Staff & Student Highlights - May 2017 Susan Seep, an advanced placement economics and government teacher at Horizon High School, was selected as the 2017 Section 7 recipient of the National High School Heart of the Arts Award by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS)...continue reading. Miriam Schantz-Marion, a reading specialist at Eagle Ridge Elementary School, was selected are the Arizona PTA April Super Teacher of the Month. As the teacher of the month, she received $100 and will be considered for the AZ PTA Super Teacher of the Year award. Miriam actively works to put together Title I events such as Story Night, Math Night, Literacy Week and Kindergarten Parent Night. With education funding tight, Miriam has worked to get outside resources for the school and obtained a Literacy Grant from the Pinkerton Foundation, which brought a live play to our students, magazines, books, and more. Leonel "Leo" Cano Leon, a senior at North Canyon High School, was named the 2017 Arizona Boys & Girls Clubs Youth of the Year. Leo has been a dedicated member of the Ed Robson Family Branch since it first opened its doors in 2008. He participates in all opportunities offered at his Club and inspires the younger members by teaching art and dance, as well as coaching soccer...continue reading.

Aditya Narayanan, a 5th-grade student at Sonoran Sky Elementary School, was crowned the state champion at the 2017 Arizona Geography Bee that was held on March 31st at Arizona State University...continue reading.

Horizon High School has earned the A+ School of Excellence™ Award from the Arizona Educational Foundation (AEF). Horizon was one of 39 Valley schools to receive this prestigious honor...continue reading. Once again, both Horizon High School and Pinnacle High School have made the U.S. News & World Report 2017 Best High School list...continue reading.

On May 3rd, Horizon High School seniors Ashlynn Sardina, Courtney Fried and Nicole Padgett received their Associate of Arts degree through the Dual Enrollment program with Rio Salado College. PVSchools is proud to have six Native American students graduate from the Paradise Valley Community College Hoop of Learning program. The Paradise Valley High School students are Victoria Montoya, Cheyenne Olson, Ananda Tso, Bernadette Seifert, Eris Shirley and Nicole Joe. Hoop of Learning is a scholarship-based, high school to college bridge program for Native American students in 9th-12th grades. Students enrolled in the program receive both high school and college credit. The program increases high school graduation and retention rates and increases Native American enrollment and participation in college. In 2002, PVSchools established the Native American Education Program in response to the growing population of Native American students enrolled in the district. Thanks to our partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, we are excited to give our graphic design Career & Technical Education (CTE) students the ability to learn from experts in every field. Paradise Valley High School and North Canyon High School CTE students were able to spend the morning at Taliesin West learning varies aspects of architecture, and how Frank Lloyd Wright incorporated nature, and the desert into his design.

Several schools recently held food drives to benefit the Paradise Valley Emergency Food Bank, an emergency food pantry that serves families who reside within the PVSchools boundaries.

● Sunrise Middle School National Junior Honor Society and Student Council students joined forces to sponsor a non-perishable food drive. Students collected, boxed, and donated 1,144 pounds of food in just five days!

● Liberty Elementary School collected 630 pounds of food.

Paradise Valley High School Center for Research, Engineering, Science and Technology juniors Joe Velaszquez and Mason Hendrix both will participate in the Basic Medical Sciences summer internship program with the UofA College of Medicine. Junior Noah Fox was recently earned a spot in Dr. Hu's DNA Nanotechnology lab at ASU BioDesign. Paradise Valley High School’s robotics team, Team 1165, won the Chairman's Award at the Arizona West Regional Competition. The Chairman’s Award is the most prestigious award at FIRST, it honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST. Desert Trails Elementary School’s Self-Contained Gifted students won 1st Place in Arizona at the Wonder League National Robotics Competition (6-8 yr old bracket). This team received a perfect score in their robotic coding skills and will now get to move on and compete in the Perfect Score Round to possibly win some fun robotic materials for their school. Paradise Valley High School won 1st Place at the 25th Arizona High School Pit Crew Challenge...continue reading. Several Sonoran Sky Elementary School and Paradise Valley High School students won awards at the Arizona Science & Engineering Fair. The AzSEF is managed by Arizona Science Center and brings together first-place winners from science fairs across Arizona to compete for thousands of dollars in prizes and scholarships...continue reading.

Paradise Valley High School junior Sam Davenport, a member of the elite PVHS Jazz Quartet, received the rare opportunity to play with the Juilliard School of Music Jazz Trio on April 19th. The trio is currently on a country wide tour sharing this "transcendent" experience with high schools and music lovers all over the US.

Original artwork created by Vivien Millecam and Samantha Beebe, Whispering Wind Academy students, were selected as finalists in the 2016-17 Crayola Empowering Students Through Creative Leadership Art Exhibition....continue reading. Congratulations Kellie Merrill and her "After the Bell Program" students at Indian Bend Elementary School for winning the Digital Citizenship logo challenge. The challenge was issued to help design a logo and slogan to remind kids to log out of all their online accounts when finished for the day.

Special thanks to the Phoenix Fire Department and the Arizona Diamondbacks for showing the North Canyon High School students the repercussions of drinking and driving after Prom. Stay safe students!