Clarendon School

Students of the Ballet Pilot Program at Encanto and Clarendon Schools will present a demonstration of their work this year for parents, family and friends on Wednesday, May 18, 2005 at 3:30pm in the Clarendon/Encanto Cafeteria 1225 W Clarendon, Phoenix, AZ.

Camden Lloyd, Instructor

Schedule: 2-5p Monday, Wednesday and Thursday

The ballet program was initiated at Clarendon during the 2003-04 school year for students in grades 4-6. They attend ballet classes in conjunction with supervised study hall for 2 hours three times a week. Third grade students from Encanto also participate with three weekly 45-minute classes.

Classical Ballet training has long been known to develop concentration and discipline, which carry over naturally into a child’s academic and social spheres. The scope of this program includes regular ballet lessons, extra reading and study projects, field trips to performances and exhibits, visits from guests in the profession, and presentations by students themselves sharing their work and progress. The Ballet Pilot supports student’s academic achievement with tutoring and homework supervision. It is open to all students; however, students are required to demonstrate responsible effort in their academic studies and behavior.

Tax credits have provided:

§         Professional piano accompaniment for 7 lessons and one student presentation

§         Uniform practice leotards of standard professional quality for every program student

§         Group bus transportation for field trips

PTA has provided:

§         Hairbrushes, ties and clips for all female students

Donations have provided:

§         Ballet shoes for each program student

The Classical Ballet program is very rigorous and physically demanding. The program began with 65 students in the 2003-04 school year, ending with 29. In 2004-05 the program grew to 111 students and will finish with about half this number.

Thank you to all who have supported this program and to Camden for your time, commitment, caring and patience.

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Solano School

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Osborn Middle School

Annemarie Moody
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 15, 2005 12:00 AM

What started as a simple request in a government class is turning into a yearly quest to get eighth-graders to the nation's capital.

For the second year in a row, Osborn Middle School teacher Brian Holman is taking 59 students to Washington, D.C., on two trips at the end of May and beginning of June.

Students who applied, passed all their classes and stayed out of trouble are eligible to go.

"Last year, they didn't think they'd actually get to go, that the money they were earning would be used for students in the future. This year, they know it is going to happen, and there is a different kind of motivation for them," said Holman, who teaches government and economics at Osborn, a low-income school in Phoenix.

Holman has made it his mission to teach the students that they have the opportunity to achieve greatness. Holman, 25, thinks big, evidenced by a sign on his wall that reads, "We are not getting ready for high school, we are getting ready to change the WORLD!"

Right now, Holman said, they are in the peak of fund-raising for the trips.

No money is coming from either the district or the school; each student must raise the $750 cost, either through fund-raising or tax credits from their parents. One of their group efforts will be a spaghetti dinner and raffle on April 29 at the school.

Nick de la Torre/The Arizona Republic Brian Holman, a government teacher at Osborn Middle School, talks with Kathy Araiza (left) and Conra Monroe about making a bill. The girls will be among the students going to Washington, D.C., with Holman.

Astrid Barnhart and Diana Carmen, both 14, are going on the trip, and said the fund-raising makes the reward more special.

"It's more valuable this way," Astrid said. "If you just get something, it has less value."

The trip is just the final piece of a semester-long research project for all Osborn eighth-graders. Each student picked an issue important to him or her and created a new law based on existing laws. Diana picked polygamy. Astrid picked child abuse.

Salvador Rosales, 14, is one student who is not going on the trip; he says money problems are keeping him at home. However, he is still enthusiastic about his law, which is raising the smoking age to 21.

"It's not that people 18 to 20 can't make the right decision, but so many people are dying of cancer, if you increased the age, there would be less opportunity for people to start smoking," he said.

The two trips will be four days apiece, with each day having a theme and purpose. For example, the day the students visit the Arlington National Cemetery and the Holocaust Memorial Museum, they will deliberately be walking a lot, which will signify how rare freedom is and how hard it is to obtain it, Holman said.

Amelia Theobalb, 15, went on the D.C. trip last year.

"I enjoyed having a chance to go because I didn't think we'd be able to," she said. "Mr. Holman made it possible."

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Longview School

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Montecito Community School

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