B News Highlights Earthquakes Devastate

Turkey

Kevin Durant joins the Suns after playing for the Brooklyn Nets earlier in the season and injuring his knee in January. Before his injury, Durant was having a standout season averaging 30 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game.

“I want to go out there and do as much as I can, and be the best that I can every day for you guys,” Durant said while addressing Suns fans last month. “I appreciate the warm welcome, but I got more work to do.”

“I knew this would be a great place to play, and a great place to continue to get better as a player.” Durant said. “You got somebody like Devin, Chris Paul, and Deandre Ayton, guys that work. And I wanted to be a part of that.” urant isn’t the only big change the uns ha e made recently. Last month, Mat Ishbia was introduced as the new majority owner of the Suns and the W A’s hoenix ercury. The change comes after Robert Sarver, the former owner, was suspended and ned following an INVESTIGATION that found Sarver had a history of workplace misconduct.

Ishbia agreed to purchase the Suns and Mercury in December, a deal that put the total value of the teams at $4 billion, and he is excited about the new opportunity.

“I want to think big,” Ishbia said at a press conference after taking over the teams. “I want to think how to make this one of the ELITE franchises in the NBA and the WNBA. I want everyone to look at the Mercury and the Suns as the best. What does that mean est in class for fan experience, community engagement, culture and winning. How do we make it the best?” any fans agree he’s off to a solid start with bringing urant onboard a deal he pulled off in his rst week as owner!

2023 Caldecott & Newbery Medal Winners!

The American ibrary Association A A announced the annual top honors for books and media for children and young adults, including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards.

The 3 ewbery edal winner was Amina ugman- awson’s reewater. The ewbery edal was named for 18th-century British bookseller John Newbery and is awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

The award dates back more than 1 years as it was rst proposed in 1 1 and awarded in 1 . t was actually the rst children’s book award in the world!

reewater is a no el about two ensla ed children’s escape from a plantation and the many ways they nd freedom.

n addition to the ewbery edal, reewater also took home the Coretta cott King Author ook Award, which recognizes an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults. According to the ALA, the award COMMEMORATES the life and work of Dr. Martin

Luther King Jr., and honors his wife, Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.

The Caldecott edal winner for the most distinguished American picture book for children is “Hot Dog,” illustrated and written by Doug Salati. “Hot Dog” is a picture book featuring an overheated and overwhelmed pup who nds his calm with some sea, sand and fresh air.

The Caldecott edal was rst awarded in 1 38, after some people involved with the Newbery Medal realized that the artists creating picture books for kids were equally deserving of an award for their work. The award is named for Randolph Caldecott, an in uential nglish children’s illustrator in the 19th century whose illustrations have been described as unique for their time.

All y age, written by abaa Tahir, won the 3 rint Award. The award is for excellence in literature written for young adults. The book is a no el about family and forgiveness as well as love and loss.

Congratulations to all of this year’s award winners n the early morning darkness of eb. 6, a major earthquake struck south-central Turkey, collapsing houses and multi-story apartment buildings as people slept. irst was the .8-magnitude earth uake, which shook the ground for seconds and destroyed buildings over a huge area, including in neighboring Syria. Nine hours later, a second major . -magnitude earthquake hit along an ADJACENT fault line.

These are strike-slip faults, where a block of the arth’s crust on one side of a fault a deep fracture in the rock may iolently mo e left or right while the block on the other side moves in the opposite direction.

The number of people killed is heartbreaking. As of press time close to ,

• 13.5 million affected • .8- and .magnitude quakes people in Turkey ha e died from the uake most of them crushed or trapped in collapses. In Syria, 6,000 were killed by the quake. Tragically, most buildings in the region aren’t ENGINEERED to withstand earthquakes. adly, more than 1 , buildings either crumbled or were heavily damaged, and strong aftershocks continue to do more damage. The Turkish go ernment says 13. million have been affected in the region.

Almost 30,000 search and rescue teams from Turkey, yria and all o er the world are hard at work, sometimes forced to sleep or rest on the rubble that they are working on. Donations of blood, clothing, blankets, food and hygiene products are arriving.

Once thriving cities and towns are devastated. t’s dif cult to watch this tragedy unfold, especially since we’ e known for a long time that the buildings in the region were not designed to withstand earthquakes,” said USGS scientist David Wald. “An earthquake this size has the potential to be damaging anywhere…but many structures in this region are particularly vulnerable.”

If you and your family or schoolmates want to donate money, nd a reputable disaster relief agency by researching on Charity Navigator, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy or CharityWatch.

AZ Native Loves Outdoors, Classroom Family

Michelle Hampton teaches a second/third grade class at Queen Creek Elementary. This is ampton’s 18th year in teaching. While reading and writing were her favorite subjects when she was in school, Hampton says she enjoys math these days.

“I think my favorite subject to teach now is math, because now it makes sense,” Hampton says. She explains that she found math frustrating when she was young, so she can empathize with students who nd it dif cult. he also appreciates that there are many methods used to explain and solve math problems these days.

Hampton is a native Arizonan. She went to school at Marcos de Niza High School then Arizona State University. She says she loves hiking, paddleboarding on the Salt River, and just getting outdoors it’s one of the bene ts of li ing in Ari ona She goes out walking her dogs and running, too. In fact, she says her students are sometimes surprised that she can outrun them when they have fun runs at school.

Hampton says her favorite thing about being a teacher is getting to know her students and their familes in and out of the classroom. “I enjoy going to see them play soccer or football,” she notes. “I have been blessed to have had so many awesome families come through my classroom over the years and I feel so lucky.”

Hampton was nominated by student Cloey, who writes that her teacher “is always prepared to help me learn new things and she is very kind and respectful to everyone around her.” Cloey adds, Hampton “is great because she always has something fun and exciting for us to do.”

Hampton considers her classroom to be a family and a team. She recalls a holiday food drive where the class was competing to collect the most cans. ne student brought 8 cans the last day er class won bragging rights and a party. “Everyone was so excited,” Hampton says. Hampton likes to remind her students that mistakes help us learn. So when they make a mistake, they should not be discouraged or get down on themsel es it’s an opportunity to learn and grow

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