Youth & Education - OUT THERE [CITYSunTimes March 2010]

Students Compete In Poetry Finals March 5

Poetry Out Loud

2009 Poetry Out Loud competitors.

The Arizona Commission on the Arts, in partnership with Arizona State University’s
Young Writers Program and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, invites the public to attend the Fifth Annual Arizona Poetry Out Loud State Finals, March 5 from 7-9pm.
Eleven thousand high school students from across the state participated in the 2010 Arizona Poetry Out Loud competition. Out of 24 student finalists, a state champion will be chosen to represent Arizona in the National Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest, taking place in April. The National Recitation Contest is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition.
The state finals event will be held at the Burton Barr Central Library Auditorium, 1221 North Central Avenue in Phoenix. Admission is free and open to the public. For more, visit azarts.gov/pol.

Pardes Celebrates Reading With Seuss

Pardes Jewish Day School (pardesschool.org) celebrated Read Across America Week, which commemorates the birthday of beloved author Dr. Seuss, the first week of March. Daily themes for the week included Cat in Hat and Crazy Hat Day, Read Across America Day and Bartholomew and the Oobleck Day.

Pardes Jewish Day School

Photo by Joel Zolondek

Pardes third-graders Drew D., Tate Z. and Gabe C. show off their favorite Harry Potter choices during Read Across America Week activities at the Northeast Phoenix school.

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CITYSunTimes Web Exclusive March 2010
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YOUTH & EDUCATION

Donor Offers Challenge Grant To Benefit Arizona Students

North Canyon High to compete at State Finals

In February, tens of thousands of athletes from 80 countries marched into the Vancouver Olympic Games; just as over 6,000 students from 80 state high schools marched into classrooms, auditoriums and gymnasiums to compete in the Arizona Academic Decathlon, a team competition that promotes multidisciplinary learning in 10 academic competencies. While the high hopes for many of America’s Olympians came to fruition, the future of these academic decathletes is in jeopardy, due to a significant loss of state funding and decrease in private and corporate donations.
To fully fund the 2010-11 competition season, the Arizona Academic Decathlon Association (AADA) must raise approximately $150,000. The AADA has implemented numerous cost-savings measures and will continue to benefit from contributions of loyal donors, but a sizable gap remains.
“Academic Decathlon has been a shining star of Arizona education for 25 years,” says Judi Willis, who volunteers as president of the board of directors for AADA. “We simply can’t afford to allow it to fade away. The experience we provide students is unparalleled by any other activity.”
In response to this fiscal challenge, an anonymous, longtime supporter has stepped forward and issued a challenge grant, promising to match contributions from any new donors to the AADA by March 31, 2010. New donors may contribute through the AADA web site at azacadec.org.
Since 1985, the Arizona state-winning team that advances to the United States Academic Decathlon competition has consistently placed in the top five, standing as a role model for Arizona academic achievement. The AADA has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in post-secondary scholarships to winning competitors. The program promotes diversity through inclusion by crossing academic, socioeconomic, geographic and ethnic boundaries. In recognition that GPA is not the only measure of scholastic success, the competition rules require that teams are comprised of nine students, with three “A”, three “B” and three “C” students. Teams hail from all regions of the state: urban, rural and suburban. Schools of all forms participate, whether public, charter, private or parochial.

The Arizona Academic Decathlon 2009-10 State Finals will be held on March 12-13 at Sandra Day O’Connor High School in Deer Valley. Area teams include the team from North Canyon High School (Paradise Valley Unified School District). Two events are open to the public on Saturday: the Super Quiz Relay at 1:45pm; and the awards ceremony at 5:30pm.

Arizona Academic Decathlon Association was founded in 1985 to promote, motivate and acknowledge excellence in academic efforts and educational achievement through a program of academic competitions for high school students of all scholastic achievement levels. For more information, visit azacadec.org.

YOUTH & EDUCATION Web Exclusive | CITYSunTimes March 2010