Students Go Head to Head at the Annual Spelling Bee
Every year, the Patagonia Middle School and Elementary School has a Spelling Bee for grades 1-8, and on Wednesday, January 7, the kids finally went head to head in the big competition.
With excitement in the air, the time had come for the practice round. Levi Padilla, a seventh grader, said he was nervous, but he just had to get used to the pressure of being on stage in front of everyone. A few of his peers agreed that the words continued to get more difficult as rounds progressed.
First place winner, Jami Peterson, will be representing our school at the Santa Cruz County Spelling Bee on February 7, along with elementary school winner, Santiny Aguilar.
The winner of the spelling bee, sixth grader Jami Peterson said “I knew I was a good speller, but I didn’t plan on winning. I thought I was going to lose and then I was confident after my first word.” We asked Jami if she had studied the words at all, she said “I did study for two days at home. I was very shocked and very proud of myself when I won.”
The second place winner in middle school, seventh grader Arrinna Ochoa, said her teachers were a big part of her motivation. The seventh grade faced words such as: bona fide, nostalgia and albeit.
Destiny Alvarez, an eighth grader, took the slot in third place for middle school. “I was nervous,” she said, “I thought I was going to be humiliated.” We asked Destiny if she studied, and like other students, she said “only at school, but I felt confident enough with the words we were given”. Eighth grade students were asked to spell words such as: noctambulist, obfuscate, ballyhoo and shebang. Their list included 50 challenging words from their grade and another 50 challenging words from the ninth grade as an opportunity to learn and challenge their skills.
Drama Class Prepares for Double Performance
Back in November the Patagonia High School drama class got high marks for its performance of “The Nutcracker.” Another play is on the way, actually two plays! Ms. Lucas, the drama teacher told me that the longer play is “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder. It’s about a small town in the 1880s where everyone knows each other. Reminds you of Patagonia, doesn’t it? The story reflects on life and how quickly it can pass by.
The second play, a comedy, is shorter. “The Waltz,” written by Trisha Sugarek, is about a woman in the 1970s who isn’t very happy about her dance partner.
The class has 21 students. This allows everyone to fully participate. Come support the drama class with your enthusiasm. Don’t forget! February 28 at 6 p.m. in the middle school MPR. See you there.
New Test From Board of Education
On November 3, 2014, the Arizona State Board of Education announced that AIMS testing, for mathematics, reading and writing, will be replaced with a new form of test–the Arizona’s Measurement of Educational Readiness to Inform Teach or AzMERIT test.
Students will still have to take the AIMS Science test. However, unlike the AIMS testing, AzMERIT will be taken on a computer and, for every question a student answers, they will be required to give an explanation of their answer in a text box, once he or she checks one of the four lettered boxes to answer a question.
According to School Superintendent Ms. Dennise Blake, AZMerit has never been field tested on students and she, as well as the teachers at the school, don’t know what to expect. This year’s third through eighth grade students, and high school freshmen, sophomores and juniors will be the first to take the test in April, but will not get the graded results of the test until sometime after the next school year begins.
Ms. Blake will be sending letters to the students and their parents, explaining the test in greater detail. You can also visit the Arizona Department of Education’s website at www.ased.gov/AzMerit.
The Unstoppable Lady Lobos
On January 6, Patagonia hosted the Tombstone Yellow Jackets. During the first half the pace was slow, but during the third quarter the Lady Lobos pulled away and got the upper hand. By out rebounding and taking more shots, the Lobos won 39-31.
On January 8, they traveled to Tucson to play against St.Augustine. The Lobos went out hungry and wanted a win. Without their starting point guard, Lily Wharton, the Lady Lobos managed to switch up the offense and take home a win with a final score of 40-28.
Then came a second game with St. David, who the Lobos beat in December. The Lobos wanted another win in the Tigers’ gym. The game was intense up to the last second. The Lobos always had an extra point or two, but in the last 15 seconds, the Tigers tied it up 48-48. The crowd went crazy. Coach Ralph Padilla called a timeout and wrote up a play for point guard Lily Wharton. Wharton made the winning shot to put the Lobos up 50-48. That left the Tigers with 8.0 seconds to to tie the game or go for the winning shot, but the Lobos defense didn’t give them that option. The Lady Lobos took home the win.
Editor’s note: This article was submitted in mid-January. As we go to press, the Lobos’ record is 11-4.
A Fresh Start for Doc Mock Park
Patagonia’s Tree and Park Committee is now working and planning some new things– good things. Although the Tree and Park Committee’s activities often go unnoticed in Patagonia, it is now going to be getting a lot of new publicity, under the direction of Cornelia O’Connor and fellow members Ann Gosline, Andy Wood, Jason Botz, Barbara Ellis, Bethany Brandt, Caleb Weaver, Mary McKay, Harry Hower, German Quiroga, Karla Espinoza, and Yunghi Choi.
If you don’t know what Doc Mock’s Park is, it’s the vacant, “and quite dusty” piece of land in the middle of town across from Richardson park. It’s been vacant for years but the tree and park committee is planning to rejuvenate it all. The grant that was written for it was “ranked #1 out of 22 in the state,” according to the Program Manager for Urban Community Forestry, Alix Rogstad, who signed the grant.
The Patagonia Tree and Park Committee will apply an AZ Forestry grant, together with the efforts of the Nature Conservancy, Borderlands Restoration, and Patagonia High School’s biology teacher Charles Mitsak and his class, to make Doc Mock’s Park a better public space.
Borderlands Restorations is planting native trees that provide shelter, a food source, and a habitat, mainly for birds. They are getting volunteer students to work because, “you have to match the amount of volunteer hours with the amount of money you get with the grant,” says Cornelia O’Connor, and she adds that she’d “like to see a skate park but there are a lot of issues that go with it.”