One of the many ways ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Colleges of Engineering give back is through its Engineering Projects in Community Services (EPICS) program.

It’s something that Desert Mountain High School students have been involved in for a few years now. Recently, six groups of DMHS students took part in an EPICS student design competition, and, we are proud to report, brought home two awards.  One of the teams - made up of Zack Okun, Jack Levine, Julian Kimble, Ava Jazwin, Tom Lockett, Terrence Li and Lailla Burka - designed an ergonomic wheelchair to assist paralyzed veterans. Their design took 1st place at the EPICs event last month!

Congratulations to all of the Wolves’ EPICS teams on their accomplishments this school year and for taking on real-world issues of import!

Each year, the students of Coronado High School’s Jobs for Arizona Graduates, or JAG, program continue to do amazing things!

For more than 40 years, Arizona’s JAG program has been helping young people stay in school by helping them acquire the academic, personal, leadership and vocational skills they will need to be successful following their graduation. 

Once again this year, the Coronado JAG program has outdone itself, having been named Arizona’s 2022-2023 JAG Program of the Year!  Congratulations on this outstanding achievement!

The Rotary Club of Scottsdale is the largest Rotary Club in the East Valley.  Through its Foundation, it annually awards scholarships to outstanding graduating seniors who attend SUSD’s high schools.

The scholarship is a district-wide competition that covers seven categories, plus a scholarship named after a notable Rotarian, Norval O. Tyler.

Each school may nominate no more than two students in each category.  Candidates must:

Be enrolled in an accredited university, college, community college, or vocational/technical school for the coming fall.

Provide recommendations from two teachers or other adults who are familiar with their activities in the scholarship field to which they applied.

Submit detailed essays, create business plans or digital portfolios.

Undergo Rotary Club interviews.

• McCall Visual Arts Scholarship - Olivia Greteman, Saguaro High School
• Athletics scholarship - Stella Lipson, Saguaro and Avery Wahl, Arcadia High School
• Peter J. Fish Business Scholarship - Wade Crum, Saguaro High School and Tucker Leyva, Chaparral High School
• Colonel Park Shaw First Responders Scholarship - Ryan Libby, Desert Mountain High School
• Bob Murray Performing Arts Scholarship - Spencer Wareing, Saguaro High School and Olivia Schulte, Saguaro High School
• Norval O. Tyler Scholarship - Spencer Wareing, Saguaro High School, Quinn Holden, Chaparral High School
• Peter J. Fish Science/Technology Scholarship - Savina Williams, Coronado High School and Molly Rich from Chaparral High School
• Peter J. Fish Vocational/Trade Scholarships - Juan Flores, Saguaro High School and Alina Williams, Coronado High School

These students will head to their next educational institution with a combined 71-thousand dollars’ worth of scholarship money for which they and their families are most appreciative and that will go a long way toward offsetting the ever-rising cost of post-secondary education.

Congratulations to you, students, to your teachers and guidance counselors, for bringing this great distinction to your SUSD schools.

SUSD is proud to be a beneficiary of the work of several, local Rotary Clubs. With the motto of “Service Above Self,” Rotary Clubs excel at meeting community needs that are not being met and recognizing the good works of young people who are deserving of encouragement for their efforts to better their communities.
One of those students is Catherine Dunn. Catherine was among 16 Phoenix students – two from each Phoenix City Council district - who were recognized as an Outstanding Youth Leader by the Phoenix Rotary 100 Club and the City of Phoenix.
Catherine, a student at Chaparral, open-enrolls to Chaparral from Phoenix City Council District #6, which lies along Scottsdale’s western boundary.

The Outstanding Youth Program honors the outstanding achievements of young people and their contributions to making their communities a better place.

This comes naturally to Catherine.  Her community work centers around her work with neuro-diverse young people.  She founded a learn-to-swim program for impoverished children and volunteers as a mentor for fellow, autistic teens.

She aspires to pursue a career in neuroscience and has created a podcast that celebrates and interviews neuro-diverse individuals. The podcast has already been downloaded more than 60-thousand times!

Catherine is also an outstanding student at Chaparral, where she is as fearless is the classroom … taking only Advanced Placement and Honors classes this year … as she is in the pool, where, as a member of the Chaparral swim and dive team, swimming the 100 and 200 butterfly.

We cannot think of a more deserving Outstanding Phoenix Youth Leader than Catherine! Congratulations!

Since 1955, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation has offered scholarships to scholastically talented, graduating high school seniors. The majority of the scholarships are underwritten by more than 300 independent corporate and college sponsors. The National Merit Scholarship Program is perhaps the most widely recognized scholarship in the U.S., and we are proud to inform you that 7 (seven) Scottsdale Unified students are among the 33-hundred high school graduates to be recognized so far in the 2023 program.

• Arcadia High School - Sebastian Brock
• Chaparral High School - Ana Dragomir, Kyle Orth
• Desert Mountain High School - Evelyn Chin, Erica Li, Morgan Taylor
• Saguaro High School - Vivek Krishnan

These SUSD scholars have been selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors based on their academic record, including course difficulty level and grades earned; their scores from the PSAT that they took as juniors; their contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay they wrote; and the recommendation of a high school official.

Sebastian, Ana, Vivek, Erica and Morgan will receive National Merit $2,500 scholarships.  Evelyn and Kyle will receive Corporate-Sponsored National Merit scholarships.

Two more National Merit Scholarship announcements will be made, in June and July.

Perhaps less known than its “Daughters” counterpart, the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, or SAR, is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history and teaching American history to future generations.

Each year, the SAR sponsors a brochure contest for middle school students in which they are challenged to create an informational brochure based on our nation’s founding documents, the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Tonalea Middle School has fully engaged in this competition in recent years with Tonalea Tigers taking 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd places.

The winning design this year belongs to Tonalea 8^th grade student Roselyn Pliego Figueroa.  What’s more, it has also been selected as the Arizona SAR Sergeant Moses Adams Brochure Contest winner!

Roselyn will receive a check for $150 and her brochure now heads to the national SAR competition.

In association with Scottsdale Public Library and the Scottsdale Artists’ School, the Scottsdale Sister Cities Association held its 35th Annual Young Artist Competition this spring.

This local version of an international contest encourages youth to express their mission through original artwork.  The theme for this year’s contest was “Food Security in My Community.”

We are so proud of our talented SUSD artists, whose winning works were on display at the Civic Center Library during the month of April!

SUSD students took all 5 prizes in the local Sister Cities competition, with Desert Mountain’s Diana Lopez taking first place.

We also want to congratulate teachers Anne Wilkins from Desert Mountain and Carson Bilger from Chaparral, whose instruction inspired our students’ entries.

Principal Shelley Hummon wears many hats:

She is the principal of Pueblo Elementary School, where Scottsdale Unified’s Dual Language Immersion program in Spanish begins

She is a trusted leader among our principals.

Parents find her approachable, thoughtful and kind.

She is never too busy to praise her students or to know when they just need a hug. 

She and her school community have helped create plans for the “NEW” Pueblo that will greet students for the first time in August.

For all these reasons, and so many more, Principal Hummon has been named a 2023 National Distinguished Principal (NDP) by the National Association of Elementary School Principals organization, (NAESP).

The NPD program recognizes elementary and middle-level principals who set high standards for instruction, student achievement, character, and climate for the students, families, and staffs in their learning communities. 

Please join SUSD in congratulating Arizona’s 2023 National Distinguished Principal, Shelley Hummon!

Two of our SUSD elementary schools keep to the tradition of teaching cursive writing, and three of their students, in particular, excel at it: Logan Bukata and Braedyn Fehl from Anasazi Elementary, and Lauren Kim from Cochise Elementary.

These SUSD students competed in this year’s Zaner-Bloser Handwriting Contest, the longest-running and best-known competition of its kind in the U.S.  Nearly 75-thousand students in public and private schools nationwide took part in the contest this year, starting first in their schools, then advancing to state-level competitions, with state winners advancing to the national competition.

Logan, who is in the 3^rd grade; Braedyn, who joined us last year when she was a 3^rd grader; and Lauren were named grade-level, public school champions for all of Arizona.  That means that they were judged to have the best cursive handwriting among all Arizona 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th graders!

Braedyn then took it to the next level and has been named the 2023 Zaner-Bloser 4^th grade NATIONAL Handwriting Contest winner, too! Congratulations, Logan, Braedyn and Lauren!

The week before spring break provided an exciting opportunity for a group of Coronado High School students. 
Although their numbers may be relatively small, make no mistake: they are MIGHTY!

The Coronado Orchestra was invited to perform in the National Orchestra Cup in New York City in March.  The Orchestra Cup is an invitation-only competition extended to outstanding high school orchestra ensembles from around the nation each year.

With the financial support of the SUSD Foundation and the Scottsdale Charros, and under the direction of longtime SUSD conductor Mrs. Irvin, our students were able to travel to The Big Apple and perform in Alice Tully Hall of the Lincoln Center! 

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our students to perform on a world-class stage in front of world-renowned music adjudicators.

As if that was not exciting enough, for some of these students, it was their first time leaving Arizona and their first airplane trip!

 The students opened their performance with a high-energy piece, called ‘Afterburner,’ followed by a beautiful piece featuring Diego Sanchez on guitar, then a lyrical selection, called ‘Lullaby,’ and closed with a famous Offenbach piece that had the audience dancing in their seats, we’re told! 

While in New York, students were able to attend a concert of the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and visit some of the sights, such as Rockefeller Center and the Statue of Liberty!

Congratulations on this wonderful achievement!