Sabino High students raise pygmy goats - Assistance League of ...

Features
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6
Opening doors
Pueblo Gardens was one of the schools
sponsoring Kindergarten Open House
Down on the Farm
Sabino High students raise pygmy goats
in their Agriculture Science I class
Dressed for success
The Assistance League’s Operation
School Bell dresses schoolchildren
Van Buskirk Elementary School students Ronnie
Mendoza, left, and Adrian Castillo Montoya pass the
time with coloring projects as they wait for their names to
be called to select new clothes at the Assistance League.
Story on Page 6.
On the cover
Andrea Ortlinghaus, a Sabino High School senior, cuddles
Sprocket, one of two pygmy goats the Ag Science I class is
raising. Story on page 4.
Unless otherwise noted, all stories by Sharon Dunham
and photos by Jes Ruvalcaba.
Focus magazine is printed at no cost to the distict.
Waiting for the Van Buskirk Elementary School students to arrive
at the Assistance League are, from the left, Philanthropic Programs
Chairwoman Heidi August, Operation School Bell Chairwoman Paula
Harris, Public Relations Chairwoman Martha Chaffee, and Tucson
Unified Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Celania-Fagen. Story on
Page 6.
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Contacts
Story ideas
Send your story ideas to Chyrl Hill
Lander and Sharon Dunham at chyrl.lander@
tusd1.org and sharon.dunham@tusd1.org or
complete a Media Tip Sheet, available on the
intranet (TUSD Forms > Communications).
We’re always eager to hear from you!
Kinder Open House
Pueblo Gardens showcases kindergarten program
It was show time for Principal Marco Ramirez and
his staff at Pueblo Gardens K-8 School on the morning
of Feb. 18. They had a new audience on hand, parents
and grandparents who were ready to learn more about the
school’s offerings during the annual Kindergarten Open
House.
Ramirez stressed that children could expect a solid
grounding in math, a subject which, he said, is heavily
emphasized at Pueblo Gardens. “Parents are rightly concerned
with math, which is a gatekeeper in college,” he said.
“Parents are concerned with their children developing these
essential skills from the time they start school all the way
through eighth grade.”
Pueblo Gardens has
classes for kindergarten
through the eighth grade.
After hearing from
Ramirez and the four kindergarten
teachers, parents
toured the school, getting
a feel for what life is like
for Pueblo Gardens’ students.
They also had time
to fill out the paperwork
in the enrollment packets.
Meanwhile, prospective
kindergarteners worked
on developing reading
skills and completing a
craft in the classroom with
kindergarten teachers.
In one class, 5-yearold
Vanessa, whose parents
Vanessa McKay and Lloyd Williams were at the open house,
vigorously colored pages that displayed pictures of cowboy
clothing and directions for coloring them. Vanessa, who also
goes by the nickname “Cha Cha,” said her hand got tired
coloring the “red shirt page.” By the time she finished the
project, she said she’d learned that cowboys ride horses and
wear brown boots and “all the colors that cowboys wear.”
Teacher Marnie Robles, who helped Cha Cha, told her,
“You’re a good reader and a good colorer. I’m glad you’re
coming to our school.”
Williams, who was a Tucson Unified Schools bus driver
for eight years, said Pueblo Gardens was his family’s choice
for Cha Cha partly because it’s the neighborhood school
Vanessa “Cha Cha” McKay Williams, a prospective kindergartener, shares a
high five with kindergarten teacher Marnie Robles.
just down the street from their home. He said Cha Cha had
been home schooled, including learning sign language and
Spanish, but now would have the opportunity to socialize at
Pueblo Gardens.
Janette Lopez, whose daughter, Briana, attended the
open house, said she chose Pueblo Gardens for Briana because
her older brothers, who went to another school before
Pueblo Gardens, have had a good experience there. “Within
a day of coming here, they improved,” she said.
Briana told her mother after the cowboy project that
she had learned about brown boots, yellow chaps and red
shirts. Her mother responded, “I didn’t even know what
chaps were until today.”
David Ortiz and Arabella
Adamczak brought
their daughter, Isabella,
5, to the open house after
attending school events at
Pueblo Gardens in the past
for family members. “It
seems cool enough,” Ortiz
said. “The first couple of
days will be hard for us
because she’s never been
away from us. We have a
home-based business, so
we’ve always been together
since she was born. Isabella
will get a good education
here.”
Yolanda Mendivil
agreed. Her daughter, Kassandra
Serrano, attended
Pueblo Gardens and now Kassandra’s daughter, Janessa
Dorame, is set to come. “I like Pueblo Gardens,” Mendivil
commented.” They let you know right away if something is
right or wrong. Notification is important. Kassandra broke
her arm playing basketball in fourth grade, and they called
me at work right away to tell me.” Kassandra was in the
GATE program and participated in extracurricular activities.
Ramirez is convinced that parents will keep their children
at Pueblo Gardens once they’re enrolled. “We tell them
our values for achievement in literacy and math that start in
kindergarten and continue to the upper grades,” he said. “In
the classrooms, they see quality work on the walls. You can’t
go wrong by doing the right things,” Ramirez said.
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