News & Awards
Thank you for exploring Summit School of Ahwatukee: an award winning, nationally accredited, private, independent school for preschool through eighth grade.
Summit is proud to share recent awards and accomplishments. We also invite you to read the Summit News below, which details learning projects, special events for students, community service projects and more, giving insight into the world of learning that awaits your child.
Welcome to Summit School of Ahwatukee…
Summit Graduate is National Merit Semifinalist
Ahwatukee Foothills News December 7, 2011
Brett Reardon, a 2008 Summit School of Ahwatukee graduate has qualified as a 2012 National Merit semifinalist. He was co-salutatorian of his 8th grade class at Summit.
Reardon, an Ahwatukee Foothills resident, is a senior at Seton Catholic Preparatory High School in Chandler. He has been president of Seton's robotics team for the past two years and is on their Academic Decathlon team. He is exploring various colleges, with Harvey Mudd, MIT, and Kettering at the top of his list.
Reardon has completed the detailed application process to become one of the state's National Merit Finalist. Notification of the winners will be in February of next year.
Penpals From Local Schools Meet in Person
Written By Travis Roemhild AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS, Monday, November 14, 2011
With the way technology has evolved hand-written letters have, for the most part, been replaced by electronic means.
Two Ahwatukee Foothills schools made it a point to rekindle the personal nature of writing letters by hand.
Although it is part of the state-mandated curriculum to teach letter writing, teachers from Summit School of Ahwatukee and Kyrene del Milenio Elementary School wanted to take it a step further. Since September, 72 second-grade students, 36 from each school, have been corresponding by mail.
"I have seen just how excited they have been to receive regular mail from their pen pals," second-grade teacher Molly Danforth said. "They are writing friendly letters to each other. In the past we wrote to other people within the school to teach the curriculum, but this year we took it to a whole different level and the kids were really excited about it."
The idea was born from Summit School's Dawn Anderson.
"Growing up, I had a pen pal in Sydney and I always wanted to meet her," Anderson said. "Just that feeling of writing to someone you don't see was a driving force. We talked with the vice principal at Milenio about the possibility of doing pen pals and she was totally for it. So we brought together our class lists and matched the students up together."
On Thursday, after two months of writing each other, the pen pals got to meet each other. The Summit students walked to Milenio in the morning to spend the day with their pen pals.
"I was like, ‘It might not be so fun,' when I first heard about it," Milenio second-grader student Ryan Collins said. "But it was great. We have a lot in common."
The teachers also took the opportunity to teach the students about something else.
"Beforehand, we talked to them about what it meant to be a good host," Danforth said. "It was our jobs to be a polite and courteous guest or host."
While the hand-written letter may never regain the significance it once had, the two teachers believe their students got a glimpse of what it was like before technology, and appreciated it.
"They thought it was neat to know their letters were leaving the school," Collins said. "It was not someone they were going to see on a regular basis and that motivated them to write a good letter."
Running Club at Summit
MSN NEWS 10/6/2011 Spotlights the success of Summit School of Ahwatukee’s Running Club, created and led by Physical Education Instructor, Kathy Dean BA, MS, ACSM Certified Health Fitness Specialist®
http://fitbie.msn.com/kids-kick-coast-coast-day-fitness
Kids' Health: Exercise and Children
Kids Kick Off a Coast-to-Coast Day of Fitness
In a unique attempt to fight childhood obesity, children across the nation will exercise for a combined 10 hours Educators are fighting childhood obesity by showing kids that fitness is fun. On Thursday, October 6, thousands of students across the country will participate in Exercise US, a 10-hour exercise extravaganza that aims to instill healthy habits and a fondness for fitness from a young age.
According to the American Heart Association, one in three children in the United States are overweight or obese and this could be the first generation of kids whose life expectancy is shorter than its parents’, says Len Saunders, the creator of Exercise US and a physical education teacher, and also the author of Keeping Kids Fit. “Children need novelty and fun, and to understand why it’s important to exercise,” says Saunders. “With adults the emphasis seems to be on weight loss—but for kids that’s not a healthy picture to paint. What we really need to teach is that you’re not just exercising for now, but for the future. When you exercise and eat right and sleep well it’s an investment in future health.”
Teachers are also using Exercise US to attract new students to fitness opportunities already available at their schools.
Kathy Dean, ACSM, a physical education and wellness teacher at Summit School of Ahwatukee in Phoenix, AZ, holds an optional morning running club for her kindergarten through eighth-grade students three times a week. And for her first year of participation in Exercise US, she’s invited the school’s total population of 335 to jog along. Dean wants her students to love exercise, not only for its health benefits, but its “brain benefits” as well. Teachers at her school have noticed that students who participate in the morning running club are often more attentive and on task in class than their peers are, says Dean. “By the time they get to the classroom, their bodies are going, their brains are stimulated, and they’re ready to start thinking.”
Despite the connection between physical activity and school performance, not to mention the emphasis from national health campaigns like First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move, some teachers are still struggling to provide enough time for their students to be active. “Physical education has really been pushed to the back—just like art and music,” says Celia Griffin, a physical education teacher at McAdory Elementary School in McCalla, AL. To emphasize the importance of exercise, McAdory has turned every Thursday into a “fitness day” that allows students to earn charms for each mile they run. Students add the charms to necklaces or their shoelaces and they’ve become a source of pride and accomplishment.
McAdory has participated in Exercise US since its inception, and this year Exercise US falls conveniently on a Thursday, fitness day. “We’re always looking for ways to motivate our students and when they feel they’re part of a bigger picture, part of a chain reaction of students exercising, it really inspires them to work harder,” says Griffin.
Algebra Students Win State Honors
Four Summit School of Ahwatukee 7th Grade Algebra Students Win State Honors
The results are in from the 2011 State Algebra Contest, sponsored by the Arizona Association of Teachers of Mathematics (AATM) last May.
Josh Pagone and Amber Barto were two of the four Summit seventh graders who scored in the top ten percent statewide. Summit students Jonathan Booher and Alicia Farr earned an additional distinction by being among the top 10 highest scores in state.
“This algebra course is equivalent to a high school class and they give it their all,” explains teacher Christy Guidorizzi. “My students have such a great attitude about learning, making my job as their teacher extremely fun and rewarding.”
Approximately 600 students state wide participated in this competition, which was open to all students enrolled in a first year Algebra class.
Left to right:
Josh Pagone, Jonathan Booher, teacher Christy Guidorizzi, Alicia Farr, Amber Barto
Summit After School Program
FOX 10 NEWS Morning Show broadcast LIVE from Summit featuring a remarkable after school Lego program called
Bricks for Kidz®, owned by Summit School of Ahwatukee parents Don and Karla Kretsch: www.bricks4kidz.com
See for yourself how happy and engaged the Summit students are in this Lego club.
Watch a video of this live FOX News broadcast at: http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/morning_show/corys_corner/bricks4kidz-08232011
Summit Art Program
Summit School of Ahwatukee’s VITRUVIUS ART PROGRAM
WINS TOP NATIONAL AWARD!
The Vitruvius Program is an architecture, art and design program that serves as the art curriculum at Summit School of Ahwatukee, for preschool through eighth grade. In March of 2011, The Association of Architecture Organizations (AAO) in Chicago announced that Summit’s innovative Vitruvius Art Program is the winner of the National School Award;
THE TOP SCHOOL ART CURRICULUM in the UNITED STATES!
This competition included school art curriculums offered to preschool through 12th grade.
This award makes Summit the representative for the United States in the International Architecture & Children Golden Cubes Awards competition sponsored by the International Union of Architects (UIA) in Paris.
The Vitruvius Program was founded in 1988 at the Southern California Institute of Architecture by Kathleen and Eugene Kupper. The Program has been offered in elementary schools, museums, exhibitions and publications and is presently integrated with the regular academic curriculum at Summit School of Ahwatukee in Phoenix AZ, where Kathleen and Selene Kupper are lead teachers.
To read about The Vitruvius Program and the National Award: https://www.wizehive.com/voting/goldencubes/72/87710
To read the announcement from the Association of Architecture Organizations (AAO): http://aaonetwork.org/blog/2011/03/22/golden-cubes-nominees-announced
A video of the Vitruvius Program at Summit School of Ahwatukee may be found on the Summit School website: http://www.summitschoolaz.org/about_summit
A Vitruvius portfolio is also on Facebook – Summit School or Ahwatukee
The AAO conducted the U.S. competition with the American Architectural Foundation and the American Institute of Architects, both in Washington DC. The UIA Golden Cubes Awards were organized to recognize, encourage, and support those individuals and organizations that lay the foundations of an architectural culture and help children and young people, from preschool up to age 18; to understand architectural design and the processes by which our environment is shaped.
The U.S. Nominees now join other top programs from across the globe in a celebration of Kindergarten – 12th grade Architecture Education efforts at the UIA Congress in Tokyo, Japan, September 25-28, 2011.
Nominees' work will be publicly displayed at the Tokyo Congress. The UIA will select four final winners in the international phase. The U.S. winners, meanwhile, will be honored by the Association of Architecture Organizations at its Annual Conference in Philadelphia later this fall.
About the Vitruvius Program: The art curriculum at Summit School of Ahwatukee
The Vitruvius Program (VP) offers studio education in Architecture, art, and design. It was founded in 1988 and has been implemented in Architecture Schools, Elementary Schools, and Museums. Special projects, after school and summer programs are still offered: it is presently integrated with regular curriculum for all students Preschool - Eighth grade at Summit School. The VP has been published and exhibited internationally and awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arizona Commission on the Arts.
• Detailed objectives for teaching methods and content for each grade level and for each architecture project are structured into a ten-year curriculum. Skills taught for each age-appropriate group include: Discussion, Presentation and Critique, Freehand and Constructed Drawing, Modeling in a variety of media, Painting, Printmaking, Photography, and Installation/Exhibition.
• Children learn Architecture through intense design projects and examples of historical and contemporary art and architecture. A balance of cognitive and manipulative skills is taught in each project, with individual and group critiques and exhibitions for public discussion. All students demonstrate understanding of architectural design principles and achieve a high level of completion, with excellent material and craft techniques.
• Social, Environmental and Global Understanding is emphasized as the spiritual and practical goal for our students. Projects are selected to stimulate understanding of site, physical setting and cultural milieu, with specific programs that address the social and technical issues of the community. International design team partnerships are established at a local and global level.
• Creative thinking is promoted and developed, merging with critical inquiry to identify environmental and urban problems and propose innovative solutions.
• Young students enjoy creating models and drawings of Worlds they can explore. The model is a tool and a toy that stimulates imagination and focuses concrete thinking. Drawing and painting offer freedom of expression yet disciplined work for which students take pride. The students take pleasure in achieving creative skills that can make positive changes in their world.
• Parent, administrative, and colleague evaluations consistently rank the program in the 98th percentile for excellence in creative learning. They are enthusiastic supporters of the Vitruvius Program, its teaching methods and social objectives, and are impressed by the architectural content of the work. This support is evident in articles, grants, museum shows, exhibition reviews, awards, and our daily life experiences.
• The Summit School thematic based curriculum addresses individualized learning approaches, diverse students, and interdisciplinary subjects. The VP integrates with Summit's core curricula and closely collaborates with teachers and specialists.
• The Vitruvius model as implemented for the last 10 years at Summit School provides an excellent working example that may be emulated and replicated. Graduate students in architecture who have worked with us have brought our approach to other settings with success.
Latest News
From the Head of School's Desk
January 28, 2011
Dear Summit Families,
Our remarkable teachers are continually thinking of ways to enhance student learning. Teachers collaborate between grade levels through classroom learning in reading and writing, art, music, science, Spanish, technology, social studies, library instruction, physical education and presentations. Together, this gives life and meaning to student learning.
There are so many valuable projects at Summit. Here are examples of two recently developed ideas encompassing language arts, literature, science and art. Thank you to all of our teachers for sharing your ideas, talents, experience and passion for educating our students.
Pat O’Brien
Head of School
LANGUAGE ARTS AT SUMMIT SCHOOL OF AHWATUKEE: It's about language, and it's about art
Project created by: Lori Christianson, Literature and Language Arts and Kathleen and Selene Kupper, Art
So often an author visit at a school is just that - a brief visit by an author, who has just a small amount of time to introduce students to his work and the wonder that can be found in writing. When BEST, the parent organization at Summit School of Ahwatukee, invited local author Jewel Parker Rhodes for a visit, her children's book Ninth Ward sparked a flurry of classroom activity.
Ninth Ward, which is Rhodes' first children's book, describes Hurricane Katrina from the point of view of Laneesha, a twelve-year-old girl who lives in the Ninth Ward. To prepare students, language arts teacher Lori Christianson decided to search out poetry that had been written about Hurricane Katrina, since sixth-graders study poetry extensively and even host their own annual "Poetry Night." Thursday’s event featured recitations of classical poetry paired with contemporary songs and slideshows of images that reflected the themes in the poems. During Christianson's search, she stumbled across When the Waters Came by Cynthia Hogue and Rebecca Ross. These local authors interviewed area Hurricane Katrina survivors and captured their experience in poems and pictures. To prepare students for Rhodes' visit, Christianson used poems from the book. She believes that "by reading the poems and looking at pictures from When the Waters Came, it really helped students to visualize the setting of Ninth Ward and to feel the same emotions that the main character, Laneesha, felt."
Meanwhile, art teachers Kathleen and Selene Kupper are using both books as the catalyst for an architecture project. Inspired by the work of Brad Pitt's "Make It Right Foundation," fifth grade students studied the architectural designs in Pitt's book "In Time of Architecture Need". These designs create affordable housing, which will withstand New Orleans severe hurricanes, and incorporate renewable energy resources. The original ideas and architectural models created by our students' rivals college level work" exclaims Kupper. For an informative video go to http://www.makeitrightnola.org/ and click on media.
Recognized architecture films and even the UCLA School of Architecture have been involved in this work. The fifth grade students are completing sketch models and sixth grade begins this week.
To culminate their study of poetry, Hurricane Katrina, and a city's rebirth, an author visit by Hogue and Ross took place today in our Knowledge Center. Hogue and Ross read their poetry and shared their pictures with sixth-graders.
Eighth Graders Enhance Knowledge of the Scientific Process through Mentoring
Fifth graders receive ideas and encouragement from fellow students
Project created by: Andrea Yocum, Middle School Science and
Lori Phillips, Kindergarten through Fifth Grade Science
Summit Science Night is an annual event for fifth through eighth grade students at Summit. However, this year, the eighth graders will participate in the science fair from a different perspective. In the past, the students have demonstrated their understanding of the scientific process by developing their own experiments based on their interests and ideas. They created their own procedures, analyzed their results, and formed their own conclusions based on research.
Although the scientific process is an important aspect of science, Summit students have had numerous occasions to strengthen these skills. Another important element of science is being able to analyze the work of others. It is through evaluating and learning from the work of others that great discoveries are made. This process takes a great amount of critical thinking and a true understanding of the scientific process and how it works.
Therefore, the eighth graders will take on the role of advisors and evaluators for the 2011 Science Night. It is often said that we learn something best by teaching it to others. The eighth grade students will have this opportunity by being matched with a fifth grade student that they will mentor throughout the preparation for science night. Their mentoring role will include reviewing and checking their partner’s work on a number of key steps. Eighth grade mentors will assist with the following:
o Help their student develop their hypothesis to make sure that it reflects on the research and purpose of the experiment.
o Check over every step of the procedure to make sure that it is controlled, that all steps are explained, and that they make sense.
o Evaluate and help the student with his research and conclusion.
o Conduct their own research and develop ideas that explain and support the concepts of what their students are doing.
As Science Night approaches, eighth grade students will be given the fifth graders’ rough drafts and will fully evaluate them based on the Science Night rubric. It will be their duty to make suggestions for content, organization, flow, and accuracy. They will also help the students develop their final presentations and will evaluate their presentation skills.
This project will allow the eighth grade students to deeply develop their critical thinking skills and their ability to expertly evaluate and analyze the data and conclusion of others. It will also allow the students to build and strengthen their skills in communication, organization, problem-solving, and leadership.
Fifth graders can benefit from the attention and guidance from older students, learning about the importance of clearly communicating ideas from a fellow student that they look up to and respect.
Andrea Yocum and Lori Phillips are looking forward to this opportunity for the students and appreciate your constant support of new ideas that enhance their learning!
Art Exhibition
Over 280 pieces of Art, Design and Architecture Created by Summit School of Ahwatukee preschool through sixth grade students
On Exhibit at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Young@art Gallery through January 17, 2011
In October of 2010 the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) invited Summit School of Ahwatukee to contribute an exhibition featuring the children's work in art, design and architecture titled Bridges: Connecting Earth to Sky. The Exhibit titled “Bridges: Connecting Earth to Sky” connects design education to SMoCA’s fall Soleri exhibition and showcases the creative works of Summit’s preschool through sixth grade art students.
The Exhibit will be on display until January 17, 2011.
The young@art gallery is adjacent to SMoCA in downtown Scottsdale
Phoenix Symphony String Ensemble
The Phoenix Symphony String Ensemble Performs at Summit School of Ahwatukee
Thursday, January 20th
Concert 1, from 9:30 – 10:10AM, is designed for Preschool through 3rd grade
Concert 2, from 10:30 – 11:10AM, is designed for 4th through 8th grade
Both Concerts take place in the Summit School of Ahwatukee, multi-purpose room.
You and your child are welcome to join us for one or both informative and entertaining presentations. Please arrive 15 minutes early to sign in at our front desk, get seated and be prepared to enjoy at the start time of their concert.
About The Phoenix Symphony’s “String Ensemble”
Classroom Concerts inspire students to develop a deeper understanding of orchestral instruments, and the performances motivate students to become involved in school instrumental music programs. The String Orchestra, composed of 20 members of The Phoenix Symphony string section, has presented programs for the greater Phoenix area for nearly 30 years and has engaged students from all social and economic backgrounds.
Spanish Club
Ahwatukee Students Leave their Phones Aside to Meet for Conversation
Summit’s First after School Spanish Conversation Club is a Big Success
In an era when kids favor texting to stay connected with friends and family, a group of Summit School of Ahwatukee students is breaking the cycle of electronic-assisted communication and re-connecting with friends through the school’s Foreign Language Conversation Club. The Club is the brain child of Richard Córdova, who has taught Spanish language class to Summit School students for the past eight years.
Inspired by a student’s desire to expand his learning, Córdova decided that the best way to assimilate Spanish language concepts and vocabulary learned in class would be through practice. So, he created the club and invited students from 3rd through 8th grade to meet him after school three times a week to talk. At his side is parent Grace Dubberly, who formerly taught at an International Baccalaureate in Virginia.
In the course of just a few months, the results Córdova has seen have even surprised him. “I wanted to offer students an opportunity to practice Spanish in an environment devoid of judgment; a place where they can interact with other students. Not only have I seen kids confidence, fluency and vocabulary expand, but by inviting them to re-connect by conversing, they have formed very personal and direct bonds. They are now less inhibited; they feel more comfortable talking to me and each other.”
Once a week, the club moves from the school’s courtyard to the computer lab to leverage Spanish language programs like Live Mocha and Mango Spanish. These interactive online communities give students access to language lessons, experts and native speakers, as well as recording technology where they can listen to themselves speak the language.
“You don’t take a textbook with you when you travel, you use the language… you communicate. Although understanding the fundamentals is essential to fluency, you cannot truly learn a language unless you learn how to verbalize your thoughts and ideas.” said Córdova.
Córdova also solicited the help of Brophy College Preparatory High School honors students, and recent graduates of Summit. “These young men are inspiring our students to strive to improve, and demonstrating the importance of learning a second language.”
The Conversation Club is currently in its first semester at Summit, with over 25 members. Its popularity has secured its return for the second semester. For more information about Summit School and its Spanish program visit http://www.summitschoolaz.org/. To learn more about using Live Mocha and Mango Spanish to expand your knowledge of Spanish visit www.livemocha.com or http://www.mangolanguages.com/
Students record their Spanish dialogue in the school’s technology lab during after school Spanish Club.
Thanksgiving Drive
Melissa France, Student Council Advisor at Summit School of Ahwatukee leads the annual school wide Thanksgiving drive to support Homeward Bound.
Tough economic times increase the burden on organizations such as Homeward Bound, which provides assistance to struggling families. Homeward Bound, based in Phoenix, houses upwards of 150 families.
Summit School of Ahwatukee’s 7th annual Thanksgiving community outreach project will assist these families, by providing all of the foods needed for a complete traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Each class, preschool through eighth grade, donated functional laundry or wicker baskets, and filled them with all of the ingredients for a full Thanksgiving meal, including gift certificates for perishable items. To add joy to the day, families also receive festive napkins, a fall table cloth and a board game, creating an enjoyable meal and family fun. This year France and Summit’s student council will deliver 33 baskets to Homeward Bound; 12 more than they are expecting!
Six-year Old Architects
Six-year old “Architects” and “City Planners” Work on New Community Design
First-graders at Summit School of Ahwatukee Bring to Life Ideas in Community Design
A ceremonial ribbon cutting officially opened the display of student’s three dimensional models of homes, a library, a school and other buildings necessary to sustain a community. The month-long project, by first graders at Summit School of Ahwatukee, culminated with the unveiling of their newly-designed community to a room packed with parents, teachers and school administrators, who applauded the achievement.
This community design project was inspired by the motivation of first grade teachers’ Lisa Rubin and Christine Odenkirk to engage students in practical applications of math, reading, social studies and art concepts. They kicked-off the project with a student-led brainstorming session to discuss what forms a community (e.g. businesses, service providers, entertainment venues etc.). Subsequently, they learned about mapping and zoning, and experienced first-hand that a community is made up of people working together and helping each other.
The second phase of the project centered on applying their math and art skills in the design of a map for their community: using a compass rose, and a map key to identify the products, services, and entertainment available to the future residents of the community. To facilitate the decision about what businesses and services would make sense next to each other, students studied democracy and voting. They learned that by being an active member of a community, everyone can join in the planning and make their ideas heard at town meetings and by voting. “Students learned first hand that they are an important part of a community, a first grade community. They worked together and listened to each other’s ideas, and helped each other with a common goal in mind,” said Rubin.
Students also learned about economics; that people are buyers and sellers of goods and services and make choices because of limited resources, discussing the difference between basic needs and wants.
“It’s exciting to watch and listen as the children begin to make connections from the learning taking place in the classroom to what they see and do in their personal lives outside the classroom,” shares Odenkirk.
The final phase took these creative six year olds into Summit’s art studio. Art teachers Kathleen and Selene Kupper, invited them to create three dimensional models and a layout based on New American Urbanism. A town square formed the heart of the community, with public buildings surrounding it. Neighborhoods open to communal spaces that create a strong sense of community: a place where you can walk or take public transportation.
“Students learned that by working together as a team – architects design better buildings; city planners layout spaces with the community’s need in mind, landscape architects develop parks and public spaces to be enjoyed year-round; and artists create welcoming spaces through public art,” said Summit Art teacher, Kathleen Kupper. “Most importantly, students understood that a community is a place where citizens build friendships with neighbors and nature. A great lesson for all ages.”
A first grade student with parent
Soleri Exhibition
Soleri Exhibition at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Displays 250 works by students from Summit School of Ahwatukee
Written by David M. Brown, for Ahwatukee Foothills Magazine, November 2010
Through Jan. 23, 2011, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art continues “Bridges: Spanning the Ideas of Paolo Soleri”—the first exhibition dedicated to the bridge designs of the long-time Valley resident.
On Dec. 11, the 91-year-old architect, urban theorist, artist and philosopher will dedicate his Soleri Bridge and Plaza a few blocks north of SMoCA in downtown Scottsdale.
Supported by four stainless-steel clad pylons, the $3 million cable-stay bridge provides a pedestrian crossing over the historic Arizona Canal from the Waterfront District on the north to Old Town on the south, just west of Scottsdale and Camelback roads.
In addition, the complementary “Bridges: Connecting Earth to Sky” continues, until Jan. 17, at the young@art gallery inside the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts adjacent to SMoCA.
The free program displays 250 works by students from Ahwatukee’s Summit School, whose innovative Vitruvius Program, founded in 1988 by Kathleen and Eugene Kupper, builds design and architecture into basic learning as integrally as arithmetic and reading. The name honors the First Century B.C.E. Roman architect and writer.
The young people’s paintings, prints, sculptures and models respond to the Vitruvius Program as well as to the architectural and ecological vision of projects such as Soleri’s bridges, explains Laura Hales, associate curator of education at SMoCA, who also coordinates the young@art gallery, which celebrates children’s art and creativity.
Summit Students art works featured in an exhibit titled “Bridges: Connecting Earth to Sky”, continues until Jan. 17th, at the young@art gallery inside the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, adjacent to Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Ahwatukee Foothills Magazine, November 2010
http://www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/living/50-architecture/1463-soleri-exhibition-at-smoca.html
Preschool Staff Selected to Speak at Conference
Four Summit School of Ahwatukee Preschool Staff Selected to Speak at the Largest Gathering of Early Childhood Educators
Summit School of Ahwatukee’s preschool director and three teachers will discuss nutrition and early math education at next month’s prestigious NAEYC conference
Summit School of Ahwatukee’s leadership in early childhood education is recognized once again, as our preschool director and three of our preschool teachers are invited to present at this year’s National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference. Considered to be the largest gathering of early childhood educators in the world, the NAEYC conference, held November 3-6 in Anaheim, CA, will bring together over 15,000 early childhood educators and experts, including all of Summit’s preschool teaching staff, to discuss the latest industry research, as well as innovative teaching ideas.
Summit teachers will offer attendees practical information relating to early math education and nutrition. Andrea Benkel and Marie Sloane will discuss actionable ways in which preschool teachers can successfully implement recommendations from the National Research Council on Early Childhood Mathematics. For their part, Meredith Lord and Kathrine Utzke will focus on nutrition and the importance of family-style meals in developing healthy relationships, and eating habits.
“Recent research into mathematics teaching concurs that purposefully creating structured opportunities for mathematical experiences is paramount to learning math in preschool,” said Marie Sloane. “Many teachers, however, interpret this as looking for rote memorization or worksheet-driven projects. We have learned that finding opportunities to learn math facts through structured play or coordinated everyday activities results in better understanding of the applications of math concepts.” The hour-long math presentation titled Meaningful math: Implementing recommendations from the National Research Council in real classrooms will connect growing knowledge of how young children learn math to practical ideas about how teachers can best support that learning.
In their innovative multimedia presentation titled Food for thought: Ideas for classroom cooking projects, Mrs. Lord and Mrs. Utzke leverage their knowledge about the social aspects of food and eating to share how teaching kids about nutrition can set the stage for healthy eating habits and foster strong bonds among peers. “Driven by alarming statistics pointing to one in five preschoolers being overweight or obese, NAEYC have made childhood obesity prevention a key area of focus at this year’s conference,” said Katherine Utzke. “By engaging kids in cooking projects and creating learning opportunities that show, rather than preach about, the value of choosing healthy foods, we empower kids and make them cognizant of the relationship between health and the food we eat.”
Summit School of Ahwatukee has been a NAEYC-accredited school since 2005. This past April, the school earned re-accreditation, receiving 100% scores in all program standards. The school’s commitment to excellence in teaching is exemplified in its willingness to invest in the continued education and growth of its teachers and staff. As such, the school has made it possible for the entire preschool teaching staff to attend this year’s conference and participate in what the industry considers to be the best forum to discuss effective, active learning approaches for young children.
“Summit recognizes the importance of intense professional development for early childhood staff and its immediate impact on student learning,” states Andrea Benkel, Summit’s Director of Early Childhood Education. “Our primary focus is what is best for our students: the best teachers, environment, teaching strategies. We are fortunate to teach in a school that supports exceptional learning for students and staff.”
For more information about the NAEYC or their annual education conference visit: http://www.naeyc.org/files/conference/file/2010/10_PrelimREV.pdf
About Summit School of Ahwatukee
Established in 2001, Summit School of Ahwatukee is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Over 300 hundred students, from preschool through 8th grade, attend the school. The school’s mission is to foster academic excellence in all students while respecting individual achievement and diversity. Working together, faculty, staff, parents, and students share a commitment to teamwork, a willingness to meet challenges, and a dedication to lifelong learning. Summit nurtures in it students the skills, knowledge, values and love of learning which are essential to a lifelong embrace of education, a devotion to community, and a full, responsible, and rewarding life.
Summit School Student in Poster Contest
Summit Student One of 3 Ahwatukee to Advance in Global Poster Contest
by Coty Dolores Miranda - Oct. 30, 2010
Special for the Arizona Republic
Three Ahwatukee schools are represented by the winners of the Ahwatukee Lions Club's inaugural competition for an International Peace Poster Contest, open to area students ages 11-13.
The winning works, from Summit School of Ahwatukee, St. John Bosco Interparish School and Horizon Community Learning Center, were displayed in the Lions Club Community Open House and Artwalk at Ahwatukee's Grace Inn earlier this week.
Lions committee chairwoman Jodi Erwin said the three posters will now advance to the district level of the international competition, which attracts more than 350,000 entries worldwide.
Summit School sixth-grader Zoe Hicks envisioned peace as a tree, symbolizing all Earth's citizens "growing in peace together."
Executed in colored pencil, her tree was a multicolored, interwoven design with many tiny leaves emerging from its intertwining branches, flanked by a dove and a Chinese koi splashing in blue water.
"The dove's rather symbolic of peace, so I thought of putting the koi on the opposite side because water is also peaceful," said Zoe, 11. "I titled it 'My World' because when I looked at it, I thought this is my vision - this is my world with everything colorful and peaceful."
The Chandler resident said she's "more into performing arts," yet "anything that has art in it" piques her interest. She credited Summit School art teacher Kathleen Kupper with inspiring her to enter the contest.
Horizon Community Learning Center eighth-grader Abhijna Dereddy's mandala-like poster was crafted in fine, repeated swirls of red, blue, green, silver and gold glitter.
"I started with the peace symbol in the middle and then kept putting more circles," she said. "First I drew it very lightly and then, from the inside out, I put on the glitter."
She called her work "A Peaceful Peace Poster."
"I would love to see peace in our world with everyone working together, everyone being peaceful, with no more wars," Abhijna, 13, said. Her father, Sudhakara Dereddy said his daughter worked hours.
"She's an artist but she doesn't take any classes outside school," he said. "She's always drawing at home."
St. John Bosco winner Kate Beck called her poster "Peaceful Life."
"We did our posters in art class. . . . Our teacher, Mrs. Jennifer Mahoney had us type a couple sentences about how our art related to the theme 'Visions of Peace.' "
Her poster had four kids "representing people of the world getting along," and was dominated by a smiling boy and a large green peace symbol against a cobalt blue background.
Below the symbol were four children, their smiling faces capped with red, brown, yellow and black hair, clasping hands. Red hearts and a happy face - symbolizing world happiness, she said, completed the poster.
"I wish we had a world where everyone would be happy and loving to each other, getting along with no wars," Kate said.
Ahwatukee photographers and artists Dale Kesel, Suzanne Whitaker and Lyle Moultrie judged the art.
Summit School Design Students Display Work
Summit School Design Students Display Work at Art Museum
by David M. Brown – October 20, 2010
Special for the Arizona Republic
Vitruvius would be proud.
The Summit School in Ahwatukee has honored the Roman architect and writer from the first century B.C. with a program that integrates art and design education with core curriculum.
The school's award-winning Vitruvius Program serves as Summit's art curriculum, building design and architecture into students' basic learning as integrally as arithmetic and reading.
Examples of the work of the students in preschool through eighth grade are being exhibited through Jan. 17 in "Bridges: Connecting Earth to Sky" at the young@art gallery inside the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second St.
Two students whose work is in the show are Alaina Mencinger, a fifth-grader, and Jodi Kreiner, a sixth-grader. Both are Ahwatukee residents who have had Summit art classes since preschool.
For the Scottsdale exhibition, Alaina designed a place along a canal that can be used for exhibitions and performances "or just enjoying nature and the neighborhood."
She used fused glass that was cut for the models.
"There is an upper roof where you can watch the stars and moon in the night sky," Alaina said. "You can walk along the canal and stop at these sculptures. They bridge together neighborhoods and cultures in the city."
Jodi designed a lightweight mobile shelter that can be deployed in natural disasters and took photo montages that are also on display in Scottsdale.
"The walls and roof panels can be boxed and brought into a disaster area," she explained. "The roof collects rainwater that can be filtered for cooking and drinking, and triangle openings bring in sunlight and fresh air."
Both girls are considering architectural careers as a result of the Vitruvius Program.
"I could become an architect and design interesting spaces for people to use," Jodi said. "I enjoy helping other people, and design is a way to make the world a better place."
Alaina agreed: "It is exciting to think that you can make a difference in someone's life."
Selene Kupper, a Summit teacher who is coordinating the program, is the daughter of Eugene Kupper, an architect, and his wife. Eugene and Kathleen Kupper founded the program in 1988 while they were both associated with the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles.
The institute provided permanent studio space for teaching young students, and graduate students in architecture developed projects and taught studio courses to students in preschool through middle school, Kathleen Kupper said.
"It was a reciprocal learning experience," added Kathleen, who began teaching design education as an undergraduate student at the California Institute for the Arts in Los Angeles and continued while a graduate student in architecture at UCLA.
"The young students had the opportunity to explore upper-level learning, and the graduate students strengthened their design abilities through teaching."
The Vitruvius Program's enrollment grew quickly: It received two major grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and was offered a permanent gallery space for young designers at the Laguna Art Museum in Laguna Beach, Calif.
Since then, other American schools, universities, and museums have adopted the program, and students' work has been published and exhibited internationally.
The Kuppers moved to Arizona in 1996, and for the past 10 years, the family has integrated design education into the Summit School's core curriculum as the art program for preschool through grade 8.
For seventh- and eighth-graders, the program is an elective. Eugene remains involved, writing curriculum, teaching, conducting critiques and coordinating exhibitions.
Through the Vitruvius Program, students confront community needs as well as local and global environmental problems. Using a variety of media, including acrylics, canvases, drawings and models, the students attempt to understand their environment and provide solutions from a variety of disciplines.
"These exercises inspire an appreciation of the unities and diversities among cultures, giving value to the myths, folklore and scientific views that each society uses to explain its world," Kathleen said. "They can embrace the spiritual in an age of skepticism and materialism."
http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/2010/10/20/20101020ar-architecture1022.html
Summit Art Exhibit
Local Students Shine in Valley Art Exhibit
Ahwatukee Foothills News – October 15, 2010
By Chelsea Brown Special to AFN
The Summit School of Ahwatukee is exhibiting more than 280 art pieces created by its students at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
On display now through mid-January are paintings, prints and sculptures in Summit's exhibit, "Bridges: Connecting Earth to Sky," made by preschoolers through sixth-graders at the school. Those involved took part in the Vitruvius program, Summit's art curriculum created by art teacher Kathleen Kupper and her husband, Eugene Kupper.
For this exhibit, students were inspired by Paolo Soleri's architectural vision and concept of land conservation in Arizona, which is highlighted throughout the other SMoCA exhibits, as well as the Soleri bridge that is currently being built at the Scottsdale waterfront.
Kathy Covert, admissions and marketing director for Summit, said the Vitruvius program is centered on architecture and design, and that students are faced with real life scenarios. "Students solve real problems," Covert said.
For the purpose of this exhibit, each grade was given a different concept to be inspired by. Preschool students listened to Elphinstone Dayrell's African folktale Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky, and then used chalk pastels and print-making methods to create a design that connects the earth and the sky on illustration board models.
Kindergarteners listened to Tomie de Paola's story The Mysterious Giant of Barletta, and were asked to construct a tower that resembled the idea of peace out of block construction and printmaking.
First-grade students constructed models of a community, including sustainable housing models and landscape design using oil pastel on canvas.
Second-graders created drawings of the color signature that connects the earth to the sky using chalk pastel on Canson paper.
Third-grade students collaborated and created a sculptural grid that makes renewable energy for the Energize Phoenix Project. The media used was acrylic paint on canvas, and also painted wood site models.
Fourth-graders collectively designed a self-sufficient community and created a site plan for it, as well as looking into furniture design and coming up with their own plans using canvas paintings, printmaking and wooden models.
Fifth-grade students designed architecture installations that connect diverse neighborhoods using fused bulls eye glass models on granite.
Lastly, sixth-graders created photographic montages of mobile architecture that could unfold into sheltering communities for people displaced by war or natural disasters.
The exhibit can be viewed in the Young@Art Gallery inside the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second St., adjacent to the SMoCA, and will be on display until Jan. 17, 2011.
The Young@art Gallery is open seven days a week, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, noon until 5 p.m. Admission is free.
To learn more about Summit, http://www.summitschoolaz.org/. To learn more about the exhibits, go to www.smoca.org.
Chelsea Brown is interning this semester for the Ahwatukee Foothills News. She is a senior at Arizona State University.
Third Grade Inventions
Third Grade Thematic Learning Project - Inventions
Presented by third grade teachers Cathy Reardon & Ashley Burbach
Enhanced learning provided by Kathleen & Selene Kupper, Art and Gail Soderquist, Technology
Brainstorming life’s problems, designing inventions that solve the problem and producing creative advertisements to sell the newly invented product may sound like corporate America; but at Summit School of Ahwatukee it is a job for third graders.
Thematic studies, focusing on experiential learning, are a significant component of a Summit education. Teachers delve into themes that may be incorporated into math, reading, writing, spatial learning, art, science, technology and other classes, giving meaning, depth and a visual component to the learning, allowing students to understand and utilize the concepts, versus rote memorization.
The invention theme begins by catching children’s interest through the magic of books about inventors and inventions, giving students background information on what others have done before. Discussions begin on 'then and now' and how inventions have changed our lives. This translates into an understanding that most inventions are borne from a problem or something that needs to be solved in people’s lives.
Next students are taught the skill of research: finding important information in a text, highlighting that information, and putting it in their own words. Teachers model the process, and then have students choose an existing invention, read a short text about it, and paraphrase the information into a paragraph, with an illustration. Knowledge in hand, children learn about timelines by proudly hanging their invention narratives on a rope, spanning their classroom.
To help spark creativity and comprehend the invention process, classes will also creating their own sport; combine items to come up with new creations that might do something new; and rate inventions from most to least important
Now that students have a visual of the process, the class begins brainstorming life problems that they could solve with an invention they will soon design. The teachers’ model the thinking strategies by choosing one of the problems and having the students help come up with a tool or method that could help solve it. Now, each student chooses a problem they wish to solve, creating a plan sheet for their invention.
“Besides creativity and problem solving, our students are learning to see problems as something to be overcome, rather than as something about which to complain,” explains Cathy Reardon, the third grade Summit teacher who brought this project to life five years ago. “Students are learning about how inventions have changed life as we know it, even in their parent's lifetime, and how things work.”
Materials are needed for the construction phase to begin. Parents join in on the fun at “take-apart day” working side by side with their children, completely dismantling appliances to see the inner workings. Every tiny piece is saved, and the pile of materials grows as students bring in recyclable materials from home. With plans and materials in hand these creative nine year olds begin to create a model of their new invention.
“I enjoy seeing the kids' creativity, says Ashley Burbach, third grade teacher. “ I also love hearing student says, "Have you ever had this much fun in school?"; "Come look at what I found! I never knew all of this was inside a phone!" There is so much hidden learning in this unit!”
Advertising is essential to launch this new product, thus each child makes an ad for television, or designs a brochure, poster, or other creative sales idea. Students’ must also apply for a patent, which in this world is always granted. The patent application is used as the lead in to the next thematic unit, on government.
Other classes expand the invention theme. In the technology lab, instructor Gail Soderquist guides students in the design of a brochure on a famous inventor. Art teachers Kathleen and Selene Kupper feed students spatial and problem solving abilities with real life, original design projects involving transportation, architecture, and renewal energy. Students learn to research and identify problems and transform their design solutions into three-dimensional models and photographic portfolios that can be used to promote their ideas.
“The Invention Convention” is the culminating event to this month long endeavor. Inventions models, advertisements, and patents are on display; and family and friends are invited to the product launch in the school’s multi-purpose room. In an expo type fashion, the parents rotate around and hear students sell their product through the advertisement they created; asking questions of their student’s, who they may one day find featured in a national magazine!
Why is a creative project like this so important? See this article from Newsweek.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html
Read more about the 2010 “Take-Apart” in the Arizona Republic article, published September 30, 2010: http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/2010/09/30/20100930ahwatukee-take-apart-day.html
Summit School of Ahwatukee Earns National Accreditation
Summit School of Ahwatukee Earns National Accreditation
March 2010
Patrick O’Brien, Head of School, proudly announces that Summit School of Ahwatukee has earned nationally recognized accreditation from the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), an accreditation division of AdvancED®.
To earn accreditation, schools must meet NCA CASI’s high standards and be evaluated by a team of professionals from outside the school. Accredited schools demonstrate that they have a rigorous curriculum taught through sound, research-based methods; collect, report, and use performance results; provide adequate resources and support for its educational programs; have a clear vision and purpose; have effective and responsive leadership; and have a commitment to continuously improve. These standards are derived from educational research and best practices.
“Accreditation demonstrates to our students, parents, and community that we are dedicated to academic excellence and nurturing students’ knowledge, skills, and a love of learning, which are essential to a lifelong embrace of education,” states Pat O’Brien, Head of School.
NCA CASI accreditation is recognized internationally, which assures parents that the school is meeting high standards for quality and successful professional practice.
Dr. Mark Elgart, President/CEO of AdvancED, the parent organization of NCA CASI, stated, “NCA CASI Accreditation is a rigorous process that focuses the entire school on the primary goal of creating lifelong learners. Summit School of Ahwatukee is to be commended for engaging in this process and demonstrating a commitment to continuous improvement.”
O’Brien proudly states “Our community of teachers, parents, students and administration truly emulate our philosophy of together we can reach for the stars and be the difference. It is an honor to be part of Summit School of Ahwatukee’s many remarkable achievements, which now includes national accreditation.”
Parents and interested community members can learn more about accreditation at www.advanc-ed.org.
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The North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI) is a non-governmental, voluntary association of public and private elementary and secondary schools in 19 states, the Navajo Nation, and the Department of Defense Education Activity worldwide. NCA CASI is an accreditation division of AdvancED, parent organization for NCA CASI, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), and the National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE). AdvancED is dedicated to advancing excellence in education worldwide.
Summit School of Ahwatukee Preschool Earns National NAEYC Re-accreditation
Summit School of Ahwatukee's Preschool Earns Accreditation
Summit School of Ahwatukee’s preschool has earned re-accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) – the nation’s leading organization of early childhood professionals, scoring 100% on all ten NAEYC program standards.
“We are understandably proud to have earned re-accreditation, and the recognition received through such high scores,” said Andrea Benkel, Summit School’s Director of Early Childhood Education. “NAEYC Accreditation recognizes both t
he quality of our preschool program as among the top in the nation; and our commitment to families, by providing their children the best care and early learning experiences possible.”
To earn NAEYC Accreditation, Summit’s preschool went through an extensive self-study process, measuring the program and its services against the ten NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards, more than 400 related Accreditation Criteria, and a site visit by NAEYC Assessors.
“The NAEYC Accreditation system raises the bar for preschools, child care centers and other early childhood programs,” said Mark Ginsberg, Ph.D., executive director of NAEYC. “Summit’s NAEYC Accreditation is a sign that they are a leader in a national effort to invest in high-quality early childhood education, and to help give all children a better start.”
Summit School of Ahwatukee’s elementary and middle school is also accredited, through the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), an accreditation division of AdvancED®.
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The NAEYC Accreditation system has set voluntary professional standards for programs for young children since 1985. In September 2006, the Association revised program standards and criteria to introduce a new level of quality and accountability, reflecting the latest research and best practices in early childhood education and development
The NAEYC Accreditation system was created to set professional standards for early childhood education, and to help families identify high-quality preschools, child care centers and other early education programs. To earn NAEYC Accreditation, a program must meet each of the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards.
In the 23 years since NAEYC Accreditation was established, it has become a widely recognized sign of high-quality early childhood education. Almost 8,000 programs, serving one million young children, are currently accredited by NAEYC – approximately 8 percent of all preschools and other early childhood programs.
Summit students explore Latin, African music
Summit students explore Latin, African music
by Marissa Belles - Apr. 8, 2010 The Arizona Republic
Summit students explore Latin, African music
In a nod to diversity and cultural education, students at the Summit School of Ahwatukee spent the past month learning music from Latin American and West African countries.
The students displayed their knowledge last week at the school's seventh annual "Día de las Americas" celebration.
Summit puts on the show to demonstrate how students and the community feel about diversity and the importance of knowing a second language in a global economy.
"The entire school meets twice a week to share what each grade level is learning," said Kathy Covert, Summit admissions and marketing director. "On the day of the celebration, presentations focused on two internationally renowned drummers and the different percussion instruments they play."
Guest musicians Dom Moio and Joe Garcia introduced students to African, Brazilian, and Afro-Cuban musical instruments and shared different forms of music from Latin America, including the chacha, merengue, samba, bomba and rumba.
Throughout March, students from kindergarten through fifth grade had been preparing for their guests by listening to samba batucada, an African-influenced style of music from Brazil.
"They played drums to accompany the music and mimic the call-and-response features in the music and show the rhythmic aspects of the music," said Summit music teacher Jennifer Horne.
Students also listened to West African music.
"I loved learning the techniques to play the drums . . . and how to make the sounds louder and softer," fifth-grader Zoe Hicks said.
In workshops with Moio and Garcia, seventh- and eighth-grade students learned to play the chacha and samba with congas, cowbell, maracas, timbales, and guiro. The two artists also joined the seventh/eighth grade band on stage for a finale that involved the entire student body.
"It was fun to learn about new instruments, new rhythms and styles of music from different countries," said Krystal Corrette, an eighth-grade band member.
Summit School of Ahwatukee second-graders learn to run a business
by Coty Dolores Miranda – Special for the Ahwatukee Republic, March 8, 2010
Entrepreneurship and philanthropy aren't typical subjects for second-grade students, but they're part of a day'swork for the second graders at Summit School in Ahwatukee.
As part of a "Business in Our Community" segment, students, aged 7 and 8, initiated a business plan, procured a bank loan, with collateral, purchased products, set up assembly lines to package snack bags, advertised and sold their wares.
Now, after repaying their loan, the classes will vote to determine what area charity will benefit from their profits.
"I think this teaches us how businesses should be," said Marcee Hosmer, a student in teacher Dawn Anderson's classroom.
Marcee was involved in several aspects of her class's assembly of Tiger Terrific snack bags.
"I was a chocolate scooper, a popcorn scooper and label maker," she said proudly. "I liked doing lots of different things."
Classmate Harrison Benkel's job was production line inspector.
"I had to check and make sure everything was in there," he said of the mix containing popcorn, goldfish, chocolate chips and gummy bears.
Anderson's classroom assembled 320 Tiger Terrific bags.
"They just kept wanting to make more to sell," said Anderson, a Summit School teacher the last nine years. "They're really enthusiastic about this."
In teacher Molly Danforth's classroom, Magic Mix - a colorful blend of pretzels, cheese balls and gummy bears - was the snack bag product.
Christopher Walrod, 7, said touring the local Safeway store to see how products were delivered and positioned for sale was his favorite part of the month-long project.
"I liked that we could go into areas we don't usually get to see," he said. "We got to see the meat grinding, the freezer and the vegetable place. Everything was delivered by trucks."
The entire process - from researching what products to sell, advertising, and sales, determining gross and net profits - exposes the students to many disciplines, Anderson said.
Besides the myriad math skills needed for the project, second graders also made bar graphs to illustrate tallies of product and sales and in computer class, then transferred them to Excel spreadsheets.
"This is such a great project and represents the depth we go for meaningful, experiential learning," said Kathy Covert, Summit School spokeswoman as she watched Osasere Ighodaro and John Perkins selling the 50-cent snack bags to passersby in front of the school prior to the opening bell.
Once the profits from the 1,330 bags of both products are tallied, the students will move on to their role as community philanthropists; the combined classes vote on which nonprofit will benefit from their largesse.
In past years, proceeds have benefited the Phoenix Children's Hospital, Gabriel's Angels Therapy and the Maricopa County Animal Shelter.
And the kids' effort involves more than just writing a check: last year students personally delivered dog food to the animal shelter.
Watch a video of the Summit second grade business venture
Summit teachers recognized for excellence in teaching
Summit School of Ahwatukee middle school teachers Andrea Yocum and Amy Lecky have received the 17th annual Xavier College Preparatory Golden Gator Award for Excellence in Teaching. Xavier high school recognizes junior high teachers who have been inspirational to their freshmen students.
This is the second Golden Gator for Lecky, who teaches middle school language arts and literature. In previous years Summit math teacher Melissa France has received this award.
Yocum, Summit’s middle school science teacher, was also one of 288 teachers selected worldwide to attend this year’s Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama. The programs focus on space science and exploration in a variety of classroom, laboratory and real-life astronaut training, providing teachers with innovative techniques to educate their students about science and math.
Yocum instills a passion for science in her students. Because her focus is hands-on, experimental-based learning, students are successful in mastering advanced concepts like eighth-grade chemistry and physics and seventh-grade human body systems. In fact, 100 percent of her students passed AIMS science in 2008 and 2009, with 91 percent of Yocum’s eighth-graders scoring in the “excelling” range.
Lecky is responsible for an important rite of passage for Summit eighth-graders called ROPES (Right of Passage Experiences). Lecky inspires students to reach for their dreams. Under Lecky’s guidance each student ventures into the community to be mentored in a brand new life experience. Research papers and 20-minute presentations, including demonstrations, mark the culminating event for each student. The experience not only prepares students for the future, but also gives students a life changing opportunity. http://www.ahwatukee.com/articles/summit-7794-school-teachers.html
Summit School adopts a pilot
Summit School adopts a pilot
Ahwatukee Foothills News 7/3/2009
Summit School Adopts a Pilot
A nationwide program places Southwest Airlines pilots into 5th grade classrooms. The “Adopt-A-Pilot” curriculum includes math, atmospheric science, physics and geography.
Southwest Captain Rob Bych led this 5 week program at Summit School of Ahwatukee during the spring semester. Bych began with discussions on personal values, goal setting and achievement, and career choices. Students were shown how academic subjects relate directly to real world occupations.
Summit students also learned the history and physics of flight, how pilots control an aircraft, and the instruments they use. The importance of math became apparent as students calculated airspeed, groundspeed, the distance and time between points and fuel consumption.
Geography lessons focused on the United States’ unique landscape, including mountain ranges, rivers, deserts, forests, and swamps. Students learned time zones and how to use a compass. They were fascinated by the types of clouds, hurricanes and tornadoes as they learned how the earth’s rotation, the sun, wind and water vapor create our weather.
A field trip to Sky Harbor Airport was the program highlight for Summit students and chaperones. At Southwest Airline’s maintenance hanger, Captain Bych gave the group an in depth tour of a B-737 aircraft, including detailed explanations of the exterior, interior and the cockpit.
“This is an incredible program,” exclaims Summit School of Ahwatukee 5th grade teacher, Katie Marklow. “We are very appreciative of Captain Bych for his time and commitment toward education.”
For more information, or to apply for the “Adopt-A-Pilot” program:
http://www.southwest.com/programs_services/adopt/adopt_home.html
Arizona teachers participating in Space Academy
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Sixteen Arizona teachers (including Andrea Yocum from the Summit School of Ahwatukee) are among 288 teachers from 16 countries and 47 states to attend the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy programs from June 13 – July 3, 2009 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. |
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The programs focus on space science and exploration in a variety of classroom, laboratory and real-life astronaut training, including a high-performance jet simulation, scenario-based space missions, land and water survival training and state-of-the-art flight dynamics programs. Since the program’s inception, Honeywell and its employees have sponsored 1,100 scholarships for teachers from 36 countries and 50 U.S. states, to participate in the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy programs. Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy is part of Honeywell Hometown Solutions. For more information, go to www.honeywell.com/hhs |
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Summit students jump rope for heart
June 19, 2009
Ahwatukee Foothills News
Summit School of Ahwatukee kindergarten though sixth grade students recently participated in the American Heart Association's Jump Rope for Heart Event, which educates and raises awareness about heart disease. Summit School donated $3,600 to the American Heart Association.
Summit students participate in poetry contest
Summit students participate in poetry contest
Kindergarten and third-grade students from the Summit School of Ahwatukee were recently presented certificates for participation in a poetry contest project sponsored by the Arizona Federation of Garden Clubs (AFGC). The purpose of the project was to encourage students to gain an appreciation for and to think about the beauty of nature that surrounds them.
Two students from the Summit School were selected as the first place winners by AFGC and the Pacific Region.
During a recent school assembly, Susan Smith from the Desert Pointe Garden Club presented certificates to aSummit School kindergartner who took first place with her poem titled "The Clouds" and to a Summit School of Ahwatukee third-grader who took first place with her poem titled "Nature." Also receiving certificates were the first runners up from kindergarten and third grade
Make this summer memorable without losing your “cool”
June 19, 2009 Ahwatukee Foothills News
Commentary by Andrea Benkel , Summit School of Ahwatukee Director of Early Childhood Education
High temperatures can often send parents running to the TV or mall with young children. There are some simple and inexpensive ways to keep your child happy, cool, and smiling this summer.
As a parent/preschool teacher/preschool director, I've had a front row seat to some ingenious ways to entertain the under five crowd.
Painting with water: A bucket of water, an assortment of paintbrushes (the bigger the better!) and an outdoor surface are the perfect spot for summertime painting. The water creates a lovely design and dries without any muss or fuss. Have your child paint shapes, letters, faces, and see if it disappears before they are finished counting to 30 or singing the ABC's.
Ice Treasures: Fill a plastic bowl with ice cubes and small trinkets (the size will depend on the age of your child.) Fill the bowl to the top with tap water and freeze overnight. The next day, take the ice block full of treasures outside and let your child:
· Put rock salt on the ice to see if it helps it melt.
· Use a turkey baster or pitcher to pour room temperature water over the block to melt it.
· Chisel into the ice block with plastic or wooden tools.
Whatever they can remove from the ice they keep. I have watched children spend close to an hour trying to uncover the treasures hidden in the ice!
New life for an old ice cube tray: Take your old ice cube trays, eye droppers and an assortment of fruit juices and head for the patio. Let your little one create their own "concoction" as they mix a variety of juices in the ice cube compartments. As an extra bonus, give them straws and let them drink their mixtures right out of the ice cube tray!
Shaving Cream and Squeegees: Let your kids cover the outside of a siding glass door with shaving cream. After they spend time drawing on it with their fingers, give them squeegees and have them see how much shaving cream they can squeegee off in one swipe. You may have a streaked door, but at least it will smell clean!
Marvelous Marble Pick Up: Get out your small wading pool, scatter marbles and small toys on the bottom, and fill about 1/3 of the way with water. Challenge your children to see what they can pick up with their toes. For that matter, challenge yourself too!
Of course, all of these activities should be modified to accommodate the age of your child and it goes without saying that supervision is vital. Sometimes though, staying cool means thinking outside of the box when it's too hot to go outside of the house!
Andrea Benkel, MAEd, is the Director of Early Childhood Education at the Summit School of Ahwatukee and is also a mentor in the Early Education Emerging Leaders Program for the state of Arizona. She can be reached at andrea.benkel@summitschoolaz.org.
Summer camp is a friend in need
Summer camp is a friend in need
by Megan Boehnke - Apr. 24, 2009 03:19 PM
The Arizona Republic
When Phoenix cut ties with a summer camp for children with cancer in the midst of its budget crisis, it took less than a month for the Ahwatukee community to ensure the camp won't miss its first summer in 22 years.
The volunteer Erin Vosseller started volunteering with Sunrise Summer Fun day camp at age 18.
"The kids and the people involved have become like my second family," she said, 15 years later. "I've learned a lot from them because their perspective on life is so different than mine."
What she did
When the camp was in jeopardy of shutting down for this summer, Vosseller quickly started finding volunteers at her own school, The Summit School of Ahwatukee, where she has taught kindergarten for 10 years.
For years, Phoenix has provided a facility, pool access, craft supplies, a van and two paid staffers to the camp, sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
"I didn't know what we were going to do," Vosseller said. "We began looking for alternative locations, but trying to find a place that's safe for the children when it's hot outside and close to a pool," she said.
When word got around Summit School, it started a chain of donations.
Andrea Benkel, preschool and kindergarten director for the school, got the OK for the camp to use the school's building.
What's next
Vosseller is still seeking volunteers and donations. One of the biggest expenses will be renting a van for two weeks. The American Cancer Society provides the camp with one van, but it holds only 11 children, about half what is needed.
Businesses donating products or services include As You Wish, Tumbletown and Cake Café. "I'm not expecting a handout by any means, but if I can save on the budget, that's more I can do for the kids," Vosseller said.
If you or someone you know is a neighbor helping a neighbor during these tough economic times, we want to hear from you. Contact Paul Maryniak, community editor, at paul.maryniak@pni.com.
Summit School celebrates Poetry Night
Summit School celebrates Poetry Night
School Notes
Ahwatukee Foothills News
Sixth-grade parents and teachers enjoyed an entertaining evening of classical and contemporary poetry at the Summit School of Ahwatukee's annual Poetry Night.
Platforms and backdrops draped in black, reminiscent of the coffee houses in the ‘60s, set the tone. Each student shared two poems, one classical piece and one song lyric.
Students identified a potential future career choice and then had to contact and personally interview someone currently in that career. Students summarized the experience with a report including how reading, writing and listening skills are important in that person's career.
Both projects had many good lessons embedded about voice inflection, tone, written and oral communication, body language and first impressions.
Sonoran desert comes alive for Summit students
Sonoran desert comes alive for Summit students
Summit School of Ahwatukee second-graders have been studying plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert.
Students hosted their own "Desert Day Museum" for parents and school members showcasing their individual Powerpoint presentations. Students explored Web sites to gather information and created visual aids and poster displays to enhance oral presentations.
Children also learned about Arizona's first farmers, the Hohokams. After researching Hohokam desert life, students took a trip to the Casa Grande Ruins. A tour by a Ranger Alan led students to artifacts, pictures and models of Hohokam pottery, jewelry, homes and life. The children also made petroglyphs, clay pots and did sand art.
Summit art classes keep busy
Summit School of Ahwatukee art teachers Kathleen Kupper and Selene Kupper write about what their classes are working on.
Preschool
We read Eric Carle's Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me, followed by an invitation to design and create an architectural model of a house to hold the moon. Architects build circular openings to capture light. We began by drawing a circle colored with oil pastels. Squares of wood create the massing model and allow open spaces for light in the upper levels of the curved walls.
Kindergarten
In the story Color Dance, Ann Jonas further introduced the expanded palette that can be made from primary colors. We learn how Paul Klee uses line and color to create a composition. On a square of watercolor paper, students used China markers to draw vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines. Palettes of primary watercolors are mixed to create secondary colors.
First grade
The first-graders continued designing and constructing models of their houses for the community project. The introduction to architecture and contemporary residential design provided an understanding of how architects consider site context, concept, functionalism, structure and lighting. We began designing and creating painted representations of the community's public spaces.
Second grade
We completed our Chinese dragon paintings and an exploration of Chinese art and architecture. Our final drawings stretch across rectangles of watercolor paper and unfold with pattern, texture, and color. Third grade
The Metro light rail brings an inventive transportation alternative to Phoenix beginning in December. The third-graders were invited to design a light-rail station as an innovative mix of sculpture and architecture. The metallic structures will be further studied and documented through photography, drawing and painting.
Fourth grade
In recent decades, contemporary artists have sited earthworks in the Arizona and Southwest landscapes. We looked at the work of Nancy Holt, James Turrell, Michael Heizer and Robert Smithson as innovators of the land art movement. Students were invited to create a proposal for a sited intervention in the Arizona desert. We explored an art technique of spraying against torn paper templates to create a base landscape representation.
Fifth grade
Applying classroom studies of land and water forms, the students are creating a deep map book. Our project began with a sprayed painting of liquid watercolor using torn paper and tape to create a base geology. We began working on contour mapping that will lead to topographic models for the covers.
Sixth grade
The Cosquer Caves in Southern France are presently accessible only by diving under the lip of an overhanging cliff at the ocean's edge. The students are invited to design an entrance chamber, accessible from above by a hermetically sealed drilled shaft. Within the chamber, visitors are allowed to accommodate to the environment of the caves and to begin to understand the significance of this unique site. The designed space is a media event in preparation for the prehistoric galleries of animals and handprints. Templates and masking tapes over-layered with sprays of liquid watercolor form an evocative imagery. Seventh and eighth grades
The students have been given an opportunity to explore a real design project. The preschool playground needs shade structures, interactive large-scale manipulatives and landscape architecture. Students are working individually and in teams to create innovative solutions. Next week, final presentations that include models, photographs and drawings will be presented to the preschool students and staff. We are hoping to construct several of the project ideas.
Summit Chess Team takes blue ribbon
Summit Chess Team takes blue ribbon
Summit School of Ahwatukee Chess Team won first place in the kindergarten- through third-grade category in the Arizona Chess Central Chess Tournament held at the Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus.
Third-grader Gage Reitzel also won first place in the individual category, and second-grader Ethan Shanker took second place in the individual competition.
Summit School Mixes Planning Architecture – Artful Design Inspires Youth
Art students at the Summit School of Ahwatukee aren't just painting and drawing.
Students enrolled at the 4515 E. Muirwood Drive school learn about architecture and design during their art classes. And as a result, their projects are anything but average.
Ten-year-old Jessica Daniels spent a recent class planning a public art project for a potential metro-Phoenix canal system. In his third-grade class, Andrew Pagone, 8, pondered whether to use solar power to sustain a light-rail station he had designed.
Jessica, Andrew and the other students at Summit School are participants in the Vitruvius Program, which focuses on exploring art, design and architecture in a creative way.
Summit School art teacher Kathleen Kupper created the specialized program with husband Eugene in 1988. Daughter Selene now teaches with her mother at the school.
Their curriculum is based on the premise that exposing students to design and architecture at an early age allows them to be stronger problem solvers and more active community members, Kathleen Kupper said.
Projects are often designed to complement lessons in students' other classes.
On a recent Thursday, a fifth-grade class listened intently as Kathleen described that day's assignment.
If Phoenix city planners and designers want to build canals, art students should be thinking about ways to bring the community together through public art projects, she said.
So the students got to work.
Sterling Leverett, 10, started cutting slits into a piece of cardboard. Though he began making tentative movements with his scissors, Sterling had created his own public art project by the time Kathleen told students it was time to clean up.
Nearby, Jessica was tempted to keep working on her elaborate cardboard structure instead of moving on to her next class.
Third-graders were equally excited about their educational project.
"For our project today, I want you to think a little like a sculptor," Kupper said, explaining that the students would be creating light-rail stations where patrons could show their tickets and board the train. Incorporate some art into the building, she instructed.
Shayna Lurie, 8, used a wavy piece of cardboard to create an artistic wall for her structure. Then she thought about ways to incorporate shade so passengers could keep cool before boarding.
Duane Miller, 9, took some time to visualize his station.
"Sometimes I can just picture something in my mind," he said, rubbing his chin.
Duane, who is still deciding whether he wants to be an engineer or a football player when he grows up, said his art classes are giving him some practice for what may be his future career.
During another recent project, Duane created a hybrid vehicle - a mix between a helicopter and a boat - that flies and is powered by lightening. If he decides to become an engineer, Duane said he would like to spend his time working on such a vehicle.
Summit School of Ahwatukee a Green Hero Contest finalist
Summit School has been selected by the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University as one of the five school finalists in the Everyday Green Hero contest.
Summit School's environmentally forward push began three years ago when the entire school went paperless. Parents receive weekly classroom updates and information about school events via e-mail, instead of paper copies, among a host of many things.
Classroom curriculums include formal education on ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. The school has joined the "Wal-Mart Recycling Challenge" by collecting droves of plastic shopping bags. Recycling ink cartridges has earned more than $3,500 in the past two years, purchasing art and classroom supplies. Every classroom and office is equipped with a recycling trash can.
Summit School Spanish curriculum explored
Summit School of Ahwatukee Spanish teachers Richard Cordova and Elsa Conti write about what their students are working on.
Preschool
The Spanish curriculum is developmentally appropriate and relevant to the children's class activities and daily life. Many of the songs, activities and conversational phrases are integrated into the preschool day.
Kindergarten
Amigos read their mini-book titled Mi libro de la clase y de los colores (My Class and Color Book) and read Corduroy in Spanish on the smart board. They identified, wrote and practiced numbers from 1 to 10 and learned the "Números" song while dancing.
First grade
Children practiced body parts vocabulary as they created a puppet and played lotería (bingo). Illustrating and labeling "cosas de la clase" on the smart board was fun.
Students read a bilingual story of Skippyjon Jones, the Tortillitas poem and sang "El Chocolate." Phrases of the month: Hola! Me llamo and ¿Puedo ir al baño?
Second grade
Children chose classroom items to research in Spanish/English dictionaries for proper translation, and completed a word search activity. They added to "Verbos de Acción" (action verbs) books, with sentences including "Me gusta ... bailar, cantar, saltar, visitar, comprar." They practiced the poem "Mariposa Linda" and the song "Los Pollitos".
Third grade
After a video of the story of "Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos" (Friends of the Orphans), students made a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting their lives with those of the children in the orphanage in Central America.
Fourth grade
Students presented their wild animals and adjectives PowerPoint projects in Español. Using the smart board, they reviewed numbers from zero to 100 in Spanish.
Phrases of the month: Hola, ¿Cómo estás? ... Muy bien / Así-así / Muy mal.
Fifth grade
Fifth-graders visited preschool book buddies to read books in Espanol to their little friends and help them with a Spanish activity. Mayan research projects were presented. Students reviewed demonstrative adjectives and took turns creating sentences beginning with Este, esta, estos and estas.
Sixth grade
Students began to learn the verb "ser," with adjectives. Working in groups they learned what sports and hobbies they like, using the information to create a chart in Spanish. Students presented their Spanish knowledge to the entire student body, in the bi-weekly educational school morning meeting, ending with the song, Guantanamera.
Seventh grade
Students enhanced vocabulary by learning to describe a famous person in Spanish. They visited their reading buddies in first grade to practice reading and speaking skills.
Eighth grade
Students learned the use of indirect object pronouns and revisited stem-changing verbs (o-ue and e-ie). Students are practicing Spanish composition in preparation for high school entrance tests.
Summit School students, grads and families serve others
Summit School students, grads and families serve others
Summit School of Ahwatukee students, recent graduates and their families have pledged a minimum of 380 hours of community service to St. Vincent DePaul, United Food Bank, Paz De Cristo, Arizona Special Olympics and many other organizations.
Ten students, ages 11 to 14, and three alums are members of East Valley Boys Service Club (EVBSC).
Founded in 2005, EVBSC is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing young men and their families' community service opportunities. EVBSC coordinates the service projects and acts as the liaison between volunteers and the organizations they will serve.
Each boy commits to a minimum of 10 to 15 hours of community service. Additionally, at least one parent or adult must also volunteer with the child, at each event.
"We strive to teach the importance of recognizing the needs of others and reaching out to them," says Summit School of Ahwatukee principal Pat O'Brien. "We are proud to have so many of our young men engaging in these valuable community projects."
For more information on East Valley Boys Service Club, visit www.evbsc.org.
Summit students help less fortunate
Summit students help less fortunate
Tough economic times increase the burden on organizations such as Homeward Bound, which provides assistance to struggling families. Phoenix-based Homeward Bound houses upwards of 150 families.
Summit School of Ahwatukee's fifth annual Thanksgiving community outreach project assisted 19 of these families by providing all of the items needed for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
Large, functional laundry or wicker baskets were filled with all of the ingredients for a full Thanksgiving meal, including gift certificates for perishable items. To add joy to the day, families also received festive napkins, a fall table cloth and a board game, creating an enjoyable meal and family fun.
Summit School extends a warm thank you to Target, a great community partner, who allocated part of their school funds budget to contribute $15 gift cards to enhance the family baskets.
Summit students tech-savvy
Tahnja Wilson, technology teacher at Summit School of Ahwatukee, shares why her students are tech-savvy:
Kindergarten
Students master how to log in and work in a networked environment. They learn the parts of a computer and how to use the mouse and keyboard, create using software as a tool and use technology to expand learning from social studies and literary themes.
First grade
LEGOs are used to explore math, science and technology concepts. Students can invent, design, build and program robots and don't even know that they are learning the basics of programming.
Second grade
Students read One Hen, the true story of a West African boy named Kojo. The story exemplifies that one person can make a positive impact on his or her life and community. Using lessons from the story, children are introduced to microfinance and sharpen PowerPoint, Excel and research skills.
Third grade
The medieval era is the topic in social studies. In technology, we went on a medieval Web quest, researching five interesting facts and pictures and presenting them in Word. We also made and launched our own catapults.
Fourth grade
The state of Arizona is the theme in social studies. Thus, in technology we use online simulations to investigate land-use changes in Maricopa County from 1912 to 1995. Students create a digital product for Arizona State University' iCademy project.
Fifth grade
Students design and program a computer video game.
Sixth grade
It is the world of high finance. Starting with a virtual cash account of $100,000, student teams try to create the best-performing portfolio using a live trading simulation. Through this project, students satisfy national and state standards for economics, mathematics, business, English and language arts, social studies, technology and family and consumer sciences.
Multiple grades
This year seemed the right time to start a technology-oriented service project. Grades 2-6 are sponsoring a school in Uganda. Students will use the computer to create books needed by the Ugandan students. Depending upon our adopted school's needs, students may make math, reading, social studies, music or science books. Summit students will be writing, illustrating and designing the books using Publisher, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Internet-based software.
Summit teacher Lecky wins teaching awards
Summit School of Ahwatukee middle-school teacher Amy Lecky is a recipient of the 16th annual Xavier College Preparatory Golden Gator Award for Excellence in Teaching. Xavier recognizes junior high teachers who have been inspirational to its freshmen students.
Lecky has also been named one of the best teachers in Ahwatukee in the annual "Best Of" contest sponsored by the Ahwatukee Foothills News.
Lecky, a Chandler resident, has been teaching for 14 years, with the last six as a middle school literature teacher at Summit School of Ahwatukee. She also serves as middle school coordinator and the eighth-grade moderator. Under her leadership two programs have been developed at Summit: ROPES (Right of Passage Experiences) and SERVE (Summit Excellence Reflected in Volunteer Experience).
Lecky's philosophy is for students to be confident in their abilities, embrace life, enjoy school and, most importantly, have fun while learning.
Summit students help less fortunate
Summit students help less fortunate - Ahwatukee Foothills News
Tough economic times increase the burden on organizations such as Homeward Bound, which provides assistance to struggling families. Phoenix-based Homeward Bound houses upwards of 150 families.
Summit School of Ahwatukee's fifth annual Thanksgiving community outreach project assisted 19 of these families by providing all of the items needed for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
Large, functional laundry or wicker baskets were filled with all of the ingredients for a full Thanksgiving meal, including gift certificates for perishable items. To add joy to the day, families also received festive napkins, a fall table cloth and a board game, creating an enjoyable meal and family fun.
Summit School extends a warm thank you to Target, a great community partner, who allocated part of their school funds budget to contribute $15 gift cards to enhance the family baskets.
School Notes: Summit School of Ahwatukee Field trips. 11/19/2008 Ahwatukee Foothills News
Summit School of Ahwatukee
-The magic of pretend enthralled preschooler's at the recently opened Children's Museum of Phoenix. Preschoolers painted a giant wooden playhouse and used recycled items made into pretend food, water and cooking materials in the child-size industrial kitchen and pizza parlor.
-During Career Week kindergartners learned first hand about dentistry with a walking field trip to visit Dr. Rashmi Bhatnagar at Bella Vista Dental Care.
-The Phoenix Zoo visited Summit first-graders, bringing Creepy Crawlies into the classroom.
-Rich Isle, also known as The Reptile Guy, let second-graders see and touch snakes, lizards and an iguana, teaching about the habitats of these interesting creatures. On Nov. 17, the second-graders will visit the Casa Grande Ruins to experience Arizona's first farmers, the Hohokam people.
-Fifth-graders visited the Halle Heart Center, learning the benefits of a heart-healthy lifestyle.
-A visit to Arizona State University's Physics Lab gave sixth-graders the opportunity to experience electron microscopes, an ION Beam Accelerator and other physics applications.
-Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders experienced rock climbing and rappelling to reinforce the importance of teamwork.
Summit School of Ahwatukee
Summit School of Ahwatukee
- The magic of pretend enthralled preschooler's at the recently opened Children's Museum of Phoenix. Preschoolers painted a giant wooden playhouse and used recycled items made into pretend food, water and cooking materials in the child-size industrial kitchen and pizza parlor.
- During Career Week kindergartners learned first hand about dentistry with a walking field trip to visit Dr. Rashmi Bhatnagar at Bella Vista Dental Care.
- The Phoenix Zoo visited Summit first-graders, bringing Creepy Crawlies into the classroom.
- Rich Isle, also known as The Reptile Guy, let second-graders see and touch snakes, lizards and an iguana, teaching about the habitats of these interesting creatures. On Nov. 17, the second-graders will visit the Casa Grande Ruins to experience Arizona's first farmers, the Hohokam people.
- Fifth-graders visited the Halle Heart Center, learning the benefits of a heart-healthy lifestyle.
- A visit to Arizona State University's Physics Lab gave sixth-graders the opportunity to experience electron microscopes, an ION Beam Accelerator and other physics applications.
- Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders experienced rock climbing and rappelling to reinforce the importance of teamwork.
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