Sunnyside District Governing Board receives state’s highest honorThe Sunnyside District Governing Board will receive the Lou Ella Kleinz Award for Excellence from the Arizona School Boards Association Dec. 16, 2010 at the ASBA/Arizona School Administrators annual conference. The award honors the most outstanding educational leadership by a school board in the state of Arizona, and is the ASBA’s highest honor.

Loaner netbook computers for 28 District Parent Council parentsTo help launch a new era of Parent Connect, 28 parent members of District Parent Council who did not already own computers were awarded loaner netbook computers on December 8, 2010.

Sunnyside High Academic Decathlon brought home 10 awards at the Canyon del Oro full scrimmage, including first-place finishes by Julio Chavez (Interview) and Carlos Sanchez (Speech). Additionally, Sunnyside had the highest team score for Speech. Their advisors are Valerie Heller and Geoff Thames.

Sunnyside High Academic Decathlon

Seventy students attended the Southern Area DECA Conference in Tucson, 50 students and six chaperones traveled to New York City, and students coordinated a food drive to provide Thanksgiving dinner for five families in need. Their advisor is Clif Extract.

Sunnyside High DECA

On November 26, S.T.A.R. Academic Center’s 3.0 Club, begun by teacher Ellen Hezlep, culminated in the celebration of 30 students who earned a 3.0 or higher in their second block (S.T.A.R.’s year is divided into six blocks).  S.T.A.R. Academic Center’s winter graduation ceremony is Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 6 p.m.

30 students in STAR’s 3.0 Club

The University of Arizona Southwest Environmental Health Services Center is working with the Sunnyside School District to provide high school teachers an opportunity to receive training on the TCE Contamination and Cleanup Curriculum which was presented at the National Science Teachers Association Meeting in March 2009. The training takes place January 20 at the University of Arizona. 

Contamination & clean-up training

Early childhood course offered at Ocotillo Early Learning Center

Beginning in January, Ocotillo Early Learning Center is partnering with Pima Community College to offer an on-site course in early childhood development. To make the class more accessible, the prerequisite course is being waived, and the Pathways organization will pay tuition costs.

The Kino Rotary Club of South Tucson presented its first Character Awards to high school students from five local high schools who exemplify Rotary International’s Four-Way Test. Honorees included (left to right) Nayeli Acosta of STAR Academic Center, Aaliyah Tovar of Sunnyside High School, and Suzette Rodriguez of Desert View High School. 

Kino Rotary Club awards Character Awards winners

Los Amigos Elementary School, in partnership with Raytheon, hosted a Star Party on Thursday, Dec. 9. Amateur astronomers donated their time and telescopes.

Star party at Los Amigos

On Thursday, Dec. 16, students from the Ocotillo Early Learning Center will be treated to a shopping trip at Target as part of the Hospitalist Company’s annual “Shop with a Doc” program. In addition, the management team at Target will provide snacks and has scheduled additional staff to assist the student shoppers.

Ocotillo students “Shop with a Doc”

On Wednesday, Dec. 15, the Mission Manor Elementary School choir will perform its holiday show at three local nursing homes. Each 30-45-minute visit will include a sing-along with residents followed by the handing out of Christmas cards which were made by Mission Manor students. Jessica Thomas is Mission Manor’s choir teacher. 

Mission Manor choir to perform at three nursing homes

Sunnyside High alum Alda Dominguez—former Academic Decathlon champion and anchor for the Sunnyside Update—will be graduating from the Navy and reporting to Japan in January.

SHS alum off to Japan