DVUSD News Around Our Schools - February 17, 2009

From: "DVUSD News" <no-reply@dvusd.org>
Subject: DVUSD News Around Our Schools - February 17, 2009
Date: February 19th 2009

Around Our Schools
February 16, 2009

Deer Valley Elementary Schools

Anthem School
Anthem librarian Melody Holehan-Kopas was selected as one of the nation-wide winners in the Horace Mann Sweepstakes for current and retired educators. She was presented with the $1,000 prize last week at a staff meeting.

Desert Sage Elementary
Desert Sage is hosting the second annual �Mini-Relay for Life� to raise money for the American Cancer Society on Friday, February 20 at 3:30 p.m. on the school field. Students, parents, staff and community members are invited to attend. Students will need to bring with them to the event a donation and a pink permission slip in order to attend. Local business partner Coffee Bean will be at the event and will be donating a portion of their proceeds to the American Cancer Society.

Gavilan Peak School
The Gavilan Peak Boys Basketball team has earned the district regional title. They will be competing for the state title next month.

Gavilan Peak School hosted five Chinese visitors last week who are studying to be English teachers in China. They were here to practice teaching with Rhodes Junior High in Mesa and wanted to visit Gavilan Peak, so they could practice teaching students about Chinese culture and language. Their focus at Rhodes has been teaching English and the methodology involved with that. Part of their program focuses on the American education system, but their overarching objective is global communication through education.

Highland Lakes
The Highland Lakes� annual "Jump Rope for the Heart" and "Hoops for the Heart" fund raiser was held this month. The students and staff collected pledges for the American Heart Association.

Highland Lakes students in grades K - 3 practiced for several weeks building their strength and cardio endurance during PE classes. During the contest the top three jumpers for each grade level received certificates and prizes.

First place winners are: Rian Heenan (1st grade); Emily Stutsman (2nd grade); Carissa Edwards (3rd grade)

Students in grades 4 - 6 participated in both �Hoops for Heart� and �Jump Rope for Heart.� Parents and students cheered their class basketball teams on with posters and mascots. The winning teams for each grade level received a basket ball for their class.

First place basketball team winners are: Amber Beeney; Matt Ryan; and Grant Lung (4th grade class); David Pavalich; Alec Medrano; Jake Passalacqua; and Austin Lestina (5th grade class); and Anika Gaysue, Paityn Jaquess; and Makayla Enders (6th grade class).

Students also competed in "Jump Rope for Heart" and the top three winners are: Andrew Ybarra (4th grade); Taylor Hinson (5th grade); and Yuka Tsurubucni (6th grade).

All proceeds will benefit the American Heart Association. Highland Lakes will receive gift certificates from U.S. Games for raising money for the American Heart Association.

Las Brisas Elementary
The student council held a successful food drive this month by collecting over 3,000 items that will be donated to the St. Vincent De Paul food bank.

New River Elementary
The first graders at New River have started on an exciting adventure to �Free The Horses.� They will be learning about cooperation, responsibility, and making good choices. The program is video based with discussion and activities along the way. The adventure is led by program characters Kelly, Jerome the Gnome, and yes-yes (a positive attitude).

Fourth and fifth grade New River SAGE Students conducted �tours� of their Arizona Amusement Park last week. These presentations were the culmination of a research project that focused on math, science, research, design, reading, and writing skills. The students began their journey by researching the science behind roller coasters.

Students designed original roller coasters, created blueprints to scale, and wrote papers describing the scientific principles used in amusement park rides utilizing solar and wind power for electricity and water-recycling treatment plants. Each student created a three-dimensional model of their rides to place in their Arizona Amusement Park. The project will be on display again during Parent/Teacher Conferences in Room 404.

Sierra Verde
The Sierra Verde lady Vipers basketball team made it to the quarterfinals of the NBA All-Star Jam Session Invitational last week losing to Terramar School. The team worked hard and was able to develop team building strategies to help them overcome adversity.

Desert Sky Middle School
Math teacher Staci Bolley has been awarded a $5,000 grant from Wells Fargo. The grant will be used to purchase a variety of math tools to help students gain a better understanding of math concepts.

Mountain Ridge High School
Mountain Ridge High School students will be competing on Cox's Brainstorm Academic Quiz Show this month. The Brainstorm show is an Emmy award-winning academic quiz show that has local high school academic teams competing against each other. The Mountain Ridge students will be competing against Sahauro and Westwind Preparatory.

Fifty-four teams from Phoenix and Tucson will compete in rounds of three with the winner of each round advancing to the playoffs. A championship match will determine which team is the smartest.

This year's Brainstorm champions will each receive new laptops, $500 in Cox Digital Dollars, and a $1,000 grant from Cox to benefit their school. All contestants will receive either tickets to the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix or the International Wildlife Museum in Tucson. Cox will also reward the coach of the championship team with a digital communications gift pack including items like an iPod, DVDs, and CDs.

"Brainstorm" will be airing on Cox channel 7, Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. with repeats on Fridays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 4 p.m.

Sandra Day O�Connor High School
Junior Kaitlin DuToit has been selected as a finalist in the fourth annual �Lucerne, The Art of the Dairy Art Contest - Taste of Moo-sic.� Her entry has been selected as one of 30 from around the country. All finalists will apply their design on a life-sized cow sculpture that will compete for the grand prize of $20,000 for their school, plus $5,000 each for the student and teacher. This contest promotes cross-curriculum, through both art and music in an effort to spark young artists' creativity and to challenge their ability to apply their musical knowledge to a unique project.

Past "Around Our Schools" are located at https://www.dvusd.org/pages_news_achievements/around_our_schools.htm