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February 2004

Welcome to the new look of Focus on TUSD. We are now dual-publishing the newsletter, both in print and through email. We welcome any comments you might have, just call 225-6437 or email jennea.moore@tusd.k12.az.us.

I hope your winter break was enjoyable and relaxing. This past month back to work has been full of promising developments.

Much publicity has recently been made about our Opening Minds Through the Arts program, otherwise known as OMA. Not only has local media circulated the program's positive results, but even State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has lauded the curriculum in his State of Education address. He wants to extend OMA statewide. This is for good reason. An independent study of OMA has revealed that students of all ethnicities who participated in the program for at least two years scored significantly higher on the Stanford 9 in all areas than their non-OMA counterparts. In addition, ratings of teacher effectiveness were found to be higher in OMA schools.

The Keen Elementary School Student Relocation Committee has been quite busy this month. The committee recommended to the board at our Jan. meeting to divide Keen students along given boundaries between three schools: Duffy, Kellond, and Dietz. In addition, the committee advised that Keen students should be given the first opportunity for open enrollment at any of these three schools, and that the district should provide transportation to the students' school of choice. The committee also held two public hearings to inform the community on these recommendations and to gather their input and concerns.

The refinancing of our School District bonds continues on track. Just like refinancing a home at a lower interest rate saves money over the term of the mortgage, so the bond refinance looks to save taxpayers money over the period of maturity. The estimated savings are 12 million dollars.

Finally, TUSD will begin a search to fill the empty leadership positions in the Ethnic Studies Department. This includes filling the positions of Executive Director of Multicultural studies and Director of African American Studies, as well as the two newly created positions of Director of Pan Asian Studies and Director of Raza/Mexican American Studies. The positions will be advertised for on both the national and local levels. We hope to fill them in a timely manner so that we can quickly deliver structured, focused services to our students.

Joel T. Ireland


Happy New Year and welcome to our second semester of the school year. We continue to focus on closing the achievement gap while espousing the guiding principals of No Child Left Behind. These guidelines include:

1. Ensuring Accountability for Student Performance
2. Focusing on What Works: Research-based Education
3. Reducing Bureaucracy and Increasing Flexibility
4. Empowering parents

In addition to the Bold! Game, TUSD has already taken further steps to ensure that it's applying the practices of a high performing district including getting significant data into the hands of teachers, using regular testing with immediate interventions and setting measurable goals at the campus level. Other key elements are also important for enhancing student achievement including continual assessments for mastery, instructional timelines and tutorials.

Furthermore, the district aims to have a highly qualified teacher in every classroom by the 2005-2006 school year and have students achieve 100 percent proficiency in reading and math by 2013-2014. Already, the district's Opening Minds through the Arts project, also known as OMA, has garnered attention across the state for its success in improving student achievement by building connections between the arts and the Core Curriculum. State Superintendent Tom Horne lauded the project in his State of the State Speech and the Arizona Republic will feature it in an upcoming article about the importance of the arts in kindergarten through 12th grade.

To accomplish these goals, a concerted effort must be made to dispel the assumptions that keep our students from achieving their full potential. As adults, we need to overcome negative ideas that hamper our goals such as: students are too poor; their parents don't care; and that there isn't enough money. These obstacles have always existed, however, many students, with the help of positive and nurturing educators, have risen above these challenges to lead successful and fulfilling lives. We need to have enough faith in our students as well as ourselves to believe we can all prevail.

Moreover, TUSD will proceed and improve upon its accountability system to allow for a successful educational delivery system that raises the bar while closing the gap thereby increasing academic success for all students. This system will define expected results with timelines for expected accomplishment and will require a commitment and personal ownership of the results.

Some of the successful strategies already include:

1. Effective leadership
2. Effective teaching practices
3. Aligned curriculum with accountability metrics
4. Student efficacy
5. Climate, culture and process for performance excellence

Ensuring that these strategies are successfully put into practice will require all employees working together. Established programs like OMA, high expectations and accessible data are just a part of the overall approach to helping our students attain academic success. Maintaining a positive and supportive attitude toward students and their abilities will be crucial to this goal.

Stan Paz, Ph.D.

The National Geographic Society Education Foundation awarded Blenman's Tim Daldrup and Jessica Minnich a $1,250 grant to aid in teaching students the core skills of geography.

Mansfeld's Kirsten Bittle and Patricia Bolle presented at the National Science Teacher Association's regional conference in December in Reno. Their presentation, titled "Ending With A Bang," is about alternative assessment using rubrics in science.

The Arizona Department of Education honored three TUSD employees at their MegaConference honors banquet in Phoenix in November. The honorees were: Susana Pederson, teacher at Naylor, for her "Ambassador of Excellence" award; Edward Kowalczyk, TUSD technology trainer, for his "Technology Specialist of the Year" award; and Diane Skorupski, librarian and teacher at Van Buskirk, for her "Librarian of the Year" award.

Catalina's Jim Boles, Sahuaro's Michael Halfmann, and Tucson High's Richard Dean Packard have been selected as finalists for the 76/Circle K "Teacher of the Year" award. As finalists they will receive a commemorative ring and tickets to a UA men's basketball game. They will also be featured in a KOLD 13 special newscast.

Pueblo's Steve Reff was named as a semifinalist for the Western Region of the National Council on Economic Education and the NASDAQ Educational Foundation National Teaching Award. He was selected for his entry titled "Difficult Economic Concepts and Graphing Brought to Life Through Intra-Active Internet Economic Textbooks."

Twenty-four schools earned a total of $28,250 in Resources Efficiency Awareness Program Awards, also known as REAP, for the 2002-2003 fiscal year. Each winning school will receive monetary awards ranging from $500 to $5,000 for demonstrating conservation, improving efficiency, and using renewable resources. The winning schools are: Bonillas, $5,000; Reynolds, $4,000; Marshall, $3,000; Blenman, $2,000; Carson, $2,000; Santa Rita, $2,000; Lynn-Urquides, $1,000; Holladay, $750; Gridley, $750; TAPP/Starr Center, $750; Lyons, $500; Whitmore, $500; Cavett, $500; Fruchthendler, $500; Henry, $500; Grijalva, $500; Bloom, $500; Sewell, $500; Vesey, $500; Utterback, $500; Naylor, $500; Pistor, $500; Magee, $500; and Valencia, $500.

Cholla's Moriah Cheek participated in the National Youth Leadership Forum on Defense, Intelligence and Diplomacy in October in Washington, D.C., where she spent six days learning about careers in these fields. She was chosen due to her interest in the field and the academic and leadership promise she shows.

Tucson's Mayra Guillen served as an honorary standard bearer at the Target World Challenge golf tournament Dec. 9 through 14 in Thousand Oaks, CA. She was selected as a result of her participation in the Tiger Woods Start Something program.

Nine TUSD students were awarded a combined total of $10,000 in scholarship money from the Tiger Woods Start Something program. They are: Alfonso Reyes and Daphne Nabatanzi, Doolen; Dillon Mutyaba, Davidson; Sandy Santizo and Jorge Santizo, Palo Verde; Santos Hernandez, Roskruge; Jennifer Cruz, Maxwell; Moslin Cruz, Pistor; and Mayra Guillen, Tucson.

Henry's Cameron Donnelly won the Mimi's Cafe 2003 "What Am I Thankful For?" writing contest. He received a $1,000 savings bond.

Catalina's Johnny Greer successfully collected 4,398 food items for this year's canned food drive at his school. His contribution made it possible to package 400 boxes of food for disadvantaged families this holiday season.

The National Hispanic Recognition Program recognized UHS's Brandon Espinoza, Stephanie Mota, Christina Quihuis, Michael Spece, and Katrina Zarate as scholars. Alana Alvarez received honorable mention. Though the program gives no monetary awards, it does distribute the finalists' names to colleges and universities across the country.

For the second year in a row an Utterback student won the Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream annual essay contest. Nora Hassan was one of five students selected to receive a computer and printer for both herself and her school. This year's contest topic was "How a computer from Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream and Albertson's will help me scoop up knowledge."

The Rincon/UHS SADD club, which stands for Students Against Destructive Decisions, has been awarded a $300 "Pay It Forward" grant from the Educational Enrichment Foundation. The money will help defer the expense of painting the speed bumps in the student parking lots with messages such as "don't drink and drive" and "buckle up." This project follows a mock crash held last may and many substance-related fatalities last school year.

The Catalina Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.'s Cadet/1Lt. Clariz Dianco placed first in the 10-unarmed commander category at the Blue and Gold Drill Competition on Dec. 6 at Apollo High School in Glendale. Also, Cadet/SMSgt. Sterling Lytle, Cadet/CMSgt. Sarah Harris, Cadet/SMSgt. A.J. Adamo, and Cadet/MSgt. James Jollif were named best junior color guard at the Tucson Veteran's Day parade on Nov. 11.

College Goal Sunday 2004: Students filing for college tuition assistance can receive line-by-line help with their FAFSA form at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8. College Goal Sunday provides free information to Arizona students applying for financial aid. Event locations include: PCC West Campus, Science and Technology building; PCC Desert Vista Campus, Plaza building; and the University of Arizona, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering building, room 202. For more information for to www.collegegoalsunday.com or call 877-997-8300.

Forensic Science Workshop For Teachers: Pima Community College will hold a forensic science hands-on workshop for teachers from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Feb. 21 in room K223 of the Science building at PCC's West Campus. Participants will be taught the basics of forensic science, crime scene investigation, fingerprinting, and hair and fiber analysis, among other things. All participants will receive a CD-ROM with background information, related articles, class projects, and a summary of all workshop activities. The workshop, open to all science teachers kindergarten through college, is free, however a registration is required due to space constraints. Contact David Katz at david.katz@pima.edu or by phone at 206-6044 to register.

7th Annual Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache Of The Year Awards: Also known as the SAMMY Award, this program recognizes seniors in high school who are outstanding scholar athletes. Twenty-five winners will be chosen nationally to receive a $7,500 college scholarship, an invitation to attend a SAMMY 2004 weekend at Disneyworld, and an opportunity to be pictured in a special milk mustache ad. Nominations will be accepted through March 5. For more information go to www.whymilk.com.

Southern Arizona Regional Math, Science And Engineering FunFest: Students and teachers can learn while having fun at the Southern Arizona Regional Math, Science and Engineering FunFest happening from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., March 17 through 19 at the Tucson Convention Center. The FunFest offers students the opportunity to participate in hands-on experiments and to talk with people who work in the science, mathematics, engineering and technology fields. Entrance is free, though registration is required. To register go to www.sarsef.org and click on the FunFest link.

DARE/GREAT Day Update: You can now register online for the 2004 DARE/GREAT Day which occurs Tuesday, April 13 for TUSD at Tucson Electric Park. Visit www.tucsonsidewinders.com for more information.

Homework Help From The Tucson Public Library: Tucson-Pima Public Library Youth Outreach Services is offering free drop-in homework help for students grades 1-12. Various libraries around town host these homework helping days, or students can receive over-the-phone help by calling 791-4393. For dates, times and locations call 791-4391 or go to www.tppl.org.

Grants Available For Women Educators: The American Association of University Women Educational Foundation is offering grants to promote girls' and women's education and equity. Women educators can apply for grants to further their education or to create programs that advance gender equity in the educational setting. For more information, or to download an application, go to www.aauw.org and click on the link titled "fellowships, grants and awards."

Pima Air And Space Museum To Volunteer In Elementary Classes: The Pima Air and Space Museum is offering a docent outreach visit commemorating the Wright brothers' centennial of flight to all interested fourth-grade and fifth-grade classes. The visit will include a 20-minute video, a question and answer session, a short oral quiz, and a laminated color poster for classroom display. To set up a visit for your class email or call John Lundquist at jlundquist@pimaair.org or 574-0462.

Trees For Tucson Gives To Schools: Trees for Tucson is offering class presentations on the importance of trees to our desert and urban environment. Topics include global warming, urban heat island effect, energy use, xeriscaping and Sonoran Desert conservation/endangered species. In addition, free trees are available for planting with expert advice at schools by students or for other community projects students may be involved in. Please contact Doug Koppinger at 250-8220 or tcb@ci.tucson.az.us if you are interested. Note: Prior to planting any trees contact facilities to gain approval.

Thank You M&I Bank: TUSD would like to thank the Marshall & Ilsley Bank branch at Wilmot and Speedway for adopting Brichta. Bank employees have visited the school, helping to revitalize and beautify the campus through various tasks they undertook. Also, they set up a book and teaching supply donation box at the branch, with all supplies collected going to Brichta classrooms.

Bill Ball was appointed director of the Transportation Department. Formerly, he was an ombudsperson for the department.s
Guyton Campbell was appointed director of Technology and Telecommunication Services, previous technology director at Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind.
Jane Fairall was appointed legal counsel for the district. She was previously with the City of Tucson.
Patricia Crowell was appointed principal at Steele. Formerly, she was a teacher at Sierra Vista Public Schools.
Mary Ellen Hezlep was appointed assistant principal at Mansfeld. Formerly, she was with Amphitheater School District. Veronica Duran was appointed assistant principal at Doolen. She was previously at Maxwell.
David Davies was appointed assistant principal at Safford. He previously served as an assistant principal at Naylor.

Tucson Unified School District 1010 East 10th Street, Tucson, Arizona, 85719

Governing Board
Joel T. Ireland, President; Judy Burns, Clerk; Bruce Burke; Adelita Grijalva; Mary Belle McCorkle, Ed.D.

Superintendent Estanislado "Stan" Paz, Ph.D.

Chief of Staff Toni Cordova

Communications Specialist/Writer Estella Zavala and Jennea Moore

Tucson Unified School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion or disability in admission or access to, or treatment or employment, in its educational programs or activities.

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