Geography Week began at Copperwood Elementary on Nov. 17 with activities to encourage geography awareness and prepare students for the Geography Bee. All grade levels participated in a variety of ways. Pictures of students posed by famous landmarks were posted in the cafeteria and classes created songs related to geography. Students also competed within their own classrooms to determine finalists to participate in the Geography Bee later this year. The final day, classes placed displays outside for others to walk by and see for the school’s Geowalk.
Desert Harbor Elementary School
Desert Harbor’s eighth-grader Tegan Cirulli and fifth-grader Giana Cirulli will attend this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. This will be Tegan’s second year to participate in this event! The girls were selected to participate after they tried out at the Camp Broadway at Arizona State University this summer. The sisters, along with 300 troupe members, will perform “I Believe in Santa Claus” and welcome Santa Claus himself and the holiday season.
Foothills Elementary School
The Foothills Elementary jump rope team performed at a special event hosted by T-Mobile recently. The event, located at the T-Mobile store on Third Street and Bell Road, was a grand opening of a their new Playground Store. Ten jumpers participated in the event, led by their coach, Foothills band director Laura Filoso.
PEORIA ELEMENETARY SCHOOLS P-Z
Parkridge Elementary
The Parkridge Elementary School National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) collected over one and half tons of non-perishable food and 44 turkeys for families in their community that needed a little extra help this holiday season. The remaining food went to the local food bank.
Sahuaro Ranch Elementary
Students and staff at Sahuaro Ranch Elementary School donned mustaches for Male Cancer Awareness Day on Nov. 21. Participants donated $1 to wear a favorite fake mustache or have a mustache painted on by a National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) or Student Council representative. Staff members also donated an additional $5 to wear jeans for the day.
Sun Valley Elementary
The Sun Valley Elementary cross country team brought home four trophies on Nov. 12. The fifth- and sixth-grade boys, the seventh- and eighth-grade boys and the seventh- and eighth-grade girls won first place in the Area II region of the Peoria Unified School District. The fifth- and sixth-grade girls took second place in the region. The coaches for the teams are Ryan Yamauchi and Theresa Lattie.
Zuni Hills Elementary
The Zuni Hills seventh-grade drama students will perform “A Fairly Funky Fairytale”, a play written and directed by their teacher, Connie Doherty. Students will perform for the first- through fourth-grades on Tuesday, Dec. 16 during the school day. They will also perform for friends and family during an invitation-only performance that evening. The drama students will be donating 50 percent of the proceeds to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
PEORIA HIGH SCHOOLS
Raymond S. Kellis High School
The Kellis Marching Corps, under the direction of band director, Nathan Garrison, earned a rating of Superior at the State Marching Band Festival recently. The band also earned a caption award for having a top score in the area of General Effect. This season, the Marching Corps took part in five marching band festivals. The group earned four ratings of Excellent and one Superior along with a total of 10 caption awards, which include: one Outstanding Visual Performance; one Outstanding Music Performance; two Outstanding Color Guard Performance; two Outstanding Percussion Performance; and three Outstanding General Effect.
