District Dialogue Bi-weekly news from the Laveen Elementary School District
December 12, 2014
Cardinal brings cookies to Meadows Arizona Cardinals Player Kareem Martin visited Desert Meadows kindergartners for story time and milk and cookies. He read a few books and snacked with the students. Big Red also made a surprise visit and ran the students through some exercises and the chicken dance before the treats were served. The Milk & Cookies program is sponsored by Safeway and SRP.
Pina wins TEC Award Desert Meadows teacher Natasha Pina is the first teacher this year to receive the district’s Technology Excellence in the Classroom Award. Ms. Pina teaches 8th Grade Language Arts. Pina has challenged her students at Desert Meadows to go Google. Students use their Chromebooks to expand their learning beyond the walls of their classroom with the use of Google Classroom. She has raised the level of engagement and innovation as students create videos, Padlet collages and slideshows to demonstrate their new learning of the language arts curriculum.
Dooley, Pruitt are November’s Employees of the Month Employees of the month for November are Ms. Kelley Hinds-Dooley, 7th grade social studies teacher at Cheatham, and Ms. Vinieysha Pruitt, instructional associate at Trailside Point. Ms. Dooley was recognized for seeking opportunities to enrich the language arts curriculum. She teaches social studies, but with a reading twist to help improve the reading struggles of some of her students. She started a project-based learning approach to further help her students succeed. She maintains excellent communication with parents. Dooley has also shown incredible initiative that extends beyond her class. She started two clubs, historical movie club and jogging club, and manages a Cold & Flu Drive to keep classrooms stocked with tissue and hand sanitizer. Ms. Pruitt was recognized for inspiring and motivating her students through strong instruction and emotional support. In working with intervention groups, she is always looking for new ways to engage students both socially and academically. Pruitt never looks at a problem with a negative attitude, but instead looks for solutions. She works with her peers to develop new classroom management strategies. She is passionate about all students succeeding. Dooley Pruitt The District Dialogue is issued twice monthly.
Laveen Winter Festival
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December 12, 2014