance, and Team 781X from Dark Matter High School, who won the Innovate Award and were part of the Tournament Champion alliance.
The success of the event relied on the hard work and dedication of many volunteers. The competition was led by Head Referee Oluwamayowa Esan, who has expertly managed all Highland Prep Academies VEX Robotics competitions for the 2024-2025 academic year. A team from Blue Orthodontics, which has generously supported Madison Highland Prep’s robotics program for years, served as the competition judges. Additional management support was provided by Geoffrey Winship, REC Support, and Jared Flores, Technology Specialist.
Seniors named Flinn semifinalists
Aanvi Goel
Two seniors from Xavier College Preparatory, Maryam Al Qaderi and Aanvi Goel, have been selected by The Flinn Foundation to advance in the process to earn Arizona’s most competitive merit-based college scholarship.
Goel, who plans to attend medical school, is well on her way with experiences at Mayo, Creighton and ASU’s Saturday Scrubs program. Goel has a keen interest in healthy food and preventative health care. She co-founded My Tasty Table, an organization dedicated to providing youth nutrition education. The organization teaches economically disadvantaged youth how to make healthy snacks while also providing food for their families.
Maryam Al Qaderi
Al Qaderi, also plans to attend medical school. She hopes to become an oncologist one day, and her high school tenure has been spent preparing for this career. She has volunteered at Mayo Clinic, Dignity Health Cancer Institute and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society while engaging in fundraising efforts to enhance the quality of life for cancer patients. Al Qaderi serves as vice president of the HonorHealth Medical Explorers Club and vice president of volunteers at the Phoenix Children’s Teen Board. As president of the National Honor Society this year, Al Qaderi led the student effort in raising almost 700,000 cans for St. Vincent de Paul’s food drive.
The Flinn Scholarship, now in its 40th year, is valued at more than $135,000 and provides a full ride covering tuition, housing, meals and at least two study abroad experiences in partnership with Arizona’s public universities. The 2025 semifinalists were selected based on their academic achievement, leadership and service, and personal characteristics from more than 1,100 applications submitted in October.
The Flinn Foundation will announce the Flinn Scholars Class of 2025 in late April.
Fourteen seniors, three juniors and four freshman from Madison Highland Prep earned high marks on their recent end of semester exam (submitted photo).
Students earn college credit from exam
Twenty-one students from Madison Highland Prep scored exceptionally high on the PLTW Final Exam in December, thus granting them the recognition of “Distinguished.” This distinction gives the students the opportunity to obtain college credit from more than 30 colleges, use their test scores to qualify for internships and apprenticeships and help strengthen their college application or resume.
Among the students who scored at the “Distinguished” level, 14 are seniors, three are juniors and four are freshmen. The results generated from the exam offer an indication of the level of each student’s knowledge for that particular engineering course and also provide individual evaluation scores on specific skill clusters.
The assessment, which is given to students in December and May after they complete an engineering course, tests students on rigorous educational standards. The PLTW Final Exam primarily focuses on problem-solving and critical thinking in a real-world context. The assessment questions are designed to involve real-world situations that students would most likely encounter.
Barb Chura
Soccer coach wins national honor
Xavier College Preparatory’s soccer coach, Barb Chura, was named the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Girls National Coach of the Year, for the 2023-24 school year. Chura was named along with Tim Beck of Ironwood, who was named Boys National Coach. Both coaches beat out seven other national finalists serving girls and boys soccer programs from around the country for this honor.
Chura, who has coached at Xavier for 22 years, has taken its girls soccer team to four consecutive 6A state championships and nine state titles and produced an overall record of 288-66-26.
The coach believes that “athletics teaches students discipline, teamwork, sportsmanship and accountability, as well as how to become leaders and confident young women.”
The NFHS, which has been recognizing coaches through an awards program since 1982, honors coaches in the top 10 girls sports and top 10 boys sports. Chura becomes the 13th national coach of the year from Arizona since the 2016-17 school year, and the sixth consecutive year Arizona has produced at least one national winner.
Steven Mack, director of Curriculum at Madison Highland Prep, has been awarded the prestigious Circle of Excellence Award by Cognia (submitted photo).
Director of curriculum honored for leadership
Madison Highland Prep’s Director of Curriculum, Steven Mack, has been awarded the prestigious Circle of Excellence Award by Cognia. This recognition celebrates Mack’s exceptional leadership and tireless efforts to strengthen classrooms throughout Madison Highland Prep and acknowledges Mack’s profound impact on the school.
Mack’s nomination, submitted by Assistant Director of Curriculum Erin Zhang, highlighted his unwavering commitment to education excellence. Under his leadership, the school has achieved Cognia accreditation and earned STEM certification. Zhang praised Mack’s dedication, stating, “Because of his hard work and leadership, Madison Highland Prep has further solidified our commitment to excellence.”
