12 minute read
COMMUNITY
Teen volunteer group offers summer camps
ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF
Anew volunteer organization for high school and middle school that recently descended on Desert Breeze Park in Chandler to spruce up the site also is offering an array of virtual summer camps.
The young students belong to iReach, which aims “to provide a flexible platform for volunteers to develop responsibility, confidence, leadership, and communication skills through a variety of community services programs,” spokeswoman Sherry Xiao said.
“We are a group of students who want to serve our community,” said iReach President Frank Liu, a 10th grader at BASIS Mesa. “We provide a platform to children and teens who have the same ambition – to serve the community and Core members of iReach include, from left: front row: Joanna Dong, Elizabeth Ovelil, Sophia Lin, Daniel Yang; Back: Frank Liu, Edward Zhang, Aidan Lin, Wing Wang. (Courtesy of iReach) improve ourselves while doing that.”
Liu said the group welcomes any student who wants to dedicate time to volunteer and make an impact in their community. iReach team chose Chandler Adopt-APark program as one of its first activities by committing to spend time at Desert Breeze once a month.
During their inaugural clean-up last month, 20 students and several parents teamed up to pick up trash, clean tables and do other tidying up work at the park.
This will be a monthly activity for iReach and Xiao said she is hoping more volunteers are going to join them in the future at the park. iReach also has volunteers offering one-on-one tutoring programs.
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Chandler girl gets to flex her ‘CEO’ muscles
BY SYDNEY MACKIE
Staff Writer
Not every kid may dream of becoming a CEO some day, but 11-yearold Indigo Chai of Chandler actually won the opportunity to do so at the Crayola Experience last month.
Indigo won the title of “chief experience officer” last year with a convincing video resume and was invited to tour the Crayola store near the Chandler Fashion Center when the mall reopened last year to provide kid-expert feedback to the company.
Indigo’s father found the application in a Chandler magazine and her family encouraged her to apply. He noted his daughter has always been drawn to creative endeavors and had many captivating ideas for the Crayola brand. “It was definitely a whirlwind of emotions. It was just me and my parents at Indigo Chai of Chandler got a big kick out of her role as chief experience officer at the Crayola Experience store near Chandler Fashion Center. the house and it was kind of coincidental because they are an arts and crafts brand and we were just settling down to do a craft together, we didn’t expect the call to come,” Indigo said. “It was a lot of happiness for sure. It was overwhelming and it kind of felt unreal.”
Indigo’s day at the Crayola Experience began with a store-wide welcome at 9 a.m. followed by a staff briefing. Then she officially opened the store for the day before listening to presentations about the company’s attractions and merchandise development process. Finally, she toured and assessed the facility and storefront before an audience of about 300 people.
Chai had visited the store twice before the event and said she “really loved the idea of a place that was centered allaround creativity.”
THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | JUNE 13, 2021
30 new Chandler grads named Merit Scholars
ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF
The National Merit Scholarship Foundation last week announced that 30 newly graduated high school seniors in Chandler were among the 3,100 winners of scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities.
An additional group of scholars will be announced in July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2021 competition to about 4,000.
Winners, the school they graduated from, and where and what they intend to study are: • Jayashree Adivarahan, Hamilton
High, electrical engineering at Arizona
State University; • Sabah Ashfeen, Hamilton, computer science at ASU; • Shibi R. Ayyanar, BASIS Chandler, computer science at ASU; • Ella O. Barnum, Perry High, neurosurgery at Texas A&M University; • Michael S. Chen, Hamilton, engineering at Vanderbilt University; • Rachel L. Cox, Hamilton, law at ASU; • Dylan E. Crespo, Hamilton, aerospace engineering at ASU; • Nikhil R. Dave, Arizona College Preparatory- Erie, computer engineering at
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; • Owin A. Dieterle, BASIS Chandler, information technology, at ASU; • Sara El Imrani, BASIS Chandler, pre-med at ASU: • Rylee R. Engelken, Perry High,
pre-med at ASU; • Katarina V. Fenner, Chandler High, education at ASU; • Amanda J. Gong, Hamilton, biology at ASU; • Rishabh V. Guttal, Hamilton, biology at ASU; • Kylie I. Hartana, BASIS Chandler, premed at ASU; • Suhan Kacholia, BASIS Chandler, economics at Georgia University; • Shankar M. Kailas, BASIS Chandler, computer science at ASU; • Davis Lu, McClintock High, chemical engineering at Texas &AM; • Adrian J. Palumbo, BASIS Chandler, academia at Case Western Reserve University; • Shravan Pejavar, Hamilton, economics at Southern California University; • Aishwarya S. Potturu, Hamilton, pediatrics at ASU; • Niharika Sharma, Hamilton, healthcare at ASU; • Jasmeen K. Sidhu, BASIS Chandler, pre-med at ASU; • Nicole K. Smith, Perry, environmental science at Michigan State University; • Jake S. Summers, Basha High, astrophysics at ASU; • Kaitlyn S. Tam, Hamilton, biology at ASU; • Eric P. Tran, Chandler Preparatory
Academy, biomedicine at ASU; • Amy Wang, Hamilton, finance at ASU; • Angela J. Wang, Hamilton, marketing at ASU; • Ethan A. Xiong, Hamilton, biology at
University of Texas at Dallas.
Tempe Union salutes Chandler teen for her work
ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF
On the night before she graduated from Mountain Pointe High School May 20, Shayla Mackenzie of Chandler was saluted by Superintendent Dr. Kevin Mendivil at the Tempe Union Governing Board meeting.
Shayla received the CTE Film and TV Student of the Year award and also won best screenplay at this year’s Tempe Union High School District Film Festival.
Mendivil said that while interning in Tempe Union’s district community relations department, Shayla “played a vital role in the filming of Marcos and Mountain Pointe promotional videos and streaming governing board meetings, all city award ceremonies and school performances.”
Bound for the Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism, Shayla worked with Warren Cole, the district’s multimedia specialist and videographer.
The daughter of Samantha Cunningham and Sean McKenzie, she helped edit and live-stream various events for all seven district high schools while helping to develop promotional films for Mountain Pointe and Marcos de Niza high schools.
“As the semester progressed and we were able to go back to school in person again, I acted as production assistant for Mr. Cole,” she said.
“This included setting up lights, slatChandler resident Shayla Mackenzie got a special salute at a Tempe Union Governing board meeting for her work as a district intern in film-making.
(Special to the Arizonan)
ing a scene, and working audio at times. I then was able to move into directing and helped him with the promotion videos for Marcos De Niza and Mountain Pointe.”
She said she is especially proud of a short film she made this year with the help her classmate and friend Zoe McCollum. That film won the best screenplay award.
“I’m most proud of this because it helped me prove to myself that I have the potential to be a great writer and could give an audience something to enjoy,” she said. That also bolstered her long-term career hopes of becoming a director and screenwriter.
“I know it’s a tough business to get into and there’s a lot of competition, so winning the award gave me a much-needed confidence boost in my writing capabilities,” Shayla said. The internship averaged two to five hours of work a week.
Since hers was a new position, she said Cole and she “were not really sure what to start with,” although “as the semester progressed, we both got more of an idea of how things were going to go especially when shooting the promotional videos.”
At the Cronkite School she is aiming for bachelor’s degrees in both broadcast journalism and TV/film production.
“I’d eventually like to get my masters in both fields as well – but baby steps,” she said. Her dream job “has always been Marvel Studios or a big streaming company like Netflix.”
But, she added, “It’s always good to have a backup plan though, so if the whole Hollywood thing doesn’t work out, I’d love to be a producer for a news station in New York or Seattle.”
“Movies and entertainment have always been a passion of mine since I was little,” she explained. “My mom would take me to the theater to see one of the new Marvel movies with my brothers. I knew I wanted to be on set and see how the behind the scenes worked.”
Turns out her internship did just that.
“When I got into high school and was able to start taking film and TV classes, we worked on a journalism unit and I fell in love with that as well. I guess production, whether it be for a school broadcast or a short film, has always been a part of me and they always say turn what you love into your career.”
The internship also taught her “the ability to adapt,” she said. “Being able to think on the fly when something goes wrong is a crucial part of pursuing a career in any type of production field,” Shayla explained. “Learning early on that when the pressure is applied and deadlines are approaching faster and faster, finding a way to make it work out is key – especially with all the stress that comes with it. “But it’s honestly a thrill,” she said. “I think better on my feet and under pressure. So, thanks to Mr. Cole and having taken Mrs. Idler’s film/TV classes, I’ve learned to handle stress well and, again, adapt.”
Shayla in the past has played junior varsity soccer for fun and was a member of Mountain Pointe’s Key Club and the Rho Kappa Honors Society for social studies.
Left: Weston Thomas titled this picture, which got honorable mention in the contest, “Bird Attack Bird.” middle: Arnav Ved took this picture of three avocets at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve. (Arnav Ved) Right: Arnav Ved won $1,000 for his third-place finish in the nature contest.
2 teen photogs have winning contest entries
ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF
Two Chandler photographers had winning entries in an Arizonawide nature photo competition.
A Chandler teen won third place in an Arizona-wide nature conservancy photo contest with his picture of three avocets standing in water that mirrored their images.
Arnav Ved, 16, who is entering his junior year at Hamilton High School took the photo at the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert and won $1,000 for his winning entry in the Nature Conservancy’s eighth annual Adventures in Nature contest.
“I stumbled on this photo while I was looking for shots to take for my photography class,” said Arnav, the son of Payal and Parthiv Ved.
“It was in the fall, so the swamp colors were really nice and bright, giving the picture that colorful look. These three birds were in the middle of the lake, moving around, and they stopped for a second in an amazing position, so I got the shot while I was laying down.”
Arnav has been taking pictures for about a year and used a Nikon D7100 DSLR for the winning shot.
Winning honorable mention was
– Tana Kappel
Weston Thomas of Chandler for a photo titled “Bird Attack Bird.”
Avocets are a common sight at the Riparian Preserve in the fall and spring.
Cox Communications and Arizona Highways partner with the Conservancy in the contest.
This year, more than 3,742 photos were entered by 500 Arizona teens in the creative contest. In 2019, there were 1,665 entries.
“This challenge is a great way to inspire younger generations to spend more time outside and to look at nature in different and creative ways,” said Tana Kappel, marketing manager for The Nature Conservancy in Arizona. “This competition is also the driving force behind some great partnerships.”
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“If a student faces challenges on any subject, iReach will be able to help find a tutor to work directly with the student,” Xiao said. “The tutoring sessions can be customized according to the tutor and tutee’s availability and needs.
“iReach team members believe that they can help every student in need in our community to gain confidence in academics, in turn helping their parents to focus on their jobs and raising the family, and this enables our community to thrive.” iReach also has rolled out free online summer camps with sessions on investment and finance, science, civics, Spanish, music, dance, tennis, physical education and other subjects.
Science tutors are the students who have participated in national level competitions in the field. The tutors will have games, videos and interactive lessons in any area of science-related subjects ranging from astronomy and genetics to immunology and anatomy.
Elizabeth Ovelil is a ninth grader with a passion and interest in civics, Xiao said, who is leading a team of three students to run a civics camp for young students this summer.
“Everyone in our community should learn civics to understand our community better and become a better citizen,” Elizabeth said.
For those who are in sixth grade and up, iReach will have a summer camp on public speaking that will focus on skills like vocal variety and body language with the goal of making participants more confident as speakers.
To learn more about other camps, or get involved in the group’s volunteer work, see ireachus.org.
CEO from page 19
She also got to present her own idea for a Crayola Experience attraction: how to take the popular Scribble Scribbles attraction to the next level with activities and layouts that would bring awareness to animal rescue and conservation.
She also selected her favorite offerings, which will be labeled as “Kid CEO approved items” until July 31.
“Personally, the plushies I really like because they were really cute and they had a wide spectrum and Wrap it Up!, which is a crayon exhibit where you get to customize your own crayon label,” Indigo said.
“It was really cool because you get to add emotion. Another one of my favorite parts is the Model Magic exhibit where you get to pick clay from vending machines and they have a whole bunch of different colors.”
Indigo also renamed the crayon color aquamarine to “Clean Marine,” which will also be available for purchase until the end of July, and selected the store’s July craft theme before going on a $250 shopping spree awarded alongside her Kid CEO title.
“I think that I made an impact on the brand pretty well and I definitely want to do more with them. I think they’re a really awesome brand that’s doing really well and I’m proud to be a part of it,” Indigo said.
