Tag: Lake Powell Chronicle
Education Spotlight — PUSD faculty spotlight: Jenise Bartholomew. See more local, state and national education news here
It’s early December and Jenise Bartholomew’s classroom is taking on the feeling of Christmas. A Christmas tree is already standing, and a few other Christmas decorations are starting to appear on the walls.
On another wall, each student is spotlighted as a “star student” with a flower that is displayed with their picture. The other students have written something nice about that student on the flower petals.
Outside Bartholomew’s classroom, the walls of the first-grade hallway have been decorated to look like train cars of the Polar Express. The faces of each student appear in each train car window. Bartholomew and the other first-grade teachers stayed after school on Dec. 1 to create the Christmas art installation.
Bartholomew likes her classroom to be colorful and organized, the latter not always an easy task with a room full of first graders. And right now, her classroom has that extra buzz of energy that every classroom in America has right now, during the spirited period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
All in all, the room has a nurturing, caring atmosphere.
Education Spotlight — Archery shoot raises funds for cancer treatment
Archers from throughout the region gathered at the Page Shooting Range on Aug. 19 for a 3D archery shoot. The event was a fundraiser for Spencer Barnum, a 9-year-old member of the Page 4-H Archery Club who was diagnosed with leukemia in September.
“Spencer was on my archery club this last year. She enrolled in 4-H and shot with us this whole last year,” said Kip Bennett, the Page 4-H Club leader and Arizona State 4-H Archery Club leader.
“She loved archery, she enjoyed it, she got to learn how to shoot a bow. When we found out this last September that she got leukemia, one of my other coaches called me up and said, ‘We need to do something for this little girl.’”
They decided that an archery shoot was the best way to honor Spencer in a way that would also get the community involved.
Education Spotlight — Anderson hired as permanent superintendent at PUSD. See more local, state and national education news here
At its May regular meeting, Page Unified School District’s Governing Board voted unanimously to make Dr. Bryce Anderson PUSD’s permanent superintendent. The position will become official on July 1, when the district begins the 2022-23 school year.
Anderson brings three decades of teaching and school administration experience to the position. Anderson most recently served as superintendent for Kayenta Unified School District, a position he held for four years.
He has a Doctor of Education in educational administration and supervision from Arizona State University, a Master of Arts in educational leadership from the University of North Dakota, and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Minnesota State University.
Page Preschool teacher develops curriculum around holistic learning and indigenous knowledge
Florisa Peshlakai’s preschool classroom has a comfortable, welcoming energy. Everything from the colorful art on the walls, to the playful rugs on the floor creates an inviting, warm, nurturing space.
Peshlakai shares her classroom with two para-pros, Natalie Kawano and Marlina Benallie. Throughout the day, the students might be found sitting on a rug listening to a story, working together at a craft table or engaged in numerous other activities.
Peshlakai is preschool teacher at Page Preschool and an Indigenous Early Childhood Educators Fellow at Northern Arizona University. She started with PUSD in 2015 as a para-pro, and the next year moved into a long-term sub position.
Education Spotlight — Page High student is Flinn Scholarship finalist. See more local, state and national education news here
Page High School senior Kaya Dickson learned in December that she was one of 39 finalists for the Flinn Scholarship.
Dickson was one of nearly 1,100 Arizona students who applied for the prestigious scholarship last autumn. The Flinn Foundation will award 20 scholarships this year. The Flinn Scholarship, which includes funding for tuition, housing, meals and study abroad, is valued at more than $120,000.
In March, Dickson – along with the other 38 candidates – will meet with a five-person interview committee. The extensive interview process will take place over two days. The Flinn Foundation will announce the 20 scholarship recipients in April.
“All of the 39 Flinn finalists are very deserving of the Flinn Scholarship. We are impressed with this diverse group of extremely bright and talented students who are working to better their schools, local communities, and the state of Arizona,” said Anne Lassen, Flinn Foundation vice president of scholarship and education initiatives. “A difficult choice lies ahead for our selection committee.”
Education Spotlight — Toys for Tots distributes more than 1,400 toys in Page. See more local, state and national education news here
Toys for Tots brought joy to hundreds of kids in the Page area as volunteers handed out 1,452 toys at First Baptist Church of Page last week.
Debbie Winlock, who has served as the Toys for Tots Page coordinator for 12 years, said that hundreds more toys were donated this year than previous years, thanks to an increase in community involvement.
“Last year was the first year with toy drop-offs at the Page Lake Powell Chamber, Lake Powell Furniture and Page Police Department, and this year contributions to those places doubled,” she said, adding that although the official deadline was Dec. 20, they kept taking names and contributions right up to Christmas Day.
Education Spotlight — Navajo students present Diné Winter Stories. See more local, state and national education news here
Students from Page public school grades 9 through 12 presented the Page High School Diné Winter Stories Conference to a large audience on Dec. 1 at the high school’s Cultural Arts Building.
The culturally diverse audience was treated to an unforgettable evening, the culmination of the students’ work during the fall semester. Page High School and Middle School have a strong Navajo Language and Culture program.
Dressed in traditional attire, students presented the program with the help of a large monitor screen. The students started by presenting the cultural time-scale that spans several “worlds”: The First World, Nihodilhil (Black World); the Second World, Nihodootlizh (Blue World); and the Third World, Nihaltsoh (Yellow World). We are currently in the Fourth World, Nihalgai, the Glittering or White world.
Local Education Spotlight — Page Public Library is a star library. See more local education news here
The Library Journal has announced its star libraries for 2020, and yes, the Page Public Library is one of them.
The Library Journal is pleased to announce the results of the 13th edition of the LJ Index of Public Library Service. The LJ Index rates U.S. public libraries based on selected per capita output measures.
The 2020 Index derives from data recently released by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Page Public Library, or the PPL, plays a critical role in connecting community members to vital resources and programs, they are the heart of the Page community. They are accessible and safe spaces, providing access to huge resources of information and knowledge.
Local Education Spotlight — Diné student-athlete accepted to dream school Stanford. See more local education news here
In early December, Neve Redhair learned that she had been accepted to Stanford University.
Redhair, a Page High senior, is an active, Diné student. She serves as the student body public relations coordinator, and she’s on the basketball and volleyball teams. She has played on the girls’ varsity basketball team since she was a freshman.
When she was a freshman and a sophomore, respectively, she was part of the team that was crowned 3A champions, and last year they took second in state. This year the talented senior was going to be one of its starters and team captains, but the Arizona Interscholastic Association canceled the season last Friday.
Local Education Spotlight — Page ASU grad discovers passion for science, humanities and the arts. See more local education news here
When first-generation college student Sofia Vine started out at Arizona State University in 2017, she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to study or pursue as a career.
But over the next three-and-a-half years, Vine said she truly discovered herself while developing a passion for biology, performing arts, women and gender studies, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues.
Vine grew up in the small town of Page, Arizona, and chose to attend ASU because she wanted to experience new things and meet new people while staying somewhat close to home. She started her journey at ASU’s West campus and decided to pursue biology with an emphasis on neuroscience, physiology, and behavior when she realized how interesting she found the human body and living organisms.
