Mesa Academy Newsletter Team

December 2023

Principla’s Message

Even though it was a short month in terms of the number of school days, it was certainly a busy one! We started December with the 7th and 8th grade winter dance. The 8th graders shared their Community Projects and presented to a distinguished panel of MPS and City of Mesa officials. It was an especially busy month for Band and Orchestra. Mr. Dixon took his music tech students to the Musical Instrument Museum. He and Ms. White took the band and orchestra students to Disneyland to learn and have fun! Lastly, we also got to enjoy Winter Music Assemblies where so many talented Knights entertained us. Enjoy your holidays and Winter Break. We look forward to seeing everyone back on Tuesday, January 9th. - Ms. Wilfert and Ms. Williams

12/22-1/8 (Monday): Winter Break

1/9: First Day of Spring Semester .

1/11: Orchestra Concert (4-5th)

4A and 4B will arrive at 5:15 to be tuned and perform at 5:30-5:45 pm.

4B and 5B will arrive at 6:00 to be tuned and perform at 6:15-6:30 pm.

4C and 5C will arrive at 6:45 to be tuned and perform at 7:00-7:15 pm.

1/15: MLK/Civil Rights Day No School

1/18: Young Lions Band Concert (RMHS) (8th Grade) 6-7pm

1/25: Battle of the Books--2nd Battle 1:15-2pm.

1/31: Sock Drive

2/02: Excellence in Mathematics Competition 8 am-1:30 pm @Chandler Gilbert Community College- Pecos Campus

2/15: Spring Pictures during Social Studies

2/16: RMHS Registered Kids go to RM 9:30-1 pm.

2/19: Presidents Day No School

2/23: Student Council Winter Dance: 6-8 pm.

2/29: Band Concert: 6-8 pm.

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 December I.B. Inquirer Students: KysaRaye Hamann, Evan Nau, Madeline Mabey, Preston Rule, Jacob O'Neill, Hudson DeLaCruz, Anna Vee Taylor, Michael McMillin, Elliot Court, Corinne Spencer, Mavvrick Owens, Grant Walker, Luis Durazo, Natalie Flood, and Evelyn Karnos.

From our Instructional Coach, Mrs. Lewis

Friday April 12th, 2024

6:30-8:30pm

We're already gearing up for our annual **International Festival in April 2024**! This event showcases our IB Program and features food, games, performances, and information about cultures around the globe.

Get involved and help us make this the

BEST FEST EVER!

If you would like to be part of the planning, prepping, running, or cleaning up, we'd love to have you on our team!

We are also looking for families who would like to share more about their culture or country of origin at the event through food, music, or a display. Please contact pto.maas@gmail.com if you are interested!

Your The Box Tops for Education program has been updated with an easy to use app! Simply tap "Scan" on the home screen and choose the digital receipt option. Tip: Make sure you have the latest version of the Box Tops app and that you're using either iOS14+ on iPhone or Android 7+ before you scan.paragraph text

After such a busy and exciting December with PTO, January will be much calmer. The events in January include the Uniform Resale on Monday, January 29th from 3-6 PM in the multi-purpose room. Uniform items being sold include khaki bottoms, spirit wear, and uniform shirts. You can find the Flyer with more information on it here. Our monthly PTO meeting is on January 8th at 6:30 PM in the media center.

December would not be the same without our now traditonal Holiday Concert. Once again, our band and orchestra groups delighted us with wonderful holiday music and some pretty funny jokes from Ms. White. We got to sing along and enjoy our peers as they shared their musical talents with us.

Extra-Curricular Sporst with MPS

The NAL season has finally gone into full swing! The Academy is proud of our NAL team for last year's wins, we can’t wait for what they will accomplish next. Our strong group of academic prodigies includes Natalia Cuen, Kristel Beltran, Katie Trendler, William Abernathy, Ryker Proffitt, Thelo LeHart, Camden Walker, Chris Walker, Justin Mix, Preston Rule, Avery Von Burg, Emma Hirsch, Eliud Kuria, Lakshmi Nair, and Jack Vanderberg. These students are working hard to prepare for the upcoming competitions starting January 18th. The competitions are hard but they challenge these kids academically, which always makes it a great learning experience. Keep working hard and trying your best!

Our 8th-grade Knights all participated in a community project, organized by Ms. Brown, and Ms. Hayward. The students each brainstormed problems that affect the city of Mesa. Everyone researched their problems and found solutions that could be implemented. Then groups were formed and everybody prepared a presentation. Of these presentations, 9 were selected and will be presented on the 14th of December. Everybody did an excellent job, and congratulations on the presentations that moved forward.

The Mesa Academy Advanced Band and Intermediate and Advanced Orchestras went on a field trip to Disneyland in early December. Our musicians started their adventure in Downtown Disney. On Saturday, they went to both Magic Kingdom and California Adventure. They went on lots of fun rides with their chaperone groups and went to a clinic in a recording studio at Disneyland where they learned lots of great techniques to improve their skills. Thanks to Mr. Dixon and Ms. White for planning this fun trip!

The winner of the Mesa Academy 2023/24 Spelling Bee is Preston Rule! In our annual school competition on December 20th, Preston received a perfect score on the written test, with Caitlin Ngo as our runner-up. All of our competitors did an excellent job, spelling difficult words like "amphitheater" and "bureaucrats." Now a two-time Mesa Academy Spelling Bee Champion, Preston will be competing in the District Finals on Saturday, January 20th. If you would like to support him as he represents the Academy, the District Final will be held at Franklin at Brimhall at 9 a.m. If you see any of our other school spelling bee competitors, congratulate them on a job well done. Our Knights are un-BEE-lievable! Contestants: Parker Cramer (4th), Holly Hom(4th), Vincent Babb (4th), Iffy Ubosi (5th), Avery Von Burg (5th), Laith Abugharbieh (5th), Elijah Ortiz (6th), Alaina Moeser (6th), Baraka Nyakondo (6th), Caitlin Ngo (7th), Preston Rule (7th), Natalia Cuen (7th), Kyle Knopp (8th), Jay Trivedi (8th), and Jett Howell (8th).

Volleyball: Four of our students played volleyball for Fremont this past season. These are; Jackson Brown, Lowell Baudouin, Dylan Hernandez, and Kai Randall. They made it to playoffs this season. The team was beaten in a close game against Carson. Congrats to our academy Knights and their Fremont compatriots.

Students and families had a great time on Saturday morning playing boardgames and getting to know one another. New friends were made just between our Knights but between parents and fury family members.

Sock Drive Day 1/31! Students who donate a pack of new socks will get to wear their favorite socks! All donations will benefit Jose’s Closet.