DVUSD News - Around Our Schools - November 2, 2009

From: "DVUSD News" <no-reply@dvusd.org>
Subject: DVUSD News - Around Our Schools - November 2, 2009
Date: November 3rd 2009

Around Our Schools - November 2, 2009

Deer Valley Elementary Schools

Desert Sage
Desert Sage will be hosting its annual Family Art Night on Thursday, November 19th from 5-7 p.m. in the cafeteria. This hands-on art extravaganza is a free night of creating for all Desert Sage students and their families. This year the event will feature centers including hand building with clay, the pottery wheel, a weaving corner, memory bracelets, and much more. Desert Sage is located at 4035 W. Alameda Road.

Diamond Canyon
Diamond Canyon families are invited to attend the Barnes and Noble Game Night on Wednesday, November 18 from 5-7 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble Store located on Happy Valley Rd. A percentage of all sales in the store and cafe for that night will benefit Diamond Canyon School.

Diamond Canyon second grade teacher Kelly Huish was awarded Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the Sharing Down Syndrome of Arizona. This award was given to honor her service and commitment to students with Down Syndrome in the classroom. The award was presented at the annual Down Syndrome Buddy Walk at the Phoenix Zoo last month.

Students from Diamond Canyon�s Coyote Corner After School Program were visited by members from the S.W.A.T. team last month. Students had the opportunity to explore several S.W.A.T. team vehicles, interact with the team robot, and and try on the gear and armor.

New River
New River Elementary School is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. A celebration will take place on Friday, December 4th, 5:30 � 7 p.m. with keynote speakers Jerry and Lois Jacka focusing on the �History of New River� and an evening barbecue catered by Dickey�s Barbeque Pit. The barbecue begins at 6 p.m. and cost is $5.00 per person. Visitors will want to walk the timeline to the Teacherage Museum, take in the slide show of the day�s student activities, and visit with friends, old and new.

To attend, please RSVP the school to make reservations. Call Lisa Willingham at 623.376.3500 or email her at lisa.willingham@dvusd.org. Anyone wishing to share stories, photos, or memorabilia for the Teacherage Museum should contact Nancy Townsend at nancy.townsend@dvusd.org, or just drop items off at the school office. New River Elementary School is located on Black Canyon Highway, approximately one mile north of the I-17 New River exit #232.

Responsibility is the Character Counts! focus for November at New River Elementary School. It also marks Kids at Hope month. The students will take part in activities to enhance their understanding of these ideas.

New River fourth graders Tanner Billingsley and Bryonne Byman were selected by their teachers as TERRIFIC KIDS for the first quarter. Each child received a Savings Bond and certificate from the New River Kiwanis Club.

New River first quarter classroom celebrations were held on Friday, October 30. Students in grades 3-6 who were honored for Principal�s List and Honor Roll. The Principal�s List students, their teachers, and parents were invited to have pastries with principal, Tricia Graham. Students also received ice cream at lunch, as did students making the Honor Roll. Students in kindergarten through second grade received certificates for earning all E�s on their report cards. Students in all grades were eligible for the special recognition of �On a Roll�. This was given to students nominated by homeroom teachers showing remarkable improvement and/or hard work in specific subjects, goals, and/or behavior.

Park Meadows
Park Meadows will be hosting its 16th Annual Fall Festival on Friday, November 6th from 5:30 � 9 p.m. Students and families are invited to attend. Family activities include games, rock wall, food, and bouncers. Special music entertainment by the Beamz with Jerry Riopelle (a state of the art interactive laser music system). Park Meadows is located at 20012 N. 35th Ave.

Sierra Verde
Sierra Verde fifth grade students in Mrs. Wann's 5th grade class will participate in an exploration simulation experience on Friday, November 13th which will allow them to demonstrate what they have learned about early European exploration. Parent chaperones are excited about helping set up the school playground with clues and treasures and are looking forward to joining the students in their "ships" and serving as guides. At first students will "think" they know their playground very well until they receive the "ancient coded map" from the Queen of Spain's cartographer.

Each group will set sail from a different location on the playground equipped with a backpack of supplies. As they travel, they will be given "clues" and "challenges" to help them advance in their journey as well as "fate cards" which will provide them with opportunities to experience success and set backs such as battles, fog, ice, disease, loss of ships. Students will be "put to the test" as they are challenged to survive their long and eventful exploration journeys.

Deer Valley High Schools

Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater High School was presented with the Bronze Beat the Odds Award for academic improvement last month, at a ceremony hosted by the Phoenix-based Beat the Odds Institute. This award marks major milestones toward attaining the title of a "Beat the Odds School," one in which individual student achievement is better than expected as a result of implementing research-based principles that are within every school's control. Barry Goldwater met the criteria for bronze status which includes effectively implementing research-based leadership principles school-wide and receiving at least a "performing" AZ LEARNS label from the Arizona Department of Education for the 2008-2009 school year.

Boulder Creek
Boulder Creek High School student Jordan Woods has been selected to perform in the 2010 All-State Show Choir. Over 500 students auditioned for the 40 member choir and only ten students were chosen in each section.

Boulder Creek High School�s Teenage Republicans and Young Democrats will host the first political panel getting involved for the 2010 elections on Wednesday, November 4th from 2:20 � 3:30 p.m. in the Mini Auditorium. State Representatives Sam Crump, Chad Campbell, and Annie Lloyd will be participating in the �Question and Answer� panel about issues related to young adults. Deer Valley
The Deer Valley High School Air Force JROTC Saber Team received a $750 donation from TriWest Healthcare Alliance. The donation request was submitted by the Deer Valley Education Foundation. Funds will be used to purchase equipment for the Saber Team.

Mountain Ridge
The Mountain Ridge Interact Club recently participated in the Rock & Roll Paint-a-thon in which they painted the exterior of a house owned by an 86 year old community member. Mountain Ridge teacher Mr. Chris O'Brien, Interact Club sponsor, remarked on how the homeowner was filled with emotion as participating students said their good byes. This, year, over 130 houses around the valley were being painted on October 24th as part of the valley-wide Rock & roll Paint-a-thon. The MRHS Interact Club has participated every year since the founding of this program six years ago. The Interact Club also continues to work one shift a month preparing and serving dinner for low income people at Andre' House, sorting and packaging food at the local food bank, and preparing dinner at the Ronald McDonald House.

Mountain Ridge High School will be presenting its fall play �In the Secret Garden� on November 5-7 and 12-14 in the auditorium. Tickets are $7. In The Secret Garden, an enchanting classic of children's literature is brought to life in a stage musical for both the young and old alike. Young Mary Lennox is living in India with her military family when a sudden outbreak of cholera leaves her orphaned. Alone in the world, she embarks on a journey to England to live with a bitter, widowed uncle haunted by the ghosts and memories of his past, including his beloved dead wife Lily. Bored in the old house, Mary ventures into the wild moor where she meets Dickon, Ben, and Martha who tell her of her Aunt Lily's long forgotten garden. Soon, Mary embarks on a life changing adventure to find the garden, learning along the way that home and family are the most important things in the world.

Renee Woodruff, Mountain Ridge High School CTE teacher, and her students were awarded the 2008-2009 Outstanding CTSO Chapter Award by West-MEC. The West-MEC Outstanding CTSO Chapter Award is presented to a select chapter that meets certain criteria that includes the development of an annual program of activities that includes opportunities for all members, and that conducts a member awards recognition event outside of school time, involving parents and program supporters.

Mountain Ridge high school students Matt Cordon and Marqueze Gordon have been selected to perform in the 2010 All-State Show Choir. Over 500 students auditioned for the 40 member choir and only ten students were chosen in each section.