DAVIDVERDUGO,

TOPPRINCIPALINARIZONA

Page9

Elementary track meet

INSIDE

Junior Jazzercise

Holocaust survivor visits

Coatimundi council award

Top teachersnamed

3

4

5

9

14

SANTA CRUZVALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL

NewsletterSummer 2012. Volume XVIII, Issue 3

Educate Everyone Every Day 3535District No.District No.3535353535 “We believe that everyonewill experience successful

learning every day.”District No.

RioRicoHighSchool seniors reaped, collectively, anestimated$432,000inscholarshipmoneythisyear, thevastmajority ofwhichwasdoled out in aMay15 cere-monyat the school. In addition, academicdepartmentstudentsof theyearand final2011-2012class rankingswere announced.Class valedictorian Joy Noriega was presented,

along with co-salutatorians Iliana Rosas and RobertoUrsua.Department students of the year were as follows:

English, Zachary Sbragia; math, Rosas; science, Ur-sua; social studies, Joanna Sanchez; fine arts, JesusMontano; foreign language, JorgePadilla;physicaled-ucation, Franklin Gomez; Junior ROTC, Edgar Sawa-da; Helpful Hawk, Jasmin Dicochea; CTE nursing,RaulBerrellez;CTEbusinessandaccounting, ItzelGil;CTEculinaryarts,ElizabethMedina;CTEagriculture,Alexandra Brown; the Principal's Award, BarbaraOgushi; and Assistant Principal awards went toMatthewOrtiz and Aurelio Velasco.In addition, theCertificate of Special Congressional

Recognition was awarded to Edward Camarena, andRosasandAlfredoFragosowon theU.S.ArmyReserveNational Scholar/Athlete Awards. The winner of the$15,000 National Hispanic Recognition ProgramScholar, renewable for up to three years, was JacobLowe.In terms of local scholarships, thousands of dollars

were announced at the formal ceremony, held at theschool's cafetorium. The Elks National FoundationMost Valuable Student Scholarship awarded $900 toRosas. The $1,000Friends ofMaderaCanyonBudandMary Gode Scholarship, renewable for four years at acollege, went to Lauren Badertscher.

Scholarships of$432,000 earned

bygraduates

See AWARDS / page 17

SENIORS HIT JACKPOT

By Morgan Falkner

Marchingtowardsopportunity

Graduation2012

100YEARS OFRANCHINGAWARDSPAGE13

Moving tothe nextphase of theirlives, Rio RicoHigh School seniorsbid farewell to friendsand teachers.Graduation was held May23. For more photos, seePages 10 & 11Photo/Marisa Gerber

Superintendent’s letter

The summer edition of ournewsletter is one that celebratestheconclusionofourschoolyear. Agraduation photo always adornsthe front page as a symbol of thatconclusion. I am proud of the ac-complishments of our school dis-trict as we seek to bring our vision“Educate Everyone Every Day” tolife. For this issue Iwould like to re-flect on some of our accomplish-ments and give you a flavor ofthings to come next year.Our school district continues to

receiveaccolades for individualac-complishments. Leah Joy Oberg,

Mountain View Elementary, SantaCruz County Teacher of the Year;Allison Fluke, United States historyteacher at Rio Rico High School,was selected as a James MadisonFellow and will attend the four-weeksummer instituteon theCon-stitution to be held in July inWash-ington,D.C.; andStacyHatton,CNA(Certified Nurse Assistant) teacherat RRHS, was selected as ArizonaNew Career and Technical Educa-tion teacher of the year.David Verdugo, principal at Cal-

abasasMiddle School was selectedas ArizonaMiddle School Principalof the year. This occurs two yearsafter John Fanning’s selection forthe same award.Among students, Valeria Arvisu,

a seventh-grade student at Coat-imundi Middle School, won thecounty spelling bee and represent-ed us at the state level, finishing13th; CesarManjarrez andEdwardCamarena were selected to partic-ipate in theU.S.ArmyAll-AmericanBand program at the Alamo Bowl;andCadeFanning andJaredFisch-erwere first and second-placewin-ners, respectively, of the GrandCanyon Essay contest. Not to beoverlookedwas the$432,000worthof scholarships awarded to thisyear’s seniors. Great work by our

students and employees!The school district is also proud

of institutional honors that havebeenreceived thisyear. Includedinthose are Rio Rico High School re-ceiving the honorable mention forthe College Board – Gaston Caper-ton Inspirational Award; the Ari-zonaAuditorGeneral reported thatour District was ranked numbertwo in operational efficiency ascompared to our peer group of 22;and finallyanannualcelebrationofsuccess, with the inaugural Excel-lence in Education Awards Ban-quet honoring the academicachievements of the top 5% fromthe senior class.Additionally, plans were put in

place to enhance parent and com-munity involvement at the districtlevel.I started a Superintendent’s Par-

entAdvisoryCouncil in September.Iwouldliketoexpandthemember-shipof thisgroupnext year. InAprilwe had our first Strategic Planning-- Continuous Improvement plan-ning committeemeeting.

Page

2,SantaCruz

ValleyDistrict#3

5Summer20

12New

sletter

By Rod Rich

Superintendent’s Spotlight

See LETTER / page 16

I want to introduceyou to Cesar Manjar-rez. He attended Lin-coln Elementary,CoronadoElementary,and Peña Blanca Ele-mentary schoolsthroughout his pri-mary years. He pickedup the saxophone inthefourthgrade.Cesarwas promoted to thehonor band his firstyear as amusician andhe is proud of this ac-complishment.

Cesar then attendedCalabasas MiddleSchool, continuing hiscareer as a young mu-sician and hard work-ing scholar. Cesarholds a strong passionfor music and the arts.“Music is much morethan sound – it’s amelodic and spiritualinterpretation of life,culture, and spirit,” hesaid.

Cesar Manjarrez, left, and Edward Camarena,right, are the focus of this issue’s ‘spolight.’

See MUSIC/page 16

NOGALES INTERNATIONALWICKCOMMUNICATIONS

Manuel C. CoppolaPublisher & Editor

268W. View Point Drive, Nogales, Arizona 85621,520.375.5760 Fax 520.761.3115

On theweb:www.nogalesinternational.com

To advertise in your school newsletter please contact:Maria or Carmen

at the Nogales International:520.375.5760

SANTA CRUZ VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 35

ROSIESIMPSONMember

MissionStatement

HARRYCLAPECK

Board president

BRIANVANDERVOET

Member

SUSANFAUBIONMember

“We believe that everyone will experi-ence successful learning every day.”

JOELKRAMER.Board clerk

Board members can be contacted through the district office:

281-8282or by writing to: Santa Cruz Valley Unified School

District No. 351374W. Frontage RoadRio Rico, Arizona 85648

SCVUSD No. 35TRANSPORTATION

DEPARTMENT

For information or questions call:(520)761-2164 (direct line)

Transportation@santacruz.k12.az.us

Governing Board

ROD RICHSuperintendent

SantaCruz

ValleyDistrict#35

Summer2012

New

sletter,Page3

Trackmeet inspiresimportant traits

GOODSPORTSMANSHIP

Third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students from allthree SCVUSD No. 35 ele-mentary schools, also in-cluding Bracker Elemen-tary andMexicayotl Charterschools in Nogales, gath-ered excitedly March 30 fora Character Counts TrackMeet at Rio Rico HighSchool.This event was similar to

aJuniorOlympicseventandconsisted of relay races,dashes, long jumps, andballthrows, among other activi-ties. It was not as competi-tive as Junior Olympics be-cause its main purpose was

to promote the “six pillars ofcharacter” known as trust-worthiness, respect, re-sponsibility, fairness, caringand citizenship.Organizers of the event

made sure that all studentswere following the charac-ter traits to promote goodsportsmanship. There wereno tryouts, so all studentswishing to participate wereable todoso.All students re-ceived ribbons for partici-pating.Peña Blanca’s fourth

graders performed verywell, winning most of thedashes.Theytookhomerib-bons in the 100-meter dash,the 200-meter dash, and thefour-by-100-meter dash for

the girls and boys.Regardless of the many

wins, Peña Blanca studentsfound that the experiencewas themost valuable.“It didn’t matter if you

wonor lost,nobodybooedatyou, everyone cheered andit was all about having agood time,” said fourth-grader Steven Legleu.Organizers hope to host

this track meet again nextyear. “Events like this teachkids about good sportsman-ship and it takes away thecompetitivepressuretowin.It was all about having funfor thekids,” saidDanielRo-driguez, Peña Blanca’sphysical education teacher.

By Andrea Danielson

Proudly showing the ribbons they won in a track meet are, from left, Kevin Garcia-Reynolds,Angelica Vasquez, Irela Lopez, Marcela Brenner and Steven Legleu from Peña Blanca ElementarySchool.

Activities encourageSC youth to read

“Themost important20minutes of yourday…readwith a child.”This has been our dis-

trict’s slogan for severalyears.At SanCayetanoEl-ementarywerecentlycre-ated “Love of ReadingWeek” to promote litera-cy, andhopefully, a love ofreading.To kick-off the week in

early May, teachers pre-sented a reader’s theaterfor students. Daily eventsincluded DEAR TIME,which stands for DropEverything and Read. Af-ter morning announce-ments, children were al-lowedtospend10-20min-utes to read for pure en-joyment.A special event of the

week was “Buddy Read-ing” where students from

higher grades werepaired with students inlower grades to read toeach other.An evening event,

“Readingunderthestars,”was held for students andtheir families. Schoolgates were beautifullydecorated with paperchains, each link repre-senting a book that hadbeen read. The night wasfull of activities.Families could visit the

book fair, picking upbooks to expand theirhome libraries. Theycould also attend a read-aloud of a Dr. Seuss as-tronomy book. As a spe-cial treat, the choir per-formed a song dedicatedto the late Bertha Ro-driguez, a former fourth-grade teacher, aswell as asong dedicated to theirlovingmothers.

Theeveningconcludedwith a star-gazing eventon the basketball courts.The Sonoran Astronomi-cal Society made tele-scopes available in orderto view thewondersof thenight skies.The culminating event

was with guest readersvisiting our San Cayetanocampus. Our guest read-ers included district em-ployees, administrators,community leaders andparents. Each was as-signed to a classroomwhere they read a bookaloud and shared theirpersonal reasons for lov-ing to read and how it hasbeen important in theirlives.We hope our families

enjoy their summer andencourage them to in-clude reading as part oftheir summer fun.

First grader DomeniqueCoppola and his familyparticipate in “reading underthe stars.”

By Debbie Condes

Choir members serenadetheir appreciative mothers.

Santa Cruz CountySupervisor JohnMaynard is a guest readerfor Mrs. Alford’s secondgrade class.

Thanks to the NogalesInternational and advertisers for

their support.This newsletter is published at

no cost to taxpayers.

Page

4,Sa

nta

Cruz

Valle

yDi

strict

#35

Sum

mer

2012

New

slette

r

Free breakfast, lunchprogram resumes

Nochild should gohungry this summer -- thanks to SantaCruzUnified SchoolDistrictNo. 35’s sponsorship of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) SummerFood Service Program.

According to theUSDA,hunger isoneof thebiggest challenges to the learningprocess.No child should go hungry at any time during the year.

For this reason, theSummerFoodServiceProgramisdesigned to fill thatnutritiongapand make sure all children can get the nutritious meals they need, without charge.

Breakfastandlunchwillbeavailabletoallchildrenandyouthundertheageof18,with-out charge, at the following locations:

Rio Rico High School:Dates: Monday - Friday, June 1-June 28Breakfast Time: 7:30 -7:50 a.m.Lunch Time: 11:30 a.m. – 12 noonAddress: 590 Camino Lito Galindo, Rio Rico

Calabasas Middle School:Dates: Monday - Friday, June 11-June 29Breakfast Time: 7:30 - 8 a.m.Lunch Time: 11:54 a.m. - 12:25 p.m.Address: 131 Camino Maricopa, Rio Rico

Peña Blanca Elementary School:Dates: Monday – Thursday, June 4-June 28Breakfast Time: 7:30 - 8 a.m.Lunch Time: 11:15 a.m. – 12 noonAddress: 131 Camino Maricopa, Rio Rico

Rio Rico Family Resource Center:Dates: Monday – Friday, June 4-July 27 (closed July 4)Breakfast Time: No breakfast at this locationLunch Time: 10 a.m. to 12 noonAddress: 1103 Circulo Mercado, Rio Rico

Pinnacle Charter High School:Dates: Monday-Thursday June 4-June 25,

and July 2-July 26 (closed July 4), and Friday, July 27Breakfast Time: No breakfast at this locationLunch Time: 10 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.Address: 2055 N. Grand Ave., Nogales

Borderland Food Bank:Dates: Tuesday-Friday, June 4-July 27 (closed July 4)Breakfast Time: No breakfast at this locationLunch Time: 10:45 a.m.-11:45 a.m.Address: 145 E. Terminal Produce Dr., Nogales

Meals will be the same for all children regardless of race, color, national origin, sex,age or disability, and there will be no discrimination in the course of the meal service.

Meals are also available to adults, with or without children, at a cost of $3.00 per meal.For more information on the Summer Food Service Program, call (520) 375-8286.

By Carol Cullen

Moving to the beatwith Jr. Jazzercise

Positive partnershipswith members of our com-munity are important tothe success of our stu-dents. Such a partnershipwas realized this springbetween San Cayetano El-ementary and the localJunior Jazzercise pro-gram.

In an effort to raiseawareness about child-hood obesity and overallhealth and fitness, Lour-des Jeong and CharlesDenson partnered to bringthe Junior Jazzercise pro-gram to all students at SanCayetano. Ms. Jeong is acertified Jazzercise in-structor and Mr. Denson isSan Cayetano’s physicaleducation teacher.

“According to local datafrom the 2010 Census, ourtotal population in SantaCruzCountywasat47,420,ofwhich38.9percentwereoverweight and 26.6 per-cent were consideredobese,” Ms. Jeong said.

“Obesity isariskfactorthatopens the door to hyper-tension, and high choles-terol, and increases thechance of diabetes. It canand will change if we cankeep kids educated, moti-vated and active so thatthey grow into healthyadults.”

Ms. Jeong and Mr. Den-son have a mutual goal toemphasize the importanceof health and fitness in ourchildren. They want chil-dren to realize that exer-cise can be fun. Duringregularly scheduled P.E.class, students experi-enced Junior Jazzercisewhere they learned easy-to-follow dance steps andfun fitness games, all set topopular music that theyknow and listen to.

“It was fun. I liked thestretches,” said Dior Velez,a first-grade student. Shesaid the stretches are im-portant because they’reexercise. “I liked the songsshe put on like, ‘Big TimeRush’ and ‘Shake it up.’

They are from shows Iwatch on TV.”

“Physical activity helpsus to build a strong body,be in a better mood, andhave more energy,” saidMr. Denson of the partner-ship. “Everyone has differ-ent skills and abilities. Ithink it is important thatweall tryasmanydifferentactivitiesandsportsaspos-sible to find a physical ac-tivity that we love. Jazzer-cise helps to build confi-dence moving to a beat,and after a class with Louyou will be hooked!”

“Working with yourkids has been a fabulousexperience for me. It is ex-tremely satisfying to seethe studentsenjoy the Jun-ior Jazzercise program,”said Ms. Jeong of her timeat San Cayetano. “Theyhave all shared with mehow much fun they hadexercising this way, andhow it didnot feel like theywere exercising becausethey had a blast and lovedmy music.”

Kneeling at rightis CharlesDenson, SanCayetano P.E.teacher. At right,standing in back rowis Lourdes Jeong, cer-tified JuniorJazzercise instructor,with Mrs. Noriega’ssecond-grade class.

By Debbie Condes

Junior JazzerciseinstructorLourdes Jeongteaches first gradersat San CayetanoElementary.

SantaCruz

ValleyDistrict#35

Summer2012

Newsletter,Page

5

Teachers chosen by their peers

Alli Coyle, Rio Rico High School

District Teacherof the Year:

SantaCruzValleyUnified SchoolDistrict No. 35Teachers of the Year

Manny Romero,Coatimundi Middle School

Janie George,Calabasas Middle School

Evelyn Armijo,Peña Blanca Elementary

LaRee Plascencia,Mountain View Elementary

Charles Denson,San Cayetano Elementary

Lizzy Naff,Special Services Department

Inspired byMichelangelo’s famous art

Mario Sandoval of MountainView Elementary School enjoysworking on his project. Studentscreated their own rendition ofMichelangelo’s Sistine Chapel byusing mannequin to draw thehuman figure. The sketches werethen taped under tables andshaded with colored pastels orcrayons simulating the agonyand the ecstasy of theRenaissance master’s four-yearproject.

Are you smarter than an eighth grader?Read the problem and select the best answer

• 2 quarters• 5 dimes• 3 nickels

Visit www.santacruz.k12.az.us to view the videoof one of our eighth grade classrooms giving the

correct answer to the question.

Gary has 10 coins in his pocket.

Without looking, Gary pulls one coin from his pocket andputs it on a table. Then, he pulls one more coin from hispocket. What is the probability that the first coin is a dimeand the second coin is a nickel?

A) 1/8B) 1/6C) 1/5D) 1/2

Page

6,Sa

nta

Cruz

Valle

yDi

strict

#35

Sum

mer

2012

New

slette

r

Thirteen young Moun-tain View Elementaryartists were given the op-portunity of a lifetimewhen their original por-trait drawings were re-cently exhibited at Tubac’srenowned Hal Empie Stu-dio and Gallery.

Gallery owners andcommunity advocates forfine arts education, Annand Peter Groves, honoredMountain View Elemen-tary students and theirfamilies with a receptionand show for the fifth con-secutive year.

“It’s amazing how theydo this every year” saidMark Gilbreath, grandfa-ther of kindergartenerPaulina Fontes. “What agreat motivator”.

The focus of this year’sbody of work was portrait-drawing. Twelve elemen-tary students had theirblack and white sketcheschosenfromafieldofmorethan 1,000 pieces. In eachpencil portrait, excitinglines, bold shapes, andstrongcontrastswereusedto capture the personalityof the subject. Each piecewas then carefully en-larged and cropped to giveit the appearance of anetched print.

“Each of these portraitsnot only tells us about theperson drawn,” said artteacher Mark Dittmar,“but about the students

themselves. They attributequalities to their subjectslike theywould toan imag-inary friend or a doll.”

In addition to the field ofportraits, two digitally-ani-mated features were ondisplay. Fifth-grader TonyMoreno and fourth-graderRoberta Gracia producedthe moving cartoons intheir extra-curricular Car-toon Club. As she pressedthe program’s play button,Roberta Gracia joined heraudience huddled aroundthe laptop. Hundreds offrames later the animatedstory came to an end aslaughter and applausefilled the gallery. “It took alot of work to make that,”she said shyly.

The gifted artists select-ed for this year’s showwere: kindergartenersJhaniel Bojorques, EdanDrake,andPaulinaFontes;first-grader Moises Fonse-ca; second-graders LoganHoward, Aaron Villegas,and Saul Alegria; third-graders Melody Gamezand Mario Sandoval;fourth-graders OrquideaCampbell and RobertaGracia; and fifth-gradersSamantha Coronado, TonyMoreno, and Fausto Daus.

“If we can inspire justone [student] to developtheir talent then it’s allbeen worth it,” said Mrs.Groves as the crowdthanked her. Indeed, HalEmpie’s life and work willcontinue to inspire youngartists for years to come.

SantaCruz

ValleyDistrict#35

Summ

er2012N

ewsletter,Page

7

Tubacgallery supports educationinartwith reception for youngsters

Enjoying a reception for themselves as artists are students from Mountain View Elementary School. At front is Saul Alegria.Middle row, from left, are Melody Gamez, Edan Drake, Jhaniel Bojorquez and Moises Fonseca. At rear, from left, are SamanthaCoronado, Tony Moreno, Mario Sandoval, Fausto Daus, Logan Howard, Orquidea Campbell and Roberta Gracia. Aaron Villegas andPaulina Fontes not shown.

This year, the MountainView library staff was suc-cessful in bringing in addi-tional funds to purchasebooks to fill its shelves. Thelibrary budget was aug-mented with money col-lected through a fundrais-er, and funds received froma grant.

The Scholastic Book Fairbrought in $1,400. “We’lluse that money to add newtitles next year,” said KimCrowlie, school librarian.

A $500 award was re-ceived from the McDon-ald’s Corporation grant.This money will be used tobuy “empty books” forevery student who attendsthe popular Open LibraryNight next fall. On that

night, students will cele-brateauthorshipbysharingstories they’ve read. Theythen fill the empty bookswith their own stories andillustrations.

Funding for this reader’shaven has yielded impres-sive results. Since theschool year began, 400Mountain View studentshave participated in the Ac-celerated Reader Program.

ByMark Dittmar

$1,900 raised to buy morelibrary books at Mt. View

ByMark Dittmar

Page

8,SantaCruz

ValleyDistrict

#35Summer20

12New

sletter

Employees singled out by peersChosen as classified staff person of the year for each school

Rubi Rodriguezresource aide,

Coatimundi Middle School

Connie Latvalaspecial education aide,Calabasas Middle School

Elsa Zepedasecretary,

Peña Blanca Elementary

Griselda Doylehealth aide,

Rio Rico High School

Karla Sosaattendance clerk,

Mountain View Elementary

District Classified Staff Member of the Year:Debbie Condes

Parent Liaison - San Cayetano

Got 20 minutes?Read to a child every day!!Educate Everyone Every Day

Administrative Staff Member of the Year:Julieta Quiroz

Human Resources Manager

SantaCruz

ValleyDistrict#35

Summer2012

New

sletter,Page9

Verdugo wins state’s top principal awardDavidVerdugo,principal

ofCalabasasMiddleSchoolPrincipal, has been select-ed as Arizona’s middleschool principal of the yearin the National AssociationofSecondarySchoolPrinci-pals/MetLife Principal ofthe Year program.

The MetLife/NASSP Na-tional Principal of the Yearprogram, which began in1993, annually recognizesschool leaders who havesucceeded in providinghigh-quality learning op-portunities for students.Principals are acknowl-edgedby their peers for theexemplary contributionsthey have made to the pro-fession.

Verdugo was recognizedfor demonstrating excel-lence in the areas of per-sonal excellence; collabo-rative leadership; curricu-lum, instruction and as-sessment; andpersonaliza-tion of the school environ-ment.

“We are extremelyproud of Mr. Verdugo’swork at Calabasas MiddleSchool,” said Rod Rich, su-

perintendent at Santa CruzValley Unified School Dis-trictNo.35. “And,soaretheteachers and students atCalabasas. This was evi-denced by the surprise as-sembly to congratulate andthank him for the recogni-tion and honor his awardbrought to the school anddistrict.”

Verdugo credited thestaff and students at Cal-abasas for this honor.

“I amveryhonored to re-

ceive this award,” he said,adding, “Even though Iwon the award, it is reallythe staff and students ofCalabasas that earned theaward. I have incrediblestaff, students, and parentswhoworkhardeverydaytomake Calabasas a greatschool.

“In the four years that Ihave been principal ourtest scores have improvedeach year.We also have setall-time highs in reading

scores the last two yearsconsecutively.”

Verdugo is the thirdmid-dle school principal inSCVUSD No. 35 to have re-ceived thisaward in the lastdecade. Coatimundi Mid-dle School Principal JohnFanning won the award in2010 and Rich, the currentsuperintendent, won in2005 while he was princi-pal at Calabasas.

By Carol Cullen

Warsaw Ghetto Upris-ing and Holocaust sur-vivorWandaWolosky toldher story of survival toCoatimundi MiddleSchool eighth-grade stu-dents April 20.

Theeventwasheldoneday after the 69th an-niversary of the begin-ning of the Warsaw Ghet-to Uprising battle thatlasted 28 days. This battlewas the longest and mosthard-fought act of Jewishresistance during WorldWar II.

Ms. Wolosky is one ofthe few survivors of theUprising, and one of onlyeight children to survivethe events that transpiredthere.

Ms. Wolosky and other

Holocaustsurvivorssharetheirstoriesacrossthena-tion in the hopes that au-diences will continue totell the story. This is thelast generation that willhave a chance to hearthese stories first hand.

“Hopefully the eighthgrade students of Coat-imundi Middle Schoolwill continue to tell herstory to others, stand-upfor people who are in-jured, mistreated orweaker than they are.They must rememberthat they can make a dif-ference,” said one eighth-grade teacher.

Ms. Wolosky chal-lenged the Coatimundistudents to share her sto-ry with others, and re-minded them that whateachof usdoes inourdai-ly lives really doesmatter.

By Patrick Echlin

Guest speakerplaces historyin perspective

Calabasas Middle School Principal David Verdugo is congratulated by Governing BoardPresident Harry Clapeck and Superintendent Rod Rich..

Stop and refuel with a hot, delicious pizza!CHEERING FOR YOUR TEAM TAKES ENERGY!

Always Ready! Always Hot! Always Ready!

LOMA LINDA PLAZA491 MARIPOSA RD - NOGALES, AZ

NEXT TO SAFEWAY

(520) 281-0140

Page

10,S

anta

Cruz

Valle

yDi

strict

#35

Sum

mer

2012

New

slette

r

Graduates mark accomplishments

Senior Class Adviser Rich Gale, letft, talks to seniors before they walk onstage to get their diploma.

Senior class officers were Regina Soto, president; Sarah Maudlin, vicepresident; and Madel Martinez, secretary.

Graduating senior Madel Martinez enjoys the night that culminatesfour years of effort.

Seniors celebrate after becoming official graduates of Rio Rico High School.

SantaCruz

ValleyDistrict#35

Summer2012

New

sletter,Page11

Coatimundi Middle School Principal John Fanning,above, was the guest speaker at the high school’s 15th annualcommencement.

Graduating Rio Rico High School seniors make theirway down the ramps before the May 23 ceremony began.A total of 220 seniors graduated.

Photos/Marisa Gerber

Valedictorian Joy Noriega, above, gives her speech.

Co-salutatorian Iliana Rosas, right, speaks during gradu-tation.

Co-salutatorian Luis Roberto Ursua walks off stage fol-lowing his talk.

Page

12,S

anta

Cruz

Valle

yDi

strict

#35

Sum

mer

2012

New

slette

r

SantaCruz

ValleyDistrict#35

Summer2012

New

sletter,Page13

Students from PeñaBlanca Elementary are nostrangers to the world ofranching. Local living hastaught them much aboutfarming, cattle-raising, andthe overall ranching expe-rience. For this reason, fifthgraders from variousschools were asked to sub-mit art work depictingSouthern Arizona’s richfarmingheritage and to de-scribe ranch life.These works were re-

cently featured at the “100Years of Ranching Celebra-tion,” held at the SonoitaFairgrounds, to recognizeSanta Cruz County’s richranchingheritageaspartofthe yearlong commemora-tion of Arizona’s centenni-al.The celebration show-

cased231drawingsandde-scriptions from selectedfifth graders from all overthe community.Best of showwas award-

ed to Annette Chavez from

Melissa Holland’s fifth-grade classroom. Chavez’swork depicts a young cow-girl riding a brownbuck ona sunny day, taking the ob-server to the grassy ranchvalleys in the vicinity ofPatagonia. The cowgirl isriding by a brick barn in alush green valley withrollinghills,whilecattleareleisurely grazing in an en-closed pen.“I was so excited to win

first place for my drawing.It was a big honor,” Chavezsaid about her experience.Chavezwasawarded$50

from the Arizona StradlingMuseum of the HorseEquine Foundation, anaward ribbon, and herdrawing was generouslyframedbyWylieGlad,own-er of the Desert Gallery lo-cated in Sonoita.Jennifer Rojo received

firstplace in thedescriptioncategory. Rojo describes asceneinwhichaninspectoris tryingtoexamineabull totag, however the inspectoris too scared to approach

the bull. A cowboy thenbravely comes in to com-plete the inspection.Rojo, a student in

Annabelle Cerezo’s fifthgrade class, said that herdescriptionwas inspired bywatching her uncle inspecta bull at her family’s ranchin Hermosillo, Mexico. Ro-jo won $25 and two awardribbons.“My family and I were

very proud to have my artand writing shown at thisevent,” Rojo said.Other Peña Blanca stu-

dents with art work dis-played at the event wereIsaac Betancourt, AngelaMelissa Carrasco, AnaMorales, Kimberly Durna,Yemille Leon, KarimOlvera, and LaurenClerc.“I wanted to participate

in this event because itcombined the two things Ilove most: drawing andranching. I thought thisevent was a good way toshow the community whatwe do in Arizona,” said stu-dent LaurenClerc.

PB students amongwinners in‘100 Years of Ranching’ contest

By Andrea Danielson

Annette Chavezdisplays her ‘Best ofShow’ drawing whichwon an award.

Two prize winners are Annette Chavez, left, and Jennifer Rojo. Both submitted their work tothe “100 Years of Ranching” contest at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.

Page

14,S

anta

Cruz

Valle

yDi

strict

#35

Sum

mer

2012

New

slette

r

OnMay3, theCoatimundi StudentCouncil at-tended the 46th Annual Convention of the Ari-zona Association of Junior High Student Coun-cils at the Fort McDowell Resort in FountainHills, Ariz.At the event, the CTMS student council was

recognized as an honor council. In addition, thestudents received seven superior ribbons fortheir projects and reports.This is the fourth year that CTMS has partici-

pated in the association, and the third time thestudent council has been recognized as an hon-or council.“I think it’s a great opportunity to meet other

student council members and see what they’vedone at their schools throughout the year,” saidBen Bauer, eighth grader and student counciltreasurer.The students toured the Arizona Capitol Mu-

seum in Phoenix the following day.

‘Superior’ ribbons go to studentcouncil at state convention

By Patrick Echlin

At we celebrate Father’s Day with GREAT SALES!

Wide selection of

short sleeved Shirts

at only $995!

All Bugatchi& Mirto Shirts

at 50% OFF!

Sandals

only $1495!

590 N. Morley Ave.Nogales, AZ

(520) 287-5103XNLV

3391

1

Coatimundi Middle Schoolstudent council membersreceived seven superior ribbonsfor their projects and reports. Atrear, from left, are GustavoCamacho, Benjamin Bauer,David de la Rosa, Patrick Hays,Adriana Urtusuastegui, RebeccaWright, April Nerey, MarleeBaxter, Natalie Burgos, andAnyssa Martinez.In front, from left, are MariaMaravilla, Andrea Gonzalez,Fernanda Leyva, SashaWisdom, Andrea Lira, CarolinaMoreno, Jessy Alvarez, CristinaMaldonado, and teacher SarahWright.

SantaCruz

ValleyDistrict#35

Summer2012

Newsletter,Page

15

Mountain View Elementary School’s veteran second-gradeteacher, LaRee Plascencia, was chosen from among her peers asMountain View’s Teacher of the Year. HereMrs. Plascencia sharessome of her thoughts on education.

•How long have you been in education and what grades haveyou taught?I have been teaching for 15 years and have taught kindergarten,

fourth grade, and second grade.

• Why did you become a teacher?I want tomake a difference in children’s lives and give them the

knowledge they need to build a successful future.

• You are the leader of a highly effective second grade team.What is the key to the team’s efficiency?The key is to respect and learn from one’s coworkers, and have

high expectations for our students.

• Testing is a part of the educational world today, but somepeople think we’ve gone too far. What is your opinion?Testing is important but there needs to be a balance. Testing

shouldn’t be the only way to determine if a student is learning be-cause children learn in different ways and need a chance showwhat they’ve learned in different ways too. Teaching to the test ishardon teacherswho feel theyhave toget ahighclass averageandit’s hard on the students. Testing too much takes the fun out oflearning.

• Has your philosophy of education evolved over the years? Ifso, how?I believe that teaching is a lifelong process of learning new

philosophies andnewstrategies. A teacher learns fromcolleagues,the students’ parents, and the school community. Andweespecial-ly learn from the children.

• Do you have any tips for someone just entering the profes-sion?It’s important tobea teamplayer,onewho isopen toothers’ ideas

and learns fromthem.Anewteacher shouldalsobeactive inapro-fessional learning community or PLC. The last tip is to try to smileevery day. Remember, your students are also smiling and waitingfor you to change their lives.

• You are a mother of three teenagers. As a teacher, what ad-vice do you give them about reaching their academic goals?I tell themtofollowtheirdreamsandalwaysdotheirbestbecause

anything is possible if youwork hard and never give up.

Teacher of year endorses highexpectations for her students

Interview by Mark Dittmar

LaRee Plascencia, Mountain View Elementary

Page

16,S

anta

Cruz

Valle

yDi

strict

#35

Sum

mer

2012

New

slette

r

This group will workthrough November to de-velop a plan for district im-provement. If youare inter-ested in participating in ei-ther of these programsplease call the school dis-trict at (520) 375-8261.

New school yearWe are very excited

about plans that are inplacefor the2012-13schoolyear. Rio Rico High Schoolwill be enrolling freshmenin the new Cambridge In-

ternational Examinationprogram. This programwill not replace the tradi-tional Advanced Placement(AP) program but it willprovide an opportunity forour students to participatein a challenging programthat will compete with anInternational Baccalaure-ate program.

Asmentionedearlier, theExcellence in EducationAwards Banquet was sup-portedbymanyofourcom-munity members. The ideaof honoring the top 5% ofour graduating class andthe most influential educa-torof eachstudent felt goodto our community. As a re-

sult of our success with thisbanquet, we have decidedto establish a Friends ofSanta Cruz Valley UnifiedSchoolDistrictNo.35Foun-dation. We are hoping touse the banquet as the cen-terpiece activity for thefoundation as we generatescholarship funds for ourstudents.

Overall it hasbeenayearfilled with accomplish-ments. IeagerlyawaitAIMSscores and school ratingsthatwillcomethissummer.We are confident that youwill be proud of the dis-trict’s achievements.

LETTERContinuedfromPage2

“I discovered, throughmusic, that the possibilitiesof expression are phenom-enal and endless.

“Every person has a spe-cial personality and talent,either through sound,painting, sport, writing, oranyotherwayyoumayventto the world. It is this talentwithin all of us that createsa special bond.

“At the All AmericanMarching Band, I experi-enced just that, an amazingand spontaneous connec-tion with other studentswho believed in what I love- music. Sharing the com-

mon goal, we accom-plished an amazing show, aonce-in-a-lifetime per-formance featuring amaz-ing musicians, leaders andscholars.”

Cesar is also interestedin calligraphy, and arrang-ing and writing music. Healso plays the piano, likespoetry, has his own jazzquartet, and performs in achoir.

Cesar has the distinctionof having graduated fromRio Rico High School in thetop 5% of the class of 2012.He was honored along with11 of his peers at the Excel-lence in Education Recog-nition Banquet in April.

His immediate familymembers are Daniel Man-jarrez (drummer of the Rio

Rico jazz band,) sister MiaManjarrez, mother ElgaManjarrez, and father Ce-sar Manjarrez Sr.

I also want to introduceEdwardCamarena.Hewasalso selected to the UnitedStates Army All-AmericanMarching Band as a colorguard member. His par-ents, Ismael and Diana, areveryproudof all his accom-plishments.

Edward enjoys balletand waltz, plays the fluteand sings in a choir.

(You will find these stu-dents on our web site. Pleasevisitwww.santacruz.k12.az.us.Clicktothelowerrightof thevideo for full-screen view-ing.)

MUSICContinuedfromPage2

The governing board meets thefirst and third Tuesdays of each

month.

Checkwww.santacruz.k12.az.us

for the agenda.

Meetings are opento the public.

www.nogalesinternational.com/special_sections

SantaCruz

ValleyDistrict#35

Summ

er2012N

ewsletter,Page

17

Three seniors walkedaway with scholarshipmoney from the Rio RicoRotary Club chapter, in-cluding Ogushi ($1,500),Brown, and Badertscher($1,000 each). ElizabethParker was awarded$1,500, and Cesar Manjar-rez and Sarah Maudlin$1,000each fromtheTubacRotary Club.The Tubac/Rio Rico

ComebackKid $1,000 prizewent to Yvette Zacarias.Two $1,000 Rio Rico Prop-erty Owner's Associationawards, made in the nameof the Henry and AugustaFeinstein Scholarship,were garnered by EdwardCamarena and Noriega.The Zonta Club of NogalesWomen in Public Affairsscholarships, worth $1,000each, went to Noriega andOgushi.Andres Lake, Medina,

and Sawada won $1,000Asociacion de Maquilado-ras de Sonora scholarships.Alexis Grambs won a $400Exchange Club of SantaCruz County award. MaxDelgado and Kevin Men-doza won scholarships of$1,000 each by Tubac FireDistrict. A $2,500 awardwasmade toFragosoby theNogales/University of Ari-zona Alumni Association'sBob Brubaker MemorialScholarship.

Unisource's $3,000award went to Madel Mar-tinez. The $500 MichaelAlexzander Ibarra Scholar-ship was awarded toBerrellez; a $250 prize waswon by Noriega. The SEA-HEC (Southeastern Ari-zona Health EducationCenter) Karen HalversonMemorial Scholarship,worth $250, went toBerrellez.Ortiz won a $1,500 Cool

Baseball Scholarship, andAngelica Pacheco won oneworth $750. Jose Fuentes,Esteban Grijalva, Medina,and Jesus Romero eachwon $500 awards from theSgt. AlexBermudezMemo-rial. Rosas won the $5,000Horatio Alger ArizonaScholarship.Badertscher, Dicochea,

Gil, Manny Lopez, andRosas each won $500awards from the DanikaTanori Memorial Scholar-ship. Ogushi won the$1,000 Unity in the ValleyAdriannaRebeccaKlawsonMemorial Scholarship.Brown was awarded the$1,000 Green Valley Con-certBandprize. Brownalsowon the $2,000 Santa CruzCounty 4 H Leaders Coun-cil Scholarship.The $1,000 Mediacom

World Class Scholarshipaward went to Ogushi, andMedina won the $300 VFWVoice ofDemocracy award.DeltaKappaGamma's$300prize was awarded to Nor-iega. Three $1,000 Sodexoscholarships were gar-

nered by Jorge Delgado,AlejandraGarcia,andRegi-na Soto. And Brown wonthe $500 AZCTE award.Additional thousands of

dollars were announced byway of university largesse.Manjarrez won an $8,000UniversityofArizonamusicscholarship renewable forthree years. Wildcat Excel-lence Awards worth vary-ing amounts of money, re-newable for three years,wereannouncedfor thefol-lowing: Melissa Diaz,$2,000; Manjarrez, $6,000;Sawada, $2,000; Sbragia,$500; Badertscher, $8,000;Michelle Bland, $2,000;Garcia, $500; Marcos Gas-ca, $2,000; Lake, $6,000;Maudlin, $500; Ogushi,$8,000; Rosas, $8,000; andSanchez, $2,000.Arizona State University

awarded the Provost Schol-arship, worth $7,500 andrenewable for three years,to Lake; the $2,750 Dean'sScholarships, also renew-able for threeyears,went toFragoso andGarcia.Rosas wonNorthern Ari-

zona University's Presi-dent's Scholarship, worth$6,000 annually for fouryears. The $3,500 Dean'sScholarship, renewable,was awarded to Lake. Andthe Merit Scholarship,$2,500 annually, went toDicochea.

AWARDSContinuedfromPage1

A large crowd of proud relatives observe the May 23 Rio Rico High School graduation cer-emony at the school’s football stadium.

Page

18,S

anta

Cruz

Valle

yDi

strict

#35

Sum

mer

2012

New

slette

r

SantaCruz

ValleyDistrict#35

Summer2012

Newsletter,Page

19

National JuniorHigh Society studentswere involved in threemajor events and ac-tivities as they finishedtheschoolyear:gener-al assembly, blooddrive and service op-portunities.

Coatimundi MiddleSchoolNational JuniorHonor Society mem-bers held their lastgeneral assemblymeeting of the year onMay 7. The meetingbegan by welcomingCarlos Apalategui ofthe American RedCross, who was thereto commend the stu-dents on their hardwork toward their up-coming blood driveand to answer anyquestions.

Thiswasfollowedbythe election of officers

for the 2012-2013school year. Replacingpresident Ally Alvarezis Victoria Chacon.Vice President NicolePaco passes the torchto Manuel Pena. Newsecretary ValeriaArvizu replaces Arian-na Cruz.

Treasurer HopeNoriega passes the ac-count book to IsabelCampos. And VeroCruz leaves office ofhistorian to RichardBrennan. Please con-gratulate the outgoingofficers for a year ofhard work and the in-coming officers fortheiraccomplishment.

The last NationalJunior Honor Societyblood drive of the yearwas held May 10. Stu-dentswere involved inmuch of the prepara-tion leading up to theevent: calling and

signing up roughly 75people to donate thegiftof life.Onthedayofthe blood drive, theysigned in donors,called to remind themof appointments, andoffered them food anddrink to help them re-cover.

The American RedCross sets a goal foreach of the communi-ty blood drives held atCTMS. This year theyset a goal of 35 pints ofblood, which we wereable tomeet!

We hold four to fiveblood drives eachschool year. Pleaseconsider donatingnext school year, aseach pint of blood cansave three lives.

NJHS members fin-ishedout the yearwitha few last service op-portunities, includinghelping run the Buy

One Get One FreeBook Fair in the li-brary, helping withsixthgradeorientationon May 16, and baby-

sitting for theband’s fi-nal concert andawards ceremony onMay 18.

Members will also

beinvolvedintheBackto School Blitz andCTMS OrientationDays.

SpringprojectscompletedbyhonorsocietymembersBy Patrick Echlin

National Junior Honor Society students register blood donors. From left are Nicole Paco, ValeriaArvizu amd Alexandra Estrella.

Page

20,S

anta

Cruz

Valle

yDi

strict

#35

Sum

mer

2012

New

slette

r

You’re at home with

1-888-492-4882 1777 N. Grand Ave., Nogales AZ 85621prices are plus tax, title, license and $299 doc fee. Dealer retains factory incentives. Vehicles may not be exactly as pictured. See dealer for complete details.

WE BUY CARS & TRUCKS FROM THE PUBLICCome and see the Friendli� t Sta� in Town!

LOWEST SUMMER PRICESFAIR, HONEST & FRIENDLY

$27,531

MSRP................ $29,695HF DISCOUNT ......... $2,164

2013 FORD Explorer ................ $29,695

HF DISCOUNT $2,164

XL Plus Package and PowerEquipment Group

MSRP.............$31,760HF DISCOUNT......... $3,015FORD REBATE ........ $2,500

$26,245

.............$31,760HF DISCOUNT

2012 FORD F150

MONTHS0%FOR

6033 HWY MPG!

ALL 2012 FORDFUSIONS

ALL 2012 FORDESCAPES

MONTHS0%FOR

60

XNLV34676