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

Principla’s Message

January brought the Knights much fun. Our Battle of the Books had another exciting battle this month with two teams missing only one question in the entire battle! And applications for new students for next year started coming in along with tours for prospective families. The Band and Orchestra students participated in Red Mountain’s Young Lion’s performances while Chess Club, ABS, Chordify, Drama, Choir and so many more clubs continued. Our Knights also participated in supporting the community through the NJHS Sock Drive. Thank you for contributing!- Nikki Wilfert (Principal)

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

2/5-7: 5th Grade Science Camp in Prescott

2/8: Panoramic Pictures

2/12: PTO Meeting in the Media Center @6:30 pm

2/13: 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.

2/28: 6th Grade Science Chaperone Webex Meeting 7-8 pm

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

I.B. Update

From our Instructional Coach, Mrs. Lewis

Encouraging safe risk-taking

Teenagers need to take some risks to learn more about themselves and test out their abilities. If your child is into thrill-seeking and risk-taking, you can try channeling this energy into safe and constructive activities, like rock-climbing, martial arts, canoeing or mountain biking. Some teenagers might find they love the ‘rush’ of performing in drama or creative arts.

Another strategy is to give your child autonomy and independence in some areas, so that they can test themselves and experiment without doing antisocial or illegal things. For example, you might not like it if your teenager chooses blue hair or dresses in ripped clothing, but these are healthy ways to experiment. For more information, read our article on shifting responsibility to your child.

Risk-Taker

The IB Learner Profile aims to develop students who are risk-takers. Students who are risk-takers are able to approach unfamiliar situations and uncertainty with courage and forethought. They have the independence of spirit to explore new roles, ideas and strategies. Risk-takers are brave and articulate in defending their beliefs. IB students transition well to challenging university settings and show resilience and determination in their work. In academics, they have the confidence to approach new or unfamiliar subjects or material.

How can parents help to develop students who are Risk-Takers at home?

PTO

Thank you to all the families that attended our Eating for Ed on January 25th @Barro’s Pizza. This was a great opportunity for students and families to hangout and socialize while earning money for MAAS.

Mesa Academy Band students made an appearance at the Young Lions Concert at RMHS earlier this month. All Red Mountain High School feeders performed together on stage. Can you spot our former Mesa Academy Knight? Yes, Seth was there performing and lending a helping hand.

Our NAL Team captured their first victory on 2/1 against Taylor JHS. This was their 2nd game of the season. The first game was against Carson JHS at home. Our next game will be at home against Stapley JHS, one of our strongest rivals. Be sure to join our NAL Coaches, Mrs. Tietz, and Mrs. Clanton, in cheering our team to a second victory on February 8th.

Extra-Curricular Sporst with MPS

Shout-out to our Academy families for their generosity last semester. Because of your donations, Mesa Academy fed 740 individuals this past December. Continue to help those around you. Knights are CARING!

Robotics Tournament

Mesa Academy had 2 out of 6 of their robotics teams move on from the regional qualifier to state. Teams MegaBYTES (Danny Swinehart, Michael McMillian, Marshall Moore, and J.J. Ryan),and MegaHertz (Luke Margalis, David Yauch, and Laith Abugharbieh) competed in the Arizona State FLL Challenge Tournament on January 13th.

The MegaHertz team won the Motivate Award at the state competition.

Preston Rule, 7th Grade Academy Knight, is headed to the Regional Spelling Bee. He did a great job winning our district Spelling Bee. Good luck Preston! We are so proud of you and all of your accomplishments.

We have some busy Knights displaying their athletic talent. Zaiden C. is playing football for Poston JHS, Megyn S., and Kayla are busy playing flag football for Fremont JHS, and Kenleigh C. is playing volleyball for Fremont JHS. Our X-Country Knights at Fremont JHS are Gideon V., Emma V., and Liam Z.

Battle of the Books Round 2 was exhilarating! Our 3rd place winners were Team 14 (Madeline M., Violet G., and Bryn W.) and Team 16 (Maisie O., Grant W., and Brigham K.). Team 3 (Roxie C., Ava M., and Ramona H.) took 2nd place with 130 points. Finally, first place went to Team 17! Congratulations Jane T., Bentlee W., and Payton W. They have only missed 1 question thus far with a combined score of 132 points. April 4th will be the last and final Battle of The Books. The team with the highest point total will represent Mesa Academy at the district battle in May.

In English Language Arts students have been doing different types of writing. One is something called 5-minute writing. During this activity, the students have a prompt and they have 5 minutes to answer the prompt in written form. Like many other classes, ELA has a workbook that contains many activities. Students in ELA often are assigned essays, short stories, reports, and poems. Students in ELA class will study vocabulary and assigned work on No Red Ink. This website grammar skill practice. Students will often read books together with their class. Currently, 4th graders are reading Codetalker and 6th graders Red Scarf Girl. This month students submitted essays, poems, and novels to Voices, our district writing competition. Stay tuned for the results.

At Mesa Academy, we are very lucky to have our own Chordify Club. It is very fun and a great place to be during lunch! Other reasons why this club is so amazing are the teacher, the people, and of course, the music! Every school has a music teacher, but ours is very special. Mrs. White always has a shining and happy attitude that encouraged us to attend the Chordify Club. She helps direct us in creating awesome bits of music, and when we do, she always makes sure to let us know we did great! She has an impact on our school and especially this club.

At Chordify Club, everyone is treated with kindness. Because of this, you can have a lot of fun there. If you still need to eat lunch, don’t worry! You can still come and eat while seeing your friends play their instruments and sing. Be sure you are participating as much as possible. Here at MAAS, we strive for productivity, not for playing around when there is (fun) work to be done.

Now, for the most significant part of this article; talking about the music! At Mrs. White’s Chordify Club, we have all the songs you could ever want. You can play and sing just about anything from pop music to rock and roll. Chordify Club uses a special program and has speakers for easy hearing of the background music. Here, there’s a song for everyone! No matter what playing or singing skill, you can always find something to your liking.MAAS Chordify Club is different from your average music gathering. Our sponsor, Mrs. White, can do anything to fit your musical needs, it’s a great place for making friends and the sounds can take you to a land of happiness; a different place for every song.

Our 7th graders have been busy making blankets as part of their IB Service Project for a local organization, Project Linus. Our students will be donating 30 blankets to Project Linus and these will be going to children at local hospitals. This project was part of the 7th Grade Interdisciplinary Unit with Science, Spanish, and Technology. We want to thank all of our Mesa Academy community for donating the supplies.