Somehow despite a week off for Fall Break October was busier than ever. We had a “Decades Day” for spirit day, Eating for Education at Organ Stop Pizza, Fall Pictures, “Select Your Own Shirt Day” for the I AM IB award, Marching Band Night at Red Mountain High School, 8th Grade Orchestra night at Mountain View High School, and of course, the Fun Run! Thanks to all our Knights’ efforts we raised over $11,000 for our school! We topped off the month with a Halloween spirit day where our Knights showed off their creativity. It will be Thanksgiving before we know it!- Ms. Wilfert

Cafeteria Menu

The aim of all IB programs is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. As IB learners, we strive to be inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective. In September, each teacher nominated one homerorom student that understands and appreciates their own culture and personal history, and is open to the perspectives, values, and traditions of other individuals and communities. This student is accustomed to seeking and evaluating a range of points of view and is willing to grow from the experience. The following are our October I.B. Knowledgeable Students: Jeremy Wenzel, Stella Johnson, Avery Von Burg, Neil Sykes, Emerson Turner, Ethan Chung, Holly Hom, Jenae Smith, Kyle Knopp, Felicia Pritchard, Valette Lara, Alaina Moeser, Ali Carpenter, David Yauch, and Elijah Iguado Salazar.

• A Hero’s Breakfast on 11/9
• 11/10: No school Veteran’s Day
• 11/6: No Place for Hate Lunch Assemblies 11/6
• 11/13: PTO Meeting/Library 6:30-7:30 pm
• 11/15: Chipotle-Eating for Education 4-8 pm
• 11/13-11/17: Canned Food Drive
• 11/16: Battle of the Books
• 11/16: Prospective Family Night
• 11/22-24: Thanksgiving Break
• 11/30: Band Concert
• 12/1: Winter Wonderland Dance (7th-8th only)

Coaches Corner: Being a RISK TAKER

Interview with Mrs. Lewis

Noteworthy Knights for 1st Quarter: Caring

Yousef Doulah

Elizabeth Decker

Izzi Maceira

BAND

On September 30, 2023, two members of the MAAS Advanced Band represented our school at the ASU honor band! They put on an entire concert with only 5 hours of practice and 41 different middle schools were represented at the event. Bravo Katie Trendler and Dallin Wilson!

The Wheel

On Halloween, October 31, MAAS’s 4th and 5th graders got to participate in a Halloween- Día de Los Muertos Celebration. Although our Wheel Teachers and Parent Volunteers ran the event, the attention and the stars were the students. Our students played scary songs with their string instruments, they listened to Ms. White’s scary stories and created amazing Day of the Dead coloring pieces. Afterwards, they got to enjoy hot chocolate, cookies, Zombie Tag and talked about their costumes in Chinese. There is no doubt that our kids had a blast!

Organ Stop pizza was a sight to behold! On October 17th, MAAS Knights and families ate pizza together while listening to and watching the mighty Wurlitzer organ. The organist there sure knows what he’s doing and effortlessly changes the lighting along with controlling a puppet show, and showing what keyboards he is playing all through the organ. Overall, this activity was great for all ages and was truly an amazing experience that most will probably be doing again soon. Thank you to our PTO for another successful Eating for Education Night!

A huge thank you to every Mesa Academy student, family, staff, and community member who participated and helped at the FunRun on October 25th. If you don’t already know… we didn’t just reach our $10,000 goal we surpassed it and brought in over $11,000! Students managed to fundraise for over 3 weeks, collect great prizes along the way, and run all of that energy to end the event. Everyone enjoyed the beautiful AZ Fall day with their friends and great music by our new DJ Dad, Mr. Chris. He had our Knights dancing as parents marked off every lap that was completed. In the end, we had lots of winners, Ms. Escobedo’s homeroom won the pizza party for the most money raised and Ms. Taylor’s 4th-period class ran the most laps. There is no doubt that the BIGGEST winner was Mesa Academy as a whole. Thank you, MacDonald Orthodontics, FatCats, and PTO for putting on this major event. We will enjoy our new sound system, playground equipment, and so much more!

FunRun

Drama Club is one of our biggest clubs with more than 60 people! One of our Academy parents wrote our very own version of Aladdin, which will be performed by the Drama Club will be performed sometime in the spring of 2024. Because of the Drama Club’s large size, Mrs. McFarland, our technology teacher, and Mrs. Manley, (our Academy parent) have chosen to do two separate, equally skilled casts. The performances will likely be separate, though the type is yet to be decided. The two most likely options are, however, a dine-in theater here at MAAS, or two different-dated evening performances at Red Mountain High School. Additionally, Drama Club plans to do a fundraiser, run by the Drama Club officers. If you have any ideas for a fundraiser, please contact Valette Lara (Drama Club VP) at vel0105@students.mpsaz.org. This year’s Drama Club officers are as follows:

President: Kenleigh Christensen

Vice-President: Valette Lara

Secretary: Rose Coyne

Treasurer: Colden Weatherhead

Historian: Avery VonBurg

Extra Curricular

October was a great month at Mesa Academy. Our Knights showed off their Balanced trait the whole month with great Spirit Days. We had a Decades Day, Twins Day, T-Shirt Day, Halloween, and so much more. Mesa Academy Knights know how to have fun while still keeping up with the rigor of an I.B. Curriculum. Our teachers and some of our students attended the RMHS STEMi Conference and SSEP Showcase. While our teachers attended workshops to get ideas on how to bring STEMi to MAAS, our students showcased their ideas on the Mission Patch for the SSEP Mission 18 to the International Space Station. Mesa Academy is doing great things and having fun to… just look at all of these happy faces… GO KNIGHTS!

Canned Food Drive!

It takes a village! Be part of the change and clean out your pantry or go buy some canned/non-perishable food items! Our NJHS Members are hosting a Canned Food Drive this month... it will not last the whole month of November, just one week! Send your items with your student to their homeroom. PTO will be hosting a donut party for the homerooms with the most donations! Be ready!

When: Monday 11/13-Friday 11/17

During Homeroom

Stay tuned for more information.