DVUSD News - Around Our Schools November 16

From: "DVUSD News" <no-reply@dvusd.org>
Subject: DVUSD News - Around Our Schools November 16
Date: November 17th 2009

Around Our Schools
November 16, 2009

Deer Valley Elementary Schools

Arrowhead
Arrowhead students in Ms. Flynn�s first grade class are joining the Michelle Obama �Push to Teach Kids by Teaching� project by growing an above ground garden. The spring crop will be donated to a local food bank.

Canyon Springs
Canyon Springs students with the help of the PTSA and National Junior Honor Society united to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Cups were distributed to all the classrooms in the school to collect "Change for a Cure". In two short weeks, the "Change for a Cure" effort brought in $580. These funds will be donated to Relay for Life to support cancer research. Mid First Bank provided a free service for counting all the coins.

Desert Winds
Desert Winds students and staff are participating in several activities to raise awareness and funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation this month: � Students are participating in Jeans and Sneaker Week beginning Monday, November 16th which has become an annual event at Desert Winds.

� School nurse Sara Mihaljevich walked in the JDRF 5K last month to kick off Diabetes Awareness Month. Staff members who supported her with donations will be allowed to wear jeans and sneakers to work during Jeans and Sneaker Week.

� Desert Winds third grade and kindergarten classes are collecting change to fill a pair of sneakers with pocket change to ��change the world� of their grade level friends who suffer with Juvenile Diabetes.

� Desert Winds coaches Mr. Hill and Mr. Belden will have students walk laps during PE to raise money for diabetic research. A certain amount has been pledged by a staff member for each lap the students walk.

Diamond Canyon
Diamond Canyon�s annual Mother/Son Flag Football game will take place on Friday, November 20th at 7 p.m. at the Anthem Community Center�s soccer fields.

Chili�s restaurant located at I-17 and Carefree highway in Tramonto will be donating a percentage of sales made from Tuesday, December 1st to Diamond Canyon School.

Greenbrier
Greenbrier second graders in Mrs. Cox�s class learned about North America and had the opportunity to take part in a program called �Kids Voting� which took them step by step through the voting process. Students gave speeches in order to be elected representative in their parties (RED, WHITE, or BLUE) and then their classmates voted in a primary election. Next in a final election, a winner of the primary election was voted in as �Teacher for the Afternoon�. The �Teacher for the Afternoon� was responsible for all that afternoon�s activities and lessons which really taught responsibility and planning.

In celebration and honor of Veteran�s Day last week many classes wrote heartfelt letters of appreciation to members of the military currently serving, as well as some to military families thanking them for the sacrifices they are making. The letters, pictures, and cards were a way to show gratitude for the service given as well as reach out to the community and beyond.

Kicking off the Thanksgiving celebrations and helping families in need, Greenbrier�s Student Council and PE Department sponsored a frozen turkey drive. The PE Department also hosted a Turkey Trot Fun Run/Walk. All the Greenbrier students participated as well as many Greenbrier parents and family members.

Highland Lakes
The students at Highland Lakes participated in "Project Thank You" this year. This project provides kids the opportunity to create letters, cards, or pictures for Veterans. Two simple words like "thank you" go a long way with these men and women who have given so much for our country. These cards were given to Veterans at the "A Gathering of Legends" at the Arizona Wing Commemorative Air Force Museum earlier this month.

Students from Mrs. Plogman's class have been collecting aluminum cans for recycling. This class project will continue through May of 2010.

Mirage
Mirage kindergarten students will be performing a play about the first Thanksgiving and why the Pilgrims came to America on Wednesday, November 25th at 2 p.m. followed by a meal in the cafeteria. Parents and friends are invited to attend.

New River
Congratulations to the New River winners of the Bike Safety Contest sponsored by Daisy Mountain Fire Department. After attending a presentation on bike safety children were asked to draw a picture of an unsafe bike rider and a safe rider. A winner was chosen from each class and received a t-shirt and recognition at the First Quarter Awards Ceremony. The winners were: Tommy Clarke, Hannah Belford, Mae Sartin, Miles Wilson, Reven Bitting, Peyton Sourant, Gianna Palazzolo, Lillie Kernan, and Austin Johnson.

The New River Student Council will be sponsoring a canned food drive beginning until November 20th. All foods collected will be donated to The Foothills Food Bank to help those in the community who are in need.

Park Meadows
Dental students from Midwestern College of Dental Medicine visited Park Meadows students in grades 2-3 earlier this month and shared information about dental hygiene and oral health. Each student received a bag filled with toothbrushes, dental floss, and toothpaste. Dental students demonstrated how to properly brush and floss to maintain healthy teeth and gums.

Park Meadows cafeteria manager Julie Pruitt and staff will be sponsoring a traditional holiday meal on Friday November 20th. Parents and grandparents are invited to share in the festivities during students regular lunch period. The cost is $2.75 for adults and $2.15 for siblings.

Sierra Verde
Sierra Verde students in the National Junior Honor Society volunteered at the Bike Rodeo this month which was held by the City of Glendale. The students helped educate younger children ages 5-13 about safety. The students have also been fundraising for the Akiba school, a school for homeless children, in Kenya, Africa. They have adopted one of the students and have provided funding for her to attend school.

Sierra Verde parents/grandparents are invited to have lunch with their child to celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday, November 20th in the cafeteria. The cost is $2.50. For questions call 623-376-4814.

Deer Valley Middle Schools
Desert Sky
Desert Sky has established a new business partnership with Arizona Medical Network. Recently the company donated 400 back packs to Desert Sky students.

Hillcrest
Hillcrest has been awarded a $500 Wells Fargo grant which was submitted by science teacher Kim White. The funds will be used towards science classes.

Many games and activities were held this month during Red Ribbon Week which promoted a drug-free life. Hillcrest staff decorated their classroom doors or hallways, which also was Character Counts Week. There were many excellent displays that the students and staff worked on all week.

Deer Valley High Schools
Barry Goldwater
The Barry Goldwater High School Chess team placed third in the 2009 Arizona Interscholastic Association State Chess Team Championship this month. This win also earned the team the Region II Championship title for the fourth year. The following players have qualified to compete for the state individual title: Ethan Morgan
Richard Cowan
Kevin Huynh
Joel Arcilla Southwick
Yaro Pilipenko
Joseph Cross

Boulder Creek
Boulder Creek junior Jordan Woods has been selected for the 2010 All-State Show Choir. There were over 500 students that auditioned for the 40-member choir. Jordan made 6th chair in the bass section.

The Boulder Creek Cross Country Girls� team placed 2nd at regionals and 8th in the state meet. Senior Lexi Feifer finished 37th overall and junior Lindsay Gregory finished 40th. The Boys� team placed 3rd at regionals and finished 7th in the state. Senior Adam Mackey finished 15th overall and junior Zach Walling finished 33rd.

The Boulder Creek Swim and Dive team earned the region championship title. The Boys� team ranked 3rd in the State tournament and the Girls� team finished 9th. The Boys Relay team finished 1st overall and junior Brian Moore took two 2nd place finishes. Sophomore diver Tyler Gable finished 7th overall in the state diving competition. The Boys team also had two top-8 finishers: seniors Nick Badalamenti and John Schoppaul.

The Boulder Creek Boys� Golf team finished second in the region and competes at State this month.

The Anthem Veteran�s Day Parade was held earlier this month with over 100 Boulder Creek students who walked in the parade and represented clubs, athletics, and the National Honor Society. This year�s parade hosted over 80 community entries.

Boulder Creek High School has selected the 2010 cohort for the Certificate of Academic Distinction. Eleven seniors will complete senior thesis projects in their final year of attendance. With an oral defense in April 2010 and an awards dinner, these seniors will receive an additional certification to supplement their diplomas in May. The students are: Ian Arvidson, Samantha Augostowski, Briana Bohannon, Brittany Burgard, Tyler Kopas, John McMullen II, Daniela Panfil, Brandon Pena, Kevin Penkalski, Vanessa Vogel, and foreign exchange student Quanquan Zhang.

Crossroads
Crossroads was presented with an award from Valley Schools Workers' Compensation Department for being injury free for the 2008-09 school year. This is the 5th year that Crossroads will be receiving this award. Due to the fact that this is the 5th consecutive year of no employee injuries, Crossroads will also be receiving a special appreciation gift from Valley Schools - a $100 gift card from Thee Pitts Again so all employees may celebrate in this group safety effort. The Pitts Again is also providing a 10% discount card for each employee. Crossroads is the only site to receive this award for the 2008-09 school year for DVUSD.

Mountain Ridge
The Mountain Ridge High School drama students, under the direction of Ms. Laura Nardone, have been selected by the Arizona State Thespian Board to be one of only two schools in the state to be invited to perform their entire show at the Arizona Thespian Conference being held at the Phoenix Convention Center on Saturday, November 21st. They will be performing The Secret Garden before an audience of over 1,800 people.

Mountain Ridge High School (under the direction of teacher Mrs. Doug Evans) was able to conclude its annual food drive with 8,058 pounds of food and a check for $8,500 for a total of 202,674 cans of food which was donated to St. Mary�s Food Bank. The school came in first place in the state.

Sandra Day O�Connor
The Sandra Day O�Connor "Eagle Pride" Marching Band has earned three Excellent ratings and swept ALL caption awards at every festival for Outstanding Music, Outstanding Visual, Outstanding General Effect, Outstanding Color Guard and Outstanding Percussion. They were awarded second place at the Gilbert Invitational, won the outstanding Drum Majors for Seniors Anthony D'Avello and Breanna Lopez in Tucson and were honored with the rating of SUPERIOR at the State Marching Festival on November 7th.

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