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School News 11/7/09

EDITOR’S NOTE — Following is part of a regular feature provided by Casa Grande’s schools about their programs and activities.

Staff Reports

Published: Saturday, November 7, 2009 12:47 PM MST

Casa Grande Elementary School District

Thank you for your support

The Governing Board and employees of the Casa Grande Elementary School District appreciate the support of the community in the recent budget override election. We are profoundly grateful to the community leaders who worked hard to generate support for this measure, and to the district’s voters for their commitment to our students. There is a critical need for these resources, and we have proven over the last decade that we can turn these additional resources into results. We intend to continue giving our community an exceptional return on their investment.

Cactus Middle School

Deanna Smith-Stout, Principal

DeAnna Addison, Assistant Principal

Fred Gallegos, Assistant Principal

Parents are invited to have lunch with their child for our Brown Bag Lunches. One was held Friday and another will be on Dec. 4.

Band Boosters will be hosting a Bingo Night on Nov. 13 in our multipurpose room. Band will be hosting concerts on Dec. 14 and 15. All performances begin at 7 p.m. in the multipurpose room.

We would like to encourage parents to consider making a tuition tax credit donation to our school. Arizona law allows Arizona taxpayers a tax credit of up to $200 for individuals and $400 for married couples filing a joint return. The deadline to make the donation is Dec. 31, 2009. The donations are used to fund extracurricular activities, school-related field trips and other student-related activities.

Casa Grande Middle School

Sylvia Trotter, Principal

Keely Bina, Assistant Principal

Kelly McGuire, Assistant Principal

The Casa Grande Middle School Wildcats continue to “put their best paws forward” in their endeavors for academic excellence, community service and extracurricular activities. There are many great things happening at CGMS!

Honor Roll assemblies to recognize the achievements of our Wildcats for the first quarter will be held next week, each beginning at 2:30 p.m. in the auditorium. Parents, if your student is to be honored, postcard invitations will be sent through the mail next week. The dates are: eighth grade, Monday; seventh grade, Thursday; sixth grade.

Band news: November and December are busy months at CGMS! The seventh- and eighth-grade Concert Choir will be taking a field trip today to Dobson High School in Mesa to participate in the middle school Fall Choral Festival. They will then give an encore performance at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday for the CGESD school board meeting in the district office on Kortsen. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, the Sixth-grade Band, Concert Band and the Wind Ensemble will be presenting their Winter Concert at 7 p.m. in the CGMS auditorium. Admission is free, and audience members will have the opportunity to win prizes in our basket raffle!

On Dec. 5, all of the seventh- and eighth-grade band members will be representing our school by marching in the 15th annual Casa Grande Electric Light Parade. The CGMS band has been consistently innovative in their creative use of lights in the parade, and this year is no exception! Also, the seventh- and eighth-grade drama class will be presenting their fall play, “Law & Order: Fairy Tale Unit,” on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. in the CGMS auditorium. Admission is also free, but audience members are asked to bring one non-perishable food item to be donated to the Casa Grande Food Bank. Finally, the Sixth-grade Choir, Concert Choir and our newly formed Mariachi Band will be presenting their Winter Concert on Wednesday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. Admission is free, so come out and support the choirs and the inaugural performance of CGMS Mariachi!

The Social Studies Department at CGMS is proud to announce that Judge Kevin White will be speaking to our students on Friday, Dec. 4. He will be talking about a variety of subjects related to the court system as well as sharing his past experiences as a student here at CGMS.

Science: In November, CGMS sixth-grade students will be participating in Project WET as part of their science class. The students will be working with Abbott Laboratories, Arizona Water Company and the University of Arizona to conduct a school water audit. The students will take audits of the most probable and significant locations on the school grounds where water can be wasted or used more efficiently. In the end, we expect to see real water savings because of the good investigative work that the students do. The School Water Audit Program is an applied science and math activity that engages students in a meaningful, real-world project. The students will take their new-found knowledge and apply it to their homes. On another science note, CGMS now has its own weather station. It was purchased through the Learn & Serve grant. You can see what the weather is like here at our school by going to www.wunderground.com. Just type in the ZIP code 85222 and you will see our weather station’s data. Students are encouraged to take home personal weather stations to compare the weather at their house with the data from the school.

NJHS: A big “thank you” goes out to the students who walked in the Relay for Life. The students took turns walking the track all night to help raise money for the American Cancer Society. Five students, Darien McLean, Ram Williams, Adriana Espinoza, Lindsey LeBret and Amilee Ortiz, attended a state leadership conference in Prescott. They participated in many activities developing leadership skills and began planning our Martin Luther King Day service activity.

The NJHS and Touch of Hope volunteers are beginning their annual diaper drive to collect money or diapers for the community diaper bank. Last year, we donated $1,200 worth of diapers to the bank. We had a movie and game afternoon for our students on Thursday. We will sell popcorn and punch. All proceeds go to the diaper drive.

The National Junior Honor Society is planning a flag-raising ceremony on Monday to honor all veterans. Parents are welcome. The ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. by the flag pole.

We would like to remind parents that student pickup is in the west parking lot next to the auditorium. This is a safe, roomy place to meet your students after school if you are picking them up. For the safety of our students who ride buses and those who walk, please do not pick up students near the Salvation Army building or in the bus lots. We appreciate your cooperation.

Cholla Elementary School

Kay Brack Steward, Principal

Cholla Elementary is charging ahead into the school year! Over 95 percent of our parents attended parent-teacher conferences earlier this month. This is always a great opportunity to share academic information with parents and for parents to share information and concerns with teachers.

We are enjoying participating in the Mayor’s Reading Club again this year. We appreciate all the busy Casa Grande citizens who take the time to read to our students and visit our school.

The Cholla PTO sponsored another successful bingo night on Oct. 23. Families and staff enjoyed playing bingo, having pizza, visiting with friends and winning great prizes. The PTO will sponsor another bingo night in the spring.

Cholla third-graders have completed their first month of MAC-Ro (Math Achievement Club by Rodel). Students complete some review math problems at home every night and have them checked by their parents. Parents are to sign that they have reviewed the problems with their child. The MAC-Ro program has proven to be a successful way to solidify math understanding. We are thankful to the Cholla PTO for funding our participation this year.

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Cottonwood Elementary School

Douglas Price, Principal

As we approach the end of the calendar year, we thank the parents and community members for their support of our school through volunteering and through encouraging our students.

In addition to a curriculum that is full of opportunity for learning the basics of reading, writing and math, we provide experiences to make learning relevant and exciting. Sometimes that includes field trips or speakers who come to school to share their talents and experience with our students. We offer special presentations by authors, wildlife experts, story-tellers, musicians, artists, writers, scientists and health professionals. Costs are covered through our extracurricular fund. You can designate your Arizona income tax dollars to this fund, as approved for all Arizona schools by our state Legislature.

The deadline for accepting these tax credit donations for this tax year will be Dec. 19. Please call our school office at 836-1393 or our district office at 836-2111 for more information.

Evergreen Elementary School

Debbie John, Principal

Our first quarter ended on a very positive note. Thank you to all of our parents for their participation in parent-teacher conferences. It is with your continued support that Evergreen students are so successful. Our teachers want only the best for our students. Please keep in contact with your child’s teacher throughout the year to help make sure your child’s needs are being met.

Cool morning weather reminds us that the winter season is quickly approaching. While the mornings are providing crisp temperatures, our afternoons are still warm. Please make sure your child dresses with layers to help with these temperature changes. If your child is wearing a jacket or sweater to school, please make sure to write their name inside the garment so it can quickly be returned to the student if left outside or in the cafeteria.

Evergreen’s PTO is up and running. They are planning some wonderful events for our families and are excited about a new fundraiser. Look for more information to come from PTO about how you can support our school. Volunteers are greatly appreciated at our school. If you would like to volunteer, make sure you have filled out the required district volunteer application. You may obtain this application from the front office.

Dates to remember: Nov. 11, no school in honor of Veterans Day; Nov. 18, Holiday Meal; Nov. 26-27, no school in celebration of Thanksgiving; Dec. 21 to Jan. 1, no school for winter break.

Ironwood Elementary School

Dr. Shirley Howell, Principal

Thanks to all who came to parent-teacher conferences to discuss the academic and behavioral progress of our students. It is so important that home and school work together.

We appreciate all who attended the first quarter Honor Roll Assembly for grades four and five held Oct. 21. It is wonderful to celebrate the accomplishments of students achieving academic success and first quarter perfect attendance. The fourth- and fifth-grade students also enjoyed a special assembly on the hazards of drug use titled Stand Tall/Meth, Not Even Once. Ask them about it!

The annual food drive for the Casa Grande Food Bank will be Nov. 13-20. Ironwood students will compete by class to see who brings in the most canned goods — no items in glass please. The winning class will receive an ice cream party while our community gains the tools to support those needing assistance.

Attendance at the Fall Carnival was great and the donations will help the PTO fund field trips, Water Day and other fun activities. Many thanks to Sonic for donating a variety of supplies including bottled water and two special guests who interacted with the crowd. Plan to attend the Title I Holiday Family Literacy Night Dec. 1 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Once again, guest readers will share their favorite holiday book, and families will be able to join together to make a gingerbread house.

McCartney Ranch Elementary School

Joanne Kramer, Principal

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and we have so much to be thankful for at McCartney Ranch. American Education Week is Nov. 16-21 and we want to say thank you to all those who contribute to making education a wonderful experience for our students. Thank you to our teaching staff, who chose education as a profession. They are caring, dedicated and work tirelessly to ensure high levels of learning for all students in a rich and positive school environment. We are grateful for the involvement and encouragement of all parents and grandparents and for their nurturing and guidance. Thank you to our community, who supported us and passed the override election. With everyone’s continued support and enthusiasm, we will make a difference in our students’ lives.

The November Holiday Meal in the cafeteria will be on the 18th and our December Holiday Meal will be on the 17. You may purchase your tickets the day before these meals are scheduled so that you can enjoy these delicious feasts with your children.

McCartney Ranch will host Brown Bag Lunches on Nov. 20 and Dec. 11.

Our third annual Gingerbread Family Night will be on Dec. 10 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Guest readers, along with a visitor from the North Pole, will join us as families create original gingerbread houses. All students will receive a book to take home.

Mesquite Elementary School

David Owen, Principal

October brought numerous opportunities for our families, community and school to meet, share and enjoy moments together. On Oct. 6, Mesquite PTO invited students’ fathers and family members to join us at school for “Donuts for Dad.” Our PTO also held its fall book fair from Oct. 1-9. Reminder: Our PTO will also hold a spring book fair, giving our community another opportunity to purchase from a wide assortment of age-appropriate books.

Mesquite also held parent-teacher conferences and had great attendance from parents in all grade levels. Our Family Reading Night was a big success. Families participated in activities based on numerous storybooks ranging from “The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” to “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Students and staff dressed up in character costumes, families brought in carved pumpkins for our pumpkin walk, and a picnic dinner was provided by the Mesquite PTO. Thank you for making it such a special night!

Our school held our first awards assembly of the year on Oct. 22 for fourth- and fifth-grade students. During our awards assembly, students were recognized for perfect attendance, academics and great character traits. Mesquite would like to recognize our first quarter Star Students in fourth and fifth grade: Kimberly Chavez, Mackenzi Sanchez, Naiya Guin, Thomas Milone, Alana Hamb, Jose Sanchez, Alyssa Yee, Hayden Wallner, Kolby Tapia, Francisco Galaz, Connor Nicholson, Dominic Moreno and Michelle Baez. We are very proud of all of you! These Mesquite Roadrunners are but a sampling of the wonderful students that exemplify excellence at our school.

Please be on the lookout for the upcoming Mesquite events in the months of November and December: Veterans Day assembly (Nov. 10), Thanksgiving Holiday Lunch (Nov. 18), Casa Grande Electric Light Parade (Dec. 5) and Holiday Lunch (Dec. 16). Your presence is greatly appreciated.

Palo Verde Elementary School

Daniel Garcia, Principal

As the holidays approach, we reflect on the many blessings and gifts that we have received at Palo Verde. We are thankful for our students who behave respectfully, responsibly and safely and do their best to learn and grow as individuals. Our Arizona Highly Performing label is the result of their efforts to excel. We are grateful to our families and friends who support and trust us to provide their children with a quality education in a safe, caring and nurturing environment. We are especially thankful for our PTO parents, who are eager and always willing to assist our school in making it the best place possible for our students. We are thankful for our wonderful teaching staff, who perform their jobs with passion and dedication. Sincere thanks goes to our support staff that serves our school with a strong desire to help make a difference in the lives of our students.

We are thankful for the generosity of our local businesses and community members who contribute to our school through donations of money, food, equipment, volunteer hours and moral support. Without their support, many things would not be possible. I am grateful and blessed to belong to a community such as ours. Thanks to everyone for making it wonderful and special.

Wow! It’s November already. This month we have PIRC (Parent Information Resource Center) visiting Palo Verde on Monday. PIRC is a resource agency that helps implement successful and effective parental involvement policies, programs and activities that lead to improvements in student academic achievement and that strengthen partnerships among parents, schools and communities. We also have Palo Verde’s first rummage sale today, starting at 7 a.m. Come down and join us.

Palo Verde fifth-graders will be starting the SMART Moves Program. SMART Moves is the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s nationally acclaimed prevention program educating youth about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. The program will run approximately six to eight weeks and will be in the classrooms once a week for 45 minutes. We look forward to having the Boys & Girls Club staff visit our school and provide this important training and information to our students. Special thanks goes to Matt Lemberg, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs, for facilitating Palo Verde’s participation in this program.  

I wish everyone a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving and a joyous upcoming holiday season.

Saguaro Elementary School

Celie Downey-Foye, Principal

The Fiesta Cookie Dough fundraiser was a success. We raised about $6,000 for student council. We realize that the economy is not in a good place right now and our Saguaro family pulled together to raise money for a wonderful cause.

Saguaro School would like to congratulate the following students for being selected Students of the Month for September: kindergarten: Courtney Morrison, Darin Leon, Avery Beem and Eric Gutierrez. In first grade: Karleigh Brown, Owen Raley, Kaitylynn Ybarra and Danielle Leal. In second grade: Garrett Currie, Brisa Lara, Dylan Stone, Esmeralda Garcia and Joseph Estrada. In third grade: Adriana Guerra, Jared Thomas, Ramon Delgadillo and Haley Holguin. In fourth grade: Bailee Lara, Kenna Currie, Aniya Alexander and Carlos Archuleta. In fifth grade: Brittany Whisman, Anysa Macias, Nathaniel Lockridge and Jordan Murphey.

The holiday meal will be Nov. 18. Tickets will go on sale in the office beginning Thursday. This is a wonderful opportunity to come have a delicious meal with your students. We will be serving turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, dinner roll and pumpkin bar. Adult lunch is $2.75 and children’s lunch is $2.25. We hope to see you then.

The Brax Spirit Cups fundraiser for student council ended Friday. These cups make great gifts for the upcoming holidays. All students who sold at least 10 packs of cups will participate in an ice cream party. The top seller for the school will receive a gift card to spend anywhere. For every pack of cups sold, your name will be entered in the drawing for a Sonic goody basket.

“Our journeys through life are brightened by the acts of kindness and caring of the friends we make along the way.” Character building continues to be taught and modeled to our students. We respect one another and have the responsibility of displaying appropriate behaviors throughout the day.

Villago Middle School

Jeff Lavender, Principal

Paula McWhirter, Assistant Principal

Tracy Robbins, Assistant Principal

Villago will had its first academic pep rally of the year on Friday. The theme of the pep rally was “Villago is Buzzing” to reinforce our Bee Extraordinary campaign. There were many different fun activities in the pep rally including the Villago Moonwalk Dance Championship. The students heard a motivational message from Joe Martinez related to looking within yourself and setting high goals for success. The song “Man in the Mirror” was the theme of Mr. Martinez’s inspirational message. Villago staff and students recognized Arizona veterans and thanked them for the sacrifices they made to preserve our freedom. Friday also was our monthly Brown Bag Lunch in which parents/guardians come have lunch with their child. Our physical education department hosted a family fun night on Thursday from 4 to 5:30.

Students will participate in the second and third sessions of their mini-courses on Nov. 13 and 20. Mini-courses are 90-minute sessions in which students select a class that they are interested in learning more about. Villago offers mini-courses in cooking, quilting, dance, photography, creating board games and the Seven Habits of Effective People, just to name a few. Thirty-one different mini-courses are offered to the students. There will be no school on Wednesday in observance of Veterans Day. On Nov. 25 the students will take their second writing benchmark in the morning and watch the eighth-grade girls volleyball team play the staff in the afternoon. There will be no school on Nov. 26 and 27 for the Thanksgiving break.

The staff at Villago would like to thank the Villago PTSO for all their efforts with their cookie dough sale and the book fair. With these two events, the PTSO raised over $5,000 to support Villago activities. As we head into the Thanksgiving season, the Villago staff would like to emphasize that we are thankful for having great students and support from our parents/guardians, community, Governing Board and district office. Happy Thanksgiving from our school to your home.

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