February_2024_Mesa Academy

Mesa Academy Newsletter

February 2024

Oct. 6- HalfDay
Early Dismiss Fall Break
Monday off for students
Fun Run

Principal’s Message

February was an exciting month for the Knights. Our NAL team had many great matches. Our 8th graders have been preparing for the big move to high school and visited Red Mountain High School. The 5th graders had a great time learning and playing in the snow at Camp Friendly Pines. The 7th and 8th grade pastel-themed dance was a great time and the DJ was an Academy Parent! Our 6th-8th grade CIOs got to tour the labs at Honeywell and meet with engineers to learn about the work they do. Last, but not least, our bands put on a wonderful concert and the orchestra earned a rating of Superior with Distinction at the ABODA Festival. So much fun and so much to look forward to in the fourth quarter!-Nikki Wilfert (Principal)

I.B. Update

All IB programs aim 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 February, each teacher nominated one homerorom student that demonstrates the traits of a reflective people. Reflective people give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and experience. They are able to assess and understand their strengths and limitations in order to support their learning and personal development. The following are our Februaru I.B. Reflective Students: Shane Elevich, Carson Blackham, Tegan Collier, Michael McMillin, Brooklynn Castro, Ajala Chandler-Ziegler, Emmett Ewing, Emma Hirsch, Hadley Kennington, Ava Murray, Kenleigh Christensen, Joseph Duran, Angelique Longoria, Lucy Lu, and Duci Dominguez Hernandez

Coach’s Corner Newsletter

PTO

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, organizations, or individuals who would like to share more about their culture or country of origin at the event through food, music, or a display. The interest form can be found here.

Math

A huge congratulations to our 8th grade math team: Carson B. Cody F., Lakshmi N., and Saraphina Z. for scoring Silver in the Excellence Mathematics Competition at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. The team had two hours to devise a thoughtful response to a math problem and then present it to a team of judges during the February 2 competition. Way to go, team!

Additional congratulations to the MAAS students who competed in the AMC8, a competition put on by the Mathematical Association of America. The 25-problem, 40 minute math test consisted of problems from elementary to advanced high school classes. An excellent showing was made by the entire group.

4th Graders: Holly H., Jacob O., Ethan R.

5th Graders: Laith A., Lucy L.

6th Graders: Lindsay J., Ezra J.

7th Graders: Rilliam A., Elijah I., Ella N., Ayden P., Preston R.

8th Graders: Carson B., Cody F., Justin M., Lakshmi N., Saraphina Z.

Music

3/7: Prep, Int., and Adv. Orchestras @6 - 7 PM

3/12: Advanced Band required rehearsal, 6-8

3/13: ABODA Area concert festival

4/11: District MYPO and JHFO concert (selected students)(7PM)

4/23: Renaissance (beginning band and 6th orch only)(6-6:45 PM)

4/30: Prep, Int., and Adv. Orchestras @6-7PM

5/9: Orchestra (4-5)

5/10: Band Concert @ 6PM

On Thursday, February 29th, our Advanced Orchestra performed at the ABODA Festival hosted at Mountain Pointe High School. Special thanks to McKenna King for joining orchestra as our awesome percussionist!

Our Mesa Academy Knights did a fantastic job earning Superior with Distinction.

Well done, orchestra!

On February 29, the band program held their third quarter concert to great applause from the audience. A select group of students started the evening with the National Anthem- this performance was completely student directed, learned, and performed. Next, the advanced band percussion section got the audience in the groove from two percussion ensemble pieces- Trap Door and Multitasker. The Beginning Band took over with a fanfare, a classical music collection, and finally an inspiring piece called Arise! The Advanced Band finished the evening with an International flare. They played an American piece: Little Champ March, a Scottish piece: Loch Lomond, and a Middle- Eastern piece- Arabian Dances. Bravo to the wonderful learning and performance of the band program!

Chinese New Year Corner Border Decoration

Chinese

Our Chinese classes had a busy month as they prepared for Lunar New Year of the Dragon. Our 6th, 7th and 8th graders made dumplings for the celebration with help of parent volunteers and school kitchen/janitor staff.

All Chinese students have done various activities - paper cutting, calligraphy, coloring, singing, and speaking children rhymes to celebrate Lunar New Year of Dragon.- Mrs. Zhang

NJHS

Knights @Fremont & @Poston

Our NJHS members have been busy organizing and running various drives. From Food Drives, Sock Drives to Board Game Drives, they are finding ways to give back to the community. They have been doing a fine job displaying their Caring and Principled IB Traits. Please make sure that you are watching out for the Family Friendly Board Game Drive and our event at Feed My Starving Children.

The Fremont Volleyball Team has been undefeated all season. WIth multiple wins agains all MPS Junior Highs. Some dynamic plays were Kenleigh’s sets and serves. Playoff will be announced soon so stay connected. - Kenleigh C. Thanks Kenleigh for your amazing job representing Mesa Academy on Fremont’s Volleyball Team! Zaiden C., playing footbal with Poston, went up against Franklin and although they didn't score in the first half they made it back to score in the second half making the game 7 to 21.

MAAS Sciene Fair Winners

Science Fair Winners:

3rd Place - Jenae Smith (Experimenting with plant health when adding different medications/supplements to the soil)

2nd Place - Reagan Carlson (Experimenting with creating electricity in mud made from compostable foods)

1st Place - Roxie Cramer and Ava Murray (Experimenting with skirt materials on a hovercraft)

Congrats to Kayla E. and Megyn S. on the Fremont Football team. Great offense by Kayla and Megyn with great runs by Kayla, a touchdown by Megyn, and a touchdown by Kayla. Great defense by Kayla and Megyn, too. Kayla and Megyn both had very good flag pulls and congrats to Kayla for getting 2 interceptions with one of them resulting in a touchdown. These girls will be going to playoffs next week. This is the first year for our district’s participation in Flag Football and we are very proud of the job our Knights are doing. We are looking forward to cheering you on!

2023-24 Yearbook Request

Parents and students- do you have pictures you would love to see in the yearbook? Pick a few favorites, and email them to Angie Shults . We are looking for pictures of all kinds (first day of school, concerts, dances, spirit days, Eating for Education fundraisers, Fun Run, extracurricular activities outside of school, and more). Send us some photos and you might see them published in the 2024 yearbook!

Yearbook sales have begun! To order a yearbook, go to the MPS Webpay site at https://az-mesa.intouchreceipting.com/. Yearbooks are $38 and are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Yearbooks will be distributed on the last day of school prior to the yearbook signing party.

7th and 8th Grade Spring Serenade Dance

“The night started with great music by our Mesa Academy D.J. Dad. Students Council did a great job with hosting. They had good food and drinks. The decorations complimented the pastel theme. All 7th and 8th graders had a blast! A big thank you to all of those that participated and put it together.”

-Taylor F., 7th Grader

Animation, Math and Spanish, and Chess Club

The Animation Classes learned about Stop-Motion Animation. They started by developing a Story Plan and then creating a storyboard. Students created their own materials and took many photos to create their animations. Then, they put their animations together using a video editor of their choice, adding music and sound effects during the editing process. You can enjoy these examples of Stop-Motion Animations.

If you have a chance, make sure to congratulate our 4th Grader, Diego Sanchez. He took 3rd place in the Super Leap Year Tournament.

Our 5th, 7th and some 8th grade students had a great time together incooprporating their Shopping Math and Spanish skills. One of the favorite Spanish Units at Mesa Academy is the Food Unit. Our 4th/5th graders were asked to go shopping and spend $40 dollars, including tax, and label their purchases in Spanish. This time, the older students participated in the activity as buddies who only used Spanish to help. It was a great time to strengthen bounds, make memories and practice their Math and Spanish!