District launches new fundraiser
At a community event held on May 8, the Kyrene Schools Community Foundation launched a new and innovative fundraiser.  Local businesses are now being invited to participate in order to make the Kyrene 411 a success.
The Kyrene 411 is an informational booklet that will include articles on the work of the Foundation, info sheets on each of the 25 Kyrene district schools and advertisements from area organizations, sports teams and businesses that provide goods and services to Kyrene families.
The booklet idea was created in response to community requests and will be sent to at least 18,000 Kyrene families near the end of July. Groups or business owners interested in making a donation in exchange for an advertisement can get more information by calling community relations at 480-783-4029.
Parents and community members are encouraged to contact community relations to get involved with Foundation plans for new exciting projects that will enhance Kyrene student and teacher experiences. Each year the Kyrene School Community Foundation helps through these traditional projects:
• Mini-grants for new teachers to help set up their classrooms beyond the basics provided by the District Kyrene Family Resource Center
• Annual Employee Recognition Celebration for those who have dedicated many years of service to education
• Support Services like bully prevention training, character development programs, tobacco, alcohol and drug use prevention, mental health counseling, diversity appreciation camps, and academic  tutoring assistance.


Tempe Elementary School District

Not the ‘bunny suits’ they thought

Pictured along with Intel workers, Frank Elementary students don “bunny suits” that the Intel workers have to wear to secure a clean working environment. Pictured are (from left to right) Yahaira Martinez, Susie LeBeau, Bianca Matus, Claudia Lopez-Bohnert, Naoh Huerta, Jaime Burger, Raina Aguilar-Herrera, Michelle Vanallsburg and Kenneth Main (photo by Tempe Elementary Schools).

Sixth-grader readies for politics
Allyson Atkinson, a sixth-grader at McKemy Middle School, will have the experience of her life this September when she travels to Washington D.C., for a week of political immersion.
She was accepted to attend the People to People World Leadership Forum, where she will gain high school credit while she studies political leadership and explores one of the most historical places in our country.
Because of Atkinson’s outstanding scholastic merit, civic involvement and leadership potential her school counselor nominated her for this experience.  Her political aspirations began in the fourth-grade when she wrote a letter to President Bush expressing her concerns about oil drilling.
“I love that we live in a democracy where people have the right to vote,” said Atkinson, who can’t wait until she is old enough to cast a ballot.
During this weeklong submergence in U.S. history and courses on what it takes to be a leader, Atkinson will take her first steps toward becoming a history-maker herself.

Ward students give to city crisis team
The City of Tempe’s award-winning Kid Zone Enrichment Program has begun teaching a leadership and character development program by famed golfer Tiger Woods—and the results are already showing in several community service projects.
Students from Ward Traditional Academy, 1965 E. Hermosa Drive, collected about 100 new and gently used stuffed animals as part of their community service project. They then donated the toys to CARE 7, the city of Tempe’s Crisis Response Team, on May 20.

Kid Zone provides high-quality morning and afternoon care at 14 Tempe Elementary School District schools and five Kyrene Elementary School District schools. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade attend Kid Zone at their own school; they are offered snacks, homework help and free enrichment classes. A recent City Council decision has provided extra funding to enable the popular 23-year-old program to no longer have a waiting list, so no child will be turned away because of capacity.

     This spring, Kid Zone instructors Christina Sosa and Melissa Nolan began teaching Start Something, a curriculum founded by the Tiger Woods Foundation. Students voluntarily attend hourlong lessons once a week at one of 11 Kid Zone schools. Among other lessons, the program teaches children about leadership, helping others, character, and tactics for dealing with and discouraging bullying.
     Children at several Kid Zone schools created and implemented community service projects: at Meyer Elementary, students held a canned food drive; at Rover Elementary, they collected toys for St. Joseph's Hospital; at Kyrene de los Ninos, they are holding a read-a-thon and a lemonade stand in order to buy adaptive athletic equipment for students with disabilities; at Kyrene del Norte, they held a stuffed animal drive for Care 7; at Carminati Elementary, they helped clean the park next to their school; at Kyrene de la Mariposa, they held a lemonade stand to buy pool toys for Sunshine Acres in Mesa; and at Hudson Elementary, they planted sunflowers around the grave of a Tempe Police Department K9 that died in the line of duty in 1986.
Start Something has been a great success, said Senior Community Education Coordinator Patty Russell, and it will be implemented again in summer and fall Kid Zone classes.
“It does amazing things for the children’s self esteem. It helps develop them into better people and that's our responsibility as their caretakers,” Russell said. “We're far more than babysitters... we’re educators.”
For more information on Kid Zone, visit www.tempe.gov/kidzone or call 480-350-5400.

New schools set to open
Scales, Holdeman and Thew Elementary Schools will each open in new buildings for the 2008-09 school year.
Scales will become Scales Technology Academy: A School for Innovative Learning, which will integrate technology into all subjects. In addition, the school will provide every student with his/her own laptop to support their education at no cost to parents.
Every classroom at Scales Technology Academy, as well as at the new Holdeman and Thew schools, will be equipped with interactive SMART boards, audio enhancement, digital document cameras, and LCD projection devices.
These new schools will improve the educational environment for students and serve the Tempe Elementary School District for many years to come.
Construction on these schools is funded through a voter-approved bond passed in 2005. This bond will also fund the renovation/replacement of Broadmor School and the construction design for Aguilar School.


Connolly student is a ‘Word Master’

A student representing Connolly Middle School recently won highest honors at this year’s WordMasters Challenge, a national language arts analogy competition entered by more than 230,000 students annually.  
Competing in the very difficult Gold Division of the challenge, eighth grader Sarah Saucedo earned a perfect score in the year’s third meet. Saucedo was one of just 65 students in the country to achieve these results.
The competition consists of three separate meets held at intervals during the school year. At the meets, students are given a test in which they must answer 20 multiple choice analogies questions. Students must exercise critical thinking skills and compare logical relationships between the words.
Other students at Connolly who earned outstanding scores at the meet include eighth graders Ronnie Caswell and Alec Swanson.

Tempe Union High School District
Two TUHSD seniors receive scholarships
At an evening banquet held at the Arizona Biltmore Resort, 10 Valley high school seniors received college scholarships from the T.W. Lewis Foundation. Among them were June Yoon of Marcos de Niza High School, and Priya Parikh of Corona del Sol High School.
The seniors, who attended the banquet with their parents, received scholarships, valued at $5,000 in financial aid per year for four years, to attend the college or university of their choice. Yoon will attend Brown University while Parikh will attend Washington University.
This is the seventh group of students awarded scholarships from the T.W. Lewis Foundation since the Scholarship Program began in 2002, bringing the total number of students presented scholarships to more than 70.
“Supporting education remains a top priority for our foundation, and these students have proven their work ethic and ambition to succeed,” states company Owner and CEO, Tom Lewis. “These students have earned the opportunity to attend the school of their dreams, and we are happy to help make that happen.”
The students were selected on the basis of academic performance, demonstrated leadership potential and financial need.
The T.W. Lewis Foundation Scholarship Program is one of many charitable activities that are supported by the T.W. Lewis Foundation. The Foundation was formed in 2000 by Tom and Jan Lewis to focus the company’s charitable work and serve as a funding source for their charitable activities. For more information, visit www.twlewisfoundation.org.

Private/Charter Schools:
Tempe Prep wins state track titles
This past spring, Tempe Prep captured both the 1A Boys and 1A Girls State Track and Field Championships. This was the fourth consecutive state title for the girls, who were led by seniors Corrina Alf, Laura Brittain, Liberty Brittain, Ashleigh Gaylor, Riley Gully, MaryClaire Hillebrand, Rachel LeBeau, Mary Thomas and Shea Wilkison.
This was the first-ever state title for the boys, who were led by seniors Michael Begley, Aaron Benson, Taylor Cerchie, Jon DeJeu, Jesse Gibson, Brance Hudzietz, Mark Richardson and Danny Sauer.
    Tempe Prep is located at 1251 E. Southern Ave. Visit www.tempeprep.org.