Focus on TUSD - September 2007

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Pistor Students Host Festive Celebration in Honor of Tucson's 232nd Birthday
Pistor Middle School threw a birthday party big enough to honor an entire city, even a city the size of Tucson.

That's what the party did, in fact. A group of Pistor students pulled out all the stops on Aug. 30, to mark Tucson's 232nd birthday, dancing to jazz music, making birthday cards written in Spanish, fashioning festive flowers, and, of course, eating birthday cake.

Their guests were the second-grade Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) students from White Elementary School, just a 15-minute walk down the street at 2315 Canada St. Middle-schoolers at Pistor, at 5455 S. Cardinal Ave., took the children under their wings in an across-age mentoring project that featured fun and educational activities.

Katrina Gow, a White student, wore one brightly-colored paper flower she'd made on her wrist. Another flower was twisted into Katrina's hair as she painstakingly created her birthday card in the library. "I want to learn Spanish," she said. "My grandma speaks Spanish and she is helping me. It's cool that Tucson is so old."

Alexis Gallego, a Pistor seventh-grader, guided Katrina through the unfamiliar Spanish words, saying, "I don't have a younger brother or sister, so I like to help my cousins and kids who come to our school. It's important for kids to learn Spanish because we're so close to Mexico and a lot of people here in Tucson speak Spanish. It's fun to learn another language."

His arm cradled in a sling after breaking it in a monkey bar fall, David Underwood III tried his hand at making a birthday card at another table with the help of his parents, Deanne and David. He'd already used his one good arm to make paper flowers and he'd been dancing, too. "It only hurt when I jumped," he said with a grin.

Pistor has been a hub for the Underwood family. David's brother, Alex, is a graduate, his brother, Anthony, attends Pistor now and his sister, Adrianna, a White fifth-grader, will go to the school, along with David.

"We like Pistor," Deanne said. "Our kids get a good education here. The teachers are accessible and it's close to home."

The 21 students in Debbie Slaw's class, the only one that accepted Pistor's invitation, had a full agenda. In half-hour rotating sessions, they learned about Tucson history in a social studies lesson; tried out dances connected with Tucson's various cultural groups in the jazz dance class; made "papel picado" and paper flower decorations in art class; and crafted birthday cards and letters in language arts.

Watching her students move to the music in the dance class, Slaw said, "It's wonderful to see the kids interacting. It gives the younger ones an idea of what Pistor will be like when they go. Peer interaction is what it's all about." She pointed out that the activities reinforce what her students learn in class.

Jazz dance teacher Renee Blakely said the interaction between the age groups worked well, as it did last year during a similar project. "We have a relationship with White, which is good," she said." The younger ones love to follow the older kids even though some are shy at first."

She said her students' enthusiasm for dancing was contagious, drawing the younger children onto the floor. "Dance gives them a reason to come to school," she said. "A lot, unfortunately, are considered troublemakers. They know they can't have any suspensions and they have to have passing grades to be here, so kids who may have failed or been suspended stay in school and keep a clean record."

One of her students, Lorena Sanchez, said the best part of the birthday party was teaching the kids to dance. At that point, Blakely said she was reminded again that "I love my job and I feel blessed."

Daniel Forrest, a Pistor special education and Spanish teacher, who planned the party, said students got a chance to showcase their talents with the younger children. The event was part of a month-long birthday party for Tucson that featured many community events.

-- By Sharon Dunham
Communications & Media Relations

TUSD - Proud Supporter of Small Classes

All photos in the Septber issue by Jes Ruvalcaba of Communications & Media Relations.

The deadline to submit material for the October Focus is Friday, Oct. 12. The Focus will be published Monday, Oct. 22. Email submissions to Chyrl Hill Lander or Sharon Dunham in the Communications & Media Relations Department or use the online Tip Sheet.