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Youth
October 5 – 18, 2013
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State Fair performances highlight talented youth BY MEGHAN MCCOY
The Arizona State Fair will feature three community acts in October, highlighting talented youth from Chandler. The Andersen Junior High Choir and Jazz Band will take the stage from 1 to 2 p.m. Thu., Oct. 24. Jan Hoblit, choir director and drama teacher, says the jazz band and regular choir have performed every year for the past 20 years at the fair. This is the first year the newly formed show choir will hit the stage. The jazz band will play for half of the program and the choirs will fill the other 30 minutes. Hoblit, who wishes to thank Principal Jim Anderson for his support, says the top three “Andersen Idol” contestants will also sing their solos to the State Fair.
The jazz band, which is directed by Scott Lewis, consists of approximately 20 students who are mostly eighth graders. The regular choir, which is referred to as the advanced choir, has 20, seventh and eighth grade students. The show choir includes 20 of the best sixth, seventh and eighth grade dancers and singers. “It gives the kids great opportunity to try things,” Hoblit says of the choir and band. “It’s a very nice development age for the kids. There is a lot of energy at this age and gives them a chance to push it.” Hoblit says she enjoys the kids’ performance at the State Fair because a lot of them do not have a chance to see the event. “It’s really good to get them out and be responsible for representing our school’s honor,” she says.
Hamilton High School
SCHOLA CANTORUM CHOIR: The SCHOLA Cantorum choir from Hamilton High School will perform for the first time at the Arizona State Fair from 4 to 5 p.m. Wed., Oct. 30. Submitted photo
Hamilton High School’s performance is set for 4 to 5 p.m. Wed., Oct. 30. Ben Shafer, director of choirs, says there will be six choirs—roughly 200 freshmen through senior students—on the stage at the State Fair this month. Those choirs include Bella Voce, a beginning all-women’s ensemble; Men’s Chorus, a beginning all-men’s ensemble; Dolce, an advanced all-women’s choir;
CHOIR: Students from the Andersen Junior High School choir will perform at the Arizona State Fair from 1 to 2 p.m. Thu., Oct. 24. Submitted photo
Schola Cantorum, an advanced large mixed ensemble, and Sol, a small jazz and madrigal ensemble. Shafer says the new show choir, Harmonix, will perform as well. This is the choirs’ first year to perform at the State Fair. Shafer explains that he is excited for the students because they will be performing in a different venue. “They are used to singing choral music in a classical setting,” he says, adding that the State Fair will require
“higher energy music in a diverse setting.” The State Fair, Shafer says, will encourage the students to hone in on their performance skills while celebrating the state of Arizona. Each choir will have approximately six to seven minutes to perform two numbers. The acts will highlight such songs from the musical “Once,” and “Falling Slowly,” “Gold” and “When Your Mind’s Made Up.” SEE STATE FAIR PAGE 30
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October 5 – 18, 2013
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STATE FAIR FROM PAGE 28
graders and Xplosion for those 12 years and older. There are also the Knockouts, which consists of the older group of dancers. “I started the Dynamite Express in 1988,” Gooch says. “We have been at the State Fair every year for that long.” All of the dancers audition to become a member of the group during a workshop at the end of their year. “Every year the team changes,” she explains. “About half to two thirds stay on the team. They stay on the team for maybe three or four years before becoming advanced dancers. They become a part of our dance company and those are the most advanced dancers we have.” Meghan McCoy is the Neighbors and Business section editor for the SanTan Sun News. She can be reached at meghan@santansun.com.
YOUTH CHRONICLES Alexys Lawrence of Chandler is admitted to Columbus State University in Columbus, GA, for the fall 2013 semester. Alexys, a member of the class of 2017, will study prenursing. Tara Larsen of Chandler is a freshman at Concordia University in Seward, NE. Nathan Walker of Chandler is enrolled at Marietta College in Marietta, OH, for the fall 2013 semester. Nathan is majoring in petroleum engineering.
JAZZ BAND: Members of the Andersen Junior High School jazz band practice before they play at the Arizona State Fair later this month from 1 to 2 p.m. Thu., Oct. 24. Submitted photo
The show choir will feature numbers from the Broadway production “Rent” and songs by Coldplay. The men’s choir will sing “21 Guns” by Green Day, and the women’s choir will perform music from “Peter Pan.”
Dynamite Express The final act features Dance Connection 2’s Dynamite Express, DC tutu and Hip Hop Dancing Crew teams
from 6 to 7 p.m. Sat., Nov. 2. The onehour performance will include 18 to 20 numbers, as well as some solo routines. Studio owner Maryanna Gooch says the jazz dance team has more than 100 members ranging from 5 to 17 years old. The team is divided into smaller groups—Snapcaps for kindergarten-age dancers; Sparklers for first and second graders; Firecrackers for third and fourth graders; Hotshots for fifth and sixth
DANCE: The Dynamite Express Dance Team, which is comprised of more than 100 dancers, will perform for an hour at the Arizona State Fair from 6 to 7 p.m. Sat., Nov. 2. Submitted photo
Youth
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Kids: Win $15 gift card from Changing Hands Bookstore Students who either live in Chandler, Gilbert, Queen Creek or surrounding areas or who attend area schools can win $15 gift cards from Changing Hands Bookstore, thanks to a partnership between the bookseller and the SanTan Sun News. This ongoing, monthly promotion awards a $15 Changing Hands gift card to every youth whose article, story, poem, essay, editorial, book review, photo or illustration is chosen to be printed in the SanTan Sun Kids Opportunity section, while supplies last. The Kids Opportunity section is printed in the Youth Section of the first paper of the month, each month. The best news is that even though only one to three submissions are printed per month, all good submissions are held in a file to be printed in future issues. So if an entry doesn’t win this month, it could win next month—or even the month after that. To enter, visit SanTanSun.com, click on Youth and then on Student Writer Permission Slip to download a submission-permission slip. Complete the form and have a parent sign it so the paper has permission to print the entry and the author or artist’s byline. Then, email the submission-permission slip and writing or artwork to news@SanTanSun.com as a Word file, if writing, or JPEG, if art, or pasted into the email.
DRAWING: This drawing was submitted to us by Emily Douwstra, a second-grade student at Haley Elementary School.
Dreamland Adventure By Jasmine Tu, Third grader, Bright Beginning School Once a upon a time there was a place called Dreamland. It was a place where animals can talk, where cars can drive without people in them and where fairies live. However, only four kids know about this place. The children’s names are Fern, Lucy, Howie and Eddie. Fern and Howie are older than all of them. Fern is 10 and Howie is 8. Lucy and Eddie
K.O.
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PENNED BOOK: Libby, Ariel and Mika Armbrister, grades five, five and first at San Tan Elementary School, wrote a children’s story and have published their book on Amazon. “Muffin is Looking for a Bone” is an adorable story about a missing treasure. It is suitable for reading levels kindergarten through third grade. All the illustrations in the story were made by children, including Libby. Submitted photo
are the younger ones. Lucy is 6 and Eddie is 4. They are brothers and sisters. They had promised their friends in Dreamland that they would never tell a person about them. They had many adventures with their Dreamland friends. Now, it had been a long time since they had their last adventure. So they went to Dreamland. They saw that an evil witch was trying to capture their friends. They formed a plan. Lucy and Eddie would try to distract the witch while Fern and Howie rescued their friends. Their plan worked! They thought they saved the day.
But suddenly they saw the witch trying to capture an unicorn. So they had to save the unicorn and drive the witch away from Dreamland. Lucy, Eddie and their friends distracted the witch and Fern freed the unicorn. Then, Howie drove away the witch. What an adventure! It was nighttime in the human world already. So they said goodbye to their friends and told them to call them if the witch comes back. They went home happily and ate supper together except Howie. Howie just went to bed. He laid on his bed thinking about the adventures that lay ahead. The End
K.O.
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October 5 – 18, 2013
Youth
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Youth
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its one big fundraiser of the year, the APEX Fun Run, on Oct. 31. Students will raise money per lap that they run; funds raised will help the school purchase additional curriculum materials and help fund other school activities. Class notes – As a culminating activity for their readers’ theater unit, fourthgrade Tigers attended a production of “Robin Hood” at Tempe Center for the Arts. The productions have been aligned to assist in teaching the new Common Core Standards. —Stephanie Vatistas
CHANDLER UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Sept. 30-Oct. 11: Fall intersession; no school Oct. 14-15: Teacher inservice/workdays; no school
Carlson Champions Oct. 25: Boo Bash, 6-8 p.m., Multipurpose Room —Lora Robinson
CTA-Independence Hawks
Hancock Heat
Students return from fall intersession Oct. 16; report cards will come home with students that day. Fun Run – The Apex Fun Run 2013-14 will be held Nov. 4 through 15. Donation information will come home soon. All pledge money collected will be used to purchase security items for the school, such as radios for each classroom. Race Day will be Fri., Nov. 15. Tax credits – CTA-Independence families and friends can visit the school website and click on the “Our School” tab for information on tax credit donations. Donations can easily be made online; every dollar donated is returned at tax time. Donations go directly to the school and are used to support clubs and fieldtrips. Thanks for donating. —Wendi Olson
Character Counts – Hancock continues to focus on the character trait of “Respect” throughout the month of October. Families can help reinforce the main components of respect at home, including being tolerant and accepting of differences, using good manners, dealing peacefully with disagreements and being considerate of the feelings of others. Tax credits – Hancock families are asked to consider donating to the school through the extracurricular tax credit program, and to encourage friends, neighbors and relatives who live in Arizona to also donate. Donations can be made in any amount or in increments; married couples can donate up to $400 or singles up to $200. The full donation will be returned in the form of a tax credit. —Guia Lehr
Haley WhiteTigers Fun Run – The school is gearing up for
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Hull Heroes
Reading rewards – In an effort to instill love of reading, the Hull PTO is kicking off a new program rewarding students for the amount of time they spend reading. Parents can look for more information about the program coming home soon. News flash – “Like” Hull Elementary on Facebook for updated PTO information and check out the PTO blog at hullelementary.blogspot.com. —Kristen Boyd
STUDENT LEADERS: Hull Elementary presents the 2013-14 Student Council officers: from left to right, Treasurer Emma Fisher, Secretary Caitlyn Murray, Historian Allison Gerbich and Co-Presidents Emily Yeager and Ainslee Gehrman. Submitted photo
Patterson Pride
Fundraiser fun – The PTO annual Harkins loyalty cups, T-shirts and gift card sale begins in October; only limited quantities will be ordered, so be sure to get orders in. Pre-order forms will be sent home after fall break. Halloween happenings – Join Hull PTO and friends for the annual Halloween Dance from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 25. Entry, costume contest and two games are free. Dinner from Subway, Kona Ice, snacks, crafts, additional games and glow items will be available for purchase. Thanks due – Thanks to Kiwi Loco and Hull families. Hull raised $214 from its fundraiser in August. Hull PTO will also receive a check for more than $500 from Peter Piper Pizza.
Clothing drive – Patterson’s clothing drive runs Oct. 28 through Nov. 1. Items accepted include usable and unusable clothing, hats, belts, pillows, stuffed animals, comforters, sheets, bedspreads and any textile items. Boots and shoes are also needed but should be bagged separately. Donations will be collected at parent drop-off Fri., Oct. 18 and Fri., Oct. 25. PTO news – The next PTO general meeting is 3:30 p.m. Wed., Oct. 23. The new Patterson PTO Board for 2013-14 includes Co-Presidents Mary Jacobs and Ann Rollins, Co-Vice Presidents Jennifer Davis and Clark Jess, Co-Treasurers Jeanne Schweizer and Cheryl Cowan, Secretary Amber Cook and Volunteer Coordinator Kelly Segerstrom. A new communications coordinator is still needed. Fall Fiesta – Charlotte Patterson Elementary hosts a public Fall Festival Fiesta from noon to 4 p.m. Sat., Nov. 2. SEE CUSD NEWS PAGE 34
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CUSD NEWS FROM 33
Entrance fee is $10 for unlimited games and bouncers; adults are free if not participating on the bouncers. Train rides are an additional $3 per person. The event will feature a variety of food items available for purchase, including Jamba Juice and Kona Ice, as well as games, vendor booths, themed raffle baskets and silent auction items. All proceeds benefit the PTO. —Anne Keefer
Tarwater Toros Fundraiser fun – Earn points for Tarwater just by “liking” Chandler Fashion Center on Facebook. Click “Like” at facebook.com/ ShopChandlerFashionCenter, click on School Cents and then choose Tarwater to earn 500 points. The school can also earn 500 points when families attend the free Kids Club at 10 a.m. Wednesdays in the Gap wing of the mall. Families can bring their tiny Toros, sign their name on the School Cents form and enjoy cute songs, coloring pages and a snack. School Cents – Shop and log all Chandler Fashion Center and The Boulevard Shops receipts to earn School Cents points for Tarwater. Original receipts may be shown to the staff at Guest Services, located on the upper level across from Barnes & Noble at Chandler Fashion Center, or turn receipts into the front office to be logged. Receipts must be dated between Aug. 15, 2013 and April 15, 2014. Tarwater earns at least five points for every dollar spent at any of the participating stores,
restaurants and services, with additional bonus point opportunities throughout the year. This great program has earned Tarwater $8,000 in the last three years. Everyone’s participation is needed to help Tarwater earn first place again and the grand prize of $3,000. —Robyn Kelly
SanTan K-8 Storm Good sports – San Tan Junior High girls’ seventh- and eighth-grade volleyball teams were invited to play in the first Festival Sports Volleyball Invitational tournament recently, and both teams won the championship in each of their age groups. Eighth grader Kennedy Kaminsky won Most Outstanding player in her division, and seventh grader Melissa Blockey won Most Outstanding player in hers. —Chris Kaminsky
Perry High Pumas Good sports – Football season is in full swing. Hammer awards go to Brandon Rule for Week 1, Logan Arredondo Week 2, Drew Scipione Week 3 and Logan Arredondo Week 4. The Pumas were featured recently on Cox 7 against Mountain Ridge High School. —Denise Hanson
CTA-Goodman Gators Gator Garden – The CTA-Goodman GoGetters Club recently hosted a visit for members of the Asian Pacific Community
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in Action organization to view the Gator garden, a school project to encourage healthy lifestyles and healthy foods. The Gator Garden was the fourth stop on their citywide tour of viewing local community gardens and meeting with the Mayor’s office to discuss health initiatives. The visitors were impressed by the involvement of the student body and the collaboration with CHS Future Farmers and CUSD Food Services. The Gator Garden has provided children the benefit of learning about gardening and what it means to be part of a community. Western Week – Kindergarten through third-grade students recently participated in a western dance unit sponsored by the specials teachers. A special western lunch was also held, with Gators performing during lunch. —Kathie Butters
Knox Knights Family fun – Knox’s Fall Festival will be held at 4:30 p.m. Fri., Nov. 8 and will feature bounce houses, a rock wall, pony rides, face painting, live entertainment, raffles, games, food and more. Huge thanks to Party City for donating over $500 in prizes for the festival this year. Enjoy Chandler BBQ, Jamba Juice, Kona Ice and more. Tickets and wristbands will go on pre-sale after fall break. Music notes – Congrats to the Knox Knights who sang in the Ode to Peace concert held recently at Chandler Center for the Arts. Presented by the American
Chinese Arts & Culture Exchange, the concert celebrated America in its diversified richness and cultured art forms. Special thanks to Knox music teacher Mrs. Johnson for working so hard for the kids to have this opportunity to perform live. High honors – Congrats to the Knox Chess Club for earning first place in the School Competition at Chess Emporium’s Supernova Tournament recently. The K-6 U600 Division first-place team includes Christian Alvarado, Danny LaBaer, Derek Baker, John Kennedy and Aaryan Mukherjee. Chess Club members Evan Higgins, Benjamin Higgins, Shayan Mukherjee, Sidarth Kanderi and Evan Sideris also did well. Shop and earn – Visit knoxpto. com and click on the Amazon link to shop and earn referral fees for Knox. Families can also link Fry’s Food cards to Knox 81212 by visiting fryscommunityrewards.com to earn dollars for Knox with every purchase at Fry’s. Calendar Oct. 10: Skating special admission $3 per child, not including skate rental, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. at Skateland, 1101 W. Ray Rd., Chandler Oct 16: School resumes Oct. 28-Nov. 1: Red Ribbon/Character Counts Spirit Week Nov. 4-8: Book Fair Nov. 5: PTO Meeting, 3:45 p.m. Nov. 8: Fall Festival, 4:30-7:30 p.m. —Jacqueline Bartrim
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